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Dundee student designs Passive Play toy cube to stimulate parent interaction with autistic children
A University of Dundee scholar has been working on a wonderful tool that aims to evoke the emotional connection between children with autism and their parents. While we've seen novelties like the My Keepon in the past, any addition to the cause is always a pleasant one, and the Passive Play's no exception. The concept comes in the form of an interactive toy cube for the kid (pictured above), which pairs up with an iOS app and allows the parent to see any interaction the little one is having with the device. Passive Play's creator, Tom Kirkman, says his inspiration comes from "wanting to learn more about autism," and in case you happen to be in the UK, he'll be showing off the project at Dundee University later this month. For all those details, be sure to check out the PR after the break.
All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun
Urban crime (game) enthusiasts, rejoice! The All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun, according to reports at both Eurogamer and Kotaku. It was rumored that the beta would begin this month and it seems there are presently three windows of gameplay a week in the All Points Bulletin CBT -- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, says Eurogamer's Oli Welsh. Those interested in ripping up the streets as either a Criminal or an Enforcer can still apply to become an All Points Bulletin beta tester at the game's official site. APB is in development at Realtime Worlds in Scotland, and aims to bring a new level of online interaction to multiplayer urban crime games. Check out Massively's coverage of All Points Bulletin for more on what Realtime Worlds is creating.
All Points Bulletin beta kicks off next week, new gameplay footage released
All Points Bulletin from Realtime Worlds is eagerly anticipated by the GTA and Saints Row set, bringing much greater online interaction to the urban crime game genre. All Points Bulletin has been accepting beta applications and, according to Gamesindustry.biz, the beta will begin next week. They report that Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale mentioned the beta going live during Tech Media Invest 2009 in London. If all goes as planned, this is certainly good news for those of you who applied as beta testers. APB video podcast 10 is also out, and shows us a continuation of the GamesCom 2009 footage from last month. In fact, this video quite literally picks up where the previous footage left off, showing off a bit of the Last.fm integration into All Points Bulletin, and how the unobtrusive heads-up display guides you to mission locations. We've got an HD embed of the video for you, so stick with us past the jump for a closer look at APB's gameplay.
UK game tax policies has Realtime Worlds considering move to Ireland
Realtime Worlds is becoming synonymous with Scotland's game development with their upcoming title All Points Bulletin, but there are reports the company may consider relocating to Ireland. As one of Scotland's most prominent development studios, Realtime Worlds is keenly aware that as the computer games industry grows the UK lags behind other countries in terms of tax incentives. (Edge Online has an excellent overview of the situation which details how UK firms pay tax on R&D while countries like Canada and France provide rebates for game developers.) The situation as it affects Realtime Worlds and other Dundee-based companies is that if corporate tax breaks aren't possible in Scotland, they may need to head to greener pastures. Even moreso if such pastures include a 5-year tax holiday, which was mentioned at last weekend's Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin.Herald Scotland quotes Colin Macdonald, Realtime Worlds Studio Manager, as saying,"If the package on offer in Ireland was attractive we'd have to give it serious consideration. [...] Dundee is a great place to be based, one of the main hubs for computer games in Britain, but at the end of the day we've got to look after our bottom line."
All Points Bulletin video shows off fashion for the discerning thug
The team at Realtime Worlds has put out the 7th video podcast for their urban crime title All Points Bulletin, continuing their theme of focusing on customization options in the game. They've already shown us how we'll be able to embed symbols into everything from our clothing and vehicles or even our own skin. This latest video podcast shows some of the fashion influences from their local city of Dundee, where they visit Arkive clothing, while showing a little more footage of the style that you can give your Criminal and Enforcer thugs in All Points Bulletin. Stick with us after the jump for the HD video embed.
All Points Bulletin video podcast fields questions from the fans
The team at Realtime Worlds has been releasing a series of video podcasts about All Points Bulletin, their upcoming urban crime MMO. The term "MMO" isn't an exact fit for this game though, as anyone who's been following our coverage of APB will have noted. In fact, the game is so different that this latest APB podcast is basically a Q&A with Design Lead EJ Moreland. He answers a barrage of questions, ranging from the game's business model to whether or not we should expect a console release. In addition to all that, Moreland drops some info about All Points Bulletin's current state of development, and when beta testing is expected to begin. For those of you wanting to see a little more of the game, the video also gives us a look at emotes, explained by Senior Animator Ben Stanton, who shows off some avatar dance moves and taunts along the lines of bird flips. He also says that emotes will be gender specific, so the ladies will get a slightly different array of emotes than the guys. We've got an HD embed of the video for you, so stick with us after the jump.
All Points Bulletin video podcast shows off some ink
All Points Bulletin is one of those upcoming games that tends to defy easy categorization. It's an urban crime game that has persistence, quests (missions), and fantastic customization options. It's not an MMO as we'd typically define it, and APB developer Realtime Worlds has also hinted that it may eventually become something of a virtual world. Maybe this is part of why we're interested in this game, it seems to be breaking new ground in online games. We've been checking in now and again on the All Points Bulletin video podcast which always gives us some new perspective on this title. Realtime Worlds often emphasizes how deep the game's customization options are going to be in these videos, and this week's is no different. Given that you'll play a criminal (or a vigilante who hunts them) in APB, what self-respecting felon doesn't overload on tattoos? The fifth APB video podcast shows us some of the ink players will soon be sporting in the game. Chris Collins from the ABP team visits Metalurgey tattoo and piercing parlour in the Realtime Worlds hometown of Dundee, Scotland, to see how the game's ink compares to the real thing. Stay with us after the jump for a video embed of APB Podcast Episode 5: APB Tattoos vs. RL Tattoos.
Vivox to provide voice solutions for urban crime MMO All Points Bulletin
If you're a fan of GTA-style urban crime games, you might be interested in what Realtime Worlds is cooking up for the MMO space: All Points Bulletin, which could very well prove to be the online evolution of single-player games like Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown. While new details on this title are still light, Vivox announced today that they'll be providing voice solutions for APB. The integration of Vivox with the All Points Bulletin client will include voice fonts, where players will be able to alter their voices to better fit their character. Vivox has already established its presence in EVE Online and Second Life, and recently announced plans to extend gaming VOIP to web browsers as well. There could be interesting times ahead with this agreement between Vivox and Realtime Worlds in All Points Bulletin.
Children's home robbed, local businessman replaces stolen Wii
It's good to know the holiday season wasn't all fist-fighting and theft, as a real heart-warming story has emerged from the UK. You see, last weekend, the Hunter family had left home to attend a wedding, only to return and find their home had been broken into and trashed. As one would expect, a few items were missing, most notably the Nintendo Wii Santa left for their two young children.Enter Dundee businessman Charlie Kean of Kean Slaters, who stepped forward (among the many other local individuals who've helped this family get through this tough time) to provide the family with a new Wii, as well as some games. Currently, the criminals have yet to be apprehended by authorities.
All Points Bulletin newsletter updates fans on game features
Judging from the response we've seen from some our readers in the past, All Points Bulletin from Realtime Worlds is a hotly-anticipated MMO. And why wouldn't it be? APB may very well be a refreshing change from the tried-and-true marriage of fantasy and massively multiplayer games, and is one of the first urban crime MMOs we can see on the horizon. The most recent All Points Bulletin newsletter addresses some of the input from APB's growing fan community on the types of weapons available, mini-games, and leisure activities they feel should be in the game. Realtime Worlds confirms that a few of the player-suggested features will, in fact, be present in the title.
Students design socially-activated phones
While the Smellophone will certainly get you one step closer to joining the social via your mobile, students at the University of Dundee are taking social activation to new heights with its lineup of prototype phones. Similar to sensor-laden gear that sends out a variety of feedbacks when a specified event occurs nearby, the six phones that were created by second year students from the College of Art, Science and Engineering's product design course actually supported "intimacy and sensuality" along with collaborative music making. Two particularly moving devices were the Aware (pictured), which reportedly "sends a tingle down your back if a friend is nearby," and the Boom Tube, which "allows people to make music together." Who knew customized ringtones would lead us to this?
