So I got back home from SPX earlier today, around 6-ish, and ever since I’ve been busy responding to all the email that piled up over the past few days while on the road, making phone calls, playing some Donkey Kong ’94 for the Game Boy (that I had purchased from eBay just before leaving for the show and which just arrived earlier in the day; the game btw cost only a sweet $6!), as well as sifting through some of the comics I picked up at the show. And as much as I’d like to dive head first into a SPX Con report, since there’s a lot to talk about, and show (I took exactly 250 pictures the whole three days), I still have some unfinished DigitalLife business from Thursday to address. But instead of editing my previous post which was the original plan, I figured I’d just pass them along here (and for the millionth time, please excuse the blurry pics).
First off, here’s a pic of the CONSOLE Xbox 360 faceplate on display which myself (and others) are kinda miffed isn’t available yet…
… I forgot to mention that I also asked the MS reps on-hand where the blank faceplate, the one which people would get so they could spray-paint or whatever, to really personalize their systems, wasn’t available either, but I got no answer on that either. I think I’ll bug the head MS bug tomorrow, when I ask why I haven’t gotten my debug unit yet either.
Here’s a shot of the new Sam & Max game that’s available via Gametap…
And here’s one of the new Superman Returns game from EA. Once again, the game is rather crappy, which isn’t surprising of course, but this particular scene, which depicts a bunch of asteroids falling towards Metropolis that Supes must destroy before they reach impact, was admittedly very cool to witness. Too bad Superman just looks weird all-around (which you can maybe see in this pic)…
Another in-game shot, this one of a WWE game, of Kane, a fave wrestler of mine, which simply screams “Welcome to the world of high-def gaming!” to me…
As cited before, Square-Enix had just one game at their (rather spacious) booth: Final Fantasy XII. And I had totally forgotten how big this game is till word gotten out that I had the game among my circle, which brought upon quite a few “So how is it? Huh? Huh? Huh?” in my immediate social circle ever since; I guess its also nice to know that the current gen still has plenty of life and interest in it thus far. Anyway, aside from various demo stations, there was this really nice real life armor based upon one of the game’s judges on-display…
Anyway, like I indicated previously (and Jason would later vouch for, who went on Saturday), the show kinda sucked. Yeah, it was nice that there were more video games, but much of it was pretty boring, though most importantly, almost none of it was something mind-blowlingly special. There was no debuts, nor any surprises. And the rest of the show was actually worse; just stupid high-def television sets and iPod covers. Yay.
But there was one definite highlight, something which totally blew my mind. And I guess it’s hardly shocking that it’s a robot. Plus, it is quite seriously the future…
You’re looking at the 914 from White Box, a.k.a. the first real deal consumer robot. It costs $5,000 and is basically a PC in a robotic enclosure. The 914 can do everything a standard PC can do (it runs on Windows, and can do everything a Windows machine can, like surf the web and whatever running applications, except its also mobile. It responds to voice commands, plus it can be controlled via a Bluetooth enabled remote control, and even off-site via the web.
Its creator, Thomas Burick, the president and founder of White Box, built the robot with two principles in mind. First, he knows that everyone wants their own R2-D2, which is 100% correct. But he also wanted a robot that would be completely consumer friendly, one that would be easy, and most importantly cheap, to upkeep. Hence why the 914 is based on a regular old PC, meaning any replacement parts can be easily purchased at a Best Buy.
The potential of the robot seems pretty much limitless, and its already been acquired by various educational institutions as a learning tool, as well as law enforcement agencies as a security and safety device, plus rappers as major bling-bling. But the bottom line is that, its finally here: robots, at least ones that can actually do stuff. It?s not some dumbass Robosapien that looks all-futuristic but doesn’t do shit but just stand and shake and is some over-glorified kids toy. Granted, it can run or fly around or even grab things, but its a start. I can easily see something like this be the basis of, say, Skynet. And I for one welcome our future robot overlord with welcome hands. Or at least I would if I had the money. But if I did indeed have the money to spare, I would totally get a 914.
Another interesting fun fact is that the company is based on Pittsburg, and the robot is assembled both there and in Canada….
One more thing I forgot to mention last time, this from the night before DigitalLife: I went to the 8 BIT showing at MoMA this past Wednesday (I could go to the film’s premier last Saturday since I had to attend the Clam ‘N Jam in Jersey). It was nice to see the film on the big-screen and with a large audience, which seemed to mostly dig the movie. As I mentioned previously, I enjoyed it for the most part, though I guess I should also mention that what I saw that night was slightly different from the version I reviewed; the editing was a bit tighter, certain scenes had some polish, plus there was an extra interview. I also got to meet Justin Stawhand, the film’s producer (Marcin Ramocki, the director was also in attendance, whom I had met previously; he was the guy who had dropped off the movie for me to review weeks prior, as well as a copy of the movie’s poster). Justin was a totally cool dude; a tiny bit of me was sorta afraid he might be pissed at some of the negative comments in my review, but he totally saw where I was coming from. Anyway, the highlight of the evening was right after the screening, as I was chatting with Justin; Marcin came up to ask Justin about the after-party, then when he saw me, he went, “Hey, I finally remember where I recognized you! You’re in the last frame of the movie! The screaming guy!” Which was true; I’m in the movie since I was at pretty much all the NYC chiptunes that were filmed for the doc, and at pretty much any show I’m at, I scream like an idiot banshee. It’s pretty retarded I know, and rather embarrassing…
Yet that didn’t stop me this weekend, but I’ll have to save that for the next entry.
