Fans of Legend of Zelda will definitely be thrilled to know that ThinkGeek is now offering the Ocarina for you to make music with. This is a real-world, playable musical instrument made from glazed earthenware - which means you will break it into a million pieces in the event it is used as a projectile in a domestic disagreement. There are half a dozen holes in total, and it plays note from C4 to D5. Each purchase comes with a song book complete with instructions on belting out your favorite Zelda tunes. To top it all off, a Tri-Force logo is located on the stem for that added authentic look.

If you love the sport of golf and will be picking up Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for your Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP or Wii consoles, then you ought to take note that the game has a Club Tuner to further provide the opportunity to calibrate their clubs to fit their personal tendencies and preferences. This means players now have the ability to test and customize their driver, fairway woods, irons and wedges for a more realistic gaming experience. Of course, you can always save time by not customizing your clubs, as there is the presence of performance coach Hank Haney to provide recommendations on the optimal settings for each of their clubs. Each club has five attributes that can be tweaked by a slider - power, workability, loft, spin and bias. While Tiger’s taking a break in the real world, he’s still a real menace in the virtual realm.

Press Release

Folks who own the Wii - the top selling console in the US for this generation, will soon be able to look forward to newer accessories that are supposed to enhance the gaming experience. InvenSense has a hand in these new updates this time round, shipping its IDG-600 multi-axis MEMS rate gyroscope in mass quantities to Nintendo for use in its Wii MotionPlus accessory. What’s the Wii MotionPlus, you ask? Well, it is an add-on peripheral that connects to the bottom end of the Wiimote, using both an accelerometer and the original sensor bar for a more comprehensive tracking process that results in a more accurate reading with each swing of your arm. In an upcoming title, Wii Sports Resort, a brief demonstration has showed that the Wii MotionPlus allows a player to throw a disc through the air and control the angle of flight, opening up new possibilities when gaming.

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Sony will be rolling out the PlayStation PlayTV service in the UK when September 10 comes about, and this news was confirmed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves at E3 last week. For those who are not in the know, the PlayStation PlayTV is a digital TV recorder that works well with both the PS3 and the portable PSP, enabling you to record whatever’s showing on TV while having your fun with games. Of course, with Internet connectivity via Wi-Fi on the PSP, you will also be able to watch live TV broadcasts on the PSP.

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Nintendo is doing extremely well in this round of console wars, be it in the portable or home-based arena with the DS Lite and Wii, respectively. Their efforts have paid off handsomely as the latest sales figures available from NPD for the month of June has showed that there is more to boosting sales than just a single multiplayer platform record breaking game ala Grand Theft Auto IV or an exclusive release such as Metal Solid Gear 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PS3. Slow and steady wins the race, and somehow the Wii has hit a sweet spot with Americans since it was released at the end of 2006. Amazingly enough, it is the only console of this generation that has yet to experience a price cut, while its main rivals, the Xbox 360 and PS3 have already seen lowered prices a number of times to date. The Nintendo Wii has surpassed the Xbox 360 from Microsoft in terms of units sold (in the US, of course), touching 11,008,200 units sold compared to the Xbox 360’s 10,465,900 count.

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I don’t really like the idea of the Swinger Video Sports as it reminds me of nothing but a cheap Wii rip-off. After all, you get a motion sensing controller along with gaming titles that involves the sport of bowling, golf, tennis, baseball and boxing.

All five sport games - bowling, boxing, baseball, golf, and tennis - are now available with the new Swinger Video Sports. This is an activity for everyone - not too much exertion for young or old, but a nice get-off-the-sofa-and-move-about benefit for all. It’s easy to set up and easy to play. Using a handheld wireless remote, you simply point it at the TV and gently swing it, and the on-screen action is controlled by your movement. Enjoy one or two-player simultaneous action. Comes with a sleek base unit, two controllers, two secondary controllers (nunchakus), and five fun games. The Swinger is more than a game, it’s a social opportunity. Granddad can play with grandson, father with daughter, aunt with nephew - once you see how it’s done, you won’t be able to resist getting in on the fun.

Well, save that $69.95 for a Nintendo Wii IMHO for a genuine gaming experience. After all, how many times can you go through the sports titles before you get bored?

Visionman Computers have announced its latest gaming notebook known as the Widow Predator.

The new Widow Predator laptop uses the latest Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 processor, combined with two on-board nVidia GeForce 8800M GTX video cards to deliver a blistering benchmark score of almost 20K! Breathtaking color, clarity and a game winning 3D benchmark score, add special features such as built-in dual gaming buttons and a Blu-ray/DVD/CD-ROM combo and you will soon be at the top of your game!

What you see on the right is not the Widow Predator gaming notebook, but it is one of them gaming machines from Visionman Computers which I have included for context. No idea on how much it will cost though as the Widow Predator was not yet featured on the company’s website.

Press Release

The Xbox 360 controllers are pretty bland to date, despite functioning perfectly fine, they aren’t the nicest things to look at in your living room as black and white colors rarely capture the eye’s attention at first glance. Good thing Microsoft has decided to introduce a little bit of color into Xbox 360 owners’ lives thanks to a bright red and equally flashy green controller hitting the market on September 30. The former will come bundled with a play and charge kit, while the latter is a standalone device, retailing for $65 and $55, respectively.

Source: ThinkTechno