iBuyPower created a new system that will enable any game to played via multitouch, regardless of whether the game’s creators gave it so much as a thought.
Magic, which is short for Multitouch Advanced Gaming Interface and Control, is a proprietary piece of code designed specifically for the company’s own touch-enabled laptops, and it works by linking a multitouch gesture to a command the game already understands, emulating multitouch commands by mapping keystrokes or mouse clicks. Best of all, it’s available now as a gratis download
Right now it is only for their own hardware, but no doubt hackers will have this working on Dells, Alienwares, Lenovos and HPs etc.
I believe the developer said everything that needed to be said about this:
"The app is called iReverse… Although iReverse is fun to play, the most amazing thing about the project is the fact that it runs in all these different environments completely unchanged. In other words, the exact same code base is used to build versions for five different environments. There’s no other platform in the world that can boast this level of flexibility – not even close."
Check out the video where he shows off his app running all different OS platforms and handheld devices including his brand new iPad
This is sweet and I can see a lot of people getting really excited about it already – I know I am
I’ve been into games since… oh, I don’t know. The early to mid-eighties and let me tell you kids that you don’t know what good games are about.
The 80s. Oh, the 80s. That was where it all started, but the 90s. Well, that was the era that took games out of the arcades and into gamers’ home. Back in our day, we only HAD 256 colours on the screen and we loved every one of them, let me tell you.
So many amazing games in one decade. Doom, Quake, Monkey Island, System Shock, Syndicate, Tomb Raider, MechWarrior…. ok, don’t get me started.
Gaming site Big Download have been celebrating the Gaming Awesomeness of the 90s with a set of galleries, focusing on two years at a time designed to make grumpy old gamer dudes like me get a bit misty.
Check out this game currently in development by independant game designer, Ian Dallas.
The Unfinished Swan puts the player in a completely white (or at times, black) world where you can only find your way around by splashing paint on your surroundings.
Check out this video:
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/1807754]
It’s nice to see some real INNOVATION in games. So many people complain that it’s all been done while games like The Unfinished Swan and Portal are proving them wrong.
The Unfinished Swan will hopefully be out in March 2009. Can’t wait!
Amazon have launched the beta of their new Window Shop, where users can browse a selection of new/promoted store items such as books, movies and games using just their keyboard or mouse. Once an item is selected, a high-quality sample or video trailer is played and you can throw an item in your cart with a click.
It’s an interesting idea from Amazon with the user having no control over the selection of items on display. Essentially the opposite to Amazon’s site search and categories, I found more than a few things I wouldn’t have found on the regular site. It looks nice, too!
The content of the Window Shop is updated every Tuesday.
As part of a monthly round up of Viral Game releases around the world (good, bad and utterly unplayable) here’s our digest of BRAND NEW releases within the past 30 days – compiled by Amnesia. If you would like to include your game in the next roundup let me know via twitter (here).
You know when you get the shakes… the “i Need to play a game” withdrawal shakes?
For those of you with a game playing addiction and really good 20/20 vision, you can now play “Defender of the Favicon” in your browser, in the icon. It’s a remake of the old school arcade game, Defender in 16×16 pixels.
For the games industry, it’s that time of year again. E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is the most significant showcase of upcoming games and games hardware each year. Despite being recently scaled down the event still plays host to important press conferences from the big three, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.
Normally these press conferences are used to lay out roadmaps for each company’s platforms over the ensuing 12 months. Platform refreshes are normally tied to the introduction of new hardware (the announcement of new consoles or the introduction of slim models). For the first time in this ‘next generation’, fundamentally changing the platform experience can be driven by software alone.
Apple are proving this with the iPhone and iPod touch platforms (although poor old iPod touch users have to pay for the firmware upgrades.) Sony has proven this with numerous updates to its initially feature-barren XBM (cross media bar) PLAYSTATION 3 interface and continues to tease the PLAYSTATION Home platform (a fully 3D, Second Life-style world that will hopefully be released in Q4 2008). Even Nintendo’s underpowered but highly popular motion controlled Wii delivers occasional interface updates via the Web.
A Full Tour Below…
Not prepared to be left behind, in the wake of PLAYSTATION Home’s imminent arrival and Nintendo’s Mii avatar system, Microsoft’s John Schappert took to the stage in LA this week to announce the revamped ‘Xbox Experience’, an all-new Xbox 360 user interface featuring 3D avatars, full Net Flix integration (at least, if you live in the US) and highly visual, streamlined community interaction. Gone are the days of the full-screen Blades and scrolling friend lists. The new Dashboard will be available to download in the coming months.
It’s an interesting challenge, melding function with impactful, highly visual design (all the while taking into consideration the resolutions and aspect ratios that players may be using – 4:3, 16:9, 480i all the way up to 1080p…) Hesitatingly I’d say it looks like Microsoft has pulled it off. Ever-so-subtly, this new UI takes inspiration from Sony’s XBM and allows users to navigate core options via the up and down controls with secondary options controlled via movements to the left and right (this principle is applied in the reverse on Sony’s console). It’s also interesting to note that all in-Dashboard advertising space has been eliminated (praise the Gods!), although certain content has fully themed backgrounds which still allows film studios and/or products on the Xbox Live Marketplace to push their branding straight into your living room.
Microsoft’s Official Spot
For the full minute 22 second promo spot shown at the conference, check out the video above. The revamped Dashboard will be available to download in Q4 this year.
Amnesia Razorfish is a digital marketing agency headquartered in Sydney, Australia. It is the Australian arm of Razorfish, one of the largest digital agencies in the world.
We live and breathe digital and provide a range of services from strategy, media, creative, tech, social media, analytics and more.
See you next month.
