Tired of hosting his Arcade Club’s gaming sessions at home, Travis Reynolds made the Briefcade. Arcade Club, Assemble!… Somewhere else.
Travis originally wanted to make a foldable tabletop arcade machine, but he eventually scrapped it in favor of the Briefcade.
Travis bought a used briefcase for $5 and then tore down one of his LCD monitors. Then he bought Sanwa-style joysticks and buttons, but found out that the joystick was too big and wouldn’t let him close the briefcase as it is, so he just takes the balltop off of the stick when he closes the Briefcade.
Travis is using a Raspberry Pi and a Linux-based MAME emulator for the Pi called PiMAME. He also connected a USB car charger to step down the voltage on its way from the monitor to the Raspberry Pi.
Hold all calls, cancel all meetings and head to Travis’ blog for more on his Briefcade.
Tobii’s eye-tracking technology continues to make its way to mainstream devices. We’ve seen it work with laptops, arcade machines and Windows 8 tablets, and now Tobii has partnered with SteelSeries to release the EyeX, an eye-tracking accessory meant to work with PC games.
In case you’re not familiar with Tobii’s technology, its eye tracker uses microprojectors to beam near-infrared light to the users’ eyes. Then the trackers’ sensors analyze the reflections of that light along with the user’s facial features to accurately detect where he’s looking.
In the demo below, Tobii shows three ways that eye-tracking can be used to augment StarCraft II. First is the ability to move the view to a particular location by looking at an enlarged view of the mini-map (i.e. a map). Second is the ability to center the view to the point where the user is looking, and finally the ability to order units where to move, attack and more just by looking at the target. Skip to around 2:45 in the video for the demo:
The EyeX can also be used in e-sports broadcasts and to help developers improve their game by showing where a player is looking as he’s playing. Skip to around 12:30 in the video below to see that function in action:
As you can see the hardware seems quite capable, but it’s not going to succeed if developers don’t integrate it – and integrate it well– into their games.
Tobii & SteelSeries will release EyeX developer kits this year for $195 (USD), but for a limited time they can be bought for a steep discount: $95 for US customers and €75 for non-US customers. Just enter the promo code ‘CES2014′ on Tobii’s online shop when prompted. As with its tablet incarnation, I can see the EyeX being a boon not just for creating better or new ways to play games, but to help the disabled play conventional games as well. I hope developers and hardware hackers will explore that possibility too.
One of the best things about Pokémon X & Y are the 3D models of the creatures. However the models are not to scale, despite the Pokédex clearly stating the height and weight of most Pokémon. Why? Because the disparity between their sizes is so severe. If they were made to scale, either some Pokémon would be practically invisible or, well, Wailord:
That image is the latest version of deviantART member DOTBstudios’ Pokémon size comparison poster. It contains all known Pokémon so far – including their Mega Evolutions if any – but it still has a number of mistakes. DOTBstudios will release a high resolution version of the image as well as sell a print of the poster as soon as he irons the errors out.
Gizmodo had the pleasure today of stopping by the future Las Vegas factory, autoshop, office, and cafe space for Local Motors, easily one of the most innovative vehicle-design outfits in the country.
deviantART member Brianna Garcia made these Cretacious ponies. Despite their sharp teeth and large claws, they still look sweet and friendly. Especially when you compare them to the Cthulhu ponies.
Pinkie Pie looks pumped up. Or hungry. You can buy Brianna’s illustrations as prints or as graphics on various merchandise on Society6.
There’s already a Minecraft port for iOS devices, but a new iOS app called Blokify takes the addictive building mechanic of Mojang’s hit game and makes it much easier to get into. Blokify uses simple touch controls and easy access to different cubes, without the hassles of keeping an avatar alive.
Blokify was designed to be 3D modeling software for kids. First of all, its blocks are organized by themes. The app comes with a castle-themed set of blocks, with two other types – spaceships and pirates – available as optional purchases. It’s also intentionally bare of tools. Building consists of selecting and placing blocks – no more, no less. Users can then share their apps to other Blokify users. Even better, users can order a 3D printed replica right from the app itself.
According to Engadget, Blokify uses Cubify for print orders. But if you have access to a 3D printer, you can also export the 3D model from the app so you can print it yourself.
Blokify is free and is available from the App Store.
A few months ago we featured iSketchnote, an iPad cover that can record and digitize handwritten or handdrawn notes. If chipmaker Qualcomm has its way, that feature may be integrated into the next wave of tablets. To show off the power of its upcoming Snapdragon 805 processor, Qualcomm will be displaying what it calls Ultra Sound at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Like iSketchnote, Ultra Sound copies doodles made with ink and paper in real time. The prototype shown in the video below requires a digital pen that’s also an ink pen. When you use the digital pen on paper, it emits ultrasonic vibrations. Those vibrations are picked up by microphones embedded in the Snapdragon 805-powered tablet and then analyzed to replicate the paper sketch on the tablet’s screen.
It would be nice if Ultra Sound worked even if the tablet was in sleep mode, so you can keep writing or doodling for long periods of time knowing that your work is being backed up in real time.
This is the tale of faceless translators who, on the verge of despair, changed history. Last Christmas a group of fans released an unofficial English language patch for the PSP game Valkyria Chronicles 3: Unrecorded Chronicles, a critically acclaimed tactical RPG that’s only available from Japanese stores. Unfortunately, the patch requires a jailbroken PSP to play, and there’s a bit of software hacking involved to patch a copy of the game.
The video below shows an early version of the patch applied to the game. Naturally, it contains a fair amount of spoilers:
You can download the patch from the Valkyria Chronicles 3 Translation Project website. The instructions for patching are also outlined on the download page. Obviously you need a copy of the game as well, either a UMD or a digital copy from the Japanese PSN store. See this SEGA? The hard work’s already done. The ragnite’s on your court. Seriously I’d love to see a Valkyria Chronicles trilogy bundle for the Vita and the PSP.
If the citizens of Sinnoh ever decide to renovate the Spear Pillar and give it a roof, they should reserve a place for Threadless member Matté Teja’s Pokreation on its ceiling.
Ash, I commandeth thee to catch ‘em all.
Create a browser in your own image, then order the t-shirt from Threadless for $20 (USD).
As far as I’m concerned, your dining room can never have too many tentacles. So if you have an extra few grand, this stained glass octopus chandelier can be yours. It even has detachable limbs that can hold candles and glow.
Imagine that Octopus looking down on you are you eat all of your meals, just glowing as if almost ready to attack you and drag you into it’s lair. It was made by Mason Parker of Mason’s Creations. Parker says that each of the tentacles would be about 30 inches-long if they were stretched out, and the lamp itself measures four feet across as it is.
The body and the tentacles can light up separately or all at once. So how menacing it is, is up to you. If you want it, it will cost you $18,000(USD). When you think about it, that’s just $2,250 per tentacle.
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