Hasta La Gadget!

A handful of details briefly slipped out about the project earlier, but now it’s here: the Ouya, an attempt not just to delve into the cutthroat world of TV game consoles but to try and shift the goal posts. At its heart, the design sounds more like a smartphone than a gaming rig with a quad-core Tegra 3 and 8GB of storage running Android 4.0. The upscale, RF wireless gamepad’s standout is a built-in trackpad for playing mobile games alongside the familiar sticks and buttons — clever, though not entirely new. But with completely open hardware and software, an emphasis on free-to-play gaming and an all-important $99 price, the system is a gamble by a handful of game industry luminaries that at least a subset of players are frustrated with the status quo enough to want a real break. Read on for the full details, including a Kickstarter project as well as added details from our chat with Ouya (and Jambox) designer Yves Behar.

Continue reading Ouya’s Android-based, hackable game console now official: we chat with designer Yves Behar

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Ouya’s Android-based, hackable game console now official: we chat with designer Yves Behar originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Almost as a dare, Shoryuken (SRK) challenged its fans to produce a fighting game-style controller for Starcraft II. Mauricio Romano took them up on that contest and won with a surprisingly polished arcade stick of his own. Its cornerstone is a heavily modified Ultrastik joystick that’s turned into an on-controller, two-button mouse. You didn’t think a PC gamer would cling to a plain joystick, did you? In the process, the usual 101 keys of a typical keyboard have been pared down to a set of 26 buttons most relevant for Blizzard’s real-time strategy epic. Packaged up in a single, polished USB peripheral, the one-off prototype’s design is good enough to imagine a Major League Gaming pro taking it out on the road. We’d put that idea on ice for now, though: as Mauricio shows in the video below, the learning curve is steep enough that most players won’t be fending off diamond-league marine and zergling blitzes anytime soon.

Continue reading SRK contest produces a 26-button Starcraft II arcade controller, probably won’t stop Zerg rushes (video)

SRK contest produces a 26-button Starcraft II arcade controller, probably won’t stop Zerg rushes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That’s right folks, this is an arcade style controller for a real time strategy game. Now you can pull off that 54-hit Zergling combo and trace a HCF route for your Marines. My ignorance in StarCraft II aside, control your fanboy rage and approach this mod as curio, not as an attack to your way of life pastime.

The controller was made by Mauricio Romano, a Master League StarCraft II player. It’s the winning entry in a contest held by fighting game website Shoryuken. So hate the contest organizer, not the contestant. Because it’s impossible to control SC II with just 6 buttons, Romano opted to go with 29 buttons, including two control buttons – one on either side – plus a space and a shift button. The hemisphere on the left looks like a trackball mouse, but it’s actually a joystick with a really large cap. The arcade influence also shows in the decal, which features Kerrigan, Raynor and a couple of Marines. There’s also a string of LEDs along the fringes of the case. The controller is recognized by a PC as a USB keyboard, so there’s no need to map keys or configure anything.

Here’s Romano and his short shorts demoing the controller:

Check out Romano’s Imgur gallery for more pictures and a breakdown of his build process.

[via Shoryuken via Joystiq]

Know what’s kicking and screaming its way into obsolescence? If you guessed the N900, pat yourself on the back with this hack. Nokia’s internetting tablet that simply refuses to quit has already run the multi-purpose gamut, standing in as a brain scanner / replacement, OS dual-booter and Ice Cream Sandwich biter — just to name a few. Now, a homebrew mod from Polish hacker Emeryth, has that soon-to-be retro QWERTY slider sporting a custom gamepad to make those long hours logged into video game emulation that much more thumb-friendly. The exposed overlay is based on an ATmega8A microcontroller and plugs directly into the device’s USB port, giving gamers an eight button solution, plus a PSP-like analog stick. It’s a handy, albeit ugly, add-on that’ll help get your gaming heros of old through well trodden enemy lines. Video demo lies in wait after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N900 gamepad hack dispenses with beauty, sidles up to sore thumbs (video)

Nokia N900 gamepad hack dispenses with beauty, sidles up to sore thumbs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Datel’s latest controller for the Xbox 360 is inducing waves of nostalgia, with a curious LCD display channeling the ghost of the Sega Dreamcast’s VMU. The Turbofire EVO also packs in button mapping and fine-tune rumble options alongside third-party controller staples like turbo button settings. These can all be tweaked through the 1.7-inch screen, with extra custom profiles available if you connect the proudly unofficial controller to a PC. Check the video after the break and if a baked-in display presses your buttons, it’s available now direct from Datel.

Continue reading New Datel Xbox 360 controller packs LCD screen, parties like it’s 1998

New Datel Xbox 360 controller packs LCD screen, parties like it’s 1998 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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