MAG dev demonstrates Move support, it only does point and spray (video)

MAG dev demonstrates Move support, it only does point and spray (video)

The PlayStation Move is out, and gamers everywhere are throwing away their DualShock controllers, spirits carried aloft by the liberating breeze of motion gaming. Okay not really, but if more traditional games had Move support baked-in that might be the case. 256-player MAG has recently been given a taste, and level designer Ben Jones is taking a moment to show off how motion gaming looks in this uber shooter. As you can see, the baton acts for aiming, turning, and shanking, while a nunchuck (or second controller) handles the moving duties. We’re not entirely convinced of the accuracy playing in this mode, especially given how the video focuses almost entirely on close-range, full-auto carnage, but Mr. Jones says he believes this to be a “lateral transition from keyboard and mouse?” So, PC gamers, you buying it?

Continue reading MAG dev demonstrates Move support, it only does point and spray (video)

MAG dev demonstrates Move support, it only does point and spray (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceJoystiq  | Email this | Comments

Lovefilm looks to be headed to UK PlayStation 3 consoles

You Americans may not have a clue what Lovefilm means to Britons, but in short, it’s Netflix for the other side of the pond. To that end, we imagine quite a few UKers are giddy over a video that has since been pulled from Sony’s YouTube channel. We’ve embedded it after the break in case it revives itself in some magical, mystical fashion, but Everything PlayStation managed to grab the copy from underneath while it was still alive. It’s bruited that Lovefilm streaming will be coming to UK-based PS3 owners sometime this autumn, with a wealth of search options available and free trials promised for those who’ve yet to buy into the outfit’s services. We’re hoping to hear more from Sony (or Lovefilm) in short order, but for now, we’d encourage you to cross every finger you have that a dedicated disc won’t be required for everything to work.

Continue reading Lovefilm looks to be headed to UK PlayStation 3 consoles

Lovefilm looks to be headed to UK PlayStation 3 consoles originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Telegraph  |  sourceVG247, YouTube (Sony)  | Email this | Comments

Our Remote Controls Are Amazing, Yet Nobody’s Happy

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Sony Controller for Google TV


We hate our remotes. Every electronic media device comes with its own remote. We lose them and can’t control our stuff without them. They break. We confuse them with each other. It’s too hard to do simple things. It’s way too hard to do hard things.

We ask too much of them. The batteries die, and they all take different batteries. They’re uncomfortable. They’re unresponsive. What we do with our hands doesn’t match what’s happening on the screen. And the software that’s on the devices that are controlled by the remote is frequently terrible.

And occasionally, as with Sony’s controller for its upcoming Google TV, the remotes just boggle the mind with their ugliness and complexity.

We’re not alone in disliking remotes. The preceding litany of problems comes from what readers told Consumer Reports in an article titled “Readers Dislike TV Remotes.”

Now we have an emerging class of internet-connected media devices with powerful software designed to make navigating TVs and movies easier. Google TV, Apple TV, TiVo and Roku join game consoles like Sony’s Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii in providing multimedia content on the biggest screens in our house.

But however sophisticated the software, all of these devices still need hardware devices for us to control them. It’s quite likely that some of these devices won’t be dedicated remotes at all, but phones, tablets or other handheld media devices running apps. We might use these apps to control not just our TVs, but our entire house.

That’s one vision of the future of remote control.

Here, we want to examine the other side of the equation: dedicated hardware controllers. From traditional remotes to mini-keyboards, video controllers and devices that combine all three, here are 15 devices that offer you a glimpse of everything that’s good and bad about the current generation of remote controls.

Above:

Sony’s Google TV Controller

WIRED: Offers all the control you could want. Full QWERTY keyboard for text entry, which is essential for search — sure to be a key part of the Google experience. Raised buttons with different feel make it easier to use in the dark. It’s even got tab, control, number and function keys — not dependent on software to get it done.

TIRED: Sheer size of the thing will be a deal-breaker for some. In different shades of gray, it doesn’t look like a device from 2010. Too many buttons could be confusing or intimidating to non-expert users.

Image: ABC News

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Best Buy charges $30 for PS3 firmware update, laughs all the way to the bank

In case you hadn’t noticed by now, Best Buy’s Geek Squad isn’t always the most scrupulous sort, but their latest attempt to upsell consumers is truly off the charts. We’ve confirmed for ourselves that the Staten Island, NY store is offering 120GB PS3 Slims for $329.98, explaining away the surcharge as their fee for a firmware upgrade. In case you’ve never booted up a PS3 yourself, let us explain the sheer ridiculousness at work here: a system update requires about three button presses, and some discs prompt you automatically. Hell, if you want to play online or access the PlayStation Store, you don’t even have a choice — ever since Other OS got Sony’s goat, firmware updates have been mandatory across the board. Still, it’s hard to say no when Best Buy employees are this polite — when we explained to a rep that we already had a PS3, he graciously offered us an update anyhow… for just $29.98.

Best Buy charges $30 for PS3 firmware update, laughs all the way to the bank originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DailyTech  |  sourceDualShockers  | Email this | Comments

Sony, Warner and Disney mulling $30 at-home viewing option, we laugh and wait for the $100 option

Ah, “premium” video-on-demand. Media controllers have been fighting the inevitable forever, but now it seems they’re finally coming around to the future — letting users watch silver screen gems (or duds, for what it’s worth) in their home shortly after release in the theater. Before you bust out the golf claps for these dudes and dudettes, you should know that they’re planning to ding you for around $30 for the privilege, so it’s only remotely of interest if you happen to have a family of eight. According to a new Bloomberg report, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Walt Disney Co. are all in talks with major cable systems to “offer films for as much as $30 per showing soon after they run in theaters.” Disney’s also thinking of streaming its content to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with Warner expected to begin testing an offering later this year that lets consumers watch new(ish) release material for “$20 to $30 per viewing.” Of course, we guess it can’t hurt to throw the option out there and see exactly who is desperate enough, but we’re guessing this won’t exactly be the demise of the cinema. Or Redbox.

Sony, Warner and Disney mulling $30 at-home viewing option, we laugh and wait for the $100 option originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video Box Battle Royale: Who Should Be Your TV’s New Best Friend? [Video]

With new offerings from Roku and Apple, and the grand impending entrance of Google TV, the crowd of little plastic boxes that all want to stream your video is getting packed. And confusing. But we’re here to help you compare. More »

PSA: Sony says counterfeit PS3 controllers could explode

We’re not sure why anyone would buy a knock-off DualShock 3 or SIXAXIS gamepad, considering the trouble Sony’s taken to make sure they don’t work, but the PlayStation 3 manufacturer has another reason you might want to steer clear of counterfeit pads — they could be tiny Li-ion bombs poised to explode. Talk about force feedback! Yes, the company that brought us exploding laptop batteries says that third-party products “which are practically identical in appearance to genuine PlayStation(R)3 wireless controllers” may burst into flame, and as you might expect, Sony suggests that you run out to your nearest retailer and purchase the real deal instead.

PSA: Sony says counterfeit PS3 controllers could explode originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceSony  | Email this | Comments

PlayStation Move accessories charge controllers, keep your pesky imagination in check

If there’s anything Microsoft’s Kinect has over the PlayStation Move — neither seem to have a killer app — it’s that peripheral manufacturers (hopefully) won’t be able to generate wave after wave of cheap plastic junk to wave in front of a camera. As you can imagine, PlayStation Move peripheral purveyors have no such problem, and Nyko, Mad Catz, Interworks, CTA Digital, PDP and more are pumping out plenty of plastic shells and chargers for those ball-tipped motion controllers. Hit the links below to just see how far we haven’t come.

Read – GamingBits
Read – IGN
Read – Amazon

PlayStation Move accessories charge controllers, keep your pesky imagination in check originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3 gets early SNES and Dreamcast emulation

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? Sure, jailbreaks and homebrew titles are all well and good, but you know a console has really arrived when it starts emulating the classics. The ever-versatile Snes9x has been given a quick and dirty port to the newly jailbroken PS3, and while it’s missing fancy features like “save states” and “UI,” it’s certainly looks to be doing the most basic task of playing games just fine. Meanwhile, the creator of famed Dreamcast emulator NullDC has a very rough version it up and running on the PS3 as well. We naturally have a long way to go, but this looks like a promising beginning.

PS3 gets early SNES and Dreamcast emulation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashdot  |  sourcePSX-Scene, drk||Raziel’s blog  | Email this | Comments

Sony’s PlayMemories app brings 3D photos to your PlayStation 3

This wasn’t mentioned among the other 3D-related PS3 announcements Sony made during its Tokyo Game Show press conference last week, but it looks like the company has another little bonus in store for those that just can’t get enough 3D. It’s just announced a new PlayMemories application that will be available as a free download in “late September,” and will let you view both 2D and 3D photos captured with a 3D-compatible camera (including Sony’s NEX-5/NEX-3, WX5 and TX9). No peek at the app itself just yet, unfortunately, but we’re guessing it’ll be available any day now — it is technically late September, after all.

Continue reading Sony’s PlayMemories app brings 3D photos to your PlayStation 3

Sony’s PlayMemories app brings 3D photos to your PlayStation 3 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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