Magical Mouse Organ...
Not quite - but close...
This is a story from
Slashdot about a guy who has created a MIDI trigger device controlled by hamsters (naturally). Here's a run down of the project from the
creators site:
"Abstract:
This project was initially fueled by the desire to explore the MIDI protocol. It was decided that this would be accomplished by building a MIDI device. I also aimed to make something novel that had never been done before. But to balance out the unusual nature of its design, I wanted to also to create something that was very musical.
After much consideration of different technical design aspects and contemplating various musical ideas, I was able to arrive at a project that would fulfill all of my musical and engineering goals.An intelligent MIDI sequencer was designed with hamster control.
The MIDI sequencer intelligently produced melodies by manipulating the musical elements of rhythm and note-choice. Guided by inputs based on hamster movements, Markov chains were used to perform such beat and note computations. In culmination, 3 simultaneous voices were produced spanning 3 octaves and 3 rhythmic tiers. Each voice was controlled by two hamsters: one that was responsible for adjusting the rhythmic qualities of the melody and another that modified the note sequence.
With all of these elements in combination, an output was produced with very musical qualities.All of this was implemented using an Atmel Mega32 microcontroller, distance sensors, a HamsterMIDI Controller, and 6 hamsters.
Embedded C programming implemented the algorithms and computations within the sequencer.Overall, this project was successful. The control between the hamsters and the musical intelligence turned out very well. The music sounds as good as I imagined, and I am very satisfied with the outcome of my design experience."
The guy's obviously crazy in the head. Click on the above picture for a video of it in action.
Nic.
Fannypack is back... almost...
New album in March - not sure when...
...but you can check out (and download) the single "Nu Nu" at their myspace:
http://myspace.com/fannypackThe remix is particually good. Roll on March...
Nic.
Stuff of the week...
I haven’t really heard or seen anything that floated my boat this week until I stepped on over to UGO.com earlier today.
They have an exclusive trailer for the new ‘Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy’ movie, which is really worth checking out. Hopefully the film will be just as good. I thought the old BBC TV series and the Radio series were excellent. I’ve never read the book.
If you don’t want to stream it from there – click on the above pic to download a divx of it from here.
While I was there I checked out the Kaki King video ‘Playing With Pink Noise’. I’ve never heard of her before – but the clip sounded interesting so I watched. And then my jaw dropped to the floor.
Finally a guitar hero (heroine) I can believe in. Her technique reminds me a little of Stanley Jordan – but let that take nothing away from her. She is truly amazing – unique – fresh – and talented.
Click over to UGO to see her in action. Alternatively click on the pic above and download a divx from here.
Gameswise I picked up Dead Or Alive Ultimate last week – but haven’t had a chance to play it yet. But it does give me a chance to paste pictures of rendered girlies in the blog so...
File under the heading "Virtual Lady Bumps".
Till something else happens... ta ta.
Nic.
History bites me in the ass...
I was browsing the newsgroups last night and came across some of my OLD Amiga music demos in alt.binaries.emulators.misc.
In the early 90s I released a number of ‘highly rated’ (well – by Amiga Format anyway) music demos for the Commodore Amiga – mainly distributed through 17Bit (now Team 17). The better stuff is compiled over at the music page as the album “High on Hate” (tongue firmly in cheek) – but there’s a whole bunch of earlier stuff fro the late 80s that isn’t on that ‘album’.
So it was somewhat shocking to see my “Sensitive Rabbit Slippers” demo on the newsgroups. This is a demo from 1989 and boy is it embarrassing – but it set me off trying to track down some of the other older – equally as embarrassing demos.
So here – just for histories sake are some links to my late 80s music demos.
Note: You either need an Commodore Amiga or an Amiga emulator to run them. And if that is even remotely a hassle for you – I really wouldn’t worry about it :)
Leftovers.zip
Sensitive Rabbit Slippers Demo (Disk 1 of 2).zip
Sensitive Rabbit Slippers Demo (Disk 2 of 2).zip
Yum!.zip
There are LOADS more demos that I released back then. Some might even have been good – but that’s all that I could find at the moment (thank god!!). Hopefully the rest of my musically history can stay safely stored in my attic, along with my Amiga A500.
Something to show the grandkids when I’m a head in a jar - I guess.
Nic.
Remote Control Dandy...
"Konami will release
Remote Control Dandy SF (Robot Alchemical Drive 2) for PlayStation 2 in Japan on April 14, for 6800 yen. In this game you operate an enormous radio controlled robot to battle; the robot is fully customizable."
I contacted Konami's press office and they were able to supply me with this EXCLUSIVE screenshot from the game!!!
Nic.
Life in the old dog yet...
Namco released their sales figures for the year:
JapanTales of Rebirth (PS2) - 600,000
Tales of Symphonia (PS2) - 395,000
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PS2) - 318,000
Xenosaga Episode II (PS2) - 280,000
Best (PS2) - 264,000
Ridge Racers (PSP) - 220,000
Taiko no Tetsujin Atsumare! (PS2) - 197,000
Taiko no Tetsujin Go Go Go! (PS2) - 165,000
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeons 3 (GBA) - 110,000
Mojipittan Daijiten (PSP) - 70,000
Katamari Damacy (PS2) - 66,000
Mr. Driller Drill Spirits (NDS) - 57,000
North AmericaNamco Museum (GBA) - 1,700,000
PacMan Collection (GBA) - 1,301,000
Namco Museum (Multi) - 815,000
Soul Calibur 2 (Multi) - 660,000
SRS (Multi) - 556,000
Pac-Man World 2 (Multi) - 549,000
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PS2) - 485,000
Tales of Symphonia (GC) - 285,000
Tekken 4 (PS2) - 262,000
Ace Combat 4 (PS2) - 250,000
PacMan World (GBA) - 230,000
R: Racing Evolution (Multi) - 164,000
Baten Kaitos (GC) - 161,000
Ms. PacMan (GBA) - 125,000
Breakdown (XB) - 102,000
EuropePlatinum (PS2) - 608,000
Smash Court Pro Tennis Tournament 2 (PS2) - 378,000
Tales of Symphonia (GC) - 184,000
Time Crisis: Crisis Zone (PS2) - 184,000
Soul Calibur II (Multi) - 169,000
R: Racing Evolution (Multi) - 124,000
MotoGP3 (PS2) - 79,000
Platinum (PS) - 56,000
So did you notice? Did you notice that Namco Museum for the GBA sold nearly 3 times more units than Soul Calibur 2 (across 3 platforms)? So I'd estimate the cost of Namco museum to be about $.5 Million to produce - and Soul Calibur 2 around $8-10 Million to produce.
I guess there really is a hunger for retro games - especially on the GBA, what with Nintendo releasing all those old NES games. Also - you can pick up Soul Calibur for as little as £7.99 in the UK (around $14) and I would imagine Namco Museum is a full price GBA game.
Actually - if you add up the sales of all of Namco's retro titles, combined they hit 4 million units!! And that's not including the Pac Man World games.
Food for thought.
Nic.
That was the week that...
Haven’t blogged in a while because we had an Alpha milestone on the game (see post below) – so been a little busy. This blog is gonna cover some of the stuff that caught my eye this week.
The Faders
Described by Pop World (possibly the greatest TV ever created) as a female ‘Busted’. I have to disagree. I thought their single was hooky without being corny and the production on the drums in the chorus is really nice. Might have to keep a look out for these girls since so far they fill the whole ‘Jossie and the Pussycats’ fantasy that seems to dominate my life. (worried face)
Here’s the band’s website where you can hear the single and get a clip of the video. I predict big things – which means they are DOOOOMMMMMEEEDDDD!!!!
http://www.thefaders.co.uk/site.php
BTW – for curious minds, the Drummer is my fav. (Winky face)
Yoshi! Touch! And Thingy!
My copy of the new Yoshi game for the DS turned up on Wednesday. I’ve been getting pissed off with Mario DS because, like the N64 version, after you get about 30 stars they become impossible to find and I simply can’t be arsed.
So Yoshi turned up at exactly the right time. First impressions weren’t good I have to say. I expect it to be a serine experience - gently drawing shapes to guide our hero through the environment. NOPE! This game is VERY hardcore.
First off, it’s score based. When was the last time you saw a score based game!! It took me a little by surprised. Secondly – it’s frantic. You got to focus on a load of different things going on in the world and at first it’s over powering. Third – ONE LIFE, NO CONTINUES! Told you it was hardcore.
But that didn’t stop me from persevering – and now, I love it. (Happy face)
Over coming the initial shock, I’m now in a place where I understand the world of Yoshi and what I have to do to guide baby Mario home. Like the best DS games, it’s unique and quite unlike anything I’ve played. Buy it.
You can also view the cool TV commercial here:
http://image.lik-sang.com/trailers/CTYoshicm.wmv
Total Immersion
This is kind of a hard one to describe. You’re best taking a look at this video. It’s in Real Player format which I know some people hate (and I never got around to changing to another format on this site) – but try downloading ‘Real Alternative’ for a non-evasive way of playing RM files.
Get Real Alternative here:
http://a1.edskes.com/r/realalt129.exe
And this is a link to the video:
http://sonix.sdv.fr:8080/ramgen/arte/tracks/20040603/immersion.rm
Basically it’s a way of getting 3D computer generated objects to react with the real world in real-time. It’s actually pretty trippy and the movie gives you the best impression of what the hell I’m talking about. (Mesmerized face)
The companies website is here:
http://www.t-immersion.com/
It has some equally trippy movies which are in mpg format.
World Dancing
Finally – grab this movie (it’s big), but it’s funny. (Smiley – but also jealous face)
http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/videos/dancing.wmv
Nic.
