Custom controller lets disabled man dig into Minecraft using his eyebrows
Alexander Kostov has spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that makes impossible for him to use most traditional game controllers. Rather than let that hold him back, he just got creative with the help of UK-based gaming charity Special Effect. The company outfitted him with a rig to play titles like Minecraft and FIFA using his eyebrows. Kostov started out in 2013 with a custom controller that used voice commands as well as hand and eye movements. After using it for a while, he found that the original controls were useful but too subtle for some games — he needed a more precise solution. Kostov tried out a few different options, including a sip/puff switch that would give him control using breath, and finally settled on a head-mounted impulse switch that’s trigged by muscle movement near his eyebrows. With the system he can play FIFA using his old voice and eye controls, and then use his eyebrows as an extra level of control to do things like pass the ball or shoot.
The controller is one of many Special Effect has created to help disabled gamers. Some of the group’s previous projects include giving an Xbox joystick to a 6-year-old who couldn’t handle the traditional controller, and helping a wounded soldier find a way to play his favorite games using just one hand. The company offers the solutions (which are often quite expensive) to gamers for free from the group’s “loan library.“
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Science
Via: Kotaku
Source: Special Effect
Old console, new tricks: Getting the most out of your PS3
Already paid up for Sony’s PlayStation 4? Or are you waiting on a certain blockbuster title before you make the move to the next gen? We don’t blame you. However, the PS4′s ancestor — that slightly curved obelisk sitting under your TV, the one with half an inch of dust — still has a few tricks in it. While we wait for Sony to perfect its streaming tech, there’s still no way to play PS3 titles on Console No. 4, unless it gets a fancy facelift… and you buy it again. So, we turn back to our faithful PlayStation 3. Born in 2006, eight years is a pretty good term for a games console. But maybe you don’t want your time with it to be over. We don’t either, and have found a few ways to breathe new life into your gradually graying PS3.
Get a PlayStation Plus subscription
Really, this should be in past tense: Because you should have gotten in on this surprisingly high-value service a year ago. PlayStation Plus is really that good. For under 10 bucks a month (down to $5 per month if you sign up for a year), you’re offered an “instant game collection” that’s updated every 30 days or so, and that one fee gives you access on every compatible console (PS3, Vita and PS4). As of this writing, the library includes BioShock Infinite, Payday 2, Uncharted 3, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and eight more PS3 titles. Free games rotate in and out each month, but if you “buy” it to download (even if you didn’t download right then), you can play it for as long as your sub lasts — not just when it’s part of the selection. Past titles (depending on region) have included Super Street Fighter IV, Infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed III, to name a few. Yeah, more titles than you’d probably ever have time to play, but the service typically delivers something we actually want to play nearly every month. Since launch, a total of 138 PS3 games and a host of PS1 games have been available on the service.
Protip: The “instant game collection” on PS Plus differs from region to region. There are more mainstream titles coming to US and European subscribers, but the Japanese one (you’ll need to pick up some yen-based PlayStation Network credit to buy your sub), has a ridiculous archive of original PlayStation (and, er, PC Engine) games. Are most of them in Japanese? Yes. Did we get a handful of free PS3 games (Shadow of the Colossus HD) games in the process? Oh yes.
Upgrade the PS3′s hard drive
Rather than delete your downloads to make space for new ones, why not expand? Go from 20GB to 300GB. For your shopping list, you’ll need a 2.5-inch internal SATA drive. Many tinkerers suggest one that spins at 5,400 RPM to match the PS3′s original drive and to keep the new one from running too hot. It’s not plug-in-and-play simple — you can’t just pull out the smaller HDD, insert a new one into the PS3 Slim and play away. After backing up your current setup with the console’s backup utility, you’ll need to remove a few screws and gingerly switch out the drives. The only tricky part is remembering to put a system update file on a USB stick alongside your backup data. Thankfully, SCE has provisioned all the instructions needed here, for all three hardware iterations. Make sure you know what you’re doing here, too. Proceed at your own risk, although despite our apprehension, our own installation went without a hitch.
Protip: You saw our first suggestion right? May as well throw in a 500GB — nah, make it a 1TB drive. Game download binge.
Use the (much better) PS4 controller with your PS3
Sony’s newest DualShock is just so much better. It’s more comfortable, looks better and even comes with a smartphone-baiting touch panel and share button, although those last two features aren’t going to work here. The rest of the controller, surprisingly, does work. There are some caveats: There’s no PS button, so it’s really only for use during a game, and it won’t connect to the PS3 wirelessly — you’ll have to keep it tethered while you play. Handily, Reddit users have also compiled a list of games that will (and won’t) work with a PS4 DualShock, and for the fantasists among you, you can pretend that you’re playing on a PS4.
Protip: Did you know that if you put a PS4 game disc into the PS3… nothing really happens? Did you even read the intro? C’mon.
Try PS3 Remote Play on the PS Vita (but don’t depend on it)
Yeah, the PS3 did it first. Unfortunately, it didn’t work all that well. On the PS4, Remote Play is fully functional, but on its predecessor, the feature is limited. That said, the HD remasters of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and the God of War Collection are all worth playing through on a handheld. Should you do so, we advise staying well within range of the nearest WiFi router — in our experience, Remote Play on PS3 is temperamental, particularly when you lack a robust wireless signal.
Protip: Give it at least four tries. If you liked the experience, well, maybe you should buy a PS4.
Watch what happens when you pair an Oculus Rift rollercoaster with the real thing
It’s hard to imagine getting bored on a roller coaster, but a pair of English gents figured out a way to make riding the rails even more thrilling: adding VR to the mix. The duo took a publicly available model of an undisclosed UK theme park’s coaster, and imported it into the Unity game development suite. From there, the two smuggled a laptop, mouse, power supply, camera and an Oculus RIft past park security. After getting into the car and outside the unblinking gaze of the ride’s cameras, out came the VR headset. The idea of the experiment was to test real-life physical feedback synced with a virtual experience, sans a fancy home-built setup. Of course, the concept of riding a roller coaster while experiencing a virtual recreation of said coaster seems redundant, but the team’s ambitions go a bit beyond that surface idea.
If you check out the embedded video, you’ll see that in the VR version, the track is floating in outer space. The creators told Road to VR that possible augmentations could include sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet and doing barrel rolls to avoid bogeys, or even having the roller coaster’s track crumble in front of you. For some (me included) the latter could be even more terrifying than the actual ride. The pair say that they’re hoping to explore furthering their idea with a theme park sponsor and that they have a new, similar, project in the works. Since I’m a tad squeamish, I’ll stick to being a virtual paperboy, thank you very much.
[Image credit: Beyond Neon / Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Road to VR
Joystiq Weekly: overdrive the sunset, a million dark souls and sample Destiny
Welcome to the Joystiq Weekly wrap-up where we present some of the best stories and biggest gaming news from our sister-publication.
- If you’re itching to get your hands on Bungie’s post-Halo shooter, Destiny, before its September launch, a Playstation-only beta is coming for pre-orderers in July.
- Apparently a lot of people are into masochism — the ultra-tough Dark Souls 2 sold 1.2 million copies in its first three weeks.
Flat surfaces, be they canopies or car roofs, give you a sky-high bounce with well-timed button press. You can grind on railings, Jet Set Radio-style, on top of power lines, or swing beneath them while your other hand fires a weapon into the snarling crowd below. You have to jump with effective timing and read the environment as a series of vectors – bounce on that car, hit that power line, flip over that billboard there and then whip out a baseball bat for a shocking ground-pound finale.
- Insomniac Games is bringing its colorful brand of frenetic action to a Microsoft console for the first time with Sunset Overdrive, and from the sounds of Joystiq‘s preview it could be pretty awesome.
Now that you’re caught up on gaming, go spend some time with your mom — today is her day! Check back next Sunday for another recap, or head over to Joystiq and catch the news as it happens.
[Image credit: minusequalsplus/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Joystiq
Nintendo promises ‘more inclusive’ games in wake of #Miiquality campaign
When Nintendo designed Tomodachi Life, a bizarre life-sim that puts the company’s Mii avatars in an exaggerated parody of reality, it probably didn’t expect to provoke a marriage equality campaign. Community cries for ‘Miiquality’ petitioned Nintendo to add same-sex relationships to the title, but the company’s initial response was sterile and dismissive. “Tomodachi Life was intended to be a whimsical and quirky game,” Nintendo said. “We were absolutely not trying to provide social commentary.” Intentional or not, the lack of same-sex relationships caused a stir. Now, Nintendo is apologizing officially.
“We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game’s design, and such a significant development change can’t be accomplished with a post-ship patch.”
It’s a much warmer response, and addresses the problem more directly: adding new romantic options to the game before launch isn’t feasible, and the changes would be too large patch in later. That said, Nintendo plans to be more mindful of these kinds of issues moving forward, promising that future games in the series would be move inclusive and more representative of all kinds of players. It’s a good, level response — and probably what the company should have said in the first place. Better late than never.
Source: Nintendo
Sony built the PlayStation 4’s controller with VR in mind
You may think that Sony built its Project Morpheus virtual reality headset to accommodate the PlayStation 4′s DualShock 4 controller, but it turns out that the opposite is true — the gamepad was designed for VR from the start. The company’s Jed Ashforth tells TechRadar that the Morpheus team insisted on building the always-on (and occasionally irksome) light bar into the DualShock for its purposes, and had to remain silent about its real objectives until the VR helmet’s unveiling this March. The move isn’t completely surprising given Sony’s tendency to use PlayStations as technology launching pads — see the PS3′s Blu-ray drive as an example. Still, it’s good to know that the controller was designed for much, much more than motion-based experiences like The Playroom.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Sony
Source: TechRadar
The Minecraft version of Denmark is being attacked, hilariously
In Denmark, it’s someone’s job to monitor and maintain a replica of the country in megapopular exploration game Minecraft. If you take away one thing from this piece, make it that.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, apparently the replica of Denmark that the Danish government sanctioned and built in Minecraft is being attacked. Though dynamite is banned from the server which hosts the virtual replica, players found a way to sneak in hilariously large quantities by using a mining cart full of dynamite. Not so much a loophole as an amazingly huge mistake. As such, varying levels of damage have been done; some American flag fans even redecorated one area, as seen above.
The Danish government department responsible for maintaining the server told The Register that it isn’t too concerned about the “minor” damage done. “We consider that as a nature of playing Minecraft,” chief press officer Chris Hammeken said. He also said that his agency “will rebuild minor areas if buildings are removed and nothing new is being created,” but in general, he sounds pretty casual about the whole affair.
Looking to get in on the action yourself? Grab your best Danish-speaking buddy and head right here for more info.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Software, HD
Source: Reddit, The Register
Nintendo responds to marriage equality campaign for its bizarre life-sim
Nintendo has no problem with its Mii-based Tomodachi Life being off-kilter, but when it comes to the handheld game’s same-sex avatars being able to wed, well, that’s a different story. Tomodachi Life is all about the interactions and relationships between an island full of Miis, and as two characters’ dating progresses they’ll eventually walk down the aisle, unlock a bigger home and have children — so long as one is, say, Mario and the other is Princess Peach. A fan called the gaming giant on this, urging the internet to use the “#Miiquality” hashtag across social media when requesting that the company change its stance. Nintendo’s response? It told the Associated Press that it “never intended to make any form of social commentary” with the 3DS game’s launch.
“The relationship options in the game represent a playful alternate world rather than a real-life simulation. We hope that all of our fans will see that ‘Tomodachi Life’ was intended to be a whimsical and quirky game, and that we were absolutely not trying to provide social commentary.”
This isn’t a new issue. After the game launched in Japan last year, there was a bug that allowed male Miis to marry one another and have children (but not two females). Nintendo addressed this by telling players to download a title update if they noticed “human relations that become strange.” In regards to that, the outfit recently told the AP via email that “the ability for same-sex relationships to occur in the game was not part of the original game that launched in Japan, and that game is made up of the same code that was used to localize it for other regions outside of Japan.”
Changing the game this close to release isn’t feasible, but a patch could be issued after the game releases. To that, Nintendo told the AP that it’s “carefully and thoughtfully” considered the responses it’d received via Twitter and the like, and it will continue considering the feedback. “We’re using this as an opportunity to better understand our consumers and their expectations of us at all levels of the organization.”
It’s worth noting that gay marriage isn’t legal in Japan, and this could be seen as a reflection of the country’s values. In contrast, Western-developed games like the Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Fable, Mass Effect and The Sims series have taken steps to be more inclusive, allowing same-sex marriage and relationships.
Via: CNet
Source: Associated Press
Nintendo’s smartphone efforts start to surface
At the start of the year, Nintendo explained that while it wasn’t bringing its gaming properties to the smartphone carrying millions, it would be tackling the platform as a way of attracting more people to its games and consoles. Let’s not get too excited — the above isn’t an app (apparently), but a web-based portal. Nintendo’s done these in the past, but they haven’t been quite as feature-rich as this. You’ll see a feed of your friends activities (this one’s all about Mario Kart), while there’s apparently separate pages for movies and rankings. There’s no Nintendo Network ID required to access the service, but you will need said ID to login and establish your own rankings and upload videos. No launch dates, but we’d assume it will fall in line with the launch of the next Mario Kart installment. Oh, and there’s E3 next month.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Nintendo is making entirely new consoles for emerging markets
Nintendo’s Wii U woes are well known by this point, but the Japanese company’s latest move to expand its gaming reach is incredibly unexpected. Rather than pare down the existing Wii U hardware for emerging markets, the outfit is developing an entirely new console, according to Bloomberg. “We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have,” company president Satoru Iwata said. “The product and price balance must be made from scratch.”
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Nintendo
Source: Bloomberg
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