A dispute over pay and working conditions resulted in about 300 workers climbing to the roof of one of the buildings at Foxconn Technology Park in China early last week. The incident began when employees asked their bosses for a raise but were denied. Employees were told either to quit with compensation or to keep their jobs with no additional payment. Many employees took the former, but the company decided to terminate the agreement anyway and not pay the promised compensation. The workers protested the action by threatening to jump to their deaths.

The standoff eventually came to an end when the mayor of Wuhan showed up and literally talked the former employees off the ledge.

These particular employees were responsible for manufacturing parts for Xbox 360 consoles and production had actually come to a halt for several hours during the protest.

Microsoft had this to say:

"Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue," a spokesperson told the Huffington Post UK.

"We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge.

"Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy."

Foxconn factories in China were already under examination because of several suicides by employees in the past five years—actually forcing the company to install anti-suicide nets at some of their facilities. In addition to Xbox 360 components, Foxconn also manufactures products for Apple, Sony, Nintendo and many other Fortune 500 companies.

You Freeks have been busy! We’ve had an overwhelming response to our Sony NGP giveaway over the past week. We suppose that means that you like the sweet, free stuff we give you the opportunity to win—and that’s a good thing, ‘cause we like giving you the hookup (holler if you hear us)!

Before we post the winners, though, we’d like to thank all of you for your interest in our products and encourage you to browse our site and check out some of the new stuff that you may not know about. For example: did you know that we have special edition sticks for Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops?

Now, here are the winners:

Trudie F.

Robert M.

Alex H.

Todd W.

Jimmy R.

All of our winners have already been notified via email and know who they are. If you didn’t win this time, stay tuned. We have more cool stuff coming soon!

Peace, love and headshots y’all!

Winners will be chosen at random on Tuesday, February 8th and will receive vouchers for Sony’s new device when it becomes available later this year along with some select KontrolFreek products.

If for some reason the NGP is not released, we will still hook you up with something of equal value. Good luck to all our fans! Be sure to register and stay tuned for the announcement of the winners!

Go to our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/kontrolfreek to win!

At today’s Playstation Meeting 2011 event in Tokyo, the clear highlight was the announcement of their new handheld device codenamed “NGP” or “Next Generation Portable.”  The new device seems to answer many of the common complaints about the PSP and adds a whole bunch more awesomeness to the market dominated primarily by Nintendo.

NGP will mark the end of the much hated UMD format.  Games will now be stored on flash-based memory cards with enough room for DLC and game saves.  Sony has confirmed that NGP will also play PSP titles, minis, PSOne classics and display content from the PlayStation Store.

It’s worth noting that the body of the new device is slightly larger than the PSP—makes sense—since it features a five-inch OLED multitouch screen with four times the number of pixels than the PSP.  And, in case you can’t tell from the picture, the NGP features two true analog sticks (NGP Freeks, anyone?)!

Here are some specs:

Next generation portable entertainment system (codename: NGP)

CPU: ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)

GPU: SGX543MP4+

Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth)

Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)

Front camera, Rear camera

Built-in stereo speakers, Built-in microphone

 Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass

Buttons: PS button, Power button, Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), Shoulder buttons (Right/Left), Right stick, Left stick, START button, SELECT button, Volume buttons (+/-)

Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi location service support

Mobile network connectivity (3G), IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1) (Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR A2DP/AVRCP/HSP

A little over a week has passed since I first played Heavy Rain.  And I really wasn’t planning on doing any kind of review for it. Because, you see, it’s not really a game—in the traditional sense, anyway—and I was afraid many of you pubescent Modern Warfare gamers here wouldn’t really care.  But a few days after finishing the story, I just can’t seem to get it out of my head.  So, I’ve decided to do a small review.  If not only for closure for myself, to spread the word to you “hardcore” gamers about an amazing interactive experience that you really should play.

Spending a whole lot of time talking about the story would be a disservice to you, so I’m not going to talk too much about that here.  But as to not leave you completely in the dark, Heavy Rain’s story is about a father whose son gets kidnapped and the trials and pain he goes through to try to save him.  Think somewhere between the movies “Saw” and “The Fan.”  Just know that Heavy Rain’s narrative is really great, and not just great for a game, great for a movie.  And that’s really what Heavy Rain is—an interactive movie.

Though the main story revolves around the aforementioned father, you also get to play as a great cast of supporting characters like an FBI agent, a Private Investigator and a pretty lady who shows her boobies a few times.  As the mystery unfolds, the characters’ stories eventually intertwine to reveal the kidnapper/serial killer dubbed the Origami Killer.

The gameplay aspects of Heavy Rain are pretty simple.  As you explore your surroundings you will be prompted to press certain buttons to make your character interact with people or items in the environment.  It may be as simple as hitting a face button or it could be a timed series of acrobatic stick movements and button presses that test your fingers’ dexterity.  If you’ve played video games in the past five-years you are probably familiar with the QTE—well, it’s a lot of that.

Now, that may not sound very awesome, but somehow the quick time events feel strangely fresh here.  The tension-inducing exercises take a symbiotic coordination of eye and hand that really add to the suspense of the game.

Further adding to the suspense is the fact that your actions in the game effect the overall story in a much greater way than you’re used to.  If you make the wrong decision at crucial moments during the game or miss certain quick time events, things can go south quickly.  Maybe you won’t find your son alive or maybe you won’t find him at all.  Make a big enough mistake and you’ll just die—for good.

Quantic Dream and Sony have built a high budget action game with Heavy Rain.  The art direction rivals anything Hollywood has to offer.  Your mood is stirred by a great soundtrack and the above average voice acting carries the story for the duration.  And did I mention boobies?

Overall, Heavy Rain is an amazing interactive experience that you owe it to yourself to play.  It is a rare game; one that can be enjoyed by both the person who holds the controller and couch-lurkers like girlfriends and roommates.  If you have a PlayStation, go out and buy the game immediately.  If you don’t have a PlayStation, get one!  Show your support for fresh game ideas like Heavy Rain and we’ll all be rewarded with more great games like it in the future.  Believe me, Microsoft and the creators of Natal are playing Heavy Rain right now just dreaming about the possibilities.

Like it or not, the era of motion controlled gaming is upon us.  With a ton of excitement coming out of the Tokyo Game Show, news of the impending motion revolution has risen to the top with a clear message:  watch out Nintendo!  Sony announced the first batch of Motion Controller supported games that will be hitting store shelves next spring.  So far, more than 10 games will lead the charge with plenty more to come, I'm sure (especially with the million-plus new slim PS3's in people’s homes).  Microsoft, not to be outdone, also announced all of the third-party publishers supporting their own motion device, Natal (no release date as of yet).  Their announcement was astounding, to say the least, as 70% of third-party game developers were named to be currently working on games.  This news is indeed proof that motion control gaming is not just a fleeting trend, but is undoubtedly, the future (immediate future, anyway) of gaming.
KontrolFreek wants to know your take on the imminent motion controlled gaming future.  Do you like the idea of standing and moving around while you play games, or will they have to pry that controller from your cold, dead hands?