Actiontec Electronics recently unveiled a new home networking gaming kit designed to be used through electrical wiring in the home. It is called the MegaPlug AV Powerline Gaming Kit and it prices at around $170.

The Actiontec MegaPlug AV Powerline Gaming Kit makes uses of the HomePlug AV powerline standard to transmit computer networking signals through electrical wiring. Two special adapters plug into wall outlets, with one connecting to a PC, Xbox, Playstation, Wii, or other gaming console and the other connecting to a broadband access point.

We’ve seen our share of Wii accessories. They range from awesome to completely bizarre. This inflatable combat set, for example is bizarre. Who in their right mind is going to suffer the humiliation of using inflatable weapons while playing a Wii game?

You can try your best to beat Zelda and get involved in the game, but you will only be distracted by the huge clumsy sack of air in your hand. Oh, and the laughter from those who love you nearby. Still, if you like inflatible gaming, you can get the kit for $25.78. Maybe your Blow up doll can finally join in on the Wii fun, while you’re at it.

As if there weren’t enough Wiimote add ons, with light sabers and fishing rods and the like, now with the 18 in 1 sports pack, you’ll have one for every occasion.

This 18-in-1 Wii Sports accessory kit comes with a pair of tennis rackets, a steering wheel, pool cue, golf club, baseball bat, a joypad holster and myriad other add-ons for your console. The package also includes silicon covers for your controllers, a stand for your console and even a cooling fan. You get everything but the kitchen sink, and they may even offer that soon should they release some dish washing game.

Wii Fit isn’t the only way to get healthy. And even if you get one, that requires leaving the computer. Who wants to do that? The Gamercize PC helps make time for exercise while you’re working at a computer/desk, reading your favorite gadget blog or whatever.

It works just like any step climber but it’s connected to your keyboard and mouse, if you stop stepping, they stop working. So you certainly have some encouragement to keep going. You can burn up 400 calories an hour and it will record your process and keep you in touch with your goal.(Which is probably just to keep your keyboard and mouse working)

NPD has released the year-end sales numbers for non-PC video games in 2007 showing record figures for the industry. The year 2007 brought an impressive 43 percent increase in sales compared to 2006 with a total of $17.94 billion.

Game Consoles
The highlights of the year come as no surprise if you’ve been reading our coverage of game console sales with the Nintendo Wii topping the list of most console units sold at 6.29 million. The Wii spent the year at a lower price-point than rival consoles and caught the attention of a wide range of gamers. Behind the Wii in console sales was the Xbox 360 with 4.62 million units sold in 2007, which was helped out a little bit by the wildly popular Halo 3. Next in line was not Sony’s new Playstation 3 but it’s older brother, the Playstation 2. Sony moved 3.97 million PS2 units in 2007 and 2.56 million PS3s.

Nintendo has gone to some fairly great and seemingly unnecessary lengths to help people keep their hands on the motion sensitive controls that come with the Wii game console. The company has put out a couple of strap revisions and added a free padded jacket for the controller but people still manage to occasionally cause some damage.

The makers of this Gamers Glove for the Wii Remote are betting that the strap and jacket that come with the controller just aren’t going to be quite enough for you with your wild swings during boxing and tennis matches. The glove is made with some slip-resistant and stretchy material to give it a snug fit and to help keep the controller in the palm of your hand where it belongs. It will also undeniably call you out as the Wii-loving fanboy geek that you are.

Wii sports has become quite a popular past time with the elderly. Especially bowling. Wii sports has gotten so big at the Riderwood complex in Montgomery County, Maryland that tournaments are held fairly often. The complex houses 3000-residents and one can only guess that at least half of them are now addicted to the Wii. Just recently a 79-year-old real world bowler was defeated by an 84-year-old who’d only recently got to know the Wii game.

Apparently, they get pretty riled up about these matches and have been known to actually remain awake long enough to compete. I would imagine that having a Wii handy probably keeps some of them more physically and mentally alert then they might otherwise be, which is a good thing. And you just know that they have a whole betting system in place too.

As if it hasn’t been hard enough to find a Nintendo Wii game console this year, rumor has it that a retail chain called Slackers is taking their shipments of the popular console and selling them on Ebay at a jacked up price.

According to Ars Technica an insider with Slackers stated that any Wiis that they receive, at least in the Illinois/Missouri area stores, are not available for the suggested $249 retail price at the store and are instead marked up to $499 on Ebay. Recently reports say that the Buy It Now price has been dropped to $399.99, which is still $150 over suggested retail by Nintendo.

Our favorite Hedgehog is back. Sega’s 16-bit classic game has now made its way onto the iPod games section of iTunes. It will only cost you $4.99. It’s interesting to note that the Wii version of the title is nearly twice as much at 800 Wii points. That’s $8.

Just use the circular iPod touch wheel as a four-way d-pad, the center button takes place of the original ABC buttons from the Genesis controller. I imagine it takes some getting used to but should suffice. According to Crave however, in the later bonus levels, it doesn’t fair so well. For the $4 price tag, they even threw in some extras. Like being able to turn off the soundtrack and replace it with your own, while keeping some of the sound effects.

Anyone that’s been interested in buying a Nintendo Wii this holiday season is aware of just how difficult it has been to get one and people are capitalizing on that fact, and so are many retailers. I purchased a Wii months ago that I had to stand in line one early morning to get, and even then I had to buy the $250 console bundled with two games for a total of $350. The Wii has seen a shortage for a year now and Nintendo says the lack of consoles available to meet demand is tough on planning for the company including creating any planning or promotions for new games. However, I can think of worse problems than having a consistently higher demand than supply.

According to Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, Nintendo is also discouraging the practice of bundling the console itself with other items since the Wii loses its price advantage over competitor consoles like the Xbox 360 or the Sony PS3, but it is ultimately up to the retailers how they decide to sell the console. He also added that the power Nintendo held over what retailer they would ship consoles helped retailers adhere to the companies suggestions.

The marketing research firm NPD has turned in their analysis of what the top video game titles and consoles were last month and the news is very good for the industry as a whole. Leading the top in sales of new software was Activision’s “Call of Duty 4″ for the Microsoft Xbox 360 which sold an impressive 1.57 million copies. Nintendo’s “Super Mario Galaxy” came in second place and if you combine the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sales for “Assassin’s Creed” it would actually take the silver medal. Not coincidentally Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed” has emerged as the best-selling new IP for games in recent years.

Nintendo’s handheld DS gaming device sold an amazing 1.53 million units in November which was enough to give it the top of the chart for hardware sales. In second place was Nintendo’s Wii gaming console with 981,000 Wiis sold followed by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in third spot with 770,000 units finding homes. Sony moved 577,000 PlayStation Portable to give it fourth place and the price drop in the PS3 convinced 466,000 consumers to go out and buy one of the consoles last month.

After being banned from Britain twice the makers of the controversial video game “Manhunt 2″ have won their appeal to have the game put on sale. The British Board of Film Classification voted twice on not allowing the bloody title by Rockstar Games to go on sale on the grounds that the material contained in the game focused too much on showing too graphic scenes of murder and sadism. “Manhunt 2″ lets you play as an inmate incarcerated in an insane asylum where bedlam and violence rules.

After the second ban by the BBFC in October Rockstar filed an appeal with the Video Appeals Committee. In a ruling issued on Monday the VAC determined that the game should be allowed to go on sale in the United Kingdom. The specific reasons for the VAC’s decision won’t be published until later in the week. “We are pleased that the decision of the Video Appeals Committee has recognized that ‘Manhunt 2′ is well within the bounds established by other 18+ rated entertainment,” said Rockstar Games in a statement released shortly after the decision was made.

Black Friday seems to have had a positive benefit for sluggish sales of not just Sony’s PlayStation 3 but for Nintendo’s Wii system. Over 350,000 Wiis were sold last week, 50,000 more than what was sold the week before that. The Thanksgiving week represents the second-best sales plateau for Nintendo’s latest game console, beaten only by the launch week of the Wii in 2006.

Meanwhile the sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 increased in November 298% over the sales in October. Part of that dramatic spike in PS3s finding their forever homes must be from Sony’s price drop of the $399 40GB unit. The price drop even had its effect in Japan where the Wii has been the dominant next gen gaming console for consumers: for the first time since the PS3’s launch more of the Sony consoles were sold to gamers than Wiis.

Nintendo is celebrating its first year anniversary for the Wii with more good news. In the first week of release for its heavily anticipated title “Super Mario Galaxy” over 500,000 copies of the game were sold by retailers. This distinction places SMG as the bestselling Wii video game to date. It’s also one of the best reviewed games in Nintendo’s entire history with many publications calling it to be a top candidate for Game of the Year honors.

While Microsoft will likely put out its own press release next week to hype the anticipated big sales of its new IP “Mass Effect” it will also probably try and steal some thunder from SMG’s big sales by pointing out that its flagship title “Halo 3″ sold over 2.7 million copies worldwide within the game’s first seven days of release this past September. To be fair to Nintendo their 500K figure only includes domestic sales of “Super Mario Galaxy” but as PC World’s gaming blog points out its estimates for European and Japanese sales of the game would still peg the title at below 1 million units sold for launch week. So is Mario still as popular worldwide as Master Chief or has a new king of video games finally been crowned?

Microsoft is working hard to be competitive with its rivals Sony and Nintendo in Japan’s market which has proven so far to be fairly difficult for them. Despite a stellar month in September for US Xbox 360 sales, the company has not faired as well with the Japanese market over the past year in keeping up with the home town’s PS3 and Wii game consoles. As the holidays are nearing the company is keeping pace and making moves with its console trying to spur some additional sales with an announced price drop for the Xbox 360 core system and the 20GB bundle.

Starting on November 1 in Japan, the Xbox 360 20GB bundle will start retailing for ¥34,800 ($306) which is a $44 cut from its previous price. The 360 core system will start going for ¥27,800 ($245) which gives it an $18 cut. Microsoft is also putting out a limited Value Pack for the console for ¥34,800 ($306) which comes with Viva Pinata and Forza Motorsport 2 titles but no HDMI cable.