While most of the PlayStation's 3 technology surpasses its predecessor, there has been one area in which it has fallen behind: force feedback. Due to a lawsuit from a company called Immersion, Sony was unable to put rumble functionality in its PS3 controller, the SIXAXIS.
Immersion holds a patent on rumble technology; they first sued Sony for infringing that patent back in 2002. In 2004, Sony shelled out $82 million in damages to Immersion, while Microsoft took the high road and settled for a lower figure. Sony appealed, lost the appeal, and has now apparently decided to settle their differences the old fashioned way: by paying a bunch more money to Immersion.
During the ongoing litigation, Sony derided rumble functionality as old hat, touting its replacement motion sensing as the new hotness. Having now concluded the dispute, what does Sony have to say? "We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers."
Or, in other words, let's get ready to rumblllllllle.
Yeah, yeah: it's Wii-this and Wii-that, but the GameCube's been around the block, okay? It's got over 500 games, and it doesn't need any fancypants motion-sensing controller, you hear me? You want that new Zelda game? It's got that. Plus, unlike the Wii, you can actually find one. And they're only getting cheaper.
News on the GameCube's demise had gone back and forth with no less than Perrin Kaplin, Nintendo of America VP of marketing, saying that production of the 'Cube had ceased. But that statement has been overruled by an official statement from Nintedo: "We are continuing to manufacture and sell Nintendo GameCube, which is an ideal entry-level value system and has a strong library of games."
So if you're looking to pick yourself up a nice game system on the cheap, you could do worse than Nintendo's "last-gen" console.
The gamers of Europe have been busy rejoicing for the arrival of the PlayStation 3, while the law enforcement of Europe has no doubt been busy preparing for an onslaught of shootings, robberies, and other generally violent activity that seems to follow the console wherever it goes.
But it looks like there's another factor that may incite an uproar in PS3 fans on the continent. Sony has announced that the PAL-compatible systems will use "a new hardware specification" that focuses on "developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, truly taking advantage of this exciting technology...Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility."
The result? The PS3 will be "compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation® (PS) titles and a limited range of PlayStation®2 (PS2) titles." Ouchy. Besides Europe, this version of the console is headed out to Africa, Australasia, and the Middle East. As if they didn't have enough problems on their hands already.
Do you ever wonder how some of these CEOs got as far in business as they have? Sony Computer Entertainment America's president, Jack Tretton, offered $1200 if you could find a PlayStation 3 that had been on the shelf "more than five minutes."
Yeah, smooth. Turns out that plenty of people jumped at this chance to live the American dream and score free cash. Major props has to go to Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho who undertook their quest in true comic form, finding not one, but eleven units just in their local area, netting them a theoretical total of $13,200 for an afternoon's work.
If Tretton's a good sport, like his counterpart John Smedley, the president of Sony Online Entertainment (who once sent the PA guys 1200 Krispy Kreme donuts as a joke), he'll do something smart like donate the money to Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity. If he's not, then he'll whine about his quote being taken out of context and back down from the deal. You heard it here first.
[via Kotaku]
Are you a Wii Sports nut? Do you jump up and down and all around with the best of them, throwing fastballs hard enough to warrant icing your shoulder between innings, or buffing your remote between frames? Then you, my friend, are a perfect candidate for Wii Boxing Gloves.
These accessories hope to make your Wii boxing experience that much more realistic. Simply slip your Wii-mote into one glove and your nunchuck into the other, and you'll be ready to float like a butterfly and sting like a bii bee. Sorry. Just please don't hit your actual flesh and blood opponent. They may not like that, you see, even with padded gloves on.
[via Ubergizmo]
It's been a while since I've bought games for my DS. Right now I own Tetris DS and Mario Kart DS. Yeah, a bit skimpy, I'll admit. But I have to say, that I'm pretty excited about the fact that Sim City is making its way to the console. I mean, I had the original version for my Mac, in black and white back on floppy disks. I'd spent hours building cities, just so I could rampage them with a Godzilla attack. Actually, I'm not even sure I ever played the game right.
The DS version looks like it won't just be a trip down memory lane, using the 3D perspective of later games in the series, rather than the original 2D top down approach. I do like the addition of what looks to be Sim City-creator Will Wright in the bottom screen, although I didn't know he spoke Japanese.
Japan's the only place that this version of Sim City, made by Electronic Arts, has been announced, but I'm holding out hope we'll see a US version before long.
[via Joystiq]
Funny, I don't seem to have any problems whatsoever with cooling on my original NES. Though I do have to spend a fair amount of time blowing out cartridges to get them to work properly. Tradeoffs.
Should you have a problem getting heat to dissipate from your Xbox 360, you might consider Gamexpert's new Cooler King. Not only does it keep your Xbox nice and chilly via an internal fan system, but it also acts as kind of a dock, turning the Xbox's proprietary AV port into standard outputs for component video, composite audio/video, S-video, VGA, and optical audio. You'll also find four USB ports, should you want to attach four media players or controllers.
All this seems rather like a steal for just $35—granted, that's on top of the console that you probably paid at least $300 for already. Oh well, it's cheaper than a new game anyway.
[via Engadget]
Despite a lackluster reception in the United States, Sony has forged ahead with plans to bring their latest and greatest game-console-and-next-generation-optical-player to European shores. No word on whether or not the PS3s will descend on the beaches of Normandy en masse, but it sure would make a hell of a publicity stunt.
Yes, yes. You want numbers: dates and prices. Word is that the shiny black monolith will hit the continent on March 23rd, with 1 million units of the 60GB model (the 20GB model will follow at a later date, but who really cares?). Thirty launch titles, divided between disc-based and network-based, will also make the trip.
And the price? A meager £425 (that's US$842, compared to the US$699 $599 for the same model in the states). 300,000 units will head directly to the UK, with the other 700,000 heading to the rest of Europe, though no word of a price in Euros. I'm guessing mucho. That's European for a lot.
Update: Missed the US price by a hundred. Then again, you'll likely pay over the retail price to snag one.
The fellows at Engadget have gone plum crazy, teaming up with noted video-game system modder Ben Heckendorn and created a portable Wii system. It includes a 7" screen, stereo sound, GameCube controller port, and a built-in short range sensor bar.
My roommate somehow acquired a Wii which appeared in our apartment last night (I can only assume through occult means), and I enjoyed the hell out of some of the Wii Sports that we were giving a shot (golf is tough, man). But this thing looks purty.
Over the next few weeks, they'll be posting a How-To for instructing you on building your very own monstrosity. Of course, you'll have to find yourself a Wii first, which is still no easy feat.
