The Processor - We blog opinions on the latest trends in technology, games, geeky gadget things we find and random internet crap that may be of interest to your eyeballs.

Ever though about binning your other half because they like gaming more than you? I haven’t, as I’m a misanthropic nerd, and come to think of it, if you’re reading this, you probably are too, so let this serve as fair warning. One in five women has ended a relationship due to their partner’s Xbox/Playstation/Wii/PC/Internet habit, according to a probably not very scientific study by well known bastion of academic research myvouchercodes.co.uk.

80% of women in relationships said their partner spent more time playing videogames and on the Internet than they would like, while 70% said they’d had arguments about it.

Almost half of the 1,823 respondents said the biggest issue was lack of attention from their technology addled significant other, while a quarter complained of a lack of help with household duties.

Even worse, of the 8% of respondents who had divorced, 62% said that the lack of engagement resulting from their partner’s computer and console usage played a part in the collapse of their marriage.

The top five home wreckers, as named and shamed by spurned lovers were…

-Call of Duty
-Fifa 2010
-Grand Theft Auto IV
-Assassins Creed
-Resident Evil

The trend isn’t entirely gender specific however, 72% of men, said they thought their partner spent too much time on the Internet, while 14% claimed their partner spent too much time gaming, which implies a certain degree of hypocrisy from one or other, or most likely both parties. Nevertheless, men appear to be more tolerant – just 6% of men who had ended a relationship cited technology addiction as one of their reasons for doing so.

Sega’s Toshihiro Nagoshi, Capcom’s Keiji Inafune and Konami’s Hideo Kojima. discussed the possibilities of Microsoft’s Project Natal during a panel discussion at the Tokyo Game Show. A couple of choice quotes below…

Inafune: “This technology surpasses anything we have at the same time as treasuring the current tradition. I see the potential of Natal, and it’s not just a traditional fad.”

“We have to be role models with Natal and act responsibly. We can lead people and show them the potential of Natal. We [game developers] are serious people, and we can lead the rest of the world to this new technology.”

Kojima: “Using Natal, I’d like to come up with a completely new game that no one has seen before. I know I have lots of fans that are loyal to me, and I don’t want to leave them behind. So maybe I can come up with a car that can fly, so my fans can follow me. Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

The technology certainly is impressive and we’ll likely see it applied in some pretty cool ways. Uses may even extend beyond traditional gaming (minority report style menu interface anyone?) but quite frankly i can’t be arsed throwing kicks and swinging an imaginary sword for a game of Soul Caliber, plus as responsive as it is, it’s hard to imagine that Natal will offer quite the same level of precision as a traditional pad, or keyboard and mouse setup.

As an aside, I can’t help but wish a painful death on the family in Microsoft’s advert (above), but maybe that’s just me.

More at Gamespot, Gamasutra and CVG.

Sales of the newly slimmed down PS3 have comfortably exceeded half a million worldwide, according to numerous reports.

Purchases in the US increased three fold the week of its launch, according to Sony. While research group Chart-Track said the new console sold 40,000 units in its first week on the UK market, boosting sales 999%.

In Japan, the PS3 sold 151,783 units during its first three days on sale – up from around 1,000 per week- possibly thanks to the bizarre advertising campaign (above).

Of course, percentage increases will be skewed somewhat by the fact that sales were likely very low the week prior to the Slim’s release as prospective buyers waited for the new model. Nevertheless, the numbers are impressive, and Sony seem to have pulled off a strong candidate for the most succesful console relaunch ever.

The real question is whether Sony will be able to keep up momentum and move out of last place in the home console market.

If it doesn’t, it won’t be from lack of trying. A new console at a lower price point coupled with a re-branded logo and a new advertising campaign could well be enough to erode the faintly elitist, unattainable feel of the original console and tempt mass-market consumers to splash out on what is arguably the best value package on the market.

In vaguely related news, the PS3 now accounts for more BBC iPlayer views than Apple computers. Viewers using Sony’s black box made up 10% of all traffic compared to 8.5% of Jobs devotees.