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Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s big ‘Natal’ E3 reveal is Sony’s motion-tracking rebuttal [pictured above is an image from Sony's patent filling late last year]. Since Microsoft had the advantage of going first, the question analysts and amateurs are asking themselves is; how does the PS3 Motion Controller (yes, it’s actually called that, for the time being at least) stack up against Natal? In these early, carefully curated demonstrations it’s difficult to produce anything remotely conclusive. And so in my Natal write-up I emphasized the word ‘potential’ and I’ll continue the theme in saying that whereas Microsoft’s prototype has immense potential, Sony is much closer to seeing their more modest potential realized. So, what is the PS3 Motion Controller?

Take one part rave, one part motion capture, and one part controller. Let incubate in a Sony lab for untold months. Then at E3 2009 reveal two controller ‘sticks’ with glowing purple orbs atop them. Cue up some live-action demo footage and prepare for some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs.’



Live from E3 it’s mind-blowing innovation from…Microsoft?

Yes, I gave into the allure of Xbox’s E3 Press Conference. With rumours of previously exclusive titles coming to the Xbox (360 owners were offered instead of a port, a brand new Metal Gear game) as well as anticipated sequels (Forza 3 and Crackdown 2 made appearances) it was hard to resist. But Microsoft already had me, hook, line and sinker when they refused to quell rumours of a motion tracking device similar to that of the Wii. Hours into the press conference yielded only trailers and live-gameplay, leaving me curious if all the peripheral-hype was for naught. But then Xbox finally revealed the cards they’d held close to the chest. Now, keep in mind that I waited a good while after watching the live footage to write this article, just to let the hype run its course. So when I say the following I do so moderately sober from the euphoric effects of the Xbox marketing rhetoric; what Microsoft has here has the potential to revolutionize home entertainment.



When it first became known that Nintendo’s Wii would feature motion-sensing remote controls the response from its competitors ranged from dismissive to downright imitation (though still no one at Sony will admit that it is the highest form of flattery). But as the sales of Nintendo’s latest console continue to climb Sony has to be wondering if their tilt-sensing SIXAXIS controller is going to be attractive enough to innovative developers. And Microsoft, well they might just have to reconsider their whole perspective on the matter and if the persistent barrage of rumours over the past year are any indication, they’ve already started. But the freshest batch out of the mill puts an interesting spin on the whole debate, one that could potentially catapult the Xbox 360 past the Wii in the ‘innovative controls’ department. Couple this with Microsoft execs hyping up a “big presence” at E3 and you have a rumour worth looking into.


It wasn’t all that long ago that if you used the words ‘Cloud’ and ‘video games’ in the same sentence you were obviously referring the titular hero of Final Fantasy VII and nothing else. But if Rearden Studios have their way ‘cloud gaming’ just might be the future of the burgeoning billion dollar industry. Making its debut at this year’s Game Developers Conference is OnLive, an ambitious project that would see PC games streamed over networks to televisions across the United States.

Prior to GDC ’09, OnLive was virtually unknown. The concept was developed by Steve Perlman, founder of Rearden Studios and a former employee of Atari, Apple, and WebTV. Along with Mike McGarvey, formerly of Eidos, the two have crafted one of the most ambitious business models perhaps in the history of gaming. But ambition is nothing without the means to accomplish.

At its core, OnLive is a simple concept. Rather than having consumers shell out potentially thousands of dollars every four or five years to keep up with the latest graphics OnLive provides high-end hardware that can stream games at a ping of less than one millisecond. On the receiving end a user would have a relatively low-end PC (think base line Dell unit) that will simply act as a video decoding control hub, as well as requisite audio and video outputs. If you don’t already own such a PC, OnLive is offering their own low-cost, base model.




Every once in a while there comes a game that just completely embraces its’ medium. This isn’t about blockbuster titles but instead it’s about taking what’s available and making the most out of it. Every platform has these games; Goldeneye for the N64 redefined the FPS genre, LittleBigPlanet reinvented the platformer, and Zen Bound, while not as expansive, is no less impressive.

You’re not going to find a written description of Zen Bound that does the gameplay justice. Even on the creator’s rhetoric ridden website it’s difficult to grasp what exactly the ‘game’ has you doing. An oversimplified description relates that you have a rotatable wooden object to which a string is tied that stretches out somewhere off screen. The objective is to wrap a predetermined length of string around the piece of wood by rotating it with your finger. As the string touches the object it paints the surrounding area. Paint the entire object to get 100% and move on to the next, more complex item. Sounds rather bland, right? Wrong.




There are a million tech terms out there from the newest G3 to the hype in CFL, and most of the time I have no idea what they mean. OLED is just the newest in a long line of up-and-coming technologies with snappy acronyms, but what is the OLED display and why is it so much better than regular LCD (liquid crystal display) technology?

LEDs are very well known for their recent use in Christmas lighting, but OLEDs are a little different. OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode and is praised mainly for its properties concerning energy usage. Because the diodes can emit light without a backlight they can be used in much thinner devices and can run for longer on the same charge as a traditional LCD screen. OLED screens also be produced at a fraction of the cost of LCD screens because the diode printing process can be performed on a variety of surfaces even with household inkjet printers. In addition if the diodes are printed onto a flexible surface this creates the possibility of flexible screens of light, a method that is key to the future of roll-up and fabric displays.



When you picture the future of furniture, what comes to mind? Maybe bold colors and art nouvae design. Whatever the future looks like, what will be more important is what’s hidden from view.

Intelligent furniture, that is furniture with built-in electronics capabilities, is becoming more and more popular as home electronics become sleeker, smaller, and easier to integrate. One of these is the MECO, or MediaCore, a home entertainment mecca of sorts, consolidating your PC, DVD player, TiVo, digital television and any other home entertainment equipment you use. Encased in MECO’s sturdy wooden frame is hidden a PC running Windows Vista Ultimate, a quad-core Intel processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 4TB hard drive, WiFi connectivity, 8-channel HD audio, and room for more.

The MECO also featured a state-of-the-art cooling system to keep all your gear running, as well as allowing accessibility from the front and back of the unit for use and maintenance. So what makes the MECO different from other home entertainment systems? The truth is at first glance, not much, but it’s the look of the piece that is its real selling point.



Slowly but surely the iPhone has been building a repertoire of apps that though based on real world concepts they actually enhance the experience. This is particularly true of boardgame apps, since their real world equivalents tend to take time and patience not only to setup but adjust to the rules and keep score (if you’ve ever played 13 Dead End Drive then you no exactly what I’m talking about…I want those hours of my life back Milton Bradley!). And while titles like Scrabble and Risk have been available on PCs for years, there’s something about the hands-on, portable approach the iPhone offers that really makes old games seem new and captivating all over again. And then there’s Wurdle; a title that is in many ways a carbon-copy of the popular word-finding game Boggle. And yet it’s much more. Wurdle initially presents a 5x5 grid of tiles, providing 25 letters with which the user forms as many words as possible. Words are formed by dragging your finger from one tile to the next until you've connected the requisite letters to form a word. The challenge is to score as high as you can in two minutes with more points being handed out for longer words. Sounds simple enough and if Wurdle-creators' Semi Secret Software had stopped there droves of puzzle-gaming addicts would still be shelling out the $2 cover charge. But Wurdle is one of those rare games where the developers simply did everything right and it’s all in the features.




The PlayStation 2 generation saw a weakened Nintendo and a new-comer enter into Sony’s looming shadow. So it would be quite the reversal of fortunes to see not only Nintendo dominating the market with the most consoles sold, but to see the up and coming Xbox brand surpass Sony as the console of choice for the ‘hardcore’ gamer. But that’s exactly what’s happened, and what’s more, things are looking up for the PlayStation nation. CNNMoney’s Silicon Alley Insider column recently referred to the PS3 as a “sinking ship.” So how fast is it headed below sea-level? Sales are down 19% over last year and for a console that purportedly has a 10-year life span, it’s a little early to be petering out.

This past year was supposed to see the rise of Blu-ray as consumers heralded in the high-definition era. So it’s not surprising that lower PS3 sales are concurrent with poor Blu-ray sales and thus the Silicon Alley Insider attributes Blu-ray apathy as one of three aspects of the PS3’s failures. After all, with each branded player Sony sells, a chunk of cash is allocated for the upcoming high-def format, a fee Xbox avoided by circumventing a next-gen player as a standard (Microsoft, in fact, backed the wrong horse but their loss was subsidized by the fact that they only offered an HD-DVD add on sold separately).




Rock Band/Guitar Hero are quickly become as ubiquitous as the iPhone and other tip of the tongue tech toys that populate the headlines in the gadgetry sections of newspapers and websites. And like anything even remotely approaching popularity these things are subject to imitation. You know, the highest form of flattery? Otherwise known as the quickest way to make a buck. Now, it’s hard to place an emphasis on originality. One could argue that Rock Band has taken the ball from Guitar Hero and run with it and with great success; they broke the redundant cycle established by the originators and brought something new to the field. But for every evolutionary step forward, there are countless other stubborn Neanderthals. I think the ethos of Guitar Rock Tour, the latest rhythm/instrument clone to appear on the iPhone, is summed up quite succinctly in their own marketing one-liner on iTunes: “Perform, without musical knowledge, the most popular worldwide hits on your iPhone.”


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