Think about it: games controlled by mere thought may be possible as early as 2008. NeuroSky has developed such technology, demonstrating it last April with a Darth Vader game where users control his light saber by just thinking it.

But as fate would have it (and dozens of movies have told us the same) that tech that deals directly with the mind has consequences. Recent studies have shown that the new tech may be dangerous for the brain and some (though not all) scientists expressed concerns about the prospect.

NeuroSky's brain-computer interface (BCI) uses sensors attached to the scalp to detect brain wave patterns. As long as the user concentrates on a certain object in the game, they can control it. In the Darth Vader game, users were able to light up the saber just by concentrating in their minds that it's lit up.

Scientists discovered that users are sometimes forced to slow down their brain waves to play, and they consequently have trouble focusing afterwards. Niels Birbaumer, an independent BCI researcher explains:

Imagine that somebody uses a game with slow brain-wave activity and then drives a car while still in that state. You could have an accident. I think it's a rare possibility, but it should be tested before people do this.

Nam Do, the CEO of Emotiv, another company whose technology runs on the same principles, explains that it's "normal to have these concerns" but that it does not apply. He says, "There is no two-way interaction, and the technology does not require the user to train their brain to get into a predetermined state in any way." Greg Hyver, VP Marketing of NeuroSky, supplements this by saying that the concerns arise only from the lack of familiarity with the tech.

The technology is still in its early stages and some scientists doubt we'll be able to play complex games with it this soon. More like old school ones like Tetris. Maybe Arkanoid? Still, it's pretty cool and the companies say they may be able to release the tech by 2008.

Ah, Virtua Tennis. This is the game that revived the whole tennis scene in videogames practically single-handedly. The series has been on almost every videogame platform - in arcades, the Dreamcast, the PS2 - and now SEGA is trying to re-capture the magic with Virtua Tennis 3. This latest title will soon hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PSP, featuring upgraded graphics, new gameplay modes, and tennis-ball throwing garbage cans.

Wait up. Say what? Tennis-ball throwing garbage cans.

These malignant mechanical monstrosities make an appearance in Virtua Tennis 3 care of the game's hilarious mini-games feature, more specifically in the Alien Attack mini-game. The title may have the word "alien" in it, but don't worry, things aren't going Roswell in Virtua Tennis-land just yet.

The mini-game features ball-hurling garbage cans that launch balls at you at high speeds. The objective here is to hit the balls right back at them, thus taking them out in the process. Kinda like the old Arkanoid game. There are also some "special" aliens that are colored red. These ones explode when you hit 'em, so when you hit then you can take out a few of their friends with them as well.

Explaining the whole thing just doesn't have the same feel as showing it to you guys, so here are a few screenshots of how the Alien Attack mini-game looks like. Check 'em out below.