Here's some good news for you shoppers looking to score one of Nintendo's motion-sensing wonders, the Wii, for a holiday present or gift for a very special someone: not only will the console be staying at its affordable price, the big N is currently hard at work in making sure that everyone who steps into a store to buy one will walk out a happy customer (meaning, being able to purchase one). Awesome!

This news comes directly from George Harrison, head of marketing for Nintendo's US operations, during an interview about what the marketing arm of Ninty would do to satisfy demand this holiday season. He says that negotiations are already being made so that the US branch gets its fair share of consoles, or "more than [its] fair share."

He also reassures potential owners of the Wii's price point - which will not be seeing any changes any time soon. "We'll stay at $249 for the foreseeable future. We are still selling everything we can make. We think we're in a great position. Both our competitors took price reductions and it hasn't stalled our momentum at all."

And for added security, George also revealed that the company's goals extend beyond the holiday season itself - saying that it was an aim of Nintendo's to try and have reasonably steady production over the course of the year. He also noted that the suppliers themselves don't want to shut down and do nothing at the early part of the year, which could mean that Wii stock will come pouring in even after the holiday shopping craze is over.

Certainly good news indeed from the guys over at Nintendo. Updates as we get them!

"Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space" from the band Spiritualized should have been the perfect theme song for one of the world's leading theoretical physicists Stephen Hawking and Tabula Rasa's Richard Garriott as the two and a handful of others soared through a zero-gravity flight last Thursday.

The momentous event for Hawking (he's been in his wheel chair for four decades now because of ALS) took place inside the cabin of a modified 727 over the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Canaveral. The flight took a total of eight parabolas - the same flight technique astronauts experienced during weightless space environment preparations.

Speaking of which, Richard Garriott mentioned that they only planned for six parabolas but Hawking was grinning widely and seen as really having a great time. Garriott, who is the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, added, "six parabolas really was the intended cutoff point. But he was having so much fun, we went for two more, and then we thought we'd better quit while we're ahead."

Aside from the obvious reason that Hawking wanted to get out of his wheel chair, he explained that he joined the flight because he believes that the future of man lies outside of this endangered world. He commented,

I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically-engineered virus or other dangers, I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space.

Hawking was accompanied by several people during the flight including four physicians, two nurses, two coaches, and two dozen other friends. The famed physicist announced plans for another zero-gravity flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center to celebrate his 65th birthday in January.

Swedish company MyTobii launched its revolutionary product wherein your PC can be controlled with your eyes. MyTobii P10 is a portable eye-controlled communication device that is integrated into one unit. This device is specially tailor-made for person with Cerebral Palsy, ALS, High level spinal injuries and Multiple Sclerosis - the 15” touch screen, eye-controlled device and computer can be mounted on a wheelchair, bed, desktop or anywhere suitable for the user.

The device has integrated speakers, weighs about 5.3 kg and has a working distance of 50-70cm. A user doesn't need to wear something for the eye tracker as it can track nearly anyone, even if they are using contact lenses or glasses. The user just needs to follow the calibrating dot on the screen with his eyes for half a minute and its good to go.

MyTobii P10 is capable of wireless internet connection, has a TP-cable, USB memory stick, Blue tooth, infrared connection and CD player. It is deemed very useful, not only for people with disabilities, but also for extremely lazy people who just want to roll their eyes around.

For the complete specs of MyTobii P10, just click the link below.

Nintendo's Germany division has released their DS schedule for the rest of the year. The most interesting point is the release date of the Opera browser. Germany seems to be getting it on September 29th which should be a good indicator for when the rest of Europe will receive it. Those of us on the other side of the Atlantic might get it sooner because Europe usually gets screwed on releases! We still love ya guys, but it's true - you always get screwed on release dates. Just look at Phoenix Wright for the Germans! They still haven't played one of the greatest DS titles to date!

September:
29 - 42 All Star Classics (früher bekannt als Clubhouse Games)
29 - DS & DS Lite Browser
XX - Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (THQ)
XX - Contact (Rising Star)
XX - Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami)
XX - Rayman IV (Ubisoft)

October:
06 - Harvest Moon
13 - English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills
27 - Yoshi's Island 2
27 - Actionloop
27 - Sudoku Gridmaster

November:
03 - Phoenix Wright (Deutsche Version)
10 - Mario Basketball 3 on 3
10 - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
24 - Hotel Dusk: Room 215
XX - Cooking Game

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) recently announced that Boston Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, is about to debut in his favorite online video game, EverQuest II, as an epically awesome, loot-dropping virtual bad guy who battles unwary players. The bad-boy image in EverQuest II is all for a good cause. Schilling's character will live in the MMORPG's virtual world for three days during the Yankees vs. Red Sox baseball series, which is June 5-7, 2006. The character is aptly named, Curt Schilling.

During this time, anyone who's registered at Everquest II and is online can challenge the "evil" Schilling. If you beat him, not only would you be entitled to bragging rights, but you're also lending a helping hand. Why? Because every time a player defeats the virtual Schilling character, SOE, creators of EverQuest II, will make a donation of $5 dollars (up to a maximum of $10,000) to the ALS Association, which assists patients with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. After the three-day affair, Curt’s character will remain within the game as a high-powered enemy that characters will have to face later in the game.

In addition, SOE will encourage its hundreds of thousands of EQII players to type /ALS within the game in order to donate money to Curt’s charity of choice, the ALS Association. This program will run for the entire three-day series and will give the SOE player community a chance to help with this worthy cause. It's a win-win situation for the player: not only will you be entitled to bragging rights, you'd be able to help people afflicted with ALS.