My very first lunchtime video has me trying Nvidia's new GeForce 3D Vision glasses which are used to bring your favorite games into three dimensions. See how it looks on me (and please excuse the "ums").

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

Searching through a stock photo database for pictures from the Consumer Electronics Show this past week in Las Vegas, we found that 3D glasses were all the rage, especially when playing "Guitar Hero." Take a look. Read more...

When I received my full band game copy of "Guitar Hero: World Tour" earlier this month, my drum controller had sensitivity issues.

I had to hit the red pad on my kit really hard for it to register, but in doing that, I would fire off the yellow pad (the cymbal) at the same time. As you can imagine, this didn't make for a good score or streak.

I wasn't the only one who had this problem. Other players, on multiple platforms, had complaints that their drum controllers were either too sensitive or not sensitive enough -- or both. Activision promptly released a drum tuning kit, a 10MB PC application that lets players assign a sensitivity level to each pad on the drum controller. While the tuning kit is easy to install and has a simple interface, you need a midi-to-USB cable to hook up your controller to a PC.

Consumers can submit their information to Red Octane and receive the midi-to-USB cable. About a week after I requested one, I got it in the mail and was able to try the drum tuning kit.

Here's how it went: Read more...

When XS Games decided to make "PopStar Guitar" for Wii, they intended to make a full-fledged guitar peripheral for it, a PR rep told me during a demo last week.

But retail pushed back. They weren't willing to stock yet another large plastic instrument.

XS Games went another route and produced a small add-on easily grafted onto the already existing Wiimote.

When XS Games sat down to demo "PopStar Guitar" to Wal-Mart, for example, one of the executives spent ten minutes explaining the problem of every single publisher coming out with a new, big controller. He let out a sigh of satisfaction when the Wiimote add-on was then shown. (A GameStop rep addressed the same issue of instrument-controller clutter with Multiplayer last month.)

With Activision Blizzard having jumped into the world of full-band music games with "Guitar Hero World Tour," are we about to see the death of new music game peripherals? There are already indicators this is happening -- Konami didn't make a guitar for "Rock Revolution." Or, perhaps, it will simply be limited to the guaranteed moneymakers like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band."

Competition is good. But the sheer size of music game controllers could mean we're about to see some stagnation in variety. Are you okay with that?

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The disc-only version of Konami's "Rock Revolution" was released last week, but the drum kit-and-game bundle won't be in stores until next month.

I was told by Konami reps last month that if you can't wait until then, you can buy the game and use MTV Games' "Rock Band" drum kit, in addition to Activision's "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band" guitars.

In my tiny apartment, I currently have both the "Rock Revolution" drum kit (borrowed courtesy of Konami) and my "Rock Band" drum set (wireless version) for the Xbox 360. So I decided to compare what happens when I played the game, tailored to a six-pad drum kit, with a four pad one. Will "Rock Revolution" scale the difficulty accordingly? Read more...

I recently got a copy of Fremont, California-based Digital Praise's "Guitar Praise" and unboxed it for all the world to see.

Made for the PC/Mac, the game is a Christian-oriented version of Activision's "Guitar Hero" that aims to combine the gameplay of the popular music franchise with Christian values.

I got a chance to play the game to see how it compares to its secular predecessors. A Christian message may be behind it, but does the gameplay and guitar peripheral hold up? Read more...

We here at MTV Multiplayer love our music games, so when we heard about Digital Praise's "Guitar Praise" for the PC/Mac, we knew we had to try it.

Today, I finally received my copy of the game in the mail. The box includes the CD-rom game and wireless guitar controller. The back of the box says you can "Jam with the Band!" and that there are "over 50 pulsating hits" by Flyleaf, tobyMac, dc Talk, Skillet, Stellar Kart, Newsboys and more.

Features include onscreen lyrics that "emphasize Christian themes," a co-op or "power duel mode" and online leaderboards.

Read on to see close-up images of the box, the guitar peripheral and screenshots. (And stay tuned for my impressions.) Read more...

Today Konami confirmed to MTV Multiplayer that there are no plans to make a guitar peripheral for its band game "Rock Revolution."

"At this time, Konami will only be releasing 'Rock Revolution' with a drum peripheral; there are no plans for a guitar peripheral," said Mondona Akhazan, an associate product manager at Konami. "Initially, when we started making the game, we designed it to be more of a drum-focused game. We have our competitors out there that created games that are focused more around the guitars, so with this we really wanted to pay homage to the drummer."

However, Konami reiterated that competing titles' guitars -- namely those of Activision's "Guitar Hero" and MTV's "Rock Band" -- will work with the game (at a demo today, I used a wireless Xbox 360 "Guitar Hero" guitar). The "Rock Revolution" drum set will also be compatible with the other games, even though it has six pads, while "Rock Band" has four and "Guitar Hero: World Tour" has five.

According to PR at the event, the "Rock Revolution" game will recognize which drum set you're using and how many inputs the peripheral has. Then the game will reconfigure and scale the drum tracks to have the corresponding amount of playable notes depending on the drum peripheral being used.

The stand-alone game comes out on October 14, while the game and drum set bundle will be released in mid-November. No price point has been announced at this time.

Related Posts:
'Rock Revolution' Works With Competing Guitars, Not Yet Confirming Its Own
Pros And Cons Of The 'Rock Revolution' Drums, Our Second Hands-On

If you had an NES Power Pad back in the day, then you've played "World Class Track Meet."

And if you were like me, you eventually cheated and played with your hands instead of your feet. I suddenly became a world-class, record-breaking athlete by pounding my hands onto the pad to do the 100m dash, 110m hurdles and the long and triple jump events.

Twenty-two years later, the Power Pad lives on with the release of "Active Life: Outdoor Challenge" and its "Active Life" mat for the Wii. But could I cheat the "Active Life" mat like I did the Power Pad in "Outdoor Challenge"?

Here's how my experiment went: Read more...

If you've ever tried to find a living space in New York City, you'll know that most affordable apartments are tiny.

I live in Brooklyn, and probably pay too much for a 450-square foot apartment. My living room is about 8 x 12 feet; with the couch in there it's even smaller. In that space, I have a 40-inch HDTV, two Xbox 360s -- one retail, one debug -- a PS3, a Wii, my collection of games and a slew of gaming peripherals, among other things like records, toys, books.

I used to have a coffee table, but I thought having plenty of room for "Rock Band" was more important.

To add to my space dilemma, I recently received "Active Life: Outdoor Challenge," which came with the "Active Life mat." To try it, I had to relocate my "Wii Fit" balance board -- right next to three plastic guitars -- and move my couch back to make room for it. That made me realize... I have a lot of gaming peripherals.

Are you having trouble finding space for peripherals, or is this strictly a NYC problem? When is enough enough? I guess it's a good problem to have though... Maybe I just need to move. Read more...