The After Math: a million Z10s, the UnCarrier's new plan and a 16-button controller

Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week's tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages

This week, there's been a mixed bag of interesting news numbers, from T-Mobile's New York event and the company's new perspective on the phone network business, to San Francisco (again) for the Games Developers Conference. We also got to take a look at BlackBerry's first financial results since the name change and its BB10 launch.

BlackBerry revenue for the last financial quarter: $2.7 billion Profit made by BlackBerry: $94 million BlackBerry revenue for the same period last year: $4.2 billion Loss made by BlackBerry during the same period last year: $125 million Cost of Samsung's latest lawsuit against LG: $45 million Number of BB Z10 handsets shipped so far: 1 million Proportion of Z10s sold, according to CEO Thorsten Heins: Two-thirds to three-quarters iPhone 5 units sold in its first weekend: 5 million iPhone 5 (16GB) handset price from Apple: $649 iPhone 5 (16GB) handset price from T-Mobile: $579 Minimum monthly plan from T-Mobile: $50

Price of the OUYA console at launch: $99 Buttons on OUYA's Bluetooth controller: 11 Buttons on the original NES controller: 4 Buttons on the original PlayStation controller: 10 Buttons on the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller: 14 Buttons on the skunk-evading Tenya Wanya Teens arcade controller: 16 Tags: aftermath, bb10, blackberry, gdc2013, ouya, ps4, sony, t-mobile, uncarrier

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By: Unknown On 10:03 PM

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Hands-on with Katamari Damacy creator's crazy 16-button game controller (video)

You don't often see a video game specifically designed for a 16-button bespoke controller and for a special one-time party, but that's exactly what Keita Takahashi has done with Tenya Wanya Teens. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Takahashi is responsible for the enormously popular game franchise that is Katamari Damacy along with cult favorite Noby Noby Boy. Teens is his first foray as an independent creator under Uvula, a studio he formed with his wife Asuka Sakai, and is a result of a collaboration with event organizers Wild Rumpus and video game website Venus Patrol. As for the party in question, it's one that is being held concurrently with the 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which is where we saw the controllers and the game in action.

As you can see above, the controller looks a lot like a modified arcade stick. A hand-made effort by programmer George Buckenham, both boxes were built in about five days for around £200 ($302.50) each. According to Buckenham, the easiest part was assembling the electronics; it was the plywood housing that took him awhile to master. As for the game, Tenya Wanya Teens is a highly whimsical affair that is described as "a coming-of-age tale about love, hygiene, monsters and finding discarded erotic magazines in the woods." Tasks include peeing in the shower, punching monsters and taking on grizzly bears. Tenya Wanya Teens 16-button controllerSee all photoswhen.eng("eng.galleries.init")

As for whether the game and the controller will actually be mass-produced, Buckenham and colleague Richard Hogg were unsure. Obviously they'll have to figure out a more cost-effective controller, but even then the answer remains very much in the air. Still, it looks like the crew had a blast designing and playing the game, and seeing as the party is very much sold out, we'd say it was a rousing success. Have a peek at the gallery to get a closer look at the controller and check out the video below for a demo of this crazy little game.

Source: Venus Patrol

Tags: gdc, gdc2013, keitatakahashi, tenyawanyateens, venuspatrol, wildrumpus

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By: Unknown On 8:10 PM

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