June 25 - 10:55am EDT   Sonic Solutions, the company behind Roxio, on Thursday announced its streaming movie service CinemaNow will be made available for the Nintendo Wii. Sonic will partner with Fujisoft to bring the former's content to the game console via the latter's video-on-demand Everyone's Theater Wii service. While the announcement only covers Japan, its successful integration potentially leads to the service arriving in other countries as well. CinemaNow offers more than 1,500 streaming movies, short films, and concerts to buy or rent. [full story]

June 12 - 11:05pm EDT   Microsoft's Project Natal could not just be an add-on for the Xbox 360 but the foundation of a new Xbox altogether, according to fresh rumors. Those at 1UP hear that the full body motion controller will be the "cornerstone" of a new console and come with it. Details of the new Xbox itself aren't clear, but it's believed the machine could be an evolution of the Xbox 360 that has extra performance but which could still run legacy games. It would ship in fall 2010 and could be announced as early as the Game Developers Conference in March of that year. [full story]

June 9 - 3:30pm EDT   ASUS vice chairman Jonathan Tsang today said in an interview that his company intends to beat Apple in design in the US. Even though the Eee PC line has been successful in the country, Tsang tells the New York Times that ASUS has little recognition in the US and that it plans to rely on engineering to boost its name, with Apple's MacBooks as the conspicuous target. The company's focus on product design reportedly leaves little room for a marketing budget and thus gives it little room to depend on advertising. [full story]

June 9 - 10:35am EDT   Sony is rumored to be getting ready to drop the price of its PlayStation 3 gaming console to coincide with the next release of EA Sports' Madden this fall, according to a Monday IndustryGamers report. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia notes that Madden is due for an August 18th release and claims that "industry sources" know the console should lower in price in time for the game's appearance, which could potentially boost sales. [full story]

June 4 - 3:05pm EDT   Nintendo in a late E3 update today added special colors for the Wii and DSi in its home country. Normally only available in white, the Wii will now come in a special black; the DSi has already been available in multiple colors but will get a bright red color trim. Both should sell at the same prices as regular colors. [full story]

June 2 - 1:05pm EDT   Nintendo chose its E3 press event to give an early look at the Wii Vitality Sensor. The add-on attaches to a Wii remote and measures a player's pulse rate by inserting a finger into its slot. Rather than try to stir up gamers, the sensor can be used to encourage them to slow down their pulses and relax, the company's Satoru Iwata says. [full story]

June 1 - 5:05pm EDT   PC and games console peripherals maker Nyko has recently announced the upcoming release of two new peripherals, the Zoom Case for the portable Nintendo DSi gaming system and the Type Pad Pro for the Nintendo Wii console. The former adds an 8x optical zoom to the DSi's 640x480 camera thanks to a detachable lens and has the added benefit of protecting the DSi as it wraps it entirely. [full story]

June 1 - 2:00pm EDT   Activision today provided fuller details of the Tony Hawk Ride controller. The board sits on the floor and is fully aware both of pressure on the board as well as movement on its sides; users can lean on the board for manuals and other such moves while using a free foot to "push" the board or assist in tricks. It can further recognize spins on the board itself for reverts or other rotation-based moves. [full story]

May 29 - 4:25pm EDT   A limited edition version of the upcoming DJ Hero video game will include exclusive greatest hits CDs from rappers Jay-Z and Eminem, along with an advanced version of the turntable controller, USA Today said on Friday. How the controller differs from the standard unit was not detailed, however. An offshoot of the highly popular Guitar Hero franchise from developer Activision, the limited edition game will also have a DJ stand and metal traveling case for the turntable. [full story]

May 15 - 10:15am EDT   Activision today teased that one of its central non-music games at E3, Tony Hawk Ride, will have its own controller. The game will center on a skateboard-shaped foot controller that, much like a Wii Balance Board, will have players lean as they would on a real board for at least basic control. Although the full controls haven't been explained, a set of side buttons will ease navigating through regular menus and may ultimately be used on combination with balancing to perform tricks. [full story]

May 12 - 4:05pm EDT   Rumors of a Xbox full-body motion controller gained fuel on Tuesday with a story corroborating the claims. The Wall Street Journal mirrors the earlier leaks and says the peripheral will hinge on a 3D camera system that recognizes not just basic movement but also depth, giving it more control than a device like Sony's EyeToy. It reportedly may show at the E3 gaming event, which starts June 2nd, but probably wouldn't ship until 2010 even if so. [full story]

May 5 - 5:20pm EDT   The rumor of Microsoft developing a motion-sensing system for its Xbox 360 gaming console has potentially been corroborated as the technology is reported to come from a third party. While this is not confirmed, Microsoft is likely to source the technology from a company called 3DV and its ZCam hardware and software. Reports of a possible purchase of 3DV by Microsoft were rampant in February. [full story]

May 5 - 3:25pm EDT   It's already known that The Beatles: Rock Band game and related custom controllers are due to ship on September 9th and details on the controller guitars have been recently revealed, thanks to a few product listing on retailer Gamespot's website. The Gretsch Duo-Jet and Rickenbacker 325 guitar controllers, styled after George Harrison's and John Lennon's actual respective guitars, will launch at the same time as the game itself, priced at $100 each for all three systems. [full story]

May 1 - 3:20pm EDT   Microsoft will try to chase after the Nintendo Wii's popularity by introducing a motion controller of its own, a photo leak implies. In place of detecting the behavior of a controller as with the Wii, the Xbox 360 peripheral shown to Engadget would amount only to a bar with two sensors, a microphone and a webcam that all detect players' body movements. Users could mimic the exact actions of the characters they control, such as punching or jumping, and could perform general interface actions such as pinching or scrolling. [full story]

May 1 - 8:35am EDT   Sony is purportedly set to revitalize its sagging PS3 sales through a new motion controller, if a rumor proves authentic. An apparent source for Variety claims to have seen a controller that uses a combination of a webcam, presumably mounted in front of the TV, as well as LED lights on the peripheral itself. As the system would detect the pattern and colors of the lights, it's purportedly more accurate than the Nintendo Wii's default infrared remote and can track distance from the TV as well as speed. [full story]