Nielson has released the findings of a study which claims that in June of 2010 almost 33% of all U.S. internet time was spent on either social networking or gaming. The study writes: “Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40 percent of U.S. online time is spent on just three activities – social networking, playing games and emailing leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie.” According to the study Americans spend 22.7% of their time on social networks, 10.2% of their time playing online games, and 8.3% of their time emailing. Watching videos and listening to music (online mind you) came in at 3.9%. When segmenting out mobile, the top three activities were email, portals, and social networking/blogs respectively. Do your online habits fit the findings of this study?

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The Classic Controller Pro for Wii has been available in Japan for some time already, but it's making its way to these here parts this April.

The controller looks like it came from the PS2 factory, and it won't plug directly directly into your Wii. Instead, you have to plug it into your Wii Remote, which isn't that much of a hassle. It'll ship with Monster Hunter Tri, but will also be sold separately for $20.

The Classic Controller Pro will come in black or white, and be compatible more than 450 Wii, WiiWare, and Virtual Console games. The design includes a second row of shoulder buttons, and an "ergonomic" grip, which sounds like marketing pablum to me. Still, though, looks neat!

The Perfect Bundle for Hunting Season: Monster Hunter® Tri and Wii Classic Controller Pro Come Together for the First Time in North America

Bundle Will Bring the Highly-Anticipated New Controller and Popular Franchise Together for the Ultimate Monster Hunting Experience on the Wii System

SAN MATEO, Calif. & REDMOND, Wash.—(BUSINESS WIRE)— Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and Nintendo of America today announced an exciting new bundle featuring one of the most highly anticipated titles for 2010, Monster Hunter® Tri, and combining it with the new Classic Controller Proâ„¢ for the Wiiâ„¢ system. The Classic Controller Pro's more traditional control configuration will give gamers the ultimate Monster Hunting experience when the bundle becomes available in North America this April at a suggested retail price of $59.99.

"Monster Hunter Tri has made a huge splash in the Japanese market, and we're confident the bundle with the Classic Controller Pro will give fans in North America plenty to get excited about," said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America's vice president of Licensing. "Gamers of all kinds enjoy playing games on Wii. Monster Hunter Tri delivers an incredible new experience on Wii, while the Classic Controller Pro gives players even more control options for their favorite Wii games."

The new Classic Controller Pro includes a second row of shoulder buttons and ergonomically friendly grips. The Classic Controller Pro plugs directly into the Wii Remoteâ„¢ controller, and until now, has been available only in the Japanese market.

The Classic Controller Pro will be compatible with more than 450 Wii, WiiWareâ„¢ and Virtual Consoleâ„¢ games. The Classic Controller Pro bundled with Monster Hunter Tri will be black, while both black and white versions of the controller will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The game will also be available without a controller at a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for Nintendo's Wii system. Pushing the hardware to the limit, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where humans co-exist with majestic monsters that roam both dry land and brand new sub-aqua environments – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro, Wii Remote™ and Nunchuck™, or Classic Controller™ to slay the monsters that inhabit the world.

The Monster Hunter series has sold over 11 million units worldwide and has become a social phenomenon in Japan giving rise to training camps, dedicated festivals and numerous licensed products. According to Media Create, Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units in its first week of release in Japan and became the leading title sold across all platforms for the week of its release.

Nope. No way. No conceivable way whatsoever this massage video game controller, called the Massage Me, could be hacked or used in a way that makes it sexual or awkward to use if your parents walked in the room:

You see, while you play your games normally, the Massage Me harness translates those button presses into different massage techniques, which are then used on a partner (or yourself) via the harness.

The system works with a hacked PlayStation controller for now, but the design is such that any button mashing controller will work just as well.

"The best massages come from playing games that require the player to press a lot of buttons and combinations," says designers Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson.

Indeed, you coy bastards, indeed. [Ecouterre]

While we can't say for sure that videogames, as your grandmother insists, do indeed rot your brain, thanks to research conducted at a variety of Universities around the States we know that better gamers tend to have more gray matter than others -- at least in certain areas. Kirk Erickson, Ann Graybiel, Arthur Kramer, and Walter Boot worked together to form a study in which 39 participants' brains were scanned before those subjects were asked to play a game called Space Fortress (which looks a little like an Atari-era Geometry Wars). Players with larger nucleus accumbens did better learning the game early on, while those with larger caudate nucleus and putamen did better at playing with distractions. There was no sign that playing games actually increased the size of those areas of the brains, meaning some people are just born with a Power Glove on -- and that it's only a matter of time before MRIs replace aptitude tests.

Study shows that better gamers have bigger brains, are better learners originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Through the photonic assault, I saw a patch of green in a booth. I walked up and touched it. The grass, it was real, and cool and fresh for the moment. I could not have smiled more broadly. Happy Moments...

...at CES are rare for attendees, in my experience. It's hard work and a monumental commercial achievement at the expense of sanity, holiday vacations and sleep. But these moments of joy do exist.

Dell showed a 5 inch Android tablet. It's too small to be more useful than a smartphone, and can't be pocketed as easily, but for some reason, I found it sexy. And that one of the most mainstream makers of PCs made something so cool, well, I was impressed. I'm not sure I would buy one, but it made me happy.

I miss my dogs. They're being watched in Japan for the month by Lisa's parents, and I'm going back to pick them up in a week. They're black and brown, and these mascots also happen to be black and brown. I guess they reminded me of my pets without me realizing it, and I decided to give them a hug. Cozy.

I made fun of 3D HDTV a lot. Then I tried it on a really good set with fast refresh rates, by Panasonic. I loved it and to me the difference between 2D and 3D is as profound as the difference between black and white and color TV. I got excited at the thought of playing games and watching movies with lots of explosions and lush scenery (Planet Earth, HD!) with a third dimension.

Another great moment of happiness came when I felt we were hitting our stride, as a team, covering the show. No trailer, no booth, no place to set up and write in peace. But since we were all here, together, I was able to ask everyone how they were doing without typing it. It's nice to communicate without a keyboard, once in awhile.

We bought pizza for ourselves and since the lunches were cold, got some for our pals in the press room.

Seeing the Gizmodo junior team learn so much so fast has been inspiring. I got especially happy watching Don and Kyle nail their shorts and Rosa, well, Rosa found the best story of the show. And the veterans are just so good, they're always surprising me with astounding finds and speed of insightful writing.

I bumped into a lot of friends here, not only those I work at Gizmodo with. Chris Null, Sean Captain, Leander Kahney, Charlie White, Dylan Tweeney, Joe Brown, Steve Leckart, Danny Dumas, Ryan Block, Veronica Belmont and Pete Rojas, naming a few. And this is actually the first time I've worked side by side with Joel Johnson, who returned to Giz only last month.

In a few hours, this show will be largely done for us. Everyone who worked on the blog will have a nice dinner together. Then I'll go home. That will be my most happy moment.

*We noticed these people were having a good time at CES, too. If you look closely, most of them have to do with people interacting with each other, not the machinery.