Sony has put up a website called Grab the Ring, which is part of a promotional contest for Uncharted 3.

Though it sounds like a website where gold-diggers can meet up and exchange stories about how they separated an old guy from his money, and got a pay-off when he took a dirt nap, that’s not it at all. Though I’m sure that also exists. On this website, you can activate your webcam and then hold up your arm as if holding the game’s thematic ring floating in the air. If you can outlast everyone else, you can get $10,000. If you don’t quite have what it takes to beat everyone else, you’ll still get some neat weapons and clothes for your in-game persona in multiplayer mode.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The first prize comes after just 15 seconds. After 4 minutes, players get the Treasure Hunter Starter’s Pack. If you are in it for hours, you can unlock some weapons. You’ll see trailers for the game in the background and Kevin Butler will occasionally taunt you too.

For the ten grand, 8:45 is the current time to beat. 8 long hours, 45 minutes. Seems crazy, but then again we are talking $10,000(USD) here. Too bad geeks have weak girl arms.

[via Geek]

That ship date is too bad really, a few weeks earlier and many gamers would have found the monitor under their tree Christmas morning. The kit will sell for $499.99 (USD), and for that price you will get a smallish 24-inch screen, a pair of Active 3D glasses, and a copy of the game Motorstorm Apocalypse.

The glasses needed with the set are the active type, and charge via USB. The screen also supports Sony’s cool SimulView tech to allow two users to see two different images on the screen at once, instead of using split-screen mode. The display also has dual HDMI inputs and integrated speakers.

You can pre-order the PlayStation 3D Monitor Kit over at Amazon now. Additional glasses will set you back $69.95 a pair.

[via 3D-display-info]

We can assume it was some sort of Move accessory or a Bluetooth remote control since it was vaguely gun shaped. The guy hid the controller in a pocket and tried to rob the store using it. I can just see him with the thing shoved in his pocket trying to fool the clerk.

Things went bad for the thief when a cop walked in on the robbery and arrested him. Pittman is now facing charges on strong-arm robbery and violation of probation. I for one hope that is his third strike. Pittman gave up without incident.

[via Bay News 9]

Yeah, Kikkerland’s Space Intruder multi-tool is yet another case of a not-officially-space-invaders-but-obviously-space-invaders product, but you get the point, right? Speaking of points, the stainless steel Intruder tool hits the bare-minimum requirements to be called a “multi-tool”, with just Philips and flat-blade screwdrivers for arms and the geek-essential bottle opener lurking beneath its alien torso-head (or is that a head-torso?)

The Space Intruder Multi-Tool has landed at Art Supply Warehouse for about $15 (USD).

There have been countless duplicates and fakes over the years, but these have the USB connector hidden inside the legs. Whenever it’s not in use, it looks like a regular LEGO minifig. When you plug it into your computer, it looks like a small man legless man trying to crawl out of the USB port.

It costs $24.99 (USD) over at the official LEGO store. I guess that’s the price you pay for official LEGO products. At least you can find them a for a couple of dollars less on eBay.

[via Ubergizmo]

While not quite as revolutionary as Microsoft’s answer to motion gaming, the Move’s true 1:1 movement tracking can make for some fun. Well it seems that Sony has finally decided that they want to give people the necessary tools to use these devices on the PC. They are calling it the Move Server project.

Sony is mum on the details right now, but they are planning a full unveiling of the project at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference. What we do know is that they aren’t just going to be making these tools available to major developers for big titles. Rather, they’re wanting to cater to the enthusiast crowd. Maybe this is what will finally push me to purchase the Move.

[via Kotaku]

The first one just recently hit the auction block, and it looks like it’s pretty nicely constructed. It’s based on the internals of a full PS3 Slim, with a 250GB hard drive on board. The case is built from a durable aluminum frame covered with a polystyrene top and sides.

There’s a 19-inch 1440×900 LED/LCD monitor in the lid, attached digitally to the PS3 via an HDMI-DVI connection. The laptop also features a 2-watt stereo amp and speakers built-in. There’s also no need for an external power supply. Pictures of the build can be found over on ImageShack.

Here’s a video of low_budget’s PS3 Slim laptop in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Note that he improved the cooling fan after shooting the video, so it’s supposed to be much quieter thanks to a temperature-controlled fan.

The whole rig weighs in at a rather hefty 16 pounds, which puts it firmly in the “luggable” category. As a matter of fact, it weighs the same as the original Macintosh Portable. But this is way cooler than an old Mac 128k, dontcha think? You can bid on this PS3 Slim Laptop with a starting bid of $1099 (USD), or a Buy-it-Now price of $1499. low_budget says he’ll make additional laptops if you want to order one custom.

[via Ben Heck Forums]

With a name like Eat Them!, would you expect anything less? The new downloadable title from FluffyLogic was shown off at this week’s GamesCom show in Germany. In the game, you create custom monsters, and do your best to avoid being destroyed by the army while you smash the town and its people to bits. To me, it looks like a modern-day remake of games like Rampage or Crush, Crumble and Chomp!

Here’s the preview trailer if you want to get an idea of the gameplay:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Expect Eat Them! to stomp its way onto the PlayStation Network this December.

The demo not only shows how good the Move is at tracking the user, it also demonstrates my point from yesterday – it’s significantly easier to interact (with a flat image) using physical controllers, because you still have something tangible to work with, and the presence of buttons makes it easier to pull off a variety of moves, some of which can be complex or have no relation to motion at all.

Again, I’m not saying that Kinect will be a flop, I just think that it’s limited and simplistic compared to the Wii-mote and the Move. The rumor about the Kinect not being able to detect people who are sitting down is of great concern as well. But in the end, it’s the games that count. I hope both systems give us tons of awesome ways to enjoy motion controlled gaming.

[via IGN via Aeropause]

This is probably the first and only time we’ll ever see the Blue Screen of Death as a hero. The real surprise? There are zero pixel penis heroes. Good job, gamers!

[3D Dot Game Heroes Hall of Heroes]

His latest take on the portable PS3 Slim incorporates many of the design elements of the first one, with some subtle changes. The biggest improvement is the detachable HDMI cable for the laptop’s 17-inch flat screen so he can plug it into an external monitor too. There’s also a headphone jack for playing games and Blu-rays in private.

I also prefer the black and blue paint job on this one, instead of the starkness of the original. I mean really, a white and grey PS3 Slim? An Xbox 360 or a Wii I could understand, of course.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can check out more pics and details of the new PS3 Slim Laptop (Mark II) over at Ben’s site.

If I were Samuel Jackson I’d say: that is one huge motherf—— but I’m not Samuel Jackson, so I’ll just stare at the picture in disbelief.

This is mind-boggling. I’m sure the awesomeness will wear off once the game comes out, but for now this is epic scale redefined. Hopefully the rest of the game lives up to these tech demos. Read Chester’s full article and look for Kratos in the other pics over at Destructoid. Sony should make a Where’s Wally-esque picture book to promote the game.

The Torne connects to your PS3 via a USB cable. It’s got an easy to use interface and the possibility to record shows with a timer function. Shows are recorded to the PS3′s hard drive, or can also be stored on an external hard drive if you don’t have enough space on the internal drive.

It’s too bad that we aren’t getting any of these stateside, since it’s a pretty sweet deal. DVRs are pretty handy, especially if you already have a PS3 and don’t want to add another device to your game room setup.

If you happen to live in Japan, the Torne will cost you ¥9,980 ($109 USD) and will go on sale this March. There will also be a bundle available which includes a 250GB PS3 and the Torne for ¥42,800 ($467 USD).

[via Kotaku]

Why are you still reading this? Okay even if you’re not familiar with Ben Heck and what he does, you can plainly see that this is a PS3 packed and a 17″ widescreen LCD, all in one case that you can lug around. That shot above is from Ben Heck himself; here’s the one on auction:

And here’s the seller, altfeldtoy, who says that he won the PS3 Slim laptop “in a giveaway at a local business.” You live in an awesome neighborhood, altfeldtoy.

Altfeldtoy is selling it because he’s not into PS3 gaming, which is as good a reason as any, especially since the current bid for the laptop is $1,025 (USD), with 5 days to go before bidding ends. Not bad for something which cost him absolutely nothing. Go to eBay and bid on it! Screw 2010! Savings are for wusses!

[via gameSniped]

Before we commit ourselves to this future, note how doubly frail this gossamer tip is – it’s a rumor about a possibility. So it may be as real as Duke Nukem Forever (or do kids nowadays refer to GT 5?). But a gamer can dream, can’t he?

logos from Mozilla and kotaku

[via PlayStation Insider via Maxconsole]

If you’ve seen the trailers before then you’re probably familiar with the graphics, but I believe this is our first glimpse at the HUD and controls of the game. Also, BIG-ASS SWORD!

I don’t know why this dude and his MegaBastard Sword only appears at the very beginning of the game – although it seemed like whoever was playing could control Sir Huge Sword here, note that the HUD is absent – but according to 1UP‘s Kevin Gifford, players will be able to customize and  swing huge swords. But of course, even heroes have to start somewhere – here’s the puny little fight stick the king gives the hero as he starts on his quest:

According to the same 1UP article that I linked to above, players will be able to choose from three archetypes – the Hero, the Prince, and the Adventurer. If you like none of those three, you can make your own hero, dot by dot, and even customize its animation. Going back to the footage, here’s the world map, which is very reminiscent of Link’s Map in the first Zelda, except that this one is pseudo-3D:

All in all, the game does have a very old school feel, but the cute graphics will probably lure in kids as well. Gamersyde is have bandwidth problems so they’ve disabled embedding for now, meaning I can’t post the video here, but all you have to do is go here to watch the high quality version, and here for the low quality one. You can also download the video if you want.  The Japanese version of 3D Dot Game Heroes just dropped this week; a North American release is coming, but we don’t know when exactly.

But I’m really curious: how are you going to keep the part of your palm underneath your thumbs from touching those buttons? Or is that the point of this mod – to enable the customer to press all 4 shoulder palm buttons at all times? I got my own controller and realized that okay if I placed my thumbs over the analog sticks, my palms wouldn’t be mashing the buttons. But what game would I be able to play decently with that grip? Super Rub-a-Dub? And even if the buttons only worked if you pressed on them hard enough, you’d have to take your thumbs off the other buttons to press them, a dilemma that is remedied by… the default layout of the controller. Ben Heck, I know you’re talented and all, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.

…

Seriously though, I must be missing something here dammit. What is the logic behind this mod?

See that arcing rainbow of… uh… rainbow vomit? (Horrible things should not also be adorable!) That’s a clear indicator of horror here. Don’t let the bright colors and muted backgrounds lull you. Critter Crunch is about filling your belly with cuddly cuteness. Biggs, the game’s “hero,” has just chomped down on some critters (or crunched down) in the above shot and is now feeding them to a larger creature.

Apparently, it’s all about the foodchain. Sounds more like bulimia to me, combined perhaps with some sort of baby bird fetish. But I’m a sucker for freaky puzzle games, which probably means I’d love this.

Critter Crunch is scheduled for the PSN store this summer.

[via Kotaku]

The stills, overall, are better than the video, I think; once even these amazing figures begin to move, they’re only animated characters once again… but the effect is still quite breathtaking in comparison to what we usually see from games.

Remarkable. We’ve come a long way since Pong, eh?

Heavy Rain, which is slated for 2010, promises a dark story packed with the potential for character death. All four main characters can die; if (or when) one kicks off, another character steps in, and the story continues. Just as in life, events don’t shatter to a screeching halt because one person fails or dies. It’s an interesting approach to an interactive experience like this.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via NeoGAF]

SCEA recently filed the patent for emotion and reaction tracking–a concept that has promise, of course, but sounds hilarious on paper, particularly when coupled with these diagrams (Ha Ha Ha) and their example of two dudes high-fiving when extolling the types of group interaction the device could read. I can see it now: one guy high fives his bro after scoring a sweet basket, and the virtual crowd erupts in cheers. Sure, it works. I guess.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the patent is that this software can be applied to all sorts of media… movies, television shows, whatever. Kinda puts the Nielsens to shame when your machine can read whether or not you’re paying attention to what you’re watching.

None of this really means anything yet, but the next few years will be interesting, as the gaming companies scramble to create crazy artificial intelligences that will destroy us all.

[Siliconera via The Escapist]