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E-Paper slap braclets - Future Nintendo Console device!
Now I'm a bit confused about this one, but it seems that this slap bracelet uses E-paper and can function as some sort of MP4 player. Designed by Raytheon at Chocolate this concept seems to be the winner of a 'reddot design award'. I may be wrong and this product is in production already but it seems that it doesn't even require charging as it recharges on kinetic energy!
It seems everyone wants to be the next iPhone making a sexy ass product, I could see this bracelet being used for oh so wrong reasons. Animated Hentai Porn on the wrist of someone trying to set some sort of new fashion trend. America's favorite past time being litigation and arbitration that poor sod will get slapped (pun intended) with some sexual harassment law suit. Next thing you know Fox "news" has a panel of experts debating the issue ala Mass Effect Scandal.
Cynicism aside, this sorta product has gaming peripheral written all over it. Remember the dream cast memory card, you could pick your sports plays on your own controller so that no one else could see what you were choosing? Ok so I know that people don't go over to other peoples homes to play games that much anymore as we've all got Xbox Live, but stay with me. Imagine trying to keep your balance in some ridiculous pose for Wii Fit, now imagine your wrist display telling you that you've got to lower your left hand to balance your pose better. You probably get where I'm heading with this, maybe my brain is always full of game ideas, but this could be something cool. If it was PS3 peripheral people would scoff, slap some Nintendo branding on there and its a winner.
Xbox Loving
Undertow has been a game I've been meaning to download for a while, I've always liked dual analog side shooters like Geometry Wars and Smash TV, but putting those gameplay mechanic together with, Battlefield like territory control online fighting sounds frantic and fun. With 360 network problems they're saying sorry by giving Gold account users a free download from now until Sunday! Not that anyone still reads my humble blog, but considering the fact that I was just going on and on about wanting a 5 min fix game, this might be the one, online competition is an added bonus!
On a related note, The Club demo is suppose to be dropping onto 360 today as well, but seeing as I live in the obscure Hong Kong region I've got no clue if we're going to get this game, my fingers are still crossed, I've definitely got high hopes for this one. Hope to pick up Burnout Paradise during my lunch break, I've got this nasty habit of purchasing all the highly rated games, but only a golden few I actually play through to the end.
Here are my 2 cents on 07 greats!
no.1 Portal - Short lived but this game was by far my favorite game of 2007. Innovation alone was the biggest standout, this game was just mind blowing and fun!
no.2 Call of Duty 4 - Single player felt like being in an epic movie and the online play almost reminds me of the good old Quake 3 frantic rush days
no.3 Pacman C.E. - I know its just Pacman and its just a new gameplay mode for a classic, but it was still had my contacts drying out from refusing to blink for 5 minutes.
no.4 Assassin's Creed - Fantastic experience if you've got the time to play it, people complain that its repetitive, but I suppose those people have never played a single RPG ever. Most RPG's revolve around some NPC's sending you around to do the same thing several times, all the while collecting little bits on the over arcing story. Great story and fresh gameplay mechanics, I know there are mixed reviews, but I recommend this game to people who like platforming action games with RPG elements in it.
no5. Gears of War - OK OK I know this was an 06 game, but for me I played and got my 360 pretty much in 07, so the time I played this game this most was in 07. I'd actually like to make this game my no.1 game but it just doesn't seem right seeing as this is about 07! As I wrote a long time ago, this game is th modern day Contra, with fun duck and cover mechanics, great single player, co-op and online. Once again being different scored high points for me!
Should have been in top 5 - Super Mario Galaxy, but I've played maybe 2 levels, I'll get around to it this year!
Olympus SP 570 UZ - fingers crossed!
First off let me say that I've owned 2 Olympus digital cameras in the past. Once upon a time I did own a Canon Eos 50 SLR and did took some photography classes in University, but I am by no means a great photographer.
One of the few things that stuck with me from those university classes was this; learning how to use a camera and all those picky details is something that you can learn on your own time but nothing is more important than framing an composition.
Like everyone else I'll go to dpreview.com and read some reviews on any camera I'm considering but when it really comes down to it, I can't tell the difference in quality. I end up chucking all my photos on my hard drive, never taking them out and only very occasionally putting some photos up on facebook.
I'm not one too scrutinize my photos to the extend where I appreciate the difference in purple fringing or better noise reduction. But I am very keen on good performance on convenience. I've always liked Olympus for packing a whole lot of punch into a small form factor and now with the whole super zoom compact trend I'm hoping this is the next camera for me.
Let me explain, I want a camera with wide angle for interior photos, good performance in low light (which might mean me buying the Fuji S800fd instead) big zoom, so that I can take pictures when i go climbing, and easy to carry around (no lenses,no hassle).
If you hope onto flickr and look at photos taken with similar super zoom cameras you'll notice that they are amazing and often look as good as D-SLR photos. With 4 Months till my honeymoon I've got to decide on something, will this be my all in one iPhone like digital camera or will i cave in and get a Canon 400. Really hope this is the camera for me, fingers crossed!
The Club
This is one of those games that seem to be getting a lot of mixed expectations.
Personally I'm hoping this game turns out to be a winner. As a gamer in his late 20's and with increasingly little time to dedicate to video games, the idea of a game which feels like a souped up arcade version of 'Gears of Wars' minus the duck and cover mechanics and the simple 'speed run' ethos, I'm really hoping for a 5 minute distraction when i get home from work.
Sure when I have the time I'll bunker down for some CoD4 or Mass Effect, but lately when I get home I find myself turning to games like Pacman C.E. or the Fifa Street 3 demo. I suppose its like the 10 minutes of web/blog browsing that you and everyone else you know does, gaming is just something you gotta get in for 5 mins then you can sleep better. Sorry to say the days of MMORPG grinding are done for this aging gamer.
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