Hasta La Gadget!

The retro gaming insurgence seems as strong as vinyl these days, but you don’t see as many people looking for a CRT monitor to complete the set. More likely, they’re playing a HD remake or the original title on a digital screen in more detail than the developers ever anticipated or intended. A group of Georgia Tech students are looking to change all that by modifying open-source Atari 2600 VCS emulator Stella to give players that good ole fashion analog vibe. As highlighted by associate professor Ian Bogost, key attributes such as color bleed, “burned” afterimage, RF-engendered signal noise, and texture created by the phosphor glow have been imitated here in recreating the effect. Hit up the gallery below for pictorial examples while we wait anxiously for video and / or the mod itself to rear its blurry head.

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

Students create CRT emulator, hope to recapture that analog gaming vibe of yesteryear originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The first meaty rumors of the Xbox 360 using full-body motion controls—without a controller—are pretty interesting, since Microsoft showed us their “write in the air” tech a couple months ago, complete with Xbox logo:

Microsoft showed off a “Write in the Air” system developed in China. You can write with a gyro controller or in thin air, using a camera. Is it next for the Xbox?

You can’t help but notice the giant Xbox logo there on the screen, and the researcher I talked to said that it would be a great system for the Xbox or for Microsoft interactive TV. Still, when I pressed him, he said he didn’t know of any immediate plans. Whatever, it makes sense, except maybe the part where he grabs an orange and uses it as a stylus.

If the rumors are true, the orange makes a lot more sense now, don’t it? Not that I’m any less skeptical of these kind of controls actually working for gamers in the real world. PSEye, anyone? [Giz@Microsoft TechFest]

The Gadget: Nyko Metal Pedal, a Rock Band/Guitar Hero replacement pedal.

The Price: $20

The Verdict: I like it more than the standard Rock Band (2) drum pedal, but probably not for the reasons you’d think. The Metal Pedal, for all of its hardcore skeleton styling, doesn’t feel sturdier than the latest Rock Band stock pedal. Sure, it’s called the Metal Pedal, but 80% or more of it is still made of plastic. The metal is in thin plating only.

But my size 12 feet appreciated the wider footbed, and the pedal’s springs were looser than those you find in the Rock Band pedal—meaning it was easier to activate the bass drum which alleviated my puny shin muscles during quick passages.
Also, if you play both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the cross-compatible hardware plugs into both drumsets and is toggled with a simple switch. I could see where using the same bass drum pedal for both games could be beneficial if you were a real score junkie.

Overall, the Nyko Metal Pedal isn’t a must-buy. But if you’re really into fake rocking and you find the options out there a little too stiff, it might be worth your $20.

Wide Footbed

Comfortable Resistance

It Has a Skeleton On It

Build Quality Not Noticeably Better Than Stock Pedal

[Nyko]

For those of us who haven’t moved our fundament in three days, we can definitely attest to the fact that finding motivation to exercise is amongst life’s greatest challenges. Not to fear, as Allen, Matt and Doug have decided to provide all the encourage we nerds need with their final EE316 (Computer Engineering) project. By utilizing an Axis network camera, a Bluetooth heart rate sensor and a few intelligent lines of code, they concocted a Space Invaders exercise program that requires the player to physically move in order to stay alive. Talk about incentive. Check the vid and full description in the read link.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

Filed under: Gaming

Space Invaders used to encourage exercising, snag an A+ in EE316 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nintendo Game Boy—the most popular game console of all time—was born today, April 21, back in 1989. Here are its 20 years of history in a timeline that actually goes back to 1889.

Click on this image to access the full high definition timeline

[Data from various sources]