Looking for a toy for your child that's similar to the Wii but doesn't cost as much? How about an "edutainment" game that's fun to play as well as educational? Fisher-Price has just what you're looking for with the TV-compatible 3-in-1 Smart Sports ($60 list, ages 3 to 7). Your kids will be up on their feet.

The 3-in-1 Smart Sports includes a storage dock, base unit and grip controller with baseball bat, golf club and tennis racket attachments. All the attachments are kid-friendly and made out of soft foam. The base unit has attached AV cables and an on/off button, along with baseball, golf, and tennis balls that light up when the game turns on. The storage deck has three slots for each attachment, and the grip controller has a sliding on/off switch. Three color-coordinated buttons match the attachments and have up and down arrows for movement.

Setup is easy. You'll need four double-A batteries for the base unit and two double-As for the grip controller. When the batteries are in, just plug the AV cord into the proper TV input, hit the on button on the base unit, and play ball.

The included games teach numbers, colors, and letters as well as adding, subtracting, and spelling words. Each game features a character, one for each sport: a monkey (for tennis), elephant (golf), and cat (baseball). Your child can customize the characters by changing the colors of their clothes and accessories. The 3-in-1 Smart Sports includes nine different games, with three levels of difficulty for each. 

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Is your little one a video-game couch potato? JAKKS Pacific may have what you need with the Star Wars Republic Squadron Motion Flight Game ($29.99 list, for ages 5 and up). Your child's moves control the game, so kids will stay on their feet.

The Star Wars Republic Squadron Motion Flight Game is basically a game controller that you plug into your TV; the game is built in. It has AV cables attached, and on the controller are a menu button, an on/off switch, and dual trigger buttons on both ends and underneath the controller.

Setup was super easy: Since it's a plug-and-play toy, there's nothing to build or put together. (And the packaging was easy to get into, unlike with so many toys; you just untie a few strings, and it's out of the box.) The controller requires four double-A batteries. To insert them, you turn the controller over and unscrew the compartment. Then just  plug the AV cord into the proper TV input, hit the on switch, and you're good to go.

The mission in this entertaining game is to help Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fight General Grievous and his separatist forces. Your child flies a number of ships in a series of campaigns to help them win (there are over 20 missions included).

Maybe it's the recession; maybe it's the realization that not every gamer has an unlimited amount of money to spend on gear. Whatever the case, preeminent gaming peripheral company Razer has introduced the Abyssus mouse, a simplified version of its high-end products with a more reachable price tag.

The Abyssus was designed to give gamers the tools they need, but not the extras. It offers a 3500-dpi infrared sensor, on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments, and three programmable buttons. This mouse can be used by either left- or right-handed users and glides on Ultraslick Teflon feet. A seven-foot cord lets you sit as far from your PC as you'd like. All this will cost you $49.99, which isn't bad for a premium gaming mouse.

"Less is more," said Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, the president of Razer. "We've taken our ambidextrous three-button mouse design and loaded it with our industry-leading technology without the added cost of too many bells and whistles."

Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm all will debut on the Microsoft Xbox Live service beginning on Nov. 17, Microsoft officials said Thursday.

Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten made the announcement at the NewTeeVee Live conference on Thursday, according to a company spokesman.

Users will be able to update their Facebook status or send and read Twitter tweets directly from the Xbox Live interface, the company said. Last.fm stations will also be available, complete with gamer-specific stations, Microosft said. Microsoft will also enable Zune Video on the Xbox 360 interface, with up to 1080p video available instantly. A "News and More" section will add content from MSNBC, The New Yorker, and the cartoon "Dilbert".

"We're delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members," Whitten said in a statement. "Xbox Live's differentiator has always been our community, and we've already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview. It's the community that drives us forward and allows us to pioneer new ways of connecting people through the entertainment they love."

Users need to have an Xbox Gold account. For those that don't, however, beginning on November 20 at 9 PM PT, Xbox Live Silver members can enjoy a free upgrade until the end of the on Nov. 23.

It's always a great day when an outdoor activity becomes easier to simulate inside. Thrustmaster, the expert at mastering thrust, has released the T-Freestyle NW. This controller gives a more realistic feel to skateboarding and snowboarding on the Nintendo Wii.

Practice your maneuvers and stunts, and slide from one rail to another. The T-Freestyle NW is made of maple wood and bears a skull emblem for that extreme look. It's made to offer a combination of flexibility and resistance, giving you the same sensations as if you were outside having a real-world experience. It allows for lateral movement, but not so much that you could tip over, and attaches to the Nintendo Balance Board. Look for it to go on sale at the end of November for $29.99.

Netflix on the Wii? Netflix and Nintendo are staying mum.

Rumors surfaced on Wednesday that the DVD rental service is preparing to offer its streaming movie service via Nintendo's Wii. It makes sense--Netflix already has streaming deals with the Microsoft Xbox and, more recently, the Sony PlayStation--but at this point, there is no official news to report.

"Certainly the Wii represents a great opportunity given the size of its installed base, but we're not commenting on rumors or speculation," a Netflix spokesman said in an e-mail. "The Xbox partnership has been terrific for Netflix members and we're equally excited to announce the partnership with PS3."

A Nintendo spokesman said the company does not respond to rumors or speculation.

As the rumor mill expected, Nintendo will launch a larger version of its DS handheld console, which it will call the Nintendo DS LL. The DS LL will cost 20,000 yen when it goes on sale in Japan on Nov. 21.

Nintendo has not indicated when or if the DS LL will be brought to the United States, but history suggests that it will.

The DS LL uses a pair of 4.2-inch screens, as opposed to the 3.25-inch screens used by the new Nintendo DSi. While it will weigh 100 grams more, Nintendo still reportedly rates its battery life as about three hours, the same as the DSi. It too lacks a console slot, however.

Although the Wii was once (and perhaps still is) the darling of the video-game community, soe might feel that the Nintendo DS platform is getting a bit long in the tooth. On Thursday, Nintendo saw its global profits fall by 54 percent, and one analyst cited by Reuters called Nintendo's efforts "old hat".

Nintendo's problems don't appear too closely tied to its hardware, however. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told reporters that a lack of must-have titles hurt the Wii during the quarter. As most gamers know, Nintendo does a nice job of developing innovative titles in house; however, the company has historically struggled with attracting high-profile, third-party exclusives to its game platforms.

The PCMag labs changed from a cold, sterile place of work, to a bumpin' club yesterday as we tested Activision's newest game: DJ Hero: Think Guitar Hero, but with a turntable instead of a guitar. Needless to say, a lot of scratching, mixing, and sampling went down.

The testing has been rigorous. Being a big fan of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I can easily say that DJ Hero is more difficult at first. It definitely takes some time to get the techniques down. A full review is on its way, but until then, check out the hands-on video after the jump. DJ Hero is available now for $119.99. 

When Microsoft head honcho Steve Ballmer sat down with Gizmodo yesterday, the blog leapt on something the outspoken exec said about Blu-Ray, "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there--you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories." While it's not exactly an outright endorsement of the format, it certainly sounds like the company has softened its position after fighting so hard to push HD-DVD (and, hopefully, irk Sony in the processes).

Xbox Live exec Larry Hryb, however, made a point of addressing the comment in a post on his his Major Nelson blog. "As we have said in the past," Hyrb wrote, "we have no plans to introduce a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360." Instead the console is focused on 1080p movie streaming. So, you know, take that, Sony.

Neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night, as the saying goes. Apparently such pledges don't extend to video game rentals--or at least certain Philadelphia-based postal workers. Reginald Johnson, a clerk based in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia has reportedly stolen a staggering 2,200 discs from video game delivery site GameFly--pretty much every single bright orange envelope that came across his radar.

Johnson, who was reportedly caught with 81 games on his person, has been selling games back to area GameStop locations. The one-time postal employee is expected to get roughly 12-18 months for his crimes.

Sony today introduced a new version of its PlayStation 3 Slim: It boasts a 250GB hard drive, more than twice the memory of its predecessor (120GB). The new console is launching just in time for the holiday rush, on November 3rd. It will run $349.99.

The new new PS3 maintains the slim form factor of its 120GB counterpart. That console, launched on September 1st, moved more than one million units in the three weeks after it was first made available. Sony will continue to sell it alongside the version with more memory.

Logitech likes to announce its products in bunches. Yesterday brought a Unifying Receiver kit; today brings the Gaming Keyboard G110. I love the customizable backlighting on the G110: you can make it red, blue, or any shade of purple. Controls let you vary the intensity of each color to make a custom shade. That's something I'd love in my regular keyboard, although it's meant to help gamers find the right keys in dark rooms. The keyboard also includes headphone and microphone jacks, as well as mute buttons.

For customization, gamers will get 12 programmable G keys with three macros per key. Automatic game detection lets you create separate custom G key profiles for every game you play.

The Gaming Keyboard G110 is available for pre-order now for $79.99 and will ship in November.

Gaming is about to change--forever. One of the highlights of this year's newly rejuvenated E3 conference was a couple of motion-controlled gaming interfaces from Sony and Microsoft. Sony's prototype uses ice-cream-cone-like wands, with a special camera that puts you and your actions in the game. Microsoft's Project Natal also uses a special camera, but has dropped the controllers entirely. All you need is your body.

The videos and on-stage demonstrations from the event looked amazing. Still, I was skeptical,--until I got to try it for myself. The new gaming technology was honored as part last week's Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards, which meant Project Natal made a rare live appearance at the pre-and post awards ceremony festivities. I lined up along with a number of children and other event attendees for a few minutes with the still-in-development gaming control system.

In a word, it's remarkable.

Memory maker SanDisk today announced the release of three new cards, including a Memory Stick Micro (M2) targeted toward users of the upcoming PSP Go. The card will "double the amount of storage in the soon-to-be-released Sony PSP Go," according to a release issued today by the company.

Fair enough, but is the only card that will do so? Hardly. The PSP Go-specific branding is similar to a ploy taken by the company with the Nintendo DSi, when it released the SanDisk SDHC Memory Card for Nintendo DSi, an "official" Nintendo-branded card, which was like any other SDHC card, only with a Nintendo label.

A VP at the company issued a statement about that card, reading, "While Nintendo DSi is compatible with all SDHC formats, the branded SanDisk SDHCcards provide added assurance for consumers that it can be used in the Nintendo DSi."

SanDisk would probably happily tell you the same if you asked about this model.