Hasta La Gadget!

We still can’t get time with the Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller while actually playing Rock Band 3, but the gang at the Mad Catz booth were fine enough with us letting us toy around on its own, sans game. So, how does it feel just silently going through chords and scales? Sturdy as can be, sure, and the 100-plus buttons for the neck feel like they’ll stand up for a good bit of time. That said, it felt harder than a real guitar locating the strings and frets — especially a pain for faster chord changing. Also a burden? No ability to bend strings — not that you’ll be able to bend on the Squier Stratocaster either, as it turns out, but that’s a whole ‘nother issue. We also got some eyes on the MIDI Pro Adapter for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii; there isn’t much to look at for now, but if you get your kicks from plastic dongles, hey, we’ve got all the photos you need below.

Rock Band 3 Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller and MIDI-Pro adapter eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s PlayStation Move was hardly the surprise of the show, after all we’ve been seeing it waved around in various forms for years. Likewise the price ($99 for a bundle with an Eye Toy camera and a game) wasn’t exactly a shocker. Still, the release date of September 19th is earlier than anticipated, and the wealth of titles supporting the gadgets was a little unexpected too. We had a chance to sit down (and stand up) with a few of the best, and we’re generally pleased. Move on after the break for our full impressions.

Continue reading Sony PlayStation Move hands on at E3: these lollypops don’t lie

Sony PlayStation Move hands on at E3: these lollypops don’t lie originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just took delivery of AT&T’s brand new Aria from HTC, and we have to say, we’re kind of tickled — with the hardware, anyway. It’s hard not to smile at the HD Mini-esque design elements, including the faux screws on back, the wild yellow interior, and… well, just the overall mini-ness of it. Seriously, this is a tiny phone; that means that eschewing WVGA in favor of HVGA isn’t an issue, but it also means that effectively using the on-screen keyboard could be. On that note, the jury’s still out on whether this phone is any good for day-to-day use — and whether it has any chops as a legit Android device — but stay tuned for our review coming up!

HTC Aria for AT&T hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That Nintendo announced the 3DS was not a surprise — that they had a couple-dozen of these things to try out, that was. We elbowed our way to the front of the line to try one out, and the effect is actually not bad. It’s not great, but the 3.5-inch screen on top certainly gives a firm illusion of depth without resorting to glasses — or eye crossing. The feel is definitely reminiscent of those 3D cereal box prints, and as soon as you turn the device from left to right to try to look around anything the effect is immediately lost. You need to stare at the screen for a moment for your eyes to adjust and then not move around too much. If you do you’ll need to adjust again. But, stay reasonably still and it’s a compelling effect.

The new analog slider on the left feels a lot like the PSP’s analog nub, but larger and without the texture. It’s a bit easier on the fingers, and comfortable. Overall the device feels just like a current DS or DSi, though we couldn’t get a good feel for the weight thanks to a bulky tether attached on one end to the device, and on the other end to the row of ladies who were surely told to not let the gadgets out of their hands or face certain doom. The only thing we could do here is rotate along a still frame — Pikmin in a field, for example — and play with the 3D slider. It is a pretty convincing effect, but it’s hard to tell at this point if it’s at all compelling — it wasn’t anything more than novelty in this demo, and we still don’t know how it stands up to fast-moving footage. Actual games were promised to us for the show floor, so we’ll hit that up later today. We snagged a few pics before getting elbowed out of the way, so check ’em out!

Continue reading Nintendo 3DS in the flesh and hands-on! (updated with video!)

Nintendo 3DS in the flesh and hands-on! (updated with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re gonna level with you, internet at large, we jumped at the chance to be on camera for our hands-on with Dance Central for Xbox 360’s Kinect. It’s not because we think we’re good dancers — we don’t — but it was subsequently decided that a lack of shame was more fun. So let’s get on with the details. Menu navigation was a little janky at times, but selection was a simple swipe from the extreme right to left of an arm’s length. As we saw earlier, the game is a progression of dance riffs you have to emulate with the on-screen dancers. It took until the first chorus of MIA’s “Galang” to really get a feel and comfort for the pace; by that point it was easy enough to keep an eye on future moves and correct past mistakes of similar grooves. Frankly, inherent embarrassment notwithstanding, it was very entertaining. Pictures below and video after the break — and don’t you worry, we’ll be going back for seconds.

Continue reading Kinect Dance Central preview, or how we learned to stop caring and love the groove (video)

Kinect Dance Central preview, or how we learned to stop caring and love the groove (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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