Finally it has arrived!! The team over at amBX have released the SDK they announced last year to all those eager developers who want to add amBX effects to their titles.

If you are a budding developer yourself or part of a development studio and have seen the various effects that amBX can produce with its kit then you should definitely head on over to the special dev site and get yourself / company signed up. The link you will need is for the amBX Developer Site.

UPDATE: I must apologise to everyone that has read this as it seems I got my wires crossed when I read the information on the Dev Site the first time round. After making this post on here I got a quick email from amBX explaining the actual situation. The SDK is completely free and there is no cost involved at any stage unlike what I had previuosly mentioned. The Premium Developer Level is an extra level that gives access to extra tools and support for development houses but anyone that wants to try it out and see what they can create is allowed to do so without a charge.

Apologies again for this misleading information and I will make sure I read any future announcements a few times before jumping in and posting about them.

With the recent announcement that Codemasters have released a dedicated amBX patch for Turning Point - Fall of Liberty I thought it only fair that I should get a copy of the game, install the patch and play test it for you. So guess what? The game arrived today so hopefully within the next week I should be able to find the time to sit down, play a little and record some amBX goodness for you if you wanted to see how good the boys at Codemasters actually are about adding amBX effects post-launch.

The game itself looks to be using the Unreal engine and developed by Spark who also did Legendary for Atari (see a few posts below for a video). With that in mind this could be another bucket load of fun as Legendary was and something that I may have overlooked in the past (shame on me). Anyway, once I have had a play and recorded some footage I will, as always, upload it for your viewing pleasure.

I have just received a press announcement stating that in early 2009 (January 12th) amBX will be releasing a free SDK to the entertainment industry to help them integrate amBX effects with their products. Certainly sounds like a good move for amBX and for us gamers may mean that more new titles are released with full amBX capability. A short extract from the press release is given below:

The amBX SDK enables developers across the whole of the entertainment industry to get up and running quickly with test tools and example applications to guide the way to enhance games with immersive amBX effects. A support forum provides advice and best practice information as well as a complete tool box that will unlock the most advanced features of amBX. Up to now the amBX SDK has been available on a project by project basis but the new developer programme has opened it up to the development community free of charge.

“The amBX SDK provides developers with everything they need to get quickly up to speed and at no charge. It makes amBX very approachable and this will be a major step forward for us as we take the amBX proposition to wider markets and sectors. The whole point of amBX is to immerse the player deeper into the game and the amBX SDK now makes a rather complex operation very simple and extremely low cost.” commented Neil MacDonald, CEO of amBX.

If there are any budding developers out there you can go and register your interest for the SDK by visiting http://developer.ambx.com. Sounds like amBX is going to make a good start to 2009 so I wish them luck and can’t wait to see how many studios and developers embrace this.

One of the games industries main development news portals for the UK has published a rather nice interview with the new CEO of amBX; Neil MacDonald. The article talks about amBX spinning out of Philips with VC investment, what the future holds and how they are working to promote the technology.

A snippet can be found below along with a link to the full interview:

What is the game development industry’s attitude towards amBX at the moment?

Cooke: Whenever we demo amBX to developers, the first question we get asked is, “How can I get this in my living room?” The development community has always seen and understood the vision we have of amBX as an innovative technology driving future entertainment experiences.

Any present concerns have always been around implementation time, and cost and hefty licence contracts. We are now in a position to change that and are currently developing a partner program which will mean developers can download the amBX SDK from a dedicated partner website with a forum and on-line tutorials. Our goal is to provide a best in class SDK and supporting tools.

MacDonald: I sense that the industry is waiting to see how we do now we are out from Philips. I also sense that there is recognition that we could now be better to do business with and it’s certainly my intention to prove that.

To read the full interview head over to the Developmag page here!

Yes, I have added something a bit new to the site in the form of ILoveamBX TV! You can find the dedicated page here and let me tell you what it is / does.

Using the embedded player from KYTE.tv I have created an ILoveamBX channel and uploaded most of the videos I have put on YouTube. The player on the page allows you to select which shows you want to watch as well as allowing you to upload your own amBX videos for me to approve and show on the channel. You have to create a KYTE account to do so but that can all be done through the player so it not allows gives me another way to demonstrate what I have been doing with amBX but also allows you lot to get involved as well.

What more is there to say? Not a lot, other than feel free to start getting involved and uploading your own amBX videos so we can have a nice collection! Enjoy.

Just stumbled across this amBX video on YouTube showing someone that has just received an amBX Premium Kit and then unboxed it to see what is actually inside. If you have been looking at getting a kit and wondered what you actually receive this should be a good indication.

As this isn’t a video created by myself I have just provided the link below rather than embedding the video but certainly check it out (if nothing else just to see how big the box is!).

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0WqoynwQDiM

Finally it is here and hurrah is all I can say. I managed to have a sneak peak of this a while ago but now that amBX have decided to officially release it I should be able to get a video up over the next few days (along with the FarCry2 one I promised). Incase you are wondering what i’m actually rambling on about it is the amBX Creator; a piece of software that allows you to customise your PC system and desktop with different amBX effects.

For example, from the initial play I had with it I made it so that everytime I maximised FireFox my amBX lights would turn yellow, and when I loaded a certain program the fans turned. The great part is that you can customise all the parts of the amBX kit together rather than just single components at any given time. So if I wanted a rainbow effect as I did something (loaded, closed, maximised, minimised etc) I could set the positions of the lights, the intensity and the colours and then load that effect.

With the video I will also write up a mini-guide on how it works and the type of thing you can do with it as I know you are all eager to see and read.

UPDATE: I have now added a page that provides a video showing the amBX Creator in action and a brief summary of what it can do and how to use it. You can visit this page by clicking THIS link.

To coincide with the FarCry2 launch it looks like amBX has teamed up with GameShadow (the useful site for downloading game updates) to offer readers the opportunity to win one of 20 Premium amBX kits and copies of FarCry2. As part of the deal though you will have to write a review of FarCry2 and amBX for a GameShadow article or newsletter.

Sounds pretty sweet really; a chance to win the top end kit and FarCry2 AND get your name in lights on quite a large gaming website. From looking at the competition all you have to do is answer a simple question in order to enter the prize draw and that is:

Where is FarCry2 Set?: a) Europe b) Asia c) Africa

To go to the competition page and put yourself in with a chance of winning a kit then click THIS link NOW!! DO IT!! GOGOGO!

It is a special day today as the sequel to one of the most popular shooters of the last few years is released to the general public. Yes I am talking about FarCry2 and although not developed by the same studio that developed the first (they went on to do Crysis) Ubisoft are hoping they have another blockbuster on their hands.

From an amBX point of view, this is another fully enabled title and like BiA should provide some dazzling effects. Early videos suggested some really scenic vistas to travel / battle through and this could work really well withe wind blowing (fans) and the lights changing colour as the sun sets.

Much like BiA I will be attempting to get my hands on a copy and do a review / video of amBX in action throughout Farcry2.

Also, I have updated the BiA review as there are a couple of things I forgot to mention that have become more engaging as I have progressed through the game.

A quick update for everyone that might not have seen it; amBX is no longer part of Philips. Originally a project from the Philips Technology Incubator it now looks like amBX is going its own way having successfully spun-out of Philips and become a limited company in its own right thanks to VC funding.

amBX UK Limited will retain its strong ties with Philips (who are still a licensee of the technology) and will now work to further push the products into the gaming, tech, movie and films markets. It may also mark the start of collaborations with public venues so who knows, perhaps some of the new cinemas will have amBX experience included in them?

Hopefully this will signal more autonomy and a greater amBX presence in the world (which would only be a good thing) so fingers crossed for them.

If you want to view the full press release you can try clicking this link here (hopefully it will work).