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Abstract
This gaming lightweight, however, sees a lot of potential in an iPad-GamePad hookup. It's an actual, not virtual, controller that needs no batteries and doesn't hog the iPad's dock port like some other made-for-Apple joysticks.
So charge the iPad, if needed, while playing Katana Jack with the GamePad attached to the tablet's headphone jack. (60beat includes a splitter to accommodate both the GamePad and a cable for external speakers.)
A rentable, video game arcade on wheels sounds like a kid's (or fratboy's) dream come true. Well, it's here: When the Game Truck comes rolling into town, it'll have a soundproofed trailer full of 50-inch plasma televisions, multiple gaming consoles, a Kinect station for motion games and a high-tech sound system.
Full text
It's not the usual fun and games today. It's actual fun and games.
60BEAT GAMEPAD
The iPad, a growing force as a mobile gaming device, still can't duplicate the in-home action of a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 without a full-blown game controller.
The 60beat GamePad, a slightly bloated controller - a Sony Dualshock3 for PS3 with indigestion? - could make the iPad more attractive to serious gamers if only game developers cooperate.
The GamePad, from 60beat of New Britain, Conn., launched the controller with only two compatible games, Bugdom 2 and Aftermath. Less than a month later, it works with 10 games. It will need a lot more than that, however, before the retail price ($50) seems realistic.
This gaming lightweight, however, sees a lot of potential in an iPad-GamePad hookup. It's an actual, not virtual, controller that needs no batteries and doesn't hog the iPad's dock port like some other made-for-Apple joysticks.
So charge the iPad, if needed, while playing Katana Jack with the GamePad attached to the tablet's headphone jack. (60beat includes a splitter to accommodate both the GamePad and a cable for external speakers.)
The company hit all the right buttons with the GamePad: a D-pad, dual analog sticks, 10 action buttons and three menu buttons. It made it so easy for me to run my dune buggy right off the course in Nitro RC.
The GamePad, which also works with the iPhone and iPod Touch, needs some help from gaming developers. The new iPad could be the game changer with its 2048x1536 resolution - 3.1 million pixels, or a million more than HDTV - an ideal mini gaming display.
Information: 60beat.com
BOOGIE BOARD RIP
Is the Boogie Board Rip a 21st-century Etch A Sketch or a landmark electronic replacement for paper and ink?
Right now, it's too expensive for a toy ($130) and perhaps too much of a toy for a serious tool. But at least one elementary school, in Edmonton, Alberta, has already equipped students with Boogie Boards, cutting paper costs by close to 50 percent.
Maybe note-taking and idle doodling are the career paths of this electronic tablet from Improv Electronics.
The Boogie Board Rip uses LCD technology that allows people to write or draw using the supplied stylus, a finger or a toothpick - anything that applies pressure to the 9.5-inch surface.
The original Boogie Board ($40) needed power only to erase the screen. Once erased, it was gone. What a waste of doodle masterworks! The Rip, which has power and memory, preserves each saved "page" as a PDF file. With 8MB of memory, it stores about 200 pages. A single charge should last about a week.
The Rip has two controls, for save/wake and erase, with a nearby status indicator. The first-time user, including this one, might expect the board, or at least the doodles, to somehow illuminate but a stylus pressed to the board reveals only a dull green against a dark background.
The work might not look fully realized until transferred to a computer by attaching the Rip via a USB cable and dragging-dropping as if the Boogie Board were a flash drive. The Rip, without question, is note- and doodleworthy. The amount of pressure applied to the screen is the wild card - lighter lines sometimes barely show when transferred to a computer. This is not a professional tool for an engineer or architect.
The most fun - kids, pay attention - is software available at the Improv website that displays a drawing/doodle in real time on a computer screen when the Rip is connected to a PC or Mac.
It's difficult to classify the Boogie Board Rip as toy or tool, but it's certainly fun.
Information: improvelectronics.com
GAME TRUCK
A rentable, video game arcade on wheels sounds like a kid's (or fratboy's) dream come true. Well, it's here: When the Game Truck comes rolling into town, it'll have a soundproofed trailer full of 50-inch plasma televisions, multiple gaming consoles, a Kinect station for motion games and a high-tech sound system.
And if the weather's nice, pop-up side panels that reveal two high-def screens for outside-the-truck gaming.
Cool!
In my area, that'll cost $325 for the first two hours on weekends, $100 for each additional hour.
Information: gametruckparty.com
Photos (color); Caption: Boogie Board Rip60beat GamePad
(Copyright 2012 by The Daily Press)