Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Displays, Gaming, GPS, HDTV, Laptops

A national survey of 1,200 consumers conducted by Solutions Research Group found that 3 out of 4 surveyed Americans wanted a new gadget this holiday season. The rankings went a little something like this:

1. HDTV (35%)
2. Windows-based notebook (20%)
3. Digital camera (17%)
4. Windows-based desktop computer
5. GPS car navigation
6. Cellphone
7. Digital video camera
8. Nintendo Wii
9. Sony PS3
10. HD DVD or Blu-ray player

So where’s Apple, the big bad daddy of consumer electronics? Well, their best showing was the MacBook with an 11 ranking followed by the iPhone at number 15. Pretty good when you consider the level of brand awareness this represents in a field of otherwise unspecified laptops and cellphones. In fact, 1-in-6 consumers are hoping for some type of Apple gear under the Chanukazaa tree this season.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Share This

Filed under: Gaming

Wii Fit, out in December. Great news huh? Thing is, the ¥8,800 (about $75) Wii Fit is only announced for Japan so far. The kit features the Wii Balance Board which enables gamers to interactively head soccer balls and ski jump while partaking in other activities like yoga and aerobics typically thought to be cigarette-free. But you’re at home moms, so feel free to sneak a few while pulling into a Downward-Facing Dog, we won’t tell.

[Via Joystiq]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Share This

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Those wild ‘n crazy kids over at Dream Arcades are at it again, and just when you thought you had your holiday budget ironed out, along comes the four-player cocktail Dreamcade 2.0 to put you back in the red. This arcade cabinet features an “integrated trackball, lighted buttons, a Windows-based DreamPC and a collection of more than 145 licensed games including classic titles from Midway, Digital Leisure, Atari, Namco and Capcom.” The 2.0 version of the Dreamcade boasts a 21-inch “real arcade monitor,” tinted safety glass and the ability to connect your own console. Sure, it’ll cost you $1,899, but that’s a small price to pay for all this retro.

[Via I4U News]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Share This

Filed under: Reviews

Everyday Shooter is one of those titles that popped up out of nowhere a few months ago. Its creator, Jonathan Mak, was the winner of three separate awards during the Independant Games Festival awards at GDC this year. After this he was approached by Sony and asked to develop his winning title, Everyday Shooter, for the PSN. Finally, the game is now available on the American PSN.

To begin with, it’s easy to mentally throw Everyday Shooter on top of the ever-growing pile of dual-analogue shooters. The PSN alone already has more than enough with Blast Factor, Super Stardust HD and Nucleus already vying for the title of “best shooty point collector.” Everyday Shooter, however, manages to differentiate itself from all the others by introducing new, innovative gameplay mechanics, an incredible score and an intimate, personal experience which is the closest thing I’ve felt to video games being art.

%Gallery-4926%
When you first load up the game you would be forgiven for believing that something is wrong. The Queasy Games logo and the main screen are very minimalist and reminiscent of old Atari style graphics. This strange sense of style continues into the game as each level has a completely different appearance - though they all utilize a faux-2D cell shaded style of graphics.
The gameplay is as simple as the graphics. Players of Blast Factor or Super Stardust HD will immediately notice that the firing mechanism feels a little weird. The “ship” you control (which changes shape for each level) seems to feel most comfortable when firing at 90 and 45 degree angles, with anything in-between being difficult to maintain using the analogue stick. This is most likely due to the face buttons being used as a secondary control system for those who want to use them (D-pad moves, triangle shoots up, circle shoots right, etc).

Everyday Shooter is a difficult game to review. Talking about its graphics, sound and gameplay separately would make it clear that I didn’t get the point. But I did. Everything in the game is connected together in some sort of synesthetic mess of colour, noise and frantic shooting. Each of the eight levels is a different “track” in the Everyday Shooter album with its own style of sound as well as its own individual art direction. The background music is the base (as opposed to bass) track over which you build the rest of the song by playing the level. Once the base track reaches the end you move onto the next level.

Everything you do has an effect on the song that you are creating by overlaying more wee pieces of music over the base track. Hitting enemies, collecting points, creating combos and even dying cause a subtle change in the song. If you recorded the audio from playing a single level multiple times you’d come up with several very different tunes. This is one of the many great things about the game.

Unlike most dual analogue shooters, Everyday Shooter’s point scoring system is subtle and complex. There is no direct correlation between what you shoot and the points you score. Instead, you can only increase your score by picking up points from the field of play. These appear as white squares which move towards you as long as you are in the vicinity. Collecting points allows you to earn extra lives. Enemies will drop them when they die - sometimes - but the best way to make them appear is to create combo chains.

There’s a different method of creating combos in each of the levels and it will take you a little while to figure each method out. Once you do, however, you’ll begin to feel a greater appreciation for the game and realize how well designed the entire experience is. Every point you collect can then be used in the main menu to unlock extras - these include unlocking each level so that you can play them individually, obtaining extra stylistic effects to the game (such as increased contrast, monochrome and a “sketchy” effect) or even shuffling your unlocked levels around. You can also add extra lives so that you can get that little bit further the next time you play.

Everyday Shooter is completely addictive and, due to its level of challenge, will keep kicking your ass whilst making you ask for more. Some sites have intimated that there are problems with the point collection system as your avatar moves faster than the points that are being attracted to you. This means you have to stay still sometimes and let them catch up with you, but when the points disappear after a little while this makes it hard to collect all the points on the screen. Especially if you’ve just pulled off a massive combo and the screen is littered with the things.

In reality, this isn’t a “problem” - it is a conscious decision made by the developer to make the game more challenging. Sure you might be able to pull off that massive combo, but how many of the hundreds of points can you pick up before they disappear?

Overall, Everyday Shooter is exceedingly enjoyable on a number of levels and is well worth your $10. All of the elements work together wonderfully to contribute to a final product that is artistic, fun and (as is very uncommon nowadays) personal. As the game was made by a single person, there’s a strong connection between the developer and the player. Jonathan Mak has taken the opportunity to address the player directly in the “Notes” section of the main menu, where he outlines the history of the game, tells us the controls and gives us some tips. The entire gameplay experience feels like a window into his mind and it’s fascinating. PS3 Fanboy can’t wait to see what Mak does next.

PS3 Fanboy score: 9.0

Second Opinion: Andrew
Mizuguchi should not only be proud, he should be jealous. Everyday Shooter is ironically everything but what its title suggests. As a synesthetic game, it outdoes its competition by merging music and gameplay in a truly astounding way. We’d love to get the soundtrack to the game — but would it even be possible? The on-the-fly rendering of music for each stage is what makes the title so engaging: each player’s approach to a stage produces very different results to each song’s overall tone. The cautious player and the headstrong player will produce music that corresponds to their actions. Fascinating.

But beyond the presentation, Everyday Shooter offers an unparalleled amount of depth for a downloadable title. There are eight tracks to play through, and each is unique, not only in terms of visuals and music, but in terms of gameplay. As Jem mentioned, not only will players have to figure out new chaining mechanics for each stage, they will have to learn all the subtleties of a level. For example, did you know that if you shoot explosions in the first stage, they will live for longer, and grow? In the third stage, you can lightly shoot cells to make them grow, increasing the radius of their explosion. There are many things to discover in each stage, making each level a different game altogether (at least, for shooter connoisseurs).

Add a points collection system that holds a bevy of collectibles, and you have a game with infinitely more replay value than even Super Stardust HD. So then, maybe the title is correct. It’s the kind of shooter you’ll be able to play every day, thanks to its unparalleled amount of content and replayability.
9.5

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

It’s October, and nearing that special time of year that kids of all ages dress up in ridiculous garb and beg money from kind strangers, then come home to worried parents rifling through their prizes for razors and poison. Good times, good times.

Unless, of course, you’re one of those poor creatures who do not pick out and dress up in costumes: those who are dressed up in costumes unwillingly. The pets.

I searched the internet for many many tens of minutes and for my efforts have compiled a collection of ten awesome pet costumes. Most are dogs, because they are big enough to dress up and also because cats tend to cooperate not much at all when it comes to costumes. Unless you’re planning on going as “person scratched all to heck.”

#10 - the hot dog.

Cliche and predictable, yes, but nice execution and pretty dog.

#9 - Darth Pug

Honestly, I wouldn’t care for this as much if it wasn’t a pug. But it is a pug. Comedy genius.

#8 - Cat the Cat

I can’t help but wonder if the owner has somehow missed the point of dressing up the cat. However, the fact that it looks totally miserable is so hilariou–OH MY LORD!!! THE EYES!! THE EYES THE EYES!! WHAT IN HEAVEN IS WRONG WITH ITS EYES!!?

#7 - Dragon

I just gotta give them props for dressing up a lizard. I mean, dang.

#6 - Dog Butt

Is it wrong that a dog with a plastic butt should rank so high on the list. Probably.

#5 - Too Cute

Would you just look at that? That is so cute my heart stopped. I just want to put it in my pocket.

#4 - Top Cat

Everything’s funnier in a top hat and oversized bowtie. But I think this costume is less what the cat is wearing, and more how he’s wearing it. He looks like he belongs in a top hat. I be he’s got a cane too.

#3 - Just…wrong.

I literally can’t look at this without laughing. Not sure if it qualifies as a “costume” since it’s painted on the cat, but I don’t care. Ah, me. Poor cat.

#2 - Croc Dog

This is just straight up clever.

#1 - Going Completely Too Far, Lady. Too Far.

This one…I just…words fail. Again, painted on the fur and less a real “costume,” but I gotta give the poor pooch credit for being the best sport in the world. What effort. What painstaking effort. Fur had to be grown out, trimmed just so, dyed just so….

There you have it folks. Be nice to your pets, people. Next time you think of dressing your animal up for fun…just think of creepy eye cat. *shudder*

Though if you do it anyway and the result is hilarious, shoot me an e-mail or something. I might post it.

Share This

If you live in California, you should start looking for a hands-free solution (because soon, it will the only legal way to be on a phone the the car) and the Sony Ericsson HCB-105 looks like a hassle-free one. Thanks to its clip, there’s no installation and the device is controlled with (only) two buttons. The downside is that you’ll have to charge it from time to time, although talk time is rated (by the manufacturer) at 25 hours and stand by time can be as long as 700 hours. I don’t know how good it is, but it is surely worth looking at. If you really want something slick, check Microsoft’s Sync.

Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones

Share This

Filed under: Audio/Video, Cell Phones, iPhone

Every day, new horror stories are released about some rude TSA or flight attendant in our nation’s airports and skyways. Check out this latest one, in which a guy on an ATA flight is watching a movie on his iPhone while it is in its offline “airplane” mode, which means the cell phone and Wi-Fi radio is turned off, so it’s nothing more than a standard-issue MP3/movie player.

Turns out a mad-with-power flight attendant decides to tell the guy he’s breaking FAA rules, even though Airplane mode was specifically created to follow those rules. The flight attendant even went so far as to call the police and not only waste the passenger’s time post-flight, but also humiliate him in front of the entire plane since this exchange with the authorities took place at the front of the plane after it landed.

Of course, after some explanations from the passenger and some story-changing-and-inventing on the part of the flight attendant, the police laughed off the entire event, because clearly the ATA flight attendant was not only completely ignorant of both the FAA law and iPhones, but also a complete, off-his-rocker psycho who should be barred from flight for inciting stress!

This is just another example of the rude, intimidating, incompetent, and hostile behavior on the part of everyone from TSA officials at the security gates to flight attendants ever since 9/11. Sorry, but terrorist threats and increased security are no excuses for rude behavior and bad service! We have traveled in many places around the globe and are treated with respect by airline officials, most recently in Japan, who politely point out that we have to take our laptops out of our bags (or whatever) and at least know the rules about in-flight electronics. (The one exception is London’s Heathrow airport, which is a nightmare of intimidating, inflexible security measures and officials — be warned.)

The guy should sue ATA Airlines for distress, and customers across the country should start flooding ATA’s Web site with complaints! That company is a poor excuse for a budget airline, anyway, particularly when compared with tech-savvy Virgin America.

From Newser and Consumerist

Related Links:

• Virgin America Details In-Flight Internet
• Lost Cell Phone Triggers Airplane Bomb Scare
• Peek Inside the Gigantic Airbus A380

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Google, YouTube

Earlier this year, there was speculation about bringing sounds to Google Earth, but the company has gone ahead and leapfrogged that idea and gone straight to integrating full YouTube videos (with sound) right into its mapping application. If you download the latest version and go to the “Featured Content” section, you’ll find a new layer called YouTube. Click next to that and you’ll start to see little YouTube logos popping up on maps. Click on one and you’ll see some sort of footage shot at that location on the map.

Obviously, places like Manhattan are loaded with random videos, but we found vids from the wilderness in Africa and even out in the middle of the Atlantic. Zooming in on far-away places and seeing satellite imagery already made Google Earth one of our favorite applications of all time, but its addition of footage of those far-away places just makes it all the more interesting.

From Webuser

Related Links:

• Google Earth Uncovers Swastika-Shaped Government Building
• Google Adds Widgets to Maps
• Explore Millions of Galaxies with Google Sky

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Computers

Facial-recognition specialist OMRON has unveiled its latest catalyst in bringing about the impending marketing and focus-group apocalypse. It’s a “smile detector” — essentially a piece of software capable of objectively measuring the smiles of humans (and eventually humanoids, we presume), and attributing to them a percentage rating. Enjoying that television show/site/”adult film”? Pretty soon “They” will know, down to the nearest self-loathing grimace.

The system — which was shown at the Japanese consumer electronics show CEATEC last week — analyzes faces using a 3D model-fitting technique; it’s able to tell identity people, estimate age and gender, and track pupil or eyelid movements. The company claims the OKAO, as the recognition-system is called, is also an “unbiased piece of software, capable of measuring the facial features of all ethnicities.” Even Michael Jackson.

We tried out the age-recognition feature last week in Tokyo and were disappointed to see it get our age wrong by 10 years (that said, we were flattered, because OKAO thought we were a decade younger).

Of course, there are other, somewhat less apocalyptic uses for the technology as well, including identity theft prevention, building-entry management, driver monitoring systems in cars (to make sure you don’t fall asleep and what not), access control for age-restricted content, and cameras that ensure everyone in the frame is smiling before the picture is taken.

Say (String) Cheese(TM).

From Gizmag

Related Links:

• Volvo’s New safety features wake up sleepy drivers
• Department of Homeland Security considers mind control tech

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Video Games

Question: How hard is it to get your serial-killer simulation game on store shelves these days? Answer: Super hard!

Just ask Rockstar Games, whose uber-violent ‘Manhunt 2‘ just got banned by censors in the UK for a second time. It was originally banned in June, when said sensors claimed it “constantly encourages visceral killing”; it was the first video game in a decade to be refused classification. Rockstar then went back to the drawing board and tried to tone things down. Apparently, the changes still weren’t enough.

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) director David Cooke had this to say about the new version: “The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the ‘execution kills’, but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature.”

So once they take out the “visceral and casually sadistic nature” and tone down the “execution kills” of this particularly murderous murder simulation, it’ll be totally kid-friendly. Right?

Riiiiight.

Regardless, the toned-down version of the game was approved for U.S. distribution and comes out on Halloween!

From the BBC

Related Links:

• Judge Strikes Down Violent Video Game Law
• Video Games to Keep Away From Your Kids

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This