These aren’t terrorists, they’re electrical engineering students. For their final project they developed a headband and rifle input system for the NES. The controllers send data to a laptop which then maps out the inputs to NES controller commands and sends them to an original NES console, no emulation here.

The controllers in the headband and rifle are Firefly sensor network nodes. Originally, [Kevin] and [Evan] tried using accelerometers for motion information but found the data do be unreliable. After an upgrade to gyroscope modules the interface is much more responsive, as seen about 3:50 into the video after the break. We like seeing motion controller hacks and we appreciate the choice of a classic system (and lesser known game title). This really makes it a whole different game.

http://hackaday.com/2010/06/21/gamin...ory-headbands/ ...

via 1up


We know Little Big Planet 2 will use the Move motion controller when it releases, which sounds perfect for potentially streamlining the level creation process. But speaking to Joystiq, Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans said they'll also release a patch post-launch that'll let players implement Move controls into their levels as well, similar to what was capable with the Sixaxis in the first LBP.

"For us, I think the Direct Control Seat is the obvious answer to how to use Move," Evans said. "So, right now, players can use the Direct Control Seat to decide how the Sixaxis affects your level, and we'd like to do the same thing for the Move. We have something like that internally, but it's not fully built. We're working with another studio to help us prototype out what Move could be, and those levels will be on the disc at launch, to show players what they'll be able to build."

Evans said they'll then release the patch at some point after the game launches to let players create their own Move levels. "The community can choose the mapping, like, I really look forward to, are they going to build cursor-based games, are they going to build gesture-based games? They have the choice eventually, and that's our high bar with Move. We didn't want to set a low bar with it, and tack it on the side. We wanted it to be a fully fledged citizen like the Sixaxis."

Evans didn't say how soon after LBP2's release they plan to issue the patch, but hopefully it won't be too long. LBP2 hits shelves this November. ...

via Eurogamer


The Nintendo 3DS will allow users to copy games to internal memory according to a report in Japanese newspaper Nikkei, translated by Andriasang.

The software install feature will allow 3DS owners to store multiple games on memory rather than having to carry around a lot of cartridges.

Nintendo has come under pressure from third parties to do something about rampant DS piracy.

Yesterday Activision COO Thomas Tippl told GameSpot: "if they also address the piracy issues they have and upgrade the copyright protection system, I think [3DS is] going to be a big success"

Given that a lot of the piracy devices are cartridges that store multiple ROMs on micro-SD cards, perhaps Nintendo has decided that if you can't beat them...


Sounds like a good idea. What do you think? Leave feedback via comments. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Nintendo doesn't need to work on a successor to the Wii right now, company CEO Satoru Iwata has said.

Speaking in an interview with the Beeb, Iwata reiterated that the platform holder won't launch its next console until it's "run out of ideas" for its current hardware, though he admitted that Wii 2 is already in development.
Last week the Nintendo boss told Japanese newspaper, Nihon Keizai Shimbun that Wii 2 will "probably" be 3D. ...

via Joystiq


When we were ripped from the E3 3DS demo units by heartless Nintendo reps, our minds raced to calculate precisely how much we'd be willing to pay to take one home with us. The answer was ... unnerving, to say the least. While we still don't have an official price, we've got a slightly better idea courtesy of a recent VentureBeat interview with Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata.

He says that the handheld will, unsurprisingly, cost more to produce than a DS does today and that it won't be sold below production cost. We don't know the current DS Lite production price, so determining a minimum price from that quote is tricky. But here's a little perspective: The original DS cost $150 at launch, the DS Lite cost $130, a price point it's still doing crazy numbers at four years later. Our gut's saying at least $200 for the 3DS, but we'd be thrilled to be proven wrong ... provided we're overestimating.

Also of interest in the VentureBeat piece: Iwata says that the 3D tech in the system has been prototyped on the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance. Just imagine! There's an alternate reality where the Wii has six dimensions duct-taped together. ...

via 1up




Along with the new Nintendo 3DS system itself, Nintendo has developed new game cards to go along with the system. At the E3 demo booths last week, the game card slots were covered up, according to Kotaku, but we now have a look at both the 3DS' slots and the new 3DS game cards courtesy of esuteru.com.

The cards look mostly the same as the current line of DS cards, but these new ones support a 2GB capacity. And as a result, the slot itself looks mostly identical to those on the current line of DS systems. Nothing particularly exciting, but it's possible the new game cards play some role in Nintendo's increased anti-piracy measures the 3DS is supposed to sport. We can't know for sure, of course, as Nintendo doesn't want to give out any details that might help pirates in trying to circumvent those new anti-piracy measures. ...

via 1up


There wasn't a lot of talk about hardware specifications during Nintendo's media briefing at E3 last week, and while that may have made for a more interesting presentation, it also left us with plenty of unanswered questions about the 3DS.

Japanese tech company Digital Media Professionals cleared up at least one of those mysteries over the weekend by revealing that it will be providing the graphics chip for Nintendo's new handheld. Rumors suggested that nVidia's Tegra processor would sit at the heart of the 3DS, but it turns out DMP's PICA 200 chip will power the glasses-free 3D in Nintendo's device.

Engadget snagged the demonstration video above from DMP's site. They're reporting that the footage was rendered entirely on the PICA 200 -- needless to say, that would be pretty impressive for a handheld.

We've reproduced the full specifications for the PICA 200 below. If you're the sort of person who isn't immediately baffled by the term "gaseous object rendering," then feel free to dissect these stats to your heart's content:

• Frame buffer: Maximum 4095x4095 pixels
• Pixel format: RGBA4444, RGB565, RGBA5551, RGBA8888
• Vertex program (ARB_vertex_program)
• Render to texture
• Mipmap
• Bilinear texture filtering
• Alpha blending
• Full-scene antialiasing (2x2)
• Polygon offset
• 8-bit stencil buffer
• 24-bit depth buffer
• Single/Double/Triple buffer
• Vertex performance: Maximum 15.3M polygons/sec (at 200MHz)
• Pixel performance: Maximum 800M pixels/sec (at 200MHz)
• DMP MAESTRO technology: per-pixel lighting, procedural texture, refraction mapping, subdivision primitive, shadow, gaseous object rendering

...

via Eurogamer


Sony might be banging the 3D drum now, but Kazunori Yamauchi has revealed that Gran Turismo 5 supported 3D two years ago.

"The 3D feature was almost complete two years ago, actually," Yamauchi told the US PlayStation blog. "We could see that it was in that natural flow of technology and where things were heading."

"Discussions with Sony regarding 3D technology began more than three years ago. More recently we have spoken with Evolution Studios, who have put a lot of work into stereoscopic 3D, about things like video formats.

"Because Gran Turismo 5 is built to run at 60 frames per second," he added, "it was easy for us to implement 3D. It's quite difficult to convert a game that runs at 30 frames per second to 3D.”

3D was reported to be one of the features causing the delay to Gran Turismo 5's public release; PlayStation Move was the other. Sony, however, has maintained that Polyphony's perfectionism was the reason the game missed its March 2010 Japan release.

Gran Turismo 5 now finally has a solid 2nd November release date for North America. ...

via Computer and Video Games


InFamous 2 screenshots have arrived, showing off the new look Cole in all his high-definition glory.

The second game takes place after the events of the first, when Cole has left Empire City, got a new look (courtesy of Generation Kill actor Eric Ladin) and is preparing for a battle with an equally powerful foe.

The screens also show Zeke will be a returning character, for some this means some more amusing one-liners but for others, it means more moaning, jealousy and probably some betrayal.


Screenshots here ...