Gamers - welcome to the next dimenson: TechDigest's Gerald had a hands-on with the new Nintendo 3Ds. His verdict..?

NB: Nintendo wouldn't let us film it with the screen on, as they feared the 3D effect wouldn't come across properly.

Yup, it's happened - someone has taken The Great American Novel and made it into A Middling American Computer Game. The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald is now an online game, available with a free trial on iplay.com.

A "hidden object game" it doesn't sound like it will be getting awards for gameplay any time soon...

"Join Nick Carraway as you explore the mansions and bungalows of Long Island, the parlors of New York City, and the heart and soul of the Roaring Twenties. Attend extravagant parties and lush gatherings as you dance the Charleston with a happy couple harboring scintillating secrets. Sip bootleg gin with a mysterious millionaire desperate to bring the passions of the past into the present in Great Gatsby, a fun Hidden Object game."

Though it does boast that it is the only hidden object game to get a full score from Gamezebo.

And hey there's a jazz soundtrack. You didn't get that with the book.

[releaselog, via nymag]

I know, that sounds a bit like a Daily Mail headline, but whether 3D makes you feel a bit vommy is a hot issue in the gaming community. Sony updated their users advice for the PS3 yesterday to warn against "eye-strain, eye-fatigue or nausea" when viewing the technology.

And now an optometrist told VG247 blog that he's pretty sure that watching 3G images over a long time will cause "eye-strain, eye-fatigue and nausea". Just one and a half hours of watching something 3D was enough to cause problems said James Sutton, eye specialist and MD of British eye health company Butterflies Healthcare.

While cinema films are about that length anyway, the 3D-vomit issue become more of an problem as people get 3D devices in their homes - TVs and games consoles - and watch them for much longer.

Reactions to the post were mixed. One commenter agreed: "I know a few ppl who felt sick, i had a headache after Avatar." Though one said his nausea could have been down to something else.. - "I felt a bit ill after avatar... not sure if that was the film or the 3D though." And another declared that he was going to game in 3D and clearly didn't care if it made him throw up sometimes: "im not bothered by it and will be happily playing my games in 3d very soon".

From the VG247 article, it seems that the evidence behind this statement is anecdotal than lab-tested science, and as the optometrist points out it would just be a short-term issue.

So we're not saying "don't watch 3D TV", we're just saying there could be a market for vomit-proof PlayStation covers.

We all love hacks. There is something so appealing about seeing a piece of ubiquitous technology re-engineered to do something else.

And they come no better than Nintendo hacks -- there seems to be something about that grey plastic that inspires hackers and modders to come up with some of the most ingenious re-applications I've seen.

Whether it's a NES console crammed into a NES game cartridge or a NES DVD player, I love them all (and am incredibly jealous of their technical ability).

To celebrate the ingenuity of modders and hackers all over the world here are 10 of the best Nintendo hacks we could find.

Well, we've had a few entrants so far for our highly scientific quest to prove that video game players aren't all weedy nerds with the bodies of oxgen-starved 60 year olds as some stories claimed a few weeks ago. [Story: Shiny Quest: they're not all like 60 year-old chainsmokers, finding the buff gamers]

Gerald of TechDigest has yet to send us a picture in but we're looking forward to it..
Oh and thanks to Gerald we'd also like to point out that Vin Diesel is a gamer. And proud of it. Here's a little picture.

And as for the Shiny readers.. this is Kane.
He says: "I spend more time on my computer than I do sleeping but not all gamers work in IT and sit behind a desk. I'm lucky to stay fit with my job."

And this is Mikhael Cohen.
He says: "I play WoW often, with 3 level 80's, 3 70+'s, and a 55 toon. I also play various other games constantly, including constantly trialing other MMO's and other smaller games like Torchlight or L4D. I work out about an hour or more per day. Stay physically active, eat healthy! Don't be lazy! I like games because they exercise my mind during my off hours."

The quest is ongoing. Are you a buff gamer? Know one? Send us a picture: editor@shinyshiny.tv...

EA didn't choose the Xbox as the platform for its newest major release. It didn't choose the PS3, the Wii or even the lowly old PSP. Nope. It chose Facebook.

The game was released last Friday to coincide with the start of the World Cup. Facebookers took to it in their thousands stoked by the excitement around the start of the tournament.

Initially some people were disappointed the game didn't feature any traditional football gameplay -- it was similar in structure to manager simulations, and by encompassing, a real-time training aspect, it also took on gameplay conventions from existing Facebook and social gaming titles such as Farmville.

The game is cool, if a tad under-developed: The interface is overwrought and confusing and some of the cut-scenes are just a bit baffling. The incentive system is also very one-dimensional and actually you'll find it's the social side of the game that keeps you coming back.

That said, I'm happy to see it out there. Social gaming has developed rapidly over the last couple of years and combines casual gaming with social networks in a way that is both fun and rewarding for gamers and provides an interesting platform for businesses.

I'd like to see a slew of new social games all pushing each other forward. With that in mind I've put together 10 franchises we'd love to see release a social gaming title in the very new future.

One of the surprise areas the iPhone suceeded was gaming. And its one of the areas we're really looking for the iPad to build on.

There's been a barrage of early iPad games all vying to be the first Doodle Jump or Angry Birds and I've been busily working my way through them, in the gallant name of research, to bring you 10 of the best so far.

Not to brag, but I found some douzies: Awesome multiplayer games, word games, puzzle games, first person shooters, racing games. Actually the thing that's really struck me during my gaming tour-de-force was the breadth of game genres already available for the iPad and how well the majority had been carried off.

Okay, I know we're inviting trouble here, but we're starting a quest to find healthy, toned, even buff people who play computer games.

The Telegraph have taken a pot at the gaming community by claiming in an article that heavy game players have the bodies of 60 year old chainsmokers, and we think it's only right to give the gaming geeks out there some fair media coverage. So uh send in pictures of toned buff gamers and we'll see if we can right this wrong

Okay, I can easily imagine some gamers are pretty unhealthy, why go to the gym and punch foam-filled punch bags when you could stay at home and punch zombies?
But the comparision in the article does seem slightly unfair, as gamers were compared with elite athletes who obviously beat most normals hands down for health and fitness.

In the particular case cited in the headline, a pro gamer in his 20s was found to have the lung function and aerobic fitness of a heavy smoker in his sixties.

Still there were some benefits to 10hour a day game sessions:
''Elite athletes have unusually high levels of positive feelings and low levels of negative feelings such as depression and fatigue and there were similar characteristics in gamers, albeit not quite as pronounced." They were also found to have the reactions and visual awareness of fighter pilots.

Well, if we get enough impressive, family-friendly ones we'll post a gallery ;) Send pictures of healthy gamers to editor@shinyshiny.tv.

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If a device that gives you electric shocks to help jog your memory sounds like a torture implement used in far-flung corners of Afghanistan, well maybe it is, but it's also a board game to be played for fun and sold by Brando.

The Shocking Memory UFO is a saucer-shaped plastic dish with electric touch pads. The buttons on the top of the UFO light up in a sequence, you have to remember the sequence and touch the right panels in the right order. Hit a wrong panel and you get a shock.

Described as an "EXTREME FUN game" it comes with the notice: "WARNING: This is Not a toy for children. This product emits an electric shock."

It takes AA batteries though so it's unlikely to be an industrial strength shock.

Might be one for people who find board games boring and crave a bit of adrenalin (pain) in their table-based entertainment.

Shocking Memory UFO $24.99 from Brando, intl shipping available.

Zotac have released a new graphics card based on next-generation NVIDIA fermi architecture.

The new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470 graphics cards promise to be the world's most powerful graphics cards capable of delivering a phenomenal gaming experience and unmatched processing power. Features include new Microsoft DirectX 11, 32x anti-aliasing, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround and HDMI 1.3a technologies.

What makes the Fermi format superior? NVIDIA's website explains:

The next generation CUDA architecture, code named "Fermi", is the most advanced GPU computing architecture ever built. With over three billion transistors and featuring up to 512 CUDA cores, Fermi delivers supercomputing features and performance at 1/10th the cost and 1/20th the power of traditional CPU-only servers.

It's a name to watch out for if you're buying a new graphics card.

More information on Zotac's site

Switzerland will ban violent games in the future, thanks to a law that the country's national council has just passed, says games newsite MCV.

The finer details of how the law will play out aren't clear. But the government now has the power to ban games that it considers violent.

What could that include? It has been suggested it might mean all games rated 16+ and 18+ The orginal motion called for a ban on any title that "requires cruel acts of violence against humans and humanlike creatures for in-game success".

Um.. worrying? yes. That would make massively successful games like Modern Warfare and Grand Theft Auto become contraband goods and would lead to ridiculous discussion like whether the zombies in Left 4 Dead count as humanlike or not.

Games have been gaining increasing recognition for their art and intelligence. But despite events like the Games Baftas on Friday, there seems to be a bit of a backlash to games at the minute - witness this front cover story in the UK's Observer magazine two days ago: Video Games the Addiction which recounts an addiction to GTA.

Banning games surely isn't going to work, anymore than banning books or films did back in the early 1900s. It's obviously more of a token. What are they going to do? Raid sitting rooms? They can take games out of shops, but they can't curtail internet retial in the same way. Maybe the members of the Swiss National Council should be sat down with an Xbox and made to understand the differences between real life and virtual life.

[via GeeksareSexy]

Celebs, fancy chocolates, PSP jokes - and videos of some hot gameplay the gaming BAFTAs was all you'd ever dream it to be.

Walking away with the bronze mask that everyone had their eye on, was the Batman Arkham Asylum team who carried off the Best Game BAFTA with a round of cheers.

Batman also picked up Best Gamplay, but the real winner of the night felt like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - the developing team walked away with a whopping four Baftas for: Best Original Score, Best Story, Best Audio and Best Action.

"Playing that game is like being in your own film" the guy next to me breathed.

The guy who got the most cheers was Miyamoto - the Nintendo CEO - the man who invented the Wii, Donkey Kong and set the blueprint for the modern gaming industry. A smiley Japanese man who told a reverent audience that he was inspired to make games by the world around him and that his dogs barking spurred him on to make Nintendogs.

Other interesting facts:
1) No-one likes Alex Zane
2) The CEO of sponsors GAME is a laydee:
3) Host Dara O'Briain told us that games aren't guilty pleasures, groping women on the tube is a guilty pleasure. Err, move away from the tall Irishman on the Bakerloo line..

THE WINNERS:
Action - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog and SCE Foster City Studio
Artistic Achievement - Flower
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/ThatGameCompany and SCE Santa Monica Studio

Family & Social - Wii Sports Resort
Katsuya Eguchi, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu Yamashita
Nintendo/Nintendo

Gameplay - Batman: Arkham Asylum
Sefton Hill, David Hego, Nick Arundel
Eidos/Rocksteady Studios

Handheld - LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
James Shepherd, Piers Jackson, Mark Green
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Cambridge & xev Studio Europe

Multiplayer - Left 4 Dead 2
Gabe Newell, Chet Faliszek, Tom Leonard
Valve/EA

Original Score - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio

Sports - FIFA 10
Andrew Wilson, David Rutter, Gary Paterson
Electronic Arts/EA Canada
Story - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio

Strategy - Empire: Total War
Development Team
Sega/Creative Assembly

Use of Audio - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog and SCE Foster City Studio

Use of Online - FIFA 10
Andrew Wilson, David Rutter, Gary Paterson
Electronic Arts/ EA Canada

BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital - Shrunk!
Vykintas Kazdailis, Andrew Macdonald, Michael Cummings, Jacek Wernikowski, Stuart Kemp
(The Butterflyers)

GAME Award of 2009 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
(The only award to be voted for by the public)
Best Game - Batman: Arkham Asylum

Charlie Brooker was presenting the award for the Best Game at the Video Game Baftas last night.

We nabbed him at the end, got a cheesy picture and a few minutes of breathless conversation in which he told us one of those embarassing tech stories:

"You know when someone asks to take a picture on their iPhone but you hit the "picture" button by accident, suddenly end in their picture gallery and there's lots of pictures you shouldn't be seeing? That happened to me the other day. And they were pretty hardcore and you're frantically pushing buttons trying to get out.."

[Whose iPhone was it? ah wish we knew...]

There's us all down there. Yes me and Gerald are blocking out the actually famous people who are genuinely struggling to be seen, that was just how it happened. In retrospect, we'd do it differently.

Paying money for virtual goods has always raised a few heckles in the media. The thought that people are spending hard-earned pennies on virtual strawberry seeds in Farmville or virtual pumpkins to decorate the kennels of virtual dogs in Pet Society get traditional media organs a bit het up.

Admitedly paying money for what is essentially a few pixels can seem ridiculous but the counter-argument is that people always have and always will spend their money on dumb stuff. And just because the stuff is virtual doesn't make it more or less dumb.

Anyway, now it's all going one step further as online games makers Playfish now sell Playfish cash cards in shops in exchange for real cash.

Their release reads:

"Playfish Cash cards are now available to buy in WHSmith and Sainsbury's and can be exchanged for Playfish Cash which can be spent in all of Playfish's supported social games. Playfish cash can be used to buy virtual goods, for example in Pet Society, Playfish's most popular game which has over 19 million monthly users, you could buy your pet a new set of clothes, or some cool furniture for their house. In Restaurant City, which has over 15 million monthly users, you could buy a new jukebox or some great new tables and chairs for your restaurant."

I don't think Playfish game tokens are going to take over from book tokens anytime soon, but given the number of users, I can see these selling.

It's not likely you'll be able to pop over to see the start of the exhibition in San Francisco tomorrow, but it's cool taking a look at the site which features work from previous Into the Pixel collections.

It's the world's only exhibition that brings together experts from both the fine art establishment and the interactive entertainment industry to explore the art of the video game, say the founders.

"THE VIDEO GAME ART SHOW is an homage to the thumb-muscle-building mechanisms that babysat us in the seventies and eighties" says curator Mark Doffing.

"All the artists in this show had a literal connection to video games -- so its not surprising that old-school gaming iconography should show up in their art. In turn, they continue to re-invent the aesthetics that interactive designers look to as 'cutting edge. The connections between NEW ART and video games cannot be overstated."

Into the Pixel site here

If flirting on Facebook is easier than flirting in person, surely flirting via cuddly animals on a Facebook app should be easiest of all - no? That's what Pet Society are claiming anyway as we face the final few days before Valentine's Day. They suggest getting your furry Pet Society avatar to kiss to your love object's pet as a romantic icebreaker.

If you fancy a less direct approach you can hug them, give them flowers or buy them a drink.

It's like in "real life" when your dogs get tangled up in the streets, your eyes meet, 5 weeks later you're married etc, etc.

Of course your love object might not be on Pet Society, or they may have forgotten and routinely ignore notifications along the lines of "xxx just bought you a drink".

Still - it's a worth a try. Maybe back it up with a Plan B strategy (like stalking them through FourSquare and accidentally bumping into them?) That's my tip for the moment.

Pet Society is a social game played by over 21 million people which lets you create and look after your own virtual pet. Your pet lives in a town, populated with the pets owned by all of your Facebook friends, so you can go round for a visit and just kiss them, in a way you wouldn't in real life.

Yes it's a Wii Accessory but does it match your sofa? Or does it at least fit behind the sofa so you don't have to look at a mound of tilt-sensitive plastic when you have you some people over for drinks?

It's a pertinent challenge for game accessory makers especially for Wii ones which tend to hang around the sitting room where the console and TV are. One company I talked to that were specifically making wii accessories with a low-impact on the sitting room is RiiFlex. As far as they're concerned the weighted wiimotes they make are good-looking, easy-to-store and practical for the sitting room as well as all the usual aerobically tested stuff.

Their Wii Dumbell accessories are smaller and a little more ergonomic than the other models I've seen. Something to bear in mind. They look a bit like ninja turtles as well.

RiiFlex Dumbbell for Wii, £24.99

Previously you'd have been excused for thinking that a Video Game Group offered rehabilitation for people who couldn't be separated from their Xbox for longer than it takes to make a peanut butter sandwich and those who prefer World of Warcraft to sleeping.

But no. Where old-school geeks have book group, new-school geeks have video game group - where they meet up and chat about the themes, plot twists and easter eggs in their favourite games.

That's the idea anyway. EA Games hope that these "console clubs" will take off. They started the ball rolling by getting a group of gamers together in a London pub to talk about new game Mass Effect 2 out on Friday. Tom from EA told us that it was a mixture of hands-on play, red wine and debates over character motives, themes and plot points.

Since Mass Effect is a sci-fi narrative game with lots of characters it does lend itself to the book group treatment in a way that other don't.

The notion of console clubs definitely reflects changing attitudes to video games. And proves once and for all that yes, gamers can talk IRL in "social" situations.

Already in a VideoGame club? Do you meet in pubs? Tell us about it...

Physios in Australia are using a Nintendo Wii accessory to help them rehabilitate people who have had a stroke, according to an article in The New Scientist.

It turns out that the £69.99 Wii Balance Board is a useable alternative to the lab-grade "force platforms" currently in use that cost £11,000. When re-teaching people how to stand and walk after serious accidents or strokes, it helps physios to be able to record how much weight a person is putting on each foot to judge how good their sense of balance is.

The cost of the official "force platforms" means that many physio clinics can't afford them.

The Wii Board needs to be hacked and customised a bit but according to the New Scientist, Clark and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne, Australia, were impressed by results rendered up by the strain gauges and accelerometers found in a Wii Balance Board. "We found the data to be excellent. I was shocked given the price: it was an extremely impressive strain gauge set-up." he said.

The data is clinically comparable to that gained from force boards.

Wonder if there are any other ways that the medical professions can incorporate computer games into their practise... using computer games to stimulate finger movement after broken arm bones perhaps, or just Hello Kitty Online projected on the ceiling to promote soothing feelings at the dentist...

[via the New Scientist]

While over 6million Christmas trees were sold in the UK in December '09, there was a roaring trade in virtual Christmas trees being done as well...

Facebook game Pet Society, created by Playfish, sold 4.2million Christmas trees to Pet Society members. In the game players create, train and care for a pet and they can decorate their animal's house with items like Christmas trees.

Admittedly these trees cost a bit less than the real-world equivalents - clocking in at under a pound in real world money, but the demand is still impressive, showing the strength of Facebook games.

Last month Facebook game Farmville from Zynga was revealed to be the most popular game in the world - by number of players - showing the power that Facebook games have. While Pet Society is played by over 21 million people each month. These Facebook games mesh the power of the social network with traditional game structures to create sociable and co-operative games that you play with your real-life friends.

The model of having a free game but selling virtual goods for real money has been successful for Farmville and it seems for Pet Society too. Every day game-makers Playfish sell around 20 million virtual items through its 11 games, with users spending £3 every week on average. Last Halloween, Playfish sold 8 million pumpkins in Pet Society to people wanting to create a spooky home for their pets. More in fact than got sold in real-life in the UK, around 1 million.

See Playfish for more information http://www.playfish.com/?page=game_pets
Pet Society on Facebook http://apps.facebook.com/petsociety/gameinfo?pf_ref=x1019