PSP Phone Leaked

I may be the only person that feels this way, but I'm starting to get sick of these Sony "leaks". I'm even starting to think that they are leaking the pictures themselves. Either way, take a look at the photos and let me know what you think. Let's hope Sony throws us a bone at CES. Enjoy.





-BC-

OnLive Teams With Vizio

OnLive, the provider of streaming video games and content, has now teamed with Vizio to provide their service on the upcoming Via TV and Vizio blu ray players. Along with this announcement, online is also offering a steep discount on their existing equipment. Originally priced at $99, the OnLive game system and controller has been discounted to $66.

Alright, now for my $.02. The buzz word in the past three years has been "digital distribution" of games. Although I believe we are probably another few years from this being a reality in the concole world, streaming games could be a viable interim step. The problem is that hardcore gamers will never replace their console with streaming content. Couple this with the fact that OnLive exclusively targets adult gamers and I see little reason to be optimistic. Will the Vizio partnership increase OnLive Subscribers? Yes. Will it be enough to significantly grow market share? Absolutely not.

-BC-

5 Kinect Hacks That Will Blow Your Mind

It was only a matter of time before the Kinect was hacked, the only surprise is that it came within the first week of the hardware being available. I scoured the Internet looking for the most unique, innovative, and bad ass hacks to date. Enjoy.

3D: This is the first major hack that was publicly announced. Essentially, the hacker is using the Kinect to create a true three dimensional image of his body and objects in the room. There are certainly some problems with the technology (shadows, etc), but its proof that the Kinect is capable of some pretty fantastic stuff.



Super Mario: Classic Super Mario played using motion controls. Enough said.



3D Tetris: This is probably my favorite hack only because I see this technology being used in future first/third person shooters. Imagine being able to peek around corners or over objects. Epic, if you are listening, lets get a little crazy and make this an optional control layout for Gears 3.



Digital Camouflage: Not sure how this would work in a game, but it sure does look cool.



Minority Report: Last but certainly not least is "Minority Report" controls. The user in the video seems to be wearing something on his hands that enables finger tracking. The most surprising part of the video is seeing just how accurate the Kinect can be.



Let's hope that some of these ideas begin to be incorporated into future Kinect titles.

-BC-

PS3 Move vs. Xbox Kinect

It's been difficult telling which console is winning the next gen battle of motion gaming ever since the NPD Group stopped publishing sales figures. Although a small sample size, I may have found my answer during a recent trip to Fry's (electronics store).

On my way to the checkout, I began noticing a crowd form in front of a large flatscreen TV near the video game department. Being the overly-curious guy that I am, I made a quick detour to see what all of the fuss was about. What I found was two young girls having a dance battle in Dance Central. People of all ages and demographics were mesmerized, not wanting to take their eyes off the action.

Xbox Kinect


Once I made my way through the crowd, I ran into the PS3 Move booth where two lonely people were trying to play a game. No crowd, no excitement, and probably nothing being sold.

PS3 Move


It seems as if the Kinect has landed the first punch but the fight has just begun. Will the Move have a must-have game in 2011 that pulls some market share away from the Kinect? Only time will tell.

-BC-

Gears of War Ultimate?

According to multiple news sources, Gamestop recently had a posting for something called "Gears of War Ultimate" priced at $29.99 with a scheduled release date of February 15th, 2011. When asked, Microsoft confirmed the existence of GoW Ultimate but would not provide additional information.

Could this be the often rumored Gears of War Kinect title? Could it be a significant expansion on Gears 2? I'd put my money on a bundle that includes Gears 1, Gears 2, and some DLC.

Stay tuned for more information.

-BC-

Gettin Jiggy With Dance Central

I'm almost a little embarrassed to write this, almost. I received Dance Central from my mother-in-law for Christmas and was pretty excited to give it a try. Now let me make myself clear; I do not dance. Sure, I may have won a dance competition but that was nearly a decade ago, in Mexico, and I was competing mostly against adults over the age of fifty. The thought of dancing in my house where no one is watching is much more attractive than being "that guy" at a club.

The very first song I "danced" to was Poker Face by Lady Gaga. The dance moves were pretty basic while also being fun. Over the next few days my wife and I enjoyed the game quite a bit but only recently have I discovered the best part of the game; unintentional comedy. "What's that" you ask? Let me explain.

Two out-of-town friends are visiting for new years and tried Dance Central for the first time. What happened next was comedy gold. Ben, who is one of the funniest guys that I know, was performing a song and decided to freestyle. What you are about to see may just be the next big dance craze...



Big thanks to Ben for letting me post this video. Check back soon for more Dance Central and Kinect Adventures videos and hopefully more unintentional comedy!

-BC-

PSP 2 Mock Up...Could This be the Real Deal?

Recently published were these supposed mock-up PSP 2 photos based on a development kit received by VG247 some weeks back.







Not sure what to think about this - it follows suit with the design direction of the PSP Go, however, there seems to be quite a few technical changes.

Dual analog sticks: It would be a huge miss for any next generation hand held to not include dual analog sticks so I'm glad to see that the PSP 2 seems to have them. I'm a bit disappointed to see that they are the same slide pads that we've seen for years and that people have been complaining about since the system launched. The slide pads simply aren't as accurate as the traditional analog stick.

Recessed buttons: This is my first concern. There has never been a hand held , or controller for that matter, with recessed buttons. This was probably done in order to maintain the slim form factor of the device, but this leaves me skeptical. My main concern is that a recessed d-pad and limited space could make fighting games more difficult to play.

Large screen: Not much to say here without seeing the screen specifications but I'm hoping they move toward the brighter LED technology in order to compete with the Apple devices.

Forward facing camera: It looks like there is a small forward facing camera on the right of the unit. This may not be necessary for the majority of games but does bring multi-media capabilities.

Rear facing (multi?) touch panel: Not sure how this would be used - there doesn't seem to be a rear screen to compliment the touch pad. It's possible, although a long shot, that this could be used when connecting the device to a PS3. Think about using a touch pad for browser navigation, in-game inventory management, or menu navigation. There are some big possibilities here.

Rear facing camera: Another nice touch providing for plenty of future capabilities. This seems to once again point towards social and multiple-media applications.

Overall impressions: Based on the limited information I have, the much rumored PSP 2 is really starting to shape up nicely. Overall, I like the design quite a bit and see lots of potential. I'm certainly looking forward to learning more about the touch pad and most importantly, technical and processor specs.

-BC-