Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re a talented college student hoping to create the next Halo or Call of Duty, you could have a chance to show your chops at this year’s E3. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the group behind the annual video game conference, has just announced the E3 College Game Competition, where you and your school could be one of five finalists to have a spotlight on the show floor. Around 400 higher education institutions — primarily those that offer video game courses — can each submit one game to represent their school in the competition. Applicants can begin submitting the story and assets of a playable game starting March 15th, with a final deadline of April 19th. The finalists will be contacted on May 10th and the winner will be announced at the show itself. It’s a rare opportunity to rub shoulders with video game VIPs, so we suggest aspiring creators convince their universities to get on board and contact the ESA for all the challenge’s rules and requirements.

Filed under: Gaming

Comments

Source: E3, Entertainment Software Association

Get ready, Super Smash Bros. fans, because it appears that Nintendo will be showing off the upcoming Wii U and 3DS Smash Bros. titles at E3 later this year. Iwata said during this week’s Nintendo Direct event that we would see screens from the games at the expo, but it seems that designer Masahiro Sakurai wants to show off more than just still images. Perhaps we’ll get to see trailers of the titles in action?

Sakurai took to Twitter to tell fans that there may be more to see of both games come E3 time. Google Translate always appears to have a rough time translating from Japanese to English, but in his tweets, he tells fans that even though some games were given trailers during Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct stream, Smash Bros. fans will have to wait. That wait will apparently pay off, however, as Sakurai plans to show something “better” at E3.

It’s impossible to say for sure, but it certainly sounds like Sakurai wants trailers on display during E3 2013. Nintendo revealed that its new Mario and Mario Kart titles will have playable demos at E3, so if Sakurai can put together some Super Smash Bros. footage before the expo kicks off, then it should be an exciting show for Nintendo fans. It should be an exciting show for gaming fans in general for that matter, as it’s been rumored that we’ll see new consoles from Sony at Microsoft there.

In any case, we’ve known about these new Super Smash Bros. games for a while now, as they were announced around the same time that Nintendo revealed the Wii U. At that time next to nothing had been done on them, as Sakurai was busy putting the finishing touches on Kid Icarus: Uprising. Now that Uprising is on shelves (and has been since March 2012), it sounds like Sakurai has more time to devote to these incoming Smash Bros. games, so don’t be surprised to hear new details moving forward. Stay tuned.

[via Joystiq; via IGN]

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, 3DS will make an appearance at E3 2013 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s not even CES 2013 yet and Microsoft is already counting the days until E3 2013 in June. Granted, the company backed out of CES indefinitely, but we’re still taking one thing at a time at this point. Xbox Live head Larry Hyrb (a.k.a. Major Nelson) posted up a countdown to E3 2013 on his blog along with the phrase, “And it’s on…”

This could really only mean one thing: Microsoft may be unveiling the next Xbox at E3 2013. Obviously, we’re not 100% sure, but given how Nintendo is leading the way with next-generation consoles with the release of the Wii U, we can assume that other companies will follow suit. W’ve already been hearing rumors about new gaming consoles, and with the Xbox 360 approaching 90 years old in gaming years, we’re bound to see a new console this year.

In any case, it looks like Microsoft is ramping up for a major launch of some kind, and we doubt that these signs have any other explanation other than a next-generation console. We’ve heard that the next Xbox will arrive just in time for Christmas next year, so an E3 announcement earlier in the year definitely wouldn’t be crazy.

The window between the announcement and the public release would certainly give time for uber gaming fans to work their butts off over the summer in order to save up the cash for a fancy new Xbox console, one that may be designed to be a lot more than just a gaming console, but an all-out entertainment machine like today’s Xbox.

Xbox 720 strongly suggested in E3 countdown post is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

That Japan-exclusive Pikachu clamshell might be slightly out of reach for US buyers, but starting today they can pick up a regular 3DS XL to the tune of $200. The oversized Nintendo handheld surpasses its predecessor in just about every category, shining through our review gauntlet with more battery life, a more comfortable grip and a more luxurious screen. On top of the usual fare, US buyers will also receive a power adapter, a necessary accessory that was oddly left out of the Japanese and European releases. Oh, and if you’re looking for something new to play on that shiny hardware, New Super Mario Bros. 2 hits the US eShop today as well.

Filed under: Gaming

PSA: Nintendo 3DS XL now available in US, AC adapter included originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |   | Email this | Comments

Star Trek: The Next Generation may be coming to your living rooms soon courtesy of some hot new Blu-ray pressing, but one of the most compelling pieces of the technology shown on that series still remains elusive: the holodeck. Don’t get down, sunshine, because we might soon be making our first, tentative steps into a virtual courtesy of Project Holodeck. It’s underway at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts as well as the Viterbi School of Engineering and starts out with a pair of Project Oculus glasses. These glasses, which were shown off at E3 by none other than John Carmack, cram a 1,280 x 800 display into a pair of glasses that present a wide, truly immersive field of view. Pair that with a PlayStation Move for head tracking and a Razer Hydra controller and you have the beginnings of a proper virtual reality environment.

An early concept of what the complete system might feel like can be found after the break, a couple of people acting out a sequence from Skies of Arcadia, which could be called a spiritual inspiration for the first game designed for Project Holodeck: Wild Skies. In it, two people “pilot a massive airship through a exotic world of floating islands” — though whether they look as kawaii as their Dreamcast predecessors remains to be seen. When you might actually get your hands on the system is also unknown, but one piece of the puzzle, the Oculus Rift glasses, are said to be hitting Kickstarter any day now — for an anticipated price of just $500. Bat’leth and copy of Workin’ out with Worf not included.

Continue reading Project Holodeck and Oculus Rift hope to kickstart every gamers’ VR dream for $500 (video)

Filed under: Gaming

Project Holodeck and Oculus Rift hope to kickstart every gamers’ VR dream for $500 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  Project Holodeck  | Email this | Comments