Hasta La Gadget!

The prevalence of high fructose corn syrup, the birth of McDonald’s Supersize meal, the debut of the 7-11 Big Gulp, the unveiling of the Sony PlayStation–what do all of these milestones have in common? All are factors in the rise of childhood obesity, according to the winner of the White House/Let’s Move’s infographic design contest.

The winning chart, designed by Jenn Cash, charts a number of factors in the childhood obesity epidemic, beginning in 1950, when “a bottle of Coca-Cola was 6.5 oz” and ending in 2010, when “one in three children are overweight or obese.”

As SlashDot points out, Sony’s PlayStation makes two appearances on the list, first its 1995 debut and then a decade later, when it hits the 100 million unit sold mark.

Sony–like Microsoft–has taken a cue from the runaway success of the Nintendo Wii, developing the PlayStation Move, it’s own take on the Wiimote, which gets players up out of their seats, directing gameplay with their own movements.

It’s often noted that the technological predictions of the horrible, yet strangely prescient film Minority Report are fast becoming a reality. And it seems that Tom Cruise’s hands-free data surfing may be arriving much sooner than 2054. The gravity of innovation is pulling us towards completely frictionless
interfaces. Goodbye keyboards, goodbye mice. Soon the term “remote control” will become just another “grandpa word,” joining the likes of “dungarees” and “whipper snapper.”

There have been several attempts at gesture-based control released to the public, but with limited success. The technology just wasn’t there yet. But as the hardware improves, we will find greater interactivity with our electronics using little more than hand gestures and vocal commands.

What may signify a big jump forward in consumer acceptance of the frictionless interface is Microsoft’s gesture-based Kinect gaming system. The system will be released this fall and hopes to compete with the Wii for potential gamers who are intimidated by the mess of buttons and gizmos offered on traditional PlayStation or Xbox controllers.

For the interface, Microsoft turned to Israeli-based PrimeSense which created a technology that utilizes various types of cameras and audio sensors to bring users into the game. The five-year-old company doesn’t have plans to manufacture any gizmos directly, but hopes to make the technology ubiquitous in the electronic wares of others. The company says they already have other collaborations in place to bring the tech to TV and PCs in the future.

I’ve long held that ROMs are the biggest selling point for Android phones that no one wants to talk about (or are at least neck and neck for those of you who absolutely need your porn on the go). If, after a few drinks, I start having a good natured debate about smartphones with an iPhone owning friend (which does indeed happen more often that I’d care to admit), I’ll usually break out my Droid and start playing a round of Super Mario 3.

However, the Droid QWERTY keyboard is okay–but not great–for such gaming. In fact, I’ve actually worn down some of the keys on the thing playing Super Mario Brothers. And, all things considered, I’ve actually got it good. There are plenty of Android handsets that rely entirely on the touchscreen for control–a pretty miserable way to play a console-formatted sidescroller.

Game Gripper offers a decent and intriguing answer–a controller that slips right over the keyboard of a number of handsets. But let’s be honest–you’re still not playing the way that god (and Shigeru Miyamoto) intended.

With that in mind, I submit to you my nominee for hack of the day. Using an HTC EVO 4G, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, an Arduino board, and, of course, an original NES controller, this fellow designed what is quite possible the ultimate Android/Nintendo hack.

The final product ain’t all that pretty–and, let’s be honest, you’d look pretty dumb playing it on the subway (where most of my own handset gaming occurs)–but damn it if it doesn’t work like a charm

Do you remember the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicon? Well, you might not — it came to earth in 1983 and was Japan’s version of the NES. Now, continuing its week of vintage teardowns, iFixit’s gotten its hands on one of these colorful gems and done what it does. The Famicon is pretty easily dismantled, and simple inside, as well. As you can see, there’s almost nothing going on in there! There’s one more photo below, but hit up the source link for the full set.

Continue reading iFixit tears apart the Nintendo Famicon

iFixit tears apart the Nintendo Famicon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That chair you’re sitting on right now–it’s nice, but is it really, you know, gamey? I mean, you don’t really plan on doing all of your gaming on that thing, do you? n00b. It’s hard to find good dedicated gaming furniture these days. Thankfully, professional gamer/licenser of video game-related products, Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, is on the case.

Fatal1ty has signed on with Southern Enterprises, a Dallas-based furniture company, with the intention to “develop and distribute a custom line of gaming furniture tailored specifically to the ergonomic requirements and performance enhancement features of gamers.”

So, what precisely are the needs and concerns of your average hardcore gamer? Says Fatal1ty, “I’ve played on a lot of different setups at LANs and tournaments and plan to build the ultimate experience in furniture for a gamer to dominate his world.”

Okay, well, that’s not really helpful. Let’s see what Southern Enterprises’ executive VP Dirk Brinkerhoff has to say about the matter,

It is our hope that our collaboration with Fatal1ty will enable us to create furniture gaming pieces that will provide enhanced capability and functionally, added comfort and ease of use, and that the combination of these features will ultimately enable each player who uses our Fatal1ty branded furniture to be a better gamer than they were without it.

Comfort and functionality, check. What about the cupholders?

The fruits of Fatal1ty and Southern Enterprises’ labor will arrive in spring of next year.