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Nintendo Wii Fanboy at the Nintendo Fusion Tour: Orlando
Yes, these Fusion Tour events have been going for several weeks now, I know. And you've probably read plenty of impressions, too. But not from Nintendo Wii Fanboy, you didn't, so grab a mug of hot cocoa and your favorite fuzzy slippers. It's time to read. I, like most of you, had never played with the Wii before tonight. I was unable to attend E3, and despite my posting nigh every single day on the strange little machine, I had no idea if it could actually fulfill my every expectation. Would I have to convince myself that the controls would work, as opposed to just knowing that they would? It was almost nervewracking ... waiting to see if all that I work on and write about would be somehow validated.
The Happiest Arcade on Earth
Responding to our post on Japan's Sega-themed Joypolis arcade, Joystiq reader Filth sent in a tip for a similar arcade mecca in Orlando, Fla. DisneyQuest, part of Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney complex, is six floors featuring over 180 new and retro arcade games and 14 Disney-themed rides. Best of all, unlike neo-arcades like Dave & Busters, one $30 ticket gets you unlimited play on the games and rides all day long.Opened in the late '90s, the Orlando location was supposed to be the first of a series of DisneyQuests around the country, but financial troubles stopped the project from going forward. Rumor has it that the location will be converted into another ESPN Zone in 2008, so gamers who might be planning a pilgrimage shouldn't wait too long.
B.O.S.S. shopping cart follows you around
If you're scouting out colleges to showcase your robot crafting skills, make sure the University of Florida is given some very strong consideration. Fresh off of a second straight victory at the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition, the kids in Gainesville are flaunting another robotic creation that can make shopping a lot easier (and a lot safer). Gregory Garcia, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, developed a shopping cart that not only follows you around the store, but keeps a steady pace while cruising and throws on the brakes before clipping someone's heels. Garcia got the inspiration for the B.O.S.S. (Battery Operated Smart Servant) from his (presumably mischievous) little sister, who enjoyed ramming into his legs as a child while manning the buggy. A number of sensors aid the cart's maneuvering techniques, including a color sensor which allows the shopper to hold a piece of fabric behind them for the B.O.S.S. to keep track of -- it apparently accelerates and decelerates based on the speed and distance of the fabric ahead, and Garcia made quite certain that the shopping cart could stop on a dime in order to prevent those awkward heel injuries. While we're not sure how the cart would perform during the madness of holiday shopping, especially if it tried to follow every white (or green, or red) article of clothing around, but we're sure Gregory had a grand 'ole time finally showing that heel-biting cart who's boss.
Saved by the Bell's Screech mugged
Dustin Diamond, aka "Screech" from the "hit" television series Saved by the Bell is going through some tough times. He hasn't had a "career" since his teen acting days, he's losing his house, and now... he's lost his precious PSP games (to quote "good games.") According to his account on a Florida radio station, a woman broke into his hotel room with some mace, grabbed his PSP games and ran out. He tried to stop her, but she yelled "rape" and ran away.If you feel sorry for the guy, go and buy a t-shirt from him.(This incredible non-news story was brought to you by our sister site, TV Squad. Let's never do a crossover with them ever again.)
Video games are a part of prisoner rehabilitation
The issue of video games in prisons has resurfaced; this time the publicity surrounds a private prison in Florida purchasing two PlayStation 2 systems (with inmate commissary, not with tax dollars) as part of an attempt to relax prisoners. This comes after recent debates over the right of prisoners to play video games, with Missouri first removing violent games after a blunder that resulted in prisoners shooting virtual cops in GTA, and then banning the use of games outright after a new Governor took office. Currently the overwhelming majority of prisons in the U.S.A. do not allow prisoners access to games.Hernando County Jail Assistant Warden Russell Washburn told the St. Petersburg Times: "I'd rather them be thinking about race cars than how I'm mad at someone... I don't want it portrayed that all they do is sit around and play PlayStation. I would agree that's not right if that's all you do. But this is just part of the rehabilitation. You can't throw them into a place and not give them anything to do and expect no problems. ... This is not a warehouse."We've previously reported on the positive aspects of allowing prisoners to play video games as part of the rehabilitation process: Oregon's game-friendly jails (1, 2) show how video games can help calm prisoners and reduce violent behavior inside prisons. Shouldn't that be all we need to know? If video games make the jobs of prison staff easier and potentially reduces the rate of prison suicides, then arguments of principle like Maj. Robert Lucas', an administrator with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, statement that jail is "not fun and games" should be irrelevant.I have an inkling that the real reason the "video games in prison" issue has been susceptible to such unwarranted attention (and sensational reporting) is due to inherent controversies with video games themselves. Why is the overall topic of entertainment in prisons being ignored? No one seems to have a problem with prisoners watching TV or DVDs, so it's reasonable to suggest that this particular problem has nothing to do with prisoner rehabilitation. Instead, this entire "controversy" shows all the hallmarks of being a thinly veiled extension of the ongoing resistance to video game media by out of touch (and/or vote grabbing) political figures.[Thanks, Babylonian]
The Intelligent Scarecrow fights back against birds
It shouldn't really come as a surprise that with so many other professionals being replaced by robots (see: nurses, housekeepers, soldiers), that the humble scarecrow should find himself the target of a high-tech upgrade. Trying to destroy the whole "scarecrows are dumb" myth so cruelly perpetuated by L. Frank Baum, students and faculty at the University of South Florida in Tampa have built a computer-powered model that can detect incoming birds and employ non-lethal countermeasures to protect their wards. The Intelligent Scarecrow, as it's known, was developed to combat the problem of nervey birds trying to feed themselves at the expense of Florida's $42 million fish farming industry, and has been chosen as one of 30 finalists by Microsoft in their Windows Challenge competition. Dressed in a football helmet and jersey, the bot -- which was conceived by Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Ken Christensen -- uses a networked camera linked to image recognition software for identifying winged menaces in the vicinity, and attempts to repel them with a mix of annoying sounds and even more annoying blasts of water. Future versions of the bot will improve on the detection range (it can't currently cover enough area to make commercial deployment practical), and more importantly, the lack of mobility, because apparently even birds get wise to stationary deterrents eventually.[Via The Raw Feed]
Stupid kids try to steal David Copperfield's cellphone
Not necessarily mobile news as such, we still thought you'd get a kick out of this tale of four teenage thugs, two lovely assistants, and a man who earns his living by making stuff disappear. After Sunday's show at the Kravis Center in alm Beach, Florida, illusionist David Copperfield and his female assistants were walking back to their tour bus when they were approached by a small pack of kids. Instead of requesting the world-famous magician's autograph (don't laugh, we have one), the three 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old proceeded to rob the women of their purses at gunpoint, making off with several hundred dollars and a RAZR. When it came time to jack Copperfield, however, the teens were apparently dumbfounded by his special powers, as he managed to conceal his own wallet and cellphone while appearing to completely empty his pockets in a trick he referred to as "reverse pickpocketing." Eventually all four morons were picked up in their stolen car after Copperfield took note of the license plate, and their cache of loot from the night's activities was returned to its rightful owners.[Via mopocket and textually]
Sona BlackBerry Media Player will enable streaming video
RIM's effort to position certain BlackBerries as more consumer-oriented products received a big shot in the arm today, as Sona Mobile Holdings -- which may or may not be the same company that's supposedly developing a Star Trek-themed cellphone -- announced the first-ever dedicated multimedia player for the company's "latest generation of devices." Although very little will be known about the software until it's unveiled at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando next month, we do know that the so-called Sona BlackBerry Media Player will be able to handle streaming video, and that the first content provider will be CanWest Media Works. CanWest's offering will come in the form of a daily Sona Mobile BerryCast (their term for a wirelessly-updated podcast), which will deliver downloadable news clips to a user's device. Not even a screenshot is available yet to show you, unfortunately, but rest assured that we'll be all over this come May 16th.[Via BBHUB]
How was the National Championship game broadcast?
We know how the game went, with Florida in control almost the entire time and winning the NCAA title easily, 73-57, but how did it look? I had some of the same issues noted in this thread at AVSForums, the picture was great for most of the game, but whenever they went to the floor cameras or behind the backboard shots, blurriness and pixelization were in full effect. Here is a link to a press release by the company, Vyvx, that provided the transmission for both the broadcast and the advertisements that aired during. The first high definiton broadcast I ever saw was the first time Final Four was shown in HD, and it had the same issues with blurriness and pixels. At the time, it convinced me HDTVs weren't worth the money. Last nights broadcast was better, but still not up to the quality we often see now in NBA and NFL productions. Who is to blame and what can be done to make the games even better to watch?
