Still looking to score a Wii, but don't want to pay a bundle for it? Trust me, you are not alone, but if you are within a Comcast Cable service area apparently you may be able to get one free, but beware. You may end up just giving that bundle of cash to some other corporate giant.

This morning while watching the Olympics I saw a commercial advertising a free Wii to new customers who sign up for Comcast's Premiere Triple Play Service. That's high-end digital cable, Internet and phone, the last being VoIP I believe (see the Comcast site for bundle details). The additional Wii promotion is nowhere to be found at the Comcast site, so I called Comcast and confirmed the promo. Basically it breaks down to a Free Wii to any new customer signing up for their Premiere Triple Play Service, with the following being the major, but by no means the only notations in the fine print:

• A 2-year contract for the three services required
• The bundled service goes for 0/month
• The Wii is the standard model, including a remote and Wii Sports
• Offer good through 8/17
• Offer assumes that broadband and wireless connectivity necessary for full Wii functionality are available in your area/home

If you are down with 0+/month for the bundle and have the wireless/broadband issue covered, maybe this is a good deal. If not you might want to lay off. Anyway, like I said, the offer is limited and only available over the phone, so "let the buyer beware."

--Hobson's Choice

More gaming articles, reviews, and deals at the GAMING CORNER.

The mainstream of the gaming industry and those of us lucky enough to float atop its ever-churning flow are obsessed with keeping up and not being left behind by the latest thing, and understandably so. When compared with the early days, modern gaming can't be seen as
anything other than the cutting edge of technology and thought. Is
there anyone who's got a problem with that? Not likely, so, everyone in
the hard - softcore crowd, how about a group "Huzzah!" But the truth is
that not everyone residing on planet Earth is partaking.

Yes, there are folks out there who wouldn't even qualify as the softest of softcore gamers and for most of these it's not because they don't like gaming. They might love yammering on for hours about minuscule details covered in blogs like this and oh so many others if they weren't so busy doing other things, like oh, scratching a living for themselves and/or loved ones in some impoverished country, or who knows, maybe down the street. So, the debate over whether to pay the extra 0 for a larger hard drive is understandably lost on them. With little to no contact with computers they are simply being left behind in a world obsessed with technology. But what if video games could come to the rescue of the great huddled masses and in the process improve standards of living and like the children of our own current generation, imbue those less fortunate than ourselves with a knack for technology simply through osmosis?

Big talk and more likely than not a self-serving pipe dream I know, but an international engineering program based at MIT hopes to see it done by providing cheap learning computers based on a blend of outdated Nintendo and Apple console technology from the 1980s. But how will the poorest of people manage that? We all know that the price of desktop computers has plummeted in recent years, but come on. There's SERIOUS poverty all over the globe. How will the smartypants over at MIT deal with that? Simple, by producing a unit as cheap as -20. The team and plan are still in the idea phase, but ideally the system would consist of a console that plugs into a keyboard and a TV and utilizes old games re purposed to teach skills like typing and basic computer skills. Are you going to see many whiz kids coming out of this? Maybe not at first, but eventually who knows. According to Ben Linder, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering:

"Instead of a day, they (users in the developing world) could go to an hour by doing office work that involves computers. That's a major change." Later adding, "They're going to play a game, but in the process they're going to gain a bunch of typing skills and basic computing skills and familiarity with technology."

Does this sound like an outsourcing nightmare waiting to happen? Oh, sho-nuf, but only if we in the developed world are complacent in advancing technologies and are afraid that we'll be put out of business by introducing the rest of the planet to the joys and resulting benefits we've enjoyed since we first bellied up to our game of choice at the local arcade. Myself, I'm not too concerned about being replaced quite yet, although it's only August. I also have oh so much old hardware and software that I would love to pawn off on someone who would actually use it. So MIT smartguys, bring it on; just do the rest of the world a favor and skip pong the second time around.

--Hobson's Choice

More gaming articles, reviews, and deals at the GAMING CORNER.

Sure, booth babes have been on the decline in the video game universe in recent years, but old habits with regards to "the ladies" die hard. In case you haven't noticed, the dominant demographic in hardcore gaming remains males young enough to dream about exotic women in exotic garb and those of us old enough to remember the same thing, even if that memory is selective. Youth will be served, but in the case of the latter, the old-timers that is, these memories are channeled into other things, like examining the physics and the immortal Next-Gen question of who has the more eye-popping, if unrealistic graphics, Xbox 360 or PS3:

The two versions look more or less the same to me, although the 360 looks brighter, but that's just the video. Which has better physics? Who cares. Both feature enough bounce to challenge any of the lithe ladies of DOA and to keep the young and young at heart glued to their consoles. Yeah I don't think that demographic is pretty well set.

--Hobson's Choice

More gaming articles, reviews, and deals at the GAMING CORNER.

Call me dense, but apparently the Call of Duty series has never been heavy on co-op gameplay. I never noticed, but no matter. This will apparently change with the upcoming Call of Duty: World at War. I've read nearly as many negative-unimpressed comments as positive ones regarding the co-op play video below. Personally I think it looks pretty sharp and it's probably just the nature of the split screen play that folks have a problem. News flash. It's just an option. Choose another mode and you'll get the full visual game experience.

Click the image below to check out the trailer for yourself:

Myself, I'm most intrigued by the game name. I know that COD: World at War doesn't sound like much of a departure from what it's always been, but it is very close to The World at War, a fantastic serialized British TV series that ran in the US in the early 70's. It was/is almost certainly a generation or two ahead of the majority of the current video games combat crowd, but if you ever want an in-depth overview of most of the major battles in WWII's European and Pacific theaters from both axis and allied perspectives, it is a must see. Also, if I remember the show correctly it was produced with a very haunting feel that in retrospect is actually quite similar to concept of "destroyed beauty." And if you look at the box for Gears of War it even looks a little like that for The World at War. I could just be making that up though, but anyway I think that I'll be checking in again as November creeps in to get a closer look.

--Hobson's Choice

More gaming articles, reviews, and deals at the GAMING CORNER.

It's only been just over a year since the its release, but it would appear that the iPhone may soon move beyond the standard mobile casual gaming model and blossom into a bona fide handheld gaming platform.

Don't believe me? I can understand how some people might not. Although there has been a whole lotta buzz over the last month about high-profile games in development for the iPhone, including Spore and Touch Fighter, Dexter, a Wolfenstein RPG and Doom 2, and most recently Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, any Mac owner who is also a gamer can testify that over the years Apple systems have been far from gamer friendly, at least in the number of available titles. This of course may be an over characterization on my part, but a quick look at the offerings at Amazon's Mac Games page vs. its PC Games page will make the disparity in games on the two platforms clear. In addition to this, regardless of the upcoming game announcements, within the gaming industry there has been some questioning of Steve Jobs' commitment to iPhone gaming. The previous link contains a variety of things supposedly related to Jobs, ranging from a statement that he's not a gamer and a resulting supposition that lacking personal belief it's doubtful he'll push for game development on the iPhone, to a story, that if believed ties the establishment of Electronic Arts to 'Steve Jobs' lack of support for gaming at Apple.' Personally, I've never heard that story, but it sounds like a page turner.

The ins and outs of the various past Apple platforms aside iPhones seem to be everywhere, in my experience mostly in the hands of long-time Mac and iPod owners, which in many cases means that their primary use has not been for games. It appears though that ownership will soon surpass the early adopter demographic with sales of the third generation iPhone topping 1 million only 3 days into the launch. So, does this mean that the iPhone will be challenging the DS and PSP for dominance in the handheld market any time soon? Not likely, but as the dominance of iPhones in the smartphone market grows I can't imagine that its gaming functionality won't follow suit.

--Hobson's Choice

More gaming articles, reviews, and deals at the GAMING CORNER.

Sure, "M" rated games are not for kids, but apparently tricks are.

Thanks to a little computer magic Microsoft and Epic Games will be releasing the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Gears of War 2 with a built in violence filter. Gears 2 has already been given a Mature rating so it's doubtful that it could or should be changed, but with November 7th, here after referred to solely as "Emergence Day 2," on the horizon and the eventual inevitability of a Gears of War movie, it would seem that Cliffy B. and company are all too willing to do whatever they can to make the blood spattering action of battling the locust horde a bit more palatable to the general public.

The violence filter sounds like a non-issue as long as it doesn't impact the game for the over 18 crowd or stir up the whole game ratings issue. Of course the impact of this feature will be be little more than a question mark until the game discs slide into 360s around the world come November. What is clear now though are the details of the filter. With a change to your game options, blood will become sparks and swear words will become mild curses. The feature will be available on both the standard and Limited Edition. Like I said, computer magic. Carnage suitable for the entire family. Hmmm? Tongue and cheek aside, the feature sounds benign enough. My only worries are that Marcus has little enough to say to Dom and Cole as is, and don't get me started on the assault rifle. Sparks instead of blood while pumping its chainsaw functionality?! Any adults out there who find themselves caught in these kinder-gentler Gears might want to familiarize themselves with the options menu before Junior's bed time rolls around.

--Hobson's Choice

More gaming articles, reviews, and deals at the GAMING CORNER.

August has traditionally been a month dominated by the Madden NFL franchise and why not. Americans, including more than a few American gamers seem to like football, the series has name recognition, the game is available on every platform--including that first gen Xbox console that you gave to your nephew a few years back--and is available in Spanish as well as English. I suppose that should be enough, but just to ensure that you are tempted to sign on for yet another version (this is the twentieth by the way) reality strikes.

Cover boy Brett Farve retired at the end of last year, with his swan song supposedly being his seemingly out of character placement on this year's version of the game. Instead he surprised all the teams in the league, including his own by very publicly ending his retirement and battling with Packers management over his filled position at QB for their team or any other in the league for that matter. As of yesterday Farve and Packers management are at a stalemate regarding his request for a trade to another team, but it is not out of the realm of possibility at all.

Forget about the Madden Curse. Finally something that's really interesting. Nineteen years of the same old "should I pass or should I run" scenarios and now the future hall of famer gracing the box art may actually be wearing the jersey of another team by the time the twentieth anniversary version of the game is released. By all that is holy in the great dairyland of Wisconsin, if only Brett had let the game developers at EA know what he was going to do. Had he done so just imagine what sort of an unlockables they might have built in to Madden 09. Yup it would seem that Madden's August dominance will remain. At least for another year.

--Hobson's Choice

Read reviews and shop for great bargains at the Gaming Corner. >>>

Obama may not be able to point to a war record in the battle for the executive branch, but that doesn't mean he can't and won't put the hurt on grandpa John when push comes to shove. In a presidential election year the battleground is everywhere including Soul Calibur IV.

So, to the question of "Decision '08," how should you decide who to vote for? Is it the economy? Is it the War? Is it offshore drilling? No, it's Soul Calibur IV's versus mode:

Taking no sides, the video ends in a draw, but that might just be the choice of weapons. Myself I've always assumed that nunchucks are a superior choice to a big hammer, but then again I was surprised when "W" was reelected too.

--Hobson's Choice

Read reviews and shop for great bargains at the Gaming Corner. >>>

Obama may not be able to point to a war record in the battle for the executive branch, but that doesn't mean he can't and won't put the hurt on grandpa John when push comes to shove. In a presidential election year the battleground is everywhere including Soul Calibur IV.

So, to the question of "Decision '08," how should you decide who to vote for? Is it the economy? Is it the War? Is it offshore drilling? No, it's Soul Calibur IV's versus mode:

Taking no sides, the video ends in a draw, but that might just be the choice of weapons. Myself I've always assumed that nunchucks are a superior choice to a big hammer, but then again I was surprised when "W" was reelected too.

--Hobson's Choice

Read reviews and shop for great bargains at the Gaming Corner. >>>