First Aftermarket Wii Remote With Built-In Motion Plus
European video game accessory manufacturer Sunflex has announced today that it is the first company to produce an aftermarket Wii remote containing its own built-in Motion Plus device (aftermarket of course).
The Snakebyte XL+ series of remotes build upon the existing Snakebyte-brand remotes released last year and contain built-in batteries which can be recharged directly via a USB port. As a result, the Sync button, normally hidden inside the battery compartment of official Nintendo-brand Wii remotes, is now conveniently placed on the front of the Snakebyte XL+ remote.
The third-party remote still requires calibration when using Motion Plus-enabled games though as Motion Plus is itself a gyro sensor.
In addition, the company is also releasing a separate Motion Plus knockoff and wireless nunchuck combo.
As first-party nunchucks are wired directly to the Wii remote for power and communication, you wonder how the Snakebyte nunchuck manages to communicate with the Wii remote. That’s where the Motion Plus knockoff comes in. Sunflex’s own brand of Motion Plus doubles as a wireless receiver so that it can communicate with the nunchuck. The accessory package, dubbed Motion XL+, can be used with official Wii remotes as a substitute for Nintendo’s own first-party Motion Plus accessory.
Snakebyte XL+ will be available in Europe starting January 15, 2010 for a price of 49.99€. Motion XL+ will be available the same day for 29.99€. If you’re interested in either of these products, you can order them directly from the Snakebyte website at http://www.snakebyte-europe.com/shop.
Logitech Announces More Music Controllers to Help you Beat The Beatles.
Logitech has long been the premiere maker of premium gaming hardware. We don’t feel it compromises our objectivity at all to point out that their products are reliable, have great build quality, and usually exhibit design and feature innovations that are well thought out.
Their marketing team seems to have things well planned out too as they are announcing today - on the heals of the mega-hyped release of The Beatles: Rock Band - that they are expanding their line of instrument-inspired music game controllers. If our memories serve us correctly, they first broke into this particular pocket of peripherals with their guitars for the PS3 and later the Xbox 360. [Unless you count the relatively simple USB microphones for the PS2 and Wii. - Editor] It was well received by most critics and, while we didn’t get a chance to officially review it ourselves, the time we had spent with it left us very impressed as well. Next came a PS3 drum set that, while a bit out of the average joe’s price range ($230), was head and shoulders above the Guitar Hero and Rock Band standard sets in terms of both quality and innovation.
The new controllers expand the success of the originals onto the Wii with a wireless guitar and drum set, and finally a wireless drum set for the 360. We haven’t put our own hands on them yet, but we’ll be very surprised if they don’t have the same production quality of the original PS3 versions. Also, the press release already confirms that the drum sets for both the Xbox 360 and Wii versions will have the fantastic space-saving ability to fold up for easy storage. We hope to bring you more details as well as our own in-depth review of the units by the time they begin shipping in October. Until then you can read the rest of the features from the official press release below and see more shots of them in the linked galleries.
Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller for Wii
The Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller for Wii features a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and metal frets. So you’ll look good while you shred, the new Wireless Guitar Controller presents a dazzling white finish with a glossy-black pick guard on a one-piece contoured wood body.
The noise dampening design of the strum bar and fret buttons minimizes audio distraction, and lets you focus in on the music. The guitar controller also incorporates a touch-sensitive slider on the fret board (located on the neck) to help you rack up the points by tapping notes.Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for Wii
The Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for Wii features three fully adjustable drum pads and two cymbal pads. Each piece can be positioned to fit your reach and suit your style – and the quiet and responsive drum pads deliver a lively feel that won’t distract you from the music.For better gameplay, the Logitech Wireless Drum Controller uses a recessed-rim design that helps make it easier to score points and avoid accidental rim shots. The kick pedal uses a stainless steel surface and an adjustable spring – providing a highly durable, responsive drumming experience.
When you’re ready to play, the Logitech Wireless Drum Controller sets up quickly and folds flat in seconds. You can start playing within minutes of opening the box and when the show is over, the set can be easily stowed away.
Both the Guitar Controller and Drum Controller are licensed for Wii so setup is a cinch – your Wii Remote™ snaps into the controllers, and both products feature an analog stick for navigating menus.
We’ve included the copy for the 360 version of the drum set below, even though it is nearly identical:
Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for Xbox 360
The Logitech Wireless Drum Controller features three fully adjustable drum pads and two cymbal pads. Each piece can be positioned to fit your reach and suit your style – and the quiet and responsive drum pads deliver a lively feel that won’t distract you from the music. For better gameplay, the premium drum controller uses a recessed-rim design that makes it easier to score points and avoid accidental rim shots. The kick pedal uses a stainless steel surface and an adjustable spring – providing a highly durable, responsive drumming experience. It’s also licensed for Xbox 360, so setup is a cinch.
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech
There are two ways to get a slice of the delicious Nintendo money pie: (1) Release a collection of mini-games for the Wii (look for Non-Denominational Church Carnival Games coming from Joystiq Publishing in Q3 2009!); or (2) Sue Nintendo. This road less traveled (option 2) has just been taken by Wall Wireless LLC of Plano, Texas, which is also suing Sony and Nokia for allegedly infringing on its patent for “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet.”
Perhaps following the advice of some inspirational kitty poster, Wall Wireless refuses to limit its potential by naming an actual figure it’s suing for; instead asking for “no less than a reasonable royalty.” Good luck with the settlement, fellas!
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech
There are two ways to get a slice of the delicious Nintendo money pie: (1) Release a collection of mini-games for the Wii (look for Non-Denominational Church Carnival Games coming from Joystiq Publishing in Q3 2009!); or (2) Sue Nintendo. This road less traveled (option 2) has just been taken by Wall Wireless LLC of Plano, Texas, which is also suing Sony and Nokia for allegedly infringing on its patent for “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet.”
Perhaps following the advice of some inspirational kitty poster, Wall Wireless refuses to limit its potential by naming an actual figure it’s suing for; instead asking for “no less than a reasonable royalty.” Good luck with the settlement, fellas!
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech
There are two ways to get a slice of the delicious Nintendo money pie: (1) Release a collection of mini-games for the Wii (look for Non-Denominational Church Carnival Games coming from Joystiq Publishing in Q3 2009!); or (2) Sue Nintendo. This road less traveled (option 2) has just been taken by Wall Wireless LLC of Plano, Texas, which is also suing Sony and Nokia for allegedly infringing on its patent for “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet.”
Perhaps following the advice of some inspirational kitty poster, Wall Wireless refuses to limit its potential by naming an actual figure it’s suing for; instead asking for “no less than a reasonable royalty.” Good luck with the settlement, fellas!
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech
There are two ways to get a slice of the delicious Nintendo money pie: (1) Release a collection of mini-games for the Wii (look for Non-Denominational Church Carnival Games coming from Joystiq Publishing in Q3 2009!); or (2) Sue Nintendo. This road less traveled (option 2) has just been taken by Wall Wireless LLC of Plano, Texas, which is also suing Sony and Nokia for allegedly infringing on its patent for “Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet.”
Perhaps following the advice of some inspirational kitty poster, Wall Wireless refuses to limit its potential by naming an actual figure it’s suing for; instead asking for “no less than a reasonable royalty.” Good luck with the settlement, fellas!
Sony and Nintendo sued for wireless tech originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Gamers would welcome in-game ad exposure for cheaper games
A study conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates found that gamers are willing to welcome in-game ad exposure in exchange for price cuts in games. We’ve already seen a lot of these in games, especially sportswear in titles such as NBA Live.
Gamers were found to be receptive to the idea. After all, 60 bucks take a lot of wind from your gaming sails. In fact, only 20 said that they would be less likely to purchase a game at half the price but with more ads. 31 said it won’t make a difference. 15 said they’d be much more likely to do so, while 28 said they’d be somewhat likely.
Even more gamers showed favor for the idea if the games were free, but bombarded with ads. 29 were “much more likely” and 24 were “somewhat likely.” Again, quite a large group (25 ) said it won’t matter, and only 15 said it would make purchases less likely.
I really won’t mind seeing a Starbucks shop on every block in GTA if the price would be halved. I would even think it adds realism to the game. Heck, it’d even be funny if Coca Cola asks Niko Bellic to smoke a Pepsi guy, then you get a Coke Trophy. I won’t mind Snake wearing a McDonald’s camo (if it can be called a camo at all), either.
But for pete’s sake, publishers shouldn’t go as far as Tekken moves being called “Quaker Oats cholesterol-free stomp” or RPGs getting Coca-Cola Swords, Jolly Rancher fruit bombs, and especially Verizon Wireless Fireballs. Hell no. A LittleBigMac is out of the question.
Amount of ads vs. game pricing should be balanced. Publishers would do well to regulate ad volume and appropriateness when it comes to advertising. There are also times when we’d rather pay to get those ads off. Tastefulness and moderation is key.
Related articles:
- The politics of in-game advertisements
- Sony to open up PS3, in-game ads coming to PS3 games
- Nolan Bushnell says typical in-game ads do not work
PSP Homebrew - TVSP 0.3b
There’s a new release for P86 Team’s TVSP (thanks to ardatan’s post on our forums) now bumping it up to v0.3b. You’ll be glad to know that this one’s finally been tweaked to handle PSP slim support, WPA support, sport a new interface, and have speed improvements.
Do note that instead of the Location Free Player, you’ll need the following:
- Wireless Mode
- PSP (of course)
- PC with TV Card
As for the bugs:
- still no sound
- no widescreen
- Network Connection dialog has some problems
Instruction:
- First of all;TVSP folder goes to PSP/GAME folder…
- Secondly, you should install DScaler(In the PC Folder)..
- Thirdly, copy DI_Evenonly.dll into C: Program Files DScaler folder…
- Forthly, Set BTCard->PixelWidth->320… Program may crash. Restart…
- Fifthly, Choose Deinterlace>Even Scanlines Only…
- Finally, In PSP/GAME/TVSP folder, you see TVSP.ini. Open it and
- change it to your local IP Address…
As an additional note, ardatan also says:
We’re planning to add it MMS Stream (PC -> PSP like VLC) support.. But we should write a new code… Because DScaler sucks.. I think VLC is best. Note for developers: This program uses 8888 port… and uses JPEG compression… If you make a JPEG streaming server, you can use it with this program..
Download: TVSP v0.3b
Discuss: QJ.NET’s PSP Development Forums
Sony on Firmware, the PS3, and the PSP
Since the release of Firmware 5.0 for the PSP and 2.5 for the PS3, gamers got the much needed boost in the use of their platforms. Munechika Nishida, a well-connected technology writer, managed to speak with Naoya Matsui, Koujiro Umemura, Masaki Takase, and Shinji Noda from Sony Computer Entertainment about the upcoming firmware for PSP and PS3.
Sony has actually been working on Flash 9 support for some time now. This has been a heavily requested feature, said Matsui, more particularly for Japan users who wish to watch vids from Nico Nico Video, a Japanese version of YouTube. To do this, Sony customized a separate Flash implementation provided by Adobe.
According to Takase, to run Flash-based playback for H.264 videos requires the use of an SPU. This separates web page loading from video playback, giving users improved frame rate.
The PSP, however, will not be getting Flash 9 support just yet. Noda explained that the PSP is extremely resource limited. Getting the full-screen keyboard to run is already hard enough. Noda also points out that it would be impossible to run the full-screen output of the PSP on TV sets unless you have hardware support.
In the meantime, Sony engineers are working on a future firmware update for the PSP to add video capture support, in addition to the screen capture support that it already has.
Unfortunately, owners of the early 20GB PS3 will have something to rant about. Sony’s Ad-Hoc Party initiative will not be supported by the old system. Umemura explains that it would be difficult at present to allow 20GB owners to simply attach a wireless LAN adapter via USB and use the service. Boo.
Related articles:
More PSP FW 5.00, PS3 FW 2.50 features surface: PSP TV-out feature expanded, PS3 gets Flash 9 UPDATE
Article originally posted Oct 01, 2008 at 09:43AM
New information about the upcoming firmwares for the PS3 and PSP have surfaced. Well, when Eric Lempel revealed the list of features for PS3 FW 2.50 and PSP FW 5.00 yesterday, he did say it wasn’t the entire changelog.
See, just earlier, Sony’s sent an official press release outlining pretty much everything that Lempel said yesterday: PSP gets the PSP Store, a sleep timer option, redesigned XMB, and an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. But here’s something new, right off the press line:
- Video-out The PSP-2000 s video-out feature will be able to display classic PlayStation format titles at the full-screen size of the TV that the PSP is connected to; the feature also will support interlace displays.
[insert wide grin here]
Meanwhile, on top of in-game screen capture, bluetooth headset support, and other cool changes, the PS3 FW 2.50 will also carry some other features which weren’t included in Lempel’s list. From the same press release we have this (thanks to FreePlay for catching this bit):
- Information Board The Information Board will be able to include direct links to PlayStation Store, making it easier for PS3 owners to download content that they read about on the Information Board.
Also, via Eurogamer, we now learn that the new firmware will introduce Flash 9 support on the PS3’s web browser. EXIF (exchangeable image file format) information will now also be visible in photos, and the German on-screen keyboard will get some remapping with its Y, Z, Q, and A keys.
UPDATE
PS3 Firmware 2.50 is now available for downloading, folks. You can check out the changelog once you start the download. You can also hit the link below for more info on it.
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