Tag Archives: Bluetooth

Train2Game News: Years of board game history available with DICE+

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DICE+Game Technologies Brings the Social Back to Digital Gaming with Revolutionary Board Game Controller.

Developed in Poland by Game Technologies, DICE+, the universal board game controller that brings real-world social interaction back to digital gaming, launched at Gamescom 2013. DICE+ can be purchased for £34.99 via http://dicepl.us.

The revolutionary DICE+ controller interacts with Bluetooth-enabled smart devices and combines the physical touch and feel of a game die with the potential for unlimited digital game and toy ideas. DICE+ has the power to make board games appealing to a new generation of players: “Powered board games” will enable you to get together with friends around the same device and experience a wealth of new gaming opportunities that combine the power and visual excitement of tablet gaming with the joy of playing games in a group.

From digital renditions of classic board games to new gaming experiences that leverage the built-in gyroscopic motion control, DICE+ comes with a host of free games to show off its capabilities. Also coming 2013 and early 2014 are a wide range of titles based on popular franchises, including family-friendly fare, top-quality edutainment titles and intense classics that are sure to please even the most hardened board game aficionado. Developers can also unleash their creativity with the DICE+ development kit, dreaming up new ways to utilize this versatile controller for a wide range of games.

You can learn more about Game Technologies and its exceptional new product at http://www.game-technologies.com.

Train2Game News: Mad Catz releasing Android MicroConsole

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MoJoConsole peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz is creating an Android MicroConsole to be released by the end of this year.

The system, currently called Mojo, comes bundled with Mad Catz’ own game controller as well as a miniature console with USB and HDMI connections.

Rival Android microconsole Ouya primarily sells games through a bespoke on-console marketplace, Mojo runs stock Android and gives players access to the Google Play, Amazon and Nvidia TegraZone stores.

How well those Google Play games are optimised for televisions and game controllers could be crucial in how well the system is received. Most Android games are not mapped to controllers and are built for smartphone touch-screens.

The official name for the Mojo handset is the ‘CTRL R’, and it’s another gamepad that uses a layout similar to the Xbox 360. Featuring both Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Smart 4.0 technologies, the controller is also compatible with Android phones. The latter Smart mode improves latency considerably, Verrey claimed.

Alex Verrey, the global PR director for Mad Catz, said that “not all touchscreen games will work”, though assured the company was working on a solution.

Mojo is registered as a standard Android device, meaning that gamers who have already purchased numerous apps on these stores can simply log on with their existing details and re-download those apps without the need for a second purchase.

“Because Mojo runs stock Android, you have day-one access to literally hundreds of thousands of games and applications,” Verrey added.

“We’re going down a very different road to the competition and believe in being open, honest and fair with the consumer. We’re not offering a walled garden with a small selection of a hundred or so games. We’re not forcing gamers to use our controllers if they don’t wish to, we’re not trying to sell services or software, nor are we forcing the gamers into a walled garden. Our commitment to the gamer is simple: We’re going to deliver the most powerful Android based Micro Console on the market when we launch later this year.

“We are totally open. No walled garden, no small selection of games, no subscription fees. We bring the hardware, gamers bring the games. Buy games from where you want, when you want and how you want”.

Mojo will launch “this holiday” but a price hasn’t yet been confirmed.