personally I love these reviews i was going to post it on Wednesday but i forgot so here it is now
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Spy MMO The Agency CANCELED
Sony Online Entertainment's innovative spy-themed MMO The Agency has been shelved in the restructuring announced today.
Sony first mentioned The Agency way back in 2007. A blend of shooter and stealth gameplay, the MMO was sometimes subtitled Covert Ops and featured an almost cartoonish feel similar to Valve's Team Fortress 2. The game would let you live out your James Bond fantasies as a spy working for one of two organizations that thankfully didn't seem to have a "good" or "bad" feel. The game was set to feature minigames like poker, which could then be used to unlock missions by winning or losing too much. Unfortunately, we will never be able to play a new and possibly innovative MMO because SOE announced today that The Agency is cancelled. Sony's Seattle studio where work on The Agency was headquartered, will close and unless positions can be found for its former employees in Austin, Texas, everyone who worked on the game is out of a job.
"As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games," the statement from SOE read today.
"All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern," the statement continued.
I respect Sony's decision to try to remunerate the developers who have been working The Agency for at least 4 years, possibly much longer. Any company must make tough decisions if it is to survive, and it couldn't have been easy for SOE President John Smedley to pull the trigger on dumping three studios and laying off 205 people.
But in these times of WoW, the layoffs from Sony and the cancelling of The Agency only prove that companies making MMOs must make careful decisions in order to stay competitive.
And apparently that means focusing on EverQuest and making PlanetSide: Next.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108899-Sony-Cancels-Spy-MMO-The-Agency
Sony first mentioned The Agency way back in 2007. A blend of shooter and stealth gameplay, the MMO was sometimes subtitled Covert Ops and featured an almost cartoonish feel similar to Valve's Team Fortress 2. The game would let you live out your James Bond fantasies as a spy working for one of two organizations that thankfully didn't seem to have a "good" or "bad" feel. The game was set to feature minigames like poker, which could then be used to unlock missions by winning or losing too much. Unfortunately, we will never be able to play a new and possibly innovative MMO because SOE announced today that The Agency is cancelled. Sony's Seattle studio where work on The Agency was headquartered, will close and unless positions can be found for its former employees in Austin, Texas, everyone who worked on the game is out of a job.
"As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games," the statement from SOE read today.
"All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern," the statement continued.
I respect Sony's decision to try to remunerate the developers who have been working The Agency for at least 4 years, possibly much longer. Any company must make tough decisions if it is to survive, and it couldn't have been easy for SOE President John Smedley to pull the trigger on dumping three studios and laying off 205 people.
But in these times of WoW, the layoffs from Sony and the cancelling of The Agency only prove that companies making MMOs must make careful decisions in order to stay competitive.
And apparently that means focusing on EverQuest and making PlanetSide: Next.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108899-Sony-Cancels-Spy-MMO-The-Agency
minecraft name change ! The new minecraft store!!!!!
http://www.minecraft.net/store/loot.jsp
Been waiting for a name change for awhile now since i didn't know my account name would be my in game name so bought that up already =D enjoy thinking about getting the mine helmet next the light on the helm will really help out
Been waiting for a name change for awhile now since i didn't know my account name would be my in game name so bought that up already =D enjoy thinking about getting the mine helmet next the light on the helm will really help out
Minecraft update 1.4 Goes live today!
Claimed by Mojang
* Added tameable wolves
* Added cookies
* Sleeping in a bed now resets your spawn position
* New Minecraft logo
* Holding shift while climbing will hang on to the ladder
* Spiders will no longer trample crops
* Lots and lots of infrastructure for Statistics lists and Achievements
While most of the code is written, statistics and achievements won’t show up until the next update. We didn’t quite have time to finish them this week, and didn’t want to delay the update longer.
Confirmed
Brown sheep!
Wolves!
Cocoa beans!
Attacked wolfs get
red eyes and hostile!
New logo!
Confirmed bugs:
- You can place ladders anywhere underwater, even if there are no walls.
Unconfirmed bugs:
- You can place a cactus anywhere underwater, even on dirt.
- You can place sugar canes underwater.
- You can create a farm patch using a hoe underwater
Petition asks Walmart not to sell 'sexist' Duke Nukem LOL
An online petition that asks Walmart to boycott Duke Nukem Forever is gaining some traction. The petition kicks up stink about DNF's "Capture the Babe" mode, in which women are spanked on the arse to keep them from obstructing the player's view.
"In this disturbing version of 'capture the flag' the player is tasked with kidnapping a woman from his enemy's base, throwing her over his shoulder, and carrying her back to his base to share the spoils," claims petitioner Shelby Knox. "If she starts to "freak out," the player is encouraged to slap her on the butt until she shuts up.
"To be clear, Duke Nukem Forever makes a game out of physical and sexual violence against women ... the Capture the Babe mode of the Duke Nukem game, which will be played primarily by young people, sends the message that physical and sexual violence against women is normal, acceptable, and even funny. It's not -- and we have to say so."
Here's the thing. Duke Nukem Forever's premise is pretty sexist, and one can't really deny that. You know what though? Does it really f*cking matter? When it comes to fictional people doing fictional things to each other in a fictional world, does it really affect you? No, it doesn't, no matter how much you pretend a game like DNF could influence society with the "messages" you've projected onto it.
Seriously, how does it send the message that violence against women is normal? What's normal about spanking women while people shoot at you with a shrink ray?
http://www.destructoid.com/petition-asks-walmart-not-to-sell-sexist-duke-nukem-197656.phtml
"In this disturbing version of 'capture the flag' the player is tasked with kidnapping a woman from his enemy's base, throwing her over his shoulder, and carrying her back to his base to share the spoils," claims petitioner Shelby Knox. "If she starts to "freak out," the player is encouraged to slap her on the butt until she shuts up.
"To be clear, Duke Nukem Forever makes a game out of physical and sexual violence against women ... the Capture the Babe mode of the Duke Nukem game, which will be played primarily by young people, sends the message that physical and sexual violence against women is normal, acceptable, and even funny. It's not -- and we have to say so."
Here's the thing. Duke Nukem Forever's premise is pretty sexist, and one can't really deny that. You know what though? Does it really f*cking matter? When it comes to fictional people doing fictional things to each other in a fictional world, does it really affect you? No, it doesn't, no matter how much you pretend a game like DNF could influence society with the "messages" you've projected onto it.
Seriously, how does it send the message that violence against women is normal? What's normal about spanking women while people shoot at you with a shrink ray?
http://www.destructoid.com/petition-asks-walmart-not-to-sell-sexist-duke-nukem-197656.phtml
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Canadian ISP Admits to Throwing Brakes on World of Warcraft
Rogers, one of the largest Internet service providers in Canada, had admitted that it has been throttling World of Warcraft. The ISP insists, however, that it had only done so by accident as part of its efforts to clamp down on peer-to-peer file sharing.
Last month, WoW player Teresa Murphy lodged a complaint, with Canada's telecoms regulator, the CRTC, saying that Rogers indiscriminate throttling was making the game almost unplayable. She didn't care if Rogers wanted to try to stop file sharers, but said she was paying for a service that she wasn't able to use, because Rogers' filters couldn't tell the difference between P2P and her game.
The CRTC ordered Rogers to investigate Murphy's claims. They discovered that she was right on the money, and that its filters really couldn't tell the difference between P2P file sharing and World of Warcraft. Rogers insists that the problem arises when players use P2P software at the same time as the game, despite Murphy's claims that she didn't use P2P software at all. Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before Rogers will be able to fix this problem. In its reply.to Murphy, the ISP said that a fix for the problems that she and other players were experiencing wouldn't be ready until June.
Internet usage is proving to me something of a thorny issue in Canada; just last month the Canadian government vetoed a ruling by the CRTC that would have allowed fairly stringent usage-based internet charges after the public made its displeasure very clear. Canada is one of the few Western countries that doesn't offer broadband plans with unlimited data.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108792-Canadian-ISP-Admits-to-Throwing-Brakes-on-World-of-Warcraft
Last month, WoW player Teresa Murphy lodged a complaint, with Canada's telecoms regulator, the CRTC, saying that Rogers indiscriminate throttling was making the game almost unplayable. She didn't care if Rogers wanted to try to stop file sharers, but said she was paying for a service that she wasn't able to use, because Rogers' filters couldn't tell the difference between P2P and her game.
The CRTC ordered Rogers to investigate Murphy's claims. They discovered that she was right on the money, and that its filters really couldn't tell the difference between P2P file sharing and World of Warcraft. Rogers insists that the problem arises when players use P2P software at the same time as the game, despite Murphy's claims that she didn't use P2P software at all. Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before Rogers will be able to fix this problem. In its reply.to Murphy, the ISP said that a fix for the problems that she and other players were experiencing wouldn't be ready until June.
Internet usage is proving to me something of a thorny issue in Canada; just last month the Canadian government vetoed a ruling by the CRTC that would have allowed fairly stringent usage-based internet charges after the public made its displeasure very clear. Canada is one of the few Western countries that doesn't offer broadband plans with unlimited data.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108792-Canadian-ISP-Admits-to-Throwing-Brakes-on-World-of-Warcraft
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – An Overview ( Specs, Release Date )
The Xperia Play specs, at a glance:
1 GHz Scorpion CPU
4 inch ( 480 x 854 ) capacitive multi-touch display
400 MB of internal storage, 8GB microSD card included
5 MP camera with flash and auto-focus
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
WiFi Mobile Hotspot functionality
After officially revealing the existence of the Xperia Play with a commercial during the Super Bowl, Sony Ericsson has formally introduced the device during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress event today. After many leaks revealing just about all there was to know about it, we did get two especially important details today: Its first carrier in the United States and a release window.
The Xperia Play will begin shipping worldwide in March. Verizon Wireless will be the first carrier in the U.S. to have the phone -- it'll be releasing it sometime in "early spring." It's a major coup for Verizon after finally getting its hands on the iPhone this month.
The presentation was filled with all the hyperbolic statements you'd expect -- it's a "revolutionary milestone in our industry," "it's a killer new form of entertainment," and other similar comments were presented with an awkward shtick. Mixed in with all that was some actual information that will be of interest to gamers: 50 games will be available at launch, all of which are "optimized" for the phone. A PlayStation Store for the phone will launch later this year. At launch, it will ship with a "legendary" PlayStation One game It's Crash Bandicoot
Support from many developers was promised -- Electronic Arts, Gameloft, and Glu Mobile (which has worked with Activision, Atari, PopCap, Konami, and other game companies in the past) were named. Unity Technologies was also thanked for its support; it's noteworthy for its game engine that powers many games that can now be ported to the Play. Confirmed for the system, though not necessarily for launch, were Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, and Guitar Hero, the latter of which felt like a stange announcement given what has happened recently. Dungeon Defenders Second Wave was played on stage and will launch first on the Xperia Play.
The phone runs on the latest Android release, Gingerbread (version 2.3), and is available for MWC attendees to try out, so expect to be hearing impressions over the next few days. A price and exact release date are two of the remaining details Verizon now needs to officially announce. With the phone shipping next month, it shouldn't be a long wait.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
George Hotz, the hacker who posted the PS3 root key this year, tampered with evidence before running to South America.
The plot thickens. George Hotz aka GeoHot first came to internet prominence by "jailbreaking" the iPhone and PS3 and posting the software necessary to unlock the capabilities of each device without the restrictions set by Apple or Sony. This January, GeoHot might have crossed a line by publishing online the root key that allowed complete control over the PS3 hardware, posing huge security risks for Sony. Never a company to take such issues lightly, Sony has brought the full force of its legal team against Hotz. And even though GeoHot was able to raise enough legal funds to fight back, Sony today filed a motion saying that the hacker has not cooperated with court orders to hand over the hard drive of his PC and that he lied about having a PSN account. Sony claims that Hotz has now left his home in New Jersey and traveled to South America in order to escape further legal action.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Apple, Steve Jobs under fire for approving app that claims to cure homosexuality
"There's an app for that."
The catchphrase coined by Apple and their advertising gurus to sell iPhones and iPads has become so ubiquitous that it's even been parodied on Sesame Street. Still, few would have ever thought that the tech giant—which, like many other Silicon Valley concerns, boasts a progressive profile on many cultural issues, and extends domestic-partner benefits to gay and lesbian employees—would condone an app that purports to "cure" homosexuality. It would seem an even greater stretch for Apple and company founder and CEO Steve Jobs to make such an application available through its iTunes store.
Yet the app—by a ministry group called Exodus International—is right there, along the thousands of other iPhone apps available to plugged in Apple users. And this appears to be the point at which many of Apple's cultish fans—including plenty of gay activists—are drawing the line. No, they say: There's not actually an app for that.
The Exodus ministry seeks to promote the "ex-gay" movement—promulgating the testimony of people who claim to have been cured of homosexuality through Christ. The target audience for the smart-phone app, its makers say, are "homosexual strugglers." The idea is to teach gay people that they have a choice when it comes to their sexuality, a choice to choose "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus."
Of course, providing a tech platform for a particular spiritual or ideological movement doesn't signify an endorsement of its point of view. At the same time, however, as Gawker's Ryan Tate noted during an earlier controversy over a gay-themed app, "every time Apple approves an app, it implies moral endorsement of the content of that app."
And since average Apple user is younger and more culturally tolerant of homosexuality, word of the Exodus app has sparked a fast-growing protest As of this writing, more than 100,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling on Apple to abolish it. What's more, some who've purchased it are somewhat baffled by it.
Writes the Atlantic's Nicholas Jackson:
So I downloaded the (free) app, which was launched on March 8. A giant resource bank, the app contains lists of events, videos and news stories that are carefully curated to reflect the mission of Exodus International, which states that individuals can "grow into heterosexuality." Nothing available on the app would lead me to question my homosexuality, but maybe I'm not fictile enough.
Perhaps the time is ripe for a market solution. Surely, engineers for a competing smart phone, like the Droid, are hard at work preparing to launch a more effective and intuitive app curing people of their straightness?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110321/ts_yblog_thelookout/apple-steve-jobs-under-fire-for-approving-app-that-claims-to-cure-homosexuality
The catchphrase coined by Apple and their advertising gurus to sell iPhones and iPads has become so ubiquitous that it's even been parodied on Sesame Street. Still, few would have ever thought that the tech giant—which, like many other Silicon Valley concerns, boasts a progressive profile on many cultural issues, and extends domestic-partner benefits to gay and lesbian employees—would condone an app that purports to "cure" homosexuality. It would seem an even greater stretch for Apple and company founder and CEO Steve Jobs to make such an application available through its iTunes store.
Yet the app—by a ministry group called Exodus International—is right there, along the thousands of other iPhone apps available to plugged in Apple users. And this appears to be the point at which many of Apple's cultish fans—including plenty of gay activists—are drawing the line. No, they say: There's not actually an app for that.
The Exodus ministry seeks to promote the "ex-gay" movement—promulgating the testimony of people who claim to have been cured of homosexuality through Christ. The target audience for the smart-phone app, its makers say, are "homosexual strugglers." The idea is to teach gay people that they have a choice when it comes to their sexuality, a choice to choose "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus."
Of course, providing a tech platform for a particular spiritual or ideological movement doesn't signify an endorsement of its point of view. At the same time, however, as Gawker's Ryan Tate noted during an earlier controversy over a gay-themed app, "every time Apple approves an app, it implies moral endorsement of the content of that app."
And since average Apple user is younger and more culturally tolerant of homosexuality, word of the Exodus app has sparked a fast-growing protest As of this writing, more than 100,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling on Apple to abolish it. What's more, some who've purchased it are somewhat baffled by it.
Writes the Atlantic's Nicholas Jackson:
So I downloaded the (free) app, which was launched on March 8. A giant resource bank, the app contains lists of events, videos and news stories that are carefully curated to reflect the mission of Exodus International, which states that individuals can "grow into heterosexuality." Nothing available on the app would lead me to question my homosexuality, but maybe I'm not fictile enough.
Perhaps the time is ripe for a market solution. Surely, engineers for a competing smart phone, like the Droid, are hard at work preparing to launch a more effective and intuitive app curing people of their straightness?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110321/ts_yblog_thelookout/apple-steve-jobs-under-fire-for-approving-app-that-claims-to-cure-homosexuality
Monday, March 21, 2011
Kinect Hacked to Work With PS3
In a terrifying technological version of Frankenstein, Microsoft's Kinect peripheral for Xbox 360 has been hacked to function with Sony's PS3.
How wretched are we, the technologists of the world? O, we did but rejoice in our newfound might to twist Kinect to our very wills, but in our hubris we delved too deep and twisted too far. Now, we have created naught but abomination! We have undone ourselves by the power of that which we once beheld as a tool!
All melodrama aside, there's something kind of unsettling about watching the Xbox 360's Kinect operate on Sony's PS3. I use the term "operate" very loosely, of course - this is still pre-alpha software, which one might kindly describe as "somewhat functional." Nevertheless, if creator Shantanugoel is telling the truth - and he doesn't have a friend with a Dual Shock 3 sitting to the side off-camera - it is, in fact, Kinect working on PS3.
Microsoft has been fairly tolerant of the growing Kinect hacking community, even claiming that it is working on an official Software Development Kit to make it easier for the burgeoning mod community to do its stuff.
One can only surmise that the House of Gates would be somewhat less pleased to see its technology working on the hardware of its biggest rival, but what can Microsoft really do about it?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108643-Kinect-Hacked-to-Work-With-PS3
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Large Hadron Collider Could Be World's First Time Machine
If the latest theory of Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho is right, the Large Hadron Collider – the world’s largest atom smasher that started regular operation last year – could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time.
“Our theory is a long shot,” admitted Weiler, who is a physics professor at Vanderbilt University, “but it doesn’t violate any laws of physics or experimental constraints.”
One of the major goals of the collider is to find the elusive Higgs boson: the particle that physicists invoke to explain why particles like protons, neutrons and electrons have mass. If the collider succeeds in producing the Higgs boson, some scientists predict that it will create a second particle, called the Higgs singlet, at the same time.
According to Weiler and Ho’s theory, these singlets should have the ability to jump into an extra, fifth dimension where they can move either forward or backward in time and reappear in the future or past.
“One of the attractive things about this approach to time travel is that it avoids all the big paradoxes,” Weiler said. “Because time travel is limited to these special particles, it is not possible for a man to travel back in time and murder one of his parents before he himself is born, for example. However, if scientists could control the production of Higgs singlets, they might be able to send messages to the past or future.”
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2011/03/hadron-collider-time-machine/
“Our theory is a long shot,” admitted Weiler, who is a physics professor at Vanderbilt University, “but it doesn’t violate any laws of physics or experimental constraints.”
One of the major goals of the collider is to find the elusive Higgs boson: the particle that physicists invoke to explain why particles like protons, neutrons and electrons have mass. If the collider succeeds in producing the Higgs boson, some scientists predict that it will create a second particle, called the Higgs singlet, at the same time.
According to Weiler and Ho’s theory, these singlets should have the ability to jump into an extra, fifth dimension where they can move either forward or backward in time and reappear in the future or past.
“One of the attractive things about this approach to time travel is that it avoids all the big paradoxes,” Weiler said. “Because time travel is limited to these special particles, it is not possible for a man to travel back in time and murder one of his parents before he himself is born, for example. However, if scientists could control the production of Higgs singlets, they might be able to send messages to the past or future.”
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2011/03/hadron-collider-time-machine/
Friday, March 18, 2011
Japanese Fire Fighters tell families "We won't be coming home"
For those of you that haven't heard:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Fukushima-Nuclear-Plant-Workers-Are-Heroes-After-Risking-Own-Lives-To-Avert-Meltdown-In-Japan/Article/201103315954904?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15954904_Fukushima_Nuclear_Plant_Workers_Are_Heroes_After_Risking_Own_Lives_To_Avert_Meltdown_In_Japan_
A number of Japanese firefighters have essentially volunteered for a suicide corps to save Japan. These men have volunteered to stay at the reactor site to continually douse it with water to keep it cool and stable. The radiation levels are so high that these poor men are expected to start dropping dead within the next few weeks, despite any radiation suits. Some have started losing their hair already.
These men called their families today and told them that they loved them, and that this was their final goodbye to their wives and children.
My heart goes out to these brave, brave men. Men that are giving their lives in order to save Japan. I can only imagine the trauma and despair that the families are going through.
In short, this thread is a memorial to the brave souls that have volunteered to die to save their country and loved ones.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Fukushima-Nuclear-Plant-Workers-Are-Heroes-After-Risking-Own-Lives-To-Avert-Meltdown-In-Japan/Article/201103315954904?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15954904_Fukushima_Nuclear_Plant_Workers_Are_Heroes_After_Risking_Own_Lives_To_Avert_Meltdown_In_Japan_
A number of Japanese firefighters have essentially volunteered for a suicide corps to save Japan. These men have volunteered to stay at the reactor site to continually douse it with water to keep it cool and stable. The radiation levels are so high that these poor men are expected to start dropping dead within the next few weeks, despite any radiation suits. Some have started losing their hair already.
These men called their families today and told them that they loved them, and that this was their final goodbye to their wives and children.
My heart goes out to these brave, brave men. Men that are giving their lives in order to save Japan. I can only imagine the trauma and despair that the families are going through.
In short, this thread is a memorial to the brave souls that have volunteered to die to save their country and loved ones.
Monday Night Combat free to play on Steam this weekend
If you have not checked out this game give it a whirl I own it and personally find it pretty enjoyable and this weekend its free!
Wolfies ! next minecraft update brings pets!
Personally I love me some minecraft to me its like someone took legos and put crack on them. and this next update plans to bring a pet wolfie to the mix so you wont be so alone all the time whats your guys take on minecraft is it awesome is it lame? hit up those comments
Professor Splash Sets Shallow-Diving World Record
36 foot swan dive into 12 inchs of water .... jumping from a foot into water like that kills me i could only imgaine how much that must hurt
Jack Thompson Threatens Gabe Newell Over School Shooter Mod
all i got to say is blah blah blah
"Dear Mr. Newell:
You either know or should know that the more moral midgets who run Checkerboarded Studios have created a mod for your company's Half-Life which they call School Shooter: North American Tour 2012. This mod is a full-blown Columbine massacre simulator which cannot function without your company's assistance and acquiescence.
Attached herewith is a letter from FHE-ASAP that expresses their, my, and others' concerns about this Columbine massacre mod. As you either know or should know, your Half-Life murder simulator was obsessively played, and thus became a training aid, for a) teenaged Robert Steinhauser, who authored at Erfurt, Germany, the worst school shooting massacre in European history, and b) Seung-Hi Cho, who authored at Virginia Tech University the worst school shooting massacre in world history. As to the latter, the sources of this information are the Washington Post and the New York Times. Now some sociopaths have made reprises of Erfurt and Virginia Tech far more likely.
Given the fact that your company has the technological ability to stop the operation of School Shooter, you must undertake steps immediately to do so.
Speaking for myself alone (for now), you have until five o'clock pm Eastern standard time this Friday, March 18, 2011, to shut down this public safety hazard I predicted years ago this school massacre game would arrive. I hate being right all the time.
GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.
Regards, Jack Thompson"
"Dear Mr. Newell:
You either know or should know that the more moral midgets who run Checkerboarded Studios have created a mod for your company's Half-Life which they call School Shooter: North American Tour 2012. This mod is a full-blown Columbine massacre simulator which cannot function without your company's assistance and acquiescence.
Attached herewith is a letter from FHE-ASAP that expresses their, my, and others' concerns about this Columbine massacre mod. As you either know or should know, your Half-Life murder simulator was obsessively played, and thus became a training aid, for a) teenaged Robert Steinhauser, who authored at Erfurt, Germany, the worst school shooting massacre in European history, and b) Seung-Hi Cho, who authored at Virginia Tech University the worst school shooting massacre in world history. As to the latter, the sources of this information are the Washington Post and the New York Times. Now some sociopaths have made reprises of Erfurt and Virginia Tech far more likely.
Given the fact that your company has the technological ability to stop the operation of School Shooter, you must undertake steps immediately to do so.
Speaking for myself alone (for now), you have until five o'clock pm Eastern standard time this Friday, March 18, 2011, to shut down this public safety hazard I predicted years ago this school massacre game would arrive. I hate being right all the time.
GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.
Regards, Jack Thompson"
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Pepsi Will Soon Make All Bottles from Plants
PepsiCo, makers of geek favorite Mountain Dew, is set to deploy bottles made entirely of plant materials in 2012.
Not to get all green on you, but the human race consumes a lot of soda. The resultant waste from millions of plastic bottles fills up landfills and is generally a self-defeating practice that furthers our dependence on fossil fuels because most plastic is petroleum-based. Food manufacturers have experimented with different ways to reduce waste or devise a commercially viable way to create plastic from plants instead of oil, but research has stymied at only using about 30 percent bio-plastic. Pepsi announced that it has finally "cracked the code" and will begin using bottles derived from 100 percent excess plant material - switch grass, pine bark, corn husks, orange peels, oat hulls, and potato scraps. The plan is to produce a few hundred thousand bottles as a test run this year before going full plant-plastic with over a billion bottles sold each year.
Rocco Papalia, an advanced researcher from Pepsi who spent years on the project, said that the bottles made from plants are just like ones you'd find in stores now. "It's a beautiful thing to behold. It's indistinguishable," he said.
Independent scientists are chiming in with what they believe is a packaging revolution. "This is the beginning of the end of petroleum-based plastics," said Allen Hershkowitz from the Natural Resources Defence Council. "When you have a company of this size making a commitment to a plant-based plastic, the market is going to respond."
Pepsi is certainly using the opportunity to slap Coca-Cola in the face with its discovery. Coke, Pepsi's much larger competitor, recently stated that its research was several years away from a 100 percent bioplastic bottle.
Not to get all green on you, but the human race consumes a lot of soda. The resultant waste from millions of plastic bottles fills up landfills and is generally a self-defeating practice that furthers our dependence on fossil fuels because most plastic is petroleum-based. Food manufacturers have experimented with different ways to reduce waste or devise a commercially viable way to create plastic from plants instead of oil, but research has stymied at only using about 30 percent bio-plastic. Pepsi announced that it has finally "cracked the code" and will begin using bottles derived from 100 percent excess plant material - switch grass, pine bark, corn husks, orange peels, oat hulls, and potato scraps. The plan is to produce a few hundred thousand bottles as a test run this year before going full plant-plastic with over a billion bottles sold each year.
Rocco Papalia, an advanced researcher from Pepsi who spent years on the project, said that the bottles made from plants are just like ones you'd find in stores now. "It's a beautiful thing to behold. It's indistinguishable," he said.
Independent scientists are chiming in with what they believe is a packaging revolution. "This is the beginning of the end of petroleum-based plastics," said Allen Hershkowitz from the Natural Resources Defence Council. "When you have a company of this size making a commitment to a plant-based plastic, the market is going to respond."
Pepsi is certainly using the opportunity to slap Coca-Cola in the face with its discovery. Coke, Pepsi's much larger competitor, recently stated that its research was several years away from a 100 percent bioplastic bottle.
if this isnt the best idea ever i don know what is
Children Continue to Pretend Game Boys Are Bombs
Yet another child has stirred up a bomb scare with his old school Nintendo Game Boy.
What is it about the original Game Boy that makes kids want to turn it into a bomb? Last year, an 18-year old tried to boost his popularity by pretending one was an explosive device, and just recently another even younger child has done the same thing.
NBC reports that an 11-year-old student of the Northside Intermediate School in Milton, Wisconsin was on a school bus and threatened to blow it up with a bomb. The student was holding a device with batteries and wires on it. Police were notified and other students were evacuated off the bus.
A SWAT team and bomb squad showed up to negotiate with the child, who was convinced to exit the bus and leave the device behind. The bomb squad destroyed the device, though it didn't contain any actual explosives. It was simply an original Game Boy with a bunch of wiring and other materials attached, the Milton Police Department confirmed to Kotaku. School was cancelled for the day, and the 11-year-old was taken into custody
Yet another child has stirred up a bomb scare with his old school Nintendo Game Boy.
What is it about the original Game Boy that makes kids want to turn it into a bomb? Last year, an 18-year old tried to boost his popularity by pretending one was an explosive device, and just recently another even younger child has done the same thing.
NBC reports that an 11-year-old student of the Northside Intermediate School in Milton, Wisconsin was on a school bus and threatened to blow it up with a bomb. The student was holding a device with batteries and wires on it. Police were notified and other students were evacuated off the bus.
A SWAT team and bomb squad showed up to negotiate with the child, who was convinced to exit the bus and leave the device behind. The bomb squad destroyed the device, though it didn't contain any actual explosives. It was simply an original Game Boy with a bunch of wiring and other materials attached, the Milton Police Department confirmed to Kotaku. School was cancelled for the day, and the 11-year-old was taken into custody
Sony Hopes LittleBigPlanet Will Help Kids Do Homework
Media Molecule is releasing a pack of LittleBigPlanet 2 levels that are focused on educating children.
Sony evidently has a new initiative in the works that will hopefully see the PlayStation 3 used as a learning tool in schools. The first step in the initiative is Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet 2 "Teacher Pack," a set of levels designed for educational purposes.
MCV reports that the levels in the pack will feature "instructions for teachers and demonstrations of National Curriculum-based in-game levels that other teachers have made." They'll use the PlayStation Move motion controller to help give a visual representation of subjects within topics such as mathematics.
PlayStation Move can reportedly track distances, calculate speeds, and perform other useful actions. Sony feels these abilities in a physics-based game like LittleBigPlanet can be a boon within the educational world.
Sony evidently has a new initiative in the works that will hopefully see the PlayStation 3 used as a learning tool in schools. The first step in the initiative is Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet 2 "Teacher Pack," a set of levels designed for educational purposes.
MCV reports that the levels in the pack will feature "instructions for teachers and demonstrations of National Curriculum-based in-game levels that other teachers have made." They'll use the PlayStation Move motion controller to help give a visual representation of subjects within topics such as mathematics.
PlayStation Move can reportedly track distances, calculate speeds, and perform other useful actions. Sony feels these abilities in a physics-based game like LittleBigPlanet can be a boon within the educational world.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
ESRB ratings brake down
someone should show this to fox news with all the crying they do u would like every game ever made was rated M
The Entertainment Software Rating Board has just posted the ratings breakdown of games published in 2010. As you can see in the chart above, a little more than half of all games received the all-ages rating, while games rated E10+ and teen were fairly even at around 20% each.
Games rated mature only made up 5% of all games released this past year, a statistic which may surprise you. With how much drama is drummed up in the media, you would think that most games were hyper-macho bloodsports filled with enough raw sexual energy to make even Dr. Ruth bow her head in shame. In reality, those games are but a drop in the pond.
I personally am not surprised. Mature games have never taken up a large slice of the pie. There was a peak in 2004 and 2005, during which 12% of all published games were rated M, and after which the percentage kept declining. What does surprise me is how M-rated games are able to gather the lion's share of consumer and enthusiast press awareness despite their relative rarity.
http://www.destructoid.com/very-few-games-are-m-rated-but-they-take-all-the-glory-196480.phtml
The Entertainment Software Rating Board has just posted the ratings breakdown of games published in 2010. As you can see in the chart above, a little more than half of all games received the all-ages rating, while games rated E10+ and teen were fairly even at around 20% each.
Games rated mature only made up 5% of all games released this past year, a statistic which may surprise you. With how much drama is drummed up in the media, you would think that most games were hyper-macho bloodsports filled with enough raw sexual energy to make even Dr. Ruth bow her head in shame. In reality, those games are but a drop in the pond.
I personally am not surprised. Mature games have never taken up a large slice of the pie. There was a peak in 2004 and 2005, during which 12% of all published games were rated M, and after which the percentage kept declining. What does surprise me is how M-rated games are able to gather the lion's share of consumer and enthusiast press awareness despite their relative rarity.
http://www.destructoid.com/very-few-games-are-m-rated-but-they-take-all-the-glory-196480.phtml
Kid stands up to being bullied epic victory
Scout vs Heavy from Dragon 029 on Vimeo.
now if thats not standing up for your self i dont know what is
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Ipad or xoom?
so ive been thinking about geting a tablet im leaning towards the xoom so far what do you guys think?
Yesterday, Apple showed off its fancy new iPad 2. The unit has quite a few new features and upgrades, but how does it stack up against the newly released Motorola Xoom in all the ways that count? Well, we’ve got the answers for you. We’ve compared the two units in a few ways, dueling them in sexiness, screen quality, processing power, camera quality, software availability, accessories, and price. If you’re in the market for a new tablet, look no further. We’re here to give you an idea of what each tablet brings to the table. Enjoy!
Aesthetics
Winner: iPad 2
It’s hardly fair to start out with looks, because even if you hate Apple, you have to admit that the company definitely has hardware design down pat. Few products look as good as Apple’s minimalist designs. The iPad 2 takes the great features of the iPad and smooths them over. With a flatter and beveled back, alternate white color scheme, rounded front border, and a thickness of only 8.8mm (thinner than the iPhone 4), we can’t help but get excited looking at Apple’s new tablet.
Still, though we give the edge to Apple, the Xoom is not hard on the eyes. The unit is fairly thin at 12.7mm, which almost the exact thickness of the original iPad. In addition, the lack of a big home button on the Xoom means the unit can more easily be used in any orientation imagineable. No matter how you hold a Xoom, it will reorient itself and its in-screen homescreen buttons will pop into the lower left of the screen. Apple has won this round, but many will like the blacker, more industrial look and feel of the Xoom. Good job, Motorola.
Horsepower
Winner: Tie
The iPad 2 features a 1GHz dual-core A5 processor, and the Xoom has a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. For all intents and purposes, both units match the current trend of 1GHz dual-core processors. They both pack some power. However, both units have some advantages. The iPad’s advantage is its separate PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics processor (GPU), which appears to run circles around the Xoom’s dual CPU/GPU Tegra 2. Performance tests by Anandtech show significantly greater graphics performance on the iPad 2. In some tests, the iPad 2 nearly doubled or tripled the Xoom’s graphics performance.
Still, the Xoom’s 1GB of Random Access Memory (on-the-fly memory) is double that of Apple’s tablet. In many situations, this RAM may not be noticeable, but for things like video editing and multitasking the added RAM will come in handy.
When it comes to actual storage, Apple sells iPad 2 units with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of storage included. Xoom owners will have to accept 32GB of storage out of the box. There is a MicroSD card slot on the device, which could support memory cards up to 32GB, but Motorola has not enabled the slot yet. An upcoming software update should allow SD card use on the Xoom.
Screen
Winner: Xoom
Apple made a lot of improvements in the iPad 2, but the screen was left entirely untouched. The iPad 2 features the same LED backlit 9.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768. Unlike most modern laptops and TVs, Apple continues to stick with a 4:3 aspect ratio, meaning its screen is a lot more squared (like a sheet of office paper) than the Motorola Xoom. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it is uniquely Apple at this point.
The Xoom has a ratio very close to 16:9, the standard for widescreens today (the Xoom is WXGA, techies). Thanks to its slightly larger size of 10.1 inches, the Xoom also boosts a higher pixel count at 1280 x 800 pixels. In terms of total brightness, the iPad 2 probably edges out Xoom by a small margin, but Xoom’s aspect ratio is better for watching HD-widescreen content. What can we say, we like wide screens and here the Xoom wins out.
Cameras
Winner: Xoom
Both the iPad 2 and Xoom feature front-facing webcams and more powerful rear cameras. However, Apple did not list the specifics of its cameras on its website, which likely means that they don’t stack up as well as other features. From what we can extrapolate, Motorola has a better front and rear camera. The iPad 2 appears to have a VGA-quality (640 x 480) front-facing camera, while the Xoom has a more competitive 2-megapixel cam. The only statistic Apple has released about the rear camera is that it can record 720p video, meaning it might be as little as a 1.3MP camera. This seems anemically weak and we’re hoping it’s better, but with a solid 5-megapixel rear camera, autofocus, and a dual-LED flash (the iPad 2 has no flash), we have to hand this category to the Xoom.
With that said, we’re still not sure exactly how much users will need a rear camera on their tablets. A front-facing webcam is useful, but can you imagine a lot of scenarios where a really good rear camera (with flash) will be vital? Judge the importance for yourself, but either way, Motorola wins.
Apps
Winner: iPad 2
While Apple’s iPad has been out almost a full year, the Xoom is the first tablet featuring Android Honeycomb, Google’s first tablet OS. As such, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a point to say that there are roughly 65,000 apps in the App Store that are designed to natively run on the iPad 2. Google has less than 100 tablet-specific apps in its Android Market, Jobs claims. He’s definitely right about one thing: The iPad 2 has a big head start. Still, the Android Market will catch up fast, as it has on smartphones. Also, keep in mind that nearly every iPhone and Android phone app will also run on tablets — they just won’t look as good.
Google is working hard to counter some of Apple’s software advantages. A few weeks ago, CEO Eric Schmidt showed off an iMovie-like video editing program called Movie Studio. However, yesterday Apple took it one step further, unveiling iMovie for iPad as well as a new version of Garage Band, a music creation program. Google and Apple are also battling it out in the video chat space, where Google Chat with Video is now the Android equivalent of FaceTime. We look forward to spending time with all of these new apps in the near future.
Extras
Winner: Xoom
While we love Smart Covers, the Xoom offers a lot of hidden features and accessories that make it a more intriguing buy. For starters, the Xoom has a direct HDMI out (iPad will cost you $39 for an add on), a cool speaker dock that props up your screen, a standard dock that can turn your tablet into a picture frame, and a decent custom-fit case that protects and helps prop up the device. Both tablets have wireless keyboards as well. Moving internally, the Xoom has more sensors inside it than you can count. The iPad 2 may have an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and gyroscope, but the Xoom also has a proximity sensor, digital compass, and barometer inside it. Pretty cool, right?
When it comes to connection speed, the Xoom and iPad 2 are both 3G right now, but Motorola will offer a (supposedly free) LTE 4G update if you mail in your unit. Flash support is also on the way (hopefully soon), which won’t ever be available on the iPad 2. However, the Xoom is stuck on Verizon’s network for the time being, so if you roll with another network, the iPad may be a better bet. There are Wi-Fi only versions of both devices.
Price
Winner: iPad 2
Traditionally, Apple is not a company that offers the cheapest products, but thanks to its foresight and market lead with the iPad (it’s been a year and there are still only two competitors), the folks in Cupertino have been able to lock down massive supply deals that almost ensure that the iPad 2 will remain the most affordable tablet on the market for its size and feature-set. The iPad starts out at $499 for a bare-bones 16GB Wi-Fi only unit, while the cheapest Xoom (also Wi-Fi only) costs $599, though you do get 32GB of storage for that price. Currently only the Verizon 3G model is on shelves, which costs a hefty $799. The most expensive 3G iPad (64GB storage) runs for $829. The 32GB 3G iPad 2 costs $729, or about $70 less than the 3G Xoom.
Overall
Winner: Xoom
There are a thousand ways we could reorganize this battle and give the trophy to Apple. The fact is that both of these tablets are extremely competitive and offer some unique benefits. Both claim a 10 hour battery life as well. However, despite the beautiful design of the iPad 2 and software and price advantage it currently has, we think Motorola’s Xoom is a healthy competitor and worthy of a look. If you’re an iPhone lover, chances are the iPad 2 will win your heart, but if you’re not, give them both a try. You may be surprised at some of the differences between the two units.
Disagree vehemently with us? Direct all of your fury and elation into the commenting receptacle below!
Yesterday, Apple showed off its fancy new iPad 2. The unit has quite a few new features and upgrades, but how does it stack up against the newly released Motorola Xoom in all the ways that count? Well, we’ve got the answers for you. We’ve compared the two units in a few ways, dueling them in sexiness, screen quality, processing power, camera quality, software availability, accessories, and price. If you’re in the market for a new tablet, look no further. We’re here to give you an idea of what each tablet brings to the table. Enjoy!
Aesthetics
Winner: iPad 2
It’s hardly fair to start out with looks, because even if you hate Apple, you have to admit that the company definitely has hardware design down pat. Few products look as good as Apple’s minimalist designs. The iPad 2 takes the great features of the iPad and smooths them over. With a flatter and beveled back, alternate white color scheme, rounded front border, and a thickness of only 8.8mm (thinner than the iPhone 4), we can’t help but get excited looking at Apple’s new tablet.
Still, though we give the edge to Apple, the Xoom is not hard on the eyes. The unit is fairly thin at 12.7mm, which almost the exact thickness of the original iPad. In addition, the lack of a big home button on the Xoom means the unit can more easily be used in any orientation imagineable. No matter how you hold a Xoom, it will reorient itself and its in-screen homescreen buttons will pop into the lower left of the screen. Apple has won this round, but many will like the blacker, more industrial look and feel of the Xoom. Good job, Motorola.
Horsepower
Winner: Tie
The iPad 2 features a 1GHz dual-core A5 processor, and the Xoom has a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. For all intents and purposes, both units match the current trend of 1GHz dual-core processors. They both pack some power. However, both units have some advantages. The iPad’s advantage is its separate PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics processor (GPU), which appears to run circles around the Xoom’s dual CPU/GPU Tegra 2. Performance tests by Anandtech show significantly greater graphics performance on the iPad 2. In some tests, the iPad 2 nearly doubled or tripled the Xoom’s graphics performance.
Still, the Xoom’s 1GB of Random Access Memory (on-the-fly memory) is double that of Apple’s tablet. In many situations, this RAM may not be noticeable, but for things like video editing and multitasking the added RAM will come in handy.
When it comes to actual storage, Apple sells iPad 2 units with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of storage included. Xoom owners will have to accept 32GB of storage out of the box. There is a MicroSD card slot on the device, which could support memory cards up to 32GB, but Motorola has not enabled the slot yet. An upcoming software update should allow SD card use on the Xoom.
Screen
Winner: Xoom
Apple made a lot of improvements in the iPad 2, but the screen was left entirely untouched. The iPad 2 features the same LED backlit 9.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768. Unlike most modern laptops and TVs, Apple continues to stick with a 4:3 aspect ratio, meaning its screen is a lot more squared (like a sheet of office paper) than the Motorola Xoom. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it is uniquely Apple at this point.
The Xoom has a ratio very close to 16:9, the standard for widescreens today (the Xoom is WXGA, techies). Thanks to its slightly larger size of 10.1 inches, the Xoom also boosts a higher pixel count at 1280 x 800 pixels. In terms of total brightness, the iPad 2 probably edges out Xoom by a small margin, but Xoom’s aspect ratio is better for watching HD-widescreen content. What can we say, we like wide screens and here the Xoom wins out.
Cameras
Winner: Xoom
Both the iPad 2 and Xoom feature front-facing webcams and more powerful rear cameras. However, Apple did not list the specifics of its cameras on its website, which likely means that they don’t stack up as well as other features. From what we can extrapolate, Motorola has a better front and rear camera. The iPad 2 appears to have a VGA-quality (640 x 480) front-facing camera, while the Xoom has a more competitive 2-megapixel cam. The only statistic Apple has released about the rear camera is that it can record 720p video, meaning it might be as little as a 1.3MP camera. This seems anemically weak and we’re hoping it’s better, but with a solid 5-megapixel rear camera, autofocus, and a dual-LED flash (the iPad 2 has no flash), we have to hand this category to the Xoom.
With that said, we’re still not sure exactly how much users will need a rear camera on their tablets. A front-facing webcam is useful, but can you imagine a lot of scenarios where a really good rear camera (with flash) will be vital? Judge the importance for yourself, but either way, Motorola wins.
Apps
Winner: iPad 2
While Apple’s iPad has been out almost a full year, the Xoom is the first tablet featuring Android Honeycomb, Google’s first tablet OS. As such, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a point to say that there are roughly 65,000 apps in the App Store that are designed to natively run on the iPad 2. Google has less than 100 tablet-specific apps in its Android Market, Jobs claims. He’s definitely right about one thing: The iPad 2 has a big head start. Still, the Android Market will catch up fast, as it has on smartphones. Also, keep in mind that nearly every iPhone and Android phone app will also run on tablets — they just won’t look as good.
Google is working hard to counter some of Apple’s software advantages. A few weeks ago, CEO Eric Schmidt showed off an iMovie-like video editing program called Movie Studio. However, yesterday Apple took it one step further, unveiling iMovie for iPad as well as a new version of Garage Band, a music creation program. Google and Apple are also battling it out in the video chat space, where Google Chat with Video is now the Android equivalent of FaceTime. We look forward to spending time with all of these new apps in the near future.
Extras
Winner: Xoom
While we love Smart Covers, the Xoom offers a lot of hidden features and accessories that make it a more intriguing buy. For starters, the Xoom has a direct HDMI out (iPad will cost you $39 for an add on), a cool speaker dock that props up your screen, a standard dock that can turn your tablet into a picture frame, and a decent custom-fit case that protects and helps prop up the device. Both tablets have wireless keyboards as well. Moving internally, the Xoom has more sensors inside it than you can count. The iPad 2 may have an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and gyroscope, but the Xoom also has a proximity sensor, digital compass, and barometer inside it. Pretty cool, right?
When it comes to connection speed, the Xoom and iPad 2 are both 3G right now, but Motorola will offer a (supposedly free) LTE 4G update if you mail in your unit. Flash support is also on the way (hopefully soon), which won’t ever be available on the iPad 2. However, the Xoom is stuck on Verizon’s network for the time being, so if you roll with another network, the iPad may be a better bet. There are Wi-Fi only versions of both devices.
Price
Winner: iPad 2
Traditionally, Apple is not a company that offers the cheapest products, but thanks to its foresight and market lead with the iPad (it’s been a year and there are still only two competitors), the folks in Cupertino have been able to lock down massive supply deals that almost ensure that the iPad 2 will remain the most affordable tablet on the market for its size and feature-set. The iPad starts out at $499 for a bare-bones 16GB Wi-Fi only unit, while the cheapest Xoom (also Wi-Fi only) costs $599, though you do get 32GB of storage for that price. Currently only the Verizon 3G model is on shelves, which costs a hefty $799. The most expensive 3G iPad (64GB storage) runs for $829. The 32GB 3G iPad 2 costs $729, or about $70 less than the 3G Xoom.
Overall
Winner: Xoom
There are a thousand ways we could reorganize this battle and give the trophy to Apple. The fact is that both of these tablets are extremely competitive and offer some unique benefits. Both claim a 10 hour battery life as well. However, despite the beautiful design of the iPad 2 and software and price advantage it currently has, we think Motorola’s Xoom is a healthy competitor and worthy of a look. If you’re an iPhone lover, chances are the iPad 2 will win your heart, but if you’re not, give them both a try. You may be surprised at some of the differences between the two units.
Disagree vehemently with us? Direct all of your fury and elation into the commenting receptacle below!
Bioware Employee reviewing dragon age 2 LOL
EA Bioware’s Dragon Age 2 has been met with a rocky reception from fans over numerous issues since its release. In an effort to control the damages wrought by the outcries of gamers, EA Bioware has implemented a few unsavory methods in order to get back into the spotlight. The newest one? Having an employee give it a good rating on Metacritc.
Reddit user GatoFiasco was browsing the user reviews for Dragon Age 2 until something strange caught his eye: the top user review by ‘Avanost’ was closer to an ad than a review. Here’s a quote from the review, already taken down:
“The immersion and combat of this game are unmatched! A truly moving and fun epic. Anything negative you’ll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference. For what it is, it is flawlessly executed and endlessly entertaining.”
Adding to the suspicion, Avanost has only reviewed one game: Dragon Age II. The GatoFiasco continued down the google hole, and eventually found that the reviewer works for EA Bioware as an engineer.
The internet caught wind, and so to save some sort of face, the company has removed the review. But this is the internet, my friends, where nothing is permanently deleted. Users have saved the web pages before they were taken down, and now various images of screencapped failure are circling the web.
You could have at least given it a eight or something, EA Bioware. Or maybe next time not tell everyone that if they have a negative points against the game, that it’s merely an overreaction of personal preference.
Reddit user GatoFiasco was browsing the user reviews for Dragon Age 2 until something strange caught his eye: the top user review by ‘Avanost’ was closer to an ad than a review. Here’s a quote from the review, already taken down:
“The immersion and combat of this game are unmatched! A truly moving and fun epic. Anything negative you’ll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference. For what it is, it is flawlessly executed and endlessly entertaining.”
Adding to the suspicion, Avanost has only reviewed one game: Dragon Age II. The GatoFiasco continued down the google hole, and eventually found that the reviewer works for EA Bioware as an engineer.
The internet caught wind, and so to save some sort of face, the company has removed the review. But this is the internet, my friends, where nothing is permanently deleted. Users have saved the web pages before they were taken down, and now various images of screencapped failure are circling the web.
You could have at least given it a eight or something, EA Bioware. Or maybe next time not tell everyone that if they have a negative points against the game, that it’s merely an overreaction of personal preference.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
crazy ass jap robot with rockets?
Six months of effort and planning went into making the rig, which is seemingly designed just for messing around in and having fun.
What would you do if you had an exoskeleton of your very own? Fight crime perhaps, or maybe wrestle alien horrors? You probably wouldn't use it to play baseball with a spring onion, or steal sodas from your friends, but then again, you're also probably not a member of the Skeletonics team.
The three-man team took six months to build the rig, from the first concept to the finished product. The goal was to extend the range of human gestures without adding motors, and using a combination of ingenuity, planning and a lot of aluminum, they achieved it with aplomb.
The first half of the video shows the design process, from the planning stages through to the rig's manufacture. The second half, however, shows what the team did with the rig after it was done, including the aforementioned vegetable sports, as well as firing off its hidden, arm-mouted rockets in a parking lot.
As the rig is unpowered, and thus doesn't make the wearer any stronger, it probably won't kick start the creation of Gundams or anything that that. It's still a very impressive piece of engineering, however, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to take it out for a spin. I mean come on, it has rockets.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Hey Im back! more random stuff like Gabe Newells steam password
Gabe Newell has given out his Steam account information and double dog dares you to log-in to his account.
Gabe Newell's Steam account information has been leaked to the entire world. Not by a hacker, but by Newell himself in an attempt to prove how safe Steam's new security system is.
Valve recently unveiled Steam Guard, a new layer of protection that allows Steam users to tie their account to a single PC, preventing account theft even with the knowledge of log-in information. Steam Guard also notifies users if someone tries to log-in to their account from a foreign computer.
At the CeBIT conference in Hanover Germany, Newell demonstrated the power of Steam Guard by revealing his Steam log-in email and password to the crowd (and now the internet). "You can try to log-in and steal my account if you can," he said. "But you can't."
Newell's Steam log-in email is "GabeN@valvesoftware.com," and his password is "MoolyFTW." Give it a shot! Perhaps the elusive Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is inside.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108247-Gabe-Newell-Gives-Away-Personal-Steam-Password
Gabe Newell's Steam account information has been leaked to the entire world. Not by a hacker, but by Newell himself in an attempt to prove how safe Steam's new security system is.
Valve recently unveiled Steam Guard, a new layer of protection that allows Steam users to tie their account to a single PC, preventing account theft even with the knowledge of log-in information. Steam Guard also notifies users if someone tries to log-in to their account from a foreign computer.
At the CeBIT conference in Hanover Germany, Newell demonstrated the power of Steam Guard by revealing his Steam log-in email and password to the crowd (and now the internet). "You can try to log-in and steal my account if you can," he said. "But you can't."
Newell's Steam log-in email is "GabeN@valvesoftware.com," and his password is "MoolyFTW." Give it a shot! Perhaps the elusive Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is inside.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108247-Gabe-Newell-Gives-Away-Personal-Steam-Password
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