Hasta La Gadget!

There are lots of games with virtual drawing mechanics. Okami and Max & the Magic Marker come to mind. But what if you could literally draw your own game from scratch? That’s the idea behind Pixel Press, a mobile app that will help you make a short platforming game without the need to code or even use a PC.

Pixel Press has two main components: a Sketch Kit and the app itself. The Sketch Kit is simply a sheet of graphing paper customized for the app. You can download the pdf template for free from the Pixel Press website and then print it together with the instructions. In simple terms, your goal is to make a platforming game with five stages. Your character can walk, run and jump on and over the obstacles you made.

When you’re done with your drawing, you then take a picture of it with your mobile device and the app will process it. You’ll then test the app, polish it with textures and sound effects and finally play it from within the app. You’ll also be able to share your game and play other people’s games.

Clearly it takes imagination, patience and discipline to make a good Pixel Press game, but these are traits that you’ll need before you can program a game anyway. Plus it gives you the chance to be a game designer! You’ll learn the ropes of creating games without grappling with much of the technical difficulties that go along with it.

Pledge at least $10 (USD) on Kickstarter to be one of the first to own the app. The Pixel Press folks hope to raise $100,000 for the iOS apps, but if they raise at least $350,000 they’ll make an Android version as well.

[via Gamezebo]

Ian Danforth has created a soon-to-be-cuddly robot called The Fenn. The robot is based on a character from a fictional story of an alien planet that humans make contact with. It is made especially for kids.

When the robot is completed, it will have some soft skin and sensors going down its back, so kids can pet it. When they do, LEDs will go off and if they pet it softly, Fenn will respond. Pet it too hard and Fenn will run away,  just like a real animal.

This ‘bot has a front facing camera, gyroscope, touch sensors and other hardware that makes for a very kid-friendly experience. Ian is getting it ready for Maker Faire 2013. I can’t wait to see the finished product.

[via Damn Geeky]

You may recall back in March when we first talked about the Stinky Gaming Footboard. This device is a video game controller that is specifically made to allow you to use your feet for control input. The project was originally seeking $75,000 via Kickstarter to go into production. The company’s Kickstarter campaign wrapped up yesterday and officially raised $79,562, so it’s definitely being made now.

The Stinky Footboard features four buttons with screens that allow the user to adjust the resistance and more. It’s definitely an interesting way to control your favorite games.

During the fundraising effort, a pledge of $89 was enough to get you one of the Stinky Footboards. Shipping is estimated for July 2013. It’s important to keep in mind that ship date is estimated, as production delays are very frequent with Kickstarter projects.

Earlier this year Microsoft introduced IllumiRoom, a prototype technology that augments TVs and other displays by projecting room-filling visuals that complement what is being shown on the screen. Microsoft Research recently released a video that explains the basics of IllumiRoom.

IllumiRoom can augment your gaming sessions in a number of ways. The most obvious and impressive way is to extend what’s being shown on your TV into the area around it. The resulting effect is halfway between a 3D headset and a cinema. But this is also the most difficult feature to implement because it will require “access to the game’s source code.” Other features of the IllumiRoom include adding spatial cues or matching mood lighting to enhance immersion.

Movies can also be extended using the IllumiRoom, but again the movie would have to be made with this function in mind. In other words, every scene has to be shot in a wide field of view in addition to the usual shots.

As mentioned in the video, the current proof-of-concept prototype uses a Kinect to analyze the color and geometry of the area around the TV and an off-the-shelf projector to display the complementary visuals. But as Microsoft’s researchers imply in their paper (pdf), the goal is to pack all the necessary hardware into one device. This IllumiRoom-capable device will then be “connected wirelessly to a next generation gaming console as a secondary display.” I wonder if we’ll hear more about it on May 21.

[Microsoft Research via Destructoid]

I love a good art exhibit as much as the next guy, but sometimes it can get a little boring just staring at all the static paintings on the walls – never mind the humiliation of getting chastised by the museum security for standing to close to them, like what happened to me a MoMA a couple of months back.

These unique paintings not only are more visually stimulating than most, but are interactive. Created by Brent Watanabe, For(){}; is an installation of paintings which let you play video games on them.

The acrylic paintings simply serve as projection surfaces for the retro-style games, while passersby can play a quirky, custom video game using an old-school NES controller. Brent used Flash and the Box2D physics engine to create the game. The gameplay is described as follows:

“There is no beginning or end to the game, just collecting and wandering, birthing and consuming, an arbitrary point system rising until your inevitable death and the birth of another generation. It is a game mechanism without the game. An addictive but essentially aimless experience.”

Check it out in action in the video below:

I don’t know about you, but I’d spend a lot more time at art galleries and museums if this was the kind of stuff hanging on the walls.

[via PSFK]