Virtual Vox Pop: Should SEGA return to hardware?
Virtual Vox Pop is a weekly open mic in which we ask you, the reader, to sound off on a particular topic. This week, it’s Dreamcast 2 speculation.
Ever since the pre-mature death of the legendary Dreamcast, hardcore SEGA fanboys have held on to a small, minute, glimmer of hope that the company would shift from being a third-party developer for Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony and return to making its own hardware. The passion and love has even gone so far that some delusional types believe that Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 may be the first title for what may very well be the Dreamcast 2.
Nintendo DS patent reveals virtual steering wheel
Remember when you were a young’un playing Rad Racer, Mario Kart, or (sigh!) Burnout how you’d tilt and rotate the controller as though the action would actually lean you into corners? It didn’t make logical sense as the d-pad or analog sticks controlled movement, but it just felt, so, so right.
Nintendo, which has as the remarkable ability to understand and implement technologies that cater to the human desire to be more physically interactive with video games, looks to make your childhood desires a reality. There’s much patent mumbo jumbo in the finding dug up by GoRumors, but it this new Nintendo DS/DSi/DS XLwould be an undoubtedly cool feature for those with flexible wrists among us.
[ Hat tip: GoRumors]
Commodore VIC-20 to use Twitter this weekend
Old dog, meet new trick.
It’s amazing what a little ingenuity, creativity, dedication, and love for old computers can do. It can inspire you to create melodic chiptunes, or, you know, connect to Twitter using a 30 year old personal computer.
This Saturday, February 20th, the Personal Computer Museum will make PC history by connecting the Commodore VIC-20 to the Internet and Twitter via a cassette tape loaded with special Twittery software. Think about it: We’re talking a machine with a massive 5K of RAM that will send out a tweet, dudes.
If you’re interested in witnessing this technological miracle, you can follow the Personal Computer Museum on that day to , hopefully, be part of history. If you were to reply, what would you say?
Will the Apple iPad change portable gaming?
Everything in the known universe is pointing toward the release of the much-rumored, much-talked about iPad during Apple’s press event tomorrow morning/afternoon. There’s been chatter of how this revolutionary portable computer will save the newspaper and magazine industries, change the way media is distributed, and give parents to lonely orphans, but oddly, there hasn’t been gaming talk, which is surprising considering the number of iPhone/iPod touch games are available in the App Store. Still, a few gaming journies have confessed that they’ve received invites to the big showcase, which hints that gaming will be a significant part of the iPad experience.
So as the Apple iPad is (hopefully) bring prepped for its world debut, take a look back at this article, penned just last month, which explains why I believe the Apple iPad will forever change the Apple video game experience and possibly threaten the big boys.
Agreed?
Rumored Apple iPad release may improve games, lure developers to Cupertino’s platform
2009 was the coming out party for the iPhone/iPod touch gaming. There were certainly quality games in the App Store in 2008, but excellent releases like Alive 4 Ever, Bookworm, iDracula, Magical Drop Touch, Skee Ball, and Strikers 1945 Plus showcased the variety and quality of titles available on Apple’s handhelds. The games were immensely entertaining, visually dynamic, and for the most part, sonically satisfying. The only gripe? The controls.
I hate to divide our brothers and sisters in the gamingverse into separate camps drawn by superficial lines, but I’m going to do just that. Casual gamers, in my experience, are far more acceptable of the flaws of the virtual D-pad. They play in brief spurts during their commutes, doctor visits, and post office waits, so some of the movement issues may not seem as pronounced. The more hardcore (or as one of my former editors would say, “The Nerds”) have to deal with inconsistent input detection during our marathon sessions. Those of us that are continually frustrated in battling the virtual D-pad need a solution, and it may come in the form of Apple’s rumored iPad.
Virtual Vox Pop: Is The iPhone/iPod touch A True Gaming Platform?
Virtual Vox Pop is a weekly open mic in which we ask you, the reader, to sound off on a particular topic. This week, it’s the iPhone and iPod touch as a gaming platform.
Earlier this week, DotEmu announced that the original R-Type, the IREM shooter that simultaneously caused gamers as much glee as it did frustration, would be ported to the iPhone and iPod touch in coming months. Upon first reading the new I was, naturally, filled with glee and frustration, but for a totally different reason other than the title’s exhilarating yet tough-as-concrete gameplay.
In my reviews of Alive 4 Ever and Magical Drop Touch, I noted that both titles, although radically different, suffered from a common failing: the touch controls weren’t as intuitive as a physical d-pad/buttons combo. In the former, action would sometimes spill under my thumb as the virtual d-pad is part of the display; in the latter, slightly sluggish reactions to my swiping motions cost me a few matches.
Certainly, that’s my main, but not only gripe. I’ve also yet to find a totally engrossing game on the handhelds that keep drawing me back to complete it. A game with depth, a game with heart. The chances of that happening, I reckon, are slim. iPhone/iPod touch developers typically have limited resources, which results in shorter development times, and shallower games. We’ll probably never see the next Chrono Trigger on the devices, but judging by the controls I’ve encountered so far, I’m not sure if I would want that experience.
But what say you? Do you see the iPhone and iPod touch as legitimate gaming platforms?
Spawn Labs Aims To Slingbox Your Videogames With The Spawn HD Pro Box
The Slingbox is a device used to watch your television content anywhere there is an Internet connection. Pretty spiffy. Another company, Spawn Labs, intends to do the same thing for video games with the addition of a social element.
Imagine a friend in California wants to play Xbox 360 with you, but you’re away in New York. If you have your computer with you you can install the Spawn Player application, connect to your 360 and play a game with your pal that way.
The Spawn HD Pro Box, available for $199 at their site, allows you to do this. These boxes transmit HD-quality (720p) image quality through the Net to your computer. Games can be played with the input device of the user’s choosing.
OnLive and OTOY are similar services that combine video games and the Net, only they use servers to store their content. Spawn Labs takes an existing console and transmits it online. A potential snag is making sure you have the game you want in the system before you go anywhere.
Potentially, Spawn Labs could use this tech for video and even mobile devices and handhelds.
Interview: Kerry of Nerdballoon.com Discusses SEGA and The Dreamcast
This week has been all about remembering and honoring the Dreamcast with our friends from around the Web. Today, we conclude our 10th anniversary coverage with Kerry, co-host of The Lunchpail Platoon Podcast, which you can find at Nerdballoon (you may also know him as the host of the wonderful Project D). We’re talking Dreamcast, folks!
What does 9.9.99 mean to you?
Honestly, it means nothing to me. I grew up with Nintendo’s series of consoles, and it was the only platform I’d know until I got into PC gaming around 1993 and never looked back.
I take it that you didn’t get a system on launch day.
I did not buy the system on launch day. I was having such a great time playing on my PC that I had no interest in purchasing another platform. It wasn’t until a few years later that a roommate and good friend of mine brought the Dreamcast into our house and before too long we all fell in love…with the console that is.
Interview: Terry “Valkor” Lewis of The Other View Talks SEGA and The Dreamcast
When I think of a person that’s truly a fan of SEGA’s body of work, no one comes to mind before Terry “Valkor” Lewis, editor-in-chief of The Other View. From the Genesis’ time to the present day, he’s stuck faithfully by SEGA’s side. Today, he’s here to talk Dreamcast as our week-long reflection continues.
What does 9.9.99 mean to you?
SEGA lost a lot of fans after the debacle with the 32X and the Saturn, though for me the SEGA Saturn was a hardware hit, and I loved it for what it was worth. But to me, 9.9.99 was the day that I thought Sega would rise above their past mistakes and regain their hold on the gaming world. To me it meant a world of games that I couldn’t get if I bought a Sony PlayStation 2 or even an N64 or GameCube. I didn’t wanna play the cutesy Mario type games popular with Nintendo, and I didn’t wanna deal with the mediocrity of PS games. I wanted a unique gaming experience that only the guys at SEGA could give me. And here’s how true to the course I stayed; I didn’t buy a PS2 until 2004! I simply wasn’t excited about PlayStation as I was for my Dreamcast.
The SEGA Dreamcast: 10 Years of Joy and Pain
Gone too soon.
A decade after SEGA wowed on 9.9.99 with a system that proved the company’s apology for the disastrous 32X and the ill-fated Saturn, the Dreamcast still brings back bittersweet memories to the those that decided to give SEGA a second (or third or fourth) shot. The popularity of the system, due to many innovative features and a deep library that contained stellar games in each genre, has caused SEGA-devotees to gather together in remembrance of a dear friend cut down before its time, much like St. Elmos Fire.
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