Illumiroom

During Samsungs keynote at CES earlier this week, Microsoft unveiled their new IllumiRoom technology. Principally this turns the entire room around your TV into an extension of the screen itself. Microsoft’s official site confirmed that IllumiRoom uses the Kinect sensor and a projector ‘to blur the lines between on-screen content and the environment we live in allowing us to combine our virtual and physical worlds.’

This new technology will augment the area surround the television set with project visualisation to enhance the entertainment experience. The Kinect sensor is used to map the geometry of the room in question and helps to adapt the projected visuals ‘in real time’ to match the display of the console.

In the video demo shown at the conference, Microsoft showed off several different applications for this technology. They explained that the footage was ‘captured live and is not the result of any special effects added post production’.

IllumiRoom appears to be the realisation of the immersive display experience that Microsoft patented last year, which aimed to make gaming ‘more realistic’ but eliminating ‘out of context images’ that site next to your TV.

Whether or not IllumiRoom will tie-in with the next Xbox iteration of Kinect remains to be seen but Microsoft have already confirmed that more details will be revealed at the ACM SIGCHI Conference in Paris in April.

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Pokemon X & Y

This week marked an important time in the handheld market as the Pokémon Company International and Nintendo official blew our minds with the announcement of new instalments in their key franchise. Interestingly the pre-announcement speculation was about a new movie or spin off title so this event went down even better than expected with the industry as a whole.

Pokémon X and Y will mark the very first entries in the next generation of Pokémon (which is Generation VI, for those of you keeping check). They’re also the first set of core games to use the 3D graphical capabilities of the 3DS system. Marking another first for the series – both games have been confirmed to be launching worldwide in October this year. This means that all Pokémon fans will be able to start the game at the same time rather than watching the Japanese market for 6 months first.

Outside of the trailer and the screenshots released very little has actually been revealed but speculation is already growing. Of course most of the information listed below is speculative but based on the usual formula we can expect this to be pretty close to the truth.

Firstly the biggest announcement was the introduction of new Pokémon to the series again and therefore new starters – Chespin (Grass), Fennekin (Fire) and Froakie (Water). These actually look like reasonable character designed but if Fennekin is another final form Fire/Fighting monster I’ll kill myself.

The trailer showed off the new dynamic battle camera. No longer stuck behind your critter it looks like we’ll be treated to several angles and movement dependant on attack, and possibly battle area. It should make the usual experience grinding a bit more exciting and with such a large move pool this has to be a welcome addition for most fans.

Incidentally the 3D Pokémon models look very similar to those in the Pokedex 3D Pro application that released late last year (and ironically was touted in one of my previous articles as a stop gap for these animations in a core game – GO ME!)

Although the trailer was brief, at around 1 minute, it did also give us a glimpse of the legendary monster titles in the game names. The monsters themselves look like the letters of the games with the Y-shaped bird monster Yveltal and the X-shaped deer Xerneas on show.

It also appears, from the trailer at least, that you will be playing as either a male or a female trainer who maybe a bit older than in previous generations. That could just be down to the new viewpoint but who knows….

It’s also worth noting that the cute mouse Pokémon Pikachu was also on display. It’s probably therefore a safe assumption to think that this new installment will not be a new Pokémon only game, a’la Black and White, as you appear to be able to catch monsters from the previous generations too. This also means that trading between these instalments and the DS generations will likely be a possibility sooner rather than later.

The trailer also showed off several varied locations from standard towns to roaring deserts. Interestingly one of the shots shows the trainer running down a route that appears to be marked with a ‘3’. This could be interpreted that the map layout and progression will be akin to the other games of the past. There is also ‘long grass’ on show and waiting trainers for all you Pokémon battle needs.

One other side note is that we can also see the male trainer rollerblading through a city. Some people have already speculated that this could replace the bike as the fastest means of transport as we also get a shot of the female trainer running over a bridge. Another point worth noting is the Eiffel Tower style building in the background of the shot, suggesting that perhaps this region is based on ‘Europe’ or ‘France’.

There also appears to be several puzzle areas on display within the trailer which, due to past histories, are likely to be gym trials. The first one is almost certainly a gym with a symbol on display on the two columns by the front door. The room materialises from nothing and could outline a psychic gym again. The second shows some ‘electric’ style webbing which you can bounce on and also some vines to swing on. This could well be the return of a bug or poison gym.

Finally there is also a temple of some kind with giant columns of fire. If this is also a gym then it’s probably the largest yet but then again it could also show that the standard world map will also have different puzzles and movements based on the different routes. Perhaps it is somewhere you meet one of the legendary monster, perhaps even the flying Yveltal.

It going to be an exciting year for Pokémon Masters everywhere and it is sure to also include several minor releases over it’s duration. How many more monsters will there be? How big will the gameworld be? Will there be any changes to the tried and tested formula?

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below….

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Making a Universe in WWE13

On Monday night I sat through my first WWE PPV for almost 5 years (excluding the yearly Wrestlemania event) and found myself wondering how the wrestling genre had progressed from the Smackdown and No Mercy games that ruled my life in on the N64 and PSOne.

It was this intrigue that got me to pick up WWE 13 and this week I have been busily running through the ‘Attitude Era’ mode as well as the WWE Universe. As a teenager my evenings often consisted of playing the Smackdown 2 career mode, and the Universe Mode of WWE 13 shows a lot of dramatic improvements to the formula I loved – not that I’m surprised.

Universe mode adds a lot of new customisation but a few odd designing decisions made by THQ means that some of these disable the very things that separate it from randomly generated Exhibition options.

Looking at any WWE 13 fan message board shows numerous posts expressing confusion over ‘Universe’ Mode and the lack of cut scenes and storyline developments. Players can edit the schedule of matches in any way they want and even add in new shows. Players can also edit a whole match card; adding stipulations, title bouts and changing participants. The problem is that using these features in any way can cancel feuds, storylines and partnerships. Apparently this wasn’t a problem last year and the customisation still allowed these stories and relationships to continue.

This appears to be a massive step backwards and if you want all the bells and whistles then you really need to let Universe Mode run itself.

I have however had a lot of success in editing the mode to my liking and regularly see the cut-scenes and storyline developments that have made this a great mode.  Firstly you should know that your Universe is going to be dramatically different from the WWE programming and to every other player. If you want to play a WWE matchup - do it in Exhibition.

The key to my Universe Mode being so successful is the initial setup I have gone through. You need to develop a basic idea of what shows you are going to run so that you can organise the roster properly and, although it seems tedious, micromanage the ranking systems, stables and enemies for each superstar. This will help Universe detect exactly what you are after and run with it as it would the standard setup.

What I did was delete every single rivalry and ally for every single superstar, created or original, in the game. From there, I set up both rivalries and allies for each superstar the way I wanted universe to work in my mind and for my feuds to develop. For example I got The Rock and HHH back to being rivals and set them next to each other in the rankings to ensure the bouts came thick and fast.  

I also really enjoy technical wrestling so I set up a feud between Chris Jericho and C.M. Punk; making these two guys the most intense rivals of each other. I also wanted Daniel Bryan (who I remember from Indie wrestling a few years ago) to be involved as well as a created version of Kurt Angle that I downloaded off the community creations server in the game. I made all those guys standard rivals.

Personally I didn’t change the schedule but I can imagine that this guide will allow you to tack on extra events here and there. The second most important step, behind rivalries and allies, is the rankings order. To ensure I got Universe Mode to bring my four-way into fruition I made sure that all of these superstars were the top 4 contenders for Punk’s title. You will want to try and flesh out a good mix of faces and heels into your rankings; try booking people you want to feud together as well as adding rivalries to ensure that Universe Mode has a good idea of how to push forward your expectations.

The other things you must remember are:

·         Matches must be played to ensure rivalries are created and continued. If a match does not give you the opportunity to interfere then the Universe Mode is scheduling a storyline/cut scene to happen.

·         Remember do not change anything on the card or all of your hard work is likely to be cancelled! That means don’t change attires, add managers, change participants or change match stipulations.

If you ‘MUST’ tweak things then I would encourage you to book feuds through the minor show. Again if you have the interfere option available then the Universe system is unlikely to have set a feud for the superstars already. These are the only matches I would change – although don’t blame me if your whole experience collapses – you have been warned. Using this customisation, amend the match on offer and then interfere with the character you want to be included in the feud (usually the heel) and get him/her to attack the other party.

On a side note if you want a tag team to stay together in Universe Mode, don’t trust turning off the option to split teams up. Users have reported Universe Mode splitting up their teams even without this option enabled. I have found success with the old method of including a third person in the stable from the “Inactive” brand. I put all the Divas in that brand and then include one of them in the stable of the team I want to keep together.

The last thing you should know is that you need to keep checking your rivalries and allies. I check them for every superstar after each PPV. Delete any you don’t like and add ones that you want to see Universe Mode do something with. The rivalry and ally screen should be your best friend. It is something you should check often and change whenever you don’t like the direction something is going. This is your best way to alter Universe Mode.

If you have done all this, chances are Universe Mode will do a pretty good job of making it interesting enough to keep you engaged. In my universe the epic four-way resulted in an extended run of Kurt Angle holding the title for nearly a year, feuding with everyone from the Rock to Sin Cara. Feuding superstars often interfere in each other’s matches, attacking one another at every opportunity to get the upper hand.

Please let me know how this works for you on twitter @somemanwithplan in the comments below. Also feel free to add in any other tricks of the trade – let’s improve through sharing……

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