Finding (Steampunk) Stuff on eBay
Lizabeta tells us how she finds stuff on eBay, and while she gears it towards steampunk (which of course I love), her tips can be used to find just about anything.
http://steampunkbitz.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/steampunk_resources/
GDC 2008 – Emotiv Head Set
Interesting piece of hardware here. A headset that can detect various changes in the EEG of a person’s brainwaves: Emotiv Systems‘ EmotivEPOC.
Apparently there are common EEG signals that are preprogrammed into the software that allow recognizing of traits such as enjoyment or frustration. The software also allows training of specific EEG patterns to match particular actions (such as levitating an object).
They had a booth set up where you could try out the preprogrammed actions as well as the trained actions. I was able to train a few actions and try them out together. The device was capable in detecting when I was thinking one action as opposed to another, but became confused if I trained the same action with multiple different thoughts. It appears to be key to think the same thought every time training an action. This makes perfect sense.
A very cool tech demo. They said that the device is not intended to be a main input device, but is intended to be supplementary. So, you wouldn’t use this as the main way to control a game or computer, but instead give the software additional input — perhaps about your reactions to certain events, or how frustrated you are.
[retroposted on 5/25/2008]
Tags: brain control, emotic, gdc, gdc2008, input, io
GDC 2008 Wednesday (part 1) – EVE Stations, Intel Booth Impressions.
Well, I made it to GDC.
I got briefly lost walking around the streets outside. Always been prone to losing my way like that. I get turned around. Oh well, a brisk walk never hurts.
Just got out of the EVE Station environments presentation. The characters and costumes look totally awesome. We didn’t get to see any finished stations, but their mock ups are great. Full notes later.
Currently blogging from the Intel booth. Apparently it’s encouraged? Checking out some of their cool new tech. Got a flight sim chair that is non-hydraulic. A gaming chair and head mounted display. A bunch of games to play too (crysis, unreal tournament 3, enemy territory, bionic commando, etc). They also have guitar hero (i think) on display.
Will post more in a bit.
World of Warcraft
Started playing WoW again. They’ve made a fair bit of changes since I’ve been gone. Going to get Darkspear-Balaern to 70, since he’s really close, and then level up Uther-Balaern. Both are warlocks. Of course. Rebuilding my awesome UI is going to take a lot of time though. Oh well, building UIs is fun!
Character: Malcolm (Lshoan Harah)
On most Sunday nights, I can currently be found portraying a vampire named Malcolm at the Vampire: The Masquerade troupe game Lshoan Harah. Malcolm is a Nosferatu, whose face was smashed into a fence and had his right ear mangled by his Sire. This is my first attempt at his makeup.
-
- Malcolm Makeup
Hands On: The Wii Zapper
On Sunday I acquired a Wii Zapper™ that came bundled with Link’s Crossbow Training. The Zapper is essentially just a piece of plastic that you insert the Wii Remote™ (or Wiimote) and the Wii Nunchuk™ into. The Zapper is held with your dominant hand (the one with the trigger finger) in the front with your other hand on the back (where the Nunchuk is located). At first this position feels odd and backwards, but after some time, you get used to it. This will tend to be the configuration most games will probably use now that the Zapper has been released. The manual also condones an alternate configuration where you do not attach the Nunchuk to the Zapper chasis. Many games released prior to the Zapper will likely use this configuration. The Zapper sports a larger B button trigger, that makes pressing it much easier.
As far as Link’s Crossbow Training is concerned, it’s fairly fun and surprisingly well done for the price of the bundle (US$24.99). There are nine levels with three stages each, and various modes and objects that you have to shoot. Shootables include targets, boxes, pots, signs, dummies, and various monsters from the Zelda series. A number of familiar locations are present, as well as a number of familiar friendly creatures.
Of course I had to try the Zapper with Alien Syndrome. Playing my favorite class, The Seal, was great with the Zapper. I felt like I had a bit more fine grained control of my targeting reticle, and being able to use both hands to steady my weapon was really great. The “Nunchuk Attached Configuration” isn’t completely compatible though — two of three minigames require separate movement of the Nunchuk from the Remote. This isn’t a problem for me because I don’t really like to play those two minigames. “Nunchuk Separate Configuration” is completely compatible, and feels just fine. I feel like my shooting is a little less stable this way, but it feels much better than just holding the Remote alone–the constant pressing of the B button and aiming with the Remote alone starts to hurt my wrist after a while. The Zapper alleviates this problem. Note: Alien Syndrome isn’t the only shooter that makes me suffer from wrist ache–Metroid Prime 3: Corruption also causes this problem for me.
Should you get it? Sure! A nice budget game and a well made, sturdy peripheral that makes pumping the trigger and aiming much easier. This piece of plastic isn’t like those useless sports attachments.
On Joysticks and the Wii’s Success
I disagree with the reasons the author of the article presents, as well as his inconsistent counting methods. (Original Article)
- All Nintendo consoles have -3 to their button count (Nintendo D-Pads = 1 input, while all other D-Pads = 4 inputs)
- Motion sensing capability on the wii (wiimote+nunchuk) = 1 input (actually is 2, one for each wiimote and nunchuk)
- Power button on wiimote is ignored (but not on the ps3 or 360)
- On the PS3, he counts the “analog stick buttons”, but not on any other platform.
Rules (as extrapolated from article + input types ignored):
- Analog only input = 1 input (normal joysticks, pressure sensitive button)
- Analog + Digital input = 2 inputs (joysticks with buttons, pressure sensitive button with additional clicked state)
- D-Pad = 1 input (only because it is replacing a joystick; add +3 to applicable platforms if you want to count them as 4x buttons)
- Button (any button on controller) = 1 input
- One object with motion sensing = 1 input
- Toggle buttons = 1 input
- Light sensor = 1 input (x+y by pointing at screen)
Actual input counts:
- Atari 2600 = 2 (correct, sort of; he ignores that the console had around 4 or so toggle switches as well that could be used during gameplay)
- Intellivision = 17 (correct)
- Atari 5200 = 20 (correct)
- Atari 7800 = 3 (ignored)
- NES = 5 (correct)
- Sega Mastersystem = 5 (ignored)
- SNES = 9 (correct)
- Genesis/Sega CD/32X = 5 (ignored)
- N64 = 12 (ignored)
- PS1 = 11 (not 14)
- Dreamcast = 9 (ignored)
- PS2 = 16 (not 18; and we’re counting the analog stick buttons and the mode button which he does not count)
- GameCube = 13 / 15 on wavebirds (ignored)
- XBox = 15 (ignored)
- XBox 360 = 17 (ignored)
- PS3 = 17 (not 20)
- Wii = 14 on wiimote + 4 on nunchuk = 18 (not 12) (ignoring the plugging in, the strap, and the protective rubber cover)
But the real problem is that he seems to think that fewer inputs on the Wii’s controller is why the it is successful. It’s really because moving a physical object to move a virtual object in three-space is more intuitive than using two joysticks to do the same. It’s the same reason that a mouse seems intuitive. Beyond that, it’s also that there are new ideas on the Wii (and GC), like party games — games that have no end, they’re just fun to play with other people — these don’t really exist on Sony or Microsoft platforms (except the Halo clones, which have limited audiences). Another off the wall theory is that the current consumers are buying “glossy white plastic” products, such as Macs, iPods, and Wiis.
Disclaimer: These are my personal thoughts and should not be construed to be anything but that. They are not endorsed by my employer, my family, my friends, my webhost, or really anybody.
Update: December 7th, 2007 – More consoles, formatting