Nintendo has already clinched victory in the motion control gaming war. The Wii has squashed all rivals flat, leaving entire nations of people waving like lunatics to Wii Sports tennis. But there’s still second place to fight for! Enter Microsoft’s Natal peripheral for Xbox 360, and Sony’s Arc controller for PlayStation 3.

Who will emerge from the Thunderdome, bloodied yet triumphant? Which piece of technical frippery will come second to the Wii Remote? God knows. And also Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. But have you ever seen them in the same room? Exactly.

“The key to success with a retrofitted motion controller is penetration. If price points are high, it is unlikely that Natal or Sony’s motion controller will sell many units; if they are very low, they will sell a lot more. [...] My uninformed opinion is that Microsoft will price relatively low, and Sony will price higher.”

Nothing like a man offering his opinion and then admitting it’s “uninformed.” Nevertheless, Pachter makes the right call about these things quite a lot, a good thing considering such predictions are his job.

Either way, he’s certainly correct about price being completely vital in this case. I’d imagine almost no current Xbox 360 or PS3 owners bought their consoles for Natal or Arc, so these optional add-ons need to be priced at “impulse buy” level. $50 would seem right, so if Sony does launch Arc at a hundred bucks, I’d expect a Microsoft victory as well.

[Via NowGamer]

Analyst backs Microsoft’s Natal to beat Sony’s Arc is a post from: The Inquisitr

The company, fresh off its failed merger talks with Microsoft, launched its new SearchScan program today. The program uses McAfee’s SiteAdvisor technology to filter search results and alert you when it finds a potentially dangerous site.

“Our goal is to protect users by allowing them to make a more informed decision about the websites they visit,” Product Managers Priyank Garg and Graham Mudd explained in their blog.

The new utility will automatically remove sites that are flagged for installing malware on visitors’ computers. Sites that are known for only offering the option to download problematic programs will still be listed, but with a stern warning. The same goes for sites that may sell your email address and send you into spam hell.

“By displaying prominent warnings next to search results for sites with potentially dangerous downloads or unsavory email practices, users are aware that while visiting the site may be safe, downloading a file or sharing an email address could be risky,” Garg and Mudd wrote.

I gave the program a whirl, and while its spam warning results may not be all-inclusive, it definitely does some good. A search for “free money” turned up one warning for unsolicited email danger. I had a hard time getting more than one or two warnings in any search, though, no matter how many obvious spam-centric sites I saw in the results.

The SearchScan option will now be turned on by default for all Yahoo! users. You can choose to deactivate it by checking off a tab in your preferences.

Yahoo! Puts On Protection is a post from: The Inquisitr