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technology
SOE And Vivox Go Way Beyond In-Game Voice Chat
Anyone who's tried World of Warcraft's crappy built-in voice knows that voice chat isn't something you can implement in a half-assed fashion. Sony Online Entertainment knows this, and they've teamed with communications company Vivox to integrate a suite of voice tools into SOE games that's worth at least three or four whole asses. Along with standard voice chat, the Vivox package includes amazing new features, such as in-game voicemail, built-in, high quality voice masking, multiple voice channels for guild chat, raid chat, etc., all running on Vivox servers so your bandwidth doesn't take a hit. You'll even be able to dial in using your cell phone and a special pin number to get in touch with your guildies while away from the PC! The best part? All of this is completely free - not only for people playing SOE games like EQ2 or the upcoming The Agency, but for anyone who uses the Station launcher, regardless of whether they subscribe to a Sony game or not. Hit the jump for the full details on one of the coolest things SOE has done in years. More »
dev tools
Havok Gets Cracking, Fluttering
clips
VR Head Tracking For The PS3
game design
Science Is Fun! - Physics In Games
Gamasutra has an interesting piece up on the use of physics in games by Pascal Luban, on the current applications, limitations, and future possibilities. It's worth a read through if you're interested in game design, even though physics is one of those things that ought to be invisible. The potential uses are interesting to ponder, and with better technology and some creative designers: More »
weird science
Out Of Body Gaming
Ever have a dream where you are watching yourself in third person? The out of body experience is a well documented phenomenon in the science world, generally associated with trauma or near-death experiences, but now scientists in Sweden and Britain have begun inducing the sensation, and the gaming implications of the technology are intriguing indeed. Here's how it works: Scientists fit a customer with goggles that contain video screens. Two cameras film the subject left and right, feeding the images into the corresponding eyes to create a three dimensional image behind them. The scientists then provide a stimulus...say touching a plastic rod to their chest, while at the same time performing a similar motion to the 3D image. In the UK study, Dr. Henrik Ehrsson reports that 18 of the 19 subjects said they felt as if the 3D image they were watching was the real person. More »
the future of developement
Xbox Live Concept Testing?
Xbox Live is an amazing tool for delivering content and fostering community, but could it be a valuable development tool as well? Evolution Research's Owen Davis certainly thinks so. In an article on industry website Next Generation, Davis explores the potential of Xbox Live as a way to present game concepts to a select target audience using Xbox Live data and delivery systems.Using the Xbox 360 platform it will be possible to target gamers based on behavioral data and distribute alpha and beta game builds to select consoles. Gamers will be able to test these early stage game builds privately in their homes and builds will be rapidly deployed across the network.He also suggests that the Xbox Live Vision Camera could be used to record experiences much like is already done in one on one and group focus testing, only much more efficiently. More »
colors of the wind
The list of developers supporting Phillips' amBX quirky sensory surround technology grows in leaps and bounds as the company announces six new licenses at the Develop Conference in Brighton, UK. Zombie. Riot Games, Brain in a Jar, Invictus Games, Instinct Technology and Gearbox have all signed on to integrate the ambient experiences technology, joining a growing stable of developers that includes big names like Codemasters, THQ, and Kuju. Why are so many game creators jumping onto the amBX bandwagon?"
Six More Developers Adopt amBX
The list of developers supporting Phillips' amBX quirky sensory surround technology grows in leaps and bounds as the company announces six new licenses at the Develop Conference in Brighton, UK. Zombie. Riot Games, Brain in a Jar, Invictus Games, Instinct Technology and Gearbox have all signed on to integrate the ambient experiences technology, joining a growing stable of developers that includes big names like Codemasters, THQ, and Kuju. Why are so many game creators jumping onto the amBX bandwagon?"amBX is a very cool and innovative technology that allows your games to stand out in a very crowded marketplace," commented John E. Williamson, President, Zombie.More »
dry those tears
360 Motion Sensing Arrives, Crickets Sing
Finally, Xbox 360 owners, our day has come. The most shocking drawback of Microsoft's system - aside from the whole dying within minutes of warranty expiration thing - has finally been addressed. Thanks to Talismoon's Tiltboard, 360 users can know that PlayStation 3 owners have known all along... More »
nvidia
NVIDIA Launches New 8 Series Cards
Today NVIDIA has launched their new line of series 8 GPUs, Direct X 10 compatible video cards that up until now have only been represented by the 8800 series of drool worthy but expensive ($300-$500) graphic cards. With the introduction of the 8600 GTS now and the 8600 GT and 8500 GT in early May, NVIDIA now offers Vista solutions at all price ranges, from the under $100 8500 on up. More »
korea
The Sound of Anti-Gaming
When the liminal and supraliminal have failed, there's only one option left. Korean venture start-up Xtive has developed a sound sequence that they say can subliminally cause gamers to stop playing. An inaudible sound sequence that is transmitted 10,000 to 20,000 times a second is their solution to the growing problem of game corruption in Korea, where 10 to 20 percent of teens are considered treatment-level web addicts."Experiences tell us kids or adolescents simply don't stop playing games when faced with forceful measures. Such attempts can also cause many side effects,'' (Xtive president) Yun said. "But our newly developed sound sequence tells them to stop playing on their own. We think this can make a real difference in the war against obsessive game play.''
I suppose when "Get up before you die," doesn't work, more extreme measures are called for. More »
lawsuit
Patent Trolls Attack Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo
Game controllers seem to be lawsuit magnets. First Immersion sues Microsoft and Sony for the use of patented rumble technology, and now a company called Fenner Investments from Texas claims that the aforementioned plus Nintendo have willfully infringed on their controller related patent. The company does indeed hold a patent on a low voltage joystick port similar to what you'd find on the GameCube, Xbox, and PS2, so it should be interesting to see how this all plays out for the big three. More »
top
Virtual Word Teaches Deaf Children Math
A group of computer graphics tech students at Purdue's Envision Center for Data Perceptualizatoin have thrown together a bunch of cool technologies to create a virtual world designed to teach deaf children math. More »
sony
Electrorheological Shock: Sony's New Game Controller?
Gamespot has details on a strange new patent filing that may, or frankly may not, have game controller or console applications. The patent is for "electrorheological fluid device and an electronic apparatus, which realize satisfactorily changeable hardness or tension in a portion of the device or apparatus which a human body touches, enabling application to a product that needs to have portability". More »
hd-dvd
HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Talks Dead
Great news, consumers! With a trompe from a blood red sky, the next VHS/Betamax format war may well be upon us! More »
brain training
Control Video Games... With Your Brain!
"A computer controlled by the power of thought alone has been demonstrated at CEBIT in Germany." Woah. That's the lead-in to Cognitive Labs report on the "mental typewriter" (aka Berlin Brain-Computer Interface), a device that not only makes you look 8000% dorkier, but will let you control your video games and entertainment devices with pure thought. It could also allow the paralyzed control computers and let amputees control artificial limbs, but the real news is that we can finally dump those crappy Wavebirds! More »
mash-up
