Hi-tech Frontier

Guitar Hero 5 axe takes an evolutionary step forward We've already noted drum alterations and turntable possibilities for Guitar Hero 5, so lets complete the set with some info on the new axe. The first major change is an utterly unnecessary but all the same appreciated white pick guard, which is paired up with a moody red paintjob for the body. Internal signaling has gone digital to minimize latency, while the strum bar has been tweaked for the sake of reliability. Ease of use has also been addressed through the addition of colored dots to the neck of the guitar and slight reliefs on the top, middle, and bottom fret buttons to allow full sensory awareness of the pseudo-guitar at all times. Eager rockers can get it alongside their annual copy of Guitar Hero this September.

Rock delivers BD / Core i7-equipped Xtreme 790 and Xtreme 840 gaming laptops Can you believe it? It's been practically a year to the day since we've seen any new fragging machines from the lads over at Rock, but thankfully things are still moving after being rescued by a rolling Stone. The latest duo to take Europe by storm involves the Xtreme 790 and Xtreme 840, both of which can be outfitted with NVIDIA's 1GB GeForce GTX 280M (or two of 'em, if you're feeling froggy), Blu-ray drives, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, WiFi, four USB 2.0 sockets, an HDMI port, Windows Vista (with a gratis upgrade to Win7 this October), a 7-in-1 card reader, 3TB of HDD space and a 3-year on-site warranty. Heck, you can even toss a Core i7 in there if you think your legs are calloused enough to handle it. Both machines can be ordered up right now, with the 790 range starting at £1,999 ($3,258) and the less extravagant 840 line picking up at £1,699 ($2,769).

Beatles Rockband Pre-Order only $212.49 Beatles fans can pre-order (release date is September 9, 2009) their XBox 360 Rockband Limited Edition Premium Bundle for 15% off the standard price of $249.99 making the net cost $212. Included in your kit is “The Beatles: Rock Band” software for Xbox 360, Höfner bass controller, The Beatles branded Rock Band drums, microphone, microphone stand, and special content. Coupon expires 7/31.

HORI's revamped TwinStick EX: fit for Virtual On addicts only We'll admit, that cheap-o Virtual On mod we peeked earlier this year was pretty stellar, but those obsessed with the anime-themed title are likely tired of using a hacked up Xbox 360 gamepad in order to advance from stage to stage. If you've found yourself in that increasingly narrow niche, HORI has a fine piece you should feast your eyes upon. The refreshed TwinStick EX was designed specifically for Microsoft's latest console and to be used specially with Virtual On. The result? A ¥30,000 ($325) joystick that you'll probably never quite justify the purchase of to your significant other. Get your pre-orders in early; we get the feeling these are bound to sell out.

Translucent XCM Eye Candy case encourages licking of DSi Oh sure, the DSi was the definite hotness when it sprung onto the scene earlier this year, but if you're growing somewhat bored of the same old camera + touchscreen action, why not spruce things up with an all new exterior? The case you're looking at above does require the disassembly of your console, and thus, you can kiss your remaining warranty goodbye. Frankly, we view the sacrifice as thoroughly worth it, as XCM's Eye Candy shell is practically guaranteed to get more eyes, fingers and tongues on your machine. And really, who wouldn't want that?

EA announces latest NERF Wii game with new and improved blaster Thought all your dreams of an all-in-one NERF gun / Wii controller were fulfilled with the original NERF Blaster Controller? Think again. 'Cause EA has now announced its follow-up NERF 2: N-Strike Elite game, which will of course also come bundled with a new and improved NERF Switch Shot EX-3 blaster. As before, this one will house the Wiimote inside to let you use it with the game or let you ditch it to take things outside (or to the office), and it adds a new attachable "NERF decoder scope" that'll let you detect enemy weak spots, decode secret messages, and uncover other hidden gameplay elements. And, well, it's a NERF gun and a Wii controller. Is there anything else you really need to know? No word on a price just yet, but you can look for the bundle to launch sometime this fall.

Super Game Boy Commander Controller Designed For Use With The SNES Super Game Boy Back in the day you could buy a special cartridge for your Super Nintendo known as the ‘Super Game Boy‘ that allowed you to play Game Boy titles on your TV. But apparently someone felt that using the Super Nintendo’s controller for a Game Boy game was just too confusing, which led to the creation of this bizarre accessory known as the Super Gameboy Commander. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that it has the same button layout as the Game Boy did, with a few extra ones allowing you to also play Super Nintendo (or Super Famicom) titles with it. I find it hard to believe that anyone using the Super Game Boy would be jamming Tetris pieces in the wrong places because they were confused by the SNES’s control pad, and I find it even harder to believe that there would still be a market for this thing today. But believe it or not, NCSX is selling them brand new in their original boxes for $19.90.

Guitar Hero 5's drums getting a Rock Band makeover? Looks like that bulky Guitar Hero World Tour drumset might be getting itself an extreme makeover in time for the launch of Guitar Hero 5. According to our source, the blurred render above is the newest plastic percussion peripheral, and while functionality remains the same, it's moved the control console to the forefront, given the cymbals a more well-rounded existence, and done away with some of that body, particularly on the top and on the stand -- all in a all, a much more Rock Band look, if we do say so ourselves. The back of the unit contains three mini ports -- two for kick pedals, and one ever mysterious black mini jack. Yeah, Rock Band's drums have that mysterious unused port, too, and who knows what nefarious needs either will serve. What's suspicious is that it's two months before GH5's release and we still haven't seen this officially, whereas the previous set was ceremoniously unveiled almost si...

Smartfish PRO:Motion Auto-Adjusting Game Controller So not only are video games destroying our minds, our physiques and the fabric of moral society, but now it turns out they’re not so great for our wrists either. Well at least the standard game controllers aren’t. That’s why a company called Smartfish, known for their ergonomic peripherals, have developed the PRO:Motion Game Controller. Since everyone’s hands and wrists aren’t the same, the PRO:Motion gamepad can actually bend and rotate in the middle to create a more comfortable and ergonomically friendly controller for every user. But here’s the really cool part. Using the company’s DPC or ‘Dynamic Positioning Controller’ system, the PRO:Motion will actually study your “usage pattern” and make periodic but nearly imperceptible adjustments to the controller via a set of tiny onboard motors. So in other words, you don’t have to futz around with it to find the perfect angles, it will do it for you automatically. Unfortunately pricing i...

Ben Heck's latest portable Xbox 360 adds sleek white finish, Jasper motherboard Even after five iterations, Ben Heck's portable Xbox 360 models are still a spectacle to behold -- he seems to keep outdoing himself every time, both in functionality and style. This latest model has the appearance of an oversized plastic polycarbonate Macbook when closed, and packs a 17-inch Gateway LCD panel. The big improvements here include the Jasper motherboard, a flush-mount DVD door and side panels, digital potentiometer / button volume controls, and an ethernet port in addition to WiFi. Not everything's been kept, as Heck says he ditched the camera, not seeing a point for it -- but hey, there's still two USB ports if any of his (already spoken for) customers want to add it. Impressive work, indeed.

GameStop hits the sauce for the 4th, offers up bizarre Wii bundles Are you in the market for a "Summer Fun" Wii bundle to get your Independence Day started right? Oh, yeah? Fantastic, 'cause GameStop has just the packages for you. For the low, low price of $249.99, the aforementioned bundle consists of a Nintendo Wii console, a water gun and... wait, what? Amazingly enough, GameStop has seen fit to bundle a $0.25 water gun with a Wii and call it a bundle; heck, it's even limiting them to two per household. If that's not strange enough for you, there's also the Pirate Tattoo bundle and Take a Bath with a Buddy (a rubber ducky, just so we're clear) bundle. Talk about really taking advantage of that whole "freedom" thing.

Rare N64 Power Glove-Like Controller On eBay As a kid, not only did I not know anyone with a Nintendo Power Glove, but I didn’t know anyone who wanted one either. So I’m not sure why a third-party company, Reality Quest in this case, thought that someone would want a similar accessory for the N64. Like the Power Glove, ‘The Glove’ controller (as it’s so originally called) doesn’t have any motion sensing technology at all. It just features the various buttons and the analog stick from the N64’s controller engineered into a contraption designed to strap to your forearm, with a slot for the rumble pak underneath. If you’re a hardcore Nintendo fan this might make a unique addition to your collection, but it with a ‘Buy It Now’ price of just $39.99 it’s obvious the seller isn’t expecting there to be much demand for it these days either.

SUPERTENDO portable SNES hack elevates an artform to something impressively commercial Yeah, we're all been-there-done-that with portable SNESs these days, but we've never seen it done like this. Marshall posted his creation, dubbed the "SUPERTENDO," to Ben Heck's forums, which seems to imply (along with the looks) that he took some queues from similar designs already floating around those parts. What really sets this one apart, however, is the vacuum-formed chassis and the instant "make me an offer" move to a sale -- being owned by a major faceless media conglomerate ourselves, we like to see a guy who's out for a buck.

Sony patents new Cell-based PS2 emulator At first glance, we thought this all sounded a little too familiar: as you know, some PS3s had software-based PS2 emulation way back in 2007. So it was a little bit of a surprise when Siliconera unearthed patent docs dated last December (and only published by the patent office late last week) for the technology to decode and recompile software written for the PS2's Emotion Engine on the current device's Cell Processor. There's been some speculation that this functionality might be included in the rumored slim PS3 at some point -- either in the form of support for your old school PS2 discs or for digital downloads. Who knows? You might be playing your old copy of Shrek: Super Party! on your PS3 sooner than you think.

Sega-licensed "Retro Gen" might have you hunting for cartridges Sega's already given its seal of approval to a few Genesis / Mega Drive-based handhelds, but never one like this new "Retro Gen" device from Innex, which makes use of actual, dust-collecting cartridges instead of just some mere on-board memory. Of course, not everyone has a stack of Genesis carts at their disposal (a sad state, indeed), so the handheld also apparently comes pre-loaded with 20 unspecified games, and you'll supposedly even be able to eventually load some "licensed ROMs" onto an SD card using a special cart. While it's still not clear exactly how widespread of a release it'll get, at least one retailer does already has it up for pre-order for just $49.99 (discounted from $59.99), and it's promising a ship date of July 25th.

Logitech's totally rad G19 gaming keyboard now on sale For no particular reason -- let's just blame blatant capitalism in the face of uncertain times -- Dell's online store has a 30 day exclusive on Logitech's new G19 gaming keyboard, and just started selling the thing at $180 a pop, or $260 when bundled with the G9 laser gaming mouse. Sure, that might sound like a lot of money, but just remember the next time you reach a weathered, calloused index finger across your keyboard to toss your last grenade at a grim virtual enemy: you could've paid $180 to do the exact same thing while listening to Korn.

Slimmer PS3? Rumors of some sort of Sony announcement at E3 have been floating around for a couple weeks now, and it certainly seems like something's afoot -- hot on the heels of that officially non-existent white US DualShock 3 appearing this morning, we're hearing that a revised PS3 is in the works. It's not clear exactly what's going down, but the hot whispers right now say that it's the long-rumored slimmed-down redesign of the current console, not just a color change or storage bump. That makes a certain amount of sense, given the endless chatter of a price cut and Sir Howard Stringer's recent comments about the system being too expensive -- a trimmed-up redesign is right on schedule with those smaller Cell and RSX chips, and it could still possibly include some of that rumored motion-sensing hardware while driving down costs. On the other hand, after all this speculation and hype it would be a total Sony move to just pump out the same machine in a differen...

Cyber DSi Game Grip - Another Portable Device Becomes Less So The Nintendo DS and DSi are great little consoles, but are there really that many titles that justify the use of this grip accessory? Has anyone ever had their DS fly out of their hands during a round of Mario Kart? Sure it’s convenient that you can stash an extra game cart and an SD card on the back, and there’s a built-in stand, but other than that, is this really necessary? From what I can tell it’s only available in Japan at the moment, and if anyone can dig up pricing info please feel free to leave it in the comments.

EME : Evolutional Mobile Entertainment The innovative EME designed by genius Shao Wei Huang makes the initiative approach by providing video, gaming and music in a mobile device. The dual screen set of connections can be used in tandem according to the best way to the functions is being used. Smartly the other sleeks out its underneath. It also displays the fundamental functions such as contacts, photos, SMS etc. The second screen let you access secondary data. But if you turn the whole device sideways it turns into a portable gaming gadget that gives you the advantage to mimic any control scheme through the touch screen facility.

Logitech Unveils An Updated Version Of Their PS3 Guitar Hero Wireless Controller Today Logitech announced an updated version of their Wireless Guitar Controller Premiere Edition for the PS3. In addition to the new glossy black finish, the guitar incorporates some minor improvements in the build and design based on feedback from Guitar Hero players over the past few months. But fans of the original version need not worry, the new model still has the heft and high-end features of the original like real metal frets and a touch sensitive neck slider and star power buttons to justify the $200 price tag. Look for it to be available sometime in May in the US, and in Europe beginning in June.