Filed under: Gaming

You already know the Xbox 360 is getting new community features, a revamped dashboard, Avatars, and of course Netflix video — all things we’ve been excited about since we saw them in action at E3 this year. There hasn’t been much to go on since then, but we recently came across some short videos exhibiting Parties (which let users socialize and make plans while engaging in separate games and activities) and Avatar customization options; hopefully they’ll hold you over until the features go live November 19th. We won’t be held responsible for the brain deterioration caused by the vacuous marketing-speak accompanying the moving images, however. “It is where you get to enjoy entertainment — that’s the vision.” Yes, it is.

New Xbox Experience videos let you vicariously play dress up originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Peripherals

It was just a month ago that Alpay Kasal of Lit Studios was impressing us with LaserGames, beaming all sorts of fun, interactive visuals on the wall. Now, with a few tweaks, he’s turned that projector around and made a two-way mirror into a sort of digital portal. “Interactive Mirror” uses the same basic mouse emulation as LaserGames — it seems to lack multi-touch but offers some interesting ideas, like showing how a custom T-shirt would look if you were wearing it. That’s potentially useful, but its primary function seems to be inducing childish wonderment in your friends. If the wide-eyed participants in the video below are any indication, it seems to do that quite well.

Continue reading Interactive Mirror dazzles onlookers, never lies

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Filed under: Peripherals

It was just a month ago that Alpay Kasal of Lit Studios was impressing us with LaserGames, beaming all sorts of fun, interactive visuals on the wall. Now, with a few tweaks, he’s turned that projector around and made a two-way mirror into a sort of digital portal. “Interactive Mirror” uses the same basic mouse emulation as LaserGames — it seems to lack multi-touch but offers some interesting ideas, like showing how a custom T-shirt would look if you were wearing it. That’s potentially useful, but its primary function seems to be inducing childish wonderment in your friends. If the wide-eyed participants in the video below are any indication, it seems to do that quite well.

Continue reading Interactive Mirror dazzles onlookers, never lies

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Filed under: Gaming

Continue reading Carcade lets you play your seedy neighborhood

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Filed under: Peripherals

LaserGames is a mod for projectors allowing up to two players to interact with a game using a run-of-the-mill (red or green) laser pointer in place of a mouse or controller, minus the precision response. Developer Alpay Kasal of Lit Studios isn’t giving any hints on how this thing works, but we imagine it uses sensor technology similar to interactive projections — you know, the ones where a video is projected on the ground and you get to kick around a soccer ball and then watch some tacky Nokia ad at the end. If you’re up for trying this out first hand, Kasal’s prototype will soon be on public display for some wild and crazy retina burning action — no word yet on when or where. Check out his video after the jump.

Continue reading LaserGames mouse emulator: more fun than blinding a 747 pilot

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Filed under: Gaming, Robots

Not that we haven’t seen robotic Guitar Hero masters before, but Cyth Systems’ egotistically named Cythbot is just a full cut above the rest. Boasting some of the most advanced, high-dollar equipment known to mankind (okay, so maybe that’s a stretch, but just barely), the creation uses a highly sophisticated viewing method to determine which notes to hit, and it can even decide whether slamming the whammy bar is a good idea or not. Too bad you’ll be entirely too distracted by the introverted hosts to even notice how awesome this thing is, but the video’s in the read link if you care to try.

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Filed under: Gaming

Putting it simply, Lucid’s goal with its HYDRA technology is to “build a completely GPU-independent graphics scaling technology” which enables two completely different cards to work together in harmony with “little to no software overhead.” Let that sink in a minute. Now that a puzzled look has surely overtaken your face, we’d strongly recommend hitting the read link for a (very) detailed look at the technology, an explanation of how it works and even a few hard hitting questions addressed to the company. We’re trying to stifle our excitement here, but are hopes are escalating quickly.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Gaming

Or you could say it enables you to keep your fundament firmly planted for, oh, ever. Yes friends, LapWorks’ Gamers Desk essentially eliminates the need to get up and move over to the family PC where a mouse / keyboard combo can guide you to victory in yet another deathmatch. This lapboard (no, not that Lapboard) keeps a keyboard and mouse within reach of couch-based gamers, enabling them to fire up WoW on their HTPC and still maintain the edge afforded to them by using the aforementioned KB / critter tandem. The unit itself measures 11-inches wide by 26.75-inches across, is made from ABS plastic and includes non-skid rubber pads on the underside to keep it from slipping around in that pile of Doritos. It’s available now in gun-metal gray for $39.95, but a few more hues should be ready to roll later this year for those patient enough to wait around.

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Filed under: Displays, Gaming

When PureDepth said its Multi-Layer Display technology would be “shipping soon,” it meant “really soon.” Nary two months after the company made said assertion, we’re now hearing that IGT (a global computerized game machine company) has secured the aforesaid technology for a number of slot machines and other casino-bound systems. The REELdepth family of games, which includes around 70 of IGT’s classics as well as a few new AVP (Advanced Video Platform) themes, should be luring vacationers and gamblers alike in the not-too-distant future, but sadly, we’re not given a clue as to what casinos will be adopting said machines.

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Filed under: Gaming, Podcasts

Not like Team Xtender hasn’t been offering something similar to this for well over a year now, but hey, nothing wrong with a bit of delayed competition. XCM has just made clear that it will soon be selling the 1080p Mega-Cool VGA box, which takes any component input and shoots it back out via VGA. The box supports PC resolutions up to UXGA (1,600 x 1,200 at 75Hz) or HDTV (up to 1,920 x 1,080). Plug-and-play, NTSC / PAL support and USB power are all included — you just provide the ins and outs. Mum’s the current word on pricing / availability, but we’re hearing that e-tailer Total Console will be offering it soon.

[Via IGN]

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Filed under: Gaming, Household

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Filed under: Ask Engadget, Peripherals

Okay, so we already went way-too-vague on you when asking which mouse ruled them all, but we’re hoping to narrow things up for you gamers out there with this one:

“I spend a fair amount of time on my PC playing a variety of games. First-person shooters, RPGs, a little of everything. I’ve heard lots of people recommend a certain mouse as a great overall device, but I’m looking for one that caters to gamers. Which mousing device on the market today gives gamers an edge and comes with features that we actually care about?”

If you’re reading this now, chances are you’ve managed to log off long enough to help this guy out. Then again, if you’re vying for top spot in those online death-matches, maybe you don’t really want to give away your secret after all. Care to have your question plastered on the site? We’d typically recommend faxing your questions over, but IT just hooked us up with this fancy ask at engadget dawt com email address that you can try instead.

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Filed under: Peripherals

Considering that you’ve already spent way too much on that totally over-hyped Killer NIC, why not humor yourself further by snagging a sound card with Johnathan Wendel’s prints on it. Proving once again that everyone does indeed have a price, famed gamer Fatal1ty has placed his highly respected seal of approval on a new duo of sound cards from Creative. The PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series devices boast the X-Fi enhancements you’ve come to expect, vivid new designs, unmistakable packaging and the assurance that the latter is the “official sound card of the CGS.” As for pricing, the Pro edition is available to pre-order for $149.99, while the CGS model adds in an internal I/O drive and demands $199.99. Hit the read link for more detailed specifications and way too much gloating.

[Via CustomPC]

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Filed under: Displays, Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

While we’ve already seen one particular Engadget HD reader reach out for assistance with finding a niche HDTV, this particular question just screams mainstream. Today’s gamer is likely looking for a set that’s multifaceted, and Sir Matthew here is no different:

“I’m considering purchasing a 1080p HDTV in the 40- to 50-inch range for use with console gaming and possibly as a PC monitor. I’ve got about $2,500 to spend, but would prefer to keep it well under that if possible. I’m partial to LCD HDTVs, and whatever set I get must have a couple of HDMI ports and VGA / PC audio inputs.”

Picking a TV that plays nice with PC resolutions (or PowerStrip) is crucial, so we’ll go ahead and assume this fellow thinks overscan is simply unacceptable. If this here question reminded you of your own quandary, send over an email to ask at engadget dawt com with your inquiry enclosed — if the robotic overlords manning our email systems deem it worthy, it’ll show up in this space in due time.

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

We’re beginning to lose count of how many times we’ve been around this carousel, but just in case you thought yet another rumor would bring the Blu-ray-infused Xbox 360 any closer to reality, Microsoft’s out to put the kibosh on your wildest hopes and dreams. Following up on the latest round of whispers that surfaced last Friday, Redmond proclaimed to GamePro: “As we have stated, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360.” The statement also noted that “games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.” Right — which totally explains your prior relationship with HD DVD.

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Filed under: Desktops

Vigor, a PC-maker not known for its subtlety or underpowered systems, has just launched two new desktop powerhouses destined to shake you to your very core. The Force Recon SP and Force Recon BT will undoubtedly leave you in existence-questioning bafflement as you experience the sheer neck-breaking speed of their CPUs and accompanying graphics chipsets. The former tears enemies asunder with AMD’s Phenom quad-core processors coupled with dual ATI Radeon HD3870 graphics — capable of driving XHD displays at 2560 x 1600. The latter sports Intel’s quad-core mind-destroyer, the QX9650 Core 2 Extreme (which trots along at 3.0GHz), utilizes the new SSE4 instructions, and supports a slew of options which blend into what Vigor refers to as the “juiced” configuration. Both models are available now, with the SP starting at $2,319, and the BT clocking in at $2,869 — though both of those numbers can escalate quickly.

[Via Yahoo!]

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Filed under: Gaming

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_applies_for_trademark_protection_on_gaming_devices’; We’re not gonna read too much into this just yet, but when everyone’s favorite fruit-flavored consumer electronics company files to protect its trademark as it relates to a wide range of gaming devices, well, we feel you’d want to know. The USPTO sleuths over at Trademork just gave us the heads up on this recently-filed application from Cupertino, which requests protection of the word “APPLE” for products that classify as “toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games.” And come to think of it, we did see Apple file for a videogame-related patent not too long ago, so who knows: perhaps the iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV will soon have even more friends among the company’s ever-expanding non-PC ecosystem. Then again, we’ve heard this rumor in one form or another countless times before, and right now pining for a resurrected Gizmondo is already giving us enough headaches.

[Via Trademork]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

The delayed, revamped N-Gage client still isn’t ready for prime time, but the First Access preview service — which is just a little bit more functional than the preview shipping on some Nseries devices already — has finally launched. The service introduces a full suite of social gaming tools (though with compatibility officially limited to N81s for the moment, that’s a very small social circle indeed) and lets users download several game demos; Nokia promises that the service will evolve and expand as it ramps up for a full-scale release, so don’t get too down on the lack of content and community just yet. Oh, and just a word of warning, downloaders: your data will get reset prior to the full-scale launch, so don’t get too attached to your high scores, k?

[Via All About Symbian]

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Filed under: Gaming

Proving that children and the elderly are not the only groups seeing benefits from Nintendo’s Wii, a study on a small group of surgeons who had practiced gaming with a modified controller showed them to achieve significantly more improvement on a standard simulator procedure than did a corresponding group of control subjects. Study author Kanav Kahol worked with Dr. Marshall Smith of the Banner Health hospital chain to build a special Wiimote attachment (read: broken golf club add on + laparoscopic probe) that eight surgical residents used to play Marble Mania and the full suite of Wii Play games. The gamers were then pitted against eight of their less-fortunate colleagues in a computer-simulated laparoscopic procedure, and managed to attain 48% higher scores, on average, than the non-gamers. Unfortunately, games involving broader motions such as tennis or boxing are said to be less suitable for this sort of training, make a total liar out of your doctor the next time you catch him “honing up on the latest techniques” by playing Wii Golf.

[Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal]

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gaming_news/Rock_Band_Stage_Kit_with_lights_smoke_leaked_by_GameStop’; As if playing Rock Band wasn’t one of the greatest group gaming experiences to come along in years, it appears that a new accessory is set to amp up the fun even more by bringing an “interactive light and smoke stage show” to your already thrashing performances. Apparently you can already pre-order this so-called Rock Band Stage Kit from GameStop for 100 bucks, although they’ve since pulled the box image from the product page, so you’ll have to rely on the screencap above to see what you’re paying all that money for. Ships on June 23rd, according to the retailer’s site, giving us plenty of time to install a proper stage and stadium seating in our game room.

[Via Technabob]

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