Filed under: Gaming

It looks like a recent PlayStation 3 theft took a few more twists and turns than your garden variety console heist, with not one but two individuals finding themselves finding themselves short a PS3 before all is said and done, and one of ‘em eventually winding up with an unwanted Xbox 360. Our story picks up when one Dustin Waller gets a used PS3 as a gift and goes about using it, unknowingly, under the previous owners PlayStation Network ID. As luck would have it, that “used” PS3 was actually stolen, and after a month of good times, the police showed up at his door and took the console away. Apparently, they used Waller’s IP address to track down his location, which we assume means Sony was also involved, although that tidbit’s not exactly clear. But that’s not all, when Waller went back to the 3-D Games store that the PS3 was purchased at to get a refund, they refused him, and would only give him an Xbox 360 in return, which Waller complains “isn’t nearly as expensive or sophisticated as the PlayStation.”

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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Filed under: Peripherals, News

A new peripheral for the PS3 has just been announced at Leipzig. A wireless keypad is similar to Xbox 360’s current chatpad, but it will connect to the controller through the top USB port. The chatpad will also enable “touchpad mode for mouse input.” A picture of the keypad attached to a controller, after the jump.

Continue reading Wireless keypad attachment revealed for PS3

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Filed under: Gaming

It’s a couple of years late, but it looks like this Pokemon-themed DS Lite has finally made the trip over from Japan, as evidenced by this shot apparently snapped at a GameStop store. While there doesn’t seem to be a game included with this particular bundle, you will get a matching carrying case, a 22-minute Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DVD, a Grovyle poster, and a Pokemon t-shirt that we’re guessing anyone buying this will never want to take off. All for the usual price of $129.99.

[Via DS Fanboy]

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Filed under: Peripherals, Community

With SCEA bringing word of cross-peripheral compatibility for PS3 rhythm games yesterday, consumers looking for that “one music set to rule them all” seems to be a reality drawing closer. However, making sense of the fickle plastic instruments jungle is still quite a daunting task and knowing where each individual peripheral fits into the mass is still a convoluted process. Making life easier on all of you, Joystiq have provided a simple to read chart which clearly illustrates compatible peripherals across all platforms — behold the Instrument Compatibility Matrix, version 3.0. Color-coded and accompanied by lots of visuals, hunting for that perfect set to fit your needs couldn’t be more convenient.

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Filed under: Gaming

Dell did its best to unload its seemingly abundant supply of Xbox 360 Elite bundles by selling them alongside XPS M1730 machines, but just in case a few of you didn’t have $3,000 set aside to score the both of them, Dell is now offering the Elite bundle all by its lonesome for mere $299 — a nice $150 savings. To un-sweeten the deal, they’re also tossing in a couple ugly faceplates, Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Get ‘em before they’re gone.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: e-Distribution Games

The keen eyes at Siliconera have done it yet again! They’ve spotted Puzzle Quest for the PSN. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Revenge of the Plague Lord is a downloadable PSN game with online play, according to the ratings service. Considering Puzzle Quest successfully launched on pretty every console imaginable, we don’t doubt that D3 is looking to expand their fanbase and sell more copies of their addictive puzzle-RPG hybrid.

We’ve embedded footage of the XBLA version for your reference.

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

ASUS has hardly been keeping this one a secret, but the company has only just now finally gotten completely official with its Eee Stick gaming controller, and it’s taken the opportunity to drop a few new details about it. That includes word that the device will be “bundled exclusively” with “certain models” of the Eee PC and Eee Box (which doesn’t exactly narrow things down), and that it’ll come with a collection of games that have been designed specifically for it (we’re not getting our hopes up there). Otherwise, ASUS has confirmed that the device operates on the 2.4GHz frequency, which could be interesting depending on what other wireless devices you have nearby, and that each stick will require a pair of AA batteries, which ASUS says will give you three days of continuous use, and no doubt a good deal longer if you want to avoid a trip to the hospital.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

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Filed under: News

Gaming bible Famitsu has revealed a password that allows for Altair’s costume without the assassin’s emblem. The password is “aottrykmyn” and you can enter it from the camouflage menu after you get the Metal Gear Mk. II. Another password that you can enter in this fashion is “jmsotsynrn” which will yield the Type 17 pistol. Have fun!

[Via Siliconera]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

AMD’s got a new performance-per-dollar platform for running Phenom processors without breaking the bank. The 790GX is being positioned right below AMD’s top of the line 790FX, with a typical motherboard built around the technology costing around $355. Primary advantages of the chipset include Advanced Clock Calibration, which allows Phenom speeds of 3.2GHz and up, and ATI Radeon HD 3300 integrated graphics — though of course you can ramp up to discreet graphics or CrossFireX if you’re really feeling it. The folks at HotHardware already took a chipset for a spin, and while it won’t be besting the best from Intel, it seems to be showing some strong leadership in its price category compared to related Intel and NVIDIA technologies. It’s shipping now.

Read - AMD PR
Read - Hot Hardware review

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Filed under: Rants, News

With the release of the new Home beta, we now have a much clearer idea of how these region restrictions, that we discovered at E3, are being implemented. It seems that the client reacts to your console’s native region, locking you out of any Home servers that don’t match it. That means that if you’re a UK gamer who imported from the US, you’ll be spending all of your time with Americans inside Home. If you imported from Japan … well, you can guess where that’s headed.

What we find bizarre is that it’s such a strict lock-out, and that you’re not given any degree of choice in the matter. It seems so weird that anyone can access any region’s PSN Store, but not the online social networking hub. We can only assume that similar restrictions as on the store will be made for purchasing within Home. That is to say, if you’re a UK credit card owner you won’t be able to spend anything in the US Home without some jiggery pokery.

Obviously, this all makes sense to Sony. Home is meant to be a big income generator for them; mostly through advertising. They want the most appropriate eyes to see these adverts in order to maximise the “click through” rate. There’s no point advertising Mountain Dew to a UK citizen, for example. But console-specific region locking is not the answer. At the very least, set up an IP location check or, god forbid, give people a choice.

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