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(Credit: Razer)By Rich Brown and Scott Stein, CNET

LAS VEGAS--Gaming hardware usually takes a backseat at CES, but this year seems to be an exception. We've already seen Nvidia's blockbuster Project Shield handheld Android/PC game streaming device. Today Razer announced the Edge PC gaming tablet, and we took a good long look and play with it along with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan at this year's CES.

Luka Apps (Credit: http://twitter.com/lukaapps)By Mike Krumboltz

Seven-year-old Luka Apps spent his Christmas money on the LEGO Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider set. A sound investment, if you ask us. But the thing about LEGOs -- those small pieces are easy to lose. They don't call 'em minifigures for nothing.

Against his father's recommendation, young Luka took his newly procured Jay ZX shopping. And then, wouldn't you know it, the figure went missing, never to be seen again.

Luka, not one to admit defeat, decided to write a letter to the good people at LEGO seeking a replacement.

'Piston' device (Credit: Xi3)Valve, the creators and caretakers of the incredibly successful PC game distribution service Steam, has been hinting around its plans to move into the living room for more than a year. Apparently, the company has finally put its money where its mouth is.

Valve has invested in the fledgling hardware company Xi3, the maker of small desktop PCs, to create a mini gaming PC.

The project’s called “Piston,” and while the specs haven’t been released yet, the system is specifically designed to play Steam-based games in the service’s Big Picture mode on living room TVs. Xi3 is showing a prototype at this year’s CES show.

Nvidia's Project Shield (Credit: Nvidia)While Nvidia has been an important player in the video game industry for years, it has never been a direct competitor to console manufacturers.

That’s about to change.

During a press conference kicking off the annual CES trade show in Las Vegas, the company unveiled its own mobile gaming system: an Android device running the company’s just announced Tegra 4 processor chip.

Currently called Project Shield, the system is essentially a chunky game controller with a flip-up, 5-inch multi-touch display. It’s also got standard analog sticks and game buttons as well as plenty of horsepower under the hood.

(Credit: Getty Images)You might be a fan of buying used games, but Sony isn’t.

The company has filed a patent application for technology that would prevent video game consoles from playing used games. That, mixed with rumors about the next-generation systems banning used games, was enough to get gamers (and investors) panicking.

As Connecticut residents continue to try to come to grips with the horrific school shootings in Newtown, one nearby city is calling on citizens to round up and destroy their violent video games.

On Jan. 12, citizens of Southington, located about 30 miles to the northeast of Newtown, will have the opportunity to visit their city's drive-in theater and deposit violent games in a trash bin in return for a $25 gift certificate to a family-friendly local attraction.

Those games will be snapped into pieces and likely later incinerated, town officials told Polygon.

Kokichi Sugihara, a mathematician at Japan’s Meiji University, is something of an expert on creating 3D versions of the kinds of impossible objects popularized by MC Escher.

And 'impossible' is exactly what we thought while watching his latest illusion, a gravity-defying house, in action:

Super Nintendo SystemWhile the market for old Nintendo games isn’t what it was, say, 20 years ago, plenty of people still love the older systems. But classic cartridges, unfortunately, don't exactly age well.

The SNES, for example, turns 23 this year. While most of today's games should have no trouble surviving that long thanks to their use of DVD and Blu-ray formats, the older cartridge technology is suffering.

Specifically, the batteries in older games, which were used to save progress, are past their optimal life expectancy. Way past it.