The Xbox 360 release of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is still a ways off (early 2007). And what with all the cheers and bally-hoos about this game, you've probably already seen some screenshots and maybe even played the demo. But hey, we just got a new batch of screens to ogle at, thanks to Gamespot.

ZOMG! The game is absolutely starting to show more and more of how extreme it can really get! All that ice, flame, metal, robots, explosions, and big, no, BIG creatures to target! And look! Isn't that planet-killer Lavos from Chrono Trigger? Or an evil cousin of the ohmu creatures in "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds"? Oh! I know! It's my wicked step-aunt back with a vengeance!

Don't confuse this with Tito Jackson's Robot Dance (it looked so hip back when MJ was still with the Jackson 5 with his original nose). The Yukata-clad 13-inch (35cm) tall dancing Japanese robot has "more joints in [their] legs and arms," making it a suitable instructor at a Japanese-style dance class.

The dancing bot was presented at a tech fair in Japan, which is bent on dominating the field of robotics.  The Japanese government has started giving out awards to inventors of promising robots. 

The award has four categories covering robots for services, industrial use, and special purposes (such as rescue work) and those manufactured by small and medium-sized companies.

We're not sure which category this gyrating mechanical robot belongs to but we heard Tito Jackson is flying to Japan to update his moves.

Before, we reported on robots being developed to do housework. Well now, we have gathered pictures of various robots that border from helpful to bizarre. Here's a couple of them:

There's a robot waiter that "takes orders and gives performances" in a the first Robot Restaurant in Hongkong.

Now if you think rickshaws violate certain human rights, you might be delighted to know that there's a robot developed by Wu Yulu, made to do this arduous task. Environmentalists would be happy too, as this robot was made from recycled materials such as ping pong balls (for its eyes) and sponges (for its mouth).

More robots from China after the jump!

If you were lucky enough to watch anime shows featuring giant robots back in the 80s, you'd probably enjoy playing Chousoujuu Mecha MG (a.k.a. Super Control Robot MG) on the Nintendo DS. And why not? Anything that puts you behind the controls of a 30-meter tall robot is bound to give you that grand mech experience.

The DS game being developed by Sandlot will feature a buttload of mechs to choose from. The controls will depend on which type of mech you choose. That alone is enough to make you want to check out the game. Unfortunately, these mechs are only Japan-bound come September 2. But that wouldn't stop you from checking out the game's website, which is now up and running. If you head on to the site, you'd get a glimpse of what the game has to offer, but it's in Japanese and Babelfish can only do so much.

The mechs are introduced in the site, as well as the main characters of the game. It also has a brief explanation of gameplay system and the storyline. There are also some screenshots that'll make you wish the game is headed to American shores.

Textbooks are written to do two things: to teach and to bore students. And that's why ZMP created its robots. The company believes a robot is the most suitable hands-on teaching material for basic mechanical, electrical, electronic, control and information engineering.

Its newest mechanical baby is the Nuvo robot. Nuvo is controlled via FOMA (Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access), which is a 3G service available only Japan. Although far from perfect (the video was cut short just when the humanoid was about to tip over) it can pick itself up from flat-on-the-floor position. Something many super-sized and inebriated humans can't do. The company says it hopes teachers will use the Nuvo bots in class. We have a feeling students would want that, too.

Scientists at the University of Queensland were recently given a $3.3 million grant to develop robots whose perception of physical space was based on animal navigation skills. The team of scientists will observe the manner of navigation among bees, rodents, and even humans, as a way of further understanding how the hippocampus, the brain's navigational center, works. The input derived from these observations will then be mapped onto a computer in an attempt to map ideas.

While the hippocampus itself is associated mostly with helping to visualize and remember physical space, the scientists also hope the data can be used to map out ideas. Once completed, the scientists hope to use the data models to create navigations systems for robots, allowing them to both find their way to a given point, and retrace their steps accordingly.

The information derived from these tests and experiments might also be of great use to the medical community. With a greater understanding of the brain's processes, there is also hope that it can help in treating mental dysfunctions, such as Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's. The success of this project could very well mean the alleviation of pain and suffering of many people with mental illnesses as well as their families, and perhaps also be of use in understanding how human beings learn and adapt over time.

Germany's institution BPjM (formerly BPjS) is notorious for putting games on their "index", meaning they aren't allowed to be advertised anymore and can only be sold "under the table" to persons over 18 years of age. When publishers need to change people into robots to comply with German laws, you pretty much know what happens when you come up with something like Dead Rising. Recent reports indicate that the game has already been "banned", but that term is a bit too vague.

The USK (similar to the ESRB) did not give Dead Rising an age rating, meaning it is not approved for people under 18 years. This does not equal a "ban", where the game gets drawn from shelves and is not allowed to be promoted, but due to Microsoft's policy not to license companies publishing unrated games on the Xbox 360, Dead Rising won't be published in Germany anyway - so in the end, we get the same situation we would have with a full ban.

The BPjM has been proven highly unpopular with German gamers for a long time. Their stance regarding violence is comparable to the one of US departments when it comes to sexual content. While Germany has recently changed laws, giving adult games a bit more room and freedom, most people are still not satisfied. Microsoft doesn't exactly help in that regard by not publishing unrated AAA-titles. The only option that remains for the Germans now is to get the UK version of Dead Rising.

The RoboScallop is a device that mimics the sea scallop's way of propelling itself. It is a tube a few millimetres long and about 750 microns in diameter that is closed at one end and contains a bubble of air. What's so special about that? RoboScallop can one day carry drugs to parts of the human body that are hard to reach.

When submerged in fluid, the robotic tube expands and contracts when bombarded by sound waves. The sound waves creates an alternately sucking and blowing of liquid from one end of the tube. As the fluid enters the tube from a wide angle and then expelled as a narrow jet, the RoboScallop is able to generate thrust. "Our motor has no moving parts and can be powered remotely with no connecting wires," says physicist Claus-Dieter Ohl at the University of Twente in the Netherlands who led the team that built RoboScallop.

Unlike other robots, RoboScallop needs no internal power source or connecting wires. The sound required to drive the device is loud but bearable. "You could drive one inside the human body by placing the skin in contact with a loudspeaker," says Ohl.

Right now, RoboScallop can only attain top speeds of a few millimetres per second, not enough to swim against the flow of blood inside a body. "You'd probably need about 10 mm/s, an increase of 3 or 4 times," says Ohl. The team is thinking of building a nozzle onto the tube, like a rocket engine, that will maximise the thrust it generates.

Ohl thinks RoboScallop can one day swim to a blood clot before delivering an anti-clotting drug. The Roboscallop could also be used to pump fluids through tiny channels in a microfluidic chemical-analysis device. Pumps used in current microfluidic devices either have moving parts that can jam or rely on electric currents or heating, which can damage samples contained in the fluid. "Our acoustic technology could be a big improvement," he says.

   

Looking for a butler or a help who doesn't have a sassy attitude problem? Paris-based Aldebaran Robotics is about finish with Nao, an autonomous, easily programmable, humanoid household robots running on Linux. The 21.6 inches tall Nao features 23 "degrees of freedom" of motion and gripping hands.

Nao comes with PC software that will enable its master to control their android via WiFi. Nao can be as subservient as dog or as sassy as Star Jones. It's all up to its owner who has the power to define the android's behavior, emotional expressions, speech synthesizer, and other capabilities, or collect data from its onboard video camera and other sensors using the bundled software.

Aldebaran Robotics expects to ship Nao early 2007. They didn't say how much it would cost but said Nao will be "affordable".

    

In the recently concluded Tokyo Toy Show 2006, robots of all shapes and sizes dominated the show. But one tiny robot stood out. Sega Toys and Avex Entertainment showed off the portable music player accessory called the Mu-Bot. The Mu-Bot's hands serve as ear phones and the cord can be reeled inside the bot's tiny body. That's pretty much the only thing it does, but I have to admit, the tiny contraption is so cute!  It'll be available in different colors, too, which makes this robot all the more appealing.

Sega plans to release the Mu-Bot in December for 2,500 Yen ($21).