Extremetech has an excellent post up about building a gaming rig for under $800. Looks like they're going with a Core 2 Duo processor and an XFX GeForce 7600 GT graphics card.

I've got two tangentially related items for your reading queue today. First, Lore Sjöberg of Wired News has posted some funny ideas for new game controllers. While some are ridiculous (a brick?), others are more intriguiging, even if meant only as a joke. For some reason, his idea for a game controller based on an action figure seems on-the-money, though I'm not sure how it could be implemented. I'm sure that most of us here grew up playing with action figures, whether they were those crappy Star Wars figurines or those GI Joes that went weak-in-the-knees after a few hours of play. Still, we all had a great time with them, and no doubt part of the thrill was the tactile aspect of it. I think this is one reason why so many grown men and women indulge in games like WarHammer, which feature little miniatures in lieu of the more abstract creatures and heroes in the typical D&D table session. I think Lore's tongue-in-cheek suggestion might actually lead towards some really innovative games and control schemes.

Looking for a cool summer project for yourself and/or your kids? Got a fancy new soldering iron collecting dust? Well, head over to ThinkGeek and pick up a Pong DIY kit. The kit comes with a pre-printed circuit board and lots of techie components like "diodes," not to be confused with another bit of gadgetry. You can hook the finished product up to your TV and enjoy 1 or 2 player Pong sessions at four different difficulty levels. W00T! It's too bad I'm a clutz with solder or I'd order mine today. And, no, I'm not buying a wussy "cold heat" soldering iron and no non-toxic solder, because without the thrill of danger, where's the fun?

There's a great deal of cool techie things on the net today, so I'll try to cover as many of them as possible. First off, check out DIY Projetor, which will lead you to a site that explains how to build a home projector for "pennies": Imagine a 120" HDTV screen in your living room. No problem! But wait--what about that HD DVD player? Ewww...icky format war. Don't buy anything until you've read Reasons that HD DVD formats have already failed. The article makes an interesting point about why incompatibility works for game consoles but not DVD formats--and leaves a big question mark in my mind about Sony's committment to Blu-Ray in the PS3.

Dell XPS: I could soo see this on my desktop...Adrian Kingsley-Hughes of ZDnet has a blog up about buying a Dell XPS vs. building one yourself. You've probably heard the same advice I've heard over the years regarding building your own PC vs. buying one from Dell (or wherever). Some people will swear you're much better off with a "storebrand," usually making a case for warranties (i.e., if it doesn't work, you can easily send it back) or compatibality/configuration issues (i.e., no matter how much you think you know, you'll get something wrong, and the system won't ever be completely stable). Plus, there's the argument that a big company like Dell or Gateway can buy in mass bulk and thus get individual components much cheaper than a private builder, thus driving down the cost of the system exponentially.