Tuesday 28 November 2006
Philips' amBX - that's oxygen-saving marketing speak for 'ambient experiences', by the way - wants to play smoke 'n' mirrors with your gaming. With a bank of high-power LEDs, a few purring fans, some speakers and a rumbling keyboard rest, amBX aims to extend your experiences beyond the screen and into the air around 🎀you. But is it worth buying? We delved into the amBX treatment to find out.
The kit we were presented with was a no-expeꦿnse-spared setup: four light sticks (two with inbuilt speakers), four fans, a rumble strip, one sub-woofer, and what Philips calls a 'wall-washer'. This acts as a central hub for the whole system, hiding b𝓡ehind your monitor and painting the wall with an appropriate shade of light - much like Philips' own Ambilight TV sets.
And it's amBX's e♉volving light show that's most immediate in enhancing the immersive qualities of your PC rig. Lights can act individually or as a group - imagine the system creating a sunrise by lighting up from one side to an🔯other, or slowly dimming as you step out of a lit room and into a shadowy alley. Or, they can imitate the dominant colour on-screen, adding impact to a bright blue sky.
What this brings to the action is hard to g🙈rasp but it's certainly pleasing and does exactly what amBX is attempting to achieve: enhanced immersion. The other bits and pieces are also effective: speakers, obviously, perform familiar functions; both the rumble strip and the fans can create neat touches, replicating the 'chunk-chunk' of a tra♕in riding the rails, for example, or enhancing the feeling of being outside in a storm.
But both devices need canny developers to use their potential to the full. Take Broken Sword: Angel of Death for a superb example of🃏 how amBX can be used intelligently to add something worthwhile to a game's experience: walk past an unlocked, openable door and a draft is unfurled from the fans, hinting at a way forward. It's an effect that enhances the atmosphere but without being intrusive.
