The iPhone has a pretty popular Commodore 64 emulator but what I’ve really been waiting for is a program that emulates the Amiga, my favorite computer from bygone years that was superior to all competitors…and sold like shit, thanks to typically awful Commodore marketing. Sigh. I’m not bitter, really.
Amiga was home of some of the greatest games of all time, like Peter Molyneux’s Populous and Syndicate, FTL’s Dungeon Master, EA’s Earl Weaver Baseball, and everything by Psygnosis and the Bitmap Brothers.
While it is known an Amiga emulator is imminent for iPhone, created by the same crew that made the Commodore application, what isn’t known is a list of compatible games. However, according to Carnie, the man behind the magic, they have tested several games like Ghosts ‘n Goblins, R-Type, Turrican and one the greatest shoot ‘em ups of all time, Xenon II: Megablast.
Get Speedball II working and I’ll love you long time.
We get a lot of press releases sent to us. Myself, it’s not unusual to see near a hundred of them hit my inbox in a day. With that much competition, its hard to capture our attention. But when I glimpsed an email saying that development studio “Bloober Team” is announcing the first title being developed exclusively for the iPad, and their calling it “Gender Wars: The Battle”, I couldn’t help but sit up and take notice. When I then read that the lead designer described the game like this,
“In a way, and I understand that it’s bit bold to say, we would like to create something similar to Metal Gear Solid for iPad.”
I start to scratch my head and a confused look passes over my face. Gender Wars? Solid Snake?
But it doesn’t end there so I am posting the original press release in full (minus legally sensitive info, of course) after the break so you can read it for yourself. It’s one of the stranger ones we have ever come across and was either written by some kind of genius, or someone on acid. We’ve also posted the game’s sole screenshot to be released so far. (For those not sure about clicking through, the screenshot does not contain any images of Gender-specific anatomical parts battling it out.)
Here are both the screenshot and the press release:
SEGA has inadvertently let the proverbial cat-out-of-the-bag about Sonic the Hedgehog’s future game appearances, evidenced by the graphic above that was located on the official Sonic 4 website. The image reveals two important elements, including a release date (July 2010) and available platforms, which include the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and the long-rumored and now confirmed, iPhone (and iPad).
Proof can be found here, though the image has apparently been removed by undoubtedly embarrassed representatives of SEGA.
Have doubts about the iPad as a gaming platform? Don’t think the PSP and DS have much to worry about? Think again. With its custom A4 chip running at a blistering 1 gigahertz, the iPad is more than capable at displaying impressive 3D, ushering in a whole new age for portable gaming. Expect the Unreal engine to be ported to the iPad, with other competitors soon to follow. iPad is the real deal. I can’t wait to see the iPad running a dedicated Dungeons & Dragons table-top RPG app or a game like Populous, two areas where the iPad can really deliver a new and unique experience.
Only minutes ago and after months of rumor and speculation, self proclaimed genius, Steve Jobs, stunned the world by announcing yet another product sure to change the way we live life as we know it. It’s the Apple iPad! While most people thought Mr. Jobs would choose a more descriptive and less feminine hygiene product-sounding name, like iSlate or iTablet, the biggest surprise was actually the price. The most basic model (16GB/WiFi, no 3G) is only $499 which makes it much more affordable than most industry watchers expected and is probably meant to help it overcome some of the consumer adoption concerns many anticipate. The iPads will be managed through iTunes and run existing iPhone apps in a window (or pixel-doubled fullscreen) and will ship unlocked and attached to any specific carrier. WiFi-only units are supposed to hit store shelves in only 60 days with 3G-enabled units following 30 days beyond that.
One of my pet peeves in life is when my Rock Band wireless guitar runs out of battery juice mid-way through a song. Yes, I’m well aware that isn’t much of a pet-peeve, but hey, it’s annoying. If new research is any indication, I may be able to plug the guitar into my t-shirt and eek out a little more time.
Scientists have successfully turned ordinary fabrics like polyester and cotton into batteries without hindering the flexibility of the fabric. Basically, fabric is dipped into an “ink” of microscopic carbon tubes and what follows is magic:
The idea is the same as that outlined in their work with plain paper; the interwoven fibers of fabrics, like those of paper, are particularly suited to absorbing the nanotube ink, maintaining an electrical connection across the whole area of a garment.
Cloth is simply dipped into a batch of nanotube dye, and is then pressed, to thin and even out the coating.
The fabric maintains its properties even as it is stretched or folded. Even rinsing the samples in water and wringing them out does not change their electronic properties.
“Our approach is easy and low-cost while producing great performance,” Professor Cui told BBC News.
“Fabrics and paper represent two technologies with a thousand-year-old history. We combined ‘high-tech’ – nanotechnology – with traditional ‘low-tech’ to produce new applications.”
The next step is to integrate the approach with materials that store more energy, in order to create more useful batteries. By combining the approach with other electronic materials in the ink, the team believes even wearable solar cells are possible.
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