If you've been wanting to snag the Xbox 360 wireless adapter but unwilling to stomach the incredibly steep $99 price tag, we have good news. According to GamerDeals.net, Buy.com will be hosting a sale on the peripheral starting this Sunday, January 18 at midnight (PST) and ending January 25. The WiFi adapter price will be slashed by 30%, lowering the price to a (slightly) more palatable $69.99. Sure, it's still a far cry from what typical adapters cost, but it's certainly better.

If that doesn't float your boat, Buy.com will also be offering the red wireless controller bundle -- which includes a Play & Charge Kit -- for $42.99, a significant savings over the $64.99 suggested price. GamerDeals suspects the products will likely sell out quickly, and we're inclined to agree, so you might want to start warming up your clicking finger now.

Our faces lit up this morning after seeing this image on Famitsu's site. Surely, this was it: Nintendo's long-awaited solution to the storage woes of every Wii-owning geek and otaku on the planet. Alas, no. After scrambling for a machine translation of the accompanying kanji, our hopes were emphatically mangled. This is no HDD unit, but a portable air conditioner the "Nintendo WiFi Network Adapter." Once again, life had thrown us a cruel curveball. Happy Monday morning, us.

Anyway, if you struggle to get your Wii or DS online (and we know from experience that it can be fiddly), then this dinky wireless LAN router is for you. It can be used with the Wii, the DS, your PC, and other devices, and will be available on Nintendo's Japanese homepage from September 18th, priced at ¥5,800 (US$53). There's no news yet on a launch outside Japan, though as the Nintendo WiFi USB Connector was discontinued late last year, a western release would be a safe bet.

Hit the break for three more images, one of which depicts the adapter's three modes: "Router," "Bridge" (for connecting to your Wii or DS via another router), and "Auto" (which automatically switches your network). As for our ongoing storage issues, we're still waiting, Shiggy/Reggie/Satoru ...

Those of you who booted up the Wii this morning and checked out the Mario Kart Channel may have noticed that the first competition has finally been opened for entry! The process is simple: complete three laps of Mario Circuit as quickly as possible, upload your time to Nintendo's big list 'o times, wait until the deadline (May 9th or May 10th, depending on your timezone), and get ready to bask in internet glory. Hurray, right?

Wrong.

When we think of Mario Kart time trials, we think of gradually shaving milliseconds off of our best times, of taking every corner as finely as possible, of finding the best way to utilize our three mushrooms, of locating the perfect racing line, and of keeping our noses just ahead of the time trial ghosts. Yet this first Mario Kart Wii competition totally misses the point.

For instance, it's not a time trial at all, but a fully fledged race, complete with eleven opponents and all the usual items. In other words, you can take every corner as flawlessly as possible, only to get blue-shelled on the final straight. Which doesn't strike us as a terribly fair contest. We guess this is meant to level the playing field for newer players, but shouldn't more skillful players be justly rewarded?

Anyway, if you do want to try your hand at being robbed of a deserved victory, this blogger's best time so far is a quite appalling 2:03.325.

Capcom has announced that Mega Man Star Force 2 will be out for the DS in June for $30. This action-RPG follow-up to last year's game follows in its Pokemon-like style, releasing in two different editions: Zerker X Saurian and Zerker X Ninja. (Huh. Where's the love for Ninja X Saurian?)

The local- and WiFi-network-able game relies on collecting new characters and collaborating with friends. With the right connections, players assemble a "portfolio of Battle Cards with distinct attributes," according to a Capcom fact sheet. We've been trying to get the kids -- and our closeted adult gamer friends -- off Pokemon for years. Maybe this is a step in the right direction?

Further proving that all electronic devices are becoming self-aware and plotting the destruction of the human race, the IT staff at Morrisville State College recently found that a signal generated by the Xbox 360's radio receiver (the component that searches for wireless controllers) may interfere with other radio devices transmitting on the same 2.4GHz band. Some Bluetooth devices, like the IT staff's headsets, were negatively affected when around the signal, which constantly transmits as long as the system is plugged in to a power source.

The college's IT staff hypothesizes that many wireless LANs experience some interference when subjected to the 360's signal, though it may not be noticeable. We know the truth -- this potentially harmless signal is just the 360's way of communicating with our toaster and microwave, telling them to stab us in our sleep.

[Via EvilAvatar]

We've known about Brawl's online mode for a while now, but today's dojo update takes a closer look at the nuts and bolts of how it all works when playing with friends (you may recall that you can play with non-friends, but their name won't be visible). And boy, does it look simple.

The first thing you'll need to do, as you'd expect, is swap Friend Codes. Yes, they're a royal pain in everybody's backside, but let's face facts: due to Nintendo's "safety first" approach, they're here to stay. Once Friend Codes have been entered into your Wii, they stay there forever, allowing you to view the status of your Brawl buddies. From there, if you fancy some fisticuffs, it's simply a matter of somebody hosting the game, and the rest of your pals piling in. Piece of cake, eh?

An alarming press release made the gaming news circuit last week; stating in layman's terms that WiFi signals can interfere with the natural methods of passing heavy metal toxins (which are theorized as one of the causes of autism) through the body, which can accelerate and worsen symptoms of autism.

However, before throwing that DS or PSP into the nearest lead-coated dumpster, you may want to read Ars Technica's response to the press release. In it, they bring the credibility of the authors into question, and debunk the report's main argument, all the while showing the possible ulterior motives of the two writers.

Considering that the numerous health agencies that have studied the possible health risks of WiFi devices and mobile phones have never found any danger from using wireless technology, we're inclined to agree with Ars Technica. But considering the growth of WiFi technology, and the general lack of understanding about the causes of autism, we'd be surprised if this is the last report of its kind.

[Via EvilAvatar]

Yesterday's Game Night was one that I ended up not participating in. I showed up, then something came up and I was away from my laptop for the majority of the time. For that, I apologize. All of you new folk who showed up, please understand that is not a usual thing for me. I just wanted to let you all know I feel pretty guilty about it.

Hit up the poll below (new and improved!) and let's get the ball rolling toward next week's session.

Oh, you have no idea what a relief it is that it's Thursday. We've been waiting for this since ... well, since last Thursday. And now we finally get to take a break this evening and throw down in some DS games with you fine folks. Are you prepared? Have you told your loved one that you are not to be disturbed? You better have.

Following up the first Game Night where we could take advantage of the wi-fi compatibility for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, we understand that the next week might seem a little less exciting by comparison. But, keep in mind that once you're on our list, you're there to stay. Unless the people don't like you, but that game is not in danger of having that happen to it.

Hit up the poll below to decide what next week's theme game should be.

What should be our theme game for 10/18/07?
	Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
	Mario Kart DS
	Tetris DS
	Metroid Prime Hunters
	Planet Puzzle League
	Picross DS
	Clubhouse Games

We added a new game to the poll last week and, sure enough, you all voted for it. And, considering it stars a certain green-clad youth, we're certain that the majority of you attending this evening will have the game in-hand, ready to go. If you're new to the whole Game Night thing, then head past the break and get the info you need.

No, not that kind of corruption, but rather the corruption of data. See, we're pretty big Virtual Console junkies around here. As such, we're constantly moving games from our Wii's built-in memory to our SD card, but recently we started noticing our SD card had a lot of corrupted data on it. Trying to copy the data over to our Wii doesn't work and we're left with the chore of downloading all of these corrupted games again.

What bugs us, though, is that the possibility of other games being corrupted is so high on the charts that re-downloading these games seems like a futile effort. So, what are we supposed to do? Wait until we feel like playing them and then decide to download them, right then and there? Sadly, yes ...

Any of you run into this problem? Has the data been corrupted on the Wii itself?

Nintendo fans have been gnashing their teeth and chewing their nails over this one for months, but now we can all relax and release that long-held breath: Super Smash Bros. Brawl is going to take the fight online. And we're not talking about lesser online features, either, but head-to-head matches with your friends or with anyone in the world. The dojo promises other online features as well, but this is the big deal and thus was revealed first.

Of course, because this is Nintendo, there are some inherent protections within the non-friends play. When you choose to play with "anyone," you will not see your opponent's name, and there will be no records kept of your victories (or your painful losses). But at least you can play, so we're not going to complain. This latest update also cautions that online play across continents may be slower than a match with someone relatively close by. In the end, most of the focus seems to be on friends-only play, but that was to be expected, and we're frankly excited that the "play with anyone" feature was added at all.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for the Wii sounds like a rehash of a long-running franchise. But 32-player online battles will make this shooter unique. Will internet connectivity become a key component for a great Wii FPS? The game ships November 13, marking an overdue trend of Wii games finally getting online.

Judging from the trailer, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 looks good (albeit not HD-good). See for yourself after the break.

Originally reported by Beyond3D, apparently the PSP's new found power comes at a price. Turns out the PSP has to disable Wi-Fi to utilize the new CPU speed. Sony confirmed the information saying that the increased CPU speed does disable the PSP's wireless feature. Sony says they are "working closely" with developers to take full advantage of the new functionality where appropriate.

Developers now have to either choose to utilize the full power of the PSP or focus on multiplayer -- but not both, never both. GameDaily BIZ followed up on the Beyond3D story to find out why this either/or concept was put in place. Speculation is that it was to conserve battery power in the unit as the the Wi-Fi turned on affects battery life already, but Sony America is currently contacting Sony Japan to get the official answer.

[Via GameDaily BIZ]