You know the Philips Ambilight feature that’s found on some of its flat panel TVs? Well that same technology is coming soon to a PC game near you, on steroids. Philips’ new amBX peripherals will include things like a rumbling wrist rest, surround speakers with built-in 16-million color synchronizing lights, and fans that sit on your desk “simulating everything from a gentle sea breeze to an approaching helicopter.”
In order for games to take advantage of amBX peripherals, they must include special extensions. So far, only five games support the hardware out of the box but Philips has developed the “amBX gaming FXGenerator” (or FXGen, for short) which allows you to apply the effects to existing games. There are about 80 or so supported titles so far, with more being added in the future.
The peripherals are being sold exclusively on German website MediaMarkt.de until September and then hopefully will be available everywhere else. Console support, peripherals, and games are also in the pipeline.
Philips amBX Peripherals [ambx.com] via AVING.net
Comments
you can get ambient light and effects for virtually any game at http://www.a-r-e.nl
amBX is awesome and has certainly changed the way I play both my games and my music. The ambient light effects are great for a house party and the combination of the lights, speakers, fans and rumble pad (from the Premium Kit) give a bit more umphh to games.
CoD4, Assassin’s Creed, Guitar Hero 3 and Need for Speed are a few of the titles that have full support whilst a long list of others ensure some interaction with the peripherals thanks to the software provided with the kits. I have showed it to a couple of friends at home and most tend to like the light and fan effects most but I think its a whole combo thing, putting everything together gives you more immersion and when playing things like CoD4 that is just what you want.
Granted not all the current games have full support but hopefully in time more AAA titles will have and with the price recently dropping (£169.99 on Play.com) more people will embrace the difference in experience amBX provides.
The amBX gaming FXGenerator is fantastic. I have tested the Premium Kit along with unsupported titles such as Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Warcraft 3 and some older games, all which work very well with the amBX gaming FXGenerator.
One of the best things I find with the technology is that it works well with music as well, so putting on a visual effect and having the lights change to the music really sets the mood in the room, and also watching movies on my LCD with the amBX technology on brings a new depth to films. For what you get with the premium kit, and the technology behind it, it’s definitely worth purchasing if you love playing games/watching movies/listening to music on your PC, especially with the recent price drop.
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