Band on the run: Ars reviews Rock Band: Unplugged

Rock Band: Unplugged on the PSP is a very intriguing title, and it shows off both the strengths and weaknesses of having a game as well known and respected as Rock Band go portable. Unlike Guitar Hero: On Tour, there are no plastic instruments or peripherals for Unplugged; you simply use the d-pad and the face buttons of the PlayStation Portable to play the notes, and you use the trigger buttons to switch between instruments on the fly. If you take Rock Band 2, add in a dash of Amplitude, and filter it through the PSP, this is what you get. Is it good? Yes. Does it drop the ball in one huge, key area? Hell yes it does.
The game ships with 41 songs on the UMD, with a few tracks that are exclusive to the game, including "ABC" by the Jackson Five. We think the track list is strong, but you can check out all the songs available to find out for yourself. You'll also be able to grab new songs for the game via the game's online store, a first for the PSP. Of course, you'll recognize both the songs in the game and those in the store from past Rock Band games and DLC, and there is no way to use the songs you've purchased on other versions of the game on Unplugged.

From a practical point of view, that's to be expected; licensing songs across not only games, but whole platforms has to be a nightmare. That said, it still grates to pay for the same content twice. That being said, the track list the game ships with is more than adequate, and sounds fine through headphones.

Here's how it works: there are four lanes for the notes, down from the console's five, and the controls are mapped to the left and up buttons on the d-pad, as well as the triangle and circle buttons on the system's face. You can also configure these however you'd like. You hit the notes as they come down, starting on one instrument, and if you nail an entire section, that instrument will play by itself for a time, allowing you to focus on another instrument. If you don't miss notes and jump between instruments with skill, you'll be rewarded by high multipliers and you'll hear the full song.

Of course, if you drop notes, you'll lose the drums, vocals, guitars, or bass. That makes getting back up to speed tricky, especially if you're stuck only hearing the vocals and whatever instrument you're playing at that moment. If you neglect an instrument for too long, it will fail out, and you have to bring it back with star power. This makes for a somewhat frantic experience, as you're responsible for the entire band's performance. It's also somewhat odd to see the vocals given a note chart instead of reacting to your actual voice. Again, there's really no other way to do a portable Rock Band. It certainly takes time to get used to, but the note changes do make sense. It's hard to imagine how tough coding the vocals had to have been, though.

The career mode is what you remember from Rock Band 2, so don't expect any surprises there. You'll still have to go from city to city, setting up set lists, asking your manager for advice, and sometimes playing the same songs over and over to get enough stars. You can customize your band, the name, and the logo, as well as all the expected things. Since you're in control of everyone this go-around it's kind of fun to create more of a band experience than having all of your friends create a character. It's fun to have complete ownership of the band and everyone in it.



There are also some very nice touches for the more casual fan. You can unlock every song the first time you turn the game on, although turning on that option disables saving. Still, if you just want to explore the track list, this is a great feature. Under extras there is also a Warmup Mode that allows you to focus on one instrument at a time, with the computer playing the other instruments. It's a very good time to focus just on drums and play the title like a straight-up rhythm game where you don't have to worry about switching between the lanes. Focusing just on drums or guitars is a great way to play. Band Survival Mode turns all the instruments on, and you have to jump back and forth between them as quickly as possible to see how long you can survive. Fun, but very stressful.

The one mode that's missing—and holy hell how did everyone miss this—is multiplayer. The PSP is a wireless system. You can jump onto a WiFi hotspot and buy tracks. So why can't I grab a few friends and give everyone a virtual instrument with their PSP and play like a band? It would be great, whether ad hoc or in infrastructure mode, to only have to focus on one bit and allow other people to play the other instruments. It would have felt like a really cool way to play Rock Band as it was always meant. Here's hoping this is coming to the sequel, because it's a huge oversight here, and a completely missed opportunity.

It's amazing just how much Rock Band Unplugged feels like a portable version of Rock Band 2. It looks the same, the menus are set up the same way... it looks and feels just like you want it to. The background animations may be canned this time around, but who has time to look at them when you're keeping an eye on four instruments at once? This is a great way to pass the time, with a great selection of music. The only thing keeping it from perfection is the lack of multiplayer.

The top five video games of the coming year

At the E3 convention in Los Angeles last week I got to see a lot of what the video game industry has to offer in the coming year. Hands down, the best technology I saw at the show came from Microsoft in the form of Project Natal, the company’s motion-sensing system which detects your body movements and relegates the handheld controller to the dust bin. But since that system isn’t part of a game yet, I can’t give it an award as the best new game.

In my view, the following are my picks for the best games shown at the event. These are the games that left me with my jaw hanging open. They’re titles that I want to play as well as some that I think will be blockbusters (regardless of whether they’re debuting in 2009 or 2010). I’m limiting my choices to games where I saw some actual game play, and I haven’t included the “top sleeper” or the “top kids games” because those lists are coming later. Feel free to challenge my list with opinions of your own. I’ve put the games in order, starting with the best.


1. Alan Wake (developer: Remedy Entertainment, publisher: Microsoft, platform: Xbox 360). This game is a “psychological action thriller” with an intriguing plot. It revolves around Alan Wake, a bestselling writer who’s had writer’s block for two years. He visits the idyllic Pacific Northwest town of Bright Falls with his wife, only to find that she has vanished. Wake is now stuck in a nightmare because his latest work, a thriller that he can’t remember writing, is coming true word by word in front of his eyes. The work is inspired by creepy Stephen King novels such as Insomnia and the TV show Twin Peaks. That all sounds nice, but I enjoyed the execution of the idea. The game is paced like a horror movie, revealing things slowly. Wake finds that during the night, evil spirits possess the dead and living objects. Anything in the living environment, from a bulldozer to a tree, can become your deadly enemy once it is animated with evil. The resulting physics effects are quite cool, including what happens when the player summons a tornado. The only thing that holds the evil beings back is light. That forces the gamer to be on a constant hunt for flares and flashlight batteries, or for a well-lit haven. It’s quite satisfying to turn the tables on those nightmarish creatures when you shine a light on them with your light beams. The combination of clever plot, satisfying action, spooky sound, and horror-movie pacing could make this into a truly riveting game. The game debuts in the spring of 2010.


2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (developer: Naughty Dog, publisher: Sony, platform: PlayStation 3). Here’s a rare sequel that might just be as good as or better than the original game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, which debuted in 2007 as a kind of male version of Tomb Raider. Naughty Dog showed off a scene from the game that starts atop a building with sweeping views of an entire city, showing off the graphics power of the PlayStation 3. Then Nathan Drake and his female companion have to start jumping and running for their lives as a helicopter gunship pursues them, cannons blaring. The duo then has to take out a bunch of thugs who hide behind obstacles, all the while trying to escape the helicopter. This was probably the most spellbinding scene at the show. If the game can live up to that one scene, Sony has a winner on its hands that could spread beyond the 2.6 million gamers who bought the first one. It debuts this fall.


3. BioShock 2 (2K Marin, Digital Extremes, publisher: Take-Two Interactive, platforms: PS 3, PC, Xbox 360). The original BioShock was one of the most delightfully original and terrifying horror-shooter games of 2007. I can’t tell you how much fun I had playing that game from beginning to end. The sequel returns 10 years after the events of the first game to the underwater city of Rapture, an art deco-style utopia that has been torn apart by a civil war. Now the player suits up as a powerful Big Daddy, a massive armored soldier armed with a rivet gun and a giant drill. The first game had an intricate plot, and this one promises more story-based first-person shooter combat. You have to figure out why “little sister” girls are being snatched around the world, and you have to deal with a new kind of villain, dubbed the Big Sister. Multiplayer online gaming is being developed separately by Digital Extremes. The original game had no online component, but this part of the game actually takes place in a different time in the storyline, before the fall of Rapture. Just as in the single-player game, you have endless options for arming yourself with different kinds of weapons and powers. This is a sequel, but I dare say it’s going to be a lot more original than some “original” titles. The game debuts Oct. 30.


4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (developer: Infinity Ward, publisher: Activision Blizzard, platforms: Xbox 360, PS 3, PC). Infinity Ward rocked the first-person shooter market when it came out with the riveting Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game in 2007. Now it’s back with different world crises but the same intense combat that has become the trademark of the series. You play the role of a special forces commando with a mission to take down terrorists in a variety of hot spots. One of the places you go is an icy mountain in Russia, where you have to scale a cliff with ice picks and then take out guards with a silencer. At some point, all hell breaks loose and you have to hijack a snowmobile and take out fleeing bad guys. Nobody creates intense and memorable fighting moments like Infinity Ward. It debuts in holiday 2009.


5. Avatar (developer: Ubisoft, publisher: Ubisoft, platforms: multiple, TBA). James Cameron’s sci-fi movie Avatar has been 14 years in the making. Cameron talked about the plot of the film for the first time at E3. The game is set on a distant world called Pandora where humans, compelled by a ravenous transtellar corporation, are pillaging a rainforest planet for its natural resources. They’re opposed by fantastic creatures who are 10-feet-tall and have blue skin. They have all of the help of various creatures from the rainforest, from hammerhead rhinos to flying dragons. I saw the game in a dark theater with 3-D glasses, viewing it on a 103-inch Panasonic plasma TV. The world of Pandora is gorgeous, with a night sky that shows of the lights, or biolumescence, in all living creatures. Since humans can’t breathe the air of Pandora, they developed a hybrid, or Avatar, that mixes human and alien DNA. Ubisoft isn’t duplicating the movie; rather, it is creating new plots for the game that pit the humans, hybrids, and indigenous natives against each other. You can play either the high-tech armed humans or the creatures who have the home turf advantage. The art direction is beautiful in this game. In some vistas, you can see the scenery of the lush landscape for miles. The game will answer which is more badass: guns or beasts.

How the iPhone can overtake all gaming handhelds in five steps

Apple had its own E3 press conference at the beginning of the week, with its newest model in the iPhone line finally being unveiled to the world. The iPhone 3G S, while in some ways a modest upgrade, introduces significant improvements for gamers--some obvious, others not so much. Will it help even further cement their growing position in a handheld games market previously dominated by Nintendo and Sony? Read on.

Faster processor speed, more RAM. T-Mobile leaked the hard 3G S specs, and they're all-around zippier than the old 3G--which Apple confirmed when it promised overall speeds up to 2x faster. This will matter in particular with game load times and game crashes, both of which can tend to plague an overstuffed iPhone. While the spec bumps are relatively modest, the iPhone's game-playing prowess has already been more impressive than early pundits predicted, especially on recent releases like The Sims 3 and a PC-perfect port of Myst. The only thing missing now is...

Proper controller support. Sneaked in under the radar amid the iPhone 3G S news is the fact that the 3.0 software update allows third-party app interfacing with peripherals. While a larger focus on this functionality has been on medical devices, it's now possible for someone to make a clip-on control pad case and to have that controller be usable in any game. What should happen is that publishers gather to designate one universal controller that then gets adopted as the iPhone's "gamepad." The question is, who will make that accessory? For a while last year it was rumored to be Belkin, although it was unclear who would support the device. On consoles, the manufacturer usually settles these issues by making the controller themselves (except in the case of peripheral-driven games like Rock Band).

While it would be easiest if Apple made a gamepad, it's entirely unlikely. The whole appeal of the iPhone is its interface simplicity--too many plug-ins kill the minimalist chic. If a third party makes a controller, there's a likelihood that some publishers would support it, while others splinter off under some other controller accessory. Either way, someone should make sure there's a good consensus. Otherwise, soon enough we'll be buried in plastic miniperipherals, not unlike what's currently happening to (or plaguing) game consoles.

Open GL 2.0. As you may have heard, the iPhone 3G S is one of the few smartphones that can run OpenGL ES 2.0, which allows for more robust graphics and effects. Some say this alone can help the iPhone achieve PSP-level or greater graphics in games. The now "old-school" iPhone 3G, already pretty good at 3D graphics, is only able to render in Open GL ES 1.1. Some say this will split the App store into two sets of tiered games, one for 3G, one for 3G S. Others, like Rolando developer Ngmoco, say their games will automatically detect your phone model and scale graphics accordingly, like a PC. Hopefully the truth is the latter and not the former, because it could get confusing for customers.

Larger app sizes. Now that 16 is the new 8 and 32 is the new 16, there's more space for storing software. File sizes are already creeping larger--the recent Myst game broke the scales at three-quarters of a gig--and with direct downloading of TV and movies to the iPhone, there's no reason why 1-gig-range titles couldn't start proliferating on the higher end of the game spectrum. Needless to say, larger games at slightly higher prices should begin to equate to fuller, deeper titles.

Everyone else is becoming like them. The PSP Go, with its 16 gigs of memory, download-only gaming model and music/video purchasing capabilities, looks even more like a direct attempt to take on the iPod Touch. Nintendo's DSi not only shares an "I" in common, but it also has an online store, as well as touch, a camera and music playback. The move to cheaper downloadable games plays right into Apple's wheelhouse, since the industry at large is learning to publish and develop titles in a different manner than before. Making a DSi or PSP Go game will increasingly become similar to making an iPhone game, both in terms of budget and even system capabilities.

Guitar chord finder online guitar game

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Tapulous strikes deal with Universal Music Group for iPhone game music

Guitar Hero may reign on the video game consoles. But Tapulous rules the rhythm music game business on the iPhone.

In recognition of that, the major Hollywood music company Universal Music Group has struck a partnership with Tapulous to bring Universal’s musicians to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Tapulous makes the Tap Tap Revenge series of games that have been installed on about 11 million of the 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices sold to date. According to comScore, Tap Tap Revenge was the most popular iPhone app in April.

The fact that Tapulous continues to release new versions of the game seems to be what keeps users interested. Just a month ago, the company released a version of its Tap Tap Revenge game featuring music from the Dave Matthews Band. And this latest deal with Universal clears the way for the launch Tuesday of a version of Tap Tap Revenge that features artist Lady Gaga. The game debuts in the AppStore for $4.99.

Universal, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal, has a huge collection of artists. David Ring, executive vice president of Universal Music Group’s eLabs division, said that the deal is a way to strengthen the relationship between artists and fans.

UMG’s artists will be part of Tapulous’ third major version of the game, Tap Tap Revenge 3.0. Users can buy hits for 50 cents per track. Those tracks can be used in the upcoming game, an example of in-app commerce in the new version of the iPhone, dubbed iPhone 3.0. Tapulous is also working with UMG on an unnamed new rhythm game featuring a top UMG artist, for release in the fall.

If and when Activision Blizzard does try to storm the iPhone market with its Guitar Hero brand, it will find an entrenched Tapulous already there.

Tapulous, based in Palo Alto, Calif., was started by Bart Decrem, Andrew Lacy and Mike Lee in 2007. Lee left in August, 2008. The company has 13 employees and has raised almost $3 million from investors including Andy Bechtolsheim, Marc Benioff, Rajeev Motwani, Katrina Garnett, Rob Theis and Jeff Clavier. We’ve previously covered the company here, here, and here.

The Sims 3 Uncensored Patch

Don’t know how many already knew about the The Sims 3 Uncensored Patch but I decided to blog about it. Anyway, this patch was out before the game was even released. I won’t be using it but I believe it works if you would like to try it out for yourselves; I mean if your game is working. If you would like to download it, you will have to register to the site first here. Before downloading and installing this patch, make sure you put the original blur option some place just in case you want to install it back.

For Windows XP Users:

* Replace the file in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin

For Mac Users:

* Go to your Sims 3 application (most likely in your applications folder).
* Right-Click (or Control-click) on it to bring up the pop-up menu.
* Select “Show Package Contents” (which will open a new window showing the contents).
* Navigate through the folders inside the package as follows: Contents/Resources/transgaming/c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Game/Bin/ (careful not to go one further into the next “Bin” folder).
* Replace the Shaders_Win32.precomp file in this folder with the one from this download.
* Close the package window and start the game.

Download the patch here : http://rapidshare.com/files/240890606/Uncensored_Patch.rar

Source : http://tehparadox.com/forum/f43/%5Brs%5D-sims-3-uncensored-patch-364411/

The black censor bars you see in the picture above is just for safety of viewers purpose. You won’t see those when you install the patch.

Games - Parachute Panic

Parachute Panic is another game that is emulating the interesting art style of graphics drawn on paper. We've seen a lot of these game come into the app store, but not many of them have ever boasted excellent gameplay and a finished feel. The whole point of the game is to guide some crazy parachute people down safely to the ship below while avoiding obstacles. The little stick people jump out of the biplane in a free fall.

The player must tap them to open their parachute and then swipe their finger in different directions to guide them with the wind. Everything from UFOs to helicopters will get in the way of a safe landing and really serve to put a damper in your plans. The first thing that really struck me right off the bat was the hilarious music that accompanies the game. When a level is failed, the game lets you know with a melody that will rub it in your face. It just hilarious. The game plays extremely smooth and it is obvious its creators put a bit more effort into it than your average developer. I must admit, I stunk so bad at the game I couldn't even reach some of the later levels, but I am confident they still get harder and more interesting.



Retailing for a really cheap price, Parachute Panic is an excellent casual game that really deserves a spot on a users device. It has an entertaining art style with some smooth, balanced gameplay that really makes for a great experience. Especially since the game is at such a cheap price point, it's totally worth trying out if not solely for the hilarious and catchy music throughout the game. Check it out.

E3 2009: The Beatles: Rock Band

Putting one of the best-known video game franchises together with the music industry's all-time biggest brand name seems like a no-brainer way to sell a lot of plastic discs. We've previously voiced our concerns about the timing of this long-in-the-making first foray by The Beatles into digital music, but even if this might have a bigger money machine a year ago, it's still virtually guaranteed to be the one game coming out of E3 that nongamers will sit up and take notice of.

Unlike previous music game forays by Metallica, AC/DC, and Aerosmith, the Beatles version of Rock Band goes to great pains to stand out visually from the main Rock Band franchise. The graphics, menus, and interfaces are all new, and all designed to emphasize the historic nature of this collaboration.

The trippy magical history tour look through the band's past reminded us of the recent Beatles-based Las Vegas show, Love. 3D avatars of John, George, Ringo, and Paul change their looks depending on the era, and while standard Rock Band plastic instruments will work fine, MTV Games would no doubt prefer you to buy the new versions, modeled after some of the band's iconic gear (such as Paul's Hofner bass).

A key element in capturing that Beatles sound is the vocal harmonies, and for the first time, a guitar-based music game has allowed more than one singer at a time. Even for a musically minded type, pulling that off in front of an audience can be especially humbling. Also, trying to play an instrument and sing at the same time, while keeping an eye on both parts as they zip by the screen, is especially challenging, which we discovered while trying to play and sing George Harrison's "Taxman." During one of our attempts at playing the game, we switched off with a group including Dhani (son of George) Harrison and Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse



The set list will satisfy most mainstream fans, but the 10 tracks out of 45 already announced veer a bit too heavily toward the overplayed oldies radio hits for our tastes. The completist in us, perhaps just to be difficult, would love to see rocking rarities such as "Hey Bulldog" included. (Although it very well may be).

Downloadable content will be a big part of the Beatles: Rock Band experience, and the first DLC pack announced for the game is the full album of Abbey Road, to be available shortly after the game's September 9 release. Additionally, the single "All You Need is Love" will be an Xbox 360 DLC exclusive, with proceeds going to charity. No word yet on an unlockable Pete Best mode (with apologies if you've heard that joke 50 times already)

Playing It Safe, New Games Feature Classic Faces

Later this year, the biggest videogames will feature characters such as Tony Hawk and Mario. If they sound familiar, that's because they are.

Amid the recession, videogame publishers are not taking big risks on brand-new games. Instead, they're focusing on the latest installments of established videogame franchises.

That strategy was evident this week at the E3 videogame trade show in Los Angeles, where makers such as Activision Blizzard Inc., Electronic Arts Inc., Nintendo Co. and Microsoft Corp. showed off some of their coming wares. Among them was the latest edition of EA's Madden NFL videogame, Activision's newest Tony Hawk skateboarding game and Nintendo's new Super Mario Bros. Wii game, featuring its popular characters Mario and Luigi. All three build on longtime franchises.

The videogame companies are promoting the recognizable across numerous game categories. In music games, MTV Games is releasing The Beatles: Rock Band, the third in its popular Rock Band series. For hardcore gamers, Microsoft is coming out with a new version of Halo. The company has sold more than 27 million copies of games in that blockbuster series.

The videogame industry is largely falling back on showcasing the tried and true as industrywide game sales have been relatively weak in recent months. Videogame software sales in the first four months of the year were down 6% from a year earlier at $2.7 billion, according to market research firm NPD Group. Last year was an unusually good time for videogames, with the release of blockbuster-selling titles like Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV action-adventure driving game.

Still, game publishers are optimistic about the coming holiday season, as many consumers consider games to be a cheaper alternative to going out. Several years after the debuts of the major videogame consoles -- Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii and Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 -- developers are getting into the groove of making games that take greater advantage of each console's features.

At this week's show in Los Angeles, Microsoft and Sony demonstrated new motion-detecting technologies that let people play games with gestures rather than pushing buttons, while Nintendo showed a finger accessory that measures a player's pulse. But those aren't expected to be available for some time.

"In these times, a lot of gamers are trying to get the most out of their game machine," says Peer Schneider, publisher of IGN, an online news site specializing in videogames.

Much of the focus at E3 was on the games lineup, with publishers preparing one of the broadest -- and most familiar -- slates of games for core gamers, as well as mass consumers, who are becoming a more important target audience.

"When developing costs are high, people are going to go with what's proven to work," says Tony Bartel, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at videogame retailer GameStop Inc. He added that the market has gotten more competitive, so familiar titles are easier to sell.

Another thing that won't change much: pricing. While few of the game publishers revealed pricing for new products, console games have typically hovered at around $60 and are expected to stay in that range.

As in years past, music games are set to be big. Apart from the new Rock Band game, Activision is releasing DJ Hero, a spin-off of its popular Guitar Hero series that simulates what it would be like to be a DJ working the turntable.

In sports, many of the latest versions of classic franchise games like EA's Madden and Fight Night are back with better graphics, while a new wireless skateboard controller is putting more players into the action in Activision's new Tony Hawk: Ride.

Nintendo is tapping the fitness genre with Wii Fit Plus, the next installment in the company's immensely popular exercise game, which uses a balance board to track a player's movements. New games include juggling, skateboarding and an exercise that requires users to shake their hips. The company also introduced Wii Sports Resort, which takes advantage of a new, more sensitive motion controller to let players try their hand at archery, basketball and water skiing.

And Nintendo is trotting out its most famous character with the game Super Mario Bros. Wii, out later this year. It stays true to the look and feel of the classic game while allowing four people to play simultaneously. The company also provided a glimpse into a second Mario game, Super Mario Galaxy 2, a 3-D adventure set in outer space where Mario jumps from galaxy to galaxy. Nintendo is also bringing a harder and edgier feel to the Metroid action-adventure franchise with Metroid: the Other M. Neither will be ready until next year.

Racing fans can look forward to EA's Need for Speed: Shift, a new installment of the popular series, focused more on the driving simulation experience. Sony may release Gran Turismo 5 this year; the company hasn't given a release date, but showed a trailer of the game at its E3 media briefing.

Though much attention has focused on easier-to-play games for nontraditional players, dedicated gamers also have plenty to choose from this year. Apart from Microsoft's new Halo 3 ODST, which is a prequel to Halo 3, Activision will unveil another shooter dubbed Modern Warfare 2. Sony will also have action-adventure game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Ubisoft Entertainment is releasing Assassin's Creed 2.

Among the few surprises at the show: Konami Digital Entertainment Ltd. said its famed developer Hideo Kojima was developing a Metal Gear Solid game for the Xbox 360 for the first time, in addition to one for Sony's PlayStation Portable.

And not all the games were prequels, sequels and spin-offs. One of EA's most highly anticipated games for this year is Brutal Legend, an action adventure game to be released in October, featuring a roadie, voiced by actor Jack Black, who is transported to a fantasy world inspired by heavy-metal album covers.

Sony PlayStation 3 to Get Motion-Sensing Controller in 2010

Sony PlayStation 3 video game console will get a motion sensing game controller next year, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California. Sony claims that its motion-sensing device is more progressive compared to Nintendo’s Wiimote.

Sony’s motion sensing controller features a special light located on top and works in collaboration with Sony’s updated Toy camera. Even though the original EyeToy has been criticized for its limitations, when the device is used with the controller, the accuracy of the controls is rather high, according to Sony, which demonstrated the functionality of the solution at E3.

Sony claims that since there are still a lot of games that need to provide some kind of tactile feeling, it decided to proceed with a controller and not choose the “controller-less” path, like Microsoft did with its Natal project.

It should be noted that virtually all the video games designed for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game consoles rely on traditional controllers, it is unlikely that the new motion-sensing controller from Microsoft and Sony will become necessary to play new video-games. Moreover, the vast majority of titles aimed at hardcore gamers are unlikely to take advantage of the new controllers at all.

The controller itself will emerge in the first half of 2010 and it is logical to assume that video-games that take advantage of the device are projected to become available at around the same time.

Motion-sensing game controller would allow PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to offer experience similar to Nintendo Wii. However, the current price of the PS3 – $399 – is too high for casual gamers and Sony will have to slash it rather sooner than later. Meanwhile, Microsoft may indeed take advantage of its motion sensor and $199 price-tag when Natal is available sometimes in 2010.

Guitar Articles

Guitar articles

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Note any pitch by ear software. Fully customizable software. Unique ear training. How to study music. Music skills, fun and performance. Make learning music whit games and trainings. Ear training online games. The way to learn music. free lessons. Note teacher game. Drums and Piano online games is the new way to learn music. Guitar scales flash movies. Drum set online. Piano unique online. How to play online. Know how compose music. You can to do music easy and funny.

Ear training lessons. Name of tone by ear. Pure guitar secrets. This software show you how to play a piano. Find here music theory. Learn to read music with software. Easy ear training. Guitar and bass ear trainer. Play along ear training software. Free flash music download. Piano soul learn to play and become the musician you always wanted to be.

• Do you want compose music? I know the easy way to do.

Music is not magic will make you a better musician Sight-read and sight-sing with perfection. Improvise on your instrument - straight from your mind. Name tones and chords by ear. Transcribe a tune when you hear it. See the music you hear with your inner eye and notate it. Be able to play Pop, Folk, Jazz, or Contemporary Gospel keyboard and Piano music by ear. Flash online games it is interactive and fun. It gives you instant feedback. Exercises are never the same. Difficulty is adjusted as you do progress.

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Guitar Online Games

Online music (piano, guitar, drums) games

There are various methods from which we could learn guitar. By playing music games (guitar games) you can improve your hearing (name tones and chords by ear). The games can help you to get a better grip on your instrument.

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Music Games, Piano, Guitar & Drums

Music Games

Incredible Music Games On the Net - All online and in FLASH!

Don't pay for music lessons again! There are various methods from which we could learn music. By playing music games you can improve your hearing (name tones and chords by ear). This games can help you to get a better grip on your instrument. You will find cool interactive music games in this website.

Online Piano and ear trainings games

	Computer play a note pitch ear training. You try to recognize it and type c,d,e,f,g...
	Computer show a note. You try to understand it and play on keyboard.