Tech Culture- Page 224

Computer History Museum gets a reboot (podcast)

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., tomorrow will unveil what it's calling a "21st century makeover" with its newly renovated building and greatly increased exhibit space. After two years and $19 million, the museum has an entirely new look and feel and a major new exhibit called "Revolution: The First 2,000 Years of Computing."

As you enter the museum you see some of the first computing devices other than our ancestor's 10 fingers and 10 toes, including the abacus. But as you walk around, you see how technology has progressed … Read more

New King of Kong crowned, but battle not over

A full 30 years after Donkey Kong's release, gamers are still holding tight to ancient arcade joysticks in a quest for the next high score.

The latest King of Kong?

Hank Chien, according to video game score certification organization Twin Galaxies. The 35-year-old doctor from Queens, N.Y., has set a new Donkey Kong arcade world record by tallying up a mesmerizing score of 1,068,000 points on the classic 1981 game in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Chien beat out the previous record held by competitor Steve Wiebe (1,064,500 points).

Now the heat is on … Read more

Reports: PSP2 to be announced January 27

The long-awaited PlayStation Portable 2 (PSP2) could be unveiled at a special Sony event in Tokyo later this month, reports claim.

Citing unnamed sources, gaming sites VG247 and MCV say Sony will unveil the updated portable on January 27. Details are slim so far, and Sony won't say for sure that it will show off the PSP2 at the event. It would only tell CNET's sister site GameSpot that it would be "sharing [its] business overview and strategy."

Rumors surrounding the PSP2 have been swirling for quite some time. In October, reports surfaced claiming the device would feature a touchpad on the back. It's also been reported that the device could feature an HD display and offer a slightly larger screen than current PSP models.… Read more

The latest on the Nintendo 3DS

After finally getting some quality hands-on time with the 3DS last week and a behind-closed-doors interview with Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime at CES 2011, we've got a healthy amount of new information to share about the 3D glasses-less portable.

The 3D effect Without a doubt, the first time you lay eyes on the 3DS it will surprise you. The 3D effect isn't exactly a "pop-out" illusion, but more of a "pop-in." The best way we've been able to describe it is that it's similar to those Magic Eye images that were so popular in the '90s. Of course, the 3DS yields a much more obvious dimensional shift. Instead of popping out at the user, the effect appears to go deeper inside the top screen of the 3DS.

The 3D effect can be adjusted using a slider, or eliminated altogether. During our time with Pilotwings, we found the 3D effect turned all the way up really increased the overall sense of flight in the game. That said, we're anticipating that each game will have a certain sweet spot for 3D intensity, though the setting remains completely preferential.… Read more

PS3 jailbreak prompts restraining order from Sony

Sony yesterday filed a restraining order against well-known iPhone hacker George Hotz, known as "Geohot," and other individuals for allegedly bypassing "effective technological protective measures" in PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.55.

The recently released jailbreak for firmware version 3.55 allows PlayStation 3 owners to run custom packages on the console. Geohot's ultimate goal is to bring back the "Other OS" option that was removed from the PlayStation 3 last year.

Sony's restraining order attempts to stop Geohot from offering the jailbreak. The company claims that the jailbreak violates the Digital … Read more

Mindflex Duel telekinesis game for budding Jedi

"Control, control. You must learn control."

Yoda was right. But if you want to hone your Jedi chops without lifting X-wings out of a swamp, try duking it out with Mattel's head-to-head telekinesis game.

The toy giant is updating its 2009 Mindflex novelty with Mindflex Duel, a competition in which concentration wins the day.

Players don headsets equipped with EEG-like forehead sensors that measure brainwaves, and face off above a ball hovering on a stream of air. The harder they concentrate, the more each player can push the ball across the board to the opponent's end, winning the round.

The original Mindflex is a solo game that comes with five obstacle courses to push the ball through. The sensors on the headset control fans in the unit that levitate the ball higher or lower.

While you're still not directly controlling the ball in Mindflex Duel (you're controlling the fan power), the competitive aspect makes it more thrilling. … Read more

Another game, another record for Activision Blizzard

If any game company stole the show at the end of 2010, it was Activision Blizzard.

After it announced record-breaking sales with Call of Duty: Black Ops recently, the game company is now touting the success of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

The third expansion for the venerable massively multiplayer online role-playing game has hit 4.7 million unit sales since its launch on December 7, Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard announced today. Blizzard said that based on its internal estimates, the milestone has helped the title reach a new record for monthly PC game sales.

WoW Cataclysm's … Read more

Sega Toylet games aim to please

Oh, don't tell me you've never thought about it.

There you are in the restroom. And, just for a fleeting moment, you wish there would be something more you could do than stare at an ad. Or at the graffiti that says Josh loves Ginny. Or Jimmy.

You'd love to be able do something a little more interactive. Sega understands the warmth and depth of your emotions. This is why the company has announced Toylets, video games controlled by your urine stream.

The games are for those who cannot live without being a first-person shooter.

Toylets, according to Japan's Akihabara News, are truly repositories of both pleasure and pressure.

To prevent fulmination during urination, a pressure sensor is slipped inside the toilet bowl. You, the gamer, must focus and direct your urine at that sensor. The display on an LCD screen above the toilet grades your efforts.

To keep it exciting, there are four games, each with its own intellectual stream.… Read more

Analyst: Wii down, Xbox 360 way up in December

December may have been a bittersweet month for Nintendo.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter estimates that Nintendo sold about 2.6 million Wii units last month, helping it to once again secure the top spot in hardware sales. The analyst believes it was trailed by the Xbox 360's 2.5 million unit sales and the PlayStation 3's 1.2 million unit sales.

But that's not quite the whole story on December.

If Nintendo did in fact sell 2.6 million Wii units, that means it saw a 32 percent decline compared with December 2009. Sony's PlayStation 3 … Read more

Video of purported PlayStation phone hits Web

The PlayStation phone leaks keep coming.

Just a few days after photos of the rumored PlayStation phone hit the Web, a new video has been released, showing someone playing Resident Evil 2 and Rage Racer on the device. Like the previously leaked photos, the device has slide-out controls, featuring both a D-pad and the familiar PlayStation buttons. The display boasts a touch screen that seems to respond quite well to the person's taps.

In order to play a game on the device, the person in the video was forced to use an app called ROM Buddy, a third-party program … Read more