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Apogee's latest Jam interface has a built-in analog compressor
The JamX has three three analog compression presets to help you shape your tone.
Apogee's Jam+ is an upgraded guitar input for iOS, Mac and Windows
If you're looking to employ any of the dozens of guitar apps to practice Stevie Ray Vaughn riffs, you'll need some sort of adapter to plug your axe into your phone, tablet or computer. Apogee debuted the Jam in 2011, a $99 thumbdrive-sized dongle that made it possible to play a guitar though an iOS device or Mac. The company would follow up with a pair of 96kHz models -- one for Windows and Mac and the other for Mac and iOS. Today, Apogee is revealing the latest version: the Jam+.
Oculus offers $1 million prize pool for Gear VR developers
Oculus VR has a challenge for aspiring game and app developers: Create something new and exciting for the Gear VR Innovator Edition, Samsung's Oculus-powered headset, and get a shot at a cash prize from a $1 million pool. The Oculus Mobile VR Jam 2015 kicks off on April 13 and ends on May 11, with sign-ups open now at ChallengePost. The Jam -- and the cash -- is split between two tracks, "Games" and "Apps or Experiences," with Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in each segment. The top Platinum Game gets $200,000, while the Platinum App or Experience snags $100,000. There are multiple winners for each of the remaining ranks, and prizes bottom out at $10,000 for each Bronze victor.
Devolver Digital unveils documentary series 'Super Game Jam'
Super Game Jam is an upcoming documentary series from publisher Devolver Digital that focuses on the impromptu efforts of pairs of indie game developers attempting to cobble together something interesting and fun in under 48 hours. "Game jams have become an increasingly important part of the indie game development scene and our hope is to let everyone see what goes into these collaborations and explorations of themes through games," stated Daniel Oliveira Carneiro, a filmmaker who shares directorial duties on Super Game Jam with Bram Ruiter. The format of Super Game Jam is simple: The series visits five cities, pairs up two indie developers, then grants them 48 hours to come up with something resembling a game. The only guideline they're given is a basic theme assigned by other developers. The goal here is to document the trials and tribulations of building a functional game in such a short amount of time, and to highlight the skills and interactions of the developers. Super Game Jam will come available to the public in April. On release, each episode of Super Game Jam will be available for download from Steam alongside the game created by the indie developers who starred in that particular entry. More details on Super Game Jam, including a list of participating developers, can be found at its eponymous website. [Image: Devolver Digital]
iamagamer's first game jam focused on creating female protagonists
From July 12 through 14, Vancouver will play host to game jam organizer iamagamer's first event – a 48 hour jam focused on crafting original games with female protagonists. "This unprecedented event will dispute the prevailing opinion that video games are for guys and that games with strong, female lead characters will not sell," the announcement press release reads. "Such stereotypes are not only incorrect, but have a negative impact on the industry." The jam will take place at Vancouver's Centre for Digital Media, with all attendees commencing to jam at 6 p.m. local time on Friday, ceasing their jam-oriented activities 48 hours later on Sunday evening. Artists, designers, developers and writers are all encouraged to register and participate – so far over 150 people have signed on to take part in the event, either on-site in Vancouver or at one of several satellite events happening concurrently elsewhere.
Getting your music outta a tight Jam
Jam (free) is one of those little apps that has found great traction over here at TUAW. From a pair of charming Australian developers, it helps you create silly, but engaging auto-tuned tracks in a variety of styles. It does have, as we discovered, one major flaw. It expects you to use and engage with Facebook. No Facebook, no Jam account, no music sharing. FACEBOOK! Okay, yeah, that's not the worst thing in the world, but it's one that some of us really don't care for. Jam, for whatever reason, has not engaged iTunes sharing. You cannot just hook up your phone and recover music from the iTunes app tab. What a pity! So can you enjoy the Jam and skip the Facebook? Why, yes you can! Ecamm's PhoneView ($29.95) allows you to browse your iPhone and visit the folders for each of your installed apps. It just keeps getting better and better each year. I connected my phone, navigated to the Apps, making sure to enable the Show All Apps checkbox and opened the Jam folder. Inside its Documents subfolder, I found my music. (This was along with a lot of other files that the School Marm iPhone Dev in me feels should properly live in the Library not in Documents. But I digress.) Recordings are stored in m4a format and labeled with the date and beats per minute. You can use PhoneView to grab those out to your desktop. From there, you can archive your creations, play them in iTunes or QuickTime and/or share them over email. Finding this solution has made me a lot more excited about purchasing some of the other Jam styles. I think I may spring for Pop or '80s Dance next! Oh wait.
Caturday: Actually, today is Macworld Monkeyday
It's Caturday, but we're also at Macworld/iWorld 2013, and it was the perfect chance to spotlight a special guest who made an appearance DreamWalk Interactive booth on the show floor: a capuchin monkey. DreamWalk, the developers of Jam for iPhone, use a cartoon monkey as an avatar. They admit that show organizers told them they couldn't have the real flesh-and-fur monkey on the floor, but they decided to brave the wrath of IDG and show off their friend anyhow. We'll see how long this visit lasts. Check out the video below, and we'll be back to our normal parade of felines next week. The cats will seem not to care that we left them alone for a week, but no doubt we'll find our iPhone sync cable shredded on the bathroom floor soon.
Jam for iOS hopes to be 'Instagram for music'
Most of the apps on display in Macworld/iWorld 2013's "Appalooza" annex are of the productivity variety, but that doesn't mean there isn't some fun stuff to be found. One that caught my eye was Jam from Australian developer DreamWalk Mobile. Launched two weeks ago on the App Store, it's a free music-creation app for iPhone and iPod touch with a unique hook: You sing -- not even especially well, even -- and the app auto-tunes you and creates an original backing track, then mixes it all down into something you can share on Facebook. The app, which has seen about 19,000 songs shared to date, came from the developer's desire to take an Instagram-style approach to music creation. That is, improving the source material -- in this case your voice, with "filters" replaced by auto-tuning -- and giving you a means to share the results with friends. The backing tracks it adds to your vocals are generated from original loops and samples recorded in-studio by Jam's developers. They fall into several musical genes, including pop, rock and reggae. Only the pop rock genre comes pre-installed; others are available as US$0.99 in-app purchases. In an interesting twist, it's possible to buy the add-on genres without spending actual money. You can actually earn in-game currency in the form of "royalties" from others listening to and liking you songs, and these virtual funds can then be used in lieu of real money for the IAPs. We've been playing around with the app a bit since our demo and have made a few little ditties this far, mostly about our co-workers and cats. It's a clever app for sure, and you can't really beat the price. Of course, whether it'll achieve its creators' Instagram-level aspirations remains to be seen, but it's nevertheless a fun diversion with some potential.
Here are the current most-hated game genres in F*ck This Jam
F*ck This Jam is all about anarchy on the indie scene, challenging developers to pick their most hated genre and create a brilliant game within it. Founder Rami Ismail isn't doing this because he's a sadist; he believes in the possibility for beauty in resentment. So far the top three most-hated genres submitted to F*ck This Jam are social, sports and racing games.As Ismail sees it, some of the best indie games are borne out of a disdain for a particular genre: Alexander Bruce's Antichamber is a study in aversion to puzzle games. Ramiro Corbetta's Hokra, on the other hand, is a minimalist take on a sports game that similarly blurs the genre's definition."The idea is to get people to challenge established rules and conventions," Ismail says. Even the jam itself is an anomaly: It lasts an entire week, where standard jams last two days or so. Ismail and co-founder Fernando Ramallo are setting up a transparent website for all the developers to post updates, live stream their games-in-progress and share their creations with the world, every step of the way."Traditionally jams are an introverted thing," Ismail says. "But jams are supposed to force people to do things differently, and F*ck This Jam will challenge the notion that jams are introverted."
Sword and Sworcery devs hosting a creative jam
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP has earned accolades from critics and players for its creativity. Now its developers are asking the community to show off their own creativity, in the "Create in the Key of Sworcery" virtual jam. Over on the game's official tumblr, they're sharing some really incredible fan art from the game, and they're asking for more to be made and sent in during a virtual jam, happening on May 11-13. It's not a contest and there are no prizes, as far as I can tell. I believe it's just making some art for art's sake. The world of Sword and Sworcery is certainly gorgeous, and has already inspired some great work from fans. If you are a fan with some artistic talent, we'll be waiting to see what you and others put together with Jim Guthrie, Capy, and Superbrothers next weekend.
Apogee's Jam connects your guitar to your iPad
We've seen the iRig and the AmpKit, two interfaces for getting a line-in from your guitar or bass. Both come with effect racks and sound pretty darn good. But where do you go from there? How about a dock interface that records 44.1 kHz, 24-bit audio without line noise? Apogee's Jam guitar interface does just that, and it throws in hardware gain control and LED peak monitoring. It plugs into your Mac, too! I saw something similar at Macworld, though I don't think it was this particular model. I sat down and played an acoustic with pickups through my iPhone, though, and I was blown away by the clarity of the audio. The dock connector is, in my newly-formed opinion, the way to go. The problem at the time was that it didn't come with any effects, and the convenience of the AmpliTube and AmpKit setups was more convincing to my limited budget. However, with Apple's announcement of GarageBand on the iPad, the tables have turned. GarageBand's full set of effects, combined with a crisp guitar input, plus editing and multi-track capabilities (all with the polish of an Apple product) make this an amazing prospect. I'm sure I'll be picking one up, as they'll be retailing at US$99 and will be available later this month. See the Jam page at Apogee's site for more info. [via Gizmag]
Jam guitar input for Mac and iOS devices gets your axe into GarageBand
Hello Cleveland! Or, you know, wherever you are. Are you ready to rock? No? Oh, well, maybe just a little jam session, then? Apogee Electronics (no, not the company that brought you all those Duke Nukem releases back in the day) has announced the new Jam device, which enables a digital connection for electric and bass guitars into iOS 4.2.1 (and greater) devices or into any Core Audio compatible apps on Mac. You can record straight into GarageBand if you like and use the built-in control knob to adjust your levels. That connectivity won't come for free, naturally, with a $99 MSRP slapped on this one. It'll start rocking stores in March -- plenty enough time to find another new drummer. %Gallery-118299%
'Managed access' trial screens prison phone calls without jamming the airwaves
Yeah, we've been to this rodeo before... kind of. If you'll recall, prisons have had one heck of a time getting the Feds to sign off on a new law that would allow cellphone jamming equipment to be installed on their premises, and due to a 1934 law that allows only federal agencies to jam public airways, they've had little choice but to sit and wait. A bill is resting in the House right now that would allow pilot jamming programs to commence, but given that it's unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon, South Carolina's prison director (Jon Ozmint) is eying something else. In fact, he's already trying something else. A "managed access" trial has begun in the Palmetto State (as well as Mississippi), which routes mobile calls originating in the prison to a third-party provider that check's each number to see if it's on a whitelist; if it doesn't make the cut, the call is blocked. Jon's still pushing for jamming, but it looks as if this second-rate system may just be good enough to convince most criminals to stop trying to reach the outside world. Or at least add yet another level of frustration to their lives. [Image courtesy of Wired]
Major nerf of ECM ships coming to EVE Online
While this can hardly be considered flavor of the month (as it would've been a *really* long month), ECM (jamming) ships in EVE Online are considered to be overpowered by many players. Ships with bonuses to ECM modules are able to prevent target lock by other ships, drastically reducing the combat effectiveness of their opposition. After all, you generally can't shoot what you can't get a target lock on, and some of these ships can jam from extremely long ranges. With this in mind, CCP Games is taking a look at ECM ships and considering redefining their roles in the EVE Online. Game designer CCP Chronotis has written in the official site's Game Development Forum about what the devs would like to do to fix ships with bonuses to ECM. In a nutshell, CCP is considering altering the ships (and ECM use in general) in terms of range. Some ships might become 'short range brawlers' while others become 'long range snipers.' Chronotis proposes specific changes to ECM ships, detailing their reworked stats as they will appear on the Singularity test server in the coming days, and invites input from the playerbase on the matter. Despite the widespread perceived need for ECM changes to be made, some of the player response to the proposed changes is critical so far. Regardless, one thing is clear -- the days of Falcon alts are numbered. Have a look at what CCP is considering doing, and let us know if you agree or disagree with these changes. [Via A Misguided Adventurer]
Prison phone jamming demo canceled, inmates promptly order more pizza
There's been a little bit of drama brewing out in DC lately, and for good reason: prisoners' ability to order pizza, drugs, and hits from the comfort of their cells is at risk. After ordering an in-prison signal blocking demo using equipment provided by infrastructure firm CellAntenna, the Washington DC Department of Corrections promptly earned the wrath of the CTIA which took its complaint to the FCC, arguing that such a demo violates the law. The FCC twiddled its thumbs (as federal agencies tend to do), so the association went to court where it sued to block CellAntenna from doing its thing. Before it had a chance to respond, though, the jail canceled its demo -- problem solved. The CTIA agrees that prisoners aren't the type of folks you want toting phones, but suggests that blocking signals from prisons altogether isn't the right way to solve the problem; if we were a guard, we'd probably agree.
Brando's Palm Phone Jammer kills GSM calls dead
We've seen all manners of jammers before, including one or two that shut down cellphone calls, but now even Brando's joining the fun with its diminutive Portable Palm Phone Jammer. Yep, the same company known for cranking out obscure USB-related peripherals and objects that heat and / or cool most anything you need is now giving you the opportunity to scramble GSM 850-, 900-, 1,800- and 1,900MHz cellphone calls "within a 30-foot radius." Granted, these aren't exactly legal in America, but for those looking for a little revelry elsewhere, you can pick one up as we speak for $166.[Via The Raw Feed]
Jammin' Guitar Pick stylus lets us shred our touch screens
We've seen a GameStop.com listing for a product called the "Jammin' Guitar Pick" for a while, but we've been patiently waiting for a picture to show up. Today, one day before the product's release, one has surfaced. It's a very simple idea: a guitar pick with a stylus stuck to it, and it comes in a pack of three for $8. Oddly, the pointier part of the pick doesn't appear to be the part where the stylus is attached.We're just thrilled that someone at Naki thought Jam Sessions was going to be big enough to call for its very own third-party accessory. Too bad the picks are coming out just as word comes out of the game's delay. We're thinking about picking up the accessory now in anticipation, and so we can pretend we're giving one of them sexy solos while we're playing Meteos.
Jam Sessions delayed until September
Ubisoft's Jam Sessions, which would officially be our personal most-anticipated game if it were a game, was originally slated for a summer release in both Europe and the US. It was going to be a beautiful summer of trying to play metal on a fake acoustic guitar. But fate (or Ubisoft; the two are interchangeable) had other plans.Cubed3 reports that Ubisoft has confirmed a delay for the European release of Plato's guitar simulator, to September 28th. We don't have an official word on the US version, but GameStop lists the release date as September 11th, which is corroborated by Ubisoft's website. How long does it take to translate guitar notes?
Sega confirms four more for NA Virtual Console
Sega has confirmed four more Genesis classics en route to the Virtual Console in the next ... well ... they'll be here eventually, anyway. The titles? Wellll .... Toe Jam & Earl 2: Panic on Funkotron Shining in the Darkness Kid Chameleon Streets of Rage 2 Sega seems absolutely committed to the Virtual Console, even moreso than Nintendo ... but aren't they going to run out of high-profile titles at some point? Alas. Streets of Rage 2 is an excellent addition, and we've heard great things about Shining in the Darkness. Do you guys have some expert opinions? We never were big Genesis gamers.Titles will cost the standard 800 points for Genesis games, of course. As our sister site Joystiq points out, the only two titles to break standard pricing were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES, 600 points) and R-Type (TG-16, 800 points). May that list stay ever short!
We're hot for the Van Halen-style DS
Now this is how you play Jam Sessions. Flickr user Mr. Atrocity and his girlfriend gave their DS systems (both Phat, and we're happy to see people sporting them) custom paint jobs-- his a replica of Eddie Van Halen's guitar finish, and hers a lavender with gold details. Not only does the gallery contain pretty pictures of modded systems, but it is a great tutorial for spraypainting your own DS, which is exactly the kind of thing you should have a tutorial for, unless you want to play New Super B Button Is Stuck Down Bros. or Trauma Center: Under the Red Blob.
