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.’

Sony’s first full-on foray into motion
control (the Sixaxis has yet to be fully realized, in my opinion) takes its cue
from Hollywood-methodology, using a PlayStation Eye camera to track the glowing
orbs and translate that information into full three-dimensional movements.

Sony, unlike Microsoft, was capable of
showing off a multi-application live demo of the new controller in action. The
second thing that struck me watching a Sony minion wave about the glowing wands
was the surprising accuracy with which his actions were translated on screen. [The first was realizing how ridiculous he looked but Sony assures us this is just a prototype model and that things will look a bit different come retail).

One demo had the Sony employee using a single ‘stick’ as a tennis racquet to hit a bouncing
tennis ball. In this particular instance they’d configured the display to show
the demonstrator on screen in real-time but instead of a fancy wand he was holding an
animated tennis racquet. An interesting visual trick illusion. Even more
intriguing though was the exactitude of his movements on screen. Full on,
seamless 1-to-1 representation, with reportedly “sub-millimetre accuracy.” And
as if to squash any doubt that such actions were indeed sub-millimeter the demo
team proceeded to write legibly in cursive on an on-screen piece of paper by holding the stick as though it
was pen.

This level of accuracy was further emphasized as
the demonstrator proceeded to don a virtual sword and shield. In this instance
his body was represented by a polygonal counterpart on screen, one whose limbs
would move in-sync with the demonstrator. He then attacked an approaching
skeleton, aiming for the head or shoulder or leg, striking each body part accurately. This
conjunction act with the two controllers reached maximum ‘coolness’ when the
demonstrator switched to a bow and arrow combo, drawing one arm/stick back as
though pulling back an arrow. Arrows were fired. Ogres were killed. Fun was had by all.

All accurate. All real-time. And all
working as claimed. But was it enough?

Natal set the bar pretty high, promising full-body
motion capture without controllers. The PS3 Motion Controller demo team claimed
that they’d learned from their past experiences with the PlayStation Eye that controllers and buttons were ultimately a necessity. But that’s a hard
sell when you’re waving around two glow sticks. Microsoft had Steven Spielberg
come out and extol Natal’s ‘shedding of the controller.’ For him the controller was a
barrier for reaching the widest possible audience. Sony seems to be saying, ‘Yea,
but they’re still gaming consoles. You still need buttons.’ Perhaps they forget
that Natal is a supplement, not a replacement, for the Xbox controller.

Eitherway, Microsoft still offers more potential.
Should their promises come true, home entertainment may never be the same (I
mean, come on, face and voice recognition, gesture controlled menus?! Consoles
will finally be smarter than cats!) But judging technology on potential alone uses a
very skewed measuring stick. Sony has proven that their concept works and
though not as ambitious, it’s accurate, effective, and intuitive. Too bad it
wont see the light of day until Spring 2010.

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.

A bold claim, n’est pas? Well, I can assure
you that it’s a tamed down version from what Lionhead Studios Peter Molyneux and Steven
Spielberg (yes, that Spielberg) had to say on stage. If you didn’t watch the
event, here’s a breakdown. But be sure to check out the trailers linked in this article as this thing almost needs to be seen to be believed:

• The peripheral is being called by its
  codename ‘Natal’ (reportedly after a Brazilian city by one of the staffers working
  on the project. And while it was partly selected to reflect the ‘birthing’
  motif, Microsoft wants you to say it like ‘Natal’ in ‘Natalie’
  as opposed to ‘pre-natal’)

• The camera is capable of tracking full
  body movements in 3-D in realtime without any additional hardware (so you can
  forget about finally using that motion-capture suit you bought at that garage
  sale). From small movements such as wrists flicks to navigate menus, to head
  nodding and kicking to play sports game, the Natal is capable of
  some pretty impressive feats

• Natal can detect
  multiple people at once. This means full motion interaction between, say two
  players in a head-to-head game or a nuclear family playing a game show (in the
  demo said gameshow was Buzz and each family member would buzz in by slamming
  their fists in a downward motion)

• The peripheral also sports facial and
  voice recognition. One application of this is to have your Xbox turn on when
  the camera sees you in the room. The system will also use voice recognition to
  differentiate between players. But as Peter Molyneux would later show, Natal can do so much more
  

• It will work with all Xbox 360s (old and new)
  

• Neither a price or release date was announced

A couple of examples:

-During the event there was a live
demonstration of a woman on-stage playing a full-body version of Breakout.
Basically she would swing her arm in the direction of a ball hovering
on-screen. Natal would immediately represent that movement and knock the ball into
action. It would then fly down a corridor and destroy some blocks before
bouncing back at her. She’d strike the ball once again, with the game apparently picking
up on the momentum of her swing and representing that in the increased speed of
the ball. The woman used all her limbs, heading the ball, using her thighs, even
kick-serving a starter ball that was about chest high

-Another example, viewable in this trailer, shows a girl with her hands held as though they were wrapped around a steering
wheel. She’d turn them and on-screen the race car would turn. She then pulled
into a pit-stop at which point her father stepped forward and proceeded to replace a
tire, unscrewing the bolts and leaning over to pick up the on-screen
replacement tire.

And if that wasn’t enough, Peter Molyneux
came out and showed off a tech demo of an interactive app his Lionhead Stuidos has
been working on. In short, it was a fully animated child named Milo who was capable of
recognizing facial expressions (and therefore, apparently, emotions), as well
as recalling voices. In the demo was a Lionhead employee interacting with Milo and carrying on a dialogue. When Milo asked her to draw him a picture,
she did so and then ‘handed’ it over the camera. The boy reached up and
‘received’ the picture and proceeded to comment on the colour and shape of the
fish she had drawn (!)

Needless to say, this was one hell of a
potent presser. And while it’s best to reserve judgement on these things until
we get a hands on, it’s hard not to get excited, especially when they offered up a live,
working demo. The potential here is immense. And for the first time in its in decades
we’re seeing Microsoft take the lead (even though that lead comes from buying
out a potential rival). Now it’s up to the developers to make the most of it.
We’ll keep you posted as certain press personalities have been selected for a
closed door meeting with Milo later on this week.

The scuttlebutt on the web stems from
images picked up by a technology website showing a Xbox 360 hooked up to what
appears to be a sensor-bar peripheral sitting below a television. On screen is
a familiar sight to those calibrating motion or stylus controllers; five
points, on in each corner and one in the center imposed on a back screen.
Admittedly, it’s not much to go on. But it’s not the photo that has everyone
talking, it’s accompanying description that proclaims the device is capable of
full 3D motion capturing, enabling gamers to control on-screen actions via real
life gestures, sans controller.

In order to contextualize this rumour we
must first go back to CES 2008 where a company by the name of 3DV demoed some
very interesting proprietary technology. On display at the relatively small
company’s booth was the ZCam [pictued above]; a web-cam like device capable detecting movement
and interactive gestures in 3D space. Like a camera with depth perception, this
device, paired with software, was able to interpret the movement of a player,
from thrown punches to pinching gestures. Those that attended the demo report
that the demoed ‘boxing match’ worked exceedingly well, to the degree that it
may just have turned some very big heads.

In February of 2009 Reuters began reporting
that Microsoft was in talks to purchase 3DV.

Back to the present. Some Microsoft big
wigs are talking tall about this summer’s E3. Senior vice president for the
Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Don Mattrick recently said “Microsoft
is gearing up for a big presence at E3 which will completely transform how
people think about home entertainment,” while another executive believed they’d
be presenting something “gaming changing” come June’s expo.

So, Microsoft, having recently purchased a
technology that was exceedingly intuitive and fully functional over a year and
a half ago believes they’re going to blow the doors off E3? Interesting. Then
rumours surface detailing a Microsoft technology that fits the exact
description of the ZCam? Regardless of what
Microsoft unveils at E3, it’d best be good, because the thanks to the rumour
mill and some ramped up PR, the (sensor) bar has been set high.

Source

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.

From this point it’s simply a matter of streaming controller
input over the network and streaming back the video and audio components. In
other words, cloud gaming.

The service will support up to 720p resolution and 60 frames
per second. Unlike the majority of PCs out there, OnLive’s gaming rigs will
support high-end titles, like Crysis.

At this point you may be saying to yourself ‘This sounds too
good to be true’ and quite frankly, the majority of industry critics would
agree. However, along with the announcement of the service at GDC, Rearden
Studios is providing live demos of 16 games streaming over the service and as a
result skepticism is down. Bolstering the service’s image is the impressive
list of well respected publishers OnLive has managed to recruit, including Atari,
Codemasters, EA, Epic Games, Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros., among others.

Perhaps the most important detail of the service was left unspoken
at GDC: the price. The subscription-based services are said to be on par with
that of Xbox Live (though why PC gamers would essentially consent to spending
$10 a month for something they already enjoy for free is beyond me). Games
themselves will be available for purchase or rent and all titles are supposedly
open for demoing. However the exact pricing is to be left to the developer and
games, once purchased, are not open to transference. So no game swapping once
you’ve beat a title.

OnLive is certainly an interesting project and
the upcoming closed beta testing will determine how successful its launch will
be later this year. Developers would certainly appreciate a model that deters
piracy but consumers may not necessarily consent to forgoing a purchased hardcopy
unless financially enticed to do so.

Source

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’s something so relaxing about finding
the best method to wrap up a flock of seagulls in string that it really defies
description. On the one hand it feels like a game you might have played with
your toys as a kid but on the other hand it’s really only possible on a device
like the iPhone. Zen Bound takes the touch-screen controls and actually gives
the impression of a real object being manipulated. There’s no time limit and
while percent-completion is tracked, the game doesn’t push you for highscores.
With its melodic, almost sublime soundtrack, it has the appeal of a relaxation
technique that you can take up any time.

And the presentation is through the roof.
While wooden objects are hardly pushing the graphical capabilities of the
iPhone, the ‘string physics’ are surprisingly accurate and the intricacies of
some of the animals and objects are superb. The game divides itself into two
categories, one a series of wooden toy-like animals and the other more complex,
contorted shapes to really push your skills. Each category has its own tree.
Completing a predetermined percentages will result in either one, two, or three
flowers blossoming on the particular branch where the ‘tag’ for an object hangs.
Complete branches to move up the tree. You can scroll up and down the tree by
dragging your finger and the animal/object tags hanging from branches will sway
with the momentum. The level of polish here has Zen Bound positively shinning.

While you might have scoffed at the notion
of putting an iPhone game in the same category as Goldeneye, in my opinion it’s
fully warranted for no other reason than both games maximized the returns from
the respective mediums. Zen Bound presents a mechanic practically unreplicable on
any other system. It’s quite possibly the first iPhone game that can only exist
on the iPhone and that provides an almost hobby-like experience that can be
thoroughly satisfying, especially considering the $5 price tag.

Check out the Zen Bound website for a video of
the game in action.

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.

The actual quality of the light emitted from OLED displays is also of a higher quality than LEDs since the pixels are able to directly emit light, again without a backlight. This also allows a greater range of screen vision, even up to a 90 degree angle. If you’ve ever struggled to get a good view on your LED television screen, you know what a benefit this is. In addition to the vibrancy of color and quality of light, OLED screen can also portray “true black” by turning off individual pixels, not only giving a better picture quality but saving energy. To top it all off, OLED screens have a much faster response time, being .01ms as opposed to the 2ms time of LCDs, giving you not only better picture, but better accuracy. 

But OLEDs do have a downside. Because they are composed of “organic materials” these screen have a very limited lifetime, averaging only about 14,000 hours (around five years of use) while LCD screen average about 60,000 hours- over four times as long. But there are innovations in this area, with the development of a metal membrane which helps deliver light to the screen more effectively, using half the energy and doubling the screen’s expected life. 

Is OLED the future? It seems so considering the benefits of such a screen. Already labeled one of the hottest gadgets of 2009 by a number of online articles and journals, the OLED screen is sure to be a big improvement in computer and television technology. 

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.

When you first see the MECO it appears as nothing more than a coffee table or television stand and that’s just want its meant to do. Instead of showing off all the boxes and wires, your entire system is discretely hidden in plain sight. Isn’t that what the future of home furnishing was supposed to hold? 

MediaCore is not the only one on this forefront though. There is a very evident trend along the lines of hiding electronics including intelligent chairs, desks, and tabletops with iPod ports (arguably the most popular hidden electronic feature) as well as WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities. But my favorite by far is the Amadeus Sound System wing-backed chair with built-in speakers, iPod and CD connectivity, and woolen cashmere cushions. The look of this piece is classic, while the functionality is all new.

The more the world heads towards a paper-less, electronic filled society, the more these “intelligent furniture” pieces tend to creep up, proving easier and more convent use of the gadgets we use every day. 

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 5×5 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.

First off, the level of customization is impressive given the basic premise of the game is to just find words randomly composed on screen. Wurdle offers 5 different grid sizes (4×4 through 8×8), 12 different tile sets (one of which actually allows you to use any image stored on your iPhone, in which case all tiles become transparent and are set against that background image), 5 different time limits (1min, 2min, 3min, 5min, and unlimited), two different dictionaries (each an official word list for Scrabble tournaments that are divided based on your region), and lastly the choice of minimum word length (3-5). Truly, this is a veritable laundry list of most-wanted features one might find listed in some forum and yet Wurdle has them all, fully functional right from the outset.

What’s more, Wurdle knows you love stats. So it tracks your high-scores, grouping them based on grid-size and time limits, so as not to conflate scores. High-scores can even be uploaded online to compare with others. Wurdle also tracks your longest words in an ongoing ‘top 5’ list. What was the longest word in that last puzzle? Just tap ‘Word List’ at the end of the round and Wurdle calculates all possible words. 

Compare this with the officially licensed Scrabble for the iPhone. One need only peruse the user reviews to see there’s a lack of dictionaries (American-only so far, and why Wurdle has a better grasp on the Scrabble dictionaries then Scrabble themselves is beyond me). Add to that the inability to save and a sheer lack of customization, and Wurdle begins to look far more polished and professional, especially given the fact that Scrabble was developed by gaming monolith Electronic Arts.

Obviously, Scrabble is a more complex title than the Boggle-inspired Wurdle, but it isn’t so much about the game mechanics themselves but the adaptation to the medium that makes a puzzle app worth the digital upgrade. And in that respect, Wurdle is surely undervalued at just $1.99.

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).

Perhaps that makes it easier for Microsoft
to slash prices as slash they have, and repeatedly. And that’s the second
aspect of the PS3’s market-share scuttling: price. Sony has unremittingly kept
cost of the owning a PS3 fixed. They haven’t been prone to capitalizing on
seasons, such as a holiday price drop. But we’ve seen time and again, that gamers
could care less about a console’s cost so long as there are enough must-own
titles to back it up. And therein lies the third fracture point on the ship’s
hull (okay, I’ll stop with the nautical metaphors). Silicone Alley Insider cites
the dearth of high-quality system exclusives as another reason the PS3 is
failing.

Things are a little more optimistic over at
PC Mag where they note the recent upswing in Blu-ray rentals as consumers begin
updating their celluloid libraries. And for some, it’ll only take one title to
make the PS3 a must own (MGS4 anyone? Or perhaps LBP?).

Regardless, a PS3 price drop isn’t only overdue,
it might just be crucial to the longevity of the system.

Source

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.”

The game features smooth, entertaining
graphics and has a spiffy interface, not to mention several features lifted
from its popular big brothers on the consoles. And rather than simulate one
instrument, Guitar Rock Tour features both a guitar and drums. Remember, no
musical knowledge is needed, so if you can’t distinguish one from the other,
all is forgiven. The drums actually just feature two less columns for notes,
simulating the binary nature of the instrument…uh wha?

So, decent graphics, multiple instruments,
$10 price tag. What’s not to like? Well, for starters, the set list is weak
sauce due to its helter skelter approach to genres (note, Helter Skelter is not
among them). The tracks range from classics like ‘Smoke on the Water’ to everyday pop in ‘Girlfriend’, all in cover form. But what’s really at the heart of my distaste for this title is
that Guitar Rock Tour is just a costumed Neanderthal; a stubborn, redundant bit of software that’s actually
an evolutionary step backwards than most side-stepping that goes on in the
industry. Publisher GameLoft is actually marketing a game for people that have
a product virtually dedicated to music with the tag line that it’s for those “without
musical knowledge”!? The iPhone houses music people! It’s not some console that
needs to read tracks off a disc; it already contains the consumer’s favourite
tunes. Even if
someone enjoyed every track in the game, they’d already own the original
version (on that same device no less), and should be dissatisfied with some hackneyed
cover!

But hey, it’s not all GameLoft’s fault; it’s a systemic problem with the iPhone and access to the music library. However, back in the jailbreaking days there was a little app called Tap Tap Revolution which relied on WiFi to get the necessary tap-files. Assuming your library contained even remotely known songs, you’d likely find a match. That meant your entire music library was open to gaming. My god, you could actually listen to the exact song you felt like at that moment, and game to it at the same time. Now that’s evolutionary!

Guitar Rock Tour DOES NOT work on the iPod Touch
at this time.