Capcom is showing off Mega Man 10 at CES. CES has possibly the highest concentration of video cameras of any location on Earth. You see where this is going.

After the break, we've embedded off-screen footage of the faux-retro downloadable game's stadium stage, captured and written up in preview form by The Mega Man Network. Capcom didn't allow the boss's name to be released, so it's just "the stadium stage" for now. The MM Network blogger managed to play, and record, the stage in both normal difficulty and the new Easy Mode, allowing us to see some of the differences. It's especially notable in the goal post mid-boss area: in normal difficulty, there's a spiked ball that constantly slams into Mega Man, but in Easy Mode that obstacle is absent, making the boss a fairly simple matter. At the end, the game announces that, like Mega Man 9, there will be DLC and a time attack mode.

Mega Man 10 will be available on Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 as a download in March.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/08/me...aught-on-tape/ ...

Mad Catz isn't forgetting the Nintendo DS accessory market as it shifts more of its focus to high end fight sticks, mice and non-gaming lifestyle keyboards. So if you need Sonic the Hedgehog socks, Mad Catz has you... covered.

http://kotaku.com/5443194/sonic-the-...ntendo-ds-warm ...

As the first full day of the Consumer Electronics Show wore on, stories exploring the digital guts of Microsoft's Project Natal gave way to gamer anxiety that the hands-free controller can't work with high-end 360 games.

Reports covered by Kotaku this morning indicated that the Natal would use 10-15 percent of the Xbox 360's "computing resources." Those reports gave way to comments we received from a source familiar with the development of Project Natal who said that the peripheral would actually need to use up to 33 percent, a third, of the 360's CPU.

The source explained to Kotaku that, while Natal wouldn't use the horsepower of a full core of Microsoft's three-core central processor, it would need to use a core on its own in order to reduce latency between human input and what happens on a TV screen. That would leave the CPU's other two cores for the other processes needed to run Natal-compatible Xbox 360 games.

While this would seem to even further curtail the ability for technologically complex big-budget games to work with the Natal — such games would seemingly need as much of the 360's CPU for their non-Natal functions — the source said those fears were a little off. High-end graphics such as those in a richly-rendered racing game such as Forza 3 could still be possible, the source told Kotaku, but compromises might have to be made for "slightly reduced" artificial intelligence, sound or physics.

Microsoft was aware of the brewing gamer anxiety and expressed a desire to explain Natal's full potential in the future.

For today, they focused on shooting down the source's 33 percent figure: "The software behind 'Project Natal' is what makes it special. While we aren't able to share further details at this point, we can assure you that 'Project Natal' does not require a dedicated Xbox 360 CPU core."

At E3, Project Natal was played by several reporters, including me, with several games, including the high-end Burnout Paradise. At the time, Natal was actually a bunch of sensors held in a box, not a streamlined product in its final shell.

Part of today's Natal confusion has been over the rumored elimination of a dedicated processor in the Natal peripheral, first reported on the 4 Guys 1 Up podcast. That elimination seemed even more certain this week due to the slight but specific tweaks made in Microsoft's official Project Natal fact sheet. As noted earlier today on Kotaku, in mid-2009, the fact sheet cited a dedicated processor as a feature of Natal, but today in early 2010, it does not. Most of the rest of the fact sheet's language is unchanged, but the two references to the processor, in two parts of the fact sheet, were removed.

Microsoft director of product management Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku today that "The description of the product at E3 and the description of the product now shouldn't have changed as far as I'm aware." But he and other spokespeople for Xbox 360 declined to directly address whether the processor had been removed.

Greenberg did allow for the possibility that some of the elements of Natal may have changed: "The sensor that we showed and whatever basic details we gave about the sensor were very much in the incubation state [at E3]. These were early mock ups and things as we were describing how this would be done. And now, as we have development kits in developer hands and we've got developers actively working on games, those details are obviously becoming much more firm."

The bottom line as far as Microsoft is concerned, that Natal will still be an innovation. "This product... will see you," Greenberg said. "It will hear you. It will work." But with what kind of games? That remains an unanswered question, one that will come closer to be answered as more technical specifications are revealed and games running on final Natal hardware are shown closer to the device's late 2010 launch.

http://kotaku.com/5443233/ces-burnin...high+end-games ...

This snazzy Mad Catz Street Fighter fight stick keychain doesn't just keep track of your keys, it also includes a slide away allen wrench perfect for popping open a life-sized fight stick case.

http://kotaku.com/5443420/the-littlest-fight-stick ...

It's doubtful that I'll be playing much beyond games on the convention hall floor and quarter slots.

Of course, there are still some interesting games still left to be played by Team Kotaku at CES. I, for instance, have not yet played Splinter Cell Conviction and Mass Effect 2, but plan on doing so this weekend. Perhaps I'll even get in some Left 4 Dead 2, testing out some wacky new motion controller inappropriate for surviving a zombie apocalypse.

What about you, reader? Will you be gambling away your future children's college fund like me? Or do you have some good video gamin' planned? Place your bets in the comments.

http://kotaku.com/5443736/what-are-y...g-this-weekend ...

Reuters today, citing unnamed sources, reports that Apple's supply chain will begin manufacturing aluminum casings for their upcoming tablet device next month. That means a shipment could come as early as this spring.

http://gizmodo.com/5443951/report-ap...-and-q2-launch ...

Icon Games has released its WiiWare arcade racer Stunt Cars on the Nintendo console. Priced at 800 points, the game offers over the top racing in an excessive, fantasy setting.
Already out for aalomist a month in the US, Stunt Cars features 24 'wild' tracks, and offers players four different multiplayer game modes for up to four players. An extensive single player campaign is also included, offering Race, Time Trial, Championship and Time Challenge modes.
The game is compatible with the Wii Steering Wheel made famous by Mario Kart, and lets gamers choose from a sextet of individually tuned cars which promise to deliver a balanced gameplay experience. A dozen achievement awards are also included.

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/296...ropean-WiiWare ...

Razer Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360:


The Razer Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360 was created to improve the players Xbox 360 gaming experience with a series of special features, including Razer Hyperesponse™ buttons, designed to give faster actuation and a crisp, tactile feel. The Razer Onza will allow gamers to vary the tension required to tilt the analog stick for maximum comfort and customization bringing an element of personal preference to the world of console gaming. Razer has also added a multi-function button (MFB) that can be mapped to act as one of the action buttons, the analog stick buttons or an auto-fire button by using a sliding selector switch on the bottom of the controller. The Razer Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360 is further distinguished by a sharply-lit edge, for gaming that stays in style, even in the dark.

Razer Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360
MSRP: US $49.99; Europe €44.99
AVAILABILITY: Worldwide

Razer Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360 Features:

• Razer Hyperesponse™ technology
• Adjustable Tension Analog Sticks
• Programmable Multi-function Button
• Wired Control for Virtually Lag Free Gameplay

Razer Chimaera Professional Gaming Headset for Xbox 360:


The Razer Chimaera Professional Gaming Headset for Xbox 360 is designed to provide sharp sound quality that optimizes the gaming experience with crisp, roaring sound from a 5.1 Channel Virtual Surround Sound system. Although the majority of games are encoded with the full 5.1 surround sound, most gaming headsets are only equipped to offer stereo-grade sound, while the Razer Chimaera offers the full range of sound, enhancing the entire Xbox experience. A Daisy-Chain solution allows multiple Razer base stations to be connected to create a direct, private communication channel for in-game team conversations. The circumaural design of the headset allows for optimum noise isolation for long-hours of comfortable gameplay without any outside interruptions.

Razer Chimaera Professional Gaming Headset for Xbox 360
COST: US $129.99; Europe €109.99
AVAILABILITY: Worldwide

Razer Chimaera Professional Gaming Headset for Xbox 360:

• 5.1 Channel Virtual Surround Sound
• Circumaural Design
• Daisy-Chain Cable System allows multiple base stations to connect for private communication channel

Source: Razer

Additional images via comments. ...

While 3D is all the rage at CES this year, we learned today from the BDA that one of the biggest sources of 3D content isn't what it could be. The first thing that could, should, be better is the limited support for frame rates. Movies have been recorded at 24 frames per second for longer than our parents have been alive, and for about the same amount of time we've had to endure frame rate interpolation to make movies play back on our 30Hz TVs -- you know, like 3:2 pull-down. That changed recently with 120hz LCDs and 72Hz plasmas because those numbers share a common denominator with 24 (so the same frame is just shown three or four times). Well so much for that because the frame rates of the new 3D displays don't share a common denominator any more (either 30 or 60 hz per eye). But honestly the worst part is that the new 3D cameras can capture 3D at higher frame rates. Now even if new movies were recorded at a higher frame rate, the new 3D Blu-ray spec doesn't support it. The other issue we take with the new spec is that contrary to early reports, it is possible to create a 3D Blu-ray Disc that won't play on 2D only players. Not as big of a deal, but still sad is that even if the creator goes through the trouble to encode the movie in both formats, depending on the 3D player, you may have no choice but to watch it in 3D -- say if you lost your glasses or whatever. Now don't get us wrong we're pretty excited about the new 3D technology, but the way we see it is that anything worth doing, is worth doing right the first time.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/b...t-it-could-be/ ...