We’d heard earlier that ngmoco’s new game Eliminate: Gun Range was one of the first apps to really take advantage of the iPhone 4’s gyroscope, and now that we’ve had a chance to play with it, we’ve got say there’s a ton of potential here. E:GR is itself just a simple shooter, but the gyroscope adds what seems like nearly 1:1 motion control to the proceedings — and since you’re moving the display itself, it almost feels like augmented reality. It’s hard to explain, since it’s so unlike any mobile UI experience we’ve encountered before, but as soon as we tried it our brains pretty much exploded with possibilities — we’re thinking drastic improvements to actual augmented reality apps like Layar, all kinds of crazy flight simulator games, much more refined GPS apps, you name it. Video after the break.

Continue reading Gyroscope gunning on the iPhone 4 with Eliminate: Gun Range (video)

Gyroscope gunning on the iPhone 4 with Eliminate: Gun Range (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bing, Microsoft’s “decision engine,” is wading into the entertainment realm today with the revelation that searches for music, lyrics, games, TV shows, and movies will get a new special sauce treatment from here on out. You’ll now be able to play 100 basic games right in your search results, along with full-length streaming of songs (first time only, 30 seconds thereafter) from a 5 million-strong catalog. The latter is augmented with “one-click” purchases from the Zune Marketplace (directly through the web, no need to launch the app), Amazon, or iTunes music libraries. Movie tickets are promised to be similarly easy to buy, though the biggest new feature might well be the Bing.com/entertainment page, which acts as a portal into your media consumption with a selection of the most popular content in each category. It doesn’t look terribly different from the iTunes storefront, but given its partnership with Apple’s digital music shop, we doubt Bing’s Entertainment section is perceived as much of a threat — not yet, anyway. As to that other search giant, Google’s been said to already be putting together a music store of its own. Man, all this integration and interconnectedness — just where will it end?

Continue reading Bing Entertainment integrates Zune Marketplace purchases, improves Microsoft’s media swagger

Bing Entertainment integrates Zune Marketplace purchases, improves Microsoft’s media swagger originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A solid third-party app ecosystem is going to be absolutely critical to Windows Phone 7’s commercial success — and Microsoft clearly knows that, having spent nearly as much (if not more) energy talking to developers since the platform’s announcement than it has directly to potential end users. In particular, one area where Microsoft really wants to play ball (pardon the pun) is with a rock-sold gaming experience — and to that end, it seems Redmond isn’t being shy about putting its money where its mouth is. The rumor going around today is that Microsoft is reaching out to developers of popular iPhone games, offering cash in exchange for a Windows Phone 7 port; you might think that most of these devs would be totally down with dropping their games on a hot new platform with revenue potential, but the challenge is that WP7’s development environment is different enough from the iPhone’s to make porting a pretty big challenge. The dev that allegedly contacted PocketGamer.biz about the offer turned it down, saying the financial compensation was “substantial” but ultimately not enough for the amount of work he’d have to put into it — so this might just be a question of how badly Microsoft wants to come roaring out of the gate with a great catalog of apps. They’ve certainly got the cash to make this happen if they decide to up the ante.

Microsoft luring iPhone game devs to Windows Phone 7 with cold, hard cash? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox Live and Windows Live Messenger are about to meet up in a very personal way — Microsoft has just announced a new video chat service called Video Kinect, which serves as a logical extension of its brand new Kinect voice- and motion-sensing control system. But it’s not just video calling, no sir, you’ll be able to watch movies, news, sports, and the like together with whoever you’re chatting with. Additionally, thanks to a motorized base and a new skeleton-tracking feature, the Kinect unit will also follow users as they move around the room. Yup, not creepy at all.

Video Kinect: video chat and stream sharing over Xbox Live and Live Messenger originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The success of Windows Phone 7 as a commercially viable mobile platform will ultimately depend on a great many things, but one of the biggest factors might be its chops as a gaming setup — so naturally, we’re excited to see each and every WP7 game that gets previewed right now. In March, Microsoft kicked off its so-called Rockstar competition, where student teams competed to make awesome apps (games or otherwise) for the platform in their choice of Silverlight or XNA — and the results of the competition are finally in. Two of the top three winners were games, and the grand champion was a game by the name of — wait for it — “Droid.” Members of the team are receiving $8,000 plus a Windows Phone, and while none of these apps are the most polished things in the world, it’s a promising sign that these students were able to come in fresh on a brand new platform and produce solid version 1.0 software in less than three months’ time. Hit up Microsoft’s Windows Blog for the full list of winners.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 ‘Rockstar’ contest wraps up, neat apps ensue originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s out! eBoy’s $1.99 FixPix iPhone game christened “the greatest game ever made” by a certain Engadget fanboy is available now from the iTunes App Store. If you fail to understand the value of piecing together eBoy pixel art by manipulating the iPhone’s accelerometer, then gawd help you… you’re already dead. Gameplay video after the break.

[Thanks, William]

Continue reading eBoy’s FixPix iPhone game available now for $1.99 (video)

eBoy’s FixPix iPhone game available now for $1.99 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, we’ve got some good news and some less good news for potential PSP Go owners. The good news is that Sony has now officially announced the ten free game offer for PSP Go buyers in the UK, which is just as we had heard and is available in quite a few countries besides the UK as well (hit up the link below for the complete list). Not among those, however, is the United States or Canada, which is where the less good news comes in. While Sony has also announced a similar promotion for US and Canadian consumers, it only covers folks that buy a PSP Go starting today (not anyone that bought one after April 1st, as in the UK), and you’ll only be getting three free games, not ten — those include LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters and SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3. What gives? We’re not entirely sure, but the only other incentive Sony is offering for North America is a new line of “Favorites” titles that will be priced at $9.99 apiece.

Sony confirms ten free game offer for UK PSP Go buyers, North America gets less awesome deal originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mario Kart RC game brings the Mushroom Cup to your living room originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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