You may not have given it much thought up until now, but Nintendo’s success with the Wii has been a blessing to all sorts of people you wouldn’t normally associate with the videogame industry. If you recall earlier, the Wii has been used as everything from a stroke rehabilitation device, to afitnessproduct. Fans have even found a way to use the Wiimote to measure vehicleacceleration. Given enough time, who knows what people will think of next?...

The next episode ofTalking to Women about Videogameswent long; 40 seconds too long to be precise. Those 40 seconds had to be cut, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get to see them. We slapped this all important deleted scene into a video of its own, sort of like a 40 second, less funny version ofWake Up RonBurgundy. I hope you like it. The topic of next week’s post will be Sony’s ever evolving online practices, specifically the potential for all of theirfuture games to require online passes,and the the PS Vita 3G model’schances for daily download caps....

With Ubisoft’s Ubidays event in Paris having come to a close, it’s not hard to imagine that just maybe you might have missed something. A game here, an announcement there — it’s a lot to process, I know. No one is placing any blame here, so don’t get so defensive. And this has been a busy week for you guys. Between the season finales ofHeroes,Lost,American Idol, and withRush N’ Attackfinally hitting XBLA … who has time to pay attention to Ubidays?...

Simply introducing a new color to the Nintendo DS line-up, Metallic Rose, is not enough for Nintendo. The company has also announced that they’ve hired some celebrities to promote their popular handheld. Because if it’s good enough for Hollywood, it’s good enough for you. Ugly Bettystar America Ferrera and Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood will star in commercials to promote the new color, which will begin airing on May 19. Actress Liv Tyler has also been tapped to appear in commercials that feature the already-available Crimson/Black DS....

Mafia IIis sitting atop the UK Charts like the beast of Bald Mountain, looking down on its thralls and pretenders with lofty contempt. This is the second week in a row that 2K’s crime-em-up has been top dog, puttingKane & Lynch 2in second place. The usual suspects all put in their weekly appearance, but yet again it’sSniper: Ghost Warriorthat manages to surprise us all. The game, which isn’t very good at all, has managed to stay in the UK Charts for weeks, and has been creeping into the top ten again....

It’s been a slow sales week in the UK, but that hasn’t stoppedWii Fitfrom enjoying its billionth week at the top of the charts. That’s right, everyone’s favorite non-game is still going strong, delighting housewife fans who previously had nothing to do between watchingThe Wright Stuffand flicking themselves off over Ben Shepherd. It won’t shock you to learn that the rest of the chart is, as David Byrne would say, the same as it ever was....

Leave it to Grasshopper Manufacture to make a game where a one-eyed monster named Willy leaves a steaming turd as an in-game checkpoint. Or where the protagonist’s sidekick is a ghostly skull named Johnson who turns into a gun called “Boner” on command. Yeah, that’sShadows of the Damnedfor you. Electronic Arts sent over an early preview of Grasshopper’s latest, allowing me to take a look at the game’s first two acts that kick off demon hunter Garcia Hotspur’s adventure into the underworld....

According to reports, Virgin is set to return to the videogame industry, with Sir Richard Branson himself kicking off an E3 launch party. Whether this will mark the return of the Virgin Interactive brand or an entirely new label remains to be seen. Virgin Interactive started life as Virgin Games in 1984, and throughout the nineties was one of the biggest publishers in Europe, competing with Electronic Arts for dominance. It did a lot of PAL ports for the likes of Capcom, as well as licensed games for Disney....

We recently told you how videogames are being used tocure migrane headaches, and now it looks like a similar approach is being taken to chronic pain. It seems that virtual reality can offer as much relief as pain meds, and a Simon Fraser University professor is working to find out why. “Controlling pain through computerized VR and biofeedback meditation therapies has the promise of providing successful, cost-effective alternatives to pain medications,” said Diane Gromala, founding director of SFU’s BioMedia lab....

This is both a joy filled and sour tasting day in the history of Nintendo’s Virtual Console. The streak of two releases a week continues, this in contrast to 2007’s three-a-week schedule. Bummer. However, the two games we do get are more than worth the price of admission.Phantasy Star IIis the stand out for me, being perhaps the best non-Final Fantasy16-Bit RPG ever. It features an epic story packed with plot twists, space ships, and dying main characters....

Is this really the logo for the next Xbox? Probably not. The above screenshot was taken from Hugh Jackman’s new robot fighting movie,Real Steel.Nothing coming from a robot fighting movie staring Hugh Jackman can be taken seriously. you may see the Xbox 720 logo for yourself in the trailer for the movie, found below the jump. Look for it at about the 00:46 mark. Just be sure to close the window immediately after or else you’re going to have to witness Jackman’s ultra-embarrassing punching jump near the end of the trailer....

I’ve been playing review code ofYs: The Oath in Felghanathese past couple of days. I’m quite pleased. This is a beautifully produced, totally polished action RPG that you can get fully lost in. I think Ys fans and PSP owners will be pleased. It sits at the end of my desk now as I type this, teasing me to come back. XSEED sends word that the game has gone gold, and will ship on November 2nd....

Merry Giving of Thanks everybody! Enjoy the delicious turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and all the other delicacies. And to all of you Black Friday shoppers tomorrow, good luck. Vegeta doesn’t like eBay and PS3sWhat all the Nintendo Fanboys didwhen they saw what Gamespot gaveZeldaMagmoor Caverns.Nothing special, just an awesome cover to an awesome song.THE NINTENDO WII WILL GET YOU LAID!!11!!Another bash against the Nintendo/ZeldafanboysMortal Kombat, Borat editionOnce Upon a Time, FPS Doug edition(Thanks puppetpall mitch!...