Are you ready to rumble? More gaming news for you

Few will argue that the optimal inputs for a first-person shooter game are the traditional… Few will argue that the optimal inputs for a first-person shooter game are the traditional keyboard and mouse. While this is fine for the PC gamer, consoles rarely incorporate such devices. This drove Lik-Sang, a Hong Kong-based video game import/export firm, to develop a device that allows gamers to connect a standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse to their PlayStation 2 or Xbox. Dubbed the “SmartJoy FRAG,” the $29 device connects to a regular controller port and is pre-configured for several popular games. The unit is expected to hit retail shelves before the end of the month.

Last week, “Katamari Damacy” was nowhere to be found. This week, it showed up to receive a Good Design award for 2004, which was presented by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization. Other honorees included Namco’s own “Tatakon” taiko drum controller for the “Taiko no Tatsujin” series of video games, the iPod Mini, the “Limix+” line of Non-Baked Recycled Lime Ceramics (used in floor and wall tiles), and the Nagasaki Seaside Park.

Capcom has announced that “Haunting Ground” — a survival-horror game unveiled under the name “Demento” at this year’s Tokyo Game Show — will be making its way to the United States and Europe. As is typical in the genre, you’ll be playing as a scared girl, trapped in a haunted castle, whose condition deteriorates with each bout of abject terror. Naoto Takenaka, who performed the voice of Kim in “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,” will direct the in-game cinematics. “Haunting Ground” is expected to be released in the summer of 2005.

Finally, in “It’s Getting Crowded in Here” news, Sega and Sammy announced last Friday that they’ve become subsidiaries of Sega Sammy Holdings. Over 30 companies, ranging from pachinko and virtual golf firms to influential video game developers, have come together in the $1.4 billon merger.