Comments on: Arcade Reality Treo-based Camera Game

Arcade Reality - Palm OS SoftwareArcade Reality is a interesting new game for Palm OS Treo's from Toyspring. It features a pretty original motion and camera based gameplay scheme, where game objects are overlaid on the current Treo camera view. You have to move around and aim your Treo at various monsters and ships that appear around you. As you move around, your motion is calculated based on what is seen by the camera and the game view gets updated accordingly.

The game has 3 different playing modes: Arcade Reality, Infinite Shooter and Asteroids mode. It also has rich sound effects and background music. It is available now with a free demo version and costs $14.95 for the full version. It is only compatible with the Treo 650, 680 and 700p.

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Most Incredible thing I have ever seen on the Treo 700P

ScottG @ 2/14/2007 2:41:05 PM # Q
This is without a doubt the wildest thing i have ever seen for a PDA. The tracking it very impressive as you move around the room shooting at the flying aliens. This just blows you away at how accurate the tracking is< and makes you feel like your in the VR. I just played it for a few minutes, then placed my order. This is not a game you play in bed though, you need to get up off your Butt and really move around. The graphics are top notch, and the feedback it really impressive. You get a vibration on the Treo when you get Hit, and the screen even goes wavey and static like when your getting hit.

JUST THE WILDEST THING I HAVE EVER TRIED OUT!

You will get looks while playing this, just don't let anyone try it or you wont get the Phone back so quick. O.K. I have to go and save the bedroom from attack.

ScottG

RE: Most Incredible thing I have ever seen on the Treo 700P
hkklife @ 2/14/2007 3:45:03 PM # Q
Scott;

How'd you get to play it ? Review copy? Bought it?

This thing looks amazing!

A shame the Zire 72 & 71 are not supported, along with all of the camera-enabled CLIEs...

It's amazing that it took THIS long for someone to come up with a new spin on a tired genre that utilizes nearly every unique feature of the Treo (rumble feedback, touchscreen, camera, d-pad etc).



Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

RE: Most Incredible thing I have ever seen on the Treo 700P
Gekko @ 2/14/2007 3:58:54 PM # Q
RE: Most Incredible thing I have ever seen on the Treo 700P
joad @ 2/14/2007 5:35:12 PM # Q
Unbelievable. Yet another application that is as creative and well designed as Googlemaps for the Treo. Toysoft just earned their wings today.

Just as Palm seems to be doing all it can to cripple the Treo and make it as dull and pointless as all the other smartphone knockoffs, here's yet another developer coming along and providing some originality and fun that shows the advantages of the Treo platform.

Maybe someday Palm will gain the foresight to bring a few of these whizkids in as they are designing the hardware - then maybe the RAM, camera, battery life, antenna, buttons and other crucial things will be well designed to make the Treo a smartphone leader rather than the has-been it may easily become on the present track....

RE: Most Incredible thing I have ever seen on the Treo 700P
dkirker @ 2/15/2007 1:33:59 AM # Q
This game is very addicting (not to mention, inspiring, I now have an idea for something).

I am adding it to my "Purchase when I have spending money" list!

By the way, the items that float around actually bounce off of items that the Treo's camera can see! An asteroid bounced off my laptop's screen and then proceeded to bounce off of the side of a bookcase back at me.

RE: Most Incredible thing I have ever seen on the Treo 700P
wannitnow @ 2/15/2007 7:14:16 AM # Q
Stick your hand in front of your camera and you can "push" some of the floating objects!!
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What's next? Virtual Reality Porn on your Treo?

Gekko @ 2/14/2007 3:22:27 PM # Q

Maybe even MikeCon would break down buy one then.



RE: What's next? Virtual Reality Porn on your Treo?
stonemirror @ 2/15/2007 9:22:42 AM # Q
I see that a volunteer has stepped up to ensure that the pointless abuse and vituperation quotient is maintained.

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Purchase Warning

Stogy @ 2/14/2007 9:17:29 PM # Q
I purchased the game. But to give me an activation code they want my phones serial number. That can't be good.

Rstogy
RE: Purchase Warning
dkirker @ 2/15/2007 1:32:55 AM # Q
I don't believe that this is harmful. Many applications have an unlock feature that uses something like a HotSync name or a device serial number.

RE: Purchase Warning
joad @ 2/15/2007 11:53:52 AM # Q
Ugh. I hate that sort of activation. Every time you have a device replacement you usually need a writ of congress to get a replacement code. Tom-Tom is one example, Iambic is also - but for some reason Iambic's is very forgiving ("Device ID" doesn't always change, and you can get a replacement code via the site without major hassle).

For those of us with a lot of purchased software, if this "serial number" idea catches on with developers, I'll need to devote half a day to conversing with various developers begging for a replacement key that works. If you get a run of bad hardware, it's a major PITA. It just gives software "cracking" a legitimate excuse, and will discourage sales to people who want to pay.

(I may still suffer through begging everytime for my key and buy this, but it certainly gives me a major pause as I was planning to pull the trigger on this today.... it's SOOOO wild!)

RE: Purchase Warning
toyspring @ 2/15/2007 1:37:43 PM # Q
well, of course you're right.
i won't try to convinve you that tying the registration code to the physical device is a brilliant idea. in a perfect world there would be no piracy and no registration codes... and i would be more happy not having to devote my time for crippling my own software.

anyway, i'm here to say that i'm aware of the drawbacks of this system and i will make sure that the registered users won't have trouble receiving a replacement code if needed.


RE: Purchase Warning
joad @ 2/15/2007 2:49:13 PM # Q
Thank you for addressing this straight-out, Toyspring.

I am aware of both sides of the argument. It's not the "ideal" from a user standpoint to spend a lot of time on websites recreating codes for every single application every single time your hardware dies or is upgraded. I'm glad you are committing to making the key replacement process as painless as possible.

This is one of the few games I've seen that are well-enough designed and interesting enough to use regularly. And you've priced it at a level that puts all the other $15 and $20 throwaway Palm games and utilities in real perspective. You deserve all the kudos that you are getting for your work, and I hope you stay actively involved creating apps for the Palm/Access/Garnet/whateverOS.

BTW- anyone looking for a stunning freeware app, try Toyspring's "Video Jigsaw" (http://toyspring.com/vj/). This guy is off the hook!

RE: Purchase Warning
Stogy @ 2/16/2007 11:34:03 AM # Q
I am grateful that Toyspring spoke up on the issue. Because they were so quick to respond I went ahead and bought the game. It is great. No problems.

Rstogy
RE: Purchase Warning
a_nonamiss @ 2/21/2007 2:18:31 PM # Q
Why not tie it to the HotSync ID? I have purchased hundreds of dollars of software which is all tied to my HotSync ID. I have upgraded my device many times, and have never had trouble, as I always keep the same ID. Sure I could give it to anyone out there with the same ID as me, but that seems to be a pretty stiff deterrent.

Please know that this is not a flame in any way. I am actually curious as to what reasoning went into tying it to the hardware serial number.

Arthur

Palm Pilot 1000 > Palm Pilot Professional > Palm III > Palm M100 > Sony Clié PEG-T415 > Palm T|T3 > Samsung SCH-i730 > Palm 700p

RE: Purchase Warning
twrock @ 2/21/2007 9:17:22 PM # Q
I have purchased a couple of pieces of software that were tied to the device number, not the user name. Both had to do with Chinese OS. In each of those cases, the company specifically did not want the software to ever be used on any other device. The thinking is similar to what Microsoft does with Windows, licensing it to a particular machine.

It also means that a purchaser can not install the same software on multiple machines with the same hotsync name at the same time. I currently have three working Palm units, all with the same sync name. I could have all my software running on all of those machines. Maybe toyspring is trying to stop that sort of "deployment".

However, I don't think the software manufacturer should do this. I have a "license" to use that software. I can't operate three Palm devices at the same time. What difference should it make to them on which device I am operating it? I have legitimately paid them their licensing fee. That should be enough. (period!) IMO, this is not a good way to license this type of product.


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/

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Stunning

zadillo @ 2/15/2007 2:59:06 AM # Q
This has to be one of the coolest games I've seen yet. Just an awesome idea, and so far seems perfectly executed (although I have yet to figure out the remote controlled rocket).

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Killer App?

zadillo @ 2/15/2007 10:11:22 AM # Q
Just showed this around to the people in my office, and almost universally everyone was blown away by this. Took me half an hour to get my Treo back....:)

Probably not actually a killer app for the Treo per se, but definitely just a brilliant idea, and incredibly well executed.

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Fast edge detection rules

SeldomVisitor @ 2/15/2007 11:41:39 AM # Q
Or is that "rewls"?

In any case, I've often wondered just how fast basic image processing operations (i.e. edge detection and "object" tracking) could be done on modern-day hardware.

Guess we know now, eh?

Pretty cool.

RE: Fast edge detection rules
toyspring @ 2/15/2007 1:32:00 PM # Q
well, sufficiently fast for a realtime operation :-)
but i do not use edge detection in "arcade reality". instead, i only measure the "global" background movement.
however my not-yet-released augmented reality application can identify and track moving shapes in the video stream - this will be used in the next game :-)

RE: Fast edge detection rules
SeldomVisitor @ 2/15/2007 1:59:05 PM # Q
Cool, thanks for the feedback.

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cocacola

JPT|X @ 2/15/2007 11:50:47 AM # Q
OK- please get a version for Palm Zire 71/72

Will there be a problem like with the Wii controllers- people throwing their treos across the room???

RE: cocacola
joad @ 2/15/2007 12:03:17 PM # Q
I've felt like throwing my Palm devices around the room on occasion.... and it had nothing to do with the playing of a game....

RE: cocacola
toyspring @ 2/15/2007 1:30:01 PM # Q
unfortunately, zire lacks one system function: to disable the camera preview. so if you played "arcade reality" on zire, the live view would obscure the game display and you could not see what's happening.
this cannot be resolved without "hacking" or "patchng" the system, which requires some experimenting. i could try to do this if i had zire or if someone could lend me one. unfortunately, none of my friends has such device... so for now zire 72 is not supported.

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CAVEAT

joad @ 2/15/2007 3:02:41 PM # Q
Please don't play this in airports, planes, McDonald's Restaurants and such... They'll either bust you for lunacy or suspected weaponry!

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Erm, this isn't original

grimpeur @ 2/15/2007 3:40:09 PM # Q
A game like this has been out for Nokia Series 60 phones since 2004.

See; http://www.midlet-review.com/index?content=review&id=268&rel=symbian

This is rather old, and the graphics were better on the old Nokia version!

RE: Erm, this isn't original
toyspring @ 2/15/2007 4:05:55 PM # Q
that's true, i haven't invented this.
however i dare not to agree that the killer virus graphics is better ;-)

RE: Erm, this isn't original
zadillo @ 2/15/2007 11:13:38 PM # Q
This Arcade Reality also seems to have a lot more depth though in terms of gameplay types and variety compared to that Nokia game.

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700p

DaveTheSane @ 2/15/2007 5:28:55 PM # Q
I keep getting a fatal exception error whenever I try to get into Arcade Reality. This seems as though it would be a spectacularly fun game, if I could ever get it to work. Were there any others who had this issue? If so what caused the conflict.

Thanks,

dave

RE: 700p
DaveTheSane @ 2/15/2007 5:31:49 PM # Q
::sigh:: Last night I tried everything I could think of to get this to work. I went in and turned off everything working in the background I could think of.

What I didn't try was posting on an online forum. Murphy's law would dictate as soon as I post on a forum, all I would need to do is go back and try it again and it should work perfectly.

I have no idea why it works now but not last night.

I suppose you should disregard my previous message, but of course according to Murphy's Law that would mean it would quit working so I'm not going to just come out and say it.

And yet somehow life goes on.

Dave

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My Review

nybble @ 2/16/2007 8:06:23 AM # Q
So, I downloaded the demo and then had to get the real thing. How can you not? It's really great, check out my review here:

http://comments.deasil.com/2007/02/16/game-review-arcade-reality/

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Can't run it on Treo 680

jonecool @ 2/18/2007 1:17:48 PM # Q
I keep getting an error "couldn't access the video stream" when running it on a Treo 680. Could this be due to the patch for the Treo 680 camera issue I applied? I sure would like to play the game :(

RE: Can't run it on Treo 680
jonecool @ 2/18/2007 1:41:38 PM # Q
Never mind, a soft reset cleared this up... Sorry :)

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OMG

skippy_batman @ 6/7/2007 9:47:29 PM # Q
I can't help but agree...This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! What a freakin genius....I never buy games for my treo (business user) I think I have to buy this thing..just out of shear respect for the creativity...you're a freakin god

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