Friday, November 21, 2008

Help for Throttle Fingers

You wouldn't believe how much this little DS3 add on improves your racing game. Added leverage to the trigger allows more precise throttle control and most importantly it helps you with the fatigue. for those who take their Motorstorm or GT seriously. Gioteck makes them and retails for $9.99

Saturday, October 4, 2008

TGS Bound

OK, I know i've been gone for a while but I'll start updating the site again starting with my Tokyo Game Show coverage next week. I'll spend 3 days in Tokyo and then head to the electronics show in Hong Kong. Stay tuned.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Bino Grip Controller

I've designed this controller looking at a pair of Bushnell binoculars. The grips are vulcanized rubber over plastic and they open and close letting you adjust the piece for your hand size and finger lenght specs. Traditional controller design has grips that sit in your palms but little many players know; you mostly use your fingertips to stabilize the controller in your hand thus the short and small grips of a dualshock controller




Thursday, June 12, 2008

Linited Edition MGS4 PS3 Unboxing


Today finally has arrived and MGS4 is in the house. Check out the limted edition bundle unboxing video.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Projector on a Laptop

Computex is going on in Taipei. I didn't go this year, quite bummed about it; this show is usually a great venue for unique and innovative stuff coming out from Taiwan. I've spotted this Asus laptop on the web for example. It has a built in projector which is certainly a trend that will pick up in years to come.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Touch Turntables


Keeping up with traditional DJing has been tough on me as vinyl gets pretty expensive especially if you want all the new stuff. I've messed with Serrato which let's me use my digital music and regular turntables to mix them but this new concept created by a student named Scott Hobbs in Dundee Univ. would be cooler to have. While he is working on to make the product marketable you can go to his design site and drool.

Friday, May 16, 2008

MGS4 Limited Edition Console

OMG; the blog turned into a MGS tribute site but o well; excited about the game; can't wait to play it. Here's the real special edition console I saw in Japan.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Behold! The Metal Gear Headset

It's in production and it is on shelves by the game launch on June 12th.


Been working with contacts over at Konami and manufacturers in Asia to develop the licensed Metal Gear accessories for several months now. You are looking at the Solid Works renderings of the licensed headset which is being mass manufactured right now and will be available at game launch for $59.99.


It's a 2.0 Bluetooth headset with built in battery for PS3 as and it will also sync up with other BT compatible handsets.

- 8 hrs talk time

- 160 hrs standby

- 30' range

- Auto shut off

- Auto sync



I like the XBox360 headset. I like it because it's a solid gaming headset; I like the silicone loop; it's comfortable to wear. I like the oversized speaker cover with soft foam that sits on your ear rather than going in it to collect your ear wax. Industrial design was inspired by one of the MGS4 gizmos that Snake will use to gather intel in the game. It's the extension of his Solid Eye system where he can peek at his enemies with this camera on wheels. If you have a solid eye, notice this headset and go buy it in June.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Apple Tablet Concept

It's no secret that Apple will soon take a stab in bringing back the tablet computer. I don't know if the tablet will look like my giant iPhone concept above but we should be certain of some things already:
- It will utilize multi-toch interface and utilize many iPhonesque functions and more
- It will have a Solid State drive and no moving parts
- It'll be light as a feather

I kind of wish it to be this extra widescreen UMPC style tablet which should be roughly the size of a full size laptop keyboard. What do you think Mr. Ive?

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Let the milking of GranTurismo fans begin. Prologue is hitting shelves on April 15th for $39.99; it can also be downloaded for the same price. I've been playing the game for couple months now but there was a catch. I tricked a PS3 console in thinking it resides in Tokyo and downloaded the Japanese version; it was a bitch to get thru the JP screens though; now we can play it properly.


What should you expect from this Prologue to the GT5 game which is coming in Xmas?
- 60 cars: (don't worry the GT-R and EVO X GSR are there) - 6 tracks (London & Suzuka are my fav)
- Drift Mode
- Tuning on the fly
- Up to 16 player online
- This new cockpit view


Since these games started to look insanely realistic, I think now it's up to the hardware to allow the user to experience real driving feel. Logitech wheels are good built but not on coffee tables they don't feel realistic. We can tuck a giant home exercise rig under the couch, Prosumers everywhere need driving rigs to attach their wheels too; so they can tuck that under the couch when they're done driving. They need precise adjustment features on their gaming controller and they need 1080p TVs to experience these games in full resolution. If GT5 is going to make you say "enough; I am getting a PS3" and assume you have an old ass TV set; let's see what you need to shell out: PS3 $500 + 1080p display (say 32") $700 + Game $100 (Prologue + GT5) + Logitech Wheel $200 = $1500 + tax

You can go and buy a used Nissan 300ZX with that cash vs driving the simulation GT-R below but you wouldn't now would you?


Monday, March 24, 2008

Machines Building Machines

One manufacturer was showing me this unmanned production line. A product which was done by 35 people production line just last year is now about 10 times faster when fully automized and runs 24/7.

Travelling 220 mph

I am back from Asia and I have to tell you that it was a fast paced trip. Stayed in 6 different hotels over 14 days. First time this trip I've also visited Zuoying which is a town south of Taiwan. Unfortunately, I can not yet tell you what I was doing there but the way I got there was pretty exciting. I took this bullet train from Taipei doing 350km/h top speed. Check out the video.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Hong Kong Bound

I am off to Hong Kong in few hours. After spending about a week there working on my products, I will go to Taiwan for another week. I will try to post stuff but do have an insane schedule so expect the detailed trip notes after my return.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Giant Earbuds


I thought it was pretty clever; it's from a company called Fred. Here's their pitch

Sometimes bigger IS really better, especially when it comes to sound. That’s why we took a puny pair of earbuds, put them in Fred’s highly technical Way Big machine, and created 500XL - it’s 500 times the size of the original! How great will these look on your desktop alongside your mp3 player or PC? 500XL includes a built-in amp and 3-way power - it runs on batteries; you can connect it to your PC’s USB port with the supplied cord; or plug it into the wall with a generic power supply (not included). The stand-up, peggable clamshell packaging really makes a statement

www.worldwidefred.com

Macro Art

Sony PSP Optic Reader via Cybershot T30 :: click to enlarge


Light Cast HDMI


Have you ever find yourself behind your entertainment system trying to figure out where that damn cable supposed to plug in? With the Light Cast HDMI cable your frustration comes to an end. OK, I know this is not groundbreaking and a cable is a cable and you plug it once and forget about it. Yet with HDMI cables having huge margin buffers why not have some unique features built in? Monster Cable calls out platinum plated contacts for their HDMI cables as if it means a thing for a digital cable which is supposed to transmit nothing but ones and zeros.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

MGS4 Cover Art

I saw this cover art leaking to major gaming blogs and Konami not denying it as the official MGS4 game cover. I asked my Konami contact; Todd K; and he says; "yup, this is it" Just can't wait till the game release; got to find a way to get my hands on a beta copy.

Memory Lane: The Original Wii Zapper

Many will remember; it was the Wii E3 debut back in 2006. It was such an exciting time for gaming industry; despite of Sony and their big and massive PS3; Wii truly stole that show as everybody met this new norm of interactive gaming for the first time. Now that couple years passed and there is a new Wii peripheral coming out almost every day; I remember Nintendo's original gun concept back from E306; it was behind the glass so we never get to hold it but it was looking beautiful. Nunchuk built into the grip which was probably was a seperate button itself, it still is a much better product concept than any other that ever came out for Wii. I don't understand why Nintendo dropped it.

Do-It-All Accessory Concept for iPod

Here's another product of my multipurpose peripherals fixation. An iPod accossory concept that will serve 3 purposes; it will protect your iPod, double as a viewing stand and provide external power. Best of all worlds. You all know by now that iPods are designed to last couple years and their battery will make you go buy another one; with this product you might as well keep yours for a little longer as it's shiny and new in this protective hard casing.

Macro Art

Took this picture with a Cybershot T30 and in magnifying glass macro mode. It's the bottom of my RC car and its tiny flywheel; 2cm in diameter to be exact. Click image to enlarge.

Keyboard Case for PSP



We're expecing a PSP 1st party keyboard sometime soon. Actually, PSP needed a keyboard eversince the 2.0 firmware update with the browser but somehow it never happened. Anyhow, I am sure the one Sony making will worth the wait. Since I've been programmed with a 3rd party mentality and a big fan of multipurpose peripherals; I'd have made a soft keyboard for PSP sewn inside a protective case.






Snake Cam for PSP



If you had a 3rd eye where would you want it? I am telling you; although you'd look charismatic with one on your forehead; I'd probably prefer one on my finger tip. This way, I can peak at the corners, slide under doors, do all the SWAT perv stuff one can imagine. Now that the PSP camera is out in the market and it's pretty much doing nothing for Sony; maybe it's time for ProsumeThis to redesign it for them. Check out my snake cam for PSP; it is a camera at the end of a flex cable and complete with 2 tiny flash lights to shed light to dark places.


I have to tell you that I was inspired by a new Metal Gear Solid character, Laughing Octopus, while thinking this camera. Obviosly Kojima was inspired by Doc Oc but she looks way cooler than him. So as a side note; in the new Metal Gear game Snake has to deal with these 4 monsters that were once woman. Laughing Octopus is one of them.

Independent Drum Pedal Concept

Another Rock Band product idea of mine was an independent drum pedal. If you played the game you'll realize that the drum pedal has a short spiral cable and the set up forces the player to use the pedal in straight position. Some might prefer to have the pedal at an angle. You wear this pedal and it has a button facing the floor so everytime you tap your feet on the ground you pressed the pedal. Heck, it might even help the noise issues; shall make an anti-eviction kit and bundle this with some drum silencers.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Invention: Tambourine Mic

I created this product concept for Rock Band game while thinking unique peripherals that would further enhance the game. At certain parts in the game you do actually need to tap on the mic to replicate a tambourine effect but why not do it in style? Sadly, this idea got shot down as a gaming peripheral but I wonder if it can have other usage? I do believe it'd be really cool to actually see Steven Tyler with one of these on stage one day.

Save the Vinyls

Numark can help you out with this turntable with built in iPod dock which will set you back $199. I own some vinyls and a Numark Battle Station to go with them but quite frankly I don't mess with DJing as much as before yet it'd be nice to record the music digitally so I can also listen them on the go.

Another DJ equipment I've been watching is the Pacemaker. This is a pocket DJ system letting you mix your digital tunes on your fingertips. On second thought; both of these gadgets are probably a disgrace to real DJing but hey no one really knows what you're doing behind that set up anyways; you could be playing pre-recorded sets for all we know.
www.pacemaker.net

Solid Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 Deal

I've been a big fan of the Metal Gear series and today I learned the launch date for the 4th game; Guns of the Patriots; it is June 12th. Sony also announced a MGS4 PS3 bundle which includes an 80G PS3, the game and the Dual Shock3 for $499 which is a great deal actually. I wonder if there will be some sort of MGS graphic treatment on the PS3 console itself. Just like the red GOW PSP below. Metal Gear will sell a lot of PS3s.
UPDATE: Judging by the box image; PS3 will be in classic black. Everyone seems to drool over the box art but there is a major design flaw on it actually. Check out Snake's reflection on the PS3; since it's the mirrored image of Snake's 2D rendering it's not realistic as a true reflection; if it was you should be able to see his inner thigh in this pose.

Destination Playstation


Destination Playstation is a Sony event and it's going on as I write this. For the next 3 days Sony will entertain their customers, buyers, vendors and show them what's coming down their product pipes. There have been numerous new product announcements today but the God of War edition blood red PSP was probably the most attractive of all.

Monday, February 25, 2008

1080p on Office Desk

Have all the toys at home but I have to admit that I'm pretty lucky when it comes to work related gadgets I have to surround myself with also. When I needed a monitor for my office desk the IT guy Evan was kind enough to hook me up with a 24 incher. All I asked for was HDMI interface with 1080p output and LG's Flatron happens to be the smallest size my company has access to. It cost $599 + tax & shipping; not a bad deal even for home use actually with its decent 3000:1 contrast ratio and 1900 x 1200 resolution. Hooked up my laptop - (VGA), PS3 - (HDMI) and the Wii - (Component); no ports left for the Xbox 360
(don't really give a sh*t) Life's pretty pretty good now ;)

Neat iPhone Dock

My friend Keiko over at PowerSupport (a.k.a. Pawasapo) gave me an iPhone dock to test. It's made out of airplane grade aluminum with tilt adjustment and complete with soft suede lining to comfortably hug your iPhone. It's a well made product; it's not in Apple stores yet but soon will be for $59.99. Contrary to their name; Power Support does not deal with power products at all; they are known for their quality screen protectors for iPod's and Apple laptops as well as high quality accessories made out of aluminum complimenting Apple's sleek metal look such as on the Mac Book Pro or G5s. Small but an effective organization ran by an attractive Japanese entrepreneur. She speaks very slowly with well chosen words and it's just soothing to listen her talk tech.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Garage GT is Home!

GarageGT has moved to its new location in San Diego and it's looking better than ever. New place is 4 or 5 times the old location and it can hold 12 cars while 6-7 of them are being worked on. This place used to be the Ferrari showroom so it came preloaded with a long list of coolness such as the checkered flooring, great lighting and a racing theme in general, fitting GarageGT's image perfectly.

In other good news for this premium JDM tuner; the MIG Supra project is complete and Cenk's first car (once his daily driver) is up and running and with a big roar. Naturally it's not street legal but this monster car done up with all mods one can imagine is most likely the fastest drag Supra in SoCal with apprx 1200hp under its hood. To see GarageGT project cars in action in Laguna Seca or Streets of Willow; goto http://www.youtube.com/

Cenk did it up inside the lounge / showroom area as well and prepared a comfortable and fun place to spend your time while your car is becoming faster, more reliable and most importantly; unique! The lounge room features a large flat screen so you can watch Option DVDs or play GranTurismo on a PS3.

GarageGT became the best tune shop in San Diego in just 5 years and well on its way to be the best shop ever as it promises quality workmanship and a tasteful character for your ride. Congratulations!

http://prosumethis.blogspot.com/2007/07/garagegtcom-re-visited.html

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

What We Play?


I was playing with my newly acquired software NPD data and wanted to see which game genres are selling the most. It wasn't surprising to see the music genre being on top with almost 1.2billion in sales thanks to Guitar Hero & Rock Band, or the FPS in the second. What is sad to see is that the old huge genres such as Racing or Fighting are the bottom of barrel now. Then again; this is the year of GT as well as Street Fighter is making a big come back. Let's see how will these will effect the bars.

Wii Fit US Edition?

Wii Fit has hit Japan sometime ago and sold a million units in couple weeks. This Nintendo branded scale is targeting Wii players with who wants to be concious of their physique and entertain themselves with mini games or step exercises. We have been waiting for a Europe and US release date for the peripheral which has been finally made public today. Accordingly, Europe will have the Wii Fit on April 25th and US release is on May 19th. Now get this; a very reliable source working on licensed accessories for Nintendo told me that the US release of the scale is pushed back because Nintendo had to adjust the very precise mechanics of the balance board to be able to handle 400lb on the US version vs the maximum 300lb limit on the Japanese version. Speaks pretty damn loud. Shame on Nintendo for not doing their homework. 70% of the population is overweight here.

Friday, February 15, 2008

So long HD DVD


It's not official yet but all indicators show that we're in HD DVD death watch. After the Warner announcement back in CES, HD DVD never recovered. Best Buy's decision followed by WalMart's yesterday as they are going to carry Blu Ray format moving forward also. I feel quite sad for those consumers who spent all that cash on HD DVD. Well Sony's revenge was harsh as they got back at Toshiba for beating Beta with their VHS & I believe this was the last of the physical format wars.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Is this Apple's gaming Normandy?


Apple just applied for trademark protection for handheld devices that play electronic games. Patent classified as follows:
"toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."
With Apple's recent patents on multi touch interface for gaming devices; this is enough proof that we should be expecting a gaming handheld from Apple pretty soon. Just don't call it iPippen.

Friday, February 8, 2008

iShower Speaker for iPod Nano

Nice iPod speaker concept from Japanese designer Kaori Iwatsuru. Idea is to match your showerware with this see thru waterproof iPod Nano case complete with which I thought could be a passive speaker. This way you don't really have to change batteries either.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

SneakBook for PSP or DSL

Reading is good for you kids; but video games are even better for you! They improve your analitical thinking and help you make quick decisions under pressure. For example: look at this perfect justification I just came up with. The fact is that video games will teach you stuff you'll definately need once you grow up. Your parents or your teachers will not embrace this truth so quickly. So, let them think you're reading with this cool invention. You can rock your handheld games with this playthru "case" and keep your games and accessories safe from harm. Optional sleeves include Mein Kampf, Idiot's Guide to Video Games & Thomas More's Utopia

UPDATE: Well, I got some bad news; we blatantly pitched this concept in a product development meeting and it got shot down like a Kurdish chopper in Northern Iraq. We've even dreamed up a stylus in disguise of a highlighter for the Nintendo DS version. O well, it's not going to be a mass market item just yet; not every author was understood from get go; maybe it was the book covers that turned the execs off; hmm; now kids; while we figure out a way to re-pitch this; find a book and an exacto knife, you'll know what to do next.

Sphere Controller Concept

Joystiq held a design competition way back during PS3 launch. It was a mystery how the new PS3 controller was going to look like and they asked their readers to pitch in. Sony played it safe and kept the Dual Shock design but I recall this cool concept submitted by one Adam Portilla. It's a sphere shape controller and I believe it'd be quite ergonomic to hold it too. I'll prototype one and will update it here with feedback. Kudos to Adam indeed. I think it can never be a mass marketed item but would make a very nice special edition licensed controller. Katamari Damacy maybe?