Sometimes you luck out and get an awesome teacher with a desk like this.

When you step into this room, you're stepping into an all-angles sensory (Ms.) Pac-Man experience. Just don't expect the controls to work very well.

[dvice]

Hot hands slowing down your online gaming? With the Thermaltake Black Element mouse (Cyclone Edition), you be blowing away the competition in no time.

A price has not yet been released.

[geekologie]

While it may not have the gaming functionality of the NES controller coffee table, Subby-kun's Sega Master System sofa comes with support for "taking a nap," which makes it a strong contender in the battle of the 8-bit furniture.

[obvswin.]

The New York Attorney General's office and several game companies have come to an agreement to shut down the online gaming accounts of 3,500 registered sex offenders in "Operation Game Over," Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Thursday.

Participating companies included major players like Microsoft, Sony, EA, Blizzard and Apple.

New York is the first state to restrict sex offenders from online gaming, which Schneiderman says allows predators to "establish contacts with children they would never be able to establish" in person.

In New York, sex offenders are required to register their email addresses and online gaming handles with the state, which allowed law enforcement to easily identify and close the accounts.

No word on how many of the now-banned sex offenders have been convicted of offenses against children.

[nyt]

A team of engineers at the University of Utah wants to take haptic feedback in game controllers beyond just the standard "rumble."

They've installed mini-thumbsticks called "skin stretch tactors" inside a controller's regular thumbsticks, and the movement of the tactors can provide specific feedback and cues in response to in-game action.

The tactors can nudge you to move in a particular direction, let you know how close an explosion is to your character, or -- as in one of the university's demo games -- represent the pull of a fishing line.

They can also scale their feedback based on the position of the controller's full-sized thumbsticks, which keeps them from interfering with the gameplay experience.

Should skin stretch tactors be part of the controller of the future, or would you rather stick to rumble?

[geekosystem]