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IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, March 27 (UPI) -- Two U.S. Department of Energy scientists in Idaho say they have adapted technology from Nintendo's Wii remote to control a mine-clearing robot. David Bruemmer and Douglas Few said they adapted the video game controller, which utilizes wireless technology that detects three dimensional movement, to control Packbot, a robot with bomb disposal capability, Sky News reported Thursday. The scientists said operating the Wii remote is more instinctive than traditional controllers, which can take too much of the user's attention and prevent the operator from concentrating fully on data gathered by the machine. The pair...

Hospitals Turn To Wii For Rehab Therapy 'Wiihabilitation' Growing More Popular Among DoctorsPOSTED: 11:07 am EST February 9, 2008 CHICAGO -- It could be called "Wiihabilitation." Nintendo's Wii video game system is now gaining popularity in hospitals and medical centers, which are using the system as part of physical therapy programs for patients. While traditional physical therapy can be painful, repetitive and boring, hospital officials said playing Wii is more fun for patients, to the point that some almost forget they're in therapy. The system's motion-sensitive controller requires body movements similar to traditional exercises, but officials said the game format...

Since its debut little over a year ago, the Wii has been a startling success for Nintendo. The company managed to shift an astounding 981,000 units in November alone. However, Wii sales have been constrained by supply. While Nintendo having trouble meeting demand for the Wii is nothing new, it looks like those supply problems could cost the console maker some serious money. James Lin, a senior analyst at MDB Capital Group, believes that Nintendo could be selling twice the 1.8 million Wii consoles it is manufacturing a month and that the company is set to miss out on an...

Greenpeace has released its updated Guide to Greener Electronics and, ohhhh...Nintendo...not doing so well. In fact, Nintendo has received the first score of absolute zero that Greenpeace has ever handed out. It's almost as if, as soon as I really start to like a company's products, GreenPeace just HAS to slam them. But the story behind Nintendo's 'zero' has a lot more to do with the way it reports its practices than its actual practices. The Wii might not have any brominated flame retardants in it...but Nintendo has no policy against using BFRs and doesn't report whether or not it...

Play classic Nintendo 8-bit games online! Free! Remember these video games from the mid 1980s? http://www.nintendo8.com/

Police: Pa. Boy Stabs Brother Over Game Jul 17 01:16 PM US/Eastern LANSDOWNE, Pa. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy fatally stabbed his brother with a steak knife after the 16-year-old refused to turn over a video game controller, authorities said. Jahmir Ricks was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Antwan Ricks at their home outside Philadelphia. The older boy died of a single stab wound to the chest, police said, and a bent and bloody knife was recovered from the home. Lansdowne police said the younger boy told them, "I just stabbed my brother," when they arrived at...

When Wii hit last fall, one of my coworkers considered canceling his YMCA membership and working out with Wii Sports instead. While some people were working out with Wii and getting good results, I wasn't convinced that Nintendo could replace a good old-fashion gym membership, no matter how much Wii Sports boxing made me sweat. At E3 on Wednesday, Nintendo kicked it up a notch when Mario creator and all-around gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto introduced Wii Fit, the game that "turns the living room into a fitness center for the whole family," Nintendo says, utilizing an innovative new Wii Balance...

Wii on winning spree, scores fourth consecutive win over rivals by Shubha Krishnappa - May 19, 2007 - 2 comments Among the trio of next generation gaming consoles, Nintendo has emerged as the numero uno in April for the fourth consecutive month after selling 360,000 of the popular video game devices in the United States, repeatedly outshining both its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the US video game consoles market. After attaining the top position in the first three months of the year, Nintendo has once again performed exceptionally well by selling nearly four times as...

Wii on winning spree, scores fourth consecutive win over rivals by Shubha Krishnappa - May 19, 2007 - 2 comments Among the trio of next generation gaming consoles, Nintendo has emerged as the numero uno in April for the fourth consecutive month after selling 360,000 of the popular video game devices in the United States, repeatedly outshining both its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the US video game consoles market. After attaining the top position in the first three months of the year, Nintendo has once again performed exceptionally well by selling nearly four times as...

Until two weeks ago, Ruth Ebert never had the slightest interest in the video games favored by her one and only granddaughter. "I'm 82 years old, so I missed that part of our culture. Soap operas, yes. Video games, no," chirped Ebert, who recently started playing a tennis game on Nintendo's new Wii video game console at the Virginia retirement community she calls home. "It was funny, because normally I would not be someone who would do that," said Ebert, who picked up the console's motion-sensing Wiimote and challenged the machine to a match. "I played tennis, if you can...

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Sony Corp. (6758.TO) will reach only 75% of its global target for PlayStation 3 sales this fiscal year through March, according to a Nomura report released Monday. Nomura cut its target for PS3 game units shipped during the period to 4.5 million from 6 million, citing poor sales over the holiday season in North America.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- We all know the new Nintendo Wii is the number one present to give this holiday season. You've heard the stories of those who camp out in front of stores the night before shipments come in, or those who pay double the cost on eBay. It's obvious that people will do almost anything to get their hands on this hot new item. I found myself waiting for a Nintendo Wii one late afternoon. A massive shipment had just come in that morning and the line didn't look too unbearable, so I decided to wait and try...

- What's Nintendo's gameplan post-launch? A local Toys-R-Us manager may have let slip some yet-to-be-confirmed details for the Wii come Spring '07.

It seems that in all the commotion surrounding the Wii Japan launch, one (un)lucky fan found himself the center of attention at a local Akiba Yodobashi store, handing out the first Wii. How did this happen? It's a case of mistaken identity, dear Watson.

Top 10: Wii Virtual Console Games of 2006Come inside to take a look at the preliminary best of the best Wii's Virtual Console has to offer as we countdown from 10 to 1 the most Wii Point worthy VC games of 2006.

Nintendo announced last night that the highly anticipated Wii will be released in the U.S. on November 19th at a launch price of $250. The Wii will be released just days after Sony plans to release the PS3. While Sony has said they will have a limited number of PS3's available for the holiday season, Nintendo assures they will have "far more available than their competitor". Link

Nintendo of America sent President Bush an early baby boomer gift pack today. The bag of presidential goodies includes a DS Lite and a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. Bush turns 60 tomorrow. I'd make some age/ intellect jokes, but the sheer number of possibilities have temporarily locked-up my snark muscle. Lets just hope that Nintendo didn't put it in one of those electronics-festooned, trumpet flaring boxes. I'd hate to see a Secret Service bomb squad called out to explode such a nice piece of portable gaming.

Grandma and Grandpa on the video game...never happens. The OL (Office Lady) hurrying home to play saber tea party...again, an unlikely scenario. Well, nothing lasts forever...cherry blossoms last only about a week, and that is what the Japanese like the most about them. Nothing lasts forever, especially beauty. There must be more to a person's worth than outside appearance. Companies change, too...or they should change. Last year, the video-game software and hardware industry brought in about $27 billion. For the past five years, Nintendo has been asking the question, "Why do people who don't play video games NOT play them?"...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd on Thursday said it has named its new video game console "Wii, which it said is pronounced "we" to emphasise that the console is for everyone. The console up until now has been known by its code-name "Revolution." "While the code-name Revolution expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer," spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan told Reuters. Nintendo, best known for its Game Boy portable video players, aims to gain share in the $25 billion (18.9 billion pounds) global video game market now dominated by Sony Corp. Microsoft Corp. launched its next-generation Xbox 360 console late...

Who has bought Nintendogs and how much do you know about the bark mode? I just gave my child Nintendo DS today for a birthday present. This is a handheld game unit with a special game cartridge called Nintendogs. This evening, I've learned it has a special feature called bark mode. When this is enabled. Anyone in our neighborhood, if they are also playing with a Nintendog game, can send their dog into my child's handheld for the dogs to play together. When this play date occurs, the child's name and birthdate are acquired. Now I'm reading more about it...

Someone needs to sit our people down and have a healthy discussion about the names we as African Americans are giving our children. We are hurting our kids and putting their futures in peril from the moment they are born. That’s right, I said it. We are KILLING our kids and crippling their futures with the names we give them. Don’t you want your kids to get JOBS someday? Good jobs, and serious careers? With a name like Jaquez Ja’Quan Diante’, you’re dooming your sons to a life of drug dealing on some seedy street corner. Our Black men face...

Microsoft Corp. launched its Xbox 360 console in Japan on Saturday to a lukewarm reaction from local gamers. The company held a launch event at 7 a.m. at a store in the center of Tokyo’s Shibuya district that attracted about 200 fans, some of whom had been queuing for several hours for a chance to be one of the first to buy the console. While those in line snapped-up the consoles, the store and other electronics retailers nearby still had units available for walk-in customers at 10 a.m. At Bic Camera, opposite the Tsutaya shop where the launch took place,...

PALMDALE - In a giant hangar at Air Force Plant 42 where strategic nuclear bombers were built to win the Cold War, computer giant Microsoft has staked its future in the gaming industry, an $8 billion global market. An Internet underground marketing campaign brought 3,000 dedicated players from around the world to the Antelope Valley for Microsoft's North American launch of its newest game system. "It's basically a 30-hour party. There's never been anything like this," said Ricardo Torres, a senior editor at GameSpot.com, an online entertainment forum. In the virtual reality world of computer gaming, the giant from Seattle...

Though the Nintendo Revolution was partially unveiled at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, its controller is the final piece of the venerable hardware manufacturer's next-generation puzzle. Speculation about the device has run rampant, because its manufacturer has made a point of keeping it well hidden. Nintendo has chosen only to drop hints that it would be an integral part of the Revolution's unique gameplay experience.

During this week's inaugural celebration, it is possible to bask in the warm glow of Republicans, pleased with their victory and determined to push the agenda forward in the second Bush term. There is much work to be done. In fact, there some arenas, in which liberals have made tremendous strides without Republicans taking too much notice. This week's Time magazine cover story (website), for instance, chronicles the rise of "the Twixters", a new sociological category to describe those 18 to 29 year olds who are essentially putting off the responsibility of adulthood. It is not simply that these young...

<p>TOKYO -- Nintendo's Game Boy Advance hand-held machine will work as a videophone with an attachment that comes with a digital camera, earphone and microphone and is expected to go on sale in December only in Japan.</p> <p>The Campho Advance from Kyoto-based Digital Act, which makes mobile and Internet equipment, slips into the top of the Game Boy Advance just like any video-game cassette.</p>

Regulators Launch Probe Into Video Game Industry Fri Jul 18, 6:47 PM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Ben Berkowitz LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three video game publishers on Friday said they were part of an apparently wide-ranging probe opened by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) into the game industry. Acclaim Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq:AKLM - news), Activision Inc. (Nasdaq:ATVI - news) and THQ Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI - news) said they had received requests for information from the SEC with regard to a formal investigation into video game manufacturers and distributors. Acclaim, in an...

Games industry set for LA extravaganza 12 May 2003 - Reuters LOS ANGELES: Cram 65,000 people into a convention centre, add the sounds of aliens being shot and race cars being crashed at rock-and-roll volumes, then sprinkle in a few women dressed in costumes just an inch or two this side of indecency. What you get is E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the video game industry's annual convention that starts this week in Los Angeles and represents the favoured forum for deal-making and promotion in a business expected to generate US$30 billion in sales in 2003. "I think it's going...

Acclaim to Edit Nudity from Version of 'XXX' Game Last Updated: November 04, 2002 05:18 PM ET By Ben Berkowitz LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Acclaim Entertainment Inc. AKLM.O on Monday said its controversial video game "BMX XXX" will not contain topless nudity in the version to be released for Sony Corp.'s 6758.T PlayStation 2 console later this month. Some of the nation's leading retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT.N and Toys R Us Inc. TOY.N , have said they will not carry the game because of subject matter that also includes strippers, pimps and coarse language and features the tagline...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON (AP) — Attempting to woo computer-savvy young people, the Army will release on July 4 the first installment of an ambitious new computer game that will let players be all they can digitally be. The game, which will be free on many gaming Web sites and www.americasarmy.com, lets a player assume the role of a new recruit on an Army team pitted in an online battle against terrorists. While it is meant to be fun, the two-game set also was designed as a recruitment tool. ``With this game we hope...

In a perfect world, a list like this would not exist. In a perfect world, businesses would be run with the utmost integrity and competence. But ours is, alas, an imperfect world, and if we must live in one where Enron, Geraldo Rivera, and Cottonelle Fresh Rollwipes exist, the least we can do is catalog the absurdities. 1. Houston, We Have a Problem, Part 1: Enron states billions of dollars in extra revenue through aggressive accounting and complicated off-the-books partnerships managed by its own executives, all the while ignoring warnings from its employees and enriching its top executives at the...