Archive for the ‘Game’ Category
Scrolling through piles and piles of information, I almost went past this little treasure. Board related peripherals were all over the Xbox and PS2 back in the day (or still in the day for some). The Xbox 360 and PS3 are about to get in on that action - some wireless action. They’ve finally found a way to deal with their Nintendo envy, with the whole motion sensitive gaming etc. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a skateboarding genius, or perhaps the next Tony Hawk, feast your eyes on the Qmotions wireless skateboard. 
It’s been confirmed by Sega - Sonic the Hedgehog is sprinting on over to the Wii for Spring 2009. So we can all officially celebrate and partake in a bit of excitable air punching. The game, entitled Sonic and the Black Knight, is part of the storybook series that started with Sonic and the Secret Rings last year, and will be available exclusively on the Wii when it launches. 
Directly rewarding efforts with results, now that’s the way to get someone moving. As we’ve seen time and time again, providing a clear, undiluted motivator is a perfect way to make fitness a top priority in life, and that’s exactly what Takara Tomy is hoping to achieve with its pocket-friendly Jinsei Game of Life pedometer. Essentially, this device is a portable version of the famed Game of Life board game, but users are purportedly not allowed to take a turn unless they take 300 steps first. Additionally, two players can take on one another via the "communication mode," but there’s a good chance the most chiseled among you will take home the gold regardless of luck. Out this month in Japan for ¥3,675 ($34).
If the PlayStation 3’s Eye of Judgment ever got drunk and made some bad decisions in Tokyo’s nefarious Kabukicho district, the resulting offspring would probably resemble this Cyber-Maid Augmented Reality device from Geisha Tokyo Entertainment. The "Dennoh Figure ARis" (Cyber Figure Alice), on sale this fall, will come with all manner up alternate reality upskirts, strip teases and "augmented" promiscuity. And yes, because you asked, it comes with a virtual poker.
Alice comes with two marked cubes and two similarly marked sticks. Using a webcam to track the cubes and sticks, the software displays your personal maid onscreen. You can then use the sticks to, well, this is perhaps best said in pictures.
Sony launched at the E3 2008 a video download store on the Playstation network that is only available in the United States. Sony will start rolling out PlayTV in Europe starting September 10th. With PlayTV you can record TV programming yourself on the PS3 - better than nothing.
Sony announced PlayTV already one year ago at the GC 2007 in Lepzig. PlayTV will therefore launch over one year after the announcement.
The PlayTV accessory has two digital tuners and allows to record during game play. Apparently PS3 firmware 2.41 introduced that capability already. I wonder if this will work with all PS3 games as new titles take more and more full advantage of the CELL chip.
PlaTV for the PS3 is expected to retail for 99 Euro (~$156).
Via EuroGamer.
Maybe Sony will find a way to also offer movie downloads for Europe. It would be so easy, just remove the geo block and let Europeans use the U.S. Playstation Video Store.
Little girls in Japan will get their chance today to act out their fantasies of being American corporate tools, thanks to Bandai’s new mobile communicator “Smart Berry” toy, which kind of looks like a Mylo done up in pastel colors. The Smart Berry includes a touch screen LCD panel measuring roughly 2 inches by 1.4 inches, a slide out keyboard, and wi-fi capabilities for e-mail, chat and online games.
The device registers user profiles so that Smart Berry owners can only send and receive mail from friends. Up to four units can communicate with each other at the same time if they’re all within a 10 meter diameter. Additionally, it also has a virtual Tamagotchi-like pet you can play with. The toy costs $97 and is targeted at girls from ages 6 to 9. Boys who want to send e-mails on a faux-mobile device while raising their own virtual pet are SOL this time around.
Your old themes will be compatible with The New Xbox Experience, Xbox LIVE guru Marc Whitten assured us when we talked to him at E3. Here is what they may look like (the interface still isn’t totally final). You’ll notice is that it’s easy to stick a wallpaper over the top half of the grey background. Hopefully advertisements won’t fill up the bottom half. Here are two bonus shots:The only major tweak I’d like to see is for the grey surface to have adjustable chroma to match the background. Yes, my shoes and underwear always coordinate.
Sony’s PlayStation 3, long third in the wave of current-generation game consoles, is finally beginning to accumulate substantial sales, statistics show. Bloomberg reports that during the first five months of 2008 the PS3 sold more units than Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which has normally held second place under Nintendo’s Wii. The surge is attributed mainly to high-profile exclusives like Metal Gear Solid 4, and the demise of HD DVD, boosting the appeal of Sony’s extensible, built-in Blu-ray drive.
The 360 may continue to have an inherent edge however, as it has been on sale since 2005, and has thus accumulated a much larger userbase. Microsoft is also attempting to reinvigorate the console with new, larger hard drives, challenging options for the PS3. The PS3 is presently available in a 40GB standard edition, or an 80GB MGS4 bundle. The 60GB 360 will replace a 20GB model, and join the 120GB Elite.
Coming in the fall Xbox 360 update: Netflix! Yes, Xbox 360 owners who are also Netflix subscribers will be able to stream movies available for online streaming now straight to their consoles. You can also share your Netflix movies with friends via your Xbox Live party so you can watch stuff together, although whether or not you’ll all need accounts isn’t clear. Here’s hoping you Xbox owners didn’t shell out for a Roku box, as it’s about to become useless. Oops! But still, awesome.
From Gizmodo
We pretty much knew it was coming, but Microsoft just officially announced the Lips karaoke game official. Just like we’d heard, the singalong title will come with a motion-sensitive mic that lights up in time to your voice. The game interface is somewhat similar to Rock Band or Singstar, where you have to hit various pitches accurately to rack up points — but in addition to the game content, you’ll be able to sing along to your own music off a Zune or iPod.
