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The Nintendo Wii, aside from being an amazing gaming machine with excellent mulitmedia capabilities, has been a sales phenomenon worldwide, and has blown the other other new generations out of the water. With its revolutionary control system, amazing games library and affordable price, it's hardly a surprise.

This has led the other console makers to pull out all the stops to try to compete with Nintendo's gaming giant. In many cases, its almost pathetic the lengths the other companies will go to try to compete. Here's Sony's latest attempt to compete with the Wii.

After being dominated in sales by the phenomenal success of Nintendo's Wii console, Sony is releasing a crippled version of their PS3 console at a cheaper price point in order to compete with Nintendo's sales juggernaut.

The new iteration of the Playstation 3, which will feature a smaller hard drive, less USB ports and the reverse compatibility removed (which means no playing PS2 or PS1 games), will be released at a cheaper price point in the hopes of better competing with the more affordable Wii.

The new Playstation 3 will retail for around $400, which is still costlier than the Wii, but Sony will re-emphasise the PS3's realistic graphics and power chip to justify the price gap. Does it sound to anyone else like Sony is grasping at straws here? I can see the ad now: "In addition to having no decent games, the new PS3 has 50% less features than the old one! Buy the new PlayStation 3... please? We're dyin' over here!"

Seth Gecko is a Nintendo fan from way back, and loves his Wii in a way that is slightly unnatural.

To find out how you can download Wii games and turn your Wii into a mulitmedia super machine that plays movies, music and games, click here

AP - Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major effort to drive organized crime out of the tourist haven.

How To Build And Market To Your Fan Base

Band promotion isn't just about plastering flyers around your city promoting your next gig. (Although that's good, too!)

Too often, musicians stop short of fully taking advantage of their promotional opportunities. They think If they can get a packed house at their next gig, they've done the job, right?

Wrong.

That's just the beginning.

Once you have brought people to your gig, you have to get them to your website and/or email list. Not adding those fans to your list is like a car dealing bringing in a huge crowd, and then not showing them any cars - you've missed a big opportunity.

Having a fan base, or email list, means you can communicate with people who are already receptive or friendly to your messages. These messages, might be notifying them of upcoming shows, when your latest recording will be out, or where they can buy your merchandise. 'The money is in the list,' is a common mantra among internet marketers, and it means the same to anyone looking to promote a band or solo career. Most businesses would kill to have the opportunities musicians have in marketing.

For one thing the products - music, posters, clothing items, are cool and sexy. (Remember, some poor souls have to sell boring stuff like office supplies and bathroom fixtures for a living!)

To assist and automate the process of building a fan base, or email list, you'll want to get an autoresponder. An autoresponder allows you to put a form on your website that collects people's email addresses and adds them to your email list. You then create a series of email messages that get sent automatically at set intervals to the people who signed up for your list. These messages can be thanking them for joining, information about the band or band members, etc. You can also send out email "blasts" which are messages sent to your list when ever you want - they don't have to be prewritten.

In the blasts, you can promote the band with show updates, new merchandise for sale, etc. It's a good idea to use a third party to manage your autoresponder. Unless you are a hardcore geek, you probably don't want to have to install the software and manage all the stuff that goes with managing the list, including taking care of the unsubscribe stuff and all the anti-spam compliance.The main point here is to really promote the band and monetize your efforts - you MUST build an email list or fan base.

Turn every show, public appearance or press interview into an opportunity to add names to your list. Give out the email address or web address where people can sign up every chance you get. If done properly, promoting your band to your email list can bring in income for many years to come.

Take control of your music career! Learn how to promote and market your band or solo career and live the lifestyle you want. You really can do it yourself - especially with the free tips and advice available here: http://www.HowToPromoteYourBand.com

A hack guitarist himself, Brian Woeller now prefers to work behind the scenes, helping to promote musicians with "real" talent. His eBook, "How To Promote Your Band To Rock Star Status" http://www.HowToPromoteYourBand.com will jump start Your music career and get you in the spotlight, fast.

E! Online - Shia LaBeouf isn't feeling very hands-on right now.