Videoboardgame
January 04, 2006
Well, we all knew it was coming, but we didn't know it would have such a terrible name: Phillip's Entertaible. It's a dynamic boardgame platform using a 30" LCD touchscreen table. I wonder what the price point will be... I also wonder if it will be host to anything other than Monotony and its kin. I'd love to work on hobbygames for it, but I'm sceptical of the market value of doing so!
With thanks to Dan for pointing it out to me!
This is something I've been dreaming about for years. I do worry about the price of the thing, and the name leaves much to be desired...
However, the potential for this is great. Wargamers could have new depth, and it could encourage more complex physical engines for such simulations. Boardgames, of course, are going to be "ported" the thing, but tabletop RPGs could get a new life from this as well. I do think a personal control panel (PDA style device) for each player, would work wonders.
But the cost point has to be low enough for the average person to afford it. Eventually, this technology will be applicable for everyone, but until then, I fear it's going to be an upmarket product which doesn't have the market value you're looking for.
Posted by: Dave Elliot | January 04, 2006 at 06:43 PM
Odd that Phillips are doing it. They really want to get into gaming, one way or another. Anyone remember the doomed CDi machine?
This could potentially rule if they get the screen resolution right and allow for new games to be easily inserted, maybe even created using editing software on a PC! They could even have 'last spot' memory saves so players can turn off and resume effortlessly.
Oh the possibilities...
Posted by: Dan Boutros | January 04, 2006 at 07:30 PM
It hadn't occured to me it might take user-generated content... That would elevate the whole concept to a much more essential place in my mind!
Posted by: Chris | January 05, 2006 at 09:58 AM
This Phillips LCD reminds me of d20srd.org's Jans Carton's low-tech Digital Map Projection. cool stuff!
http://www.d20srd.org/extras/mapProjection.htm
Posted by: Chris Peterson | January 06, 2006 at 01:52 AM
One of my colleagues dug this video clip up from somewhere of the Entertaible in action:
mms://Ntstream2.ddns.ehv.campus.philips.com/
efi/86090/Entertaible/Entertaible.wmv
Posted by: Gorgon88 | January 06, 2006 at 04:51 PM
At last! How long have we been waiting for this technology to kick off...
Now, when they get to the point where you can roll it up, design your own games, instant save to memory and all those other cool features, we will finally be, "in the future"!.
Excellent.
Posted by: Neil | January 10, 2006 at 01:53 PM