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- The GDC08 Expo Hall
- Posted 9 months ago by HeyKidNiceRobot
Here it is Friday, and I have only just now been able to make it down to the floor. A majority of the hall is made up of industry focused demonstrations, with plenty of motion capture, sound banks, and texture libraries. There isn't much here in the way of news, but there are still a few booths to mention.
Sony has the largest presence with a giant television screen, lounge area and plenty of demos for conference attendees to try out. We got some exclusive time with Echochrome and flOw PSP, but one of the more interesting devices I got to check out is Sony's GPS dongle for the PSP. Right now it's only available in Japan, with a European model coming soon, but there is still no word on whether or not it will eventually become available in the US.


Nintendo has been drawing it's share of the crowd with demos of Wii Fit and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. If you missed the video of SSBB, you can check it out here. There is also a Nintendo DS display with playable demos of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword and the latest Final Fantasy.




There is no shortage of Wii peripherals here either. Everything from racing wheels to charging stations are available to waste your money on and intensify your motion gaming experience. The only notable one is the Nyko Wii Pistol which could be a better option than the mediocre Wii Blaster or the awful Wii Shotgun.

If there is anything here that out numbers Wii peripherals, it's girls and gymnasts in motion capture gear.




If you want to check out something that might be a little more useful to your gaming set-up, than here is the D-Box Motion Gaming Chair. Resting on a set of pistons, this $3,500 chair might be a little outside your budget, but it really does intesify the experience.

Of course, everything on the floor can't be cool. The "Crappiest of the Floor Award" has to go to the Z-Dome, a miniature IMAX theater for your home. In theory, a giant rear-projection bubble that wraps your games around you could be cool, but this poor example just doesn't pull it off, causing almost 50% of the image to bleed off the edges. In their defense, they did say it requires three projectors but currently they were only running one. Still, I don't know who would want this eye-sore sitting in their living room, especially when you have to stand to play it.

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What was under that cloth? it is was that Z-dome thing, then that'd kinda suck.