Philips has made an agreement with THQ that will see Gas Powered Games’ Supreme Commander AmBX-enabled and bundled with Philips AmBX PC gaming peripherals.

Conceived and developed by Philips, AmBX is a step towards a full sensory surround experience and improves the gameplay experience by extending the gaming world out of the screen and into the real world through the use of light, colour, sound and even airflow.

Supreme Commander is the first real-time strategy game to receive the AmBX ‘ambient experiences’ treatment and will allow THQ to offer realistic light, wind, explosion and rumble effects. Philips AmBX lights will enhance the feeling of immersion by reflecting the environmental colours of the landscape and sky, as well as pulsing with the searing light of explosions. The rumbler lets gamers feel every nuke and salvo, with fans providing the whoosh from the nuclear charged wind and the sensation of floating in the slipstream above battle.

“Supreme Commander is the perfect title to accompany and showcase the Philips AmBX Gaming Peripherals effects,” commented Engelbert van Pelt, General Manager New Business Development, Philips Consumer Electronics. “Supreme Commander’s real-time strategy game play will maximise the lighting, wind and rumble effects that the Philips AmBX PC Gaming Peripherals are capable of delivering. War gaming has never been so realistically scary.”

“Supreme Commander is more than just pushing the boundaries of the existing RTS genre, it is about experimenting with new ideas that have never been tried before,” said Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games. “Teaming up with Philips to utilise Philips’ AmBX gaming peripherals allows us to continue to push into new areas, raise the bar even higher, and give players an experience they have never had before. This is what the future of gaming is all about. ”

Philips has established a global standard by licensing the AmBX technology to computer game developers and publishers, including THQ, Gas Powered Games, Codemasters, Kuju, Introversion, Revolution, Sumo Digital and Rivers Run Red.

The launch range of Philips amBX PC Gaming Peripherals includes a pair of left and right satellite lights capable of representing a staggering 16 million different colours, a pair of left and right satellite 2.1 speaker lights and subwoofer which offer 160-watt multidirectional sound complete with dynamic bass boost, a pair of desk fans, a ‘wrist rumbler’ and a directional wall washer light and controller unit.

Compact, adjustable and with variable rotation speed, the desk fans allow both slow and fast airflow, up to 5000 RPM - simulating a variety of in-game experiences, including wind, collision impact, acceleration, velocity, airflow from an airplane propeller or even a drop in ambient temperature.

With two integrated motor drives and variable rotation speed, the wrist rumbler enables Supreme Commanders to actually feel movement, experiencing the action through vibration. The rumble will work simultaneously with the light and air movement to allow gamers to truly see, hear and feel more of the game.

Serving as the central control unit, the directional wall washer light and controller unit flood the wall behind the PC or laptop screen with different coloured light through three powerful banks of LEDs. All Philips AmBX PC Gaming Peripherals are linked to the central control unit through USB 2.0 connections.

For more information, visit philips.com/ambx.