Stuff Geeks Want

FIFA ’09 was good, but there’s little argument that FIFA 10 – available today – crams in even more soccer goodness than ever before.

It feels and looks more natural with the addition of a new 360-degree dribbling control that lets you blast past your opponent without the need for trick moves. The ‘Be a Pro’ mode lets you to create your own player (even upload your own face pics if you want) and play entire seasons with your favorite team, working your way up to International stardom.

The game is also more responsive: off-the-ball players are more involved in the ball movement, goalkeepers are more savvy and aggressive, and defenders are more aware of on-coming pressure.

It might not look like a major update, but like any good game developer the key to an upgrade is in the ability to make it more natural and real. FIFA 10 does just that.

Buy PlayStation 3 version for $58 from Amazon

Buy XBox version for $58 from Amazon

Buy Nintendo Wii version for $47 from Amazon

Buy PlayStation 2 version for $29 from Amazon

Buy Sony PSP version for $39 from Amazon

Buy Nintendo DS version for $29 from Amazon

James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi movie, Avatar, is one of the most anticipated films of the year. Fourteen years in the making, what is bound to be a blockbuster of a movie creates an entire world, with fantastic creatures, a whole ecosystem and, of course, a terrible conflict.

While the movie sounds great, video games based on movies are notorious for being lazy, slapped-together programs will little that mimics the screen play. Early indications are Avatar: The Game will be different in more ways than one. While set in the same universe as James Cameron’s flick, the game is actually a prequel, featuring a totally different hero and storyline.

First off, you’ll be able to play in full stereoscopic 3D (that is if you got a plasma or DLP set that fits the bill). This is one of the first games to use the 3D effect and from all indications this is the future of gaming.

There’ll be a multiplayer mode where you’ll pick from the human military – with their big guns and bigger mechs – or the Na’vi. The Na’vi don’t have access to powerful weaponry, but wield bows and swords with great skill.

The movie hits theater’s around Christmas. The game hits the streets December 1st, but you can pre-order now.

Buy PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 version for $57 from Amazon

Buy Windows PC version for $50 from Amazon

Buy Nintendo Wii version for $50 from Amazon

Buy Nintendo DS version for $30 from Amazon

Buy Sony PSP version for $40 from Amazon

John, Paul, George and Ringo are back together. Well, sort of. Today they debuted
The Beatles Remasters digital music collections and The Beatles: Rock Band video game.

First there’s The Beatles Remasters Mono Box Set. It’s probably the most prized of the two sets. It contains 10 albums – from Please Please Me to Let It Be – as well as the original 1965 stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul, previously unreleased until now.

The Beatles Remasters Stereo Box Set comprises 14 discs that have been cleaned up with more clarity and sharpness. Early reviews say the stereo separation is clean and not artificial. The whole package comes in a beautifully crafted box (see above) with each one in a digipack reproducing the original artwork.

Then there’s ‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ video game. Available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii, it includes 45 different songs, historic Beatles performance venues, and 3D representations of the band members, along with the standard ‘Rock Band’ gameplay. The object is to match the on-screen notes: If you see a green guitar note, you have to hold down the green fret and hit the strum bar. Drummers need to pound colored drumheads, while singers need to match pitch and phrasing. The premium bundle ($250) includes all the gear you need, but you can use instruments from previous ‘Rock Band’ or ‘Guitar Hero’ games.

Buy The Beatles Mono Box Set for $230 from Amazon

Buy The Beatles Stereo Box Set for $180 from Amazon

Buy The Beatles: Rock Band for Xbox 360 for $54 from Amazon

Buy The Beatles: Rock Band for Nintendo Wii for $54 from Amazon

Buy The Beatles: Rock Band for Playstation 3 for $54 from Amazon

Timing is everything and everything is Christmas. Or at least that’s the way Sony looks at it after Tuesday’s rollout of the PlayStation 3 Slim with it’s beefier storage capacity and trimmed design.

The new model offers a number of things that are different: 32 percent smaller footprint, 34 percent less power, a 120GB hard drive that’s hot swappable with any 2.5-inch SATA drive (hooray!), and a Blu-ray player. Online multiplayer is included along with a faster, one gigabyte Ethernet port (a big jump from 100Mb on previous models). It keeps its HDMI and optical digital audio output, built-in Wi-Fi and dual USB ports.

It’ll be available in September, but Amazon is taking pre-orders as we speak. Merry Christmas.

Buy for $300 from Amazon

Proving that it’s never too early to start thinking of the upcoming football season, Madden NFL 10 rolls out tomorrow, August 14th. (I’m daring anyone to lineup outside WalMart to buy this at midnight, although we all know there will be takers.)

So what’s different from previous iterations? The addition of Pro-Tak animation technology is probably the biggest. You’ll notice players move more naturally, footballs float in the air after a wayward pass and running backs stumble to gain additional yards. You’ll also see more fights for fumbles and better television-like shots such as coaches screaming on the sidelines after a botched play. Reality has been greatly improved.

As for multiplayer, this version adds Online Co-op so two players can team up at any position to tackle computer opponents and Online Franchise that allows up to 32 players to join a league through Xbox Live or PlayStation Network and run a team over a 10-season span.

BTW, don’t expect to see Michael Vick in this version until he signs with a team. He’s busy helping his local ASPCA.

Buy for $49 for Wii from Amazon

Buy for $55 for Xbox 3 from Amazon

Buy for $55 for PlayStation 3 from Amazon

Buy for $39 for PlayStation 2 from Amazon

Buy for $37 for Sony PSP from Amazon

First black American President. First black Nintendo Wii. It’s been a good year for the spectrum’s favorite non-color. And it will be even better if that becomes the first black Nintendo Wii in America.

See, the black Nintendo Wii will start shipping in Japan on August 1, but Nintendo hasn’t yet said if or when it will be available in the U.S.

So for now we in Obamaland can only dream. Or buy a $3 can of Krylon…

Buy for $249.99 from Amazon (the white one, of course)

The problem with batteries is that they get pricey and pollute like mad.

The problem with rechargeable batteries is that they can be a pain in the ass to charge, requiring precise contact with the charging device to start juicing up.

The solution is the TouchCharge Kit from Psyclone. This rechargeable battery for your Wii or PlayStation 3 controller features a unique charging plate so that you literally just need to place the controller on top of it for batteries to get charged.

You can even charge two remotes on the same charging plate, a nice touch since two batteries are included.

Not many stores stock the TouchCharge Kit, but Best Buy has it for PlayStation 3 ($49.99) and Wii ($59.99).

Dude. Seriously. Get. One. Of. These.

Gene Simmons played Bass for Kiss. Now you can play his Axe too. The Gene Simmons Axe Guitar controller for Guitar Hero and Rockband works with Playstation 2 and Playstation 3.

Amazon.com is offering pre-orders, and it’ll ship on October 31st. $80.

Every few years a game comes around that carries with it so much hype there’s no possible way it can live up to expectations. This year’s example is Spore, the game about evolution from the mind of Will Wright, the gaming wizard who has been doling out dozens of popular SimYouNameIt games for almost two decades.

Spore finally sprouted on store shelves this past weekend, about three years since word about it trickled out. While it’s received generally positive critical acclaim (“hello, Electronic Arts and your massive marketing budget we’d like a piece of”), users seem more luke-warm about the game. And that’s ignoring the thousands who have panned the game on Amazon’s reviews and elsewhere because of it’s stringent digital rights management.

In a nutshell: the game requires you to jump through more hoops to prove you actually own it than almost any other before it. To top it off, you can only activate three computers to play it, after which you need to deal with EA support to install it again. We don’t think this will affect most people, but we do know people love complaining when they can.

So that’s Spore for you: 50% hype, 30% controversy, 20% actual game. You know you want to check it out, and Amazon makes it oh-so-easy with their free shipping. Or, look at this way if you prefer: the game is free, but shipping is $49.99 (for Mac and Windows on the same tidy disc).

Now in its third year, Lego Mindstorms NXT continues to be the coolest robotic toy on the market. Toy is used loosely here, as its $250 price tag and features are anything but juvenile.

A 32-bit processor that you can program and multiple sensors, including touch, sound, light, and ultrasonic, allow your imagination to run wild. It also sports USB, Bluetooth, a large LCD, and more.

Unlike Lego kits of years passed, the Mindstorms NXT isn’t about just building one thing with its 577 pieces and calling it a day. A huge user community means ideas and challenges for your next project are just a cick away.

Pick one up from Amazon for $249.99 and let the learning fun begin!