Operation Gadget

Category: Gaming Gadgets

  • Jakks Namco Arcade Classic Plug and Play TV Games Makes a Comeback at My House

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteMy son Jimmy found a Jakks / Namco Arcade Classics Plug and Play TV Games mini-console that I picked up at Target way back in 2003. He started playing Dig Dug on it and loves it. This is a complete shock to me because I didn’t know we had left this…

  • Great Tip to Help Figure Out If Your PC is Compatible with Popular Games

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn Episode 45 of Tekzilla Daily, Patrick Norton pointed out a website called System Requirements Lab that can help you determine if your PC has the minimum or recommended hardware and software necessary to run dozens of popular PC games. I tried this myself and the way it works is to…

  • Apple Releases “Poll Position Remix” Game for the iPod

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteEarlier this week MacRumors reported that Apple had released the “Pole Position Remix” game for the iPhone. This is a remake of the classic Namco video game Pole Position that I played more than anyone else as a kid. The last time I talked about Pole Position on Operation Gadget was…

  • Nintendo Wii: A Good Workout If You Can Find It

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Wall Street Journal reports that quite a few Nintendo Wii owners are developing aches and pains as a result of playing Wii Sports (included with the Wii console), Rayman Raving Rabbids and other games that require a bit of physical exertion. One of the more interesting aspects of the article…

  • Toy Shortages Expected to Be Worse Than Ususal This Year

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteMartin O’Donnell pointed out an article from The Wall Street Journal that warns of more extreme toy and game shortages during this holiday season than in recent years. The shortages will be more extreme this year due to cautious retail strategies (brought on by poor sales of supposed-hot toys last year),…

  • Seattle Times Reviewer Thinks That The Sony PS3 is Too Expensive

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteMartin O’Donnell pointed out that Brier Dudley of The Seattle Times didn’t like The Sony PlayStation 3 as much as he would have if it had been less expensive. Dudley wrote: Don’t get me wrong. The PS3 is an amazing machine. I’d love to have one sitting beneath my TV. But…

  • Further Comments on “Deal or No Deal” Playing Strategy

    Reading Time: 2 minutesI gave some more thought to the issues I raised in yesterday’s article about “Deal or No Deal” and expected value calculations. I said that I think that the game should be played entirely on the basis of the expected value of an unopened suitcase at any given time in the game.…

  • “Deal or No Deal” Tabletop Game Could Teach Kids About Expected Value

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteKathleen and I occasionally turn on the TV and stumble upon the program Deal or No Deal. I find this program intriguing mainly because I think it ought to be played purely based on expected value calculations. For anyone who isn’t aware, the expected value of an unopened case is the…

  • Step2Play Links Exercise to Video Game Use

    Reading Time: 2 minutesStep2Play is a game controller for the Sony PlayStation that requires a young gamer to exercise while playing. [ Photo: Oceana Trading ] The BBC reported over the weekend that a British company called Oceana Trading has released a line of video game accessories that can be used to require exercise from kids who…