Kobo’s new Aura One e-reader want to make you forget your Kindle
If the Stuff team, as a collective, were to pick a single device (aside from a smartphone) that they couldn’t live without, it would be the Kindle Paperwhite. Or the Voyage, if you’re Toby. But an e-reader is extremely high up on the list of essential tech on our mental lists. Kobo, that other e-reader manufacturer, is out for the Kindle’s blood, though, with the Aura One. The Kobo Aura One is a massive 7.8-inch reader that is totally waterproof — the one item we’ve been hoping for from Kindle’s lineup for… years, really. There’s an ambient light detector, so it can automatically adjust to keep its backlight optimal, and there’s a night mode too, so you’re not going to be completely wired after binging on whatever words you hold dearest. Even bookworms need their sleep. The Kobo Aura One is set to launch early in September, but we’re waiting on official word for South Africa. Hopefully it’s going to be soon.
Ubisoft has pioneered the Nosulus Rift, so you can smell South Park: The Fractured But Whole’s fart jokes
Isn’t technology amazing? Not only can you now immerse yourself in a visual virtual world but now you can smell it too — as long as that world smells like farts. Actually, this smells like just the sort of gag you’d get from the creators of South Park. Meet the Nosulus Rift. It has been made so that players can smell the various fart jokes (a vastly under-appreciated branch of humour, by the way) in South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Think of it as a virtual reality system for your nose, except that it just emits farts every time your onscreen character (who is basically fart-powered) does so. Sounds fun. Just… don’t expect to be able to buy one. The Nosulus Rift is on show at Gamescom in Germany and it seems that is where it will stay, since its a promotional gimmick. Um. Good. Perhaps we’ll see it at rAge this year.
McDonalds was giving away fitness trackers for kids (yes, really) but they’re going to stop now
Try as you might, you’re probably never going to have the words ‘McDonalds’ and ‘fitness’ in the same sentence, unless they’re separated by the words ‘is bad for your’. That hasn’t stopped the company from coming up with the Step-It, a kid’s fitness tracker that the company was putting in their Happy Meals. Except… now they’re not going to do that any more. And it’s not because McDonalds step-trackers are blowing up irony-meters everywhere, either. They’re being recalled because the wristbands for the Step-It trackers, which actually do count steps (and you need a hell of a lot of them to work off a Happy Meal), have the potential for skin irritation. That’s the official word, at least. We’re sure the ‘Seriously?’ comments the trackers have prompted had nothing to do with it at all.
Resident Evil 7 is going back to creepy, isolated houses. Mind the dog
The Resident Evil series (the main one — Revelations and its sequel were still great) had lost its way a bit, with Resi 6 trying to be too many things to too many people. The game is going back to its roots with its new sequel, by the look of things, by plonking players in an isolated location and tasking them with survival. We’re pretty sure that there will be zombies but some footage intended to introduce us to some of the characters in Resident Evil 7, titled Lantern, seems more Silent Hill than Resi. So far. The woman with the lantern is one Marguerite Baker, while the young lady in a panic is Mia, who isn’t actually going to be playable in the main game. Even so Capcom, you have our attention. Let’s see what you’ve got. Resident Evil 7 is slated for launch at the end of January 2017.
