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by Published on May 7th, 2012 00:28- Categories:
- Wii U News
Ubisoft and Nintendo would doubtless prefer that one of the biggest news stories of the week never happened. The release of gameplay video showing off the forthcoming Rayman Legends apparently running on Wii U revealed some great stuff: superbly animated 2D visuals spliced expertly with polygon 3D elements, topped off nicely with beautiful cartoon animation and some lovely dynamic lighting. Not only that but we also were treated to a preview of one of Wii U's new features: the tablet controller's Near Field Communication (NFC) wireless tech.Some say that it was a canny move by Ubi in generating terrific buzz for a title which performed badly last time around - despite Rayman Origins being an excellent release. Others saw the exciting video as a strategically leaked hors d'oeuvre for the Wii U loveliness to come next month at the E3 games convention. In reality, the combination of pre-production controllers and music lifted from the Back to the Future and How to Train Your Dragon movie soundtracks all but confirms that it was indeed an internal Ubisoft presentation that was never meant to see the light of day.And unfortunately, the gameplay footage we did see gives away very well little about the Wii U's hotly contested "next-gen" credentials, which have dominated headlines recently. Does the Wii U's graphics tech disappoint compared to the Xbox 360? Or, as developers likeGearbox have suggested, does the new hardware allow for improved versions of multi-platform titles?On the face of it, Wii U's capabilities are fairly self-evident. We've seen Nintendo's game demos, we've seen their tech presentations - from a graphics perspective, this is PS3/360 stuff. Perhaps more obviously, it is telling that company has made no effort whatsoever to suggest that Wii U offers next-generation rendering in any of its marketing - something that would surely be a major selling point that the company would want to get across to the core audience. Yet rumours appear suggesting that Wii U will be twice as powerful as Xbox 360.The existing body of evidence suggests it won't be (though this particular claim is somewhat lacking in context - 2x what, exactly?) but there's a strong possibility that individual components could see an impressive boost over what is found in current-gen consoles. Similarly, other elements may fall a little short. There's no reason why both the anonymous briefings on the machine's deficiencies and the on-the-record statements can't be equally true. So what exactly should we expect from this year's next-gen entrant?..."Does Wii U graphic tech fall short of the Xbox 360 as rumours have stated? Or can the console exceed current gen performance? In different applications, both situations could be true."
Nintendo doesn't typically talk specs, but the combination of official information released thus far plus a basic knowledge of existing hardware production infrastructure can give us a pretty good idea. Consoles are not built in a vacuum - their parts are fabricated by companies whose facilities and outputs are a matter of public record.Processing power is driven by Moore's Law, which is typically a factor of the amount of transistors you can cram onto a piece of silicon. The current-gen consoles launched at 90nm (a state-of-the-art fabrication process at the time) and have gradually transitioned to 45nm, being refitted into smaller cases in the process. Nintendo has already revealed that its IBM Power7-derived CPU runs at the same fabrication process as the current PS3 and Xbox 360, and the worldwide shortages in "next-gen" 28nm production suggest that the Wii U's AMD Radeon graphics chip will also be produced at 40nm/45nm - it's the only way to create millions of viable chips in time for a 2012 release, and also opens the opportunity for a die-shrunk cheaper unit to be put into production sooner rather than later.Combine the realities of chip production with the miniscule dimensions of the Wii U casing (172mm x 45mm x 267mm according to Nintendo's E3 PR - a bit bigger than a current Wii) and we're looking very much at current gen ballpark power - a true "next-gen" upgrade over the current Xbox would be extremely challenging to cool in a box that's so tiny compared even to the slim versions of the PS3 and 360.Efficiencies in design can make a difference, of course. The Xbox 360 CPU is clocked at 3.2GHz for example, but by Microsoft's own estimates, most games only process around 0.2 instructions per clock - suggesting it's a somewhat poor design that can be improved. GPU design is set to change somewhat going forward with more efficiency in mind (something we've seen with NVIDIA's Kepler tech) but to date, graphics power has been driven very much by Moore's Law, which combined with the rest of the available information suggests that Wii U GPU processing will be very much in the ballpark of the Xbox 360 and PS3.Some have interpreted the "re-introduction" of the Wii U at this year's E3 as a showcase for a revised spec, withby Published on May 7th, 2012 00:26- Categories:
- Retro Consoles/Translation News
Despite the interactive entertainment industry's manic obsession with relentless technological progress, improved audio visual capability and cutting-edge artificial intelligence, the enduring popularity of vintage software proves that good old-fashioned gameplay remains the biggest draw for most players. All three current console manufacturers offer the ability to digitally download past classics to their systems, and on the PC, retro enthusiasts are ably served by the likes of Steam and GOG. Clearly, all the deferred rendering, anisotropic filtering and bump mapping in the world can't change the fact that good games never die, they just mature....
While it's unquestionably a positive thing that modern-day players have access to such a wide range of retro titles through current-generation hardware, there's a definite buzz to playing on the original systems. The unmistakable feel of the authentic joypad, the sound of a cartridge clicking home and the strangely addictive pleasure of sourcing games in their original packaging - all of these elements drive a retro gaming industry which is worth millions worldwide, and shows no signs of flagging.
Many collectors do it for the love of the systems; they might have owned a particular console when they were younger, and now that they possess a large disposable income wish to revisit their misspent youth and attempt to replicate the thrill they got when they saw Street Fighter II running for the first time on a Super Nintendo. Younger collectors don't have that nostalgic link, yet the high esteem in which some of these ground-breaking machines are held means that even those who weren't even born during the original release period still crave a piece of history.
Below is a selection of some of the world's most popular and collectible vintage gaming machines, some of which you'll no doubt be familiar with, others possibly less so. Regardless of whether or not you recognise the name or can recall when you last booted one up, each of these platforms is well worth reassessing from a modern perspective.
The RPG King: Super Nintendo
Nintendo faced a stern challenge when it came to creating the successor for its 8-bit NES, but the Super Nintendo did not disappoint. Launched as the Super Famicom in Japan, there were reports of buyers being mugged for their newly-acquired consoles, such was the unprecedented demand.
"While heavily criticized for its seemingly slow processor, the Super Nintendo quickly became the system of choice for some of the best platformers and shoot 'em ups to come out of the 16-bit generation," explains Nintendo Life's Corbie Dillard. "It didn't hurt that the system was packaged with what is still one of the greatest Super Mario titles ever crafted."
Nintendo enjoyed what was arguably its golden era with this console, producing some brilliant titles. To supplement games like F-Zero, Super Metroid, Yoshi's Island and Pilotwings, the SNES was ably supported by every developer worth their salt, with the likes of Konami, Capcom, Square, Irem, Hudson, Taito, Koei and Enix all throwing their weight behind the machine. The list of third-party must-have titles is exhaustive: Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, Cybernator, Parodius, Super Castlevania IV and Axelay - amongst many, many others - proving to be solid gold slices of interactive brilliance. However, it's for its services to the RPG genre that the SNES is possibly best remembered.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df...llectors-guide
by Published on May 6th, 2012 23:59- Categories:
- PC News
For the lucky few who have a Raspberry Pi board in their hands, you can now use the GPIO pins as a web interface (German, google translation). [Chris] is turning this magical board is turning a small device that can play 1080p video into something that can blink LEDs via the web.
The build started with an example of driving GPIO pins under Linux. [Chris] cobbled together a bit of PHP and Javascript on the Raspberry pi. Whenever he goes to the website hosted on the Pi, he’s greeted with the status and direction of a couple of expansion IO pins.
On a semi-related note, [Tony] is building a GPIO MIDI interface for his Pi. Yes, he could just get a USB to MIDI adapter and call it a day, but this is a far more professional looking solution to all the MIDI goodness the RasPi will deliver. If you’ve got any info on other RasPi breakout boards you’ve seen, send them in on the tip line.
http://hackaday.com/2012/05/05/contr...web-interface/ ...by Published on May 6th, 2012 23:56- Categories:
- PC News
Since the Arduino was launched years ago, many ‘shields’ or add-on boards providing additional functionality have been released. There are hundreds of different shields, from video capture shields to touch screen shields. Now that the Raspberry Pi is out in the wild, it was only a matter of time before a RasPi to Arduino shield bridge was created.
[Omer] calls his bridge ‘Ponte’ and it allows Arduino shields to be used with the incredible horsepower of an embedded Linux system. While [Omer] originally expected to write the RasPi to Arduino software converter himself, but foundWiringPi halfway through the build. Of course this build comes just a day after we saw a tutorial on controlling the GPIO pins on the RasPi, and we expect to see similar GPIO-hacking builds in the future.
Right now, the Ponte only supports Arduino Uno-sized shield, so the possibility of an all-in-one RepRap controller using the RAMPS motor driver is impossible for now. We expect that to change very quickly as more people get their RasPis delivered.
http://hackaday.com/2012/05/06/using...-raspberry-pi/ ...by Published on May 6th, 2012 23:54- Categories:
- Apple iPhone
Sprint Nextel's $15.5 billion gamble on Apple's iPhone will apparently lighten CEO Dan Hesse's proverbial wallet by $3.25 million this year. That's how much compensation Hesse agreed to give back to help placate investors unhappy about the high cost of the company's iPhone deal. Securing the iPhone has already paid dividends for Sprint in terms of sales. The company sold 1.5 million iPhones in the first quarter while posting a net subscriber growth of 263,000. That didn't stop Sprint from posting an $863 million net loss during the same period, however, causing some investors to grumble about the cost of subsidizing Apple's phone. The subsidy Sprint pays for each iPhone is 40 percent higher -- about $200 -- than what the company pays for other competing devices. Don't feel too bad for Hesse, though. Apparently, the financial gesture basically brings back his "compensation target opportunities" to 2010 levels.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/05/s...one-deal-cost/ ...by Published on May 6th, 2012 23:49- Categories:
- Android News
No, that's not a QWERTY feature phone you're looking at -- it's Google's earliest Android development device, the Sooner. While the HTC-sourced phone itself hasn't been a secret, the build of Android on this particular specimen, obtained by Steven Troughton-Smith, is something few eyes outside of Mountain View have seen. As Mr. Smith notes, this isn't the first public build of Android that was detailed in November 2007 (M3), but rather an earlier version from May of that same year. The non-touch UI is almost totally unlike what eventually shipped with the touch-friendly HTC Dream, aside from obviously housing Android's basic framework and apps including G Talk and the like. We won't spoil it for you, though, so hit up the source link below to see Smith's full walkthrough and analysis of the device that once served as the initial development vehicle for Android.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/06/e...sooner-pre-m3/ ...by Published on May 5th, 2012 21:44- Categories:
- Xbox 360 News
If you’re learning how to play a musical instrument, shoot hoops, or even learning exactly how hard making a golf ball fly really is, here’s one for you. It’s a .
[Rajinder], [Hrvoje], and [Andrew] at UIUC and Microsoft Research figured out a great way to improve the fine motor skills required of sports and musical instruments. Basically, they took a Kinect and tracked a user’s hand in 3D space. Small visual cues like an arrow and colored pixels are projected onto the hand to provide visual feedback. The guys wrote a great paper on their work, and from the results test subjects’ hand movements greatly improved after a bit of training.
While the uses for this hack is obvious for playing a cello or weight training, there’s no mention of using this project for physical therapy. We could certainly see the benefits of this project being used for rehabilitation.
http://hackaday.com/2012/05/05/teach...with-a-kinect/ ...by Published on May 5th, 2012 21:36- Categories:
- PC News
If you have to issue an explanation to follow up an explanation, then it's pretty safe to say the first one wasn't clear enough, and it's under those circumstances that Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky and theWindows 8 team are returning to the subject of Media Center and DVD movie support. After addressing both a few days ago, the internet backlash was (predictably) quick to finding out that Media Center would be available only as an upgrade to the Pro version of the OS, and that without it Windows wouldn't natively play DVDs. What many may not know however, and the new FAQ points out, is that this is not an entirely new thing -- Windows XP did not have support outside of specialized editions or add-ons, several versions of Vista did not play DVDs and on Windows 7 the Basic and Starter editions lacked the add-on. Of course, for most users this doesn't matter in the least since brand new PCs tend to ship with third party software to play DVDs (or Blu-ray movies where applicable, which no version of Windowshas or will natively support). Answering the question we had of what this means for users upgrading their own computers, they'll either need to see if they have existing third party software to play DVDs that is compatible with Windows 8, or acquire Media Center post-upgrade.
With the new trend of discless devices (tablets, netbooks, ultrabooks and all in between) Microsoft saves a few bucks on the licensing costs for unsupported technology, while it and OEMs only pay up on computers designed to play DVDs out of the box (Dolby and MPEG codecs for online video streaming are included in all versions). This same theory applies to Media Center, which despite some rumors will continue to support CableCARD and all other hardware supported by Windows 7, with its cost "essentially built into Pro Pack". How annoying this particular decision by Microsoft is and if it precludes fans of DVD playback and Media Center from upgrading to what is a "much consistent experience" will be clearer once pricing is revealed, but we'd suggest the team stay close to that blog post button.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/05/w...blu-ray-dolby/ ...by Published on May 5th, 2012 21:30- Categories:
- Android News
Those with Android 4.0 phones like the HTC One X have been left out of watching HBO Go and Max Goon the road so far. New updates to the respective mobile apps take care of that: either premium channel will now stream directly to a phone running Google's latest OS (assuming you're subscribed to pay-TV, that is). Speed-ups and bug fixes are in the upgrades, too. Oddly, Android 4.0 tablets have yet to make the leap, ruling out your Transformer Pad TF300 for catching up on episodes of True Blood.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/05/h...phone-support/ ...by Published on May 5th, 2012 21:24- Categories:
- Apple iPad
Apple has quietly replaced the iPad 2's A5 with a smaller 32nm die that increases battery life by 15 to 30%. It's theorized that Apple is using the iPad 2 as a test bed for the new hardware platform, which shrinks the surface area of the A5 to 57% of the previous size."
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/0...d-2s-processor ...- Search DCEmu
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