The 100,000th viewer of the video wins an iPod Nano. The 1,000,000th (that's one-millionth) viewer gets a Wii. The 3,000,000th (three-millionth) viewer gets a PS3.

You must have a YouTube account. You must have a valid email address (don't make one up).

Who's running the promo? RedButler is a global concierge company claiming to be the "fastest growing concierge and lifestyle service company." This company (it looks like it's based out of Beverly Hills) is basically a butler shop - you rent a butler from them. So this is either legit or a very elaborate hoax.

Although some guy will hire 50 homeless people to watch the video at the same time when the number gets up to 2,999,950 or so, thereby increasing his chances of taking home the PS3. We kid! We joke!

So the PS3s are finally out and about (well, kind of). Of course, after hearing about all the stuff that this monster of a console can do - HD graphics, backwards compatibility, upgradeable HDD, etc. - you're going to want to think about what other accessories you can plug into the PS3 to make it even more powerful.

In our random trawlings in the internet, we came across a list of the five must-have PS3 accessories from News.com. Wanna know what the first thing in the list was? Just take a look to your right. Yep, the SIXAXIS.

The PS3 can support up to seven wireless controllers, but it ships with just one SIXAXIS controller. You'll need an extra controller so that you can go head-to-head against a friend in games like Madden NFL 07 or Resistance: Fall of Man, so it's highly suggested that you grab another one. If you've got the cash, you can even spring for three extra since the standard for multiplayer games is still set at two to four people.

To check out ...

Think you've got l337 h4xx0r skillz? Here's a chance to prove it AND get a PS3 for free.

All you have to do is hack the PS3 that this website is running on and you're on your way to winning the PS3 with all of its default accessories (its HDD has been replaced with a 160GB HDD) and pre-installed Linux (Fedora core 5 PPC PS3 add-on), an HDMI cable, and a copy of Resistance: Fall of Man.

Now everyone can talk the talk but this time you've got to prove that you can walk the walk. In order to prove that your hacking job was successful, you have to replace the default image in the website (a baby holding a PS3 box) with the JPEG image located in the root user's home directory, inside the "ps3_challenge" subfolder.

You also have to announce your victory in the ACBM forum (the link to the discussion thread is in the website) and send an email to Shimpinomori. In case more than one person is able to do a successful hack job, the one whose email arrived in Shimpinom...

Filed under: Gaming
We're not ones to judge individuals who get carried away during the launch of a new console, be they politicians, hopeful campers, or even newbie eBayers. However, we draw the line at the law being broken in order to bag what is essentially a plastic box stuffed full of more plastic. In the latest of a rash of PS3-related crimes, two 19-year old GameStop employees have been accused of stealing four PlayStation 3s and then telling police that armed gunmen had robbed the store and taken the consoles instead. The charges include suspected embezzlement, burglary, and conspiracy, all of which carry hefty jail sentences if the suspects are proven guilty. Still, we all know what the ultimate sentence-based deterrent to this sort of crime is: a lifetime of living under the label of being the bad kind of PS3 fanboy.

[Via Joystiq] 
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of ...

A few days ago, Jurai dropped a gift on the PS3 Linux forums: the AdvanceMame .106 PS3 Binary. Basically the building blocks for MAME emulation on the PS3. And it's hot. People are obviously looking into the variety of things they can get their PS3 to run. I mean just look at YouTube.

See? Apparently the launch titles aren't enough to sate the more technical of PS3 owners.

Then just recently we find this questionable video of someone allegedly figuring out a way to get the Wii to run burnt DVD-R copies of games. If that's true (doubtful), then that means that people have either figured out the inner workings of the code behind Wii games, or they've found a way to get past Wii's copy security.

Let's assume that some time in the near future people have figured out how Wii games work. I mean they all eventually do anyway. Given enough time and motivation, coders come up with emulations for anything (or workarounds for anything).

Now it's time for us to...

Despite the many "accomplishments" of Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas, he's still a bit depressed about not having a PlayStation 3 or a Wii. Arenas writes on his blog:

Man, I couldn't get it. I stood outside no hours and got nothing. That's when you sit in your room and try to use your celebrityism. I didn't get nothing. I knew I should have called and said I was D-Wade. 'Um, hello, this is D-Wade - This is LeBron - Can I come over there and get one of them?' Then I would have had one.
So much for celebrityism. Looks like another person is going to eBay. You really have to feel sorry for the guy. He was snubbed a slot on the roster of players selected to compete at last summer's World Championships in Japan, even if he was added to the list of players for USA Basketball's Olympic team and even if his scoring average has increased with each season. Rejection hurts.

On the bright side, his Halo team, "Final Boss" came in second in Vegas. Also, he ...

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video
While Sony's been dealing with exploding batteries, PS3 craziness and now a recall for some Cyber-shot cams, the Japanese behemoth's handset division is trying to expand into the mobile television sector by partnering with Ericsson. Already the two form a significant presence in cellphones with the Sony Ericsson brand, and they hope to continue that with television as well. Per Nordlof, Ericsson's director of Product Strategy, said at a press conference in Stockholm on Thursday that a third of the world's mobile phone users will be watching TV on their handsets on a regular basis by 2008 -- something the folks at Qualcomm and others are thinking, too, with MediaFLO and the like. According to The Associated Press, the corporate duo is also working on a way to send clips from your living room's TV directly to a handset. Of course, if you don't want to wait until 2008, you could just buy a Slingbox or a Sony LVTV Box right now for the s...

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Cookie cutter gadget? Passe. It's all about skins, even the kind that may or may not ruin the shiny new finish on your valued consumer electronics. Submitted for your approval: tons of skins for your rare and lustworthy devices. Ok, so the 360 isn't much of a skin, but we find the literal use of the term rather amusing, and when was the last time you saw a fake-fur faceplate?

P.S. -Big ups on the Xbox 360 and Eames-inspired PS3 and Wii skins above.

[Via Joystiq, thanks Craig]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Today, we'll have to be the bearer of bad news for people who own a 1080i HDTV and want to use their PS3 with it. One would remember that when the PS3 launched ever-so-recently, people who plugged it into an HDTV which only has a resolution of 1080i instead of 1080p found themselves severely disappointed as the PS3 practically ignored 1080i, scoffed at 720p, and instead settled for 480p.

There have been reports that this issue will be addressed by the next PS3 firmware update, but apparently (and here comes the bad news), Sony decided to take their word back. According to Sony's Senior Director of Corporate Communications David Karraker, they may have spoken prematurely, and that their stand on the matter is that they are "looking into the issue and haven't stated any actions that will be taken regarding it."

They're still saying that a simple firmware update should be able to fix the issue, but as to when exactly this fix would come, Sony prefers to remain mum.
...

Someone must have rolled over in his grave when MacUser.com's Aaron Freedman wrote the following words: "I never thought I d say this, but it seems that Microsoft has a product that works better with the Mac than the Sony equivalent." He was talking about his observation that the Xbox 360 system meshes with Apple systems, but that the Sony PS3 didn't.

However, just looking back at our coverage of both consoles, and the comments to Aaron's article, sounds like he needs to make a revision of observation.

There's the observation that "the PS3 can't play music directly off the iPod." Uh, Victor B., can you help me out here? "... the 20 GB video iPod was recognized by the PS3, but you'll need to use the above-mentioned Display All feature to view everything on your iPod." (The "Display All" feature is simply pressing Triangle to browse through - and play - the content of connected media storage devices like the iPod).

And besides, as a MacUser commenter po...