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.

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.

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.

http://www.powersupportusa.com/

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Leak: Sony Ericsson Phone called Alona

There is a european mobile phone show coming up next week and as a show classic you expect to see some concept phone leaks from companies; I saw a couple today but the noteworthy one is this one from Sony Ericsson called Alona. I can't tell how thin it is but it sure is a slider with a touch control interface on the front. Safe to assume it has a MS Duo port on the side. japanese design influence; it loosk quite yummy indeed. Will update this with pricing and availablity details after the show.

UPDATE: W980; HSDPA, 2.2" TFT (240 x 320), 8GB mem, 3.2MP camera, BT, FM Radio, Turns out to be a clamshell design afterall. In stores June 2008