For a movie tie-in game, Ratatouille for the Nintendo Wii is looking pretty good, if these new screenshots are anything to go by. The game's environments and characters look quite faithful to their movie counterparts - and to be fair, the cartoony effect only adds to the immersion of the game, rather than detract from it.

With a good look, decent platforming action with a healthy mix of minigames, first-class voice acting, Ratatouille seems to be a solid title for the young'uns (as well as the young at heart). We'll keep you updated with Pixar's latest venture into the videogame world as developments happen - in the meantime, enjoy the eye candy!

More screenshots after the jump!

Business and consumer computer solutions provider Hewlett-Packard, graphics industry contender NVIDIA, Microsoft's PC advocate Games for Windows initiative and even broadband game publisher Trion World Network released a whoosh of hostile air against the next-gen consoles.

They were probably outraged as many other hardcore PC fans were at the 2007 Game Developers Conference's "PC Gaming in an Age of Connected Consoles" panel discussion. Instead, the PC industry leaders formed their own panel, bringing in Microsoft's Games for Windows initiative's boss Rich Wickham and Trion World Network's founder Lars Butler, among other representatives of leading PC industry entities.

Lars was also quick to comment, "I believe the days of the console are numbered. There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that is it."

Backing Butler, NVIDIA's VP Roy Taylor upped the PC's ante by stating, "Our advantage as developers is we know what is coming. And what is coming is far ahead of the console. You will see a huge difference between what you can get on a PC and a console."

In line with this, Hewlett-Packard plans to enter the hardcore gaming market by rolling out a new line of gaming-related hardware, possibly even hobbyist PCs, within the year. It's even claimed that they plan to even provide a curved computer monitor for not only widescreen effect, but for full FPS immersion.

Whether or not the PC industry giants can deliver, we cannot tell, but with PC enthusiasts who know exactly how to make full use of their PC's power and console piracy looming over the horizon, consoles may never be able to say "the PC is dead" ever again.

The latest installment to the Tycoon simulations, Space Station Tycoon, is coming to the Nintendo Wii. Under development under Wahoo Studios and to be distributed by Namco Bandai Games, the comical space station simulation will introduce a whole new immersion and gameplay experience to Nintendo Wii users.

In an interview by IGN with Ben Cole, producer at Namco Bandai Games, Brent Fox, manager at Wahoo Studios, and Jeremy Throckmorton, designer at Wahoo Studios, revealed that the have been at work on the title for sometime.

Their previous title, Outpost Kaloki X (for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Arcade), was a fresh experience for fantasy city building and served as an inspiration for the new tycoon title just for the Wii. The Wiimote is a pointing device just like a mouse, and the title is being built from the ground up to accommodate the Wiimote mechanics for an easier gameplay experience.

Click on Full Article to get the story plus some pretty neat screenshots.

Because of the fun factor delivered to the home, the Wii has been a favorite console for many families. It helps get gamers off the couch and keeps their bodies in movement.

But people have begun to suspect a newer angle to the Wii success: it might actually be good for health. People to some respect have already complained about exhaustion, sore shoulders and a new condition becoming well-known as "Wii elbows."

The exertion for most gamers may be daunting, but with so much enjoyment and laughter, the entire experience becomes a good thing. But Perrin Kaplan, marketing VP of Nintendo of America, said two months before that the company never received any complaints about sores. She stated, "If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more. It was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement."

But people believe she's wrong. Some games, such as Dance Dance Revolution and Unreal Tournament for a few, have been contributing to improving and curing health. The technologies behind visual and audio immersion provides virtual interactive environments that can train people to use their bodies to extents in order to improve their conditions.

Last December, the now-famous Mickey DeLorenzo worked on his Wii Sports Experiment. Setting 30 minutes a day to play the Wii, he lost nine pounds in six weeks. His book deal, entitled "The Wii Workout", was signed this January and now together with Traineo.com, he features Wii workouts to dieters and fitness buffs.

"It's becoming something like a Richard Simmons show," DeLorenzo said. "People will write, 'You've inspired me to buy a Wii and start working out.'"

Today, however, Kaplan now accepts the Wii's exercising potential. She said, "One of our hopes was that people would find a way to enjoy the Wii sitting on the couch or getting up and moving their body around. This huge fitness craze was more than we had anticipated."

After Ubisoft's acquisition of the Driver franchise from Atari late last year, it's been revealed that the deal's first-born child will be a re-release of Driver: Parallel Lines, slated to come out on the Nintendo Wii on March 29. Just recently, Ubisoft has seen fit to let some details out of the bag regarding the game (the "Specific Wii special effects" thing sounds interesting). Read on for the dirt, straight from Aussie-Nintendo.com.

Wii Controllers Integration
Intuitive utilization of the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk for a unique sensation of driving and 3rd person action

Experience Open Environments Racing in Two Distinct Time Periods
Multiple paths to complete over 35 missions across photo-realistic 1978 & 2006 New York City

Control and Customize Over 80 Drivable Vehicles
These include cars, motorcycles, and trucks - all integrated with a realistic vehicle damage system

Authentic Hollywood-style Action
Experience adrenaline pumping high speed racing and car chases

The full article awaits after the jump!

Over at the C3 website, one of their writers is lamenting the nature of companies who are copying the in-thing to make money. This happens often enough in the world of tech (else we wouldn't really have different kinds of mp3 players), but in the gaming scene, there's a lot less room for this sort of thing.

H.C. Hound's example in his article is the development of technologies that want to cash in on the Nintendo's attempt to be unique. Of the three gaming consoles, Nintendo was the first to announce the use of motion sensing technology through the Wiimote, something which they were touting as one of the distinguishing features of the Wii. Sony followed suit, which happened to anger a lot of folks, but seemed somewhat forced by the legal battle between Immersion and Sony.

The thing that really got the author's ire, however, was the announcement of the Fusion series of cross-platform motion sensing products. On its press release, it says, "The technology opens up all kinds of exciting game design possibilities, and offers games players far greater freedom than they are currently able to enjoy on both current and next-generation formats." Perhaps, but does it excuse the company's presentation of their technology?

According to our earlier article on it, some of you guys weren't too pleased with that development either. Hound puts it into perspective however, mentioning that copycats were bound to happen, but the way the Fusion series is marketed to the public was inexcusable. Of the announcement of the Fusion, he writes, "The whole press release just about ignores the whole idea of Nintendo or the Wii being important or an inspiration and just goes on about how innovative and wonderful this new technology is. From where I’m standing, that is bull of the smelliest variety."

Just this weekend, Nintendo fans have gotten quite stirred up by images that have been floating around the web which are SUPPOSEDLY scans of trashed documents from the desk of President and Chief Operating Officer for the North American division of Japan-based video game company Nintendo, Reggie Fils-Aime.

The document, which was supposedly fished directly from Reggie's office trash bin after a meeting, talks about how Nintendo plans to continue its domination of the gaming market, mainly pointing out the success of the Nintendo DS as compared to other consoles and handhelds. By the third page however, it proceeds to talk about the game Disaster Day of Crisis which Nintendo legend Miyamoto is supposed to be "heavily involved in". In the same paragraph, there is also a reference to their statement at the previous E3 event that they have one more big secret to reveal, and that this will be carried out via Disaster Day of Crisis.

However, page 4 has the most interesting bits, since in it can be found yet another paragraph which states, to quote:

"... yes, our last secret has to do with how you look at games, how you experience them. We've been holding back this announcement because we're afraid our competitors might copy the idea. So to keep that risk low as possible, we've kept it secret - until now."

The next part then proceeds to talk about another invention called the HMD or Helmet Mount Display which is supposed to allow the player to achieve the experience that he or she is inside the game itself, thus introducing a whole new level of game immersion.

However, despite this flurry of exciting information, one question remains to be answered: Is this real? Does being a janitor at Nintendo HQ really pay off? Has valuable corporate information just been irrevocably leaked? Is this just an addition to an already-growing number of rumors surrounding the Wii? Is this an elaborate (and well-written) hoax? Is this a strategy by Nintendo to throw everyone else off balance?

Calling all conspiracy theorists and analysts out there. Here's a scan of the documents in question for your dissection and perusal. Let us know what you think.

Anascape Ltd. has just recently claimed that Nintendo and Microsoft have both infringed on their patents for various controller designs. The thing is, it is not just for one supposed infringement, but 12 different ones! We've come up with a list that's a little on the techy side, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem:

Patent #5,999,084 "Variable Conductance Sensor"
           #6,102,802 "Game Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor"
           #6,135,886, "Variable Conductance Sensor with Elastomeric Dome Cap"
           #6,208,271 "Remote Controller with Analog Button"
           #6,222,525 "Image Controller with Sheet Connected Sensors"
           #6,343, 991 "Game Control with Analog Pressure Sensor"
           #6,344,791 "Variable Sensor with Tactile Feedback"
           #6,347,997 "Analog Controls Housed with Electronic Displays"
           #6,351,205 "Variable Conductance Sensor" (A different patent)
           #6,400, 303 "Remote Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor" (A different patent)
           #6,563,415 "Analog Sensor with Snap Through Tactile Feedback"
           #6,906,700 "3D Controller with Vibration"

After Immersion cashed in on the case against Sony on their infringments on 8 different patents, netting over $90 Million, another lawfirm is following suit, though this time it is not against Sony.  It looks like after the success of Immersion's lawsuit, others are looking to make a quick buck the same way.  It seems that the video game industry has now become so competitive some companies have to go to court instead of just making something better to offer the consumer - at least that's how it's looking these days, more and more.

You can download the official document from Anascape Ltd. [here].