Archive for the 'Video games' category

On this Good Friday, here’s a cute game where you plays as the Easter Bunny trying to keep Easter Eggs from falling on the ground.

I love the music!

Be careful as this game can cause addiction!

Click on the image to play.

brem

Let me tell you first off, I want one!

It can seem difficult to believe (at first, I thought it was fake!) but it is possible to make music with a Tesla coil!

To prove it to you, watch and listen this video of two coils playing the Super Mario Bros. Theme song:



or if you’re more inclined to like classical music the 1812 Overture of Tchaikovski:




Cool, eh?

You’re still skeptical? Do you want a rational explanation of how it works?

That’s what I thought. So for the neophytes, I’ll put my physics teacher’s hat on (I started my masters in electrical engineering after all!) and will attempt to explain the principle in simple words (not so easy!):

Firstly, a Tesla coil is an electrical transformer, so it transforms a low voltage current to a very high voltage current, in our case. The high voltage part of the contraption emits violet sparks and lightnings that travels to the nearest metal rod to discharge the accumulated charge.

The principle invented by Nikola Tesla consists of two or more electrical resonance circuits. Basically, by choosing the right value for a coil and a capacitor we can make an electrical circuit resonate. I actually experimented with that in university and it actually creates a buzz. The pitch of this buzz depends of the choice of the capacitor and coil value. So each Tesla coil has a fixed resonance frequency, and in the case of the Tesla coils in the videos above, it is higher than the audible frequencies.

So how can we hear a sound then?

Well, the clever trick is to turn the device on and off very fast! The frequency (number of swtich on/off per second) at which the switch is turned on and off determines the pitch of the sound. So what we hear is thus the frequency modulated fixed signal of the Tesla coil!

Open parenthesis, the frequency modulation is exactly what an FM radio does. It emits on a fixed carrier wave frequency (the no. of the station, e.g. 90.3) the modulated audio signal, close parenthesis.

So from here on, all that is left to do is to link this wonderful device to a digital controller and to either a computer or a musical instrument to be able to play it. :).

For further explanations on how it works, check this video out.

Unfortunatly, this new musical instrument, called the Zeusaphone by the inventors, will not be available for purchase until 2008.

brem, flabergasted.

For those of you who can’t afford to come visit me in Quebec City, or for those of you who want to have a sneak peak at Quebec City, there is a track modelled after the city streets, with the real buildings in the video game Project Gotham 4.

Watch the video.

Neat eh?

And for Quebec City residents, wouldn’t it be awesome if this was a real annual race in the city? Yeah…

brem




via YGRECK

Addictive game where you are a missile who goes through a pipe filled with moving obstacles.

Have a nice procrastination session.

brem


via M. Bizarre

This guy from Sept-Iles, Québec, had a clever idea, which could make him rich, provided someone bids on his ebay auction.

What is he selling that is so appealing?

The new PlayStation 3 (PS3). Or rather, the rights to play with it.

That’s because the auction is not for the PS3 itself. Should you win the auction, you would have the opportunity to play with the guy on his PS3, wherever you live for a whole week. As a bonus, the auctioner says he will even let you win and that he’s funny as hell, even though is english is not that great.

Starting bid: 500, 000$.

That’s what I call entrepreneurship.

The shortage of the PS3 console made some ebay bids go as high as 5, 000$, probably more for a product selling retail at 600$. Crazy.

Tip for the guy: don’t quit your day job though. If you have one.

Here’s the link to the auction.

brem

via blogue jeux vidéos canoe