E3 Aftermath

The Wii Motion Plus is an add-on peripheral for Nintendo's Wii-Mote. Extending the length of the controller by an inch and a half, the new attachment allows for enhanced precision in games. With the Wii Motion Plus, players' slightest movements, including arm orientation, will be tracked identically on-screen for a true 1:1 ratio of response. While many feel that this is what the Wii-Mote should have been from the very beginning, it's definitely better late than never. Along with its release later this year will be the first game to take full advantage of the new attachment, Wii Sports Resort. We now join the good folks at Nintendo as they show off the new game and the Wii Motion Plus in action.

Coming to PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 this Halloween is a game called Dead Space. While the gameplay you're about to see looks to be a straight-up sci-fi action title, the developers at EA Redwood Shores assure us that Dead Space is very much a survival horror game. Take a look as one of the guys from the development team talks you through a section of the game from the E3 showroom floor.

Executive Producer, Glen Schofield says of creating Dead Space, "I'd like people to walk away and say that it was the scariest video game they've ever played, and it was new and it was fresh, but it scared the crap out of them." We'll find out if Glen's wishes come true this Halloween.

Depicted in the image above is the new interface for the Xbox 360. As you can see, not only has Microsoft changed the way gamers interact with the 360, there are some interesting new features as well. First, let me bring your attention to the little guy on the left. This tab will replace Xbox LIVE's traditional gamercard. Instead of using gamerpics to differentiate you from your friends online, the 360 will now allow you to create your own custom avatar. Owners of the console will have the ability to create little people like this using hundreds of templates including pants, shirts, shoes, hats, hair color, and facial features. While this type of creativity is usually fun, implementing it into the 360 is certainly not groundbreaking. After all, we've seen the very same idea at work with the Nintendo Wii, as well as the Playstation 3 whose upcoming Home takes this a huge step forward by creating a virtual environment for its avatars to interact in, much like that of Second Life. Even so, it certainly looks like a fun feature.

The most notable new feature added to the 360's interface is its integration with Netflix. Xbox LIVE subscribers who also subscribe to Netflix will have the ability to add movies into a special Instant Queue at Netflix.com. If you meet these criteria, you'll be able to simply drag and drop your desired movie into the Instant Queue and be able to watch the film immediately through Xbox LIVE, rather like the Video On Demand service found with various cable TV providers. This is a very cool feature indeed.