ePawn Merges Board and Digital Games

 Recently I wrote about the appeal of the physical aspect to board games compared to the equivalent game on the iPad.

It’s timely that I just found out about the ePawn, which looks to connect the digital and tactile realms of gaming in a cohesive experience. From their site:

Real objects
Get back to real feelings, touch real objects and use them as the most natural interface with a system.
Instead of having 3D screens, have real objects on a screen: is there any better 3D than real 3D?
Real Time
ePawn’s tracking solution is fast.
Objects are seamlessly tracked by the system and they can even be used as devices for action games

Check it out in action:

ePawn is looking for a release in the second half of 2012 and until then all we can do is speculate. There are so many questions I have for ePawn, well I’ll just have to wait. So it goes.

I was surprised to find out that they aren’t using RFID and have created their own propriety system of unit detection and placement.



December 15th, 2011 by admin

digifest Toronto Oct. 26-30


The first annual Digifest is happening in Toronto at the end of the month and it’s shaping up to be a nifty event. The festival aims to encompass a wide spread of the interactive digital scene and is well timed to match up with other events (X-summit and Art, Science, and the Brain) happening in the city.

From the Digifest website:

Digifest is Toronto’s international festival celebrating innovation and digital creativity. From October 26-30, we will be bringing together some of the world’s best and brightest to showcase next generation digital art & design. Established and emerging designers, technologists and artists will come together during Digifest for presentations, incredible demos, interactive exhibitions and parties.

Looks like the end of October is filled with digital, interactive, and gaming conferences!



October 8th, 2011 by admin

X-Summit Early Bird Ends Today

For those of you who are debating going to X-Summit you’re going to want to get your tickets before the end of the day today. It’s Interactive Ontario‘s annual interactive media conference held in Toronto, albeit with a new name this year. Why they changed the name, I can’t say, I guess some people like it better that way.

X-Summit is happening 24-26th of October in Toronto.

About X-Summit

Cross-Media || Intelligence, Collaboration, Change

X marks the spot where interactive digital media innovators meet, collaborate, partner and learn.

This two-day business intelligence conference focuses on the areas where cross-media converges; enabling content producers to better tell their stories seamlessly across multiple platforms.

X-Summit embraces innovation and explores the future of cross-media content through active learning, hands-on workshops, round-table discussions, concise presentations, dynamic panel discussions and cutting-edge demonstrations. A departure from typical formats, this next-generation conference will inspire and challenge, outfitting participants with tangible takeaways, fresh ideas to consider and new opportunities to explore.

X-Summit’s thought-provoking and future-oriented content offers insights from outstanding speakers from across the globe who will share their experience, knowledge and strategic foresight, providing valuable insights into the constantly evolving world of cross-media. X-Summit is an unparalleled opportunity for content creators to collaborate with interactive media professionals in a world-class conference setting.

X-Summit’s official site.



September 30th, 2011 by admin

NPD Reveals Digital Gaming Space Taxonomy

NPD Group is a good resource for market information and they have recently released how they classify video games.

They have done a good job of breaking down the game content and monetization models that exists in the gaming industry. Their categorization makes sense to me and I don’t see anything that has been overlooked.

The high level classifications are:

  • Video game category
  • Industry segments
  • Channel (purchase)
  • Delivery method
  • Business model
  • Payment method

See the flow chart below for details.



September 10th, 2011 by admin