Evil Controllers

ThermoGame is what according to reasearchers at the Tokyo Metropolitan University, believes is missing from lava and ice levels of video games. ThermoGame is a video game interaction system that gives off the sensations of hot and cold to the player through their controller. This new technology is based off of French physicist Jean-Charles Peltier’s Peltier effect. He was the one in 1834 who discovered the temperature-changing effects of electrical currents. These heating and cooling devices in the controller are activated during the appropriate levels of fire or ice. The temperature change is only a ten degree difference, but it gives enough of an impact to engage the gamer to be that much more involved in the game. Follow the link below for the article.

http://kotaku.com/5600759/hot-and-cold-running-game-controllers

Every year IGN editors compile a list of the most anticipated games to be released on the upcoming year. With the year more than half way done, and E3 in the past, IGN releases the list. Agree with their picks?

Follow this link.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/110/1106175p1.html

As both Xbox and Playstation’s online multiplayer communities grow, game developers are feeling the pressure to add multiplayer modes to their games. Rockstar left the multiplayer mode off their previous generation games and now feels the need to add extensive online support to this round of games. Some argue the multiplayer modes are superfluous and take away from the single player focus. Others say the multiplayer adds to the life of an only single player game. Most fall somewhere in the middle, and feel that the multiplayer mode is needed and/or used most often depending on the game. Where do you fall? Necessary or wasted resources? Follow the link below for the article.

http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/14/is-multiplayer-a-requirement-for-new-games.aspx

X-Box is without question the most popular video game console, especially now with their recent release of the X-Box Kinect. However, there is one console X-Box/Microsoft has yet to develop in which competitor’s like Nintendo and Sony have already developed and released and that is a Hand-held device. So, Nintendo has released the hand-held device called the Nintendo DS and Sony has released the PSP, both are very popular in terms of portable gaming device. Microsoft has an idea for a hand-held console which will obtain the name of X-Box 180, meaning it is “half of 360.” The portable device Microsoft has in mind will have a large and small screen panel, similar to the DS. Also, it will feature the same colored buttons of yellow, red, green, and blue; the same concept as a 360 controller. The release date or even the creation of the portable device is still up for debate, even more so since the new the 360 has been released. However, X-Box users would definitely love to take their X-box games on the road and in the palm of their hands.

http://xboxfreedom.com/xbox-360-handheld-concept/

Different countries and cultures have different values and different ways to express them. This can be seen very easily in different games. Besides what country develops the game, different countries hold to their own values and their likes within their games. Football and first person shooting games such as Madden and Call of Duty are huge in the United States and what could be more American than football and guns? Japanese games have their own distinctive artistic style. British games such as Grand Theft Auto focus on British wit. This generalization doesn’t hold true to all, but it is definitely something to think about next time you’re choosing your game. Follow the below link over to Kotaku for the article.

http://kotaku.com/5579665/what-makes-american-games-american

CONVENIENT TECHNOLOGY FOR THOSE AA BATTERIES, PLUS AND MINUS SIGNS BE GONE

The plus and minus signs on a standard battery are not the easiest things to read and can be the one reason why are controllers or remotes aren’t working, but we never think that something as simple as putting the batteries in a different way could be the culprit to our problems. Microsoft however has now come up with a solution called InstaLoad. This new technology allows you to put the batteries in whichever way that you happen to place them and yet they still work. This could be especially convenient for gamers if Microsoft decides to use InstaLoad in the Xbox 360 controllers which has not yet been said if it will be or not, but we will keep our fingers crossed. Follow the link below for the article.

http://kotaku.com/5578462/microsoft-solves-backwards-battery-problem

Extending the Halo trilogy was considered, but did not prevail. Bungie’s writers thought about it since the ending of Halo 3 left an opening for an extension, but in the end the idea didn’t make it past pre-production. Bungie’s Brian Jarrard explains it wasn’t in their best interest to continue on. So they are leaving it as the Halo trilogy instead of opening new doors and carrying the baggage of continuing on. Follow the link below to the article..

http://kotaku.com/5573554/bungie-briefly-considered-a-halo-4-with-master-chief

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