Recent Comments:
HP mulling lower cost Mini-Note laptop {Engadget}
Jul 24th 2008 5:33PM Asus should be taking notes
Intel's Atom gets used in... servers? {Engadget}
Jul 21st 2008 6:43PM I believe it's your negaself from Earth Minus One.
Intel's Atom gets used in... servers? {Engadget}
Jul 21st 2008 6:41PM *Quad plus Power Amp Tech sound*
OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator gets reviewed, mice everywhere safe for now {Engadget}
Jul 21st 2008 6:34PM You mean you have to use your hands?
That's like a baby's toy!
How would you change the Samsung Instinct? {Engadget}
Jul 18th 2008 7:37PM FOUR FEET above the covers.
Nintendo MotionPlus hands-on: blah. {Engadget}
Jul 16th 2008 4:47PM "The remote still won't know its true position in space."
This was posted by sswift on ve3d:
"If it does what it says on the box, this would be revolutionary. But I suspect what we're going to get is more trickery.
For those keeping score at home, the WiiMote contains an accelerometer, and an infrared camera:
wiili.org/Wiimote
The accelerometer is what tells it when you are swinging it about or shaking it. It is offset from the center of the remote, which allows it to also detect rotation on a couple axes to a limited degree. The infrared camera is used when you point the remote at the screen. By noting the location of the two infrared led's in the "sensor bar" you can determine where on the screen you're pointing, and whether you're rotating your wrist around the screen's central axis.
What this MotionPlus accessory likely adds is a gyroscope. This gyroscope would tell the Wiimote what orientation it is being held in. By combining this information with the information from the accelerometer, they could truly tell a golf swing from a simple shake of the controller.
But this is still a trick. The remote still won't know its true position in space. It will have the information it needs to calculate that, but since it's passive detection based on acceleration and rotation values, it will be subject to drift, and won't be entirely accurate. But it will still be a hell of a lot more accurate than what we have now.
One thing does concern me though. That thing plugs into the nunchuck port, and I don't see another plug on it for the nunchuck. If they don't announce a wireless nunchuck, then that means you won't be able to use this new addon and the nunchuck at the same time. And that means that while this addon would allow you to swing a sword much more accurately, you won't have the ability to move around as easily as you could in Zelda with the stick.
The fact that this device isn't integrated into a WiiMote II would seem to confirm these fears. There's no need to integrate it into a new Wiimote if you can't use it with the nunchuck and games won't be able to use both devices at the same time.
So in summary... This little gadget will likely make motion detection on the Wii more accurate. Our Wii baseball bats won't jiggle about anymore. But we still won't have the revolutionary device which knows its exact position and orientation in space at all times with the kind of precision that would allow a character onscreen to perfectly mimic your sword swings.
Don't get me wrong; it should allow you to swing diagonally, or do an overhead chop; but if you start holding the sword diagonal and off to one side in front of you like when blocking with a light saber, that's when it's likely to screw up."
Analyst says Motorola "would be lucky" to get $500 million {Engadget}
Jul 10th 2008 6:23PM Alex: This fashion phone, who's name is shortened for leetness, retailed for a ludicrous $800 without contract at it's release in 2004.
Power Pad hacked into musical controller, DDR trembles {Engadget}
Jul 7th 2008 4:12PM I believe the proper technique is to kneel down and wale on the pad with your fists.
Save Arecibo: because aliens don't do voicemail {Engadget}
Jul 7th 2008 11:43AM I hated that level on N64.
Nyko's Media Hub for PS3 inelegantly adds USB ports, multicard reader {Engadget}
Jul 2nd 2008 4:55PM Powered...
