Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft’s Kinect is clearly gunning to grab the Guinness record for most Guinness records. Back in March, the hands-free peripheral nabbed a certificate naming it the “Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device,” and now the Xbox Live and Kinect Sports teams are the joint owners of the record for “The Largest Online 100 Metre Sprint” — after Microsoft managed to convince 10,539 of its closest pals to help it run in place via Xbox Live earlier this month. According to Redmond, the long-winded accomplishment is under consideration for inclusion in a Guinness volume — though admittedly only the Gamer’s Edition spinoff, itself a shoo-in for “most superfluous record book.”

Microsoft Kinect shatters hyper-specific Guinness world record originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What does it take for a gaming classic to survive in a world ruled by titles like Portal 2 and Homefront? A Kinect hack, a Wiimote, and some electronic elbow grease, apparently. Trinity College student Keysosaurus — as he’s know to his YouTube pals — has used a bit of C#, XNA, and OpenNI coding to play 3D augmented reality Tetris using Kinect body controls and a Wiimote. The Kinect gestures do most of the work, rotating the board, zooming the camera in and out, and moving the pieces into place, while the Nintendo controller is used to rotate. Video’s after the break, but beware, the familiar strains of “Korobeiniki” have been replaced by smooth guitar jazz, so turn the volume up at your own risk.

Continue reading Augmented reality Tetris game uses Kinect hack, Wiimote, smooth jazz (video)

Augmented reality Tetris game uses Kinect hack, Wiimote, smooth jazz (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The next time you hit the Netflix app on your Xbox 360 the update we heard about at CES will be waiting, bringing Kinect owners the ability to flick through their videos (like ESPN3 and Zune have since the peripheral launched) without digging a controller out of the couch cushions. After the 43Mb update downloads waving ones hand for the camera or saying Xbox will pull up the new menu seen above, which auto sorts selections for browsing by voice or gesture based on what it thinks you may want to watch next. Selecting “browse all” brings you right back to the standard menu and is probably the method most will want to stick with, however being able to pause the movie quickly during playback by simply saying Xbox, Pause (or FF, rewind, skip scene, etc.) is quite convenient. Not near your Xbox? Check out a brief video of it in action after the break.

[Thanks, George]

Continue reading Netflix for Xbox 360 updated with Kinect support, everybody wave!

Netflix for Xbox 360 updated with Kinect support, everybody wave! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you signed up the Xbox 360 preview program it’s time to start camping out by your mailbox and pestering your delivery person — the update discs are shipping. A few lucky gamers now have their sneak peak at the next Xbox Live update and free copy of Halo: Reach in hand, and one was kind enough to send us the shot above to prove it. The disc bears a serious warning though: do not try and install it on a non-preview approved system. Doing so will completely disable Xbox Live until the update is officially released, which may be months away. So, if your friend got a disc don’t even think about trying to mooch your way into the beta program. After all, what fun is playing Halo if you’re stuck trying to save Reach by yourself?

[Thanks, Adam]

Xbox 360 Update Preview discs are in the mail originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s this, you ask? The next generation of Xbox 360 development, that’s what. With a shockingly small amount of fanfare, Microsoft has ushered in a striking new Xbox Development Kit, which is purportedly designed to increase efficiency and reduce cost for Xbox 360 dev teams. Aside from boasting an undisclosed uptick in RAM, built-in flash memory, a more capacious hard drive and a slimmer form factor, this XDK will also be sold at a “significantly reduced price from its predecessor.” ‘Course, the folks in Redmond aren’t saying what exactly that sticker will look like, but those interested in taking the plunge regardless will also have the option to license a Sidecar attachment that enables debugging and disc emulation. We’re told that said accessory can be shared among multiple XDK consoles, and in turn, it should lower the overall price to create, test, debug, and release an Xbox 360 or Xbox Live Arcade game. It’s still a guessing game when it comes to an actual launch date, but it’ll become “the standard kit” when new orders are fulfilled in the future. Feel free to peruse the gallery below if you’re interested, and toss out a wild guess as to what that Sidecar will go for on eBay during the next century. Aim high, bub!

Continue reading Xbox Development Kit arrives with ‘significantly reduced price,’ Sidecar attachment

Xbox Development Kit arrives with ‘significantly reduced price,’ Sidecar attachment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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