To further expand the Naga’s functionality, there are MMO-specific software add-ons, you can have unlimited character profiles, and you can stack commands on any given mouse button by defining a modifier key. For instance, by holding down a keyboard key, you can configure and execute several layers of commands with a single mouse button.

For the curious, the Razer Naga’s dimensions in millimeters are 116L x 69W x 41.6H. The company says it will be available online “soon,” and will be shipping worldwide for $80.

AMD used the Computex show in Taipei this week to propose XGP – eXternal Graphics Platform, a slimline box you connect your GPU-lite laptop to when you need more graphics horsepower.

Fujitsu Siemens (FSC) was on hand to demo the concept with its Amilo GraphicBooster, an AppleTV-like unit with an AMD ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPU built in and hooked up to 512GB of GDDR 3 memory. The box can drive four displays simultaneously, the company claimed.

AMD’s pitch is that users will be able to connect their slim’n'light laptops to an XGP, which will supply the level of graphical grunt that they don’t need when they’re on the move and, more importantly, running on battery power.

XGPs are designed to be hot-pluggable, the driver knowing about and enabling the use of the discrete GPU as soon as it’s connected to the host.

With that multi-monitor support, XGP will undoubtedly also be pitched at businesses who want to give their laptop-equipped workers multi-display desktops.

Of course, this is the same notion companies like DisplayLink are peddling, but they’re delivering multi-screen support over USB using the host system’s GPU. AMD’s approach – since it’s in the business of selling more graphics chips – is to add a second GPU to the system.

That said, Fujistu Siemens has its eye on the consumer market – we understand it’s pitching the technology to Dixons and other big retailers – as a way to allow ordinary punters to effectively upgrade their older laptops’ graphics capabilities. The technology doesn’t require an external monitor – the XGP can render images on the host laptop’s own screen.

Yet another video connector for your laptop

Much will depend on the extent to which AMD pushes XGP as part of its ‘Puma’ notebook platform, and engages with bodies like the PCI SIG to turn XGP into a true standard. At that point, we might see all those Intel-based laptops taking on the technology.

Nyko’s Cord-Free system boasts:

• A wireless dongle that slots into the Remote at the point where the Nunchuck’s cord would normally connect.
• The unit’s powered by two AAA batteries.
• The Nunchuck slots into a specialist holder with a cord wrap at the bottom, which keeps the Nunchuck cable compressed and tidy. Makes the Nunchuck look like a joystick!
• Nyko claims you’ll get around 60 hours of gameplay out of its set-up
• Gamers can stand up to four-and-a-half metres away from the Wii before the wireless connection drops out

Looks good!

A new study finds that when men play the games, a part of the brain involved in feelings of reward and addiction becomes much more activated than it does in women.

This could explain why men are more likely feel more addicted to video games than women, the researchers say in an online article in The Journal of Psychiatric Research.

See the article here

In a brain-imaging study by Stanford’s school of medicine, researchers discovered that, when playing video games, the part of the brain that generates feelings of reward is more stimulated in men than in women. That helps explain why they’re more likely to get hooked, the study’s authors say.

See the entire article here:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/05/science-games.html

I am very happy with my Razer Diamond back, which has lasted me a couple of years now, but if and when it dies, I think the Lachesis will be its replacement.

Which rodent do you use? Are you a Razer fan, or are you on the Microsoft or Logitech bandwagon? Or maybe you have found a very worthy non-branded mouse?

Here are the Lachesis specs:

Specifications
4000dpi Razer Precision 3G Laserâ„¢ sensor
32KB Razer Synapseâ„¢ onboard memory
Nine independently programmable Hyperesponseâ„¢ buttons
1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time
On-The-Fly Sensitivityâ„¢ adjustment
Variable true dpi setting adjustments in increments of 125dpi
Always-Onâ„¢ mode
Ultra-large non-slip buttons
16-bit ultra-wide data path
60-100 inches per second
Ambidextrous design
Scroll wheel with 24 individual click positions
Zero-acoustic Ultraslickâ„¢ Teflon feet
Gold-plated USB connector
Seven-foot, lightweight, non-tangle cord
Approximate size: 129mm (length) x 71mm (width) x 40mm (height)

You can see a full write-up on this mouse here:
http://3dxtreme.net/index.php?id=razerlachesisp1

See the page this comes from here:

http://kotaku.com/344684/fps-gun-makes-first-person-shooter-controls-more-gun+like

He told the tabloid: “I am very worried about video and computer games. No one wants censorship or an interfering State. But the industry has some responsibility to society and needs to exercise that.”

This isn’t the first time Brown has linked games to violent crime – he has already said that “Parents are concerned” about “harmful violence and sexual imagery in games and on the internet,” and how they affect children.

Could this mean, soon we will have no more knife kills on COD 4? No more dog tags in BF2142? Or could it mean developers will get clever and replace a knife with a Banana or something equally ludicrous?

Should it not be a responsibility of parents to observe what their children play, and if they feel their child has a reaction to a game to take it away? Could it just be that Video Gaming is being a scape goat for other social issues?