No debería suponer ninguna sorpresa decir que la época en la que estamos es en la que más alternativas diferentes de ocio tenemos. Gran parte de ello se debe al boom del entretenimiento digital que en los últimos años ha saltado a la palestra, en infinidad de plataformas: consolas de juego, ordenadores, reproductores portátiles de audio y vídeo, tabletas, teléfonos inteligentes, lectores de libros electrónicos… Si nos pusiésemos a contar con los dedos, nos quedaríamos escasos de manos rápidamente. Y, por si fuera poco, cada vez aparecen nuevos periféricos complementarios o sistemas independientes que amplían en gran medida el panorama actual, aportando su pequeño granito de arena a la montaña del entretenimiento. Tal es el caso de Sifteo, un sistema de juego digital de lo más original.
Sifteo consists of a series of small electronic devices with a 1.5-inch screen each. They have motion and proximity sensors so that they interact with each other, so that a kind of infinite board can be created with multiple different combinations. As words are carried by the wind, it is better that you see it for yourself in this curious video:
Interesting, right? The only drawback I see is that the three initial cubes seem few to me, and that we will have to buy more to increase the dimensions of the game, never better said. Although the games may seem silly and simple, those shown in the video are only the first: soon there will be an app store that will increase day by day, since they will release the system SDK so that developers can program new games and, I suppose, sell them in the purest style of other current app stores.
Although the device has not yet been launched on the market, you can make an early reservation for $99 (although they are not currently accepting more orders), before the product goes on sale for $149. At the moment they do not accept purchases outside the United States, but everything will work out. In the meantime, you can take a look at the Sifteo website to see more details about the device.
I don’t see myself able to predict the future of this new and original gaming platform, but one thing is clear to me: Sifteo will be a complete success or a total failure. No middle ground. Much of this will depend on how this system resonates with the developers, since they will be the ones who have almost total responsibility for providing the app store with quality content. Probably in the coming months we will see the balance tip one way or the other.