Games

Thermal management specialist Asetek has developed a new pump technology that promises to deliver both quieter computing and optimum cooling performance. Liquid Temperature Fan Control offers users either automated fan speed adjustment for plug and play usability or hands-on tweaking, for those who like to take control of their hardware. The company has also updated and re-issued its ChillControl monitoring and control application - a one-stop-shop for checking, defining and adjusting system cooling performance parameters. Read More

It’s perhaps inevitable that as video gaming technology advances, some of us may start to long for the simpler nuts-and-bolts arcade games of our youth. Well, they never got much nuttier and boltier than pinball, and the new Pinball Magic “(app)cessory” allows you to transform your iPhone or iPod touch into a digital version of just such a machine – complete with its own functional iDevice-sized cabinet. Just fire it up, turn up the Buddy Holly, Jefferson Airplane or Joan Jett, then pretend you’re back in the days of broken curfews and wedgies. Read More

Earlier this month we featured some novel building blocks that help teach robotics to kids, and grew from a project at Carnegie Mellon University. Now it's MIT's turn, with the Sifteo Cubes – 1.5-inch gaming blocks sporting full color screens that respond to motion, and interact with the player and each other as they are moved around. Games and apps can be bought online and wirelessly transferred onto the cubes via an internet-connected computer or laptop. The current title catalog includes adult games, puzzles for kids, and challenges and games that people can play together. Read More

Although it's pretty impressive how the screen content of an iPad can be manipulated entirely by touchscreen, one need look no farther than the popularity of Bluetooth keypads to see that sometimes users want separate physical controls. Now gamers-on-the-go can buy gizmos that allow them to play their iPad-based games in a way that offers much more control than simply sliding their finger back and forth on glass – the latest of these tablet joysticks to cross our desk is Ten One Design's Fling. Read More

While the various flavors of games console have introduced gaming to the living room, the weapon of choice for most serious gamers is the PC. Not many would settle for an off-the-shelf gaming PC like the one in front of me, opting for a self build or custom model instead. Those who fall in the latter group will definitely be interested in the Luxury edition gaming PC from Pure PC. Benefiting from an open design that's said to help dissipate heat without the need for too many noisy fans, the high-end gaming rig is powered by a Core i7 chip which can be overclocked to 5GHz, at least two NVIDIA graphics cards and up to 24GB of memory. There's a choice of twin SSD or dual HDD storage, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connectivity and a Blu-ray burner. So how much would such a system cost? Read on to find out ... Read More

ASUS Republic of Gamers came out in force at CeBIT 2011 to launch some new additions to its gaming range. On show were some new notebooks, a couple of motherboards, graphics cards, a 3D monitor, a router and some headsets. Features of note include a wide-viewing-angle, glasses-free 3D experience from one of the notebooks, XONAR audio and 802.11n on a Black Edition mainboard, and a Wireless-N router that can support simultaneous connections for lag-free, online gaming. Read More

Everyone who has ever played a video game knows that the skills required for success are essentially the same as a racing driver. Anyone who has raced knows different. So setting up the Nissan/Playstation GT Academy was bound to yield some interesting results. Essentially, they run a national contest and the best guys get tested in real cars and given an intensive program and then given a chance at the real thing, at a very high level. This is the inevitable fairy story – a fellow who played Playstation for fun until May 2008 has since established a successful international racing career entirely due to the series. Every time Lucas Ordoñez has been given the opportunity, he has performed, and his international racing career is living proof that you can turn virtual racing into the real deal. Read More

CeBIT 2011 is near enough home turf for Hamburg's gaming specialist ROCCAT, so it's no surprise that the company has a new product to show off. As the name suggests, the Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard features 123 medium height, back-illuminated keys for ease of use in low lighting (or in the dark) gaming. The keyboard also offers new gaming possibilities with some wizardry that allows it to communicate with a mouse and technology that can double up certain keys for even more functionality. Read More

It’s kind of like table tennis, kind of like squash, and looks like it would definitely be a good workout – it’s 360ball, a new racquet sport out of South Africa. Games are played on a circular court by two players, or two teams of two players, who are situated around a central concave deflecting disc. Players hit the ball into the disc, trying to do so in such a way that when it bounces out, their opponent(s) won’t be able to reach it. Unlike tennis, say, there are no designated sides on which players have to remain. Instead, everyone is allowed to move 360 degrees around the disc as play dictates ... hence the name. Read More