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Call to mind Wii Sports' tennis, and you don't have to stretch your imagination too much further to arrive at Ubisoft's Racquet Sports. If you own a Wii, you already own this experience, to which Ubisoft has added some variety, including ping-pong, badminton, squash, and beach tennis, and a more fleshed-out art direction than Nintendo's pack-in or even its sequel, Wii Sports Resort. There's no Mii support, but Racquet Sports offers its own dollish avatars, customized with unlockable trinkets. There's a derivative multicultural vibe, too, as the characters and playing courts span the globe in classic and fantastic scenarios. Grandma vs. dashiki-clad boy in an aquarium squash court? Yes.

Of course, the experience you don't own is "tennis" played with a motion-tracking camera. No, not Natal -- not at all. Ubisoft's USB camera, first bundled with scarcely-reviewed Your Shape (featuring Jenny McCarthy), might be on the cutting edge of a revived and revamped gaming tech trend, but its implementation in Racquet Sports is painfully dull.

FCC documents originally believed to have revealed that the PSP Go had a 480MHz processor -- over 40% more than the PSP (1000-3000) -- were actually talking about another part of the device ... the USB. Sony Computer Entertainment has stated that those extra megahertz are being used to clock the USB transfer and not the CPU.

So, other than the body and a slew of new accessories, it appears the PSP Go continues to be the same as its non-flipping cousin -- at least the processor won't put any extra drain on the handheld's batttery.

[Thanks, Rooshma]

Are you tired of dealing with the tumbleweed of cords responsible for siphoning power into your GBA SP, DS Phat, DS Lite, DSi, and your three different PSP models? Do you only have seven bucks with which to remedy said problem? Are you brave enough to trust a third-party company whose promotional materials feature glaring typos (we trust you can find it in the above image) with moving electricity from one of your expensive electronic devices into another? Can we turn your attention to Brando's 7-in-1 USB Charging Cable, the perfect gift for those who meet the criteria listed above? Can we write this whole post only using interrogative sentences? Yes, we can. Aw, crap.

... Provided that your problems are entirely limited to ownership of many recent handheld gaming devices, and inability to manage the large number of wall chargers required for such a collection. But if you find yourself burdened by too many wall warts, this item from Brando will change your life.

Basically, it's USB on one end (for your "USB solts"), and ... Game Boy Advance SP, DS, DS Lite, DSi, and PSP on the other. This single, compact, $7 item charges any of those handhelds through your computer's USB port (or your Wii's, for that matter).

Now for the standard disclaimer: there's a certain element of fear when dealing with a company like Brando for something like guiding electricity into your expensive devices. We've used some Dragon USB charging cable for the DS Lite for months with nothing to report but convenience, but your mileage may vary! As far as off-brand accessories go, a cable seems pretty okay, but we don't feel comfortable being the authority on that.

Maybe you noticed the PS3 uses mini-USB to recharge everything: Sixaxis and/or DualShock 3 controller; official Bluetooth headset; and even the soon-to-be-released Wireless Keypad. If you want to extend your gaze outside into the larger PlayStation family, the PSP-2000 and -3000 also support charging over USB. Convenient, no? What's not as convenient? A distinct lack of mini-USB outlets in our homes.

Cue: the official PlayStation "AC Adaptor" available at retailer this December for $25. You plug it into one of your many "AC" outlets and it converts all of that alternating current into sweet, delicious, USB-shaped direct current. Considering that the PS3 itself will charge your gear, we can only assume the target demographic is those of you that don't turn it on.

... But if you don't turn it on, why do you care if its peripherals are charged? Alright, we admit it. We don't know who this is for.

In addition to the costly wireless keypad, Sony is planning on introducing a new PS3 peripheral to market in December. The AC Adapter will be able to charge any two USB devices, from controllers to the Bluetooth headset to the wireless keypad. Heck, it can even charge the PSP-2000 and 3000. This will allow you to charge peripherals without having your PS3 turned on.

You can expect the peripheral on retail shelves in the second week of December for $25. However, remember -- you can save a bit of money by using your computer to charge your USB devices. You can plug a USB cable into your computer and charge a PS3 controller from there. Or, just remember to charge something while playing games on the PS3.

This is quite possibly the least surprising hardware review we've ever done. The Nyko Media Hub, available for about $20 at retailers, does exactly what it says it will do: provide additional USB ports on the PS3. This is perfect for those with recent PS3 configurations, which only feature 2 (as opposed to 4) USB ports. It may not be a big deal for many, but those that play games that require a lot of wireless peripherals, such as Rock Band or Guitar Hero may find themselves short on ports.

It shouldn't be surprising that the device works instantly. There's no indicator light to show that it's working: you just plug it in and voila. The included memory card reader is a nice plus.

The small design of the Media Hub makes it so that it doesn't stand out too much on your system. However, $20 for two additional USB ports does seem a bit pricey. This is certainly a limited appeal product, one you wouldn't be rushing out to buy. If you do decide to pick one up, at least you can be confident knowing it will work exactly as you think it will.

What do you get when you cross a device designed to track IR light and a computer-controlled missile-launching toy? A Wiimote covered in impossible-to-remove tacky duct tape residue! And also a fairly cool auto-aiming missile launcher.

It looks like a simple enough project (now that someone else has written all the code): just tape a Wiimote to the sort of USB missile launcher found at ThinkGeek (for example), connect the Wiimote to your computer using Bluetooth, and use the GlovePIE code found in the tutorial. Your turret will then aim at any IR light source! It's at your discretion whether or not to pelt that light source with foam darts.

[Via Engadget]

All Animal Crossing games are wonderful, but that's not all they have in common: as it happens, each game in the series to date has featured an unwieldy, cumbersome user interface. Every tool and item can only be selected by opening a totally separate menu, you can't skip through any of the game's (oft-repeated) dialogue, and writing letters/entering text is a royal pain in the backside, thanks to the excruciatingly annoying on-screen keyboard.

This morning, JC's hands-on impressions of Animal Crossing: City Folk revealed that Nintendo had fixed the first problem, by allowing users to cycle through their inventory with the d-pad. And now the third issue has been resolved, for City Folk will let players hook a USB keyboard up to their Wiis -- superb news! Just give us the ability to skip instantly through Nook's natterings and Blathers' blather, and we'll be pleased as punch.

Our friends across the pond (and Chris) have a choice when it comes to keyboards for their Wii. No, we're not talking about the wide assortment of cheap USB keyboards that are out there and compatible with the console, we mean Logic 3's Wii keyboard above. Aside from its plain design, it features the normal QWERTY set-up and will cost you £14.99 (about $30). It will release on July 18th.

[Via Engadget]

The cheaper 40GB is missing a few features, the most noteworthy being backwards compatibility with PS2 games. However, it has a few other minor quirks. For example, it only has two USB ports, instead of four, and it's missing some memory card readers. (The 20GB launch machine is also missing memory card readers.) Well, Nyko will have none of that nonsense!

From the press release: "We found that many of our customers who had purchased the popular 40 GB version of the PS3, which has less USB ports and no media card reader, were looking for an affordable solution to expand with these features," said Chris Arbogast, Director of Marketing at Nyko Technologies. "With the Media Hub, an additional three USB ports and a media card reader are now possible for all PS3 models, allowing consumers to enjoy the full capabilities of their multimedia system no matter which model they choose."

The Media Hub is expected to hit stores in August, with a rather steep asking price of $20.

The two USB ports on the back of the Nintendo Wii don't get a whole lot of love, but that might be changing sometime in the near future. According to PC World, a recent posting on Nintendo's job board calls for a Software/Hardware Tester specializing in creating and executing "a test plan for Wii's USB devices."

We already know that Rock Band on the Wii will utilize a USB hub for its peripherals, but the job posting suggests even more USB devices might be enroute. These could include USB keyboards for future online games, or possibly even an eventual external storage solution (though Nintendo's recent disparaging comments on the matter make this unlikely).

[Via Engadget]

Unemployed loafers might do well to apply down at Nintendo, as they need a new lackey to take care of some business. That business might be very interesting, as the opening is for an experienced USB ... dude. This means the under-utilized USB capabilities on the Wii might be getting some decent stuff for future pluggage. External memory is the hot ticket, but that's still kinda boring. How about this thing for plenty of cool air during a hot, sweaty Wii Sports session?

Hit the jump for full details of the position up for grabs.

Are you likely to be spending some money at Target in the near future? Then you might as well head on over there sometime soon and pick up this Speed Racer-themed gift card (which you can use later to buy what you actually wanted in the first place). Even if you're not interested at all in the upcoming game (or movie), you'll still land yourself the free mini USB 2.0 Flash drive that comes with it. The drive only holds 62.8 MB worth of stuff, but should that bother you, you're missing the key word here -- free.

Initially, 51.6 MB will be taken up by promotional Speed Racer goodies, but that stuff can always be deleted. Those of you who are looking forward to seeing the Mach 5 in action soon enough, though, might enjoy some of the extras provided. According to GamerTell, the drive includes:

• Five coloring book-style pages featuring the Mach 5 and Racer X's car (PDF file)
• A coupon for $1 off a Speed Racer Powerburst racer and $3 off a Speed Racer Powerburst figure-8 track set (PDF file)
• Two Speed Racer desktop wallpapers
• A Speed Racer family movie (MOV and WMV files)
• A special code for the Wii version of the video game (we wonder what that will do/unlock?)

With Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and even Yoshi-themed Wii casemods already out in the wild, it was only a matter of time before someone personalized their console with everyone's favorite mascot, Mario. BeerBellyJoe sculpted the plumber's figure out of clay, affixing him to one of the Wii's side panels before painting the entire system. Interestingly, that cloud looks nothing like the bush!

It isn't visible in the image above, but there's a pipe on the other side that doubles as a Wii remote charger. The front of the decorated base also has an extra USB port and an LED mushroom that lights up when the port is in use. Hit the gallery below for more shots or click the "read" link to check out Joe's guide on how to make your own Mario Wii mod.


[Via Technabob]