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American McGee's Crooked House, Zenonia 2, MLB World Series 2010 out now
Here are a few games of note that have shown up in the App Store recently. Game developer American McGee made his debut on the iPhone without much fanfare in the form of a game called Crooked House -- it's a puzzle game based on an old nursery rhyme that's as dripping with atmosphere as most of McGee's titles. If you're a puzzle fan or just want to see what an experienced game developer has done with Apple's platform, it's worth a look. Zenonia 2 also showed up on the App Store recently -- it's the sequel to an action RPG from the iPhone's earlier days, and it adds in some character customization, a much larger world, and even some asynchronous multiplayer. And finally, Major League Baseball is following up their extremely successful game-watching app with... a game. That's right, MLB Advanced Media has turned out an official baseball game, featuring all of the official rosters and ballparks (of course), along with a multitouch pitching feature, World Series and seasonal gameplay. Unfortunately, the reviews are middling on the game itself, but it looks like MLB is investing big in iPhone applications, considering the success of their previous app. The game is on the App Store for $6.99, no free version yet.
Ridata Ultra-S Plus MLC SSDs arrive in 32/64/128GB flavors, start at $170
Ridata has dabbled in the wonderful world of triple-data capacity SSDs before, but as with most manufacturers, it wouldn't open its mouth and divulge a price. Now, however, we've got three newcomers to swoon over along with price tags to balk (or cheer, depending on wallet depth) over. The Ultra-S Plus MLC SATA SSD line has launched in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes, all of which offer up to 128MB/sec read speeds and 80MB/sec write speeds. Without further adieu, the late July-bound trio will be selling for $169.90, $294.90 and $537.90 from least capacious to most. So, you gettin' one?
RoomRender system dictates living environment, summons Segway
While the choices are nearly limitless when it comes to automating your crib, the novelty factor of turning your microwave on from your bedroom will probably fade with time. Japan's SGI is aiming to making home automation a seamless, all encompassing affair with the RoomRender system. The self-proclaimed "intelligent room system" can not only control all the electronics, lighting systems, and appliances in a given room based on voice commands, but can even release perfumes and dim the lighting in response to emotions. Aimed at luxury hotels, board rooms, and A-class superstars, the system relies on AmiVoice technology to recognize spoken words, which can be used to automatically record specific programs, turn on your home stereo, or grind away those leftovers in the trash disposal. Additionally, the "FeelingWall" component relies on Sensibility Technology (co-developed with AGI) to interpret emotions "based on the intonation and rhythm of voices, adjusting the color and lighting accordingly." The pinnacle of all this, however, is the planned ability to call upon Segways if necessary; a user can demand that his / her Segway be cranked up and rolled over to them, so they don't even have to get up to fetch the reverse-minded machine. Although we're not sure when these will be rolled out in Japan, a working system has already been installed in the company's own office building, and it plans on fetching between ¥5,000,000 ($43,464) and ¥6,000,000 ($52,156) when they go mass market.[Via Pink Tentacle]
