Hasta La Gadget!

\Nintendo has just released details on the forthcoming update to its popular handheld gaming platform: The Nintendo DSi XL will go on sale in the U.S. on March 28 and have a list price of $189.99. The DSi XL’s screens are 93% larger than those of its predecessor, the DSi, and it offers a wider viewing angle. It’ll come with two styli: the typical small stylus that slots into the device but also a larger “pen” stylus, which is easier to grip.

The DSi will be sold preloaded with several titles, including Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters,  Brain Age Express: Math, and Photo Clock. It comes in either Burgundy or Bronze. Upcoming titles for the device are America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking and WarioWare: D.I.Y, among others; those two will launch on March 28 as well.

Look for a hands-on report, complete with slideshow, with the new DSi XL at midnight EST tonight on PCMag.com.

Update: According to Bloomberg News, the DSi XL will also include a book reader when it ships:

The player, which has a larger screen than the company’s current model, will double as an electronic reader when Nintendo introduces “100 Classic Books” in June, Cammie Dunaway, executive vice president of sales and marketing for North America, said today at an event in San Francisco.

It seems a bit weird to say this about the world’s largest toy company, but Mattel is really creative when it comes to integrating tech into its toys. Although technology is implemented in various ways, the toys we saw from the company (including its Fisher-Price brand) have in common a humorous sense of fun. Yes, I totally wanted to play with each and every one.

Above: He might look like a cross between a gila monster and a pit bull, but that’s Cruncher, a new Prehistoric Pets toy. Sensors make him interactive: He can come when you call him, and he dances, begs for food, and even purrs when petted. He can also go into Attack Mode and charge, and this little guy can really move. (August, $99.99 list, ages 6 and up.)

More Mattel and Fisher-Price previews after the jump.

One of today’s biggest play trends is that virtual and toy worlds are merging. So it only makes sense that for the first time this year, Toy Fair and the Engage! Expo are co-exhibiting at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. And who better to kick off Engage! this morning than Will Wright, legendary video-game designer and creator of franchises such as SimCity, The Sims, and Spore.

The keynote presentation, titled “The Evolution of Entertainment, A Toy’s Place,” was a speculative and entertaining look at the root of human behavior, how we develop world concepts, and where toys and play fit in. His predilection for building model cars as a child, he said, informed his ability to design online. “My favorite toy was the VertiBird,” said Wright; at the time, for that time, it was a fairly complex toy, but now, tech toys are evolving on a Moore’s-Law track.

More on the keynote plus videos of Wright’s speech after the jump!

OK, forget Rock Band: The Beamz is here. This remarkable device takes interactive music-making to a whole new level. You make music on the Beamz by passing your hands through six laser beams, each of which sets off “a stream of musical notes and sounds.” These can be preloaded sounds or ones you assign yourself. And you can download and use ever-increasing “Beamz Songs” from the company’s site.

Someone who’s not adept at playing a musical instrument (like me, for example) can jump right in and play–it’s incredibly fun and engaging. And I can imagine DJs and musicians using the Beamz (which retails for $299.95) in performances–the possibilities are nearly endless.

There’s a lot more to the Beamz, which you can read about at the company’s site .And to get a better idea of how it works, check out the video after the jump.