peripherals

peripherals

Prepare For Punch-Out With These Tacky Wii Boxing Gloves

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 8:00 PM on November 20, 2008

Everlast, as you may be aware, are kind of a big deal in the world of boxing goods. They make, among other things, boxing gloves. Gloves like these ones, which are unique amongst their range by being designed less for punching men in the mouth with, and more for helping you swing your Wii Remote around like an idiot. Priced at $US30, they include straps for the peripherals and holes so you can still use the buttons. Hopefully they're not as padded as real ones; we want people punching themselves in the face while regretting their purchase to really learn from the mistake.

A Video Gamer's Substitute for the Heavy Bag and the Ring [NY Times, via Go Nintendo]


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Kids Can Sit On Sonic For A 'Full-Body Sensory Experience'

Posted by Michael McWhertor at 11:00 AM on November 19, 2008

...with the Reactor Mini Chair from Ultimate Gaming Chair! The gaming chair manufacturer is delivering its first kid-sized, speaker-stuffed chair in time for the holiday season which just happens to coincide with the release of Sega's Sonic Unleashed. The smaller sized gaming chair is designed for kids ages three to nine years and comes with a full colour image of Sega's enduring mascot Sonic the Hedgehog.


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Wii Speak, In Action

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 2:30 PM on November 15, 2008


Have you seen the Wii Speak microphone in action? I haven't. So let's watch, as this sweet, innocent Japanese teenager "meets up" with a friend in Animal Crossing and "does stuff". Can't understand much, but it's clear they both recognise a lobster when they see one, one of them is very insistent they eat chicken for dinner, and they both find the whole experience overwhelmingly cute. If there were a hell for Xbox Live users, surely this would be it.


peripherals

Classic Atari Joystick Goes USB

Posted by Stuart Houghton at 7:20 AM on November 15, 2008

The standard Atari joystick was not designed for comfort. Or for gaming, really, if we are being honest. Retro cool aside, looking at it now it resembles something you would expect to find on a Soyuz mission control console.


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The Official Guitar Hero/Rock Band Compatibility Chart

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 8:30 PM on November 14, 2008

If you own both Guitar Hero (III or World Tour) and Rock Band (1 or 2), you'll be both familiar and ultimately sick of the compatibility issues between the two franchises. They will work, they won't work, they might work, they should work; trying to get hard, final word on just which instruments will work with which game has been a messy, convoluted and confusing experience. Until now, that is! The official Guitar Hero community crew have put together an extensive chart, outlining which instruments will work with which game. Bravo. Click through for all four charts for all four platforms.


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Nintendo Quietly Release Wii 'Multiplayer Control Set'

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 1:20 PM on November 12, 2008

No press release, no fancy photos, there's been nothing from Nintendo to accompany this product release, but release a new product they have: what you're looking at is the imaginatively-titled "multiplayer control set". Spotted at a US Target by a Go Nintendo reader, it's official Nintendo gear, and includes a Mario Kart wheel, a Wii Remote and a Nunchuk. The damage? $US74.99. Which makes it two cents more expensive than buying the peripherals individually. Go figure.

Target - Wii multiplayer controller kit [Go Nintendo]


peripherals

Wireless Wii Classic Controller Glides Into Stores

Posted by Brian Crecente at 3:00 AM on November 12, 2008

Nyko Technologies WingT, a wireless classic controller for the Wii, is hitting US stores today.


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Apple Still Working On A Wii Remote

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 8:30 PM on November 10, 2008

In May, we told you about Apple's patent for a Wii Remote-like object. Now, it's November, and we're telling you again. Why? Because another, improved patent for the device has turned up. This takes it from the realms of "oh, it's something Apple are exploring" to "oh, Apple are looking seriously at developing one of these". It's still using IR, and the same basic principles of the Wii Remote, except now it's going one better by (in theory) having the ability to differentiate between the IR it's meant to detect (ie the Wii Remote) and the IR it's not meant to detect (ie your house lights). As a reminder, this is important because, with App Store games doing brisk business for the company on the iPhone, there'd be nothing stopping Apple doing something similar with this Wii Remote-like peripheral on other platforms.


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Palm Sweat Begone! MetalStrike Joystick With Built-In AC

Posted by Stuart Houghton at 10:20 AM on November 8, 2008

The MetalStrike from Genius is a Joystick With Built-In Air Conditioning.


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Which Drums Are Louder: Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour

Posted by Brian Crecente at 5:00 AM on November 7, 2008

While playing Guitar Hero World Tour for my review of the game I started thinking that maybe the plastic and rubber drum kit was a bit louder that Rock Band 2's. So Adam and I made this short little video showing me playing a chunk of the same song. This isn't scientific at all (You'd need a way to make sure the exact same amount of pressure was exerted with each strike to do that) but if you've been curious about how the two drum kits sound comparatively maybe this will help you out a bit.


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Mad Catz To Bring Bass And Beats To Rock Band Wii

Posted by Mike Fahey at 2:40 AM on November 7, 2008

Rock Band has been very, very good to Mad Catz so far, and it's only getting better. Complimenting it's excellent line of music peripherals for the Xbox 360 version, the company has just entered into a multi-year licensing agreement agreement with Nintendo to create and distribute peripherals for the Wii version of the game. Two products for Nintendo's console will be introduced in early 2009 - the portable drum kit, and the Wii version of the bass guitar I've fallen in love with.

"We are thrilled to enter into this agreement with Nintendo," said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. "Together we will provide Rock Band fans the opportunity to enhance their gameplay with Mad Catz' premium instruments for Nintendo's extremely popular Wii system."


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Guitar Hero World Tour Review: This is Guitar Hero

Posted by Brian Crecente at 4:30 AM on November 6, 2008

Let's face it, you can't compete against Rock Band with just guitars. You can decide to go your own route and own the Guitar-only rhythm game genre, but that seems like a formula to lose money and no one is in this business to do that. So Guitar Hero IV, aka Guitar Hero World Tour, had to come up with a band of its own. And the developers did it in spades rolling out a six-piece drum kit with two raised cymbals, a snare, and two toms, all of which are velocity-sensitive. Neversoft also made the guitar bigger, more realistic looking and added a fretless slider panel. And the innovation didn't stop with the instruments; gameplay got a major overhaul too.


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LittleBigPlanet To Add Sticker Import From Hard Drive

Posted by Michael McWhertor at 11:00 AM on November 5, 2008

As of right now, the only way to import images that one can plaster upon the levels of LittleBigPlanet is courtesy of the PlayStation Eye, EyeToy or "other compatible USB camera." Great for capturing one's nether regions, but less great for transferring one's original artwork and digital photos. Fortunately, that's about it change, according to Media Molecule's Alex Evans and, oddly enough, the developer's Flickr photo stream.


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GH World Tour Drum Tuner Is PC App

Posted by Mike Fahey at 12:20 AM on November 1, 2008

Activision and RedOctane has been working furiously to deal with issues Guitar Hero World Tour players have been having with their over and under-sensitive drum kits, and to that end they've released a Guitar Hero World Tour Drum Tuning Kit, as promised back on Tuesday. The kit takes the form of a 10MB PC application, which features a simple interface that allows you to assign a sensitivity level from 1-20 for each pad and the pedal.


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Activision Addresses GHWT Drum Sensitivity

Posted by Mike Fahey at 2:20 AM on October 29, 2008

Reports are popping up all over the internet regarding sensitivity issues with the new drum controller that comes packaged with Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour. Some complain the drums are too sensitive; others that they aren't sensitive enough, and then there's folks like me whose green one rattles when you hit it, but that will have to be addressed another time. If only there was some sort of drum tuning kit that would allow owners to optimise the drums to their liking. Oh look, an official statement from Activision.

We have learned that certain drum kit controllers manufactured for Guitar Hero World Tour have sensitivity issues. We believe that these controllers are limited to ones in the earlier manufacturing stages. While we believe that this was an isolated manufacturing issue, we are stepping our efforts to randomly test our drum kit controllers so customers can be assured they work properly. In the event any consumers do experience problems with their drum kit controllers associated with sensitivity issues, Activision will soon be offering a drum tuning kit that will enable players to fully optimise their drums.


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Use Of Rock Band Instruments With Guitar Hero 'Expressly Prohibited'

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 12:20 PM on October 28, 2008

Activision made kind of a big deal at E3 about Guitar Hero/Rock Band cross-compatibility. Said that, yes, you'd be able to use Rock Band instruments in Guitar Hero World Tour. But don't for a second think they're happy about it. Check out the fine print on the back of the Guitar Hero: World Tour box.


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Flaming Lips Frontman Debuts Mutant Guitar Hero Guitar

Posted by Michael McWhertor at 10:00 AM on October 28, 2008

Zany frontman Wayne Coyne of commercial alt-rock outfit The Flaming Lips has constructed what may be the world first double-neck, double-function Guitar Hero guitar. It's one half genuine guitar, one quarter Guitar Hero guitar controller and one quarter Korg Kaoscillator, making for a cute little noisemaker that you might just see at an upcoming show.


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Meet The Official Guitar Hero World Tour Seat

Posted by Brian Crecente at 7:00 AM on October 28, 2008

This drum throne arrived on my doorstep this morning.

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Guitar Hero World Tour Facing Drum Issues?

Posted by Owen Good at 1:00 AM on October 27, 2008

Reader DarthMetalHope was scanning boards in advance of picking up Guitar Hero: World Tour today, and notices that for those who already have it, some are seeing sensitivity/operability problems with the drum kit. Enough that it's raising a big stink, and Activision has noticed.

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New Wii Arcade Sticks (Now With Added Tatsunoko vs. Capcom!)

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 11:20 PM on October 24, 2008

Exar make great arcade sticks, and are bringing two new ones to the Wii. You may/will be interested. Both are basically the same thing - a classic six-button arcade layout - but come in two flavours. One is a standard, blank stick, which breaks up the requisite Wii-white with a lovely shade of blue. The other is the same stick, just with some classy Tatsunoko vs. Capcom branding all over it. The blank one launches November 27 for ¥5229 ($89), while the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom one launches December 11 for ¥6279 ($107). Don't complain about the higher price. Gatchaman is worth the extra spend.

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Logitech Unveils $US250 Guitar Hero Controller

Posted by Mike Fahey at 12:20 AM on October 24, 2008

Looking for something to spend lots of money on for the Guitar Hero fan in your life this holiday season? Look no further than the newly announced Premiere Edition Wireless Controller for Guitar Hero from Logitech. Featuring a wooden neck, rosewood fingerboard, metal frets, metal tuning pegs, and the new touch-sensitive neck slider, this is the end-all, be-all of guitar controllers. The buttons even use Logitech's rubber dome keyboard technology for quieter action. All this, and it's wireless. I think I am in love. Is it $US250 worth of love? I suppose I'll find out once temptation hits retail this December. Hit the link for the gallery


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Retailers Sick And Tired Of Plastic Instruments

Posted by Luke Plunkett at 1:30 PM on October 23, 2008

First it was microphones. Then guitars. Then guitars and drums. Now it seems half the showroom floor of a games store - not to mention your living room - is devoted to piles of the plastic instruments required for today's music games. Which doesn't leave you, or your mother (who has to clean up after you) happy. Same goes for retailers. Speaking with MTV, XS Games have said that, when originally pitching their game Popstar Guitar to retailers, it was intended to come bundled with a guitar controller. But retailers - Wal-Mart in particular - were having none of it, complaining of "the problem of every single publisher coming out with a new, big controller." So X Games released their abridged peripheral instead. Of course, it could just be a sign that retailers are sick of seeing crummy games with large peripherals, but as self-serving retailers, they've got a point; you could fit a dozen copies of Madden in the same spot you put one Rock Band bundle.

Lack Of Space In Stores Threatening Proliferation Of Instrument-Shaped Controllers [MTV]

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Mad Catz Rock Band Fender Bass - The Best Rock Band Bass

Posted by Mike Fahey at 10:00 AM on October 23, 2008

I've been pretty excited about the Mad Catz Fender Rock Band Bass since it was first announced, though my cultivated distrust of the quality of Mad Catz products made me bit wary of the product. It took a heartfelt assurance of the guitar's quality from Mad Catz's Global PR & Comms Manager Alex Verrey to convince me to give it a go, and I have to say I'm pretty glad I did. I can honestly say that this is the best damn replica bass guitar for Rock Band, and only part of me is poking fun at it being one of the only ones available.

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Wii Rage Guitar Recalled Due To Chemical Burnination

Posted by Stuart Houghton at 9:20 AM on October 23, 2008

The Rage Wireless Guitar Controller for the Wii is being recalled after a fault left one gamer injured.

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Ace Combat 6 Flightstick Bundle Triumpantly Returns

Posted by Mike Fahey at 12:20 AM on October 23, 2008

I got into Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360 far too late to get in on the hot, flightstick bundle action, and I've been regretting it for months now, especially considering the prices a used model of the special controller have been going for on eBay. Well these guys are going to feel awfully silly now as Namco Bandai announces the return of the Ace Combat 6 Flightstick bundle! Available exclusively at Best Buy, the pack comes complete with Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, the Hori Ace-Edge flightstick, a custom Xbox 360 faceplate, and a copy of the award-winning aerial combat documentary Speed & Angels. The total package retails for $US149.99.


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