The BETT show is the largest education technology exhibition in the world, offering visitors the opportunity to view and experience new technology including the latest software, hardware and design.

Featuring over 600 exhibitors including Microsoft, Adobe, Toshiba, Lego Education and RM, as well as Gooii clients E2BN, SEGFL and Primary Games who will be exhibiting our work. Previously Gooii have been nominated for 2 prestigious BETT awards and we look forward to another exciting event this year.

For more information visit: www.bettshow.com

Rock Band is a house favourite at Gooii so, after a Christmas spent with Rock Band 3 and the new keyboard peripheral, it’s a bit of a shock to hear that developers Harmonix have been sold for $50. That’s about the same price as a new game. Unfortunately Harmonix, who developed the original Guitar Hero franchise and the excellent Dance Central for Kinect, has been hit by the consumer’s recent lack of interest in the rhythm action genre.

While $50 may seem like a bargain Columbus Nova who purchased the campany from Viacom have taken on all debts associated with the lack of recent sales. Fortunately Harmonix have said they are “hard at work on some unannounced projects that we think you’re going to be pumped about… We are excited to be returning to our roots as an independent and privately-owned studio”

For more info visit: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-04-rock-band-dev-sold-for-USD50-report

The war of ‘which is better’ is a long and boring one. Friendships have been lost, enemies made and family feuds initiated, all because one person believes the 360 is better than the PS3 (which it is). But one area where Sony is striking ahead is internet TV. As well TV Catchup working very nicely through the browser and the BBC iPlayer having its best iteration, this week sees the release of ITV Player and 4oD for the PS3. Brilliant. I’ll never miss an episode of Peepshow or a Corrie tram crash again. A quick tip, although not available through the dashboard, browsing to five.tv will allow you to use channel Five’s player too.

The alternative for 360 owners is the Xbox Sky player, which requires Xbox Live Gold and subsription to Sky.

While places like Plymouth and Cornwall have no idea what snow is, we’ve been surrounded by the stuff for the last two weeks. The BBC Nottingham site has some great photos of our white city, taken by local Nottinghamshire photographers.

To view the full gallery please visit the BBC Nottingham website.

Android is best known as the iPhone’s main competitor, with Apple’s iOS currently dominating Google’s operating system. Until now. Google have just announced the Nexus S, the first phone to run Gingerbread, “the fastest version of Android yet”. The impressive feature list could mean the iPhone finally has a worthy rival, even if the phone itself doesn’t have the sleek looks of the iPhone 4. Features include a refined look and feel, wifi tethering with no additional charges (take that O2!), a 1GHZ processor, 16GB of internal memory, a dedicated GPU, access to over 1000 Android apps and comes unlocked as standard.

For more on the Nexus S sling yourself over to the Google Nexus website.

Feargal Sharkey, best know for his Undertone’s hit ‘Teenage Kicks’ and solo classic ‘A Good Heart’, has unveiled a new community recording facility in Nottingham. Based in St Anns, the studio has been opened as part of the Russell Youth club and offers vocal training and sound engineering, amongst other activities. Aimed at 16-25 year olds the project will provide a pathway through to the recording industry and as well educational benefits.

For more information please visit the BBC Nottingham website.

The Kinect motion controller is finally here and if Microsoft’s advertising campaign is anything to go by, it’ll be the biggest selling item this Christmas. It has all hallmarks of a gaming hit including new tech, family orientated gaming and low stock levels.

Retailing at £129.99 it’s not cheap but it has to be looked at along the lines of a new console, rather than a new controller. Hooking it up is easy and the initial set-up moves pretty quickly. The optional facial recognition takes a little more time but it’s worth the extra effort and allows Kinect to recognise you when you sit down to play. Very cool and just a little sci-fi.

The dashboard is controlled using either voice commands, or by waving your hands in a ‘Minority Report’ style. It’s not quite as slick but it’s almost there. One thing I would have liked is a way to turn off the console using Kinect, as relying on a button seems at odds with the philosophy.

The main reason for buying Kinect is the games and this really where it lives or dies. The sensor is bundled with the very average ‘Kinect Adventures’, consider this akin to the disc of mini-games that came with Wii Play. It’s a clever move from Microsoft; give the feeling of value by bundling a game no one would pay full price for, whilst pushing the consumer to buy an additional, better game. Which for most people will be the excellent Kinect Sports.

Kinect Sports feels accurate, intuitive and really shows off what the device can do. The Wii does a great job of mimicking your actions by using a controller but Kinect does an even better job by tracking your hands, arms, feet, knees and even your head. Imagine playing football where you can actually kick or head the ball into the goal. Even your celebratory dance is replicated by your on screen avatar. For me space is an issue and I’m just about able to accomodate the 6 feet of required space. A two player game requires a minimum of 8 feet and I doubt my girlfriend will be too keen on moving house in order to play two player table tennis.

Kinect is a very impressive piece of kit, it feels like something from Back to the Future’s depiction of 2015 and there’s no doubt that, while it does a lot of what the Wii can do, Microsoft haven’t simply attempted to replicate Nintendo’s success but are determined to surpass it.

The Nottingham Contemporary, Castle Museum and New Art Exchange have become home to the 7th British Art Show until 9th January 2011. Featuring “paintings, sculpture, installations, video, film, performance, and all points in between” the show has taken place every five years since 1979 and is widely recognised as the most “ambitious and influential exhibition of contemporary British art”.

It’s always exciting when something this important takes place in Nottingham, it’s great for our city and encourages other similar events to take place. The absence of website design, like computer games, raises the question as to whether or not these mediums can ever be considered to be art. It’s a tricky one which was recently raised at GameCity 5 by Matt Hollis, creator of the classic GoldenEye 007, which to qualify as art Matt believes it has to leave a “lasting impression” and I have to admit many websites don’t do this, but then again neither does all art.

For more info visit: www.britishartshow.co.uk

GameCity returns for its impressive 5th year in Nottingham. “The World’s best-loved independent videogame festival” features art exhibitions, world premieres, public debates, club nights and the Lego Universe. There’s also the chance to take part in an exclusive advance play of Crysis 2, created by Nottingham’s own Crytek – who just happen to need your help:

“The Nanosuit 2 has been stolen by Prophet, a highly skilled Delta Force Operative. Crynet Systems currently have him cornered in Nottingham City Centre but need your help to track him down. Prophet has deployed several decoys in locations around the City to divert the Crynet Commandos. Identifying the locations of the decoys and the real fugitive is crucial to Crynet Systems’ success.”

Expect to see offerings from GameCity partners Warner Bros and EA Sports too, for more info on this excellent four day event visit gamecity.org

The NHS e-Learning Readiness Toolkit has been shorlisted for an e-Learning Age award. Schemeta chose Gooii as the technical development partner for the e-Learning Readiness Toolkit. The Toolkit helps the NHS evaluate their own readiness and provides advice, guidance and resources for planning an approach to e-Learning.

“The e-Learning readiness toolkit provides NHS e-Learning developers, trainers and training managers with everything they need in order to measure the maturity of the e-Learning provision within their organisation.” NHS CFH

Interested in a Toolkit for your organisation?
Do you have organisations or teams working towards a goal?
Do you need to have an idea of how ready they are?
A readiness toolkit can help organisations understand where they are at the moment and provide links to useful resources to help them progress.

To view the toolkit demo visit: http://www.redetoolkit.com