Gaming overload

The last 24 hours have proved to be quite informative for videogame fanatics. The Tokyo Game Show (Japan's E3 equivalent) kicked off yesterday with the announcement of the Xbox 360 launch dates in America, Europe, and Japan. And that would be Nov. 22, Dec. 2, and Dec. 10, respectively.

I'm still debating whether or not I want to pick one up. $400 is a bit steep for a console.

But the big news of the event thus far is the debut of the Revolution controller, which can be seen here, via IGN. For those of you who haven't been following, Nintendo has been telling fans for months that the new controller to their upcoming console, codenamed Revolution, is so revolutionary (imagine that!) that it couldn't be shown off to the public, for fear that other console makers might steal their ideas. Gamespot defines the controller as similar to a TV remote control, but adds that Nintendo says it's a work in progress. And IGN points out the controller's formerly well-guarded secrets: 3D pointing and tilt sensitivity capabilities.

Very, very interesting. Not what I was expecting. But as with any controller, I can't really form an opinion on it until I get to touch it myself. But I will say that the 3D pointing capabilities could potentially be great for first-person shooter games, which, until now, have worked best with the PC's mouse-and-keyboard combo.