Gaming

As if it's not bad enough that video games are turning our nation's youth into mindless killers, public health experts are increasingly worried that games are also helping kids turn into overweight couch potatoes.

A regional health insurance company wants to see if it can improve the odds, according to an Associated Press report, by encouraging kids to shift their PlayStation 2 time to the physically demanding "Dance Dance Revolution."

West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency is conducting a survey in which 85 overweight youngster are being encouraged to work out several times a day with … Read more

A small Texas company thinks it has a lock on the next breakthrough in video games--physical pain.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that VirTra Systems developed its technology for a military training simulator. The system replicates a number of modern combat situations, such as street gun battles and taking out suicide bombers. If the player/soldier doesn't shoot the enemy soon enough, the computer gets to shoot back, delivering a powerful electrical jolt to the player.

VirTra spokseman Steve Haag said the simulation encourages trainees to make quick, accurate decisions, even if they're hurting. "You have to … Read more

Just so you know we're not complete morons when it comes to popular culture--we, too, were mighty excited when the Sony's PlayStation Portable merited a starring role in the most recent episode of "South Park."

The "Best Friends Forever" episode, which premiered a few days ago, begins with several characters lining up to buy a PSP. Accident-prone Kenny is the only one to actually get one, earning him a quick date with a speeding truck and then heaven, where he learns that the PSP is in fact a secret weapon to prevent Satan's … Read more

We're left to wonder anew what the heck is wrong with today's kids, thanks to a report in the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle that documents the efforts of a 9-year-old boy there to swap a loaded handgun for an Xbox game console.

The newspaper, working from police reports, says the unnamed tot hatched a plan with a classmate to trade his Xbox for a pistol the boy was confident he could snatch from his grandfather's closet. The Xbox owner chickened out on the deal and told his mother, but his buddy was ready to go through with his … Read more

If you love something, tear it to pieces and see if you can stick it back together.

That seems to be part of the Geek Code, judging from the regularity with which dissection Web pages inevitably follow the release of a hot new gadget.

The latest is Sony's PlayStation Portable, which receives its vivisection courtesy of InformIT.

Writer Seth Fogie finds few surprises as he carefully pries apart the PSP innards, but concludes that it should be relatively easy to make small modifications, such as adding an external antenna to boost WiFi reception.

The article ends with the PSP … Read more

It plays games, dishes up movies and music and serves as a fine mirror replacement for impromptu grooming needs. But that's still not enough for some folks, who won't be satisfied until their PlayStation Portable will let them search for diet pills on eBay.

Sony has more-or-less promised the WiFi-enabled Web gadget will be equipped for Web browsing at some point, but details are still be worked out in the United States. South Koreans, however, can look forward to full Web functionality from Day 1 when the PSP goes on sale there May 2.

The Associated Press reports … Read more

Geez, why can't you people be satisfied with $20 copy of "Hellboy" and free episodes of "Speed Racer?"

Whatever the reason, beaming owners of Sony's new PlayStation Portable are still scrambling for ways to display more types of content on the gadgets gorgeous screen.

Gizmodo points to a tutorial on how to get TV programs from TiVo's TiVoToGo onto a PSP. We'll not comment on the process, except to note that the FAQ wisely ends with, "This is a pain in the ***; what other options do I have?"

On a … Read more

From the Dept. of We Tried to Warn You, Sony user forums are already starting to fill up with laments about PlayStation Portables with dead pixels and other screen defects.

The PSP's Japanese launch was accompanied by scattered reports of glitchy screens and Sony indifference to the defects. U.S. consumers can pretty much intuit the same from reading Page 13 of the instruction manual:

"Red, blue or green spots (bright spots) or black spots (dark spots) may appear in certain locations of the LCD screen. The appearance of such spots is a normal occurrence associated with LCD … Read more

Video options for Sony's new PlayStation Portable are still somewhat limited, especially if your cultural tastes run a bit north of "Hellboy."

But that'll change slowly, as Sony and smart marketing droids offer video clips formatted for the sexy new gadget.

The biggest collection comes from the rather well-hidden PSP page of Sony's Connect service, where you'll find about a dozen free clips to download, including two episodes of cult cartoon "Speed Racer."

The legibility-challenged site for international cable channel 29HDN has a new PSP section with a few downloadable movie trailers … Read more