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Undoubtedly, the Internet offers a convenient way to shop for many of the modern and fantastic products we’ve seen or heard of. People can buy products in a matter of a few clicks, and hopefully save money as well.

One such an exciting product is the Nintendo Wii. This gaming console has surged ahead in popularity, compared to its Microsoft and Sony rivals, by offering a truly unique device. The Wii gaming device is based on a wireless remote control that uses Nintendo’s motion sensing technology. This controller offers players the ability to use it as they would use their hands in real life activities, such as: tennis, bowling, baseball, boxing, etc’. Coupled with the original Wii console, players can purchase a Wii Fit – fun for all the family balance board, which offers additional gaming and sporting interactivity.

A good price comparison website for purchasing the Wii console as well as cheap wii games is Savebuckets.co.uk. You could use the website to find the best price and save yourself having to shop around at multiple electronics stores.

Notably, the price comparison site offers a section called ‘My Price’ which allows users to stick to their budget. All that is required from the users is to provide their email address and the maximum amount that they are prepared to pay for a given product. The users will subsequently be notified by email when a store offers the exact or lower price to what they have specified.

Take note, anyone who likes to play MMO games. A 43 year old Japanese woman has been arrested because she “killed” her online virtual husband, while playing the MMO game Maple Story.

The woman told police officials that the two were suddenly “divorced”. However, she stated that she did not plot any real revenge on the 33-year old man playing her husband. The man complained to the police after trying to log in and discovering that the character was deleted.

Maple Story allows the players to customize their character, socialize, fight monsters, and even marry and divorce.

After the ‘divorce’, the woman logged into her virtual husband’s account and deleted the avatar.

The police arrested the woman for illegally accessing a computer and manipulating digital data. Although she has not been charged yet, she could face up to 5 years in prison or a $5000 fine if she is actually convicted.

A similar case took place in the Netherlands when 14 and 15 year old teens were convicted of virtual theft after coercing a 13-year old to give them a virtual armlet and mask in the game RuneScape.

The 2 teens were sentenced to community service by the Dutch court.

Whichever punishment is most appropriate, these cases present another example of how computers are becoming increasingly intertwined with our daily lives.

Is it possible that playing computer games can enhance the driving skills of people over 50? Allstate, a large Insurance company, is seeking an answer and, if true, the company could offer discounts to drivers who play computer games.

With a new pilot program called InSight, Allstate will offer specialized games to 100,00 customers ages 50-75 in Pennsylvania. The developer of the games, San Francisco based Posit Science will track the total number of hours played. The study group’s accident rates will then be compared to a control group of drivers who didn’t play the games. It is important to note that the games are not designed specifically for driving, but for reversing age-related cognitive decline and improvement of visual alertness.

For example, in a game named “Jewel Diver”, players have to track underwater jewels that appear on the screen for a moment and then become hidden behind a fish. Players have to click on where the swimming fish is. The level of difficulty increases when more fish are added.

Allstate recommends that study participants complete at least 10 hours of training. The Pennsylvania drivers receive the games for free and other states may be added later on.

According to a nine year study, although drivers at ages 50-60 have the lowest accident rates of all drivers, in the mid 60s this rate starts to climb again. If successful this new approach will save not just dollars but clearly lives as well.

Despite some lukewarm reviews of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, you have to admit, the virtual reality aspect of playing a video game with faux sabers is pretty darn neat. Frankly, these are no question the most unique and intriguing game controllers I have ever come across, and Star Wars really isn’t even my thing. I haven’t found them in any stores around here, but they are made by a company calling itself Thrustmaster (no comment), and are available from Amazon.com.

The sabers are designed to hold the wiimotes inside their handles, providing for a more authentic star wars experience. Also, they glow (either red or blue) when turned on. And yes, you will look fantastic wielding one.

The Nintendo marketing genius must be making a killing off all of the wiimote accessories they get to peddle along with the actual games.

Wii Remote Wii Games

Sony has some big news coming out today: The company will allow “dynamic” ads to be placed in PlayStation 3 games. The Wall Street Journal is calling it “a boost for what could become a significant new revenue source for games companies” while Forbes thinks Sony is “set to ignite the world of advertising in videogames…”

Interesting, since the Xbox 360 has been doing this for nearly two years now. At the time (back in 2006), the gaming industry seemed pretty excited at what looked like a new source of revenue. But not much followed in terms of details of how this was to be a game changer for advertising (lame pun intended).

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ExtremeTech has an article out today on “How To Fix PC Gaming Once and for All” that caught my eye. I may not exactly be a fan of PC gaming as it stands now, and although the author makes a lot of valid points (fix piracy problem, more PC gaming companies should vocally advocate the platform, and stop being fanboys), one of his suggestions is simple ridiculous: “OEMs: Stop Using Intel Onboard Graphics.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard PC gaming advocates denounce Intel’s graphics chipsets. Truth be told, they are probably just about the worst chips for 3D games out there. But does that really mean there is no place in the PC market place for adequate 2D graphics chips?

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When Sony announced that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue would be available for $40 in April, I couldn’t help but have a knee-jerk reaction. How could Sony get away with charging $40 for GT5 Reduced Lite Junior Prologue when the full version would sell for only $20 more? Here’s how, the word is out today that the full blown version of Gran Turismo won’t be out for another year! Is this a new business model for delayed games or just Sony trying to satiate the rabid Gran Turismo fans?

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So Paul’s latest comparison between PC and console gaming has created quite the firestorm. His financial analysis shows that console gaming is, in fact, cheaper even if plenty of commenters take issue with his assumptions.

But an important piece is missing from his analysis, which swings the vote even more so toward the console side: PC gaming is a huge hassle. This can’t easily be measured in dollars (hence the reason it’s left out of a financial analysis), but here’s my latest ridiculous example:

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“PC gamers” often snicker about how “console gamers” pay for things that they get for free. They also tout that PC games usually sell for less than console games. After hearing these claims a few million times, I decided to dive into the numbers and see who is really paying more over the life-cycle of their gaming system of choice. Warning: there is actually some real financial analysis going on here. I’m just trying to get the facts straight. FYI, if you only care about the results, skip to the verdict.

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TechConsumer News is a feature we started out of a hobby of tracking the latest happenings within the consumer related technology sphere. The goal is to provide a concise, compiled overview of the most intriguing stories from the last few days. Feel free to give us feedback or send us tips. If you like what you find, you can subscribe via email or RSS.

Here’s the latest in TechConsumer news:

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