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Unorthodox Sprite drone tolerates abuse and actually flies
When you picture a consumer drone, something bulky with four or six props à la DJI probably pops to mind. But the folks behind a new model on Kickstarter think that such UAVs have two big problems -- namely, they're hard to carry and break easily if you mess up. They built The Sprite to overcome those limitations with a cylindrical, waterproof body and retractable blades. The design makes it easy to throw it into a pack, and when landing, the rotors halt in a half a second and fold into a retracted position. From there, the craft can safely alight on rocks, a bush or even a swamp without issues.
KickSat's tiny satellites may burn up before they're released
If you backed the KickSat project in hopes of getting your own tiny satellite into orbit, you'll want to brace yourself for some bad news. The host vehicle's master clock has unexpectedly reset while in space, pushing the mini satellites' release back to May 16th -- after the main craft is likely to burn up on reentry. It's possible to force a deployment once the host's uplink radio gets enough power, but that might not happen quickly enough to avoid a calamity.
Crowd-funded KickSat to carry over 100 tiny satellites into space this Sunday
It began with a Kickstarter project in 2011. This Sunday, KickSat creator Zac Manchester will see his poker chip-size satellites take flight when they launch from Cape Canaveral to an altitude of about 200 miles. More than 100 of the Sprite free-flying spacecraft will orbit the Earth as part of a technology demonstration. Each satellite includes a gyroscope, magnetometer, a Texas Instruments microcontroller, a radio, two antennas and solar cells for power. Once the Sprites are deployed from the KickSat cube sat on April 1st, the system will transmit telemetry packets that can be picked up by basic ham radio equipment back on Earth. Update: NASA has pushed back to the launch to March 30th.
NBA 2K13 'All-Star' DLC gets off the bench for $5
For months now, those who had the foresight to pre-order NBA 2K13 have enjoyed some exclusive content centered around the All-Star game, inaccessible to the overall masses until now. The 'All-Star Add-On Presented by Sprite' DLC for the Xbox 360 and PS3 will set ballers back 400 MS Points / $5 and includes four unique events: the Foot Locker three-point shootout, BBVA Rising Stars challenge game, Sprite slam dunk contest and the East vs West All-Star game.In the case of the three-point shootout and slam dunk contest, these events are also compatible with your MyPlayer character – if your creation is talented enough to warrant entry, that is.
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 characters in sprite form
The existence of a third Marvel vs Capcom game is a small miracle in its own right. Today, our attention turns to a labor of love: a gallery of 2D sprites based on the Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 fighters, lovingly made by deviantART user steamboy33.We've combined two posters above, showing both the Marvel and Capcom sides of the roster, but steamboy33 has each available as an individual image on his profile page. And don't stop after the cast of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 – there are plenty of other neat sprites to check out. Marvelous!
SIM-sized satellites to lift off with Endeavour this afternoon
They won't be beaming GPS or radio signals back to Earth anytime soon, but these one-inch-square satellites could one day travel to distant planets -- without fuel. Developed over a period of three years by a team of undergraduates at Cornell University, the Sprite chips could eventually be used for communication, flying in clusters like tiny space plankton. After hitching a ride on-board the final space shuttle Endeavour mission this afternoon, the three prototype satellites will be mounted outside the International Space Station, where they'll sit for the next few years, exposed to conditions found only beyond our atmosphere. Perhaps someday we'll even see some "Spprite" KIRFs by the time China's own space station is ready to hit the launchpad in 2020.
Aeria Games licenses Grand Fantasia
Aeria Games has recently announced their acquisition of a new game license to publish for our territories -- Grand Fantasia. Grand Fantasia's twist on the traditional MMORPG model is a focus on a virtual pet model of pet management in addition to the standard combat fare of MMOs. All players are given access to "sprite" companions that serve a variety of functions in the game, from things like crafting to accessing areas.The game is done in a strong cartoon/anime style, with magical fantasy being the driving theme. The closed beta for the game hasn't been announced yet, but the teaser website is up and showing initial trailers and screenshots for the game. But, why travel so far away when you can just watch our embedded version of the trailer in this very post! Just hit the continue reading button, and watch Aeria's latest game in motion.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 HD video compares upscaling methods
We've already had a peek at the various sprite filtering modes that can be optionally employed on Capcom's Marvel vs. Capcom 2 port for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but as usual, one truly need to get a look at the game in motion to judge. Check out Joystiq's YouTube HD footage (embedded after the break) and see if that type of thing has any noticeable effect on the action.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2's HD upgrade explained
Making us a little more comfortable with the slow death of S-Video is the news that the Sega Dreamcast version of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. With its introduction to the HD console era, Capcom's had to make some changes to the classic, although it isn't getting a full frame by frame rework like Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, producer Rey Jimenez blogged about some of the updates, including the three options for sprite filtering seen above to keep things sharp in 1080p. Also new for 2009 is widescreen support (the stages are still the same size) with notes from two prominent player promising "the same game, only prettier." The only real question now is which game is next?
It's a Wonderful cross stitch
The staff at DS Fanboy normally goes by the mantra, "Those who can't craft, blog," but apparently that's not always the case. Every week over at GamerTell, blogger Jenni Lada makes a game-related cross stitch based on images from various sprite databases. No one loves video game crafts more than we do, so you can bet we'd be all over these cute works once they came to our attention. This week's stitch is an enemy from Square Enix's recently released game, The World Ends With You. Called Samba Pigs, these little oinkers are apparently tough to kill since they're always trying to escape. When you do nab them, though, they drop some worthwhile badges.Since The World Ends With You is on our "do want" list, we couldn't help but admire the work and talent that went into this little craft (although it probably won't come as a surprise to you that this blogger's favorite of the bunch is Fire Emblem themed). Next week Jenni tackles two Naruto sprites from Jump Ultimate Stars (which doesn't sound like an enviable task), so if you're a fan of the orange ninja make sure to check back there. Gallery: Jenni's Character Cross Stitch
Coca Cola readying self-chilling soft drinks?
And you thought non-stick chewing gum was the heat. Turns out, Coca Cola may be plotting a new version of Sprite that actually chills itself upon opening. Apparently, the drink has to be kept at a specified temperature before being snapped up, and once the oh-so-thirsty consumer pops the top, "a mechanism inside creates ice made from the drink, so it is not diluted." Reportedly, the beverage would sensibly be called Sprite Super Chilled, and if it does indeed hit the UK (and prove successful) by "early next year," the technology could then be passed along to Coke, Diet Coke or even "super cold alcoholic drinks, particularly beers."[Via Tech Digest]
Free Sprite SubLYMONal downloads
Sprite's SubLYMONal soda campaign has spread onto the XBLM (presumably US only) with a free theme and gamer picture download. There is only one gamer pic which is the Sprite logo and the theme is nothing more than a picture of a Sprite 20oz bottle copied four times to each blade. It's quite, how do we say this ... uninspired. Also, we noticed that the the theme's advertising text in the lower left is cut off by the blades which makes us feel a little more comfortable calling these SubLYMONal downloads uninspired. But they're free downloads, so go get 'em if you like the free.
Nintendo and Coca-Cola team up to hook you up
Nintendo, maker of that Wii console we love so much, and Coca-Cola, maker of that soda we love so much, are teaming up to give away a multitude of prizes on select cans of Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper starting May 14th until July of this year in the UK. The ultimate prize consists of the "Ultimate Wii Games Room," which features a Wii console, Wii Sports, 26" Samsung LCD TV and a mini-fridge stocked to the brim with Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper. This prize will be given out on a daily basis at the start of the promotion.
2D sprites get massive for the HD generation
While the arrival of HDTV has generally been a boon to the game industry, it's definitely caused headaches for at least one shrinking but still important sector of the industry -- 2D sprite artists. As the above illustration of the Ryu sprite for the upcoming Street Fighter II HD Remix shows, drawing good-looking 2D characters in HD requires a lot more attention to detail than the old standard-resolution sprites.This problem is not exclusive to Capcom. Castlevania designer Koji Igarishi remarked at GDC on the labor involved in creating high resolution 2D art and SNK President Ben Herman lamented in an IGN interview that bringing the company's fighters to the 360 and PS3 would require artists to "re-draw every single older game."The extra work leads to extra benefits, though, as the sleek new Ryu above clearly demonstrates. Still, the proof will be seeing these beautiful high-def drawings come to life. All the graphical fidelity in the world doesn't matter if the animation is on par with Star Wars Adventures.
