6IW.com

Netherlands-based handheld gaming studio Engine Software has developed a cool new piece of tech for the DSi: motion sensitivity. To show off this breakthrough, the company has developed a brief demo video of TILT, a kind of Marble Blast Ultra clone where the player guides a ball around the gameworld by tilting the DSi. It’s not the first we’ve heard of this kinda tech, and it won’t be the last.

Engine Software isn’t stopping with just this tech demo, however. The company is currently working on a full DSiWare game that will incorporate this new technology; though it likely won’t be a full version of TILT, but rather an entirely new game. Head past the break to check out a brief video showcasing the tech.

Continue reading DSi motion control demoed by Engine Software

DSi motion control demoed by Engine Software originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Last year at CES, Nyko unveiled the Wand, its take on Nintendo’s Wiimote. This year, the peripheral maker’s big item is … abracadabra … the Wand — with one exciting addition! The $40 Wand+ is a single, self-contained unit that includes MotionPlus compatibility. The device still supports the crazy Trans-Port stuff, like the original Wand does, which means that Wiimote buttons can be automatically remapped to buttons on other Nyko accessories, including its gun controller.

Nyko has also introduced two variants of its cookie-inspiring Charge Base IC remote charger: a version of the original in black and a new one that can accommodate four Wiimotes.

For PS3, the company has designed a new version of its Intercooler made to bulk up Sony’s Slim model, and the Media Hub Slim, a combination of a tiny remote control and a USB hub.

The Wand and Charge Base Quad IC are due in stores this March. The Intercooler will be available next month for $19.99, and the Media Hub Slim will retail for $19.99 when it’s released in April.

Nyko reveals Wii Wand with built-in MotionPlus, more at CES originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

An online fact sheet has detailed the pricing structure for Microsoft’s newly announced Avatar-occupied Game Room, and we’d suggest gamers stock up on Microsoft funny money. Players have three options: 400 ($5) grants a dual-platform license (for unlimited play on Xbox 360 and PC), 240 ($3) gets you the virtual arcade cabinet on one platform (Xbox 360 or PC), or, for the old-fashioned types, 40 ($0.50) is just “two quarters” worth of playtime — for an authentic arcade experience, minus the sticky floors. Additionally, when visiting friends’ game rooms, you can “try” their games before you pump in Microsoft Points of your own.

The Game Room itself — developed by third-party outfit Krome Studios (Viva Piñata: Party Animals, Star Wars: Republic Heroes) — will be free for users to download. Customization options are mentioned in the fact sheet, but pricing for these features is not addressed. At launch the service will include 30 original arcade titles — with “over 1000″ planned for the future — from multiple publishers, including Atari, Activision, Intellivision, and Konami. (A list of 31 confirmed titles is posted after the break.)

Games will be presented in 1080p (because that’s why you bought that HD set) and will support multiplayer for up to two players, as well as cross-platform leaderboards and Achievements. Microsoft’s Home Game Room is slated to launch this spring.

Source – “Game Room” Fact Sheet [.doc]

Continue reading Xbox Game Room pricing, partners detailed

Xbox Game Room pricing, partners detailed originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Atlus sure does love the PSP, announcing two games for Sony’s handheld in just as many days. Hexyz Force is a new RPG from Sting, creator of Riviera: The Promised Land and Yggdra Union. This classically-styled JRPG features two different adventures, each about (what else?) the end of the world. Atlus promises each adventure will take about 25 hours, totaling 50 hours of dungeon crawling and grinding for RPG fans.

PSP owners are all too familiar with the lengthy load times for many of the system’s RPGs. Thankfully, Atlus is promising “virtually no load times” for Hexyz Force. Like a console JRPG, the game will also feature twenty minutes of anime cutscenes. The UMD version is scheduled for release on May 25th, while a PSN version should follow shortly thereafter. Check out a video preview after the break.

Continue reading Atlus uses the Hexyz Force on PSP

Atlus uses the Hexyz Force on PSP originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Austin Independent School District makes deal to buy more video games for classrooms originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

If you only play games with Ryu Hayabusa in them, then Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce is likely to be your first experience with Koei’s historical-ish brawler franchise. If you only play games with the ancient Chinese ruler Fu Xi in them, however, you’re likely to be much better versed in the series. In either case, there’s a Strikeforce for you: as reported, Fu Xi (and other characters from the Warriors Orochi series) appear in the Xbox 360 version, and Ryu in the PS3 version, both with exclusive missions that grant you the use of their “signature weapon” when completed.

New galleries give you a look at Fu Xi and the extra-beefy crossover ninja. And a new trailer (above) does what it can to get you pumped about Strikeforce, the Dynasty Warriors game with not only characters from other franchises, but giant tigers in it!

More Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce media than you can shake a Dragon Sword at originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Army of Two: The 40th Day’s Salem and Rios are no strangers to the modern world. Sure, they may have acted a bit … out of place during previous visits to EA Montreal and EA Headquarters, but that doesn’t mean they’re not fit for retail life. Take, for instance, the video above of the two trying their best to lend a hand to the fine folks at GameStop.

They might be a bit rough around the edges, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t get the most magazine upsells for the month of December (they did!) or that they aren’t capable of re-alphabetizing the used PS2 section six or seven hundred times a day (they are!). Give them a chance, folks. Under the inhuman terror mask and bullet-proof chestpadding beats the heart of a human being.

The Army of Two infiltrate GameStop originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

And here we thought Tetris DS was the best blend of the Russian puzzler and Nintendo’s classic platforming game Super Mario Bros., but Tuper Tario Tros. is a quite imaginative combination of the two. In fact, we haven’t seen Tetris go so well with something since we were introduced to the conflict resolution capabilities of Tresling.

Already the culprit behind a sharp downturn in Joystiq productivity today, we now offer it to you. Just, uh, don’t play it as much as we did. We can get away with it since, y’know, it’s kinda our job.

[Via digg]

Mario plus Tetris equals one fun game originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Just three short years after the CES 2007 announcement that Microsoft’s Mediaroom software would turn your Xbox 360 into an IPTV set-top box, Microsoft is finally ready to deliver on that promise (and no, the 2008 BT rollout doesn’t count). “I’m happy to announce that later this year AT&T will also enable subscribers to U-verse to enjoy [the new Mediaroom 2.0] service on their Xbox 360 consoles,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told his keynote audience. This was in addition to U-verse support for Windows 7 and Windows Mobile, though the details on all three platforms end there.

We’ll be digging for more details at CES this week, but this is certainly promising news for the country’s 2 million U-verse subscribers (and the “more than 20 million living units” that the service is purportedly available in).

Xbox 360 getting Mediaroom IPTV ‘later this year’ via AT&T U-verse … just three years late originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments