Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been reading about it for what seems like ages, looking over images of the FCC prototype with a magnifying glass, and now Nintendo is showing it off at its E3 press conference. The company that Mario built is trumping up how superior its glasses-free technology is better than others, “a solution that lets you take 3D gaming along with you wherever you go” according to Reggie. The upper screen is surprisingly only 3.5-inches, not the wider that we’d expected. There is a slider on the side that lets you tweak the 3D effect, seemingly enabling you to adjust its depth based on your distance from the screen — or turn it off entirely. As with the current DS, the bottom is a touchscreen, and is not 3D.

That’s what looks to be an analog stick on the side there, as well, that Nintendo is calling a “Slide Pad.” There is a gyro, motion sensor, it’s compatible with DSi games, and has two cameras enabling 3D photos. Nintendo is also talking up partnerships including Disney, games that are said to be playable today, at the show, with one of the highlights being a new Kid Icarus game which looks quite action-packed to say the least — and has better graphics than most of the Wii titles Nintendo has shown thus far. Nintendo has mentioned the 3DS will have the “biggest launch support ever” from third party devs, and a 3D Nintendogs should be a huge seller — if only because it has cats too. Other games include Madden, Ninja Gaiden, Resident Evil, a Batman title, Splinter Cell, and, finally, a Metal Gear Solid entry.

Nintendo is also talking about how the system will seek out WiFi hotspots or other 3DS systems “without you knowing,” which sounds a bit ominous, to be honest. Systems can communicate regardless of which games are being played. It can even pull in new DLC directly from other consoles, all without a monthly fee.

Still no release date or price, but Nintendo is showing off two colors, red and blue, and they’re said to be playable on the show floor. You can be sure we’ll be running there right now.

Update: Complete press release and full list of launch games after the break, including some biggies, like Metal Gear Solid “The Naked Sample,” Madden, FIFA, and more!

Continue reading Nintendo 3DS gets official, includes 3D camera

Nintendo 3DS gets official, includes 3D camera originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you look at that, some love for the seemingly abandoned desktop crowd. Apple has today unveiled a freshly redesigned Mac mini, which benefits from a unibody aluminum exterior and more grunt under the hood. Prices start rolling at $699, where you’ll get a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. HDMI-out is finally included, along with an SD card reader, 802.11n wireless, a Mini DisplayPort jack, and what Apple claims is a doubling of graphics performance thanks to an NVIDIA GeForce 320M chip inside. Then again, when you double a little, you still end up with not much. The newly polished nettop is a minimalist 1.4 inches tall, but manages to fit all the power circuitry inside, which means (yay!) there’ll be no power brick to spoil your hipster desk space.

Don’t fret if you were looking to drop the optical drive, Apple retains the config option that allows you to add in a second HDD in lieu of its DVD burner. You can grab two 500GB plate spinners, Snow Leopard Server (we thought Apple only had one OS version?), 4GB of RAM, and a 2.66GHz Intel chip for $999. Finally, the new enclosures will come with user-accessible memory slots courtesy of a removable panel at the bottom of the case. Neat that the designers didn’t take the unibody idea too literally.

Continue reading Mac mini updated with HDMI, aluminum unibody, and SD card reader

Mac mini updated with HDMI, aluminum unibody, and SD card reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At first we were doubtful that a edgy box appearing in a little Flash ad from Italy last night could be legit, but Microsoft just got real with the new Xbox 360. (That’s all it’s officially called — just “the new Xbox 360.”) It’ll launch today priced for $299, while the old Elite will stick around for $249 and the Arcade will drop to $149. The new box is crazy sexy in glossy black with touch-sensitive buttons, and Microsoft says it’s “whisper quiet,” with one large fan instead of two — the new 45nm chipset undoubtedly generates less heat to begin with. On the features front, it’s got integrated 2.4GHz 802.11n WiFi, five USB ports, and 250GB of storage on a removable hard drive, although it’s not a standard drive or same drive as the old console, and older Memory Units won’t work, either. Upgraders can use a USB-to-Xbox hard drive connector cable to migrate to the new box, however. There’s also a “custom Kinect port” on the back that looks like an HTC-style ExtUSB port, and it also seems like the power supply has moved inside the case, which is a welcome change. New Xbox 360 units are shipping to retailers now, with availability expected later this week, and MS conference attendees are actually getting theirs shipped today.

If you’re in Europe, don’t fret, as yours is coming soon. Microsoft’s official Xbox Twitter account has confirmed the console hits there on July 16.

Update: We just got the official fact sheet, check it after the break. Oh, and we’re calling it the “Stealthbox” to keep all the models straight. It just feels right, you know?

Update 2: According to a Microsoft representative, the Xbox 360 Original will still be sold while there’s stock, but they’re not making any more of them. Once they’re gone, they’re gone — and we’d assume a new $199 variant of the new design will eventually be released to fill the void.

Continue reading New Xbox 360 gets official at $299, shipping today, looks angular and ominous (video hands-on!)

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New Xbox 360 gets official at $299, shipping today, looks angular and ominous (video hands-on!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What, a launch of November 2010 wasn’t specific enough for you? Well, how about a Kinect launch of November 4? Microsoft just confirmed that’s the day, and as of now it’s looking like a worldwide launch. It will drop with 15 titles, including:

• Kinectimals – Nintendogs but with wild and impossibly cute animals
• Kinect Sports – Soccer, bowling, track and field games, a bit like Wii Sports
• Joyride – “Thrill of high speed kart racing, with the joy of controller-free gaming”
• Kinect Adventures – Jumping around and stuff
• Your Shape: Fitness Evolved – most amazing looking fitness game we’ve seen yet, from Ubisoft
• Dance Central – an actual, honest to gosh dance game without stupid pads — from Harmonix

So far Your Shape and Dance Central are looking the best, but Microsoft is still showing us more, and we’re thinking a few of you are going to like that Star Wars game from Lucasarts. Interestingly, no price was announced, meaning Microsoft seems to be waiting to see how many US dollars the competition decides to charge. Your Move, Sony.

Update: We have the full list of 15 titles after the break, courtesy of Joystiq. , which includes a new EA Sports Active.

Continue reading Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 launches on November 4

Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 launches on November 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought Kinect was just for kicking balls and making a fool of yourself? Oh now, you can now use it to do everything from find your friends and to control media playback. With a wave the Xbox 360 pops into a new Dashboard which you can manage by moving your hands around. It also supports voice control, enabling you to say “Xbox Play” or “Xbox Pause” or, you know, whatever. Easy!

Microsoft demos new Kinect dashboard and voice control originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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