The Wii’s internet channel line-up just got a little better with the launch of the BBC’s iPlayer. Don’t get too excited yet; for the time being it’s only available to Wii owners in the UK. Launched last Wednesday, the service is offered for a small one-time fee to all current BBC license holders (across the pond, people have to pay for the privilege of watching T.V. — then again, there are no commercials). There’s no word yet on plans to bring the channel stateside.

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I first saw a video of the Emotiv EPOC while sitting in a crowded conference room in the middle of Defcon 15. The early versions of the headset looked like a cross between some kind of alien squid and a neon shower cap. The purpose of the device, however, made up for its strange appearance: this odd little headset purportedly read your thoughts, emotions, and facial expressions, allowing its wearer the most direct link to a computer yet.
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In the mixed up, back-and-forth spitfire debate that is violence in video games, there is one constant of life that cannot be denied: charts make everything easier to understand.

Even our favorite attorney, —who wows with eloquent and professional pet names for gamers such as “nitwit” and “knucklehead pixelantes” on the LiveJournal community GamePolitics—can follow this lovely graph, based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Second Life isn’t the only game on the virtual block anymore; Seattle-based startup FlowPlay has just launched its first virtual world Beta. Dubbed ourWorld, the subscription-based sphere is tailored to the elusive, one that is extremely popular with advertisers.

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We reported last month on Apple’s announcement that games on the iPhone will soon be a very accessible reality. Spore and Super Monkey Ball demos were exciting enough, but there is now video floating around of being played on the iPod Touch, ported in its entirety by the independent game developer HermitWorks.

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Already breezed through your downloaded episodes of Babylon 5 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force? Microsoft and Safran Digital may soon have something for you, the torrent-less, action and comedy-loving consumer.
The technology powerhouse and newly created media distributor (subsidiary of The Safran Company) announced last week their decision to team up and put original short-form content in front of the over nine million players on Xbox Live. Although founder Peter Safran doesn’t have the most illustrious titles under his belt, he has high hopes for the future Xbox bites, claiming that the platform has the “exact same demographic” their ideas cater towards. Namely, young males with relatively short attention spans (each piece will wrap at about ten minutes, not much longer than the average timed Halo match). The “talent” in the shows, although nameless as of yet, will appeal to this same demographic. (Though that seems to indicate hawt chix0rz will be ample, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Michael Cera make another appearance in addition to the Clark and Michael episodes already available.)
Among many other unanswered questions lies one of the most decisive: will these original, Xbox-tailored show bits be free to download? If not, Safran may find another Meet the Spartans on his hands. Xbox Live players already have plenty of supplemental material to drop Microsoft Points on, from new CoD4 maps to “Still Alive” for Rock Band to any of the classic arcade games and other videos available. And all of these maintain a newness and replayability that a ten minute video which may show up on YouTube within a few months (the shows will be available elsewhere after a certain “window of exclusivity” on the Xbox) does not.
On the other hand, potentially free, scripted, and Xbox-specific shows sound quite promising. A nice way to relax after a long day of tossing grenades and rocking faces. We’ll find out this summer.

Social networkers rejoice; MySpace has finally launched a games portal. According to the page’s mission statement, the site promises “the best online games available in a safe, user-friendly environment” and caters to hardcore gamers and newbies alike.
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So back in November, 12-year-old Hans Jørgen Olsen saved his sister and himself from a charging, Leeroy Jenkins of a moose by “feigning death,” a skill he picked up playing as a hunter in the knowledge-spurting MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The story then made it around the gaming blogs in December, and everyone enjoyed a relieved giggle and shared a lovely moment of “Video games can help people after all,” continuing through March.
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