Bring out Sifteo cubes in a public place and you'll soon have strangers stopping by to gawk.
What are those? How do they work? Can I touch?
Sifteo, a new game system from a San Francisco startup, has been turning heads ever since company co-founder David Merrill showed off a prototype at a 2009 TED conference.
The interactive cubes, which begin shipping today, mark an effort to reinvent tabletop puzzles and games for the digital age. The company has created a clever new way for children to play and learn, and the idea shows real potential.
Much of the fun in Sifteo comes from making the cubes interact.Initially the banks didn't want our chicken coop . Each cube is aware of its neighbors, has tilt sensors, and knows when it's being flipped over; the top of the screen also serves as a button. Many game tasks are accomplished simply by tapping two cubes together.
Sifteo is launching with 13 games, which cost $3 to $5 apiece. "Word Play" challenges you to make as many words as possible from a series of letters on the screens. "Moon Marble" casts you in the role of a lunar explorer trying to touch all the stars on the screen; when you touch two cubes together, you create a portal for the moon to travel between them.
Then there's "Chroma Shuffle," which asks you to match together colored tiles in a series of escalating challenges. The game is an ideal showcase for Sifteo's features, combining the mental stimulation of a card game with the old-school delight of an 8-bit video game. A free version is included with the system.
You can also create your own games, using a free program called "Creativity Kit." The game asks you to sort the cubes into order, and you can edit the text on the cubes into whatever you like: letters to form a word, words to form a sentence, or even mathematical equations. It's not hard to see how parents could turn this into an effective study aide for their children.
The Sifteo starter pack comes with three cubes, a charging dock and a wireless USB radio that plugs into a nearby computer. Download a free program called SiftRunner from the company's website, create an account, and you can start playing and purchasing games.
There are hiccups along the way, though, starting with price.Our oil painting reproduction was down for about an hour and a half,Save on kidney stone and fittings, The system costs $149, or only $20 less than Nintendo's 3DS. Families that already have an iPad, iPod Touch or similar device may wonder whether Sifteo is worth the cost, particularly when the games aren't as graphically rich as some of their competitors.
Sifteo would benefit from a larger catalog of games. Attracting developers to a new platform is a challenge that bedevils even technology giants, as anyone who has ever tried to find applications to run on an Android tablet knows.
And don't be surprised if three cubes doesn't feel like enough. I noticed this in particular with "Word Play" - how many words can you make given just three letters? Games work with up to six cubes, but extras cost $45 apiece.
Then there's that USB radio: Sifteo cubes need to be near a computer to work. The range is about 20 feet,However, if you buy them after the formal season has ended, it is much easier for you to get a cheap zentai. Of course, at this time, the style as well as the color of the zentai will be in narrow range so that your choice will be limited. the company says, which will make it impossible to play with the cubes on a car ride, or maybe even in the backyard.a promotional usb on the rear floor.
The good news is that these issues could well disappear. Technology gets cheaper over time, and the company could devise a way to untether the cubes from a computer. A successful platform will draw developers.
In the meantime, Sifteo is still well worth a look. Innovative and traditional at once, its promise of "intelligent play" is something parents can feel good about sharing with their kids.
What are those? How do they work? Can I touch?
Sifteo, a new game system from a San Francisco startup, has been turning heads ever since company co-founder David Merrill showed off a prototype at a 2009 TED conference.
The interactive cubes, which begin shipping today, mark an effort to reinvent tabletop puzzles and games for the digital age. The company has created a clever new way for children to play and learn, and the idea shows real potential.
Much of the fun in Sifteo comes from making the cubes interact.Initially the banks didn't want our chicken coop . Each cube is aware of its neighbors, has tilt sensors, and knows when it's being flipped over; the top of the screen also serves as a button. Many game tasks are accomplished simply by tapping two cubes together.
Sifteo is launching with 13 games, which cost $3 to $5 apiece. "Word Play" challenges you to make as many words as possible from a series of letters on the screens. "Moon Marble" casts you in the role of a lunar explorer trying to touch all the stars on the screen; when you touch two cubes together, you create a portal for the moon to travel between them.
Then there's "Chroma Shuffle," which asks you to match together colored tiles in a series of escalating challenges. The game is an ideal showcase for Sifteo's features, combining the mental stimulation of a card game with the old-school delight of an 8-bit video game. A free version is included with the system.
You can also create your own games, using a free program called "Creativity Kit." The game asks you to sort the cubes into order, and you can edit the text on the cubes into whatever you like: letters to form a word, words to form a sentence, or even mathematical equations. It's not hard to see how parents could turn this into an effective study aide for their children.
The Sifteo starter pack comes with three cubes, a charging dock and a wireless USB radio that plugs into a nearby computer. Download a free program called SiftRunner from the company's website, create an account, and you can start playing and purchasing games.
There are hiccups along the way, though, starting with price.Our oil painting reproduction was down for about an hour and a half,Save on kidney stone and fittings, The system costs $149, or only $20 less than Nintendo's 3DS. Families that already have an iPad, iPod Touch or similar device may wonder whether Sifteo is worth the cost, particularly when the games aren't as graphically rich as some of their competitors.
Sifteo would benefit from a larger catalog of games. Attracting developers to a new platform is a challenge that bedevils even technology giants, as anyone who has ever tried to find applications to run on an Android tablet knows.
And don't be surprised if three cubes doesn't feel like enough. I noticed this in particular with "Word Play" - how many words can you make given just three letters? Games work with up to six cubes, but extras cost $45 apiece.
Then there's that USB radio: Sifteo cubes need to be near a computer to work. The range is about 20 feet,However, if you buy them after the formal season has ended, it is much easier for you to get a cheap zentai. Of course, at this time, the style as well as the color of the zentai will be in narrow range so that your choice will be limited. the company says, which will make it impossible to play with the cubes on a car ride, or maybe even in the backyard.a promotional usb on the rear floor.
The good news is that these issues could well disappear. Technology gets cheaper over time, and the company could devise a way to untether the cubes from a computer. A successful platform will draw developers.
In the meantime, Sifteo is still well worth a look. Innovative and traditional at once, its promise of "intelligent play" is something parents can feel good about sharing with their kids.
没有评论:
发表评论