Take Your Gaming Outside: The Arcade Lounge Chair
We got an email today from Zachary at Stupid Inventor. He’s come up with a.. unique idea for taking your gaming experience outside. Apparently Zach took an old lawn chair that his mom had lying around, and attached a computer and monitor to it. He then sits in the chair, and leans back and plays Pac-Man while working on his tan. I like it, but it seems like the glare might be a little much for that monitor.
Zach, I think the next thing you need to invent is a way to get the grass stains out of those socks. Or just ask your mom.
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Take Your Gaming Outside: The Arcade Lounge Chair
Microsoft Keynoting Tokyo Game Show – Could It Have Something Big?
E3 is over, Gamescom is over, and now we’re looking at the Tokyo Game Show as the next obvious bullet point on the list of “times to announce cool games stuff.” Microsoft seems to be taking advantage, and will be doing one of the big keynotes for the show. “Xbox 360′s Vision and 2010′s Strategy” is the tentative title… not exactly raising the roof with that one, Microsoft, but we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
I can’t imagine what it might be, though. Obviously they really let a lot go at E3 with Kinect and the new 360 model. What I’m thinking is they’re going to talk a little bit about the consolidation of Live with Zune and Windows Phone 7. Tie-ins, new media services, Live stuff on handsets… basically pushing the Xbox 360 as the center of a lot of stuff. They’ve done it before.
We’ll probably also see some new Kinect exclusives, maybe some big names. They really need to blow that up soon or hardcore gamers aren’t going to buy that thing at launch.
At any rate, the talk should be on September 16th, the first day of the show, and while we won’t be there (it’s in Tokyo, people), we’ll have all the news here as soon as it drops. And maybe a little before, if we get lucky.
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Microsoft Keynoting Tokyo Game Show – Could It Have Something Big?
It Turns Out The Shapes On Playstation Buttons Aren’t Arbitrary After All
This is pretty interesting. I’ve always thought that the shapes on the Playstation controllers were chosen just to be distinctive, and so they didn’t have to use a numbered or lettered face button scheme like Nintendo’s. As it turns out, they were picked for good reason. Sony’s Teiyu Goto explains:
Other game companies at the time assigned alphabet letters or colors to the buttons. We wanted something simple to remember, which is why we went with icons or symbols, and I came up with the triangle-circle-X-square combination immediately afterward. I gave each symbol a meaning and a color. The triangle refers to viewpoint; I had it represent one’s head or direction and made it green. Square refers to a piece of paper; I had it represent menus or documents and made it pink. The circle and X represent ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision-making and I made them red and blue respectively. People thought those colors were mixed up, and I had to reinforce to management that that’s what I wanted.
I grew up with Super Nintendo, so I still think of the diamond-formation buttons as A, B, X, and Y (and have to communicate them as such – “hit X! No, the SNES X!”), but it’s nice to know that there was some reason behind the shapes and colors.
The whole little article is worth reading. When you’re designing the fundamentals of a new franchise, it pays to play it simple and have good reasons for everything you do.
Originally posted here:
It Turns Out The Shapes On Playstation Buttons Aren’t Arbitrary After All
Review: SteelSeries 7H Gaming Headset
Short version: SteelSeries makes great keyboards and mice, but headphones have always been a weakness of theirs. The 7H isn’t bad, really, but considering what’s out there for the same price or less, it’s a hard set to recommend.
Features:
- 50mm drivers
- Interchangeable ear-cushions (leather and cloth)
- Disassembles for travel
- Retractable microphone
- MSRP: $129.99
Pros:
- Decent sound, mic sounds good
- Easy to break down for travel
- Robust and meaty 1/8″ jacks
Cons:
- For $130, they feel pretty cheap
- Fit isn’t very customizable
- Inconvenient cord length
Full review:
I don’t know what it is with SteelSeries’ headphone line. First, there was the dismal 5H and great-sounding but utterly impractical Siberia. They updated the Siberia, and the new pair is pretty solid, but it feels cheaper than the old one. They updated the 5H, same complaint. And now we have the 7H, and although they’re a decent pair of headphones, I really don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth.
It seems strange how little the headphones are like the rest of the SteelSeries lineup. I’m typing this on a 7G keyboard and using a Xai mouse, but I’d never pick their headphones for my go-to pair.
The 7H is a bit anonymous-looking. Understated is one thing, but these are anonymous. They’re relatively light, though, which is good — and the ability to break them down into pieces (the headband breaks off from the cups, and the cord disconnects) is nice and easy to do.
The fit is… a little weird. They clamped my head pretty hard, and I didn’t feel like the weight was being properly distributed. The headband part is practically squared off, and seems to only barely touch the top of my head. The cups seemed a little small, but they made a nice seal around my ears, especially with the leather cushions. I actually liked the more breathable cloth ones for longer sessions, but for isolation the leather is the way to go.
There’s a retractable mic, which you kind of have to jiggle back into its place, but it’s not much of an inconvenience.
More puzzling was the cord, which at one meter is long enough for a laptop, but not nearly long enough for almost anything else. It includes a two-meter extension cord, but who wants ten feet of cord? Why not have two 1.5-meter cords? The cord itself is nice, though; it’s got a braided coat and feels heavy-duty. The actual plugs are well-built, chunky, and easy to grip, something a lot of audio devices fail to consider.
In the middle of the cord is a little puck remote, which, while tastefully designed, is a little too minimal. There’s a mic on/off switch and a tiny volume control, but no clip with which to attach to your shirt — something I’ve always found helpful on other pucks.
I’m concerned about the build quality, though. On the Logitech, Razer, and most recently the Nox headsets I’ve reviewed, I’ve never been concerned about the build. Nor on other Steelseries product lines, which have generally felt pretty solid to me. But no, like most of the other headsets from SteelSeries, the 7H feels hollow and chintzy, especially the earcups and remote. My fears were confirmed when, while trading earcup cushions, one of the pins that holds the cup on snapped right off and is at this moment rattling around in the right earpiece. And hey, I’m no Hercules, I was just pulling the piece off like normal. Pretty unacceptable.
Conclusion
Although the sound of these headphones is perfectly good, I just don’t enjoy wearing them — as opposed to the cheaper and lighter Razer Carcharias and Nox Specialist headsets, which are both light and comfortable and produce good sound. Sorry, SteelSeries… better keep trying.
Product Page: SteelSeries 7H headphones
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Review: SteelSeries 7H Gaming Headset
Grease: The Video Game
Let me let that sink in. Just a minute. There. Got it? How does it feel? They made Grease into a video game. Yeah. The movie your and my mom both love, the movie that’s kind of fun if you watch it once but kind of annoying if you have to watch it a bunch of times? Yeah. They made that into a Wii game. Yeah. I know.
Also: do not go to the website. It is very loud and horrible. Why? Why is this happening? Why did they make this game? Do kids like this kind of stuff? Do they like Grease? What’s going on here? Who is responsible for this? I need answers. Why, god? Why?!
See the article here:
Grease: The Video Game
Some Solid Indie Game Deals At GamersGate
Online game store GamersGate has had a bunch of great indie games on sale, and I thought I’d highlight a few I noticed on the list today. I just played Braid finally (wow); if you haven’t yet, go pick it up for $4. Zombie Driver made me dizzy, but it’s a good time, and for $2.50 you can’t go wrong. I’ve heard good things about Flotilla, and a friend just showed me Osmos; both are under $4. I haven’t played Saira, but Nifflas is a great developer.
It’s a new week, go get a new game. You deserve it.
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Some Solid Indie Game Deals At GamersGate
Is This The Kinect Fighting Game We All Wanted?
I can’t say I’m entirely convinced that this is going to work, but depending on how responsive it is, Fighters Uncaged could be a pretty fun game. The thing is, once you’re spoiled by the Playstation Move, which (it looks like) mirrors your movements more quickly and accurately, are you going to come back to the Kinect just to lose the controllers?
At first I was thinking that a multiplayer mode might be awesome, but then I thought wait a second, no game company wants to get sued because their players couldn’t keep their elbows to themselves.
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Is This The Kinect Fighting Game We All Wanted?
Japan Gets Titanium Blue PS3 And Gran Turismo 5 Bundle
It was first revealed in 2006, it took Sony years to develop it, but now we finally have a release date (at least for Japan): Gran Turismo 5 will go on sale in this country on November 3 [JP]. And not too surprisingly, Sony Japan will be offering a special bundle that includes a PS3 in an “original” color, namely Titanium Blue.
The console in the so-called Gran Turismo 5 Racing Pack will have a 160GB HDD on board, a Dualshock 3 controller, and a limited edition of the game. This limited edition not only comes with a 308-page “Gran Turismo Magazine” but also gives buyers the chance to download 5 special cars to use in the game: Audi R10 TDI, Honda NSX GT500, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, Nissan GT-R GT500, and McLaren F1.
The bundle will cost $420, while the game will retail for $93. This blue PS3 follows the white model Sony unveiled for the Japanese market just a few weeks ago.
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Japan Gets Titanium Blue PS3 And Gran Turismo 5 Bundle
Microsoft Flight Simulator Is Back – Minus The “Simulator”
The next iteration of Microsoft’s venerable flight sim was teased at Gamescom today, and it’s looking good. I remember having a ton of fun in 4.0; hopefully this reboot will bring interesting stuff like space or Bing integration. My nostalgia-cup runneth over.
It’s being developed internally, but that and the loss of the word Flight from the title (maybe someone from the Windows Phone 7 Series team tipped them off) is all we know.
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Microsoft Flight Simulator Is Back – Minus The “Simulator”
New, More Spacious PS3 Models Confirmed And Priced
The highly popular PS3 Slim is getting the inevitable variations, and they actually seem like pretty good deals to me. We heard about the 320GB Move bundle going for $400 a few weeks ago, but the rumors were off by a bit on the cheaper version. It’s not a bundle, but Sony is updating the 120GB PS3 to be 160GB, but keeping the same $300 price tag. You’ll see these hit the street sometime before the holidays.
Price drops, generous bundles, functional motion controls… who are you and what have you done with Sony?!
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New, More Spacious PS3 Models Confirmed And Priced