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Hasbro's NET JET merges USB controller with online gaming
We've all seen those cheesy kiosks at the mall with some guy trying to sell you a controller with "8,000 games" built right in, which you can plug directly into your television for about three minutes of actual enjoyment, but now Hasbro is hoping to add a shade of respectability to the plug-and-play controller game market with its $24.99 NET JET device. The USB controller plugs directly into your PC (sorry, Mac users), and once you insert your "game card" of choice into the controller, it navigates to an online web portal where the corresponding game is launched and played on your screen. Hasbro offers up a variety of somewhat kid-centric titles at $14.99 apiece, including Marble Blast XP, Kool Kart Racers, Super Soaker Water Fight, and the obligatory SpongeBob SquarePants' Pizza Toss. Ideally, this wouldn't be a bad solution to laptop gaming for your offspring on lengthy road trips, but you should be sure to get a 3G-equipped lappie before taking this out where the WiFi doesn't roam.[Via EverythingUSB]
The Antquarium goes mini, ensures public humiliation
Ah, yes, one of favorite bizarro gadgets is getting a much-deserved refresh, and rather than changing the game completely, it's simply the same fun-filled container in belt clip sized. The infamous Antquarium has now shrunk, and is apparently ready to rock on your child's belt, backpack, or headband. As expected, the gel-packed enclosure provides "everything the ants need" to survive in such hellacious conditions, and even includes an ant catcher for those who aren't keen on touching insects with their bare hands. While we can't exactly say toting an ant farm around our waist is on our list of hopeful accomplishments in life, the pictured nerd momma's boy seems pretty stoked about swiping the critters away from their homeland for personal pleasure, so if you'd like to encourage your child to follow the pathway to eternal singleness, you can snatch this up now for $12.95.[Via TRFJ]
Mystery sequel to be announced shortly?
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Mystery_sequel_for_Wii_to_be_announced_shortly'; Japanese mag Nintendo Dream (truly, if only such wondrous publications were here in America as well) has related a tantalizing morsel. According to a ghetto Google translation (check after the break), a successor to a famed and well-known Nintendo franchise is coming to a Wii near you. What could it be? Donkey Kong? Kid Icarus? Such teasing articles are better left unpublished; we lose sleep over this stuff, you know. Cold sweats in the middle of the night kind of stuff.There will be no posts between 3 and 4 today, due to therapy sessions.
Today's danciest game video - Five year old kid pwns in DDR
Do they start 'em all this young on video games across Asia? This little kid is either extremely gifted and will grow up to be the next Mikhail Baryshnikov, or else he's a midget posing as a little kid. One way or the other, these smooth dance moves could put plenty of adults to shame. Someone sign this kid to an endorsement deal, stat!Check out the two-steppin' tot after the jump, and start training your kids now. We don't care what you get them started on, just be sure to upload adorable videos of your kids pushing buttons, slinging controllers, and fragging foes on the internet somewhere. It's bounds to get million of hits.
Softbank releases 812T for the kiddies
Softbank and Toshiba have teamed up to release another electronic tether GPS-enabled phone for children, the 812T. The pastel clamshell is visually distinctive, thanks to (what appears to be) a rather large ring for attaching the phone to clothing, backpacks, or keychains -- but the real draw here, of course, is the GPS receiver that parents can use to watch their little ones traverse the streets of Japan from the comfort of their softly-glowing computer monitor. Other features include a 1.3 megapixel cam, a QVGA internal display, microSD memory expansion, and Yahoo! Messenger support (this is Softbank, after all, purveyor of Yahoo!'s Japanese 'net service). We're also guessing those clear lenses on the phone's front cover some strobe lights for criminal-blindin' action when necessary. [Warning: PDF link][Via Akihabara News]
Parents file larceny charges over lengthy cellphone confiscation
Sure, time is money, and nobody has time to wait around to make a phone call, but two parents in Lone Grove, Oklahoma are exemplifying the bounds of being impatient by filing larceny charges against a high school principal and superintendent. Based on an estranged rule that we seriously hope isn't widespread, students are not allowed to have any sort of "wireless telecommunications device" on their person during school hours, and when a cavalier student's mobile rang in the midst of class, it got snatched -- for five days. Based on the "school handbook," officials have the right to confiscate cellphones for a full business week if a student dares to bring one on campus, and reports explain that the superintendent has no inkling to return the device a moment too early. While we can understand how hopeless the poor child must feel without his connection to, well, everything, we're hoping the charges lead to fewer restrictions at Lone Grove High School (and beyond) for everyone's sake, right kids?[Via Fark]
Imaginarium's Mo1 kiddie phone
The Imaginarium Mo1, which seems destined for Spain, doesn't appear to sport any unique features that distance it from the young'un mobiles that've launched here in the US: limited keypad, comprehensive parental controls, kid friendly design. It also packs tracking functionality (though we're not sure how we feel about 6-year-olds -- part of the target demographic -- being allowed to wander off far enough for their parents to require such a feature), and in our humblest of opinions, it's a little neater looking than either of our domestic offerings. Look for it this December for a reasonable sounding €59 (about $75) -- if you're on the other side of the pond, that is.[Via Mobilewhack]
FCC docs go up for Disney Mobile's D100
It seemed pretty obvious that Disney's family-oriented Disney Mobile MVNO was in desperate need of a kidproof handset, having initially come to the table with only a pair of middling clamshells for the little 'uns. Enter the pod-shaped D100 -- now granted, we can't say with certainty that they'll be marketing this toward parents with young children when it launches, but c'mon, it's got Winnie the Pooh on its backside. The usual parental controls are present on the device, but more interestingly, the numeric keypad can be replaced with a simpler four-button design if numeric dialing isn't needed (try texting on that, kiddies).[Via phoneArena]Update: In speaking with Disney Mobile, it turns out this lil' pod won't be seeing duty here in the States -- it's destined for South America as a general consumer device.
Gigabyte's Keroro phone for youngsters
If you're under the age of 12 -- or at least possess the mentality of a 12 year old, as some of us here at Engadget do -- you've gotta be bummed that Japan seems to get all the cool kiddie phones. Sure, we get the Firefly and Migo in these parts, but we don't have any, you know, frog-themed handsets. Gigabyte's new limited-issue Keroro phone celebrates Japan's Keroro Gunso cartoon, better known around here as "Sgt. Frog," and considering the target demographic, the brightly colored slider doesn't seem to be a half-bad device. Besides sporting a miniSD slot with a bundled 128MB card, camera, and what appears to be a mammoth speakerphone on its back, you get a boatload of Keroro-themed swag. No word on pricing, but only 2000 units are planned, so Sgt. Frog fans best get on the horn with their importers post-haste.[Via Mobile Mentalism]
T-Mobile launches kidConnect service
T-Mobile's launched a new service aimed at parents looking to placate their kid's incessant begging for a cellphone, but still maintain some control over how much they use it. kidConnect will give kids unlimited weekend minutes and a set number of "whenever minutes" (50 under the $19.99/month plan, with parents able to buy more) after which the service is cut off so they don't run up the bill -- kids can also trade in their whenever minutes for text message credits, although those'll dry up pretty quick at 4 text messages per minute. Regardless of how many minutes they use, however, they'll always be able to call their parents phone, or call 911. And unlike the myriad of other kids' cellphones, kidConnect will work with any T-Mobile phone, which we're guessing most kids would prefer anyway.[Via Slashphone]
Smash Bros. Dojo updated
Smash Bros. Dojo, the official Smash Bros. website, has updated the character section. Pit, star of the game Kid Icarus for the NES, and Meta Knight, rival to the gluttonous pink ball that is Kirby, are the first two of the game's characters to receive the star treatment with added screenshots and biographies.
Confirmed list of Wii games?
We have our own list in the network for confirmed Wii titles, but this list posted over at Gamers Daily is too hard to pass up analyzing. Some of the titles are confirmed, some not so much, but all of them just ooze with possibility. For those of you with the clickophobia (how did you get here?!), the list has been recreated below. Who's looking forward to what? Who thinks the Kid Icarus rumors are BS? Super Mario Wii Super Smash Bros. Wii Metroid Prime 3 Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Wii Animal Crossing Wii Killing Day Splinter Cell 4 Madagaskar 2 Legend of Zelda Wii Mario Kart Wii Donkey Kong Wii The Darkness Possession Madden NFL 07 Suda51/Grasshopers Studio Title Minoru Nakai Title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Two Titles from "Artistic Quality" James Bond 007: Casino Royale Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Sadness Avatar: The Last Airbender Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Pangya Golf Elebits SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam Red Steel Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting Spider Man 3 Raid Over The River Midway Wii Project Disney/Pixar's Cars TNA iMPACT! n-Space Wii Project Kid Icarus Wii Blitz Games Wii Project Camelot RPG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2007 Sonic the Hedgehog Wii Trauma Center Wii Cooking Title
