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Sony unveils new motion-controlled gaming system (Reuters)

Yahoo Video Games News - 1 hour 4 min ago
Reuters - Sony Corp has unveiled its new motion-controlled video game system, pitching it to both casual and hard-core gamers alike, as the company looks to ride one of the hottest trends in gaming.
Categories: News

PlayStation Move first hands-on (update: video!)

Engadget - 1 hour 21 min ago
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/PlayStation_Move_first_hands_on'; At last, we've felt Sony's long awaited motion controller, now at last officially known as "PlayStation Move," in our unworthy, sweaty hands. We have a bunch of videos on the way, but for now you can revel in our first close-ups of the controllers in the gallery below. Here are some of our initial thoughts:
  • The controllers are light. Much more akin to the DualShock3 than the Wiimote in heft, and we're guessing that's due to Sony's continued love of rechargeable batteries.
  • The main controller does have some subtle vibration (not DualShock or Wiimote level, but present), but we're not sure yet about the subcontroller.
  • We hate to say this about "pre-alpha" software, but we're feeling lag. An on-rails shooter we tried out, dubbed The Shoot, was discernibly inferior to shooting experiences we've had on the Wii, both in precision and refresh rate of the aiming cursor.
  • The gladiator game is about as fun as it looks, we'll have video after the break momentarily. Unfortunately, while it's less of a defined experience than something like the sword game on Wii Sports Resort, you're still working through a library of sensed, pre-defined actions instead of a true 1:1 fighting game with simulated physics. Not that it isn't possible with PlayStation Move, just that it's not this.
  • The lightness of the controllers means we might be feeling less of that Wiimote fatigue, always a good thing! There's an aspect of the controller that feels a little cheap, but at the same time we wouldn't call it fragile.
  • As far as we can tell, the control scheme for Socom 4 is quite similar to dual-controller shooter setups on the Wii, with the camera moving based on your aiming cursor hitting the edge. It's hard to see this as the preferred hardcore setup, but we're told it's configurable, so we'll try and see what else is on offer.
  • The system seemed to have a bit of trouble understanding the configuration of our body in a swordfighting stance: even though we selected "left handed," it was putting our sword arm forward instead of our shield. Right-handers didn't seem to have similar problems, and we're sure this will be ironed out in time, but it certainly shows that the controllers aren't magical in their space-detection prowess.
  • As would be expected, you're supposed to stand relatively center on the TV, and at a certain optimal distance. The system is forgiving, but there's a sweet spot that users will undoubtedly have to learn.
Update: We've got our first video up after the break. 23 seconds of unadulterated action! Not to be missed, folks.

Gallery: PlayStation Move first hands-on

Continue reading PlayStation Move first hands-on (update: video!)

PlayStation Move first hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

New Flip cams to launch in early April?

Engadget - 1 hour 31 min ago
The details are slim to none on this one, but we're all about a good pocket cam rumor. According to the usually-reliable Business Insider Cisco will launch a new set of Flip camcorders around the NAB show which runs from April 12-15, but we don't have any specs yet. Come on Cisco, now you've got us guessing not only about the future of the Internet, but also if your newest Flip will support 1080p. Told you we didn't know much, but we'll obviously be keeping an eye out for more.

New Flip cams to launch in early April? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

Classic Videogames Mutate in 'Game Over' Art Show

Wired Magazine - 1 hour 42 min ago
Street Fighter gets bendy. Ms. Pac-Man hops a tandem bike. And plenty of other classic characters get similarly strange treatments in Giant Robot's videogame-inspired exhibit.


Categories: News

PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game

Engadget - 2 hours 36 min ago
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/PlayStation_Move_motion_controller_launched_at_GDC'; No surprise here: Sony just officially announced the PlayStation Move motion controller at GDC 2010, calling it the "next generation of motion gaming" because it's so precise -- latency is about the same as the DualShock 3. As expected, it uses the PlayStation Eye camera to track the controller, and Sony says it becomes an "extension of your body." The plan is not only to engage casual gamers, but to use the precision of the controller to create "new experiences for core gamers" -- many of the demo videos we saw involved using a controller video in each hand, and there were quote a few demos of action / RPG games. We also saw a demo of Move Party, which uses the camera to do augmented reality gaming and video chat. The demos are pretty impressive -- Sony's not kidding when it says the Move is incredibly precise. There's also going to be a secondary "subcontroller" with an an analog stick for shooters -- you can play all the way through SOCOM4 with just the Move and the sub-controller. (Yes, it's just like the Wii Nunchuk, only wireless.)

You'll be able to get Move in three ways: in a bundle with a PS3, standalone, and in a starter kit targeted at "under $100" with the PS Eye, a controller, and a game. That's all the pricing info we have right now, but it certainly sounds aggressive -- Sony says they're treating this like a major console launch, so expect to see this everywhere when it launches around the holidays. Video after the break.

Check out our hands-on right here!

Gallery: PlayStation Move announcement


Continue reading PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game

PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

Live from Sony's 'PlayStation Move' motion controller event

Engadget - 2 hours 37 min ago
We just got underway at Sony's PlayStation Move motion controller event. Sure, they haven't called it "Move," just yet, but we just saw the "Move" moniker on a demo screen at the side of the stage, so we're feeling pretty confident at this point.

Continue reading Live from Sony's 'PlayStation Move' motion controller event

Live from Sony's 'PlayStation Move' motion controller event originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

MySpace upping ante in online social games (AFP)

Yahoo Video Games News - 2 hours 50 min ago

AFP - MySpace on Wednesday began courting videogame developers as it moved to capitalize on the booming popularity of playing games online at social networks.


Categories: News

Art dealer Edelman sued over loans (Reuters)

Yahoo TV News - 3 hours 1 min ago
Reuters - Asher Edelman, a former corporate raider who became an art dealer, has been sued by Emigrant Bank for more than $3.1 million after allegedly defaulting on some loans, including one to buy a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti.
Categories: News

Motorola i1 gets clearer: 5 megapixel cam, Opera Mini default browser?

Engadget - 3 hours 4 min ago
We've been slipped some additional information on Motorola's imminent Android-powered i1 for iDEN networks today -- actually, one correction and one interesting note. First, the correction: we're now being told (by the same tipster as before) that it's actually got a 5 megapixel camera on board, a nice upgrade from the 3 we'd previously been told to expect. More interestingly, though, we're also hearing that Opera Mini has been tapped as the i1's default browser -- a move that Moto is more than welcome to make since this is a Blur-powered, non-"Google Experience" device. It's also a possible admission that third-party Android browsers are currently outperforming Google's own, something Microsoft has long dealt with on Windows Mobile as companies like HTC ultimately ended up bundling Opera Mobile with virtually every model they sold. So, Sprint Direct Connect and Boost Mobile customers, you getting excited about this thing or what?

Motorola i1 gets clearer: 5 megapixel cam, Opera Mini default browser? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

Classmates.com's Facebook Mimicking Prompts Privacy Suit

Wired Magazine - 3 hours 12 min ago
Angry users sue Classmates.com after it decides to make previously private data public, just as Facebook did in December. Will its defense be, "I learned it from watching you, Zuck?"


Categories: News

JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback -- and changes color

Engadget - 3 hours 29 min ago
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/JooJoo_gets_a_sexy_new_interface_adds_features'; The JooJoo tablet's launch date might have been pushed back a month while Fusion Garage sorts out issues with the capacitive touchscreen, but it looks like the extra time has given the company a chance to tweak the interface and add in some features. Obviously the most noticable change is the revised homescreen, which has gone from line art on a garish solid color background to a nicely rendered icon grid over a high-res customizable wallpaper, but Fusion Garage has also ditched the confusing pinch-to-go-back gesture and replaced it a vertical swipe that brings down a status bar containing the home button, status indicators, browser navigation controls, and a combination address bar / search field. Scroll behavior has been revised as well, with two separate behaviors: a two-finger scroll that works like a scroll wheel, and a single finger "pan" that works like a mouse arrow. That's so you can move around sites like Google Maps, which have different interface elements mapped to each control -- CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan pointed out to us that devices like the iPhone avoid the issue by using dedicated apps, but Fusion Garage wants to deliver the "full web experience." It's an interesting solution and a clever spin on things, but we're waiting to try it out for real before we pass any judgment.

What else? The text-entry situation has been improved: there's now both a smaller keyboard designed for one-handed operation that can be moved around the screen so it doesn't obscure content, and a full-screen multitouch keyboard that does chording so it recognizes more than one key at a time. There's no auto-correction or prediction, though. Flash is now fully working, and YouTube videos can either be played back using Flash or the custom H.264 HD breakout player we've already seen; that player supports a range of codecs and can also be used to play videos stored on a USB thumb drive. And finally, and perhaps most oddly, the JooJoo has changed colors. Instead of black, the back casing is now a "champagne" color, a picture of which you can see below -- Chandra told us that unhappy preorder customers can just have their $499 refunded if they desperately wanted black instead. All we desperately want to do is get a review unit and tell you what the JooJoo is actually like to use -- if all of these promises hold up, it could be very intriguing indeed.

Gallery: JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback

Continue reading JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback -- and changes color

JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback -- and changes color originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

OnLive Remote Gaming Service Launches In June

Slashdot Games - 3 hours 34 min ago
adeelarshad82 writes "After eight years of development, remote gaming service OnLive is scheduled to roll out on June 17 for Windows and Mac. The company also announced its service pricing: users will need to pay $14.95 per month, which will allow them access to the service. However, the company did not disclose the price to rent or purchase games. 'It is partnering in this launch with publishers including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, 2K Games, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The games will also include new releases like Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, Assassin’s Creed II, as well as a bunch of other titles. Perlman anticipates anywhere from a dozen to 25 titles to be available at launch time, and more after that, depending on how negotiations with other publishers proceed.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


Categories: News

Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side' Eclipses Concept Album Classics

Wired Magazine - 3 hours 50 min ago
With its heady mix of heavy themes and technology, The Dark Side of the Moon remains the best concept album ever, even 37 years after its release. Plus: 10 more concept albums in Dark Side's shadow that deserve a slice of the spotlight.


Categories: News

'PlayStation Move' trademarked by Sony in Europe, reeks of motion controller involvement

Engadget - 3 hours 52 min ago
We're exceptionally likely to find out the official name of Sony's PlayStation motion controller in just a few hours during the company's GDC press event, but till then, we've got one more late-breaking morsel to chew on: Move. According to trademark divers across the web, Sony has filed a European trademark for "PlayStation Move," which certainly sounds like a plausible title for some sort of motion-sensing apparatus. To date, we've also heard "Arc" thrown around (which we tend to prefer, if we're being candid), and the logo shown here -- which is said to belong to a separate trademark application -- definitely looks more like an "A" than an "M." Keep it locked right here for more as we get it.

'PlayStation Move' trademarked by Sony in Europe, reeks of motion controller involvement originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Conan's lone Twitter followee: 'It's totally nuts' (AP)

Yahoo TV News - 3 hours 58 min ago

AP - Last week, Sarah Killen had three Twitter followers.


Categories: News

iPad SDK 3.2 beta 4 squashes rumors of a camera, but adds new gesture controls

Engadget - 4 hours 17 min ago
There's only about a month to go before Apple drops the iPad on the world, and it looks like all those theories about a last-minute camera addition were just fond fanboy wishes -- iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 4 just came out, and in addition to stripping out several video-call related icons, we've been told the docs contain this little tidbit about that Camera tab:
Launching the Photos application under the iPad Simulator will initially show three tabs: Photos, Albums, and Camera. The Camera tab represents photos available via the Camera Connection Kit for iPad, and is not relevant for the Simulator. The Camera tab will disappear after a few seconds. So much for that, then. In the meantime, we also have some good news -- 9to5 Mac did some digging and found some files indicating that Apple's opening up some new gestures to app developers, namely the long tap currently used to pop up the copy / paste menu and the triple-tap used to flip the display on and off when using VoiceOver. It's a small consolation, to be sure, but at least the iPad, will, um, be a great game machine, right?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

iPad SDK 3.2 beta 4 squashes rumors of a camera, but adds new gesture controls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: News

WD's 320GB My Passport AV external HDD wants to have and hold your media

Engadget - 4 hours 43 min ago
Western Digital has played this card before with the strategically named My DVR Expander, but for those who don't realize that an external hard drive is an external hard drive, there's the My Passport AV. For all intents and purposes, this 320GB HDD is nothing more than a standard drive with a fancy marketing scheme following it closely. Oh, sure -- it may work "seamlessly" with Sony's Direct Copy feature on the outfit's range of Handycam camcorders, but outside of that, we don't see anything in particular that makes us long to pay more for something that doesn't really do more than any other 320GB HDD on shelves today. If you're in complete opposition (it's cool... really), it's available to order today for $109.99.

WD's 320GB My Passport AV external HDD wants to have and hold your media originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Galactica: Sabotage' Creator Discusses Her Brilliant Beastie Boys Sci-Fi Mashup

Wired Magazine - 4 hours 44 min ago
A YouTube artist whips up a precise, shot-for-shot re-creation of Spike Jonze's amazing music video using clips from the late, great Battlestar Galactica.


Categories: News

Razer promises Mac support for all upcoming products

Engadget - 5 hours 5 min ago
Razer already provides full Mac support for a few of its gaming peripherals -- including the Naga and DeathAdder -- and basic support for others, but it's now taken avantage of GDC to "reaffirm" its commitment to Mac users. That apparently means that "all upcoming" Razer products -- including the company's line of StarCraft II peripherals -- will boast full Mac support out of the box, and that the company will be rolling out updates to some of its existing products "later this year," including the Orochi, Mamba, and Imperator gaming mice. First Steam, now Razer peripherals -- dare we say it's a good time to be a Mac gamer?

Razer promises Mac support for all upcoming products originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney keeps ABC options open, including spin-off (Reuters)

Yahoo TV News - 5 hours 16 min ago

Reuters - Walt Disney Co's Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Wednesday that the top U.S. media company was keeping its options open for dealing with TV network ABC and its struggling news division, including a spin-off.


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