Persian Penguin Network

Chinese PC maker Lenovo has announced plans to develop its own video game console for the Chinese market. The new platform’s name, EBox, not only invokes images of Microsoft’s own Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, it will also come with a proprietary Kinect-like control scheme that will recognize shapes and movement without the need for a controller.A 40-strong team of engineers was spun off Lenovo earlier this month to create Eedoo Technology, the firm tasked with development of the Ebox. The console is expected to make its debut this November and hit the market by the first quarter of 2011. A price point has yet to be nailed down a bit lower but Lenovo estimates it to be a bit lower than the US$ 300 Xbox 360.Eedoo Technology boss Jack Luo believes they will be “the world’s second company to produce a controller-free game console, behind only Microsoft.” The EBox won’t aspire to HD-level graphics and hardcore gameplay, however, with Eedoo following Nintendo’s more casual-centric gameplan for the Wii.”Our product is designed for family entertainment. EBox may not have exquisite game graphics, or extensive violence, but it can inspire family members to get off the couch and get some exercise,” Luo said. He believes they will be able to sell more than 1 million EBoxes annually after the first two to three years.The EBox will come bundled with around 30 games. Sixteen “global video game developers” have reportedly already signed on to develop games for it.

By QJ

Who needs George Hotz anyway? A USB modchip for the PS3 has emerged from the mists this morning, purporting to allow the dumping of games onto nearby storage — the console’s internal HDD and external drives are both a-ok — as well as the subsequent playing of said games without the need for the original disc. Could it be the backup/piracy nirvana Sony loyalists have been awaiting for so long? Well, there’s a video showing the little USB device apparently working, and the PSX-Scene team say they have personally verified that it does what it claims to do, but skepticism remains advisable here. The PS3 has been a fortress of hacker unfriendliness, so we’d rather kick back, relax, and wait for some braver souls than us to do the testing.

By Engadget