THE KONSORTIUM

Nintendo Wii

A funny thing happened while all those gaming geeks stood on line for the PS3: Nintendo's lower-priced Wii came along and reinvented the console experience with a motion-detecting controller known (regrettably) as the "Wiimote." Sales have been plentiful—though, allegedly, so have Wiimote-fueled injuries.

Sony's new Mylo is all play and no work

While most handhelds are great for getting work done on the go, Sony's new Mylo is all about goofing off. That's because unlike Treos, Sidekicks, or CrackBerries, the Mylo (an acronym for "My Life Online," but we wouldn't repeat that) has no phone or scheduling software, making it essentially useless as a business tool. "The Mylo was intended to be all about fun," explains Sony rep Philip Boyle. "We wanted to take the better parts of a PC entertainment experience but leave out all the monthly service contracts and bandwidth limitations of a phone." Not to mention annoying interruptions: The device lets you browse the Web, send and receive IMs, play music, and download and watch MPEG-4 movies without the distraction of phone calls from your boss demanding why you're not at the office doing those things on his time. And, if you absolutely have to speak to someone, you can use Google Talk or the built-in Skype software to make free Internet calls. Though, on second thought, most bosses are easier to deal with over IM.
Sony Mylo Personal Communicator, $350, www.sonystyle.com.

Rockstar gives Ping-Pong the GTA treatment

The guys behind Grand Theft Auto may be the last people you’d expect to embrace Ping-Pong, but says Rockstar Games producer Darion Lowenstein, “We absolutely love table tennis. Everyone has pretty much the same reaction the first time they see an Olympic-scale match—‘Holy crap, did you see that?'” Lowenstein & co. are hoping gamers will be saying the same thing when Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis debuts Monday. Featuring 11 fictional athletes—seven men, four women—RGPTT uses the company’s hot new RAGE game engine to produce an array of impressive effects: Players dive, grunt, and pump their fists before hitting back with an arsenal of trick shots. There’s even a "focus" option, which gives you a brief slo-mo window before the ball is slammed home. The graphics are equally impressive. "We physically simulated cloth so that each player's clothes ripple with every swing. It's mesmerizing,” explains the producer. Sure, he’s shilling for his own game, but he’s also right. His Rockstar crew has turned the quintessential lo-fi sport into the next hi-tech sensation—and all without a single car theft or dead stripper.
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, $39.99, for Xbox 360 at www.gamestop.com.

Round Two

As the first wave of Xbox 360 games proved, nothing undermines a hot new console faster than mediocre titles. After playing rushed-to-market duds like Project Gotham Racing 3 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, more than a few gamers were griping about unmet X-pectations. Luckily, a superior second generation of games is on its way, and the best don't pull any punches. Case in point: EA's razor-sharp Fight Night Round 3. With its lengthy roster of fighters from Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier to Oscar De la Hoya and Roy Jones, Jr. it allows you to re-create some of the sport's most legendary bouts (developers used clips from ESPN Classic for inspiration). Each boxer's game play is tailored to his real-life fighting style, so don't expect Oscar De La Hoya to pull off Ali-style rope-a-dope. And, to make the action even more realistic, the folks at EA have removed all those readouts of vital signs the only clues to how your opponent's holding up are things like shuffling steps, slumping shoulders, bloody eyes, etc. Which, as Ali proved on more than one occasion, can be plenty deceiving.

Camp Hellmuth, A Poker Experience

An email from Bluefish Concierge made us aware of the special VIP package. The special package, of which there are just a few left offers a chance to nab some one-on-one attention and semi private lessons. The package includes a private dinner/poker lesson with Phil Hellmuth as well as a private session with FBI agent Joe Navarro on Sunday, where he will analyze your tells and help you correct them. Camp Hellmuth is being held February 9 - 11, 2006 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and includes poker instruction, workshops, tournaments and entertainment. Thestandard cost for the weekend is $1999.

Camp Hellmuth

Sony PSP

A boon for the obsessive gamer, the PSP was also a way for the rest of us to visit his world without committing social suicide: Its elegantly designed controls, brilliant four-inch screen, and skinny form factor helped Sony's sleek device spearhead a revolution in handheld gaming, music-listening, and "wide-screen" film-watching.
$249, www.sonystyle.com

Joystick to the World: Logitech Harmony

If you haven't yet invested in a universal remote control, now's the time particularly if you got all the gadgets you asked for this Christmas. Logitech has anticipated that dilemma with its recently released Harmony model. It's capable of controlling 12 different devices, ranging from high-tech home lighting systems to vintage laser-disc players (in all, it's able to work more than 75,000 IR-equipped gizmos from more than 2,500 manufacturers). That's just what you'd expect from a universal remote, of course. What makes the Harmony unique is its ability to control the new Xbox 360. It won't necessarily improve your Call of Duty 2 kill ratio, but its dedicated buttons do allow for quick toggling between interface screens (as well as the full array of standard DVD, TV, and home-theater functions). And, because they're tactile and three-dimensional, they require less of your attention than virtual buttons found on higher-end touch-screen remotes. Which comes in quite handy, whether you're trying to annihilate Nazi soldiers or simply hitting pause while attending to your couch companion.
Logitech Harmony for Xbox 360, $129, or $99 when you buy it with the Xbox.

Logitech Harmony

Brooks Brothers Poker Set

An excellent gift and a fully elegant way to steal your friends’s money at your next game. The Brooks Brothers poker set comes in a hardwood box with brass hardware and a cushioned velvet interior. Inside there are 500 casino-weight, clay composite chips in five colors with their Golden Fleece logo, two decks of poker cards from Italy with a Golden Fleece lattice design and casino-grade dice in navy with gold. The set sells for $268.

Brooks Brothers

snowboard video game

They were cruising down the halfpipe, goofy-footed when they hit the lip, busted some huge air, lost it and ended up rolling down the windows. If you know kids who can understand that sentence, then this is the game for them. Created by gaming pros Electronic Arts, this game is controlled by a plastic snowboard that rocks back and forth. Set includes four different games with graphics and gameplay based on Electronic Arts' legendary SSX characters.

designed for ages 8+
board holds up to 200 lbs
plugs directly into the tv or vcr so there's no need for other equipment
requires four aa batteries, available separately
price$50

Red Envelope

Games: Never Say Never

While Daniel “Blond Bond” Craig has been busy messing about in military boats and grabbing headlines, Sean Connery has quietly stepped back into the role he originated. (On Xbox and PS2 consoles, anyway.) EA’s new game, From Russia With Love, is a tribute to Bond’s golden years, replete with Savile Row suits, vodka martinis, Aston Martins, and Slavic sex kittens—not to mention Sir Sean, who lends his unmistakable voice and, thanks to the wonders of technology, his sixties-era likeness to the proceedings. The third-person action follows the basic outline of the 1963 film: Seeking revenge for the death of Dr. No, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. uses a phony Russian defector to lure Bond into a trap. The result is sort of GTA: Istanbul, as Bond races his DB5 through the streets of Turkey to uncover the plot and infiltrate the KGB. In classic Bond fashion, it features an astounding intro sequence that also serves as an in-game training session to familiarize players with the controls. Devoted gamers, meanwhile, will be satisfied with RPG elements, upgrading equipment and weapons, and Easter-egg-like “Bond Moments” (shooting a tank of explosives to take out a room full of evil Reds, for example) that unlock bonus levels and content. Until Mr. Craig is ready to assume the mantle of 007, this’ll do nicely.
From Russia With Love, available Nov. 3 from circuitcity.com, $49.99

— Chris Kaye