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Tony Hawk talks Ride sequel, confirms board for snowboarding and surfing games
[Giant Bomb] In the realm of games that cost over $100 released by Activision this holiday season (we're counting four including the Prestige Edition Modern Warfare 2 pack), Tony Hawk Ride wasn't one that we thought of as a hot ticket item. The man who lent his name to the series, however, has a different take, saying in a recent interview with GameSpot UK on the prospect of a sequel to Ride that "We have already started that process, but who knows what the future holds." Additionally, like multiple people at Ride developer Robomodo have already intimated, Hawk confirms plans to put the game's board to use in other places – specifically, the woefully underserved snowboarding and surfing game genres. Hawk even speaks of resurrecting one-shot last-gen game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, saying, "I always thought that Kelly Slater's [Pro Surfer] was an underrated title for the PlayStation 2 ... I thought that people didn't really give it the attention it deserved." And us, well, we're still hoping that someone makes a bicycle peripheral so that we can finally get the reboot of Downhill Domination that we've been waiting for.
Poll: Do you surf while you watch HDTV?
According to a recent Nielsen report, 57 percent of US internet users reported that they've surfed the internet while watching TV. This sounds spot on to us, because we do it all the time. In fact we surf almost constantly while watching football to keep up with stats and fantasy teams, and have even been known to look up a forgotten character on Lostpedia while watching our favorite show. So are you as bad as us and record shows that you plan to playback while you have your laptop with you on the couch, or are we just weird. In the interest of full disclosure, this post was written in a room with no TV and was not influenced by any HD programming. %Poll-34134%
Mintpass' tiny Mintpad brings handwriting back from the 20th century
We can't remember the last time we stealthily scribbled a note to a coworker instead of shooting an IM, but Mintpass (a Korean firm founded by former iriver minds) believes some folks want to do both at once with Mintpad, a wireless handheld that's one part Nintendo DS, one part iPod, and another part Post-it note. Yes, it surfs the web on 802.11b/g WiFi and plays 4GB (or more with a microSD card) of music and videos on its sub-3-inch 320 x 240 display, but the draw is handwriting with a stylus. Don't pick it up if you're looking for handwriting recognition, though -- you just jot down notes the old fashioned way, though you can pass them over the internet to others who have their own Mintpads. We've seen a note or two saying you can pick one up in South Korea for ???198,000, or about $156.[Via Pocketables]
Top 5: Activities that Need Waggle
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Top_5_Activities_that_Need_Waggle'; Hardcore gamers sure do hate tacked-on waggle. Indeed, no one likes to flail their arms around like they're trying to signal aircraft when a simple button press will do. And the guys on the other sides seem to be under the impression that the Wii is nothing but a PS2 that replaces thumb pressing with wrist flicking. So when a new title or an iteration of an existing franchise gets announced for the Wii, the non-believers tend to thumb their snooty noses and prattle amongst themselves with ingenious statements like "Dead Rising on the Wii? More like Waggle Rising. YEAH! HIGH FIVE, BRAH!" All right, maybe they're not quite as neanderthalic, but the sentiment remains: the use of waggle is often met with skepticism from the core. To ignore the importance of waggle would be to forget what makes the Wii so awesome. Sure, some games have no real need for motion-based controls, but let us not forget the joy and immersion experienced by the non-gamer who first picked up a Wiimote and found themselves instantly engaged in a lively tennis match. To downplay motion controls would be to forget what made the Wii so successful in the first place. Without it, the Wii would be just a beefed-up GameCube. (THERE, I said it!) Just for a moment, let us forget about why Super Mario RPG has yet to be released on the North American Virtual Console and go back to the flood of imagination we felt when the Wiimote was first unveiled. Here are the activities we wish were made into games on the Wii. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Surf through Azeroth on a Wii Balance Board
The starting zones in World of Warcraft are incredibly bleak and terrifying locales. Spend five minutes in one of these wastelands, and you're bound to see some half-naked adventurers begging for "teh g0ldenz", or people ruthlessly butchering all manner of local wildlife in search of some nice pants. At the very least, you'll see an uncoordinated young player, desperately a-jigglin' about as he tries to understand the game's controls.However, perhaps there's something more to this clumsy rookie than an unfamiliarity with the WASD keys -- perhaps he's one half of an eccentric pair of German researchers who have grown fascinated with Nintendo's latest peripheral, the Balance Board. Perhaps he's demonstrating for a rapt YouTube audience how the board can be used to tool around Azeroth with the grace of an overweight alpaca, and would serve little use in the game's "high stress" situations. Then again, perhaps he's just fantastically drunk.
Shark Shield experiences epic fail, gets chomped by great white in test
As we're certain you know by now, there are fails, and then there are epic fails. This case most definitely falls into the latter category, as Sea Change's shark-deterrent system (affectionately dubbed Shark Shield) was actually bit into by a great white when tested off the coast of South Africa. Reportedly, the device sends out electronic fields that are meant to deter sharks from coming near surfers, but according to the company's CEO, the botched trial was "due to a problem with the electrode's configuration." Furthermore, he noted that the thing is only "guaranteed to work when it's stationary, not when it's surfing in the wave or paddling." Needless to say, the effectiveness of these type devices have now been called into question, and regardless of whether this thing actually works as advertised, the lack of total protection -- you know, while actually surfing -- is enough to make us steer clear.[Via UberReview]
Secure Your Mac: Untrusted networks and how to deal with them
To tell the unvarnished truth, I have to admit that I'm pretty lax on security for my computers. I don't do anything crazy like open email attachments from people I don't know, and I always double check the address bar of websites before I punch my password in. Even so, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I put about an effort of 5 into keeping my computers secured. There's a lot more I could do.And so I found Albert Lee's short guide on surfing on untrusted networks very helpful. I've got a web server set up that runs my own website, but I never had any idea how to get all my network traffic running through there. Albert's guide makes that super easy-- this Lifehacker piece explains the basics of surfing with a proxy, and Albert's guide tells you exactly how to do everything on your Mac, and even how to automate the whole process using Applescript. Eventually, you can have it set up so that one double-click will get your proxy connected and get you surfing securely.The one thing you know about untrusted networks is just that: they shouldn't be trusted. When it's this easy to get your web traffic locked down, there's no reason not to.Thanks, Albert!
Lenart Studios kicks out GPS / LCD-equipped surfboard
Granted, the Light Wave was snazzy in its own right, but Lenart Studios has certainly gone the extra mile with its iteration of the intelligent surfboard. Simply dubbed the Surf Radio, this board reportedly packs a built-in display that utilizes "radio and GPS technology" in order to "give surfers updated information about their location, rip currents, and building swells," and even doubles as a walkie-talkie for chatting it up with fellow riders. Moreover, the unit features an integrated sensor that can detect if you've wiped out a bit too harshly, and then triggers the internal communications system to send out an emergency beacon with your exact location. Unfortunately, there's no word on if this design will ever go mainstream, but a board so stacked ain't likely to run you cheap if it does.[Via Core77]
Wii Warm Up: Surfin, skatin, potential heartbreakin with the balance board
Yesterday, the air was filled with wanton speculation about potential uses for the Wii Balance Board that will be packaged with Wii Fit. Now we're looking to get all those ideas down in one place -- specifically, here. We've heard some things already, like surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding sims, and maybe for boxing games, but what else can you think of? Feel free to be both outrageous and creative. Also, are you interested in trying out something like surfing with an interface like this?
Surf's Up had better use the Wiimote as a surfboard
We just wanted to get that in there nice and early, because it's important. You can infer from the rather pointed headline that a game based on the upcoming CG kids' movie Surf's Up has been announced for the Wii.Ubisoft will be bringing the videogame version of Sony Pictures' Surf's Up to pretty much every system we can think of, which is pretty much standard operating procedure. The game will feature voice acting from many of the movie's stars, including Shia LeBoeuf, Jeff Bridges, and Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies movie. There are two reasons that we think Surf's Up could turn out okay: first, it's being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, who are responsible for the Prince of Persia series; and second, surfing seems like a natural for the Wiimote. At least, we hope it's good, because we're certain lots of kids are going to want it.[Via NeoGAF]
Rip Curl launches the H-Bomb: "world's first heated wetsuit"
Although late October typically conjures thoughts about the upcoming ski season, Rip Curl is hoping to please those So Cal / Hawaiian residents by giving you one less reason to ditch the waves this winter. Announcing the "world's first heated wetsuit," the H-Bomb (no relation to the F-Bomb) looks like your average neoprene wetsuit at first glance, but beneath the back lies twin Li-ion cells which are used to generate heat and keep surfers warm on those chilly days at the beach. The suit has two settings -- low (120 - 130 degrees Fahrenheit) and high (140 - 150 degrees Fahrenheit) -- and utilizes "thin layers" of internal fabric to "spread the heat evenly and protect your skin." While we're certainly fans of staying toasty, strapping a pair of potentially explosive batteries onto one's back doesn't exactly sound inviting, but hopefully these won't be subject to any detrimental recalls anyway.[Via Pocket Lint]
