Making use of the latest generation technology for whacky amusement and enjoyment Sifteo are changing the face of family fun time. Gone are the days of cardboard and plastic pieces, replaced by motion sensors, interactivity and LCD screens, all built into little Cubes of fun.

Sifteo introduced the world to the fun loving Cubes a little over a year ago. Looking like oversized scrabble pieces the original Cubes won awards along with everyone’s hearts, the Cubes made a massive splash. Now Sifteo is introducing the world to a new generation of Cube, the next generation of electronic board game, without the board.

Gaming on the Cubes involves moving and interacting with the Cubes, for example while playing Chroma Splash tapping two Cubes together with matching patterns will remove the pattern and earn points, similar to Bejewelled on Smartphones. Other games require shaking, moving, screen taps and placing Cubes in sequence to solve the puzzle. Tilt, flip, shake, neighbour and touch the cubes, all interactions available for game developers to use.

New to the second generation Cube is the Cube Base Station that controls the game-play, a job previously done by a nearby PC. The new base station now allows playing anywhere, anytime by containing all of your games and scores, as well as providing sound through its integrated speaker. A PC is still required to load games onto the base stations but once setup the base station is fully self-contained.

Each Cube has its own 1.5inch full colour touch screen, 3-axis accelerometer, proximity sensors to sense nearby cubes and 2.4Ghz wireless communications link. Essentially each Cube is a computer in its own right, working together through the base station to provide hours of fun. Each cube runs off a single AAA battery but sadly the new gen 2 Cubes aren’t compatible with the first generation.

The second generation Cubes can now include up to 12 cubes in a game, with the extra cubes unlocking additional puzzles and levels and allowing more players to join in.

Games range from word games, puzzles and all the way up to adventure and action games. The soon to be released Sandwich Kingdom is an example of the kind of games to expect in the near future. Explore the Kingdom by placing Cubes on the next side to explore, with the Cubes creating a tiled composite display. Looking very much like an old school role playing game Sandwich Kingdom has 60 levels of game map to explore and master, a very impressive example of what can be achieved by developers. Also coming soon to the Cubes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are making a comeback, bringing the hard shelled characters we all loved to a new generation of gamers and new generation of gaming system.

The starter pack includes 3 cubes, the Base Station and four games to get the fun started. Pre-orders are being taken now, with availability in November. The 3 cube starter pack retails for $129.95 USD, the six Cube starter will set you back $199.95 and each additional Cube is $29.95 USD. Sifteo is the next generation gaming system for a high tech world.

Orders from: RM.com
Reference: Sifteo.com

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