Video Games: PC, PSP, PS3, xBox, and Wii Gaming News

Griffin Technology, maker of various iPod accessories, is bringing a similar revolution in gadgetry to the Playstation Portable. The first three PSP products will be the iTrip, iFM and SmartShare. From the press release:

iTrip
The iTrip has become synonymous with the iPod since it was first introduced in 2003. Letting listeners send audio wirelessly to their stereos has made the iTrip product family the most popular iPod accessories in the world. The iTrip FM Transmitter has now been reinvented for the PlayStation Portable. Offering a sleek, slim design that slides securely onto the bottom of the PSP quickly and easily, without adding bulk, the iTrip’s easy to read display sends audio right to your radio. Rock your game, movies and music through your own home and car systems and you’ll never go back to the stock speakers.
Price: $49.99

iFM
The iFM Radio Tuner and Remote Control integrates FM radio tuning and remote control functionality to the PSP, all in a tiny enclosure. It features a large, easy to read LED for FM tuning, a pass-through port for headphones, and a clip for comfortable use. The integrated remote includes essential controls for easy media playback and functionality. Using the single button switch, listeners can enjoy their favorite FM stations or control music right off their PSP.
Price: $49.99

SmartShare
The SmartShare is a headphone splitter with individual volume controls. It is ideal for watching movies on a PSP as it allows you to share the experience with a friend – perfect for car trips, plane flights, and waiting rooms. Now you can share your audio, not your volume preferences.
Price: $14.99

Konami’s Castlevania Double Pack for the GBA boasts the legendary titles Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on a single cartridge cartridge. Here’s what the critics are saying:

GameDaily 90% – “Now we have another definitive Castlevania release, combining two of the best adventures ever produced on one cartridge. It would’ve been nice to see some new areas or items added, but, as is, you’ll still find lots of action and exploring that carries forth the license with greatness.”
Maxim Online 70% – “Take this Castlevania collection, which pairs Harmony of Dissonance (in which you fight vampires with your trusty whip) with Aria of Sorrow (in which you are a vampire with a trusty sword). While these side-scrolling action games are still addictive and challenging, it’s hard to get nostalgic over games with release dates from 2002 and 2003, respectively.”

Double the gothic adventure, double the fun. And you can get it from Amazon.com for only $30!

“What happens when you combine a microscope, a tape recorder, a synthesizer, and an NES? Electroplankton!” – Toshio Iwai

A Nintendo DS exclusive game, Electroplankton takes full advantage of the touch screen and microphone to create an interactive game like no other. Joystiq reviews and writes:

“Electroplankton’s most interesting feature might not be what it is, but rather who made it. The box proclaims it was “Created by Toshio Iwai,” the renowned Japanese interactive media artist, and the manual includes his thoughts on the game and its characters. Taken in the context of his earlier works, Electroplankton owes more to its creator than to its medium. While Iwai has created video games before, beginning with Otocky, a musical shooter for the Famicom disk system, and SimTunes, part of Maxis’ popular Sim series, you’ll find direct inspiration for Electroplankton in some of his other works: in this video, you see the precursors of Elecroplankton’s Luminario and Lumiloop. Iwai creates systems of touch, sound, and light and although the Nintendo’s DS was built to play video games, it’s a perfect canvas for his creations.

The program (remember, it’s not a game) features ten unique plankton; each one responds to your touch, your voice, or both. There are Rec-Rec, fishlike plankton that feed on sound and basically act as a four-track recorder. Record four-second clips on all four plankton, and hear them played back over a beat. There is a group of five Beatnes plankton, with geometric heads and long tails, which recreate sound effects from the Nintendo Entertainment System’s sound chip as you tap them. Hanenbow are small plankton that leap from the water to bounce off leaves, each leaf they hit creating a melody. This is perhaps the only scenario that even resembles a game: the longer the Hanenbow are airborne bouncing on leaves, the more the leaves change color. When they all turn red, a flower blooms and you continue just as you were before. This challenge, insomuch as it is one, provided the one goal in the game and, as a result, I returned to it frequently.

Does it play?
The lack of objective is difficult at first — the program challenges you to do nothing more than enjoy it, a not insignificant task. It requires patience and concentration to relax and appreciate the subtleties of each plankton. Once you’ve become comfortable with the behaviors of all the various plankton, you can spend some time enjoying them; using the Beatnes to create your own funky Super Mario Bros. theme, or the Hanenbow to create a serene image accompanied by xylophones and drops of water. The music will continue to change dynamically, responding to subsequent touches while abandoning older ones. After creating something you’re proud of, the most frustrating absence is the lack of a save function.

If the ability to save individual tracks would have been a great addition, the ability to save tracks and lay them over other saved tracks would have been an inspired one. Use Beatnes to make the beats, layer the otherwise worthless Volvoice on top with your own voice, and throw Lumiloops on top of the whole thing. A more open-ended musical creation system, while novel, would exceed the purity and elegance of each experience.

Perhaps the most used feature was the Audience mode, where each plankton will perform on their own. This mode was added in later as a demo, to explain how each plankton worked. After following his suggestion to try “placing your DS nearby and watch and listen to Electroplankton like a CD player.” Leaving the plankton to do their thing, occasionally lending a hand in their autonomous jam session, felt like a dynamic, shuffling iPod, where every new track was a surprise, greatly extending the title’s limited re-playability.

Ultimately, appreciation of Electroplankton is exceedingly subjective; musical and creative types will revel in the unexpected delights, both visual and aural, while gamers looking for a more traditional “game” will lament its shallow depth and aimlessness. The experience is ephemeral, captured for a moment, you and your handheld system. It’s a solo affair, best enjoyed with headphones, and certainly not enjoyed by all.”

On display at CES is the PSP-controlled ‘94 Honda Civic. Using the PSP’s built-in WiFi, you can open the doors, turn on the lights, and even drive the car from afar! This could be a disaster should it break into the mainstream market, but thankfully the model is not for sale.

I spotted this PSP graffiti tagging up the streets of Southern Manhattan:

You can read more about Sony’s unappreciated street marketing at Kotaku.