All Entries Tagged With: "gaming"
THQ’s uDraw GameTablet Brings Stylus Controls To The Wii
Tablet controls for the Wii make perfect sense. Remember Mario Paint? That thing, along with titles in a similar vein, could be a huge hit with the console’s younger demographic of users. We’re guessing that’s what THQ had in mind when they decided to create the Udraw GameTablet, a Wacom-style tablet and pen controller for the Wii.
The peripheral consists of two components: a 9 x 7 inch handheld tablet and a stylus pen. A dock on the left hand side of the tablet lets you insert a Wiimote, which provides the power and wireless interface, so you can use it untethered. Writing and scribbling can be done on a marked 4 x 6 inch area of the tablet, which should be big enough for most casual, game-related doodling.
THQ claims the pressure-sensitive pen offers finer control than a Wiimote. Wisely, they attached the stylus to the GameTablet with a cable, making [...]
Astro Scout, A Specialty Backpack For Console Gamers
Any moderately-sized rucksack can carry a gaming console. Throw in the plethora of accessories that come with modern gaming systems, however, and things begin to get crowded really fast. If your home console regularly makes its way to other homes, a dedicated gaming backpack like the Astro Scout is probably in order.
Built for “gamers on the move,” the bag boasts a gear-specific design. That means all inner compartments have been intentionally outfitted to carry an Xbox 360 or a PS3, along with controllers, cables, sunglasses, handhelds, headphones and other accessories, in the most optimal manner.
The Astro Scout contains over 2,200 cubic inches of space, which translates to plenty of stuff you can haul around conveniently. Thick padding guarantees your gear’s safety, while the lycra-bonded padded backing, two-layer nylon shoulder straps (with 3D mesh) and chest strap sees to it you can carry the bag in comfort. Organized compartments allow you [...]
Frevola T7A Treadmill Turns Your Workout Into Games
Can’t find the motivation to go on the treadmill? Most people I know don’t bother with motivation – they just pop on some tunes or watch TV to distract themselves from the hard work required. The Frevola T7A adds a new dimension to treadmill workout, slipping in a built-in computer so you can play a variety of exercise-based games.
What kind of games, exactly? How about an onscreen avatar that runs as you do, competing with other AI runners that you can challenge yourself against? It can plug into your LAN too, allowing you to run virtual marathons with other treadmill users, both on the network and online. According to the specs sheet, there’s also a motivation game, team treadmill exercises and goal-clearing workouts.
The Frevola T7A is a high-end treadmill with a 4.5 horsepower motor and crowned steel rollers. It packs in all modern running machine functions, such as speed control, [...]
RACER Pairs Arcade Driving With A Real Toy Car And Race Track
Remember the futuristic racing video game, Wipeout? Me neither, but some German dudes apparently loved it enough to build their own version in real life. Well, kind of, since instead of anti-gravity racers, they used regular RC cars with front-mounted cameras, so you can play it in first person POV (you can just supply the needed imagination to feel like you’re hovering on the track). Called RACER, they’re officially billing it as an “interactive video game installation” based on the Wipeout series of games.
Malte Jehmlich and his comrades are behind the creation, which includes a full race track made from cardboard, a modified arcade racing cabinet and a remote control vehicle. Basically, the RC car runs around on the tracks, while the driver controls it from the cabinet. Because of the camera feeding real-time first-person footage, the driver gets to feel like they’re really driving aboard a speeding racer, while [...]
New Saitek Accessories Bring Even More Realism To Flight Simulation
Flight sims are an acquired taste. Problem is, once you’ve acquired the taste, the innocent hobby can turn into a quest to turn your computer into an authentic pilot cabin. Not long after getting hooked, it’s not uncommon to regular find yourself piling on the peripherals, like these three new Pro Flight accessories from Saitek.
Ready to find a home in your collection of controllers, information panels and switches, the set brings a level of realism that is squarely targeted at the deep end of flight sim fans. Casual dabblers who are fine with flying planes using arrow keys probably won’t care for them, but those who care about simulating the actual pilot experience are the target demographic here.
The three new Windows-friendly Saitek Pro Flight components consist of:
Combat Rudder Pedal ($200, pictured above). Modeled after modern fighter aircrafts , specifically the F16 and the F35, it boasts programmable combat pedals [...]
PS3 Assault Rifle Controller Wants To Make Your FPS More Realistic
What could be better than dressing in full solider regalia while playing Modern Warfare 2? Donning the same threads while shooting online enemies with a weapon that looks like it came right off the pages of Guns & Ammo, of course. That’s exactly what you’ll get with the PS3 Assault Rifle Controller, a realistic-looking killing peripheral for Sony’s current-gen console.
Released by CTA Digital, the gun brings more than just life-like styling. Armed with an internal speaker, it delivers real gun-like shooting sounds all on its own, making headshots feel more impactful and mindless unloading of ammo even more exciting.
The PS3 Assault Rifle offers different modes for the trigger – single shot, three shot burst and fully automatic, each of them coming with their corresponding audio effects. Every button on a standard DualShock wireless controller is recreated, complete with clickable analog sticks for in-game movement, strafing and steadying your weapon. It [...]
iBuyPower’s MAGIC Brings Multi-Touch Gaming To PC Users
Got so used to playing on your iPad that you just can’t return to the old mouse-and-keyboard when you get on a regular computer? Bring the same multi-touch controls to the PC with MAGIC (Multi-touch Advanced Gaming Interface and Control), a new software that lets you tap, pan and slide your way into any practically any game running under Windows 7.
Created by PC builders iBuyPower, the software lets you map keystrokes and mouse clicks to multi-touch gestures, allowing you to control Starcraft II, Warhammer 40,000 and C&C 4 with your fingers. We’re not sure how well games meant for mouse and keys will translate to touch controls, but it sure sounds fun to try.
Despite the wizardly name, MAGIC won’t magically turn any PC into a pseudo-tablet computer. While something like this should theoretically work with any Windows 7 (which has decent multi-touch capabilities, by the way) PC paired with a [...]
HKS Racing Controller Updates The PS3 Controller With Vehicle-Friendly Replacements
If you’ve always thought racing games deserved a better peripheral but couldn’t care a lick for a steering wheel and pedal set, you might want to try your hand at the HKS Racing Controller for the PS3, an alternative controller with a layout that’s better suited for racing titles.
Created by Eagle3, it comes in a shiny red and black finish, complete with racing style decals. More importantly, though, it gets rid of the traditional PS3 buttons, in favor of a more racing-friendly control system designed to execute real-world driving techniques in a quicker and more precise fashion.
The HKS Racing Controller retains the familiar PS3 controller’s form factor, so it requires little adjustment in the way it’s held. They added a small display in the center that shows an exact numerical value for how hard you’re accelerating or braking, along with a visual graph for the steering. All direction buttons have [...]
Experience Virtual Reality Inside A Hamster Ball With Virtusphere
Just when you thought 3D took over virtual reality, somebody comes up with an excellent platform for the old buzzword. The Virtusphere is a VR platform that combines sensors, a head-mounted display, controllers and a giant hamster ball to bring military-level cyber-recreations for mass consumption.
The giant hamster ball, by the way, happens to be the 10-foot sphere that acts as the primary playing field. Unlike previous virtual reality setups that hinder movement, the rotating stage literally gives you infinite space to operate – just like a hamster inside a ball. You can walk, run, jump, crawl and swing your limbs to your heart’s content, all without tripping on wires or falling off a ledge.
How? The Virtusphere ball, which is built out of the same durable plastic as Legos, is set atop a platform fitted with 45 caster-mounted wheels. It will turn in any direction with the user’s steps, making the [...]
GAEMS Suitcase Lets Anyone Turn Their Xbox 360 Into A Portable Gaming Rig
I admit. I haven’t heard any of my friends throw the words “LAN Party” around for almost a decade now. But the GAEMS Suitcase, a travelling bag designed to both hold your Xbox 360 and let you play with it, might revive the term into common parlance.
Created by Dean Mercier, the gaming console carry-all is designed to make playing with your Xbox 360 a portable affair. Well, as portable as hauling a monitor and a CPU back in the heyday of the weekend LAN parties, anyway.
Designed for OPP (open, plug-in and play) operation, the GAEMS Suitcase comes with a built-in 15-inch, 720P LCD right on the LID, allowing you to open it and begin playing without having to find a TV to plug into. Speakers are also installed right into the thing, along with all necessary connectors. Simply strap your machine right on the other side, slip in all the [...]
Shiny Shooter: The Gold Edition SharpShot
Avid gamers would know that a remake of the N64 classic GoldenEye 007 is currently upcoming for the Wii. So you can play the game with every bit of flair James Bond brought to the reputation of the international spy, it’s only fitting to be shooting your graphically-rendered onscreen bad guys with this: the Gold Edition SharpShot.
Created by peripheral maker DreamGEAR, the shiny “pew pew” accessory is nothing more than a shiny, metallic-finished version of their standard Wii gun controller. For some reason, though, that full coat of gold paint over the body just elevates it to a level worthy of play for the world’s most famous fictional spy. Yes, that will be Jason Bourne.
The Gold Edition SharpShot, like the standard version, is a plastic gun accessory that’s compatible with all first-person shooters, rail shooters and target-shooting titles on the Wii. It features dual triggers for cheating faster rate of [...]
Power A Pro Elite: An Xbox 360 Controller For The PS3
Like it or not, most people I know do prefer the Xbox 360 controller to the PS3. Accessory maker Power A goes so far as to say it’s the “most natural traditional controller” for gaming. That, in fact, is why they created the Power A Pro Elite Wireless, a PS3 controller clad in that OTHER console’s design.
They aren’t kidding about the “just like an Xbox 360 controller” part. From the form factor to the button layout to the reverse analog configuration, they really did it up the same way Microsoft’s current-gen console does its primary peripheral.
Inside, the Pro Elite functions much like any well-meaning PS3 controller, complete with Sixaxis motion-sensing technology. Features include dual rumble motors, custom shoulder buttons and glowing action buttons, making for an even sweeter peripheral than your standard PS3 fare. Taking the Xbox 360 controller’s design further, they extended the palm area much longer for even [...]
Nintendo 3DS Unveiled At E3, Boasts Glasses-Free 3D Gaming
At the ongoing E3 Expo, Nintendo took the wraps off on their highly-anticipated follow-up to the DSi. Called the Nintendo 3DS, the new system brings glasses-free 3D experience to handheld consoles, together with a slew of changes that should make for truly immersive gaming.
While it looks similar to the DSi, the primary display is now a wide-panel 3.5-inch touchscreen. There aren’t much details about how it produces the 3D effects, but according to those who’ve tried the console at the show (yes, Nintendo had working prototypes with playable 3D demos), it seemed like a good – not great – implementation. Still, that’s pretty impressive, making me look forward to how well it can do with the full game versions.
Aside from the 3D-capable top screen, the Nintendo 3DS also has 3-inch bottom display like the rest of its predecessors, along with motion sensors, gyroscopic controls, and a 3D depth slider that [...]
I-WAY, A Virtual Racing Arcade Paradise
Watching a floor filled with arcade boxes is pretty amazing. Looking at one littered with high-end racing simulators is even more grand. Just take a look at the I-WAY, an exclusive virtual racing facility situated in Lyon, France.
Designed by Cyrille Druart, the building offers a veritable retreat beyond the video game simulations on tap. Inside, the three-level structure houses a fitness center, spa, bar, restaurant, shops, conference rooms, lounges and an office space.
I-WAY’s main attraction, of course, are the racing rigs. Equipped with a total of 18 driving simulators with six-axis movements and real vehicle bodies, it divides the playing area into three zones. Formula 1 features six F1 cars with simulated 850bhp/19,000rpm engines, Endurance zone gets six virtual Pescarolo cars and Rally/Touring lets you wax crazy on six Citroen S2 1600. We’re not sure what consoles or computers they’re using for the likely proprietary games, but it’s meant to [...]
Microsoft Shows Off Xbox 360 Slim And Kinect
Who says only Sony’s consoles get to lose weight? Yesterday, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 Slim, a sized-down version of the company’s current-gen gaming machine. Despite the obvious drop in size, the device steps it up in the hardware department, packing everything it needs to keep the five-year old console up-to-date.
Clad in an all-black frame, the Slim is certainly sleeker than its RRODing predecessor, packing angular looks that should fit well with modern home entertainment systems. Of course, it could have used a Blu-Ray drive to really play centerpiece in that setting, but we all knew that wasn’t meant to be, didn’t we?
New features on the Xbox 360 Slim include an internal but swappable 250GB hard drive, built-in WiFi b/g/n (for connecting wirelessly to your home network), touch-sensitive power button (similar to the PS3 Slim), a custom Kinect port, five USB slots, a lighter power supply and a composite AV [...]
Rock Band 3 To Support Almost-Real Instruments
Rhythm games are on the decline. And when something is broken, you change it. Guitar Hero’s new customizable guitars is one way to do that. More revolutionary, however, may be Rock Band 3’s Pro Mode, which lets you drop the button-mashing in exchange for playing almost-real instruments.
In the game, players get to wax on songs note-for-note, using new sets of controllers that are more life-like than your standard five-button slab of plastic. Three Pro Modes support the updated instruments, namely:
Pro Drums. It will support an upgraded Rock Band 3 drum kit that includes a double-bass pedal and three new cymbal attachments. The game will also differentiate between toms and cymbals for more accurate play.
Pro Guitar. This mode will support both the Mad Catz Fender Mustang Pro, which has six nylon-coated strings and 17 frets, and the Fender/Harmonix Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster, a functional electric guitar that can plug [...]
