games

Gaming gone postmodern: Roy Block

Have you ever played a game of Super Mario Bros. and wondered what it'd be like to be one of the bricks?

Sebastian Schmieg's Roy Block project may hold the answer to that question. Schmieg, a student at Merz Akademie in Stuttgart, Germany, created Roy Block as an interface experiment.

There are no traditional game controllers. Instead, players use two small wooden blocks, which are pressed against the screen. Rather than controlling the protagonist in the game, the player controls the environment by moving the blocks.

Confused? Just watch the YouTube video below.

[Via TechEBlog]

A mosaic with serious game

In this episode of "Art imitates life," tiles imitate pixels.

Artist Arno Coenen created this video-game-inspired mosaic for an Amsterdam elementary school. The work, titled Virtual Fairytale, lines the tunnels to the entrance of the school. Not a bad way to head to class.

Imagine an archaeologist in the distant future uncovering these murals. They'd think today's world was inhabited by necktie-wearing apes, invaded by pixellated aliens, and haunted by multicolored ghosts.

Like most successful video games, there's even a sequel. The absolutely huge Virtual Fairytale 2 includes scenes from Track & Field and Pole … Read more

More things to play with on your BlackBerry

Good news for all you BlackBerry users out there, as Gameloft announced today it will be bringing its mobile games to everybody's favorite thumb-straining devices. The games will cost about $7 a piece, and covers a range of categories from King Kong to golf.

The New York Times said this is the latest move in the BlackBerry line becoming more mainstream. With the release of the mainstream-friendly BlackBerry Pearl and the increased graphical prowess of devices like the BlackBerry 8800, mobile games seem like a natural step. But with users already willing to pay hotels to lock up their devices, … Read more

Spring video game fling

The spring thaw has begun, and with that, video game publishers make their annual pilgrimages out to the East Coast to show off the latest builds of upcoming games. We got a chance to get hands-on with several high-profile titles (and some fairly obscure ones) that are sure to eat up many hours of your leisure time later this year.

John Woo's Stranglehold, from Midway, is a buzz-heavy game, bringing together the talents of not just the famed Hong Kong director, but also his action star muse Chow Yun-Fat. It's full of HK-style slow-motion gunfights and is reminiscent, … Read more

The art of the Rubik's Cube

You always knew there's an art to Rubik's Cubes, but it turns out there's more than you thought.

The street-art Space Invader folks, taking a break from surreptitious outdoor installations of vintage video-game mosaics, have branched out into using collections of Rubik's Cubes as an artistic medium.

They produced a number of simple Space Invaders mosaics, but more impressive are the larger photo mosaics--for example, the Clockwork Orange character made from a grid of 171 cubes. The phrase Stanley Rubikscubrik springs to mind.

Meanwhile, for traditionalists, there are new advances in the Rubik's Cube brain-teaser … Read more

What to expect from the PS3's new firmware upgrade

Sony will be releasing a software upgrade (1.60) to its PlayStation 3 console on Thursday, and it essentially consists of some convenience tweaks as well as a cool tie-in with a medical research project at Stanford University. Basically, Sony's taking a few more steps toward its vision of the PS3 as a living room media center rather than a gaming console. Unfortunately, it still has to deal with the Wii.

With regard to the convenience upgrades, you'll be able to connect Bluetooth peripherals, like keyboards and mice, to your PS3. You'll also be able to queue … Read more

Open up your game systems

Have you ever wanted to see how your game system works? Do you scoff at warranties? Do you not mind risking your $80-to-$600 gadget just so you can screw with it? Then this toolkit is for you.

Modding peripheral companies like Divineo and Mod-chip.com are selling the Zoozen Access Pro Tool Kit v2, a toolkit with virtually everything you need to crack into virtually every game system you have. It includes a socketed handle with standard driver bits for slotted, Phillips, and Torx screws, and specialized driver bits for the "tamperproof" screws many systems use (Ever … Read more

'Wireless' game seat still has umbilical cords

If your looming IRS bill prevents you from getting a $300,000 racing simulator, something like this may tide you over until tax season ends.

The "Pyramat Wireless Sound Rocker" is an upgraded version with a 2.4GHz transmitter that plugs into the TV and sends audio signals wirelessly to your built-in sound system. Coolest-Gadgets notes, however, that the $200 Sharper Image chair isn't completely wireless because it still needs cords to power those speakers and its blue LEDs.

If you really want to save some dough, you can make a rumble seat out of a regular … Read more

An electrifying game of endurance--literally

If this becomes a trend, let's hope it doesn't reach the level of extreme gaming. Just after we cited an alarm clock that shocks you awake, we learned of the "Shocking Duel Novelty Game," which is described rather frighteningly as "a pain endurance test to see who can hold on longer."

It gets worse: The electric shock, according to Chip Chick, intensifies every 5 seconds. We hope, for the sake of the poor contestants, that the intensity level tops out at some point. Otherwise, people with pacemakers won't be the only ones who … Read more