At a recent conference called D5, there was a comment made by Bill Gates about Video Recognition. Bill seems to think that this will be the future of game control input. Shortly after this, there was a flock of bloggers commenting on the potential of "Motion Controls" coming to the 360. I have no idea why people hear what was said, but fail to listen or understand. Hmm it could be because bloggers flock like sheep and don't bother thinking for themselves. Anyway, here is the comment made:



Quote from the D5 transcript:

Bill: And as we get natural input, that will cause a change. … Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you’re just going to pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it.



Walt: We have one of those.



Kara: Yeah. Wii.



Bill: No, that’s not it. You can’t pick up your tennis racket. And swing it.



Bill: You can’t sit there with your friends and do those natural things. That’s a 3D positional device. This is video recognition.

Now it is very clear that Bill was NOT talking about Motion Control. So what does he see for the future of gaming input? What does Video Recognition mean? Continue reading "Is Video Recognition the input device of the future?"

I would guess it's safe to say that everyone has seen something about the new Xbox360 Elite. It was a wild rumor for several months, but now it is heading toward shelves in your neighborhood soon. Actually, if you're lucky some stores seem to be selling them ahead of schedule....



The Xbox360 Elite:





So, what's new with the Elite? Well, you can find the Microsoft version here and it boils down to:



- HDMI port (with HDMI cable included)

- 120gig hard drive

- It's all sexy black instead of white

- It's $480 ($80 more than the Premium)



Ok, but what will these features offer the hackers and modders?



Continue reading "How will the Xbox360 Elite effect the modding/hacking community?"