Tech News and Reviews
Gaming
Nintendo DSi XL coming to Europe March 5, US eventually
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The last we heard, Nintendo’s super-sized DSi XL (or DSi LL if you’re Japanese) would be hitting the Colonies sometime in the first quarter of 2010. As of now we have no information contrary to that, but we do have news specifying when the European nobility will get theirs: March 5. That means UK gamers have less than two months to determine whether they are eligible for an upgrade from the slender DSi, and if you’re not sure how to check, just measure the depth and breadth your pockets. If you have room in there for the new version, with its stereo 4.2-inch screens, you’d better make with that pre-order: Nintendo Japan sold more than 100,000 of the things in just two days.
Pleo returns to CES with big promises, bigger Pleo
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Pleo (and its new maker Jetta) isn’t exactly out in force at CES 2010, but the company is here with some promises about a new and improved second generation Pleo and, perhaps more importantly, a giant version of the current Pleo. Unfortunately, it’s not for sale, and Jetta apparently doesn’t have any plans to change that in the future, so your Kota triceratops won’t be getting a buddy anytime soon. Jetta also isn’t offering anything much in the way of actual details about the next generation Pleo, but it is promising that it’ll be more than just a simple revision. In the meantime, feel free to take a wild trip through the world of Pleo in the gallery below.
Microsoft announces Game Room for Xbox 360
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This one leaked out a bit ahead of schedule along with the rest of Microsoft’s big CES announcements, but Robbie Bach has now gotten fully official with Game Room for the Xbox 360, which promises to recreate the old school arcade experience for you (and your avatar). Set to launch “this Spring,” it’ll initially give you access to thirty classic arcade games, which you’ll be able to buy once and play on both your Xbox 360 and your PC. The real action seems to be on the Xbox 360 though, as that’s where you’ll be able to challenge your friends to a “show down,” although there unfortunately doesn’t seem to be any betting of Microsoft points instead of quarters. Head on past the break for a quick promo video.
iGUGU Gamecore takes PC gaming to the TV with complicated, accelerometer-packing wireless controller
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We’ve seen plenty of methods for emulating PC input schemes from a couch, but nothing’s really beaten the tried and true “put a board across your lap” method. We’re not sure the new iGUGU Gamecore has a leg up on the competition, but you can’t fault it for trying. The system is actually a three-fold approach to the problem: there’s a 50 foot VGA cable or wireless USB method for beaming your PC video to the TV and some TV-friendly software for managing your games library, but the obvious centerpiece is the monstrous wireless controller (pictured). Bearing a slight resemblance to an Xbox 360 controller and retailing for $80, the beast packs in a trackball, d-pad, joystick, full QWERTY keyboard and six accelerometers for making a mess of just about any PC game imaginable. Seems interesting, and we’ll try to give it a look here at CES, but the completely ridiculous promo video (embedded after the break) makes us think twice about taking these folks seriously.
Parrot’s AR.Drone seeks us out, destroys us as we go hands-on
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Wondering what it’s like to fly the Parrot AR.Drone we covered earlier this evening? So were we, so we headed straight toward the thing at tonight’s Unveiled event. Speaking with representatives with Parrot they were unfortunately tight-lipped when it came to the details, but did at least confirm that the only connection to the device is WiFi. In theory, any device that supports 802.11 can connect to the drone to send controls to it and, interestingly, download video from the camera on the nose. The first such device is the iPhone and while the reps indicated they aren’t working on apps for any other platforms, they did promise to release all the control libraries to the world, meaning apps can be more easily written for a number of platforms — in theory. But what was it like to fly? Click through to read our impressions.
PosiMotion announces Helix gaming grip for iPhone / iPod touch
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Still not satisfied with any of the with iPhone and iPod touch steering wheel or game controller accessories available these days? Then perhaps PosiMotion’s recently announced Helix gaming grip will be more to your liking — it does promise to be ideal for “virtually any game,” after all. To that end, the Helix is able to accommodate your iPhone or iPod touch in either portrait or landscape mode, and it boasts a “grip-enhancing” soft-touch coating to keep it from slipping from your hands during particularly intense gaming sessions. Still no firm word on a release date just yet, but PosiMotion will gladly take your $20 now and deliver one to you sometime in the Spring.
PSP Digital Comics set to launch in US today
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If you feel like geeking it up (or, as they say back east, “getting your geek on”) there really is no better combination than gaming and comic books — that’s why we’re stoked to hear that the PSP comic store is set to go live at 3:00 PM today. In addition, the European PlayStation blog states that the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa stores should become available at 5PM GMT, while the store in Ireland is being held up due to technical issues. The store boasts “hundreds of new and classic collections,” including your favorites from Marvel, IDW, Titan, iVerse and 2000AD.
Sony considered SSD, network storage for PS3 Slim
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Could the PS3 Slim have been even slimmer? It could have, according to Sony’s Masayuki Chatani, but it would’ve cost you. That word comes from a wide-ranging interview Chatani gave to Tech-On!, in which he revealed (seemingly for the first time) that Sony had considered using SSD drives or even network storage to further reduce the size of the console. SSD drives were ultimately rejected, as you might have guessed, due to cost reasons, and Chatani says that network storage ultimately proved to still be simply too impractical for a game console. He also said that the PS3 could have been made slimmer if Sony had just left the power supply on the outside, but that would have “imposed restrictions on transport and use, making it harder to use freely.” Not a whole lot in the way of big revelations otherwise, but you can check out the complete interview at the link below.
Sony says PS3 motion controller was codenamed ‘Gem,’ might or might not actually be called Gem
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We never heard much more of the rumored Sphere codename for Sony’s PlayStation 3 motion controller since it cropped up a few months ago, but it looks like we now finally have another name for it besides “PlayStation Motion Controller.” That word initially came from EA’s John Riccitiello, who let slip the name “Gem” during his talk at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media Conference when speaking about Sony’s and Microsoft’s new motion controllers. Just odd enough to work? Well, not so fast, as Sony would only go so far as to confirm to Kotaku that Gem was “an early code name for the product,” adding that they “haven’t announced final name at this point.” Not exactly a full-on non-denial denial, to be sure, but it would seem that the door for Gem is at least open a tiny crack.
Sony PSPs enlisted as study aids by the Royal Navy
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Whoever it was at Sony HQ that decided to pursue “military contracts” as a revenue source, kudos! Mere days after the US Air Force expressed interest in expanding its PS3 supercomputer, we’re hearing glorious Britannia’s Royal Navy has conscripted 230 PSPs into duty as revision aids for its trainee sailors. Loaded with maths and physics materials, the PSPs can be used in a bunk, have familiar controls for the young and mostly male recruits, and are considered pretty tough to break. The underlying reason for this move though is cost cutting: by making the training course more intensive, the Navy is saving on teaching time. Given that the UMD drive won’t come disabled — which is hoped to encourage the sailors to take better care of the device — the future this paints is of marines who’ve spent more time with a freebie handheld console than with a pro instructor. At least they’ll have a great stable of captured monsters to show for it.