Everyone knows Farmville as a Facebook phenomenon, but the people at Zynga are getting to know it as a cash cow. The Facebook game has gotten so much attention that Google has decided to invest more than $100 million in Zynga, supposedly in preparation for the launch of Google Games.

Can Zynga really stand as the cornerstone for Google’s Games operation? Absolutely. The company is projected at $350 million in revenue for the first half of 2010, half of which is actual operating profit. Total profit for 2011 is expected to be over a billion dollars. A billion, people. With a “b.”

Here’s TechCrunch on why Zynga is so important for Google:

Zynga continues to work on high level strategic business development deals. The reason these deals are so attractive to companies like Yahoo and now Google is this – Zynga allows them to rebuild the massive social graph, currently controlled by Facebook. For whatever reason people love to play these games and get passionately addicted to them, coming back day after day. That’s helped Facebook become what it is today. Google, Yahoo and others want some of that magic to rub off on them, too.

Who knew a silly social game could make such a huge impact.

This is the big story today. J. Allard, father of the Xbox, will be retiring from his position at Microsoft. I say “retiring” because there has been so much speculation about why he was leaving and whether he got fired and what he’s going to be starting and on and on and on. He’s just retiring – taking a leave to go explore the things he didn’t have time to explore when he was working a billion hours a week at Microsoft.

To me, though, this isn’t really news. Allard was involved in some great projects – projects that made Microsoft a ton of money – but none of it has really been incredible. In many cases, the Microsoft products Allard has worked on have succeeded not because of incredible innovation but because it was the only game (or one of very few games) in town.

Consider the original Xbox. We knew about it for years leading up to the launch, and the best thing about it wasn’t the controller or the processor or the original Live experience (which was terrible, by the way). The best thing about Xbox 1.0 was a game called Halo. To me, the Xbox was the natural evolution of consoles, and Live was just the maturation of the console form to keep up with multiplayer standards PC players had enjoyed for decades prior.

The Xbox 360 followed the same path as the original – the natural evolution of console gaming. The Live system is better, but still not great by any means, and I know very few people who use their 360 in the ways the commercials would have you believe every geek has his home connected. There are some neat features, like Netflix streaming for one, but there isn’t anything that is truly innovative about the 360. It didn’t change the way I see the entertainment world any more significantly than, say, an iPod video did when it was announced. It performed virtually the same function as the device before it, just a bit better.

My point in all of this is that the last decade or so of devices coming out of Microsoft have been pretty mundane. Anticipated. Expected. I haven’t seen much in the last decade that has made me say, “wow,” in that breathy, holy-shit-you-just-blew-my-mind kind of way. Allard was at the helm for some good stuff, but it was just that – good. Nothing great. Nothing spectacular. His decision to retire will have about as much impact on the gadgets we see as will his decision to pursue “adventure sports.” All the best to you, J., but I can’t say I’m going to miss you.

Take your time and reread that headline. Yes, a couple in South Korea left their baby – their real baby – alone in their apartment while they raised a virtual child from a local internet cafe. The couple would return to the house once a day in shifts to feed the malnourished child. The baby eventually died of dehydration and severe malnutrition.

According to police, the couple had been on the run for the past five months after it was discovered the child had died. South Korea has been lauded by web penetration advocates for having the highest broadband per capita stats in the world. With that comes the occasional terrifying story of internet addiction like this one. The country had another web related death recently when a young man died in an internet cafe after playing an online game for 86 hours straight.

The report at AOL cites the economy as one possible cause of the obsession. At some point, though, I think we just need to hold people accountable without excuses. Unemployed or not, abandoning a baby isn’t justifiable.

When the holidays come, mothers are desperate in devising ways to keep their kids occupied through the vacation. But whatever you plan you almost always have some hours or even days in hand when you don’t know what to do with them. It is at these times that you should turn to Internet as your savior.

The Internet is an extensive, never ending resource for everything these days. From buying to earning to learning, everything can be done just sitting in front of the computer. So why not use the computer to make the children occupied for at least a few hours a day engaging in learning and fun activities? From coloring to puzzles or learning phonics or doing math there is a wide range of activities waiting for children to explore.

Online games like tic-tac-toe, dino run, free bingo, Tetris and maze games can keep them occupied for hours. Jigsaw puzzles and spot the differences will not only boost their brain but also keep them out of your way. Many online activities provide a safe and fun platform for children helping them to build logic, memory and language.

Another way to engage a child’s mind is to get them enrolled in online libraries. Children as young as three and two can also use the books in digitized form to develop a love of reading. Online libraries cultivate the wonderful habit of reading and borrowing right in the comfort of your home.

Slightly older kids can engage in online language classes and hone their linguistic skills. Whatever the interest a kid shows, activities are in abundance for them to explore and keep themselves busy. But as parents it is your duty to point them in the right direction.

Doctors at the University of Melbourne recently made an interesting discovery about the Wii Balance Board. It’s actually comparable, in their words, “clinically comparable,” to the $18,000 medical device used to help stroke victims with recovery. The Balance Board costs $99.

Researchers from the University disassembled the board to have a look at its guts, in part to determine just how useful the thing could be. As it turns out, the strain gauges in the Balance Board are good. So good they could save hospitals hundreds of thousands of dollars and given smaller rehab facilities the tools to help a wider variety of patients. “I was shocked given the price: it was an extremely impressive strain gauge set-up,” lead researcher Ross Clark told New Scientist. Clark and his team published a paper verifying the quality of the Balance Board as a medical device.

Source: New Scientist

I did a review a while back for a pair of Gunnar Optiks and was pleasantly surprised at the results. It seems the company has entered the market at just the right time, a year or so before the release of the world’s biggest 3D experience. That’s positioned it well to take on 3D glasses, a sector that is historically plagued by poor aesthetics and a dearth of options for prescription wearers.

The first pair of designer 3D eyewear will be available in Q2 this year, a month or so later for the prescription versions, starting at $90. It’s a big price tag, but they’ll keep you from looking completely ridiculous, and if you’re just buying them for yourself I think it’s a justifiable cost.

In case you need a little more reassurance, here’s Joe Croft, the company’s co-founder: “While typical 3D eyewear is stamped from a flat sheet of plastic, GUNNAR lenses are shaped, formed and cut to provide distortion free optics.”

Today marks the second installment in our 2009 Holiday Gift Guide. If you didn’t stop by yesterday, make sure you get a look at part one. If you need additional holiday advice (no, I won’t help with your in-laws) just leave a comment below.

Livio Radio for Pandora/NPR
The Livio Radio is a great choice for any audio lover you know. The original debuted with built-in Pandora support, allowing users to listen to Pandora in any room of the house. The little screen makes it easy to browse through your favorite stations and you still get your thumbs-up/thumbs-down buttons for encouraging/discouraging specific tracks.

Livio also added an NPR specific radio to its lineup this year, providing access to some 800 NPR stations over a wireless connection. The NPR radio just started shipping this week. You can get either model for $199.99 from the Livio website.

Also Consider: Logitech Squeezebox Radio

Able Planet Clear Harmony Noise-Canceling Headphones
I reviewed Able Planet’s Clear Harmony noise-canceling headphones earlier this year and fell in love. I’d even pick them over the Bose QuietComforts because you can play music even if your batteries die (no active noise-canceling if that happens, though). These things sound excellent, last forever on a pair of AAA batteries, and tuck away nicely into a hardshell case.

The only thing that may scare you off would be price, but for this kind of quality you should expect to spend a little cash. Get a deal at Tiger Direct for $249.99.

Also Consider: Bose Quiet Comfort

Playstation 3 Slim
Personally, I’m not a Playstation guy. Never have been. Never will be. But I can’t think up a good reason you should follow suit. With the recent size reduction and price drop, the PS3 is looking as good as it’s ever likely to. With the recent release of Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2 Sony’s lineup got a nice facelift as well.

Be sure you shop around for the bundles, though. Some of them are region specific, but Sony is so far behind in the console race that it’s offering crazy deals to get this system into your home. Most everything will run you $299 for the 120GB model.

Also Consider: Xbox 360 Elite Bundle

Samsung BD-P1600
This Blu-ray player is a nice little mashup for all your media needs. You obviously get BD Live support, but you can stream HD movies from Netflix and hook this thing up to your audio system for Pandora, too. And though price may have held Blu-ray back in times gone by, the P1600 is going for $149.99 as a part of Samsung’s Black Friday deals. Check the Samsung website for a list of retailers and other Samsung deals.

Also Consider: Roku Player

Wii Motion Plus
So you’re staying away from Blu-ray this year and you don’t want the PS3 Slim? I’d call you crazy, but Wii Sports Resort and New Super Mario Bros. Wii are plenty to keep you busy through the holidays. Just don’t forget to pick up enough Wii Motion Plus dongles for everyone to play along (with the first title, anyway). The tiny attachment dramatically improves the Wii’s motion-sensing abilities, so your jumper from the elbow can be just as bad as your game in real life.

Get a single WMP from Amazon for $16.99 or pickup the Wii Sports Resort Bundle (WMP included) for $46.99.

Also Consider: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 Bundle

That does it for this year’s holiday gift guide. Check back later in the week for a Black Friday Roundup including my favorite deals from the major retailers’ holiday ads. Happy Holidays from everyone at Gadget Teaser and Bullz-Eye to all of our readers and fans.

Do you ever look back on your first iPod and get a little tear in your eye? Do you lovingly remember the first time you took the original iPod Shuffle to the gym? Yeah, neither do I. I wasn’t all that taken with the iPod until the third generation to be honest. But for the early adopters out there, Apple has a special treat.

As TUAW points out, Apple currently has first-gen iPods and iPod Shuffles up for sale. Granted, they’re refurbed, but I still think it’s kinda cool. In case you’re wondering, that is indeed the iPod model with the physical scrollwheel and individual buttons surrounding the wheel. They’re claiming it’s 5GB iPod for $129 while the original Shuffle will run you a jaw-dropping $99.

Now I’m all for getting a little cutesy with old products, but $99 for the Shuffle that came with a lanyard? Come on, now. That’s just absurd.

In a press release that is absolutely rife with ridiculous allegories between gaming and physical battle, Logitech announced two new products today. When you’ve got “sweat on your brow, and it’s way too late to turn back,” or “when victory is on the line,” you’ll soon be able to thank your new mouse and headset for pulling you through tough times.

The new mouse is a revamp of the current G5, an industry standard for hardcore gamers. The new mouse, dubbed the G500, has most of the updates you would expect with a new mouse. They’ve reshaped the body for more support, added on-the-fly dpi adjustment, and given the mouse a “battle-worn” makeover so your disheveled appearance will look marginally less like you crawled out of your basement for the first time and more like you crawled out of Castle Wolfenstein’s basement…where there was a computer…with a really neat mouse. The coolest part of the mouse is that it comes with 27 grams of weight that you can add or remove from the body to fine tune the feel of your mouse. That’s actually one of my pet peeves in finding a new mouse – most are just way too light.

Logitech claims to be releasing an industry first with the new adjustable, behind-the-head headset, the G330. The band behind your ears can be adjusted for a custom fit and the new phones feature a silicone headband and pivoting ear pads for improved comfort. At the core of the headband is a steel spring design to “withstand the wear and tear of furious battle,” better known as a trip across the room when that 14-year-old wipes your raid again. You’ll also get inline volume control and microphone muting.

The new gear has separate release dates. You can get the headphones later this month for $50 and the G500 in September for $70.

Source: Business Wire

Of course by “ate” I mean “deleted without warning” and by “Amazon” I mean “another in the growing list of evil companies who can’t get their digital rights straight.” The suit, which is a class action, is being brought by Justin D. Gawronski, a 17-year-old from Michigan who lost his notes on George Orwell’s 1984 when Amazon went and pulled the book from all of its Kindle devices.

While I am glad to see someone taking legal action on the matter, it’s a little absurd that it was a 17-year-old who had to do the deed. I would hardly call losing your summer reading notes a serious injunction, but then, what really could be in this situation? The most serious part is simply that Amazon did it, and they shouldn’t have. Now it’s up to the courts to decide if that has any reasonable legal implications. My guess is they’ll simply say, “no.”

Yesterday, Two days ago (damn you Time Warner), I covered the hub of your college life – your desk. While I may have harped on just how much work you’re going to be doing, there’s also plenty of time for fun in college. This edition of Pimp Your Dorm is designed to help you have a little, and to do so in style.

Today we’re focusing on that part of your dorm room that’s sure to get plenty of attention – the entertainment system. When I say system, I mean the part of your room that’s dedicated to producing various forms of visual and aural entertainment. Whether it’s music, movies, or a little gaming you’re after, this guide will have your room set as the center of attention.

TV
This is where entertainment starts. Your TV selection is important, because it can provide you with benefits you might not otherwise see if you went with that cheap all-in-one from Wal-Mart.

I’d highly recommend the Samsung LN26A450. A 26-inch TV isn’t huge, but it’s also not going to break the bank. Frankly, your dorm room is going to be small, so sticking with a smaller TV is probably a good thing. The unit comes with 3 HDMI inputs to take advantage of the 720p resolution, which will also make the smaller image seem crisp enough that you won’t care. Most of the time this baby will run you a cool $500, but B&H has used models listed for just $349.99! Even if you have to pay full price, remember that you want quality. I replaced two TVs in three years at school because I was cheap. Total cost? Almost $450. Pay the money up front and you won’t have the headaches later.

Receiver
You need something to push your audio, right? Right. Again, don’t skimp and try to save the extra $40-50 here. Spend that money now and you won’t have to consider upgrading down the line.

I’d recommend the Onkyo TX-SR507. It’s a 5.1 receiver, which is just about perfect for most dorm rooms. With the right speakers you won’t be taking up too much space and you’ll still get great sound. Dorms are certainly not the optimal place for a home theater, but you can make do. I also like that this receiver runs HDMI audio and video, so there’s no screwing around with a optical ports. More on this later. TigerDirect has the Onkyo Receiver for $344.

Speakers
Every time someone brings up “reasonable speakers” I point them to the Polk RM6750. It’s a 5.1 system with a full-size woofer (none of that short-throw crap that’s going fart every time you watch the opening sequence from Fellowship of the Ring) and reasonably sized satellites. The woofer has a built in amp, too, so you don’t have to worry about your receiver trying to push too much bass. Pair with that Onkyo you’ll get great sound for movies, music, and any game you might want. $208 from Amazon.

Game System
Speaking of games, it’s time to discuss your system of choice. I realize that for most gamers this is a matter of deeply personal interest. You don’t want me telling you what to do. I won’t. I’ll tell you what I would do and why.

Were I headed back to college I’d be looking at a new 360 with the Jasper chip (this guide from Anandtech will show you how to identify the Jasper chipset). The chip is cooler, faster, and supposedly more reliable, meaning you won’t have to worry about the RRoD. The 360 also sports a larger installed base than the PS3, which gives you more options for getting some quick game time on the hall. There’s nothing like coming back from class on a rainy day to the sounds of Halo booming from three or four rooms. Trust me, it’s what I did for four years. The 360 Elite comes with HDMI, which is perfect for your setup (and again, no optical ports necessary). Your games will look great and so will the rest of your media.

That’s another great reason to get a 360. It’s really the best for moving content from your computer to your home theater. You can watch your movies, TV shows, and listen to your music with the fidelity of your full system.

For the die-hard PS3 fans, this setup is perfect for you, too. Again, HDMI support, a great sound system, and a TV to make your Killzone games look crisp and vibrant. Either way you go, I’m sure you’ll be happy.

Cabling
I’ll leave you to find your own cabling, with just one caveat – buy cheap HDMI. I know I’ve spent the majority of this guide encouraging you to spend some cash, but in some cases that’s just not necessary. HDMI cables can get ridiculously expensive and it’s usually for no benefit. Rick Broida over at The Cheapskate posted a 3-cable deal for just $10 a while back. By all accounts consumers have been just as happy with their three dollar cables as people who spend $30-40 for a single six-footer.

That should do it for our entertainment edition. Check back tomorrow (internet going to the crapper notwithstanding) for the final edition of Pimp Your Dorm Room: Everything Else. I’ll be covering the little things that will make your college life easier, more enjoyable, and make your dorm more like a home.

It’s really becoming a year among years for Apple. The super-trendy company was once a sleeping puppy in a den of wolves, quietly wooing customers to the questionable promise of a more stable lifestyle. Since then they’ve released the Kleenex of the MP3 player market and turned tens of millions to the iPhone. Just three months ago their app store hit 1 billion downloads and just this month the store had its first birthday.

Today marks another milestone for your favorite fruity company. According to an Apple press release, the app store has reached 1.5 billion downloads to date. We already know Apple’s iPhone as host to the fastest growing development community in the world, sending coders on a rite of passage with dreams of hitting it rich. Those quasicultish seekers have made more than 65,000 apps available in 77 countries around the world.

Our congrats to Apple. May your useful apps continue to improve and your frivolous apps continue to make us scratch our heads as we look at the download counts.

You can read the full press release here.

The folks at PocketGamer.biz recently took a look at the iPhone gaming situation to come away with some cold, hard data about what people are buying and why. I’ll spare you the full report (really I just don’t want to leech all the credit here) and focus instead on some of the more interesting details.

For standards, PG took a snapshot of the top 100 applications and then broke down the results by price, price by rank, games by publisher, and source (new IP, console port, music, movie, etc.).

Pricing was actually different than you might think. While most of the top 100 came in the $.99 category (36 titles), second place went to the $4.99 bracket with 20 titles. But that’s just number of games for each price bracket. Obviously since they are top 100 these are games that are getting downloaded a lot, but how much do the games get played after downloading?

If you look at price by rank, the top 10 games average just $1.89/download. At 11-20, the price drops to $1.19. Of course there are a load of factors that could contribute to the rankings. Are people really playing these cheap games more or are they just deleting them more often and so being prompted to rate more of these games?

Perhaps the most useful statistic, at least to industry developers, is the rate of new downloads and the desire for new IP. Of the top 100 games, 40 were released in June or July (this likely includes a few updates). Another 22 were April or May releases. As for IP, 52 of the top 100 are fresh content, designed just for the iPhone.

If you’re downloading games, where does your allegiance lie? Are you a bargain shopper, only buying apps that are cheap or on sale? Or do you look for the best IPs from hot developers, regardless of price?

Shortly after arriving at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, Sony Corp CEO Howard Stringer had some strong words regarding recent price reduction requests from Activision CEO Bob Kotick.

“He likes to make a lot of noise,” Stringer said. “He’s putting pressure on me and I’m putting pressure on him. That’s the nature of business.” Stringer’s remarks come in response to an interview with Bob Kotick in June, in which Kotick mentioned Activision might seriously consider dropping the PS3 as a platform if costs didn’t come down.

Stringer says the decision to maintain the PS3’s current price comes down to simple logic. “I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make – how’s that for logic.” Well meeeOW, Mr. Stringer. Sounds like Activisions concerns may have touched a vein. Still, Stringer remains confident that the market will rebound.

Can Sony remain financially stable in our global return from recession? A lot of developers seem to think no, as more publishers join the list clamoring for a price cut. Maybe this is just Stringer’s way of staying quiet until he can drop the PS3 Slim bomb on the world, and that’s when the price would come down. Even with a price cut, though, there’s still the increased cost for console developers on the PS3. If Sony can’t reduce development costs, no amount of logic will work Stringer out of the hole he’s in.

Smartphones used to be the domain of supergeeks and tech professionals – people who needed or desperately wanted the functionality of a full computer in a tidy mobile platform. As the devices became more popular and the desire for on-the-go web capabilities grew you could almost smell the storm coming.

Then the iPhone came out and sold millions, spurring competitors to make their own touchscreen wonderphone. We’ve now got the Blackberry Storm, the HTC G1, the Palm Pre, the Nokia N97, and the Samsung Jet, all running on a different operating system. While the manufacturers tout the hardware features that make their phone the best (physical keyboards, a screen that clicks, a camera with a flash), consumers are starting to look to the software that runs the phone, and the applications they’re finally able to install, to make a decision.

Apple has been most successful with third party application sales and support due to their App Store, which opened in mid-July, 2008. Since release, the App Store has seen more than a billion application downloads and now showcases more than 50,000 third party applications. From games to translators, finance tools to ereaders, the Apple App Store has an app for almost anything, leaving its competitors lagging far behind.

It’s taken nearly a year for competitors to get their mobile application stores up and running, time during which Apple has continued to lure consumers with the promise of a robust app catalog. As Business Insider points out, consumers aren’t just investing in a phone, they’re investing in a platform, with application quality and quantity as a major component of that investment. In a similar article, BI adds that time users spend with applications is replacing time spent on the web. Apps like Yelp allow users quick access to restaurant reviews, where before they would have been using Google.

This isn’t just good news for Apple, it’s an important statistic for developers. Read the rest of this entry »

We already know the PSP Go is a ripoff. It’s essentially a minor upgrade over the current hardware at a premium price. In the UK things are even worse. Our friends across the pond are looking at prices as high as £230 (approx. $380), which is nearly double the price of the current generation mobile gamer.

Whether it’s the price, the hardware, or just an utter lack of interest, UK retailers are showing zero, yes, zero pre-orders, and they’re not happy. The problem comes with the margins on hardware retail, which are historically small. Now that the PSP no longer supports UMD drives, the only justifiable revenue stream comes in the form of Playstation Network cards, which can be purchased in $20 and $50 increments in the US, but remain unavailable in the UK.

Sony’s banking on mobile software delivery for games instead of your typical physical media with the PSP Go, and it’s already got retailers wondering if they should bother with the new device. Seems like a lot of people share that sentiment where Sony is concerned. Will they listen, or just continue to frustrate retailers and developers out of doing business together?

Tired of that painted cardboard tube you’ve been sliding over your Wiimote? Wish you could play homerun derby as Anakin? This fall you can ditch the cardboard and intimidate your fellow batters with…these plastic Star Wars peripherals.

We’re talking about the lightsaber/blaster you see pictured at right, the newest official peripherals to be licensed by LucasArts and Nintendo. The lightsaber comes in colors for Anakin or Yoda, while the blaster comes with some super nifty customizable stickers. YAY! Nothing like throwing stickers on your laser rifle from the future. Who’s a badass? You are, my friend. You are.

The rifle is built just like other rifles for the Wii, with a holster for both the Wiimote and the nunchuk, giving you double triggers and the necessary movement controls. Did I mention the stickers?

No word yet on pricing, and no one’s mentioned whether the lightsabers actually light up (and kill your Wiimote batteries), but I’d guess yes on the lighting and $25 on the price. Someone please make a hilarious video with these.

The latest in iPhone news (and I know there’s been a lot of it this month) comes from id Software. You may know them as the creators of games like Doom and Wolfenstein and the upcoming Rage. iPhone users will be getting introduced to, or reacquainted with, id over the next year.

id co-founder John Carmack told Joystiq today that he is “passionate about the benefits of the iPhone,” and that his company has a lot of fun porting their titles. He also says it doesn’t require a lot of focus, at least for an established IP like Doom. But there is more to come from Carmack and company, who recently announced their buyout by ZeniMax, parent company to Bethesda.

“I’ve got a slate of iPhone titles, I expect to have an iPhone release every two or three months for the next year,” said Carmack. He made it clear that the benefit isn’t necessarily the money, but rather the level of commitment. When a game doesn’t cost millions of dollars to make and market, it’s a lot less pressure on the development team, which Carmack views as a good thing.

I’m glad to see a major developer taking the iPhone into serious consideration. Titles like Myst have recently been ported as well, but how about some new IP? Personally, I’d love some.

When you’ve taken a company from $10 million yearly revenues to nearly $200 million quarterly revenues, you can pretty much say what you want. If your new company also happens to be worth some $16 billion, you can also say those things to whomever you like, even if it happens to be Sony.

That’s exactly what’s happening between Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard’s President and CEO (that would be the $16 billion company), and Sony. Kotick has apparently been frustrated with the fees Sony charges for what he thinks may be a dying platform.

“I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation,” Kotick says. “When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support [PS3 and PSP].”

For those of you keeping track at home, that’s next year. As in, six months from now. And if Activision sees fit to pull the plug, who’s next? Other developers have voiced issue with Sony licensing fees and the difficulties of developing on their hardware. Would EA see fit to cut ties?

As compelling a case as Kotick might put together, he seems a bit blind when it comes to ideas for saving Sony. In this same interview, Mr. Kotick suggests Sony consider things like the upcoming skateboard controller for a new Tony Hawk title. Are peripherals really what’s slowing the company? I could be wrong here, but how does adding a peripheral, which will probably be available on the other two consoles, help PS3 sales? How does that cut back the fees Kotick so loathes? And what of development? PS3 will still cost more per title for the same game, so where’s the benefit?

In running Sony into the ground is my guess. Kotick’s suggestion leads one direction – further marginalization of the PS3. If they keep releasing the same games and the same peripherals as everyone else, they’ll keep getting beat, for all the reasons Kotick cites early on. Then he doesn’t have to make the tough decision because every developer would leave with him.

For now you can rest assured Activision is still making plenty of money off Sony, but I’d bet other developers share some of Kotick’s thoughts, if not his fervor for making them public. Will Sony respond, or is Kotick just a blowhard? Sound off in the comments.

A couple guys at Asobitech have put together a PC case mod that instantly set me to drooling.

As you can see from the pic, their mod takes shape in the form of an old SNES. Using the guts from an Acer Aspire A150 they hacked together a fully-functional PC into a UK SNES case. It’s not just the case mod, though, it’s that they have fully supported connections coming through the controller cables. These guys have also managed to turn an old cartridge into a slot-loading DVD drive that you can eject with the SNES eject button. Yes, it’s that awesome. According to their site it’s coming to eBay soon.