Hasta La Gadget!

You can deal with your virtual enemies a little more effectively now, because Razer, the leading gaming peripheral company, has just upgraded its best-selling DeathAdder mouse.

Gamers will enjoy even more precise movements now that the DeathAdder has a 3.5G 3500dpi infrared sensor. Gaming mice are always corded so there’s no lag time, and the mouse also features an improved tangle-free braided cable.

What Razer didn’t change was the comfortable design. The DeathAdder is still a perfectly molded right-handed mouse with five programmable “Hyperesponse” buttons, on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments, an always-on mode, and super-slick Teflon feet. The improved DeathAdder sells for $59.99.

An internal memo floating around from the good folks at Best Buy seems to confirm all of those upcoming rumors about a Wii price drop. The drop, according to the statement, is set to be officially announced by Nintendo on Friday, and carried out by Best Buy and the rest of the retail world on Sunday.

The console’s price will be set at $199.99, down from its long time price of $249.99, which should help keep the popular console competitive in an economic environment that’s finally begun taking its toll on the gaming industry.

The Nintendo Wii has long been an accident waiting to happen. When the console first launched, there were a plethora of reports about shattered windows and TV sets, caused by Wiimotes slipping out of users’ hands. The advent of controller add-ons has only made matters worse. Add the new Louisville Slugger-branded baseball bat attachment to the list of potentially disastrous add-ons.

The attachment is a mini-wooden bat with a case that users slip the Wiimote into at one end. The “bat” is 15.5 inches long and, thankfully, made of foam. It’s compatible with all the big Wii baseball games, including Major League Baseball 2K9, The Bigs2, and MLB Power Pros.

The controller will be available in mid-October for $14.99. That’s plenty of time to buy a nice foam helmet.

I’ve got some news. Are you sitting down? If you’re a gamer, the answer is almost certainly “yes.” According to a recent survey by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University, and Andrews University, the average American game is 35, fat, and depressed. Wait, that can’t be right…

The study, culled from 552-Seattle area residents aged 19 to 90, discovered that, on average, gamers weigh more and have “a greater number of poor mental health days” than non-gamers. Researchers who conducted the study for The American Journal of Preventive Medicine claim it “reveal[s] important patterns in health-related correlates of video-game playing and highlights avenues for future research.”

Jeez, where’s Dr. Mario when you need him?

Turns out GameStop’s October 13th listing for Tony Hawk: RIDE was just a hair off, to the tune of 36 days or so. Activison Blizzard’s sent word today that the skating simulator’s official North American launch is set for November 17th — plenty of time to practice your faux ollies before showing your family some virtual board skills over Thanksgiving meals. Additionally, Europe’s now official for November 20th, but we already heard that last week. No word on pricing, but across the pond, GAME.co.uk is pushing that £99 / $168 figure pretty hard, and while we’re willing to bet that’s the official Europe price, we’re not convinced that’s any indication of what we’ll be paying stateside.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Tony Hawk: RIDE makes official US debut on November 17th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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