Novint Falcon: Experience games in 3D

Imagine being able to distinguish picking up heavier or ligher objects, pushing a door open, or even pulling or twisting objects in your favorite games. The Novint Falcon USB Game Controller is one of the first consumer friendly devices that allows gamers to experience 3D texturized environments. Okay, this contoller is not yet usable in all games, but there are some mods out there for Half-Life2 and Penumbra. I wonder how sturdy the arm mechanisms are and how durable they'll be. The specs say it weighs 6lbs and it moves 4" x 4" x 4".
[Via Tiger Direct]

Active Life: Athletic World for the Wii

The number of exergames being unveiled is incredible, sometimes overwhelming. In light of my earlier post on The Winds of Orbis at Carnagie Mellon, Namco Bandai Games is releasing a touch sensitive mat to go along with the Wii-mote. From the images, one game looks to be a watercraft game and the other one looks like a roller coaster ride. It's only a matter of time before all the 3rd party Wii games really start pumping out as they authorize game developers and secondary controllers. I think combining devices is the wave of the future, especially combining other touch sensitve controllers, webcams (EyeToy-ish), social networking, and perhaps some ubiquitous computing. More videos of Active Life from GameTrailers. The future's so bright....

[Thanks Sandra & Sporle.de]

Frogger by Dance Pad

The old classic video game has been upgraded via a set of metal dance pads at the Newport Aquarium Frog Bog exhibit. Were you ever scared of crossing the road after playing this game as a child?

[Via ars technica]

The Winds of Orbis

This is exactly what we need. Forward thinking game designers at Carnagie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center developed The Winds of Orbis game by incorporating the Wii-mote and a DDR pad. The producer/designer Garth DeAngelis is a master's degree student in entertainment technology. They wanted to create a game in which children could become a hero and run and jump around like Zelda or Mario. Bravo!

*UPDATE 2008-06-10 - Garth posted an article about Orbis at Gamasutra titled
"Combating Child Obesity: Helping Kids Feel Better by Doing What They Love"

RealReplay - GPS racing on your mobile

The crazy, forward-thinking group Mobius from Austria also has a GPS racing game for whatever mode of travel you prefer (walk, run, bike, hike, drive, skate, etc..). Think of it as a the logical next step of Gmaps Pedometer and Map My Run and very similar to Active Outdoor (featured earlier). Real Replay and Active Ooutdoor are free for GPS-enabled mobile devices.

"Sensitive to motion"

A while back I mentioned an author speculating on how the iPhone will be used for exergames, well this Globe and Mail article detailed how Scott Forstall, a senior vice president at Apple, moved his iPhone to control his spacecraft (thanks to the trixial accelerometer installed on the iPhone). Following a link in the article you can find freeware developed at the University of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg to use your mobile device to interact/play games. The above images come from their MobiPad, ShakerRacer, and WiiRider games two of which incorporate the Wii-mote. Engage indeed #1.