Posted by 010081
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Like many FPS gamers of a certain age, I started with the WASD keyboard/mouse control system. As such, I have issues with using a controller to play games on a console, and really wish that someone would come out with a keyboard and mouse control system. There’s been a few that come close , and the XScorch 360 looks like another also-ran. Bannco, the company that makes the XScorch 360 also makes a similar controller for the PS3, so this isn’t their first time trying to make this kind of product. My concern lies in the video, and is twofold. First, the video says Halo Reach . Anyone who follows the Halo universe will recognize that the demo is running through on Halo 3 . Halo Reach isn’t even available as a playable demo yet. Second, the video shows some serious lag between the mouse movements and the on screen action. If this is the case, then it’s pretty much unplayable. It’s also possible that this demo is from the future, which is why it’s showing Halo Reach, and the lag is from the time-shift dilation effect. Suggested retail is $79.99, and is currently available from Bannco’s website , or at selected retailers. [via TG Daily ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Heartened by the popularity of all its various forms of DRM and DLC, EA has decided to implement even further segmentation of its games. Now you’ll have the demo, the “premium demo,” the “full game” and simultaneous or post-release DLC. Gamers love segmentation! Analyst Michael Pachter reports on EA’s new strategy : Think about Battlefield 1943 as the prototype, so a full (but short) game experience for a reasonable price. At the same time, an expanded version of the game will be under development for release as a packaged product. Well now, let’s not jump to conclusions. This, after all, was in a way how Portal was. Short, low-priced, and as it turned out, harbinger for a much larger game further on. But is that all there is to it? The truth is that Portal truly was a complete game. Can EA really convince anyone that whatever they sell for $15 ahead of a big retail release is complete in any way? Seems unlikely, especially considering how DLC these days is essentially content that could have been in the retail release but was modular enough to sell on the side. I put “full game” in quotes in the first paragraph because it seems to me that truly full games are rarely released these days; pieces of the cookie are broken off until they have the bare minimum for a retail package, and then they sell you the rest of the cookie piecemeal. Obviously there is the bottom line to consider. I can’t blame EA if making medium-sized, semi-complete games and then tarting them up with DLC is a winning strategy. If they’re making money and making games, that’s fine. But gamers lose out when games are considered only as products, the same way a TV show, movie, or book will suffer if created only with “net positive dollars” the only objective in mind.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
We all know that there will be an onslaught of touchscreen computers this year and next. But the Internet really isn’t touchscreen friendly. It was designed for a mouse, not finger input. Google Reader Play is one of the early examples of a site redesigned for this sort of navigation with a slideshow-type interface and larger buttons. I loaded up the demo on a Viliv X70 tablet computer and found it works quite well on the 9-inch tablet. The buttons could be a bit larger, but overall it’s one of the most touchscreen-friendly websites I’ve seen. Click through for a quick video demo. The normal version of Google Reader simply doesn’t work well with touchscreen computers. It’s the buttons, really. They are the key to a good Google Reader experience. Users need a way to star items, access different lists and navigate around the robust interface. Google Reader Play solves all those issues with a cleaner interface and larger buttons. There are still some things I would change, but Google Reader Play is likely still in beta like most other Google projects so I’m not too concerned. I also don’t see the need to use Play rather than the standard version on a normal computer. It doesn’t offer anything more than a redesigned interface and you can’t add your own RSS feeds into it just yet. It might draw some new users into the RSS world, but most current Reader users probably won’t make the switch besides to see what all the fuss is about.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 8th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
We have written repeatedly that Windows itself is one of the main reasons why touchscreen computers have never caught the general public’s attention. The interface just wasn’t designed for finger input . Like it or not, that’s the truth. Windows was designed to be used with a mouse, and to a lesser extent, a pen or stylus. That’s fine. Windows 7 works great. I’m writing this on a Win7 machine. But I hate Windows on my tablet computers for the aforementioned reason. It’s also the reason I’m very apprehensive of the upcoming onslaught of slate computers. I’m afraid that wonderful hardware will be passed up in favor of the disappointing iPad because of the interface. But Adobe gave me hope today in its demo of Flash and Air on the HP slate device. The first minute or so of the demo is Adobe’s Flash Product Marketing manager talking about this and that. The real fun comes at the 1:30 mark. That’s when we get a glimpse of what appears to be a Windows 7 HP app manager program that has clearly been designed for a touch interface. The buttons are large, uses stars to mark favorites programs or Internet shortcuts, and seems responsive enough. It’s probably safe to say that it’s an Adobe product seeing as it makes an appearance in this demo. Even the browser seems to have been made over for the touch interface, which seems to be a custom build of Firefox. Of course it has all the multi-touch goodies like pinch zooming and two-finger scrolling, but it also feels different, too. That’s just as important as using standard Firefox or Chrome on a touchscreen is a drag without a bunch of plug-ins. And of course, Flash is fully functional, which is a clear shot across Apple’s bow. You notice a few times throughout the demo that there are a couple of different user notifications to compensate for web’s smaller buttons and higher-resolution interface. There appears to be a small water ripple effect at 1:42 when the user hits the play button for the online video and then a dramatically larger one at the end of the Photoshop.com demo at 3:45 when he presses and holds. These effects are not shown during the HP Home demo or NYT Air app lending to the thought that they’re a browser-only effect, designed to assist browsing. Now Adobe wouldn’t show off Windows in its demo. This was strictly an Adobe demo, but that’s fine. It answered a lot of questions about HP’s upcoming slate device. First, a full version of Windows is very much present, which is awesome. None of us wants a watered-down OS — except for iPad buyers, of course. But the demo also shows that there will be a versatile, touch-friendly interface for most tasks and multi-touch capabilities to exploit all the potential uses. Hopefully HP, Dell and all the other mainstream tablet makers are on the same page with Adobe. They have the ability to stand up to the monstrosity that is the Apple App Store if they agree to slate standards, which will allow app developers to code one version of the their program and not worry about various screen resolutions and hardware variations. Devin adds: This is an improvement on the smaller tablet we saw at CES. It’s about iPad-sized, which is to say a little smaller than a sheet of paper. I’m guessing an 8″ screen is what they’re working with there, though who knows what the final hardware will be. I still think that shrinking Windows is a bad start for a tablet device, as much so as puffing up the iPhone in the case of the iPad. The only device that may actually hit with a truly tablet-only OS seems to be the Courier , and that’s why I’m genuinely excited about it. The slate race does appear to be hotting up, though, and that’s a good thing.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 5th, 2010
&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1" class="alignleft" alt="">
Sony has filed a patent for a new type of video game demo that’s worth mentioning here. Rather than your typical demo, where they give you level to mess around with, they essentially give you the whole game . As you play the demo, the game “disappears.” So, let’s say you’re playing a racing game demo—you have all the cars and tracks available to your. After one race, now you only have half the number of cars and tracks to select from. After the next race, half that number, and so on. Neat, right? One thing that could be an issue, today’s demos are typically fairly small in size, so if these new demos are to includes much more content, that would increase the size of the download. That might be an issue if you have a smaller hard drive, or slower Internet connection, but otherwise, yeah, let’s beat the beat up.