Hasta La Gadget!

To put it mildly, the OUYA console has had a better than expected funding run — the project is now past the $6 million mark, or six times what it originally needed. The team still wants a little something to end the last week of fundraising with a bang. It just unveiled a limited edition brown, brushed metal version of the console with a controller to match; all it takes is a $140 pledge during the final push to August 9th and you’ve got the Yves Behar-chosen color for yourself. The special run should arrive as part of the wider March 2013 launch. If the original silver hue will do just nicely, thank you very much, OUYA has struck another content deal and will launch Vevo’s music video hub side-by-side with the console. Click past the break for a peek at the controller, and consider a pledge on Kickstarter if you just can’t stand the thought of having the same console as everyone else.

Continue reading OUYA wrapping up funding with limited brown metal console, Vevo deal

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OUYA wrapping up funding with limited brown metal console, Vevo deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Kinect has seen some interesting uses from various games, with some trying to incorporate the motion controls directly into gameplay, while others use it as a learning tool, but Fifa 13 may take things one step further. According to The Telegraph, Fifa 13 will listen in on the player and pick up any swearing or bad language using the Kinect’s microphone. The game will then let that influence the referee in the football game, which could lead to harsher judgements.

The feature will tie into the game’s career mode too, with the player developing a reputation of using bad language and story lines forming around that character trait. Other functions of the game include issuing voice commands to swap out players or change formations of the squad. Otherwise the game will follow previous iterations closely, although EA claims the game’s AI has been tweaked to be more creative.

Fifa 13 marks yet another high profile title to make use of the Kinect for Xbox 360. Back in April, Bethesda announced that Skyrim would see an update to make use of voice commands, allowing you to shout out attacks or access menus, items, and followers. Other software titles, meanwhile, have taken a different approach. Kinect Sesame Street encourages children to interact with characters on the screen, while Nike+ Training motivates users into more exercise and activity using the sensor bar.

Fifa 13 Kinect will be influenced by swearing is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The idea of a console that could be upgrade over time isn’t new, but Microsoft has filed a patent for that very concept. The company applied for the patent back in December 2010, which details a console that could “satisfy quality of service guarantees for multimedia applications such as game applications while allowing platform resources, hardware resources in particular, to scale up or down over time.”

Microsoft details a console that would have its own core set of components and a base configuration that could be upgraded in the future. The patent filing also confirms some details from previous Xbox 720 leaks, such as multiple CPUs and GPUs. One CPU and GPU combo would be a low-power solution that would handle core system management, while the other combo would render games.

Interestingly, one patent image shows a console with a third CPU and GPU combo that would share loads with the first two in the system. The patent could relate to several different products, but the scalability of the console “over time” suggests that Microsoft may target partners or users to perform their own additional upgrades. It would be a strange break in tradition and make the console a little bit more like a PC, although it might not be too far-fetched considering rumors have indicated Microsoft may use AMD chips in the Xbox 720.

[via Eurogamer]

Microsoft patent hints at scalable console is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Rovio has announced that it will be bringing the Angry Birds Trilogy to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and the Nintendo 3DS. The company dropped some hints previously that it would be bringing the popular games from mobile devices to consoles, and now Rovio has said it will bring upgraded versions of the games to three consoles. There’s no word on when the Trilogy will be officially released, but the company is current working on enhancing the games.

Rovio’s Executive Vice President of Games, Petri Järvilehto, says the team reworked all the games for HDTVs and consoles: “There are new cinematics, extras and other entertaining content. In addition all of the existing material has been uprezzed and re-treated for the high-resolution and big screen.” Backgrounds have also been animated, and there are several lighting modes as well.

Angry Birds, Angry Birds Season, and Angry Birds Rio will be sold on one disc (or cartridge in the 3DS’ case), although there’s no mention of Angry Birds Space, or if the Trilogy will include the extra free levels found on iOS and Android. The company says that there are those with consoles perfectly content with a “casual” gaming experience, and that’s exactly who Rovio is targeting with this release.

The games will also support Kinect, PlayStation Move, and StreetPass. There’s no firm release date, but Rovio says it should be available to purchase in time for the all important holiday season.

[via IGN]

Angry Birds Trilogy coming to Xbox 360, PS3, and 3DS is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The gaming public at large has spoken. In less than 12 hours, Yves Behar’s Android-based Ouya gaming console has reached its lofty funding goal of $950,000 on Kickstarter. To refresh your memory, the $99 system (which was only $95 for 1,000 swift early adopters) packs a Tegra 3 CPU, 8GB of storage, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot — that price also grants you a single controller with a touch sensor. Most notably, the system is aimed at being extremely developer-friendly, having open hardware and software with a push for free-to-play content. There are only about 5,000 units (out of 10,000) (update: that number has been bumped to 20,000, with just under 10k available) left at the $99 price, so feel free to check out our in-depth chat about Ouya with Behar himself here before you head over to Kickstarter. It appears that the traditional business model for gaming consoles just got rocked, and we can’t wait to see the final results.

Update: If you thought that was fast, you’d be right: Kickstarter has confirmed that Ouya achieved the biggest first day ever for one of its hosted projects, and it’s just the eighth project ever to crack the million-dollar mark, joining an esteemed company that includes Double Fine’s upcoming adventure game and the all-time champion, the Pebble smartwatch.

Ouya’s $99 Android-based gaming console meets Kickstarter goal: $950k in under 12 hours (update: it’s a record) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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