Posts Tagged ‘Gaming’
Peripherals that changed gaming
September 8th, 2009 | 
Author: This week marks the latest release in the Rock Band series (see our hands-on). It features one of the biggest names in music–The Beatles. It also features pack-in instruments that continue to look more and more like their real-life counterparts.
Rock Band was definitely not the first video game to necessitate special hardware, nor will it be the last. Below we’ve put together a list of some of the most innovative peripherals and hardware that have helped change the way we play games. Some went on to become big, while others failed or were martyrs to future incarnations that proved successful.
In creating this roundup, one thing became clear: Nintendo’s made great efforts to bring new ideas to the table every few years. And in that process, the Wii has proven to be one of the company’s great successes. But there were also failures along the way. Those, along with winners from Nintendo’s competitors and third parties, are all chronicled.
Disclaimer: This list is, of course, neither completely comprehensive nor as far reaching as it could be, but (we think) it does a pretty good job at painting a picture of how far gaming peripherals have come. Feel free to add your own favorites, or ones we missed in the comments.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Tetris is good for the brain, study claims
I met a perfectly lovely young woman this weekend who told me that when she was a teenager she took Ecstasy, snorted coke, and inhaled pot as if it were dim sum on a Sunday morning.
So I found myself relieved beyond the effects of a hot stone massage to discover that research on teenage girls has shown that when they play Tetris it has a wonderfully positive effect on their brains.
The Mind Research Network, which appears to be a nonprofit organization that examines brain injury and mental illness, decided to spend three months of its life and donations on watching what happens when teenage girls play Tetris.
The network’s scientists seem giddy about the results: consistent practice on the pleasantly mind-numbing little game seems to have given the girls a thicker cortex, as well as creating more brain efficiency in other parts of their tender gray areas.
Now, I’m not sure that every teenage girl on earth will be excited about having a thicker cortex, but the brain of Dr. Rex Jung, one of the boffins behind this experiment, is veritably bursting with joy.
“We did our Tetris study to see if mental practice increased cortical thickness, a sign of more gray matter,” Dr. Jung said Monday in a press statement.
(Credit: Cc TotalAldo/Flickr)He continued: “If it did, it could be an explanation for why previous studies have shown that mental practice increases brain efficiency. More gray matter in an area could mean that the area would not need to work as hard during Tetris play.”
Essentially, the excitement engendered by this little game playing seems to revolve around the notion that the brain’s structure is not as fixed as scientists of old had assumed.
However, I feel I need now explore the frisson of doubt that overcomes me every time I read research. You see, this study does not help us discover the actual relationship between a thicker cortex and increased brain efficiency.
How might I know this? Why, because I read the smaller print, in which Dr. Richard Haier, a co-investigator of the Tetrisettes, said: “How a thicker cortex and increased brain efficiency are related remains a mystery.”
You see, the functioning of teenage girls’ brains is, as one has always thought, an utter befuddlement.
While the scientists claim that they used girls in the study because boys tend to have too much video game experience, I am now wondering just one thing: were these Tetrisettes drug-tested?
I know you might think this is far fetched. I know you may think I only meet lovely girls who are strange and tell outlandish tales of teenage drug use.
But, you see, there were only 26 girls in this study. And if I’m to believe that the actions of teenage girls will somehow inform our knowledge of the brain, I want them tested for coke, pot, E, and, definitely, crystal meth.
Interestingly, the study’s notes say that none of the girls was taking a prescription medication. But neither were so many baseball players in the 1990s.
Perhaps my zeal for scientific purity, otherwise known as my skepticism, may be excessive here.
But perhaps it was made excessive by some small print in the study. I know your cortex will become thinner on receiving this information, but the study was funded by “Blue Planet Software (BPS), Inc., the company holding exclusive licensing rights to Tetris”.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10322773-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Here’s a great Tetris site :
‘PS3 Slim’ rumor fervor hard to fathom
Is this the new PS3 Slim? Rumors have it Sony may unveil such a device at the Gamescon show in Germany Tuesday. On the other hand, it may all be fanboy-driven fervor with no substance. Either way, to CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman, the excitement is unlikely to be matched by the reality of anything Sony may introduce.
While all new technology product rumors have to be taken with a grain of salt, you can sometimes tell–often by the volume of online chatter about a particular morsel–that one is more likely to turn out to be true.
That seems to be the case with the so-called “PS3 Slim,” a rumored new PlayStation 3 form factor that could well be on the horizon. And if the latest slew of blog and forum posts are right, there’s a pretty good chance Sony will formally announce the new console Tuesday at the Gamescon conference in Cologne, Germany.
That may be true, and, of course, it may not. But what I want to know is why so many people seem to be so excited about this as-yet-unseen console? After all, the PS3–once thought by many to be the most likely winner of the next-generation console wars between Sony, Microsoft (with its Xbox 360), and Nintendo (with its Wii)–has lagged far behind its competitors.
Full Story…
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10311394-235.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Source :
CNETNews ‘PS3 Slim’ rumor fervor hard to fathom http://bit.ly/Oy7nv
Modder Creates 1-inch Thick XBox
We may not have seen any real photos of the rumored PS3 Slim, but I can bring you a pic of a genuine streamlined Xbox. The Xbox Micro was created by modder Bandit5317, and features all the features of the original Xbox…except a DVD drive. The best use of this one-of-a-kind console is as of a media extender — it contains a 320GB hard-drive for all your media service needs.
I think you will agree that the emaciated Xbox is about 8,000 times slicker than the original, which is roughly the size, shape and weight of a cinderblock. I can’t believe I actually had one of those in my entertainment case!
What do you think the ugliest console ever made was? I think the original Xbox is in the running, but, the real winner is Nintendo Virtual Boy.
Source:
TheFeed Modder Creates 1-inch Thick XBox http://tinyurl.com/omkm65
Guitar Hero 5 gets ready to rock
In the newest version of the Guitar Hero franchise, Guitar Hero 5, as many as four players can all play guitar at the same time, instead of just two. Further, any combination of instruments is now possible.
(Credit: Activision Blizzard)
SAN FRANCISCO–The first couple of weeks of September are going to be a banner time for music video games. On September 9 (09/09/09), the much-anticipated The Beatles: Rock Band will hit store shelves, just eight days after Guitar Hero 5 gets its chance to rock living rooms everywhere.
Full Story…
CNETNewsGuitar Hero 5 gets ready to rock http://bit.ly/a8x2j
