PLuGHiTz Live! - The UpStream

Mysterious New Phone Service Added To Gmail

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

With the advent of Internet-based communications those old fashioned land-line phones have been getting hit pretty hard and Google has recently added their new phone service to Gmail helping to reassure that the beating will continue.

Gmail is evolving into an all-in-one communications that is increasing their competitiveness between traditional land-line services and other Internet based communication services like Skype and Oovoo. 25% of U.S. homes have already replaced land-lines with mobile phone and Internet communication alternatives. Skype has also proven that there is a potential for their phone service to become a huge success. In the first day alone, 1 million Google calls had already been placed. The service is available nationwide as of right now and Google does intend to make this feature available internationally but there is no release date at the moment.

Huxley: The Dystopia Changing Distributors

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Back in the day when I actually had the time to keep up with upcoming games, one of the titles that caught my eye was Huxley. For those of you that are not familiar with the title, Huxley is a massively multiplayer first-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans and mutants are at war.

Now that you're caught up, it seems NHN USA, or ijji.com, the company that has been the responsible for publishing Huxley: The Dystopia internationally, have announced that they're passing it back to developer Webzen.

Webzen will be self-publishing Huxley, but don't get your panties in a bunch, because this really isn't that big of a deal. NHN USA and Webzen are separate divisions of the same company, NHN Corporation, and the two divisions will continue partnering with one another to publish other projects.

Now, if you've purchased G Coin Cards for the game, don't worry about losing out. "G Coin Cards branded with Huxley imaging will remain valid as long as they're purchased through an authorized retailer." So no need to worry about wasting your cash.

FFXIV Open Beta Is Here!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you, like me, were not lucky enough to get your hands (digitally speaking, of course) on Final Fantasy XIV closed beta invite, our first chance to log a few hours on the game will come next week! Square Enix announced through the game's official forums that open beta servers will go live next Tuesday, August 31 at 7 p.m. Pacific, or 10 p.m. Eastern.

Though the forum post explains that servers will be live 24 hours a day, only a set number of players will be able to log on at one time. This number will gradually increase as Square Enix tests out its server loads, but in the mean time, players who get turned away will be placed on a waiting list. Just think of it as being put on the waiting list for the college, both things are eventually going to rid you of all your money, and will suck away your social life.

I Know Jon and I are excited so if you are interested, and perhaps want to meet up with us in game, I suggest that you head to FFXIV's website and cross your fingers hoping that you get in the que. The game itself is coming out on the 30th of September, so if you are interested in investing time and money into this game, I suggest you take this great opportunity to try it before you buy it. Just a side note, if you preorder the game you will gain access to the game on the 22nd of September, so if you want to get a head start, that would be the path to take.

New Intel On Pending Infineon Acquisition

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Mobile chip manufacturer Infineon has been a hot topic of discussion for the past month. Just two weeks ago Apple was in a bidding war with Intel, Samsung, and several other large manufacturing companies to acquire this firm and sources close to the current deliberations have stated we could be hearing some news as early as next week about the private talks between Intel and Infineon.

The second largest chip manufacturer in Europe is still going for around 2 billion USD which pales in comparison to Intel's recent acquisition of McAffee Inc. but is still important in order for Intel to achieve their goal of being at the center of computing, "Intel's big strategy is to be at the heart of computing everywhere," said Alex Gauna, an analyst at JMP Securities LLC.

Currently Intel has virtually no presence in the handheld market which is opposite of the PC market, where their semi-conductors run more than 80% of personal computers. Being the mature and robust technology firm that Intel is, this presents an excellent opportunity for Intel to penetrate its way into a new market and hopefully bring some good changes into the industry. We will keep you plugged in as the negotiations continue.

$250k Gets You 30 Seconds Of Lift

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

As kids most of us either watched cartoons, read comic books, or pretended to zip around saving the day attached at the hip to our trusty flying machine, the jet pack. While not particularly practical or useful, the first rocket belt was built by Bell Labs in 1953 and I'm sad to say that they still have a long way to go. However, two companies are keeping the dream alive, so to speak. Technologia Aeroespacial Mexicana has their custom-built TAM Rocket Belt that can get you 30 seconds of lift at speeds of over 60mph on a full tank of hydrogen peroxide. The Colorado-based competition, Jetpack InterÂnational has the longest flying jet pack, the H202, which can keep you off your feet for a cool 33 seconds, 3 seconds longer than the TAM Rocket Belt. The H202 is also faster with a top speed of 70mph. With a $250k price tag for the TAM Rocket belt, which includes maintenance and flight lessons, or $150k for the H202, everything included, the choice is obvious: neither.

The two companies aren't content to stop there, however. Jetpack InterÂnational is currently working on their T73 Turbine model which will burn jet fuel increasing the lift time to 19 minutes. Troy Widgery, the founder of Jetpack InterÂnational, commented on some of the drawbacks to the current models, "If something goes wrong, you can get killed." These are profound words. He also went on to say, "Thirty-three seconds of fuel makes an inexperienced pilot twitchy."

I like jet packs and rocket belts as much as the next guy but somehow paying up to $250k to fly around with 19 minutes of combustible jet fuel strapped to my body makes every survival instinct I have go nuts. I would almost be okay with the TAM rocket belt, because at least if you crash using that one you have all that hydrogen peroxide to help sooth the burns.

Final Fantasy Fatigue

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Final Fantasy XIV is a game that both Jon and I are very excited for. Earlier this week, however, my excitement for the game faltered a little bit. Why? Because of a new system that Square Enix introduced a few days ago. It is called the "fatigue system" and it basically limits the amount of play time one can have with their characters.

For each class and character, you will get normal experience for eight hours, followed by a slow drop-off over the next seven hours that ends at no experience gain. This goes for both class levels and physical levels, which means that after 16 hours of play, your character's physical level cannot advance further until a week has passed from the start of leveling.

For more information on the game's leveling system, hit the break.

Read full article

Indie Developer Upset Over Theft - Kind Of

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I am a software developer myself, so I totally understand the feeling of distress when your product starts showing up on torrent sites. It has gotten so bad that now, even the $2 iPhone apps are starting to find their way to the underground despite their proprietary systems and low costs. At some point you have to consider the value of your own time to find, crack and install software onto a phone that you could have just bought for the cost of a Starbucks coffee.

Other developers feel this pain as well, but apparently not always for the same reason. Dmitry Chestnykh, who is a Mac developer with Coding Robots, recent wrote an email to The Pirate Bay when he found his software product available with a crack on their site. He downloaded to see how how the crack worked and was immediately upset.

Hit the break to read the email.

Read full article

MIT Eats Oil

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

MIT is always hard at work trying to solve the world's problems one piece of technology at a time. This week's solution is a floating yellow box that collects oil.

This autonomous robot, named Seaswarm, is capable of floating around on its own, without any human interaction, searching the sea for oil and collecting it. Now, this would be impressive by itself, however, this little guy can team up with friends to take on the ocean together, with the help of GPS and Wi-Fi connectivity.

For more on the Seaswarm and to see the MIT video, hit the break.

Read full article

Google Not Participating in JavaOne

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Early this month, Oracle joined the ranks of every other technology company on the planet and filed suit against Google. Oracle has claimed that Google violated patents they acquired when they purchased Sun Microsystems, namely Java-related patents, with their Dalvik virtual machine on the Android platform.

This lawsuit has led Google to pull their participation in the JavaOne developers' event, now led by Oracle. Google has participated in every JavaOne event since 2004, but feels it is no longer appropriate for them to participate in an event about the future of Java and open source software run by a company that files lawsuits over open source licenses.

For more on the lawsuit and Google's thoughts on JavaOne, hit the break.

Read full article

LucasFilms Sues Jedi Mind, Inc.

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

George Lucas is taking out his lightsaber to attack the makers of a wireless headset called Master Mind that states its users can interact with computers through brainwaves. Jedi Mind, Inc. is the target of this Lucasfilm lawsuit over copyright infringement, claiming that the products made by this company could hurt Lucas' business and make customers confused.

Lucas has somewhat of a reputation of being intolerant of anyone using references to Star Wars in their products. The now-popular "Droid" mark for Android-powered smartphones was, in fact, licensed from Lucasfilm for this reason - otherwise, Verizon Wireless would have to use another, probably less catchy name.

With this fairly common knowledge, it's surprising that Jedi Mind, Inc. even moved forward with its company and product names in the first place. Lucasfilm sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company in May of 2009, and then again in September of 2009 after Jedi Mind failed to phase out the Jedi-related marks. The two companies tried to settle out of court, but apparently failed, leading Lucasfilm to ask for $5 million in damages as well as injunctive relief.

Movie Studios Sue Ad Companies for Pirate Sites

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Movie studios are sick of websites that offer pirated material and have decided to open a new lawsuit targeting an ad company that provides their services to these sites. Warner Bros and Disney have joined forces to sue Triton Media, saying the company is responsible for contributory and induced copyright infringement because Triton helps keep these sites alive by supporting them with ad and referral income.

Warner and Disney are going after Triton for supporting nine websites they claim to be "one-stop-shop" sites for illegal copies of the studios' work. Some of the sites include free-tv-video-online.info, watch-movies-links.net and thepiratecity.org - basically, no-name sites. Essentially, the lawsuit claims that both parties have profited from the distribution of the pirated works and Triton made it possible by offering "material assistance" to the sites.

To see if anything may come out of this lawsuit, check after the break.

Read full article

Microsoft Cofounder Sues the Internet Over Patents

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Paul Allen, entrepreneur and co-founder of Microsoft, has filed a lawsuit against 11 companies for infringements on his Web search patents. The suit names Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, YouTube, and Microsoft partner Yahoo as defendants for violating four Interval Licensing LLC patents, though the court will likely have to weigh whether the patents in question are "obvious" or not.

The infringing patents have three main concepts in question: browser use for finding and looking through information, keeping a user's peripheral attention while using a device and letting users know of items of current interest. Basically, this is revolving around the idea of presenting searched-for information to a user along with related news articles, music, videos, status updates from friends or stock and weather info.

For more on what's going on here, follow the break.

Read full article

Fan Friday for Star Wars: The Old Republic Brings Great News!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Whether you like to keep two feet on the ground or like to explore the final frontier, The Old Republic is catering to your every need. Fans of the former or the ladder (or both) aspects of the game have a little more to look forward to this week, as BioWare released additional information on the advanced classes and rolled out the first two starfighters for the public to see. Last week they also revealed some footage of space combat as well as some in depth information about the Jedi Knight.

In its recent Fan Friday, BioWare clarified the 16 class specializations by listing each of their top three attributes. For example, class I plan on playing, the Jedi Knight, has two specs entitled Jedi Gaurdian and Jedi Sentinel. The Jedi Guardian skills include using a Single Saber and Heavy Armor, while having Party Buffs and fulfilling the role of a Tank. Jedi Sentinels however Dual Weild their Saber's and specialize in Saber to Saber combat and take care of Melee DPS.

If the recently revealed space combat has you itching to jump in your jumpsuit, you can check out the first two starships (out of six) that will take pilots through the midst of adrenaline-pumping battles. The Fury is an Imperial interceptor (which looks like a enlarged predecessor of the TIE Interceptor), designed with speed and firepower in mind. Its counterpart, the Defender, is a standard Republic corvette that's been upgraded with turbolasers and shields for quick combat missions. Hopefully, we'll find out the remaining four fighters before too long!

MizuCon - Is YourzuCon

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

What an interesting Con month it's been for Scott, Josh, and myself. It was interesting for me because of Star Wars Celebration V and because of my first time experiencing MizuCon. You're never heard of it? Imagine a good con; now imagine a great con; OK, now imagine a super con! Got it? Well it's like that except better and wrapped up in a neat little package. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in personality.

Friday night was of course filled with cosplayers, vendors and exhibitors, like the improv group as well as our good friends from TATE'S Comics+Toys+Videos+More and the 3000 Brigade. 3K, of course, stole the show without trying. Their preview show was off the chain and somehow I wasn't surprised. Seeing all the Koopa Kids, played by the sexy female cast members, made it difficult to focus on filming, to say the least. Shame on you if you weren't there to see it and kudos if you were. Fortunately, I was also able to catch a glimpse of the improv group that performed afterwards. 3K is a tough act to follow but I certainly enjoyed what I saw and they were good sports about sharing back stage space with 30 other people so when you hit up MizuCon next year stop by and give them a watch as well.

Saturday, Scott and I remembered what it felt like to be a spectator and walked around talking with con-goers and some awesome vendors as well. Of course, we ended up with some con goodies but with the variety of anime and gamer stuff you're bound to find something you just have to get. However, I am glad that we were able to take refuge at TATE'S booth when the urge to geek out became too strong. Otherwise who knows what damage we might have done.

HP-Palm WebOS Tablet Coming in

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We'd heard HP's Todd Bradley had confidentially told employees that a webOS tablet would arrive in first quarter 2011, but now the man's gone on the record in the company's third quarter 2010 earnings call.

"You'll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS-based product in early 2011," he told investors and analysts in response to a direct question about tablets, adding that potential slates were part of the reason HP bought Palm in the first place. Now, we're not financial experts, but we've heard it's typically a good idea not to promise things to your shareholders if you don't intend to deliver. In other words, there's a good bet the PalmPad is actually not an imaginary friend our subconscious created after Mark Hurd's hateful words in June. Instead, it does exist and that's why HP has gone a new direction when it comes to their CEO decision-making - you know, minus the whole $50 million severance package thing.

Sony Replacing Handset Wiring with a Single Copper Cable

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Something innovative or at least interesting always comes out of Sony's R&D team. This little invention could change the appearance of Sony and Sony Ericsson products some time soon. Sony just announced the development of a "single wire interface technology" that replaces the 20+ cables currently found inside mobile devices that connect the phone's moving pieces together.

These signal, video and audio cables hidden in the hinge or rotating parts will be replaced with one single wire capable of transmitting data at 940Mbps. Sony says that this will provide greater reliability and flexibility in their products, but we disagree. While typically if one of the cables were to break in your device, you'd just get a new one, so it might not be a big deal if this new cable breaks as well. However, one cable designed to do 20+ things leads to more potential for it to fail. What do you guys think?

Yahoo! to Buy Hulu?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Yahoo! may be making a move and purchasing a "considerable" stake in Hulu if the website decides to pursue an initial public offering, according to analyst group Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Hulu, who is owned by three of the biggest US broadcast networks, is preparing a share sale as early as this year, and they are predicted to value the company at over $2 billion.

Is Yahoo! in a position to do this? Check after the break for more insight on this possible purchase.

Read full article

MizuCon - Small But Mighty

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Another week, another convention. This one was unlike any I have attended before. MizuCon is in its third year and doing very well for itself. While remaining small, the con feels bigger than it is.

Part of what made the con feel so much bigger was the presence of TATE'S Comics+Toys+Videos+More and the 3000 Brigade. With a team of over 30 people, this pairing certainly gives the feeling of the larger cons. And anywhere the 3000 Brigade goes you have fun and feel at home.

For more about MizuCon and their entertainment, hit the break.

Read full article

Play Too Much StarCraft? Take Some Pills!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

A study recently conducted by the Department of Psychiatry at South Korea's Chung Ang University has found that StarCraft "addiction" can be treated with Bupropion, an antidepressant and anti-smoking aid. Yes thats right...StarCraft "addiction." The study found that individuals who took the drug for six weeks saw their average StarCraft playtime decrease by 35.5 percent. In addition-- and this is honest to god no joke-- MRI scans showed that participant's brains reacted less strongly to pictures of Zerglings after the treatment. It's studies like this that make me think, "Why does North Korea want them back?"

For those of you that don't know what StarCraft is North Korea helpfully summarized StarCraft for people just like you:

As a military leader for one of three species, players must gather resources for training and expanding their species’ forces. Utilizing various strategies and alliances with other species, players attempt to lead their own species to victory.

Treating someone's obsessive behavior towards a video game with real-life pharmaceuticals is a fairly heavy prescription. Then again, out of the survey's eleven participants, six had dropped out of school for two months due to the amount of time they put into StarCraft every day. Two participants were divorced due to their demanding StarCraft schedules. Now I have never had an addiction to a specific game but I know how much of a hassle it is too keep up with things like raids or guild functions. One minute you are just playing a game, having fun, and all of a sudden it feels like a job that you have to do. I wonder what game addiction they plan to tackle next. World of Warcraft, Aion, or StarCraft 2 perhaps? Only time will tell, but one things for sure I am looking forward to whatever whacky study South Korea comes up with next.

Apple Patent Could Lock Out Unauthorized Users

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple has decided that remotely removing applications you have downloaded is a thing of the past. The more important issue is those pesky unauthorized iOS users. So, this week, Apple has decided to apply for a patent on a new method to tell the difference between authorized and unauthorized users of a specific iOS device. Once one is detected, the device would be able to shut off certain features or send notifications to services about the disallowed use.

The patent, titled "Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device," describes many ways the device could sense who is using an iPhone or iPad. Included are voice print analysis, photo analysis, heartbeat analysis (what!?), hacking attempts or even "noting particular activities that can indicate suspicious behavior."

Want to know more about this scary, Big Brother-esque operation? Follow the break.

Read full article

Intel Buys McAfee, Decides That Security Matters

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Intel has purchased security and antivirus company McAfee for $7.68 billion. The processing giant will pay 60% over the closing price from Wednesday, $48 a share, making this the largest deal in Intel's history.

Intel's President and CEO Paul Otellini stressed that security is becoming an increasing importance in the company.

In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences.

More on the deal after the break.

Read full article

Star Wars: Celebration V - The Man, The Myth, The Total Beast, Ray Park!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Ray Park is a name you may have heard if you are a fan of NBC's Heroes, or movies like Mortal Kombat, Sleepy Hollow, X-Men and of course Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Essentially he is a Caucasian version of Jackie Chan, but with a British accent. While I was in the line to see an interview of him once again hosted by the hilarious Jay Lag'aia, I kept hearing about what a great person Ray Park was and how he would go around to people not getting any attention in the autograph lines and sign their stuff, or how he was such a positive person and a ball of energy. So needless to say I was really excited to see this man in person and evaluate just how great of a guy he really was.

How great is he? Hit the break to find out.

Read full article

One Bad Apple... Gets Arrested in Kickback Scheme

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Do you know Paul Shin Devine? We didn't either until this week. Paul is 37, is a global supply manager for Apple, lives in Sunnyvale, CA and apparently loves to accept kickbacks from Asian suppliers. So much, in fact, that in return, he would provide confidential information that allows those suppliers to negotiate more advantageous contracts with Apple. In the real world, those extracurricular activities are against the law and the FBI will arrest you for it. And that's exactly what happened.

More on this bad apple after the break.

Read full article

News Corp. to Launch Digital Newspaper

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Let's face it. The newspaper is slowly following the path of the eight-track player, Betamax and HD-DVD. Teens now have the attention span of a goldfish and the demand for instantaneous satisfaction with as little work as possible. Young adults in their twenties have their blog sites and video podcasts. People in their thirties have CNN and Fox. The only people reading a newspaper with their morning coffee - with the finance section neatly folded and laid on top by their loving spouse - are the older generation. The same older generation who is afraid of the Internet and those new redtooth headsets and Scandisk flash drives (misspelled on purpose). Right? Maybe not so much anymore.

With The New York Times claiming to have reached 400,000 downloads of its iPad edition of its newspaper, it's becoming more and more clear that the digital world and the Internet are things that the news companies are going to want to be a part of in the next few years. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. seems to agree. Plus, if newspapers go away, that's one more step to being green, yes?

More on what Murdoch and Co. are wanting to do after the break.

Read full article

Star Wars: Celebration V - Robot Chicken Fans Assemble!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Being at a Star Wars convention and also being a huge fan of Robot Chicken, I was both happy to see that many, many people in the Star Wars universe have a screwed up enough sense of humor to be fans of good parodies but I was also sad because of the long line it created to the event. The good news is however that Josh and I managed to slip into the balcony seats, right in the center and I always had my suspicions that Seth Green was pocket sized and this was confirmed as soon as he came out on stage next to Co-Producer/Writer Matt Senreich.

They started off by showing some of the bits they filmed for their last Star Wars episode on the 3 big screens. This was followed by a little sneak peak into the next Star Wars episode they just started filming the previous Monday and I do mean "little" (not Seth Green, the clips) because they had about 30 seconds finished and the rest were storyboard drawings. It was still amazing to see and hilarious so if you weren't lucky enough to be there then you will just have to tune into the show this Sunday night at 9PM to find out.

For information about the writing, hit the break.

Read full article

Star Wars: Celebration V - Our Hour with Anthony Daniels

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Anthony Daniels is a name that many would and rightfully as should recognize as both the "narrator" and "voice of reason" in the Star Wars saga. Now, as a fan of Star Wars, I have seen countless special features and interviews that all feature Anthony Daniels and believe me when I say that today in the Chapin Theater in the beautiful Orange County Convention Center, I saw something that I never expected.

We all were first introduced to Daniels as C-3PO in the Star Wars films and to this day and probably for the rest of his life, he will continue to be C-3PO thanks to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. I would give you a list of all the movies he has been involved in, but the projects he's been in are almost entirely derived from or relate to Star Wars.

To find out what was so amazing about the event, hit the break.

Read full article

Star Wars: Celebration V - Midi-chlorians Are In The Air

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The atmosphere here at the Orange County Convention Center isn't quite what Josh and I have come to expect from our previous con experience. Of course, there are tons of people here basking in the world of Star Wars. There are plenty of vendors, guests and people in costumes. So what's the difference? The quality of the costumes and the vast knowledge con-goers share is unprecedented. I'm not knocking cosplayers here, but when it comes to taking pride in their appearance and understanding of their characters as well as the roles they play, they got you guys beat. About the only way I can explain it is that there is an overwhelming amount of Midi-chlorians(more than Master Yoda has) and that the Force is here at Celebration V.

There are many people who have found unique ways to express themselves like the many members of R2 - Droid Builders. Josh and I had the pleasure of interviewing a man we know only as Guy and he is certainly passionate about building those lovable R2 units. The skills and monetary investment required to bring R2 to life is crazy. For you C3P0 fans, we did see a few but it's definitely about R2. The amount of detail, creativity, and TLC that goes into making every unit can only be described best by Guy himself. He also tells a neat story about George Lucas stopping by to see their droid creations so be sure to check out our interview that will be posted early next week to get the entire scoop.

For more information about the day, hit the break.

Read full article

Star Wars: Celebration V - The Film Giant: Warwick Davis!!!!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Today, Jon and I got the opportunity to see the one, the only, our little film giant, Warwick Davis. If the name isn't ringing some bells for everyone out there, you may recognize him from films such as, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Willow and a little series called Harry Potter. Ever heard of it? In Star Wars he played a young Ewok named Wicket, in Willow he played Willow, and in Harry Potter he played various roles such as Professor Flitwick, and Griphook.

The person who interviewed both Warwick and Mark Hamil earlier in the day was a man by the name of Jay Laga'aia who starred in films such as Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (I am starting to see a theme here) and some more recent films like Daybreakers, and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.

For more about the interview, hit the break.

Read full article

StarCraft 2 Sales SkyRocketed in Just 4 Days

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Put all the little problems about no LAN-partying and the inability to zoom out as far as you want aside. The fact is this: StarCraft 2 is an awesome game that has been long overdue! It's been such an anticipated game, in fact, that sales for the title have skyrocketed past any console game. StarCraft 2, the PC game that could, has sold 721,000 units. NCAA Football 11 on both of its platforms combined only reached 692,000.

Here's what's even crazier: those sales numbers only reflect retail copies sold, and not the digital downloads that Blizzard has been pimping out on Battle.net. And to make it even more nuts, the title was released on July 27th and hit these numbers. Just imagine what the 30 day sales figures will be.

More on StarCraft 2 after the break.

Read full article

Bethesda Is Dropping The Pre-Order Bomb

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Fallout 3 was a huge and critical hit for publisher Bethesda Softworks when it was released back in 2008 and if pre-orders are any indication (which they are i.e. CD:MW2) the follow-up Fallout: New Vegas will be an even bigger. According to an article at MCV, Bethesda is saying that pre-orders for the Obsidian Entertainment-developed post-apocalypse RPG are very high.

"How high?", you may ask. Well according to Bethesda's European marketing and PR director Sarah Seaby, "Fallout: New Vegas pre-orders are far outstripping those of Fallout 3." Just to put it into perspective, Bethesda shipped a worldwide total of 4.7 million units of Fallout 3 in 2008. So one can only imagine just how big of a mushroom cloud this game is going to leave in the gaming market but we will just have to wait and see. I just recently traded in my original version of Fallout 3 for the game of the year edition and I still plan on buying Fallout: New Vegas.

NFL to Follow the Other Football: Microchips in Game Balls?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It appears that the NFL and Roger Goodell are finally fed up with bad calls, mundane replay challenges and awful decision making. This week, the NFL has decided to humor the idea of the actual sport of football and possibly decide on inserting microchips into the game balls to determine things like touchdowns and first downs.

Cairos Technologies, a German outfit that's been trying to sell its goal line technology to football bigwigs for a while, has told Reuters that it's in discussions with the NFL about bringing its magnetic field-based technology to the land of the vikings (and, by proxy, the Minnesota Vikings).

We have a video on the technology being used in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament after the break.

Read full article

Dan 3.0 Is Open For Suggestions

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It's safe to say that at this point in time thanks to websites like YouTube anyone who ever gets bored at work or has time to kill waiting in line at the DMV is familiar with vlogging. Every vlogger out there has his/her own reasons to put themselves out there on the Internet for all to see but there is one vlogger out there that is taking it to the next level.

Dan seems like an average enough guy with a vlog but he is putting control of his life in the hands of viewers for an entire year. Participants are allowed to vote and suggest tasks for Dan to complete every day. The good news for Dan is that he still has a good amount of control over the chosen tasks which so far have ranged from giving strangers high-fives to walking to the nearest city. He has said that soon participants will be able to influence bigger decisions like whether he will surprise his girlfriend on her birthday or not.

Revision3 is the Internet television service that is broadcasting Dan 3.0 and they reported that their site traffic doubled when the show launched August 1st and has continued to remain popular after the first 4 episodes. Only time will tell if this kind of personal influence on media will be successful now and in the future. If you want to see some of Dan's other videos then check out his YouTube channel.

Only in San Francisco: Supply and Demand-Priced Parking Meters

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Circling for parking accounts for approximately 30% of city driving. Reducing this traffic by helping drivers find parking benefits everyone. More parking availability makes streets less congested and safer. Meters that accept credit cards reduce frustration and the need for parking citations. With SFpark: Circle Less, Live More.

Only in San Fransisco can a quirky, yet possibly effective idea like this get off the ground and work! San Fransisco's parking is a disaster, so to counter, they are looking for solutions that will allow at least one parking spot open per block. With SFpark, they hope to achieve this crazy result! How? By using real-time data and demand-responsive pricing to readjust parking patterns.

Follow the break for more information.

Read full article

Is Apple's Newest Potential Acquisition A Sour Deal?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple seems to be eying smart phone chip manufacturer Infineon but they aren't the only ones. Other titan tech companies such as Samsung, Broadcom, and Intel appear to be very interested in Infineon as well. The current bid is sitting at $2 billion which is a hefty price tag but all these tech giants and especially Apple have the cash to burn. The real question is, should Apple continue to pursue the merger and acquisition?

Despite Apple being grouped together in the same industry, there are some major differences between them and their competitors. One difference deals with the way Apple normally handles mergers and acquisitions. They are used to purchasing and integrating with smaller companies. This process can usually be expedited to get projects up and developed quickly. Another factor is that Infineon would be there debut in the manufacturing arena. Apple has never done any in-house manufacturing, so along with a hefty price tag there would be a much slower and most costly integration process. Samsung, Intel, and Broadcom are quite familiar with the manufacturing industry.

Hit the break for more reasons why Apple should or shouldn't continue this merger process.

Read full article

Blizzards Taking Sexy Back

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In what most MMORPG vets and newbs alike are tentatively referring to as "the saddest forum post in the history of all mankind," Blizzard recently informed World of Warcraft players on the Moon Guard server that moderators would now be patrolling the server for... erotic role-playing. Particularly in one in-game town, Goldshire, which appears to be a non-stop, Bacchanalian festival of delights of the virtual flesh and let me tell you that I literally just got a nasty chill typing that out.

Blizzard customer service reps will now "regularly" keep an eye on the town's public chat channels, privately punishing players who violate the game's harassment policies. I can imagine the emails and tells people who violate said policies will receive. "Dear Newbstompa69, please stop trying to have cybersex with that level 4 Priest. That is very, very gross... At least go for someone within at least 5 levels of you." Which means they will have to move to a higher level area... perhaps the Arathi Highlands or something.

For more Blizzard cybersex, hit the break.

Read full article

HP CEO Resigns After Sexual Harassment Investigation

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This week, another HP exec bit the dust - this time, it's the CEO. HP CEO Mark Hurd (forcefully) resigned from the company following a sexual harassment investigation. Hurd had been questioned about specific interactions with a female contractor that could have been in violation of the company's business standards. Basically, he filed inaccurate expense reports that covered his personal relationship with a contractor who may or may not have actually performed the services she was hired for. Oh yeah, and HP paid for all of it!

The CFO, Cathie Lesjak, is taking over during the CEO search (which is never a good sign), but she did say that Mark's resignation has nothing to do with HP's performance and everything to do with his behavior. She even went on to say that Mark Hurd was a "strong leader, at the end of the day, he didn't drive our initiatives -- it was the organization that supported Mark in driving those initiatives."

More about this Eliot Spitzer-esque scandal after the break.

Read full article

Women are More Social, Online and Off

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

A recent report from comScore, a digital statistics company, indicates that women are much more likely to spend time on social sites than men. Now, while this seems like logical information, there are still some real surprises in the numbers. For example, it doesn't matter where in the world we are measuring - Latin America (94% of women), North America (91% of women), Europe (86% of women) or Asia Pacific (55% of women) all spend more time on social sites.

Those Latin and North American numbers are the most staggering. Over 90% of women who spend any time online, spend time on social sites. The highest growth of users on these sites? 45+ females, of course. Mom and grandma are on Flickr sharing photos, Twitter talking about what they had for lunch and Facebook finding high school sweethearts.

For more numbers from the web, hit the break.

Read full article

BlackBerry OS 6 and the New Torch

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

BlackBerry, as expected, fully revealed the newest version of their operating system, BlackBerry OS 6, and it has given the OS a much-needed overhaul. They have removed the traditional home screen and sprawling applications list with a simple, clean home screen and categorized application menus.

They also announced a new device to go with the launch of OS 6, the Torch 9800. The Torch will be available on AT&T starting August 12 and many have called it BlackBerry's first possible iPhone killer. While I would prefer that term to die (and it might now that Android has officially killed it), this might be BlackBerry's best chance to continue that trend.

For details on the new device, hit the break.

Read full article

Android Really is the iPhone Killer

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It's official - according to Nielsen's calculations, this month marks a passing of the torch, so to speak, from Apple to Google in terms of smartphone sales in the US. New subscribers chose the Android platform 27% of the time and Apple's iPhone platform only 23% of the time. Of course, these numbers still pale in comparison to Blackberry's hold on the market with a full third of all handsets.

Normally we see major growth in the beginning of a product's life-cycle but Android isn't the baby it used to be. We have had major Android-powered handsets on the market for 2 years now, but adoption was slow until version 1.5 and now 2.1 making the platform really shine.

For more about Android's takeover, hit the break.

Read full article

GSM is Easily Broken

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Chris Paget is not a name you probably know, but you should. He has spent the last few years trying to show the world the vulnerabilities of some of the technology we take for granted. Last year, he demonstrated how easy it is to snag the information off of "secure RFIDs" such as the ones used in US passports. He was able to download the information from the passports without even having to leave his car.

This year at DefCon, an annual security conference, the hacker showed off his latest feat - stealing cellular phone calls. With a setup that cost him about $1,500 he was able to intercept and record phone calls from unsuspecting phones.

Want to know how he did it? Hit the break!

Read full article

A Faster Way to Travel

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Have you ever dreamed of living in a place where buses are cool? It might just be time for you to move to China. Beijing’s Mentougou District, to be exact. Here, Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd has proposed a new type of bus, one they are calling the 3D fast bus, but after seeing the images, I want to call it a tunnel bus.

What is so special about the tunnel bus? Well, it takes up no space on the road. "How is that possible?" you might be asking. Well, it is, seemingly, very simple. Rather than rolling along the road on wheels, the roads will be lined with electric tracks and the bus will actually cover the road from above, leaving enough room underneath for other vehicles to pass.

For more info on the "3D fast bus" plus a video presentation of it in future action, hit the break.

Read full article

Wave Good-bye to Google Wave

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here it is. Google has announced they have stopped development on Google Wave and will only maintain the servers through the end of the year. What? You don't know what Google Wave is? Well, therein lies the problem. For those who don't know, and I will assume that is everyone reading this, Google Wave was billed as "the future of communication."

It was designed to be somewhere between the most complex instant messenger on the planet and the simplest collaboration software ever. Unfortunately, it never seemed to gain much ground as either. Wave had its share of problems and one of these, or possibly a combination of several, seems to have ended "the future of communication" here in the present.

Find out what killed Google Wave after the break.

Read full article

Nar Shaddaa?? No Way!!!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

For those of you who played the second Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords you may remember a little moon known as Nar Shaddaa. One of the most vibrant and dangerous places in the galaxy, the place is a sprawling cityscape where nothing comes without a price. Dominated by a black market that caters to every indulgence, the moon has become the ultimate symbol of corruption. The upper levels present an endless parade of glittering neon towers and floating pleasure palaces; no greater concentration of wealth exists across the galaxy.

Well this week, BioWare decided to reveal yet ANOTHER planet, and this time it's something to get excited for, if you played the original KoTOR series that is. This newly announced planet gives us a total of 14 planets to explore. Just a little fun fact, this game alone has one less planet than the first two had combined, and we are still another year from release. This meaning that there are still even more planets to be revealed, as well as even more content for the players of the game to get their hands on.

To find out more about this content, hit the break.

Read full article

Marvel Reinvents The Punisher

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

While Marvel news was all over Comic-Con this week, one of the things that got swept under the rug was the announcement that Marvel Studios has regained rights to the Punisher franchise from Lionsgate. While this might seem like a small victory, let me tell you why it is no small matter.

Marvel has been assembling a Marvel Universe in the film franchises to rival that of the actual comics, but several of their main names are out of their own control, mostly owned by Sony, such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and X-Men. The recapturing of the Punisher series brings another of its big-name titles back under its own control.

Hit the break for more on the Punisher story.

Read full article

UCF Creating Anti-Sex Video Game

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The University of Central Florida is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a rather interesting and strange project. $434,000 to be exact, to create a video game about real life situations with full-size avatars. The purpose? To teach pre-teen girls how to resist peer pressure when it comes to sex.

They have an opportunity to interact with the avatars and they'll earn points for particular social skills that they develop.

What is this all about? More after the break.

Read full article

GoldenEye 007 Remake For The DS?!?!?!?!?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Before this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, there had been rumors of a reboot of GoldenEye 007 and Nintendo put to bed speculation on whether it would be reviving the series, announcing that a reimaginging of Rare's Nintendo 64 classic would arrive for the Wii this November. However, Activision won't be limiting the game to just Nintendo's console.

As part of a grim earnings report this morning, Nintendo revealed that GoldenEye 007 is also in development for its 132 million-unit-selling handheld, the DS. Activision also confirmed the listing to GameSpot, noting that Call of Duty: Black Ops is prepping the title for launch alongside the Eurocom-developed Wii version in November.

Details on what can be expected from the handheld version remain under wraps. The Wii version will be a fairly direct translation of the highly acclaimed 1997 shooter, though it will also feature updated visuals, four-player split-screen multiplayer, and new game modes. GoldenEye 007 for the Wii will also include online multiplayer, a functionality its N64 cousin could not offer.

The thought that comes to my mind is why are they developing the game for the DS and not the new 3DS instead. We have already seen at E3 that the 3DS has a vast difference as far as quality of graphics, so why not do something right the FIRST time and make the game for the 3DS? Could you imagine playing through GoldenEye 007 in 3D? I sure could and now that I know it's possible, I see it as the only viable option for a handheld version of the game.

YouTube's 15 Minutes of Fame

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

YouTube's 10 minute limit on videos has expanded to 15 minutes this week, giving users 50 percent more time to upload more pointless and random crap to clog the Internet's series of tubes. The new limit is a reflection of audiences' growing demand for longer form content online. In the past, YouTube content partners have been able to publish longer videos, but the ability for regular user to do this now is pretty significant.

How famous can you get? Follow the break to find out.

Read full article

Sprint Gets Even More Clever with New iPod Touch

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sprint's marketing and product development teams have been clever and just plain awesome when it comes to the ways they have been able to combat the ever popular iPod, iPad and iPhone. We have all seen the commercials and ads that show the iPad connecting to the network via Sprint's mobile hotspot solution, and even went as far as to offer a free iPad case that had a pocket to fit the 4G/3G Overdrive. Well, now Sprint has teamed up with manufacturer ZTE to bring you the Peel, which is a case that will allow the iPod touch to do the same for Sprint's 3G network.

To check out Sprint's latest concoction, hit the break.

Read full article

Fired for Going TO SPACE!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Want to hear the best termination story you'll ever hear? Well, here we go. Richard "Lord British" Garriott, Ultima creator and coiner of the term Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game created a company called Destination Games. They partnered with NCSoft to release a number of things, most notably Tabula Rasa, a semi-failure of an MMO. At some point, NCSoft bought the company and Garriott was made CEO of NCsoft Austin, also known as NC Interactive.

In 2008, Garriott decided to take his fortunes and go to space, so he hopped aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 and headed to the International Space station for 12 days. While there, NCSoft decided that this was his resignation and posted a resignation letter on the Tabula Rasa website. The only problem is that he didn't write the letter and had had no intentions of leaving the company.

To read the rest of the story and the resulting lawsuit, hit the break.

Read full article

Google Makes Facebook Angry by Taking Zynga on a Date

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week, we talked about how Google Me would be a way for Google to take on Facebook, at least on the social media side of things. But what about for the gaming market? With online games such as FrontierVille and FarmVille taking over, Google would have had to have seen the success, and this week, it looks like they have taken notice, as Google is trying to sweet talk social-gaming giant Zynga into doing business with them.

It only makes sense for Google to make this move, as we also learned this week that Disney bought Playdom, the #3 game developer behind Zynga and EA, for $563.2 million and GameStop made a move for Flash game developer Kongregate.

For more on Google's plot, follow the break.

Read full article

How to Recover American Idol

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The country's top-rated program for somewhere near 100 years now is on the brink of collapse. Simon Cowell has left the show so he can go back to having a career and recently rehired executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, has fired Ellen Degenres and Kara DioGuardi, leaving the series with Randy Jackson.

Jennifer Lopez has officially been picked to replace Ellen and Kara (they are bringing the team back to 3, not 4) and rumors in the industry seem to point to an incredibly odd replacement for Simon: Steven Tyler. Yes, you read that right. JLo and Aerosmith combining to form a partnership even stranger than the Super Bowl halftime show where Aerosmith and N*Sync performed with Brittany Spears.

So, this has me thinking - is there a way for Fox to salvage American Idol?

Read full article

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!!!!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Citing increased real-life criminal activity originating in the online space, the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communication has placed a number of tight restrictions on massively multiplayer titles. These include bans on any and all advertisements for online games, as well as regulations forcing ISPs to shut off service to gaming cafes and retailers after hours.

According to the website 70% to 76%, of primary school children play online videogames on weekdays, with 100% of the surveyed saying they played on weekends. Videogames have been blamed for a rise in crime and truancy by young people, as well as fears over videogame addiction.

The government has asked videogame creators to have their games put through a standard ratings system based on their content. Some have already done this and the ratings range from "below 6; 6-11; 12-15; 15-18; above 18; and 'unsuitable for all ages'." There’s also, according to Vietnam News, a move for "electronic IDs", which seems to indicate a universal log-on system which would help "manage internet usage".

More drastic is the Ministry's decision to stop allowing any additional online games to come into the nation until further legislation on the matter can be considered. What I am wondering is if this has anything to do with the large amount of gold farming that comes out of countries like Vietnam and Korea. It looks like all the people who depend on buying fake money with real money. Looks like I am going to have to hold off on buying my epic mount.

Apple, Google or Palm?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The mobile landscape is changing and we owe a lot of that change to mobile apps, or more realistically, the advertisement of mobile apps. These applications have been in existence for decades, but no one has made a big deal about them until Apple, who infamously advertised just that aspect of their products for a long time.

In the app world, there seems to be three distinct approaches to policing content: Apple, Google and Palm. Apple has been known for policing their apps too much, Google doesn't have any approval process to speak of and Palm only looks for malicious or broken code to approve apps. Who has the right idea?

To see evidence of who might be right and whose approach is wrong, hit the break.

Read full article

Four New Characters For Marvel V.S. Capcom 3!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

After a tease on Capcom's Twitter account this morning that new Marvel vs. Capcom 3 characters would be revealed today, Capcom has gone ahead and announced four new characters. The Capcom side adds Street Fighter's Chun-Li and Devil May Cry's Trish, while Marvel gets Doctor Doom and Super-Skrull.

None of the new reveals are especially surprising. Silhouettes of the unannounced characters were shown in a trailer a few months ago, and some were incredibly obvious. But now that they're official, you can look forward to getting your hands on these characters when Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is released in spring 2011 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

I am particularly disappointed that we didn't get to see much gameplay of one of the characters Amaterasu, a god from the Okami games, and sadly it seems that Marvel V.S. Capcom 3 is the closest PS3 gamers will get to having an Okami game on their console. But I was excited to see Dr. Doom on the roster so I can cause some magical mayhem.

Star Wars... IN SPACE!!!!!!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Earlier in this week BioWare decided to issue a mission to the community of TOR calling it "Comic-Con Reveal mission!" via a thread of the forums. The thread stated:

Comic-Con International is almost upon us! You already know about the "Beyond Solo" panel being held on Friday, but we have something extra we want to announce during it. You're going to work for this one, though. If we get at least 200,000 "Likes" on our Facebook page and 30,000 Followers on our Twitter page by Friday, July 23rd, 2010, we will bring you this cool reveal!

Now it's our turn to bribe you. Hit the break to find out the reveal!

Read full article

Swedish Pirate Party Start Log-Free ISP

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The Swedish Pirate Party have decided that hosting The Pirate Bay on its own servers is not enough to defend people's "right to act politically" and have moved forward with a bigger and better plan. Two members of the political Piratpartiet are launching their very own ISP that will have the service coincide with the views and expressions of the party. Pirate ISP founders insist that the experience will be like no other - users will be responsible for maintaining the service and privacy will be one of their highest priorities.

Click the break to see what exactly this ISP is about.

Read full article

Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010 Has Been Passed

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It looks like we can forget about the crazy prison cellphone jamming ideas that wardens have been wanting for the past few years. The House of Representatives has approved S. 1749, which will now make it against the law for prisoners to be in possession of a mobile phone or any other device that can access any wireless service. The Senate had approved this bill in April and now with the House also passing it, the only step left is the President's signature.

Follow the break to read more and to see a summary of the bill.

Read full article

You Get a Windows Phone 7! And You Get a Windows Phone 7!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Microsoft has gone the ways of Oprah! Huzzah! ZD Net's Microsoft connoisseur, Mary Jo Foley, retweeted a company employee mentioning a Microsoft promise to give a WinPho 7 handset to every single one of their 90,000+ employees in the world!

Let's tip our hats to Microsoft for their amazing attempt at word-of-mouth advertising. 90,000 WinPho 7 devices in the world in front of people will be a great way to get consumers excited about the new line of handsets! We've been concerned about how they were going to market and compete with something brand new and different. This might play to their advantage, so long as the units work perfectly in the wild.

I just hope one of these doesn't get left at a bar and taken home by a journalist. That person may get beaten with the phone and then dragged down a road. At different times, of course - that WinPho security team can't do more than one thing at a time.

Rumor Alert: Verizon to Cap Data, Follow AT&T's Path

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It looks like AT&T won't be the only ones killing off their unlimited data package as Verizon might be following suit sometime soon. Currently, Verizon only has prepaid mobile broadband plans ranging from 100MB to 1GB and from $15 to $50. The issue with that is that 1GB can be eaten up pretty quickly just by visiting YouTube for an hour and 100MB is gone with something as simple as a couple of Google searches. Verizon looks to remedy that with some tiered data packages.

For information on what those packages might be, follow the break.

Read full article

Droid X Does Have Screen Defects

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

For those early birds who have gotten their hands on the new Droid X, you may have encountered problems with the huge 4.3" display on Motorola's and Verizon's newest smartphone. A number of users have reported seeing flickering, banding, distorting and other weird phenomena. Verizon has confirmed that the screen issues are due to a hardware defect, but have said that the problem is isolated to less than one percent of the total Droid X inventory.

Follow the break to see what Verizon's statement on the matter said.

Read full article

Its A Wide Open FrontierVille Out There

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It seems that if you put Ville at the end of any app on Facebook these days, it will end up being extremely successful. FrontierVille on Facebook, is no exception. The Wild West-themed game that lets virtual pioneers tame a piece of wilderness has attracted 20 million players since its June 9 launch, making it the third most popular Zynga game after FarmVille and Zynga Poker. The game combines elements of FarmVille with a robust mission structure and a "living world," which means constantly keeping nature and varmints at bay ranging from bears to snakes. Sounds like a kid version of Red Dead Redemption to me but I guess I can see the appeal.

Other fun facts Frontierville since launch:

6.3 million people have built their frontier cabins
3.3 million people have built a general store
2.3 million people got married
1.1 million people have had a kid
10 million people have clobbered a snake
3.6 million people have scared away a bear

Chile First Country to Guarantee Net Neutrality

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We've talked about net neutrality since this show started over three seasons ago and have been following the developments in business, federal and international policies and laws regarding it. New to net neutrality discussions or need a brush-up on some of the topics? Here's some reference:

AT&T Won't Let the FCC Let Google Be
FCC: Google Explain Yourself
TV Is Everywhere, Hulu Is Not
Some Readers Won't Digest the FCC's Net Neutrality Rules
Comcast Plans To Screw Consumers More, Where's The Romance?
Republicans and Democrats Agree: Net Neutrality Up to Congress

All caught up? Good. Now, the consensus for the consumer community is that we all want net neutrality and the freedom to post what we want, where we want it, within the confines of ethical, moral and legal principles. ISPs, however, absolutely despise even the notion of such freedom and things of that sort. The politicians in the now amazing country of Chile and their Board of the Chamber of Deputies, though, have concluded that they absolutely love net neutrality!

Follow the break to see what they've done.

Read full article

Larry Kenney, Larry Kenney, Larry Kenney.... Hooeeeeeeee!!!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You guys remember Thundercats, right? Nobody can forget the classic cry of Lion-O: Thundercats Thundercats Thundercats Hoeeeeeeeeeeeee (yea you know me).

Well we've got some great news for you because it looks like Japan's Studio40C is rebooting the franchise for a new generation, and that isn't even the good news. THAT comes to us from Rosemary Ward's Facebook page that states:

Interesting Thundercat News! Talking to the a {sic} talent agency just now in regards to Larry Kenney, I found out He'll be voicing Lion-O again!

Hit the break to hear more about the Thundercats!

Read full article

Intel Hires Former Palm Exec as New VP for Smartphones

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I know everyone was curious and extremely interested to see what HP would do after buying Palm a couple months ago and the only things we've seen so far are a possible line of WebOS printers and a huge amount of departures from the company and the merger. The most recent casualty is the former Senior VP for Product Development, Mike Bell. Bell had served 16 years at Apple before jumping ship to work for Jon Rubinstein but has now donned the color of blue, as he will be joining Intel to become the new Vice President for the smartphone division. More specifically, Bell will act as the Director of Smartphone Product Development in Intel's Ultra Mobility group.

As we have been telling you, Intel has been looking to get into the smartphone market for quite some time, and a man of Mike Bell's stature guiding them may be just the thing they need to propel them to the top quickly, or at least allow them to hit the ground running in the right direction.

Click past the break to read the company email sent revealing Mr. Bell's arrival to the company.

Read full article

They Know What You Like And They Know What You Want

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In yet another testament to science fiction becoming science fact a revolution has started in the advertising industry all the way across the world in none other than Japan. Take a trip back to June 21st. 2002 when Minority Report staring Tom Cruise was released. The personalized digital ads seen in the movie have become a reality. The digital billboards displaying these ads are outfitted with cameras that can determine gender and age group even if you are just passing by and glance at the billboard.

Hit the break for a video and more!

Read full article

Google Wants More Face Time Than Facebook

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The world is more than familiar with social networking giant Facebook and this is starting to scare Google a little bit. That is an odd statement to make and I had some concern that a hole would rip in space and time but it's true, and maybe they should be.

For those of us who have ever used Orkut which is Google's social networking project. You will immediately notice a user interface that is quite lacking in aesthetics and functionality. This is probably due to the fact that Orkut has been a back burner project for quite some time. Google also realized that Buzz was not enough to break into social networking properly. Adam D'Angelo, a former Facebook director, shared what he has heard about a full scale Google social networking site called Google Me:

Hit the break for more info on Google Me.

Read full article

1 vs 100 Still Has No Third Season

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

1 vs 100 has met another tragic fate, this time on Xbox Live. Microsoft announced this week that it will not be renewing 1 vs 100 for a third season.

Dave McCarthy, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, said,

When we started on this journey, we knew we were creating an entirely new genre of entertainment that would be a continually evolving concept. We're very proud of the '1 vs 100' team and their accomplishments, and are excited to apply what we've learned to future programming.

Read full article

Old Spice Goes Viral

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The Internet is an interesting place. You never quite know what is going to happen next in the viral world. The only thing you know is that there will always be something exciting coming around the corner. This week we had the pleasure of watching hundreds of Old Spice commercials made over the course of just a few days.

The "commercials" were filmed in the same style as the TV commercials but with a twist: they were all in response to messages and comments they received online. All produced real-time and posted back to the Interwebs. Assuming no breaks, they produced a commercial every 7 minutes or so.

Hit the break to find out how they did it and to see the spots.

Read full article

Apple Engineer was Worried About iPhone 4 Antenna Problems Early On

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It's time for us to add more fuel to the Apple iPhone 4 fire! Bloomberg has reported that "someone familiar with the matter" claims that Apple's own antenna expert, Ruben Caballero, informed Apple management that the iPhone 4 antenna blueprint could make for some severe reception problems, could drop calls and cause a major engineering challenge.

Caballero is a major player in the Apple ladder with quite a fair amount of experience and antenna patents to his name and even though we may not know the whole story, it's possible his concerns were put to bed during Apple's testing.

Follow the break to read more about this story.

Read full article

New Xbox 360 Dashboard Interface?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We don't have much information, but we ran across some sources that have let us in on some special Microsoft happenings in the near future, specifically with the Xbox 360 Dashboard. We remember last year when the New Xbox Experience, or NXE, changed the way users interacted with their console and with Xbox Live. It seems like Microsoft has chosen to take it one step further in this possible refresh.

From what we've seen, the new Xbox 360 Dashboard has a cleaner, sleeker look to it. We've also seen images of a "Natal Tuner" application and a "Natal" setup process, which we, of course, now know the project to be called Kinect. We can guess that because of this, these images we saw were from an older build of this likely beta dashboard.

It only makes sense for Microsoft to come out with a slightly newer feel to the user interface, especially with the release of the new Xbox 360 S and the upcoming holiday release of Kinect. This seems like the last step for their rebranding process on the product.

Dumpster Pools Invading New York

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you have traveled to the New York area in the past month or so, you might want to buy a time machine and change your plans because everyone will want to see this. The first 3 Saturdays of August, the Bloomberg administration will be placing 3 dumpster-pools on Park Avenue between 40th and 41st. Yes, you read that right, dumpster pools.

The pools are designed by Macro-Sea, a company based in Brooklyn. They will be fully-lined, Department of Health certified clean and bigger than any dumpster you've ever swam in before. Measuring out at 8 feet wide, 22 feet long and upwards of 5 1/2 feet deep. this is the tourist destination of the summer.

Hit the break to find out more about the dumpster pools!

Read full article

AMD Posts Record Quarter, Still Loses Money

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

AMD posted its earnings this week to the anticipating masses of investors and the rest of the tech industry. AMD has made great strides in the past twelve months to really make an impact in the market and everyone was hoping that the numbers would show that AMD's effort really were holding water.

Dirk Meyer, AMD President and CEO, attested their success in the second quarter to those efforts:

Robust demand for our latest mobile platforms and solid execution drove record second quarter revenue and a healthy gross margin. Our unmatched combination of microprocessor and graphics capabilities resulted in customers launching a record number of new mobile and desktop platforms. We added Sony as a microprocessor customer and continue to see our existing customers expand their AMD-based platform offerings.

Hit the break to see what the numbers were and how much they lost as a company.

Read full article

iPhone Isn't the Problem, Everyone Else Is!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple has been under the technological and consumer microscope since the release of their iPhone 4. There was the issue where a user had the screen break within the first few hours of owning it, calling the quality of Apple's glass into question. Of course, everyone knows about the overall shortage of handsets across the country. People who had pre-orders at Best Buy, RadioShack, AT&T and Apple still haven't received their phones a full 3 weeks after the launch and are still not being told when they might receive them. Their biggest public issue, however, has been reception.

Now, before we get started here, I want to clear the air. Yes, we are sponsored by Microsoft at this time. Yes, most of the company is run on Palm phones. We do, however, have an iPhone 4, an iPhone 3Gs and a Blackberry running around the offices and studio as well. That being said, Apple is getting a lot of crap about the reception of the iPhone 4. Some of it deserved, some of it normal usage issues. All smartphones, and in reality, all phones have reception issues. If the antenna is inside, the phone has a place you can hold that will cut off reception. It is the nature of the technology. The sign of a good or bad phone design is where that is placed.

Hit the break for more of "antennagate" and a video from the presentation.

Read full article

Music of The Old Republic

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

One of the elements of the Star Wars movies that truly impacted me and made the franchise truly memorable is the music created by John Williams. Williams has been known for creating the score for various hit movies, like the Indiana Jones movies to more recent films like The Terminal or Harry Potter. He truly shows great aptitude for being able to capture a moment on the screen with nothing but a few subtle notes, to having you go on a thrill ride as Luke destroys the first death star.

By the looks of it, BioWare plans to carry on the traditions John Williams and continue to let music guide us on our journey through The Old Republic. According to their most recent Developer's Dispatch TOR will have 5 hours of original score, the score from both Knight of the Old Republic 1 and 2 AND the original score from the Star Wars movies. So when BioWare says that this is their biggest project to date, they aren't just blowing hot air.

Hit the break for details and a video of the music in the game.

Read full article

RIAA Takes Another Loss, This Time in Tenenbaum Case

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This week, more evidence came to light that RIAA is crazy as another judge, this time in the Joel Tenenbaum case, found that the ordered $675,000 fine for copyright infringement was just a little too much for an individual to pay. The fine has since been reduced to a tenth of that, or $67,500. U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner has decided the original amount was "unconstitutionally excessive", furthering showing that judges aren't happy with the damage amounts that juries are allowed to set under the current federal law.

Check after the break for more on the case.

Read full article

Blizzard Gets The Cold Shoulder

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

One of my favorite aspects of posting on forums is the anonymity behind it all. So if I have something to say about a particular thread i can use my alternate account or something to put in my honest two cents in. Blizzard however doesn't or rather didn't think that I should have that privilege. For those of you that have been on a public forum before I am sure you are familiar with terms like flame wars, or trolls ect, and keeping those terms in mind, is how Blizzard came up with the Real ID system.

The Real ID system essentially requires you to give your real life name, and have your name show up on every official forum post you make. Can you say privacy concerns? After the announcement on their brilliant idea...lets just say that the Blizz Boys had a ton of complaints to deal with. So much in fact that they ended up deciding that it was in their best interest to not go ahead with the plan.

Blizzard stated Tuesday:

Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven't been connected before

So you can kind of see where they are coming from but forum users didn't see it the way that Blizzard did. After all of the forum posts made by users the following quote basically sums up the communities thoughts in saying:

I know a lot of people are going to just simply STOP using the forums when you do this, you're not bringing us together, you're making us all too afraid to interact with each other out of fear of identity theft

Blizzard also made it clear that the Real ID system they were going to implement in the forums was not the same as the optional feature to link the real life names of players on your friends list. In its effort to improve forums, Blizzard said Friday, it will still move ahead with new features such as the ability to rate posts up or down and highlight posts based on rating, as well as improved search functionality, and more.

Public Testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic Begins

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you've slowly become interested in Star Wars: The Old Republic by way of my shoving information down your throats, or if you were already following the game before I brought it to your attention, I have some great news for you. This week BioWare finally stated that "testing has begun" for TOR and that if we were invited to partake in testing we would have received emails and should be able to access the game immediately. They also stated that if you didn't get into beta on the first wave of invites, you needn't worry because there will be several other invitation waves hitting us in the near future.

There were, of course, some naysayers in the forums stating that we already knew that testing was going on, so this was a waste of an update. However, I beg to differ. It is obvious that BioWare would do in-house testing, as any other developer would. As helpful as beta's can be a majority of the time, players who gain access often are looking to just play the game rather than test it like they should. The reason why BioWare's announcement is exciting is because we now know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that players are getting their hands on the game, which means that we will also be getting a lot more information about the game.

Some information unfortunately has come through leaked footage. Yes, you read right, not even 24 hours after the announcement of the beta and there is already leaked footage out there on the net. Is there nothing sacred in this world? Now, granted, I am extremely excited to get my hands on the game but to basically spit in the faces of the people who gave you access to beta by leaking footage is just wrong. That being said, if you were lucky enough to get access to the beta, feel free to tell us, if it isn't a breach of the non-disclosure Agreement of course.

Google's Street View Cars Now Refueled and Good-to-go

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Google's Street View cars are back up and running and will be going to town in Ireland, Norway, South Africa and Sweden next week, after Google finally explained its processes to the respective countries' regulators. All of the WiFi collection equipment have been stripped out of all the cars globally, which included all hardware and software.

"Our cars will no longer collect any Wi-Fi information at all, but will continue to collect photos and 3D imagery as they did before," said Google Geo engineering vice president Brian McClendon in the blog post.

More of the backstory and the future of Google's Street View process is after the break.

Read full article

China Opens Their Great Walls to BlackBerry

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Research in Motion, makers of BlackBerry phones, has been having a little trouble figuring out where they go next. They used to be the most popular device for business and email, but have quickly been losing ground to the iPhone, Android and Palm phones that have all understood better what communication should look like and feel like on a modern mobile device.

RIM has also tried to move into the consumer smartphone market with almost no success. The Storms have been slightly better received than Microsoft's Kin. All of this information still leads me to announce that on July 9th, RIM's stock rose over 7%.

Hit the break to find out why.

Read full article

Woman Sent to Jail for Texting Threats to Herself

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The normal person who was having a bad day or didn't like themselves would just be sad, angry or depressed. The normal person would maybe post a Facebook status about it or even keep a journal and write these feels of sorrow down.

It seems, however, that 25-year-old Jeanne Mundango Manunga did not feel any of those options were appropriate for her. Manunga felt that she should make people believe it was others who disliked her. Specifically, she decided those two people would be her sister-in-law and her ex-boyfriend.

Check after the break to find out what happened.

Read full article

OnLive Going Online Slowly

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We have spoken about creative online gaming solutions many times over the 3 years we have been here at PLuGHiTz Live! From BringIt to Virgin Games to OnLive, there have been a lof of ideas. This week, I am going to revive the OnLive topic because their service is getting closer to being a full reality.

OnLive is a service that allows you to play games (like Assassin's Creed II) without having to download or install the game. It, in essence, is trying to give Steam and our sponsor Direct2Drive a run for their money, claiming the model is out-dated. The problem is that their model doesn't seem to work right.

Hit the link for details on what is wrong and a video of the evidence.

Read full article

NASDAQ Shows Some Silver in Times Square

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone has seen the NASDAQ ticker display. It is the backdrop for all NASDAQ news throughout the world and it is hard to miss at the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square. Well, the screen we all know and love is getting a visual and technological makeover with the help of Microsoft Silverlight.

Brad Vopni, Senior VP at NASDAQ OMX said,

At NASDAQ OMX, we take pride in the speed and reliability of our products. That's why we were delighted to see how quickly and easily we could use Silverlight to build powerful and rock-solid applications. With Microsoft's Silverlight technology, we were able to create graphics that reflect the real-time changes that happen in the stock market and we redesigned the stock ticker at the NASDAQ MarketSite with higher-quality graphics. The technology is nimble and extensible, giving us a platform upon which to build future products while taking advantage of existing Microsoft software already in place at the NASDAQ MarketSite.

Read full article

Microsoft Searching for Next of Kin

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It was an astonishing 48 days of nonstop advertising from Microsoft, Sharp and Verizon for their newest media baby, the Kin One and Kin Two. At the end of the 48 days, however, Microsoft has pulled the plug on its project citing poor sales. With over 2 years of development and million and millions of dollars in marketing, how could Microsoft kill its creation in just 6 weeks?

A Microsoft rep said in a statement,

We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones.

Hit the break for what went wrong.

Read full article

There's Nothing (four)square About Google's New Parking App

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It seems Google just never knows enough about you. Well now they seem to be trying to build a list of your commonly visited places through their new Android app, Open Spot.

When you leave a parking lot, you run the Open Spot app and log the spot as open, then a nearby user can run the app and see the location on their map, thus finding a parking place. For each spot you mark you get awarded "karma points" which you can use to keep score against your friends. Of course with points being introduced, people are always going to find some way to cheat the system. Google is marking these people as "griefers" and they "have a couple of mechanisms available to make sure someone can't leave a bunch of fake parking spots."

Read full article

AT&T and iPhone Exclusivity Lawsuit now Certified as Class-Action to Include Every AT&T iPhone Customer

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

A couple months ago we heard some rumors about Apple lawyers confirming that the manufacturer really did have a five year exclusivity agreement with AT&T but didn't hear much more about it. It looks as though this is just the tip of the iceberg now, as the judge in the case has officially certified the case as a class action, which means it now will include every person who has ever bought an iPhone on AT&T.

Hit the break to see what the terms of the lawsuit are.

Read full article

WinPho 7 Launch Still Months Away

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We have been keeping you up to date with news of Windows Phone 7 Series comes to light, with exclusive chats on app development and gaming with Microsoft's team leaders on the project. Microsoft has always said that WinPho 7 would be launched around the holidays and has never given any specific information beyond that until a couple weeks ago, when a Microsoft rep mistakenly let slip that the launch would be around October.

More speculation and rumors started flying when we learned that AT&T stores were receiving marketing materials with WinPho 7 on it, which meant launch time could be when the stores were to refresh their signage - anywhere from July 24th to September.

Check after the break to see if Microsoft can launch WinPho 7 in time!

Read full article

FTC Direct Messages Twitter About Security Breaches

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I have posed the question before about what Twitter will do with their virtually endless supply of investor capital and while we still don't have a clear answer we now know that it wasn't spent on keeping your information safe. According to the FTC Twitter has had "serious lapses in the company's data security." What exactly does that mean? It means that during January through May 2009 hackers were easily able to get into Twitter admin accounts by using simple password guessing programs. They then reset the password to the accounts so others could have access. In an unrelated instance, another hacker was able to break into a Twitter employees Gmail account in which they had users passwords stored in plain text... IN PLAIN TEXT!

The FTC has given Twitter a written warning about using simple passwords and also for storing them IN PLAIN TEXT. The company will have their security tested every 3 years by an independent company. They will also be fined $16,000 per every instance of a security breach. The icing on the cake however, is that Twitter is also not allowed to lie about their privacy and security settings for the next 20 years. The only reason I can think of as to why 20 years is the requirement is that the FTC doesn't expect them to be around that long.

BitTorrent Using Facebook to Do Legal Things

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The evidence has always existed that large corporations will find useful, excellent ways to use torrent services and Facebook has joined the list of big businesses supporting torrents by stating this week that BitTorrent helps with the transfer of new code between each and every one of its servers.

Read more about what the Facebook engineers had to say after the break!

Read full article

APB In-game Ads?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

An APB beta participant recently noticed a "VOIP Premium" option in his account management page, which promises to keep ads off of the in-game chat program in exchange for real-life monies. Developer Realtime Worlds was quick to clarify the terms of these ads: they'll only play when traveling between Districts, and only if the player hasn't heard an advertisement in the last three hours.

So you don't need to worry about being in the middle of a conversation and have a McDonald's commercial interrupt you, telling you to get a delicious quarter pounder or something. The reason behind the in-game adds are unknown but I have my own theory. When we talked about the APB payment method a little while ago, I pointed out that for 30 days of gameplay it is only $9.99, making 30 days of gameplay 5 dollars cheaper than your average MMO monthly fee of $15. I believe the in-game ads are what make their price possible. So if I have to listen to a few ads to shave a few bucks off of a monthly fee, sign me up.

Luckily for all you readers and listeners out there, we have been granted access to an exclusive beta of APB, and we will give you updates and details as we're allowed to. We here at the show are excited about this new game! Look out for the PLuGHiTz Platoon!

Zune Store Now Accepting Credit Cards, Too!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Bing Entertainment launched this week and with it, Microsoft has given users the ability to stream and purchase music through the Zune MP3 store right from the search results. It only made sense for the Zune store to now also accept credit cards, after a long time of only being able to accept Microsoft points. Zune.net hasn't been able to be used to purchase music until this change was made; users would have to buy Microsoft points before they could actually purchase the songs they wanted. Adversely, consumers would have to access the Zune Marketplace or install the Zune software to accomplish what they wanted to do. Microsoft had to consider all consumers who may not have these devices or software installed who could be potential users of their services.

Hit the break to see what Microsoft had to say about this change.

Read full article

Sony's PlayStation Plus Package in Detail

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sony posted a new entry on their PlayStation blog this week, hoping to clarify some questions and confusion regarding their new PlayStation Plus package announced at E3 last week.

We have some more details about the plan. While this is for Europe (who cares) and other foreign countries, we can assume the details of the plan will be similar here in the States. Sony looks to launch the service on Tuesday, June 29th and it will include games, discounts, exclusive items in the PlayStation Store, full game trials and automatic downloads of content. The current PSN features will stay free, as Sony looks to not alienate their existing customer base with these additions. As we discussed in our original article about this, subscriptions can be purchased in three month or one year duration. One new detail we found out, however, is that if you sign up between launch day and August 3rd for a one year subscription, you will also receive a downloadable copy of LittleBigPlanet for free. The copy will be yours even after your subscription should expire.

Want to know what else is included and some more details? Hit the break and check it all out!

Read full article

Nintendo's Plans for 3DS Games of the Future

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Ever since last week's Nintendo press conference at E3 2010, everyone has been talking about the new Nintendo 3DS. What everyone seems to have forgotten is that no real games were announced, other than Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Satoru Iwata had something to say about that in a Q&A:

Read full article

Foursquare Checks-In To Investors' Wallets

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone here at PLuGHiTz Live! Radio that has a phone capable of using Foursquare uses it constantly but fortunately for Foursquare their user base extends beyond us and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This is part of the reason why this location-based social networking service has been receiving enormous amounts of attention from investment groups and large Internet companies such as Yahoo! and Facebook. The other reason is because interested companies like the amount of innovation the service has seen over the past several months. Many of the talks with prospective investors have come close to closing but have fallen short. Their deal with Facebook, which is who Foursquare CEO and co-founder Dennis Crowley wants to work with the most, is on the rocks as they are finding it difficult to negotiate for more cash rather than stock in the social networking giant.

Foursqure has also been involved in an on-again-off-again relationship with Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm. The two companies were discussing an 80 million dollar deal when Horowitz backed out saying the negotiating process was too complicated, lengthy and public for their liking. Three weeks ago Horowitz made another offer for less than the original 80 million but the amount is unknown.

It seems like Foursquare is playing around with some big and wealthy companies but I'm not sure they will be in a position to drag them along much longer. They have already been in negotiations for several months with Facebook and Andreessen Horowitz, seemingly their two most interested potential investors, but they aren't getting the interest that Twitter received despite the fact that their service is much more useful and innovative. That being said, it will be interesting to see who they sign a deal with, for how much, and what they will be able to do with the funding.

3DPSP2 A no Go for Sony

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone seems to agree that one of the biggest wins at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was Nintendo's announcement of the glasses-less 3DS. Sony, however, was the banner-waver for 3D gaming as they have been in the rest of the entertainment industry for 3D content.

The surprise, then, will be that Sony has no plans to incorporate any type of 3D experience into their next version of the PSP, affectionately called the PSP2 among the industry.

Read full article

ICANN, YouCANN, We All CANN!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Are you tired of scouring the Interwebs for porn sites with names like www.somethingsemidirty.com or www.somethingharmless.edu? Well, your search just got a lot easier. ICANN, the international board in charge of the Internet has approved the addition of another top-level domain - .xxx. I bet you can guess what that's for.

Somehow, according to the board, they have been working for 6 years to create a place for adult content on the web. In the interest of full disclosure, in the past, ICANN has denied the addition of .xxx to its roster of top-levels. I wonder what else they were considering that they thought might be better.

Right now, ICM has over 110,000 pre-reservations for domain names and expects that number to continue to grow until release day. The excitement has gone to their heads and everyone is now speaking in innuendo. Example:

"It's been a long time coming" - ICANN Chairman Stuart Lawley.
"Our expectation is that this step will proceed smoothly" - ICM spokesperson.

Clearly this is an amusing topic, but there is a serious side, too. It will be easier to find you some boobies!

Hit the break for some of our suggestions on discarded top-level domain ideas. WARNING - NSFW!

Read full article

Jackson Taking Over The Hobbit

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It is nice to be able to write about the upcoming 2-part film The Hobbit and not have bad news. It is the reason I have mostly avoided the topic until now. Today I have some of the best news nerds all over the world could possibly get. Guillermo del Toro is officially out as director and his replacement is Peter Jackson!

Peter Jackson is the now legendary director who was responsible for the original trilogy of films that were The Lord of the Rings. He has been onboard as producer for the new series of prequel films, but bringing him out of the shadows and sitting him in the director's chair is a big move, bound to change the look and feel of the films, and hopefully the direction.

Hit the break for some of the changes and more.

Read full article

YouTube vs. Viacom: Round 2 Fight!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Wednesday June 23rd, 2010 marks the end of round 1, which began back in 2007, for the Google owned YouTube vs. Viacom lawsuit with an unanimous decision in favor of YouTube. Judge Stanton's summary judgment states that section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act offers safe harbor to ISPs that take an active role in responding to copyright infringement complaints. He also stated that, "the DMCA is explicit," meaning sites like YouTube do not have to actively seek out infringing content, they only are required to respond to complaints.

Hit the break to read about Viacom's stance on the issue.

Read full article

Kinect Demo's Going Live... At Four Locations

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The Microsoft Store's official Twitter account is inviting folks to try Kinect at its stores "nationwide," which sounds a lot more impressive before the realization hits that there are only four locations in the entire country. The MS Twitter account also notes that Kinectimals will be shown off this weekend, so looks like those of you nearby will be able to play with skittles, which sounds a lot better than playing with a wet monkey. The miracle to me is that something interesting actually came out of twitter.

Hit the break for the locations and more information about the Kinect test-drive.

Read full article

Microsoft Just Dropped A Bieber Bomb

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The drums of war are sounding over the motion-controlled gaming market, and efforts have escalated significantly earlier this week, when Microsoft's Kinect gained an endorsement from one of the world's foremost cultural leaders: Teen sensation Justin Bieber. Click past the jump to see the intro video to one of Bieber's recent performances: A clip which shows Bieber and company trying out Dance Central and Kinect Adventures, unlocking a few lucrative (albeit fake) Achievements along the way.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Konami Brings Us Two New Castlevania Games

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I am pleased to announce that there were some good things that came from Konami this year. Everybody clap at Konami! Koji Igarashi, a producer for Konami Digital Entertainment announced one title I'm really excited for. This title is part of a 25 year old franchise that all of us NES lovers remember fondly. I'm talking of course about Castlevania Harmony of Despair.

This is a new take on the original 2D versions for the NES and looks to bring new life to the old 2D platform. The maps are now connected so monsters can actually follow you through the game creating a more continuous world. It is also the first multiplayer game of the franchise with a co-op mode and versus mode so you can play with or against each other. Koji also talked about the graphics getting a face lift as well so you can expect a more vibrant atmosphere. We didn't get to see a lot of game play but it certainly looks exciting.

For information on the next Castlevania title, hit the break!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Def Jam Rapstar

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

At Konami's E3 press briefing, we got a more in-depth look at 4MM's Def Jam RapStar. With Konami's backing, 4MM looks to offer the best interactive hip hop experience to date, with four game modes: Party, Career, Freestyle and Battle.

We were able to see the vocal recognition so precise that it would show which words you messed up on, giving you an opportunity to learn all the songs you perform. After your set, you can even take the footage from your Xbox Vision camera, edit it and add stickers, animation and effects to make the video stand out.

There's a reason you're going to want to edit the video, too. That is because there is an online social aspect of Def Jam: Rapstar that gives stats on every Rapster player. You can access it via the game itself or through your computer, which has more details available, like the top player and an option to compare your success against others. You can even challenge other players to certain tracks. The online community also has the option to post real-time updates to your Facebook and Twitter.

The game includes crews and rivals in an attempt to really build this game to become more than just a karaoke machine, and instead, make it more of a platform for you to immerse yourself into the game entirely.

If you want to be creative, Def Jam: Rapstar has a Freestyle mode, with beats from producers like Just Blaze. Freestyle mode is basically a studio, letting you put together tracks in your very own way. These tracks can then be shared with the community and Def Jam also informed us that there is even a chance to get recognized by A&Rs if your video gets a lot of views and positive responses.

This is definitely a game I see myself playing just to see if it lives up to its hype. I think it will but we'll see when the game releases, hopefully this holiday.

Also, don't forget to check out PLuGHiTz Live! Radio Thursday night @ 9PM Eastern for our Nintendo and Konami recap show where we will break down this topic.

E3 2010 - Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We got the privilege yesterday to attend Konami's in-house-hosted press conference and needless to say it was....different. With men in cowboy hats to people who at least reminded me of Ando from the recently cancelled NBC series Heroes, we were certainly entertained in at least some sense of the word.

There were tons of interesting presentations throughout the press conference but the one that caught my eye and interest was Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Although we already saw the trailer for the game earlier in the week along with gameplay, Konami decided to take us even deeper into the game mechanics and characters of MGS:Rising, peaking my interest.

One of the first things they talked about was the stealth system and how it's not exactly what we have encountered in the past. Rather than relying on hiding in the shadows and using boxes as hiding places, Raiden uses his acrobatic abilities, speed and agility to go unseen (so no need to worry about back problems). With the cyborg suit he has on, it would not surprise me if it has some sort of cloaking ability that might be on a timer of some sort.

For more on MGS, hit the break.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Dancing Like a Master

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Anyone who is a fan of the rhythm genre of gaming should know the name Naoki. He is the creator of the genre, responsible for the Bemani series that defined what music games would be - ParaParaParadise, beatmania and much more. Naoki was on hand for the Konami media briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles to talk about his newest addition to the genre.

Dance Masters is a dancing simulator similar to Dance Central, which was shown off at Microsoft's media briefing earlier in the week. The separator is in the classic Naoki feel. Instead of just learning the dance moves from the screen and following along, there are shadows or silhouettes that show you what upcoming moves will be, similar to the arrows in other Bemani titles.

Hit the break for more info on the game.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Twisted Fun With Twisted Metal

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We saw a lot of game titles thrown around during the Sony's E3 Keynote this year but Twisted Metal for the PS3 was a truly shocking announcement. The series is the oldest of all the PlayStation titles dating all the way back to the original PlayStation system. I'm glad to say that the new version for the PS3 still has the feel of the original but includes some new life as well. There are new vehicles to look forward to as well as new game play modes.

One of the modes played during the live demo was called "Nuke," which requires a team effort to overcome the opposing faction by kidnapping their leader and dragging them back to an area with your team's missile launcher, then feeding them to it. After three missiles hit their giant metal mascots suspended by helicopters in the air, the game is over. Keep in mind the maps are huge which leaves plenty of room for specialized vehicles in the air and on the ground.

Hit the break for more on Twisted Metal.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Sony Moves Into Motion Gaming

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sony's Move has been the under-appreciated technology of the past year. Microsoft's announcement of Project Natal, now Kinect last year at E3 completely overshadowed Sony's own ice-cream cone-shaped motion control system, now dubbed Move. The lack of interest is probably derived from the fact that their system requires that you hold something, like the Wiimote, whereas Kinect does not. After today's live demos it is clear that might not be the issue we all thought it was.

Hit the break for info on Sony's Move including Move-capable games.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Sony: Our Competition Charges for Online Experiences. So Will We.

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last year we talked about how Sony was announcing there would be a premium level subscription for their PlayStation Network and even that they were surveying people, asking how much they would pay for such a service. Once we broke that news, Sony fanboys around the world were up in arms, exclaiming that they would never touch a PlayStation 3 again if that were to happen. At CES, Sony officially confirmed they would be announcing a tiered plan at E3 and that same group of people backed Sony completely, shouting from their rooftops that this was the best idea for Sony, which is something we at the show have been saying for years!

Well, we finally have their pricing structure and somewhat of an idea on what it includes. However, we also have the hugest blunder Sony made when announcing this new plan. Hit the break to find out!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Little Big Planet 2

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The reason why the E3 conference marks my favorite time of year is because of all the awesome reveals that come along with it, and because it shows us where the gaming industry is heading the rest of the year. Since its original release on the October 27th, 2008 Little Big Planet was and still continues to be what I call a game changer, and with the release of Little Big Planet 2, it looks like the guys of Media Molecule are not pulling any punches for the sequel.

As I watched the gameplay demo I got really excited thinking about all the possibilities that we now have when it comes to creating our own games, and showing them to the world. With the addition of choosing what genre of game you want sock boy to play in, ranging from racing games to RPG's, player will have a lot more at their creative disposal.

Hit the break for all the details on the Little big Planet sequel.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Shaun White Skateboarding

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Okay, I didn't know Shaun White skateboarded until he came to the stage at Ubisoft's press briefing. Did you? Good, so at least we're on the same page when I tell you that he's apparently so good at skateboarding, he is working with Ubisoft for the third time to create Shaun White Skateboarding. Shaun White has always had a hand in his games and this one is no exception. He is providing voiceover work and even doing some of the motion capture in the creation of the title.

The idea came about when Creative Director Nick Harper and Executive Designer Alexi Jolis-Desautels came together and asked skateboarders like Shaun White how they see the world. Shaun explained that skaters see it differently than we do, by looking at it as a sandbox where they see rails and things to grind and jump off of. The design team looked to implement that into the game.

Want to know the backstory of the game? Hit the break

Read full article

E3 2010 - Madden NFL 11: Should You Care?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This year's E3 has put a lot of pressure on EA Sports to really step their games up when it comes to the quality of the titles they are putting on the market. FIFA 2010 World Cup was a huge improvement over FIFA 2010 and FIFA 2009, and even Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 was graphically cleaner than in year's past. We were really hoping the same for Madden NFL 11, especially after the release of Backbreaker this month, but it seems like there's mixed emotions across the industry.

Want to know what we think? Hit the break for our take on the game.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Nintendo's 3DS

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, it has been a year of 3s. We have seen Gears of War3, Fable 3, the third installment of the Assassin's Creed family and The Sims 3 coming to the console. Nintendo took this a step farther and announced the Nintendo 3DS.

The 3DS is different from previous DS family changes because this is the first time Nintendo has done a real upgrade on the hardware. In the past, we went from the original DS to the DS Lite, which just made the handheld lighter and smaller. The DSi made the screens a little bigger and added the extra camera. The DSi XL gave us even bigger screens, but the hardware was still the same as the original. That is not the case this time.

Hit the break for all the changes on the Nintendo 3DS.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Nintendo Aims For The Sky With The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This year's Nintendo Keynote kicked off with Regie Fils-amie unveiling a new Zelda game for the Wii console, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. Just when you thought you had mastered the Master Sword, Nintendo has changed up the control scheme to reflect the capabilities of Wii Motion Plus.

In the live demo by Miamoto we saw that the player will need to use the new controls to their advantage in order to put down the enemies of Hyrule. For example, enemies with weapons will actually use them for defense as well as attacking. Therefore, you have to swing your sword in such a way that you will hit the enemies opening.

Hit the break to read about the shield and more!

Read full article

E3 2010 - ESPN and Xbox now Playing for the Same Team

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

At last year's E3, Microsoft was big on making the Xbox 360 the center of all family entertainment in the living room, by announcing the additions of Facebook, Twitter, last.fm, the integrated Zune Marketplace and the then-named Project Natal - now Kinect for Xbox 360. We were all in agreeance that moving into 2010, Microsoft would be in a perfect position to further their stance as the premier entertainment console for the family.

It seems that Microsoft has definitely progressed in that mission by announcing at this year's E3 the partnership between Xbox 360 and ESPN.

Hit the break to see what's in store for your console!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last night the highlight of Ubisoft's presentation was showing us the trailer for the new installment of the Assassin's Creed series entitles Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The trailer at first seemed to be just like all the rest of the AC trailers. You see an assassin in the traditional all white assassin get-up, walking through a crowd, showing who he's after you know the deal. But then you see a shot of a guard spotting the assassin- who happens to be Ezio from the second game- and begins to take aim, until suddenly it seems the guard is mysteriously disposed of.

For the full Assassin's Creed: Brotherhod preview, hit the break!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Future So Bright You Got To Wear Shades

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You may remember Golden Sun: Dark Dawn being officially revealed at last year's E3, and not much else was mentioned on the topic. Today, however, Nintendo featured the first video of the upcoming epic in their keynote speech. Naturally, Golden Sun has made the transition to full 3D, along with the series' famous Djinn battle animations.

Hit the break for the full game rundown.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Star Wars: The Old Republic

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It is another week and once again I am going to write about how excited I am for BioWare's MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic to finally grace us gamers with it's presence. This week thanks to E3 I now have a reasons that everyone should be excited for. Some critics of the game, namely old Star Wars Galaxies veterans, have been concerned with the lack of player housing. Today BioWare has gotten rid of any reason to worry about where you're characters will virtually sleep while you aren't out exploring the galaxy. Because it looks like every character on TOR will be getting their own ship!

What will you be able to use your ship for exactly? Well... we don't exactly know yet, but BioWare did say that we would be able to use them as a base of operations, as well as a way to get around the galaxy. Will we be able to let fellow players board our ship and possibly show off trophies and the fruit of our endeavors? We will just have to wait and see to get those questions answered possibly later in the week.

For more Star Wars news, hit the break.

Read full article

E3 2010 - They All Said I Would Never Be A Jedi

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

A short while ago in a state far far away from Florida, us here at PLuGHiTz Live! got a chance to see a sneak peek of Lucas Arts new Star Wars based project utilizing the newly named Kinect. If you didn't get to see it yourself in the comfort of your homes, I suggest you start searching for the footage now.

While the Lucas Arts representative didn't give any details besides the fact that it would be coming to us in 2011, I will try my best to paint a picture for you of what we saw. I grew up watching the Star Wars movies and all I ever dreamed about was having my own lightsaber and defending the galaxy against the evil Empire. Thanks to the Kinect, it looks like I'll be able to realize that dream.

For the rest of the preview, hit the break!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Ubisoft's Smooth Operators: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

During the latter part of Ubisoft's very strange Keynote I was excited to see a few minutes of game play footage for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier. This particular game focuses on close range combat and physicality so if you aren't the up close and personal type then Halo Reach is more up your alley and you can stop reading now. If you prefer to be all up in the enemies grill then you have a plethora of weapons and tactics to get the job done.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could turn invisible? You can do that. Want a posse to help you execute coordinated strikes? You got one. If you just so happen to like guns then you can use your silent automatics to lie low or break out the big guns to go Rambo if that's your thing.

Either way, the game environment is tailored to provide a good gaming experience to new comers and veterans of the franchise.

Also, don't forget to check out PLuGHiTz Live! Radio Tuesday night @ 9PM Eastern for our Microsoft and EA recap show and Wednesday night @9PM Eastern for our Sony and Ubisoft recap show!

E3 2010 - EA Sports MMA Takes The Fight To The Next Level

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Peter Moore, the president of EA Sports, made an insightful presentation on a new MMA game they are proud to be working on. There are a multitude of features that MMA fans can look forward to. Do you want to fight in venues all over the world? You can do that. Do you want a control scheme that favors timing and simplicity over complexity? They got that. Do you want to take player customization beyond your wildest dreams. You can definitely do that.

Not only can you create your own fighter in your image and give him your personality but you can flaunt it to the world online with Live Broadcast which takes your fighter, your opponent, your venue, and a live audience with live commentators and puts them all in one place. Not only that but you can fight for real world swag!

This is for sure something new and exciting for MMA and MMA fans alike. Welcome to the next level.

Also, don't forget to check out PLuGHiTz Live! Radio Tuesday night @ 9PM Eastern for our Microsoft and EA recap show!

E3 2010 - Ubisoft Brings Games to Life

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Any section of a Press Briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles that begins with the confused statement "There are attractive people running around..." has got to leading into something interesting. Especially when it is muttered by Joel McHale, who was asked to host the briefing for a second year in a row, despite being the reason everyone hated the Ubisoft briefing last year.

We may not know why Joel was there again, but we do know why there were attractive people running around. They were part of the demo team for Battle Tag, a new game from Ubisoft that really blurs the lines between videogame and real game.

Hit the break for the details on this new game.

Read full article

E3 2010 - Forza Gets Re-Kinected With Racing

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We saw a lot of impressive things this year at Microsoft's Keynote. Some of the most impressive news came from the widely anticipated and aptly named Kinect for the Xbox 360. Everyone can pick their favorite parts but even I am surprised at how impressive Forza looks given my hardcore Gran Turismo fan status. Bill Geist and Dan Greenawalt from the Forza team introduced us to a whole new Forza experience but more importantly a whole new racing game experience which the genre has needed for a little while now.

Hit the break for the full game rundown!

Read full article

E3 2010 - EA's New Gun Club of Honor

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

EA has really gone out with their participation in first person shooters lately. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has been a huge hit. Such a hit, in fact, that it has inspired EA to create a new group, which they call The Gun Club. The Gun Club is a group for players who love EA shooters (not the drinks at their after-hours parties) and want to be kept in the loop about upcoming projects, events, etc. One of the things members get is access to Beta programs early.

One of the early Betas you can get access to as a Gun Club member is the new Metal of Honor: Tier 1 (which is just being called Metal of Honor, but since we have already had one of those, we will use a full title), scheduled to hit shelves this October 12. The multiplayer Beta is scheduled for release on June 21, but Gun Club members can get it this week!

For more info on the new Metal of Honor game, hit the break!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Microsoft's Worst Kept Secret

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We have known for months now that Microsoft had been working on a new version of the Xbox 360 hardware. We have seen photos, we have seen screen captures of POS systems at retailers with the new SKUs, we have even seen future ads for the product. What we didn't know were the details, and today at Microsoft's Press Briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Microsoft waited until the very end to show us the goods.

Although the console had been sitting on stage all day and we had been looking at it the whole time, we had no idea it was there. Clever Microsoft hiding it in the shell of Classic White right in the middle of the stage. Right before he closed the briefing he lifted the shell and revealed the new shiny black case.

Hit the break for all the details on the next generation of our faithful friend.

Read full article

E3 2010 - The Future of Project Natal

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The big deal at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) early on is about the future and the usability of Project Natal, now known as Kinect for Xbox 360. Going into the show a lot of people had concerns about the idea of Microsoft's controller-less interface for the Xbox 360, after leaving the Microsoft Press Briefing, I don't think there are nearly as many skeptics, myself included. Let's talk about some of what they have done to make me a believer.

First, they have bought into their own idea. Sometimes Microsoft doesn't seem to believe in themselves as much as they should to make something successful and their products fail. That is not the case here. Microsoft has committed to launching Xbox Live and Kinect in every country where the Xbox 360 is sold this year. That is a big change for them because previously there were big holes in the Xbox Live network and we expected the same holes with Kinect.

For the rest of what they have done right, hit the break!

Read full article

E3 2010 - Microsoft's Big Non-Reveal

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

There has been a lot of talk about Hulu as of late and the biggest topic of discussion had to do with this morning's Microsoft Press Briefing here at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The expectation was that we would hear about Hulu's integration into the Xbox 360 interface.

This rumor was fueled by a series of screenshots of an Xbox 360 Dashboard with a tile for Hulu, which I have included for reference. While the red color does seem a bit out of the ordinary for Microsoft, they do not control the tiles of their content providers, so it was a possibility. Plus, they did add purple to their E3 booth design this year, which is also a Microsoft departure.

Hit the break for the rest of the Hulu on 360 story.

Read full article

Quickhit Football: The Only Free Way To Play

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Quickhit Football is a small, easy to play, Flash based Internet game that has scored big-time with its official license from the National Football League, allowing the game to incorporate 32 professional teams. EA has a deal with the NFL that allows it exclusive access for consoles only and it does not cover completely Internet based games. That doesn't mean that Quickhit Football acquired the license for free. They raised $13 million in venture capital to pay for it, which is quite a price for a free game to pay. Brandon Justice, the head developer, has stressed that Quickhit Football will not directly compete with games like Madden because it reaches a different football fan demographic.

Read full article

Transformers Not so Confusing This Time Around

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may have been an OK movie but it certainly wasn't up to Michael Bay's standards. He says that the writing was most of the problem, which is pretty obvious. He attributes this to the Writers Guild strike that affected film and TV, saying,

I'll take some of the criticism. It was very hard to put (the sequel) together that quickly after the writers' strike (of 2007-08).

He promises that the next film will not succumb to the same problem.

Read full article

Green Lantern Is Coming To You In The Flash

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Lately we have been bringing you a lot of news about The Avengers but even for the past several years, the comic book film adaptations we've seen have been mostly dominated by Marvel, with the exception of Batman, Superman, and The Watchmen. DC fans, don't feel left in the dark just yet however. Warner Bros has faith in the upcoming Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds which is set to release June 17th, 2011.

In fact, Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, and Marc Guggenheim will be writing the already scheduled sequel to Green Lantern and have also been approached to work on The Flash. With the new Batman and Superman movies not scheduled until 2012 DC will be really counting on Green Lantern to keep things going for them and if it is a success there might be a possibility for some DC crossover in the future, maybe something along the lines of The Justice League?

Fallout: New Vegas Bonuses

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Remember when a retailer was just somewhere you went to buy a product and the way you chose was based on price, availability and proximity? Well, those days are behind us. Now, game retailers spend all of the time coming up with ways to ensure you buy from them with exclusive content. Here are the ways your favorite retailers are going to make you buy from them!

GameStop has The Classic Pack

Armored Vault 13 Suit - calling back to the original Fallout ending, this outfit is patched and fixed from the beginning of long battle
Vault 13 Canteen - bring a little water and a little healing with you everywhere
Weathered 10mm Piston - this well-worn weapon has more strength than its size conveys
5 Stimpaks - when you're out of food or need a little pick-me-up, this goes a lot farther than cocaine

Hit the break for Amazon, Steam, Walmart and Best Buy

Read full article

Left 4 Dead 1 Campaign Add-On

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We here at the show absolutely love the Left 4 Dead series. Scott seems to enjoy the first game for different reasons than I enjoy the sequel, but we can both agree on the fact that both games do certain things extremely well while lacking in other areas. Still, there are lots of people who will play the original game for the fact that they love the simplicity of the gameplay.

Because of that, a group of developers - the same group that created Portal: Prelude - have released another, all-new campaign for Left 4 Dead called "I Hate Mountains". The best part of it all? It's free for any owner of the PC version of the game.

Read full article

World Cup 2010 South Africa Scores Big With The Internet

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

June 11th marked the beginning of an event bigger than the Olympics, I mean the good Olympics, not the winter ones. The World Cup 2010 South Africa kicked off with 2 match ups between Mexico vs. South Africa, and France vs. Uruguay. Even though the games were heavily televised around the world the Internet wasn't taking the day off by any means. Starting at 6 a.m. ET traffic started increasing heavily for news sites and peaked at 12 a.m. ET with 12,078,868 visitors per minute according to measurements taken by Akamai. This breaks the previous record set on November 4th, 2008 when Barack Obama won the presidential election which registered 8,572,042 visitors per minute at its peak. At 5 p.m. ET traffic was still 130% above normal at 6.5 million visitors per minute. Looks like it's going to be a long and heavy flow this month for the Internet.

E3 2010 - Sneak Peek!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Saturday night we had the privilege to get a sneak peek of trailers that are going to be presented this year at E3. Ranging from the PS3 exclusive Killzone 3 to Bethesda's newest addition to the Fallout Universe, Fallout: New Vegas. We also got a small sneak peek of the game I've been following religiously... that's right Star Wars: The Old Republic. Unfortunately we got to hear a little bit about how Blur (the company who made last years trailer) goes about creating epic Star Wars scenes and a reveal that this years trailer will involve Princess Leia's home planet Alderaan. Another Star Wars related reveal was a new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 trailer. I won't give away anything but I will say that it was awesome.

That isn't all we got to see however. We also got to take a look at some of the booths that will be at this years convention, and needless to say the booths are enough reason to follow the coverage of E3. The booths Warner Brothers have in store for E3 are awe-inspiring to say the least. Their Batman Arkham Asylum 2 makes you feel like you have been committed into Arkham. The Xbox 360 booth looks just as you would imagine: full of green circles, lots of white and... purple? Looks like Xbox is upgrading their pallets.

Hit the break for more previews of our upcoming E3 2010 coverage!

Read full article

iPhone 4 Is Catching Up With The Present

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple claims to be changing the game again with their new iPhone 4 which recently made its debut at the 2010 World Wide Developers Conference that took place June 7th-11th. Jobs had a lot to say during his lengthy keynote where he first started off talking about the iPad before getting to the star of the show, the iPhone 4. Below are some notes that will help summarize the latest and greatest iPhone according to Steve Jobs.

Physical Architecture
- .37 in thick making it the thinnest smart phone ever.
- Two steel bands encompass the sides of the frame and serve to amplify the phone’s antennas enhancing Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GSM while providing structural support.
- The new design of the phone is a little squarer than the previous models, which makes it feel less like the previous iPhones. (I think it more closely resembles the G1 now, which is funny.)
- The external buttons consist of On/off, Sleep/wake, Volume up/down, Ring/silent, and Home.

Display
- The new "Retina display" is supposed to make viewing text and photos as clear to the eye as is possible.
- 800:1 contrast ratio.
- 3.5in. (diagonal)widescreen, Multi-Touch display.
- 960x640 pixels, 4 times more than 3GS.

Hit the break for the rest of the new and exciting features!

Read full article

PLuGHiTz Live! 3.0

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

After months of rewriting and rethinking the way the site works and feels, we are pleased to announce a complete relaunch of PLuGHiTz Live! We have put a lot of work into this project and we hope it makes using the site easier and more enjoyable.

The biggest changes come in the Radio pages, where you will be able to see a lot more information about who we are and what we talk about and even listen to the episodes all in one convenient location. We have also added an Events section which contains all information about special events, such as International Consumer Electronics Show, Electronic Entertainment Expo and of course Florida SuperCon!

Also, check out the revamped site for The UpStream where you can follow the news as it happens on your phone, computer or iPod with a convenient RSS feed. We also encourage you to get involved and comment!

We would also like to welcome our new sponsors, the Microsoft Store and Sirius|XM Radio! We look forward to a long partnership with all 5 of our site sponsors!

We want to hear your thoughts and feelings on the new site. Feel free to comment here in the comments section or contact us through any of our Staff profiles. We hope that with this new site and your loyal support that we can make our upcoming Season 4 of PLuGHiTz Live! Radio a huge success!

PBS "Video Games Live" Airing

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You may recall an article we wrote back in December stating that PBS, the people who brought you Reading Rainbow, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Barney would be airing Video Games Live for 90 minutes, which will debut July 31. In case you aren't familiar with what VGL is, it is essentially an orchestra entirely dedicated to playing your favorite video game themes, with a classical twist.

If you're planning on tuning in, you can check out the trailer posted after the jump to see what you're in for, or read this press release to see what games the orchestra will be sampling during its performance.

Hit the break to see a video for the event and read part of the press release.

Read full article

Some Details on The Avengers

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In January we talked about some casting announcements and rumors for the Avengers movie franchise. One of those rumors was that Jeremy Renner was in talks to play Hawkeye, the purple-masked archer of the team. Since then, his career has changed a little bit and he is now a much bigger name than he was even 4 months ago.

This is because of the success of his last film, The Hurt Locker for which he was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. The fact that he didn't win does not change the fact that his nomination brought his name into the public consciousness. It also helps that the film itself won several awards, including Picture of the Year.

Read full article

No Foursquare at Tiananmen Square

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone here at the show can agree on two things: Foursquare is the coolest application ever and China's government is always looking for new things to ban their country's residents from. I guess they figured since Google gave up on them, they needed a new target, so this week, China has blocked access to Foursquare, due to too many people checking in at Tiananmen Square. This ban, however, does come during the week of the 21st anniversary of the massacre at that location.

Ever since that day, June 4th, 1989, when over 3,000 protestors and students were killed by the Chinese government for protesting against communism, the Chinese government has forbidden any talk or postings about the occurrence. This does extend to the Internet.

Read full article

Cirque du Soleil and the Natal

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

For those of you that have an Xbox 360 and like to watch the segments they have from time to time called "Inside Xbox" you would have found out this week that Xbox 360 and Cirque Du Soleil are teaming up at E3 this year! For what exactly? Nobody really knows, but we do know that it involves Project Natal.

We here at PLuGHiTz Live! have a few predictions of our own. The first being that Microsoft build a GIANT Natal that will capture the entire cast of Cirque Du Soleil, which then would lead to the whole cast painting elephants, giraffes and any other animals French-Canadians like (maybe a few moose.)

Read full article

AT&T is a Big Bully

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

What have we learned from AT&T this week (other than an easy way to kill a good thing)? Not all CEOs are as fun loving as Steve Jobs.

Steve loves to receive emails from people and respond personally. Sometimes they are nice, sometimes not so much. The other thing you can almost guarantee, though, is if you have a valid point, he will respond. AT&T's CEO, Randall Stephenson, apparently doesn't feel the same way.

Read full article

AT&T Kills Unlimited Data

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

June is a big month of change for AT&T. On the 1st we saw a change in the early termination fees for smartphones, almost doubling. Tomorrow we will see a change in the way data works. We didn't think AT&T would change their data pricing strategy until they were closer to a 4G network launch, but here it is anyway.

DataPlus and DataPro
If you have a smartphone and only use it for texting or some light Internet browsing, then you are in luck. The $30 unlimited plan is going the way of the dinosaur and being replaced by two limited plans: $15 for 200MB (DataPlus) and $25 for 2GB (DataPro). If you actually use your smartphone for what it was intended for, AT&T will not be forcing you to switch, so you are welcome to stay on the $30 unlimited plan.

The biggest change comes in the form of overages. Instead of $50 per gig on their laptop connect plans, the overages will be much more manageable: $15 for 200MB on DataPlus and $10 for 1GB on DataPro. Now, if you go over, you won't have to take out a second mortgage on the house. Luckily, you will be able to change the data plan at any time during a month and even retroactively fix a month halfway through.

Hit the break for the rest of the big changes.

Read full article

Zelda First Person Shooter

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

For all you Doom fans out there who just can't deal with Zelda as a side-scroller, good news: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has been remade in 3D! Credit goes to Michael A. Johnston, who designed this fan remake as a Unity-based game that you can play right in your browser. Zelda II FPS is an impressive feat, combining authentic 8-bit textures with brand new 3D models of all the creatures and environments.

A word to the wise this game is not for that faint-hearted and those prone to frustration. Remember the little slimes that use to be so easy to rip to shreds? Well now even those slimy devils are deadly, since you can't tell when there are three of them right behind you. So if you enjoy becoming frustrated due to being defeated by weak enemies, you better hurry up and try the game out before Nintendo catches wind of this project -- which it will, now that people like us are telling everybody -- and likely shuts it down. Sorry!

GoldenEye Revamp

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Do you remember the back in the day, shooting up your friends, fighting to be "The Man With the Golden Gun"? Well, I sure do and evidence of a GoldenEye remake surfaced this past week. The most convincing comes from Eurogamer, which reports that a source has confirmed Activision is working on a revamped version of the classic Nintendo 64 shooter for the Wii and DS to be released this November. The game is supposedly being developed by n-Space and Eurocom, the latter of which created the N64 version of The World is Not Enough. There has also been word that a revamped version of the classic game may be hitting the Xbox Live Arcade at some point. Another tidbit of information that was mentioned was that the game would be revealed at this year's E3 so, for all you classic gamers out there, you just got another reason to tune into coverage of E3.

Read full article

The Bogeyman is Here for Your Phone

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Dan Morrill, Google's open source and compatibility manager for Android, wrote a very long blog post this week, essentially saying that I'm wrong and a fear monger. While I do enjoy scaring the crap out of you, I don't know if the best way to make a point is to attack the people who are going to pass your point on. Here's what happened.

For a few months, people like myself, have been talking about the problem of fragmentation in Android, and how it could ultimately destroy the platform. Morrill took this as a personal attack, apparently, and went on the defensive, saying,

Read full article

FCC Sending Routers to Volunteers to Test True Broadband Speeds

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Did you know: 80% of Americans don't know the advertised speed of their own internet connection and less than 30% know the actual speed? It's okay though, the FCC doesn't either. Because of this, the Federal Communications Commission wants YOU (and 9,999 other volunteers) to help them test true broadband speeds by sending you a free, special and shiny router to hook up in your house.

The feds are teaming up with SamKnows, who has done a lot of similar work in the UK, to put together a realistic broadband map of the United States, in order to roll-out their National Broadband Plan with facts instead of fairy dust and magic beanstalks.

Read full article

Republicans and Democrats Agree: Net Neutrality Up to Congress

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week, over 70 Democrats sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, stating that they should not move forward with their plan to reclassify Internet Service Providers as common carriers. This week, over 170 Republicans did the same thing.

The letter, signed by Joe Barton, Republican of Texas and ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Cliff Sterns, Republican of Florida and ranking member of that committee's subcommittee on the Internet, was sent to the Honorable Julius Genachowski on Friday, signed by 169 others in agreeance.

Read full article

Games for PSP Go Free, DSi Drops it Low

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

PSP and PSP Go sales have seen a decline in the past year, so Sony has decided to up the ante to boost hardware sales. The company will now be offering cheap or even free games along with the sale of the device.

Sony Computer Entertainment America is releasing a new line called PSP Favorites, which will contain several popular games for only $9.99. They will include:

Ape Escape: On the Loose
Buzz! Master Quiz
Hot Shots Golf Open Tee
LocoRoco 2
Patapon 2
PixelJunk Monster Deluxe
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
Twisted Metal: Head On
Justice League Heroes
Manhunt 2
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play
Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection
Silent Hill: Origins
Sims 2
The Warriors

Hit the break for more great deals!

Read full article

Young People Protect Themselves From You

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

With all of the changes Facebook has been making recently and the Buzz about Google Maps, Internet privacy has been a big topic on everyone's mind. The widely held belief was that young people would be uninterested or unmotivated to change their privacy settings to prevent the world from knowing things about them. Well, those people were all wrong, according to a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

According to Mary Madden, a researcher for Pew,

Search engines and social media sites now play a central role in building one's identity online. Many users are learning and refining their approach as they go, changing privacy settings on profiles, customizing who can see certain updates and deleting unwanted information about them that appears online. Contrary to the popular perception that younger users embrace a laissez-faire attitude about their online reputations, young adults are often more vigilant than older adults when it comes to managing their online identities.

Read full article

Google Knows Where You Keep Your Porn

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Google has come on hard times recently, at least as far as the world is concerned. Basically the entire globe has banded together to try and take out our future Internet overlords over at Google. Here's the short list:

United States
Britain
Germany
Czech Republic
Italy
France
Hong Kong

Here's what's going on. Everyone knows about Google's Street View cars that drive around the world taking pictures of your house and your work and your gang violence. What you might not have known about was the fact that Google has also been keeping track of your WiFi. That's right, they have been sniffing the air looking for any unsecured WiFi networks and logging their location. They have become the corporate equivalent of a stray dog.

Needless to say most of the world's governments are concerned about Google's air humping and the breach of privacy it entails. Imagine, if you will, being the guy with an unsecured network at home and now Google has told the world that it's there. How easy would it then be for hackers to sit outside your house and steal your data. Or, even worse, commit cyber crime logged to your house. This is just asking for trouble.

Read full article

Treyarch Now a CoD-only Studio

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

There was never much thought about whether there were more Call of Duty games in Treyarch's future after Black Ops, but we were suprised to learn that that's the only thing Treyarch will be working on in the future. Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia said they've become solely dedicated to Activision's blockbuster FPS franchise.

"Treyarch is a 100 percent Call of Duty studio -- and it has been for a long time now, long before any of the Infinity Ward events occurred," Lamia said, immediately dispelling speculation this newly revealed exclusive focus may be a result of CoD creator Infinity Ward's gutting that we've mentioned many times on the show. "We focused all of our efforts on creating the best Call of Duty game we possibly can and what that meant is not working on anything else."

"We are a multiple team studio and focusing on Call of Duty and Call of Duty gameplay meant focusing all of our teams on that," Lamia continued. "Due to all this there has actually been a formation of an entire team dedicated to Multiplayer within Treyarch, which is something the studio didn't have for their past Call of Duty games, Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War."

Read full article

Mark Hamil and The Joker

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In an interview with IGN UK, voice actor and all-around beast Mark Hamill - also involved with a small role in something called Star Wars, apparently - revealed that he will no longer be playing the role of Joker after the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum 2. According to Hamill, he was reticent to take up the mantle for the sequel, saying, "My answer to Rocksteady for the sequel was, 'Guys, we're never going to be able to top the original.'" He added that he had intended to leave the role on "a high note" with his work on the original Arkham Asylum. So in some ways he wanted to be like Jerry Sienfeld or Ray Romano with the ending of their shows.

Read full article

Foxconn Employees Pledge Not To Kill Themselves

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The 11 attempted suicides at a Foxconn plant in China that manufactures Apple products like the iPhone and iPad has been getting a lot press lately. Foxconn has pledged to take action in order to prevent further deaths and now are having their employees make pledges to them. These aren't the usual pledges you would expect employees to make to their employers. Actually, they seem to be more along the lines of, "I promise to not kill myself." They are requiring employees to sign a pledge stating that they "will not hurt themselves or others in an extreme manner." Signing the pledge also gives the company the right to commit employees to a mental institution if they show an "abnormal mental or physical state." This of course would only be done for, "the protection of themselves and others." A top official in the province has also taken notice of the situation and is saying that the government and employers need to work together to alleviate this problem.

Hit the break to see an interview with the CEO.

Read full article

You Like, We Pay

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In order to augment Monday's observance of Memorial Day in the US, the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit charity established by Activision Blizzard to assist veterans with finding employment once they leave the service, is forming an alliance with Hire Heroes USA to provide the "career transition" operation with funding through a less than expected but still very intriguing idea. The Endowment will give $1 to HHUSA for every user who "likes" C.O.D.E.'s Facebook page through 11:59 p.m. PDT on Monday, May 31, or up to $50,000, whichever comes first.

This funding is on top of the undisclosed amount C.O.D.E. has already granted Hire Heroes USA. So far, more than 8,400 users have "liked" the page since the unique fundraiser began yesterday. If you've got a Facebook account, how could you not "like" this sort of thing. Plus, it's an easy way to redeem yourself for liking that page that counts to twenty thousand.

Learn Your Lesson, Don't Make Enemies With Apple

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

By now everyone is aware of how great the iPhone actually is...not very great at all. Finally, it looks like Apple is attempting to step up their game. With new software being released in June, the iPhone 3Gs will have a few changes. One of the big changes rumored to be in the works is Microsoft Bing becoming the new default search feature for the iPhone. Yes, Microsoft and Apple are not two things you would usually find together, but this could be good for Microsoft.

Read full article

The Department of Justice is Bobbing for Apple

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple has managed to stay in the limelight for over a decade now and has achieved some resounding success after becoming the most valuable technology company on the planet. Not surprisingly, Apple has made many enemies in the process. Amazon.com, Google, Adobe, and Microsoft are just a few competitors that have filed complaints and engaged in lawsuits against Apple. With Adobe's recent injunction against Apple and Amazon.com's recent complaint about Apple telling record labels to not take part in a promotional deal they were offering, or Apple would pull all the marketing support for their songs, has motivated the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into their music service and possibly their video services as well. The details of the investigations are not yet known but it seems likely that some anti-trust issues will surface and it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Read full article

Yahoo! and Nokia to Deliver Integrated Web Services

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The talks last week about Yahoo! teaming up with Nokia turn out to be true this week, as the two companies announced their partnership that will further a connection between mobile users around the world.

Building on more than five years of collaboration, Nokia and Yahoo! (R) will leverage each others' strengths in e-mail, instant messaging and maps and navigation services, to provide consumers with access to world-class experiences on both PC and mobile devices.

As part of the alliance:

Nokia will be the exclusive, global provider of Yahoo!'s maps and navigation services, integrating Ovi Maps across Yahoo! properties, branded as "powered by Ovi."
Yahoo! will become the exclusive, global provider of Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services branded as "Ovi Mail / Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo!"
Nokia and Yahoo! plan to work on ID federation between their services, beginning by making it easy for people to use their Ovi user IDs across select Yahoo! properties to easily access the online content and services they need.

Read full article

Windows Phone 7 Series - Creating Apps

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week we were privileged to speak with Brandon Watson, Microsoft's Director of Developer Experience about creating applications for Windows Phone 7 Series. Last month we were also able to chat with Microsoft's Gian Wilson on gaming for your Windows Phone 7 Series device.

Because Watson was on video conference, we are able to bring you the questions that were submitted to him and then provide a brief summary of his responses to those questions.

An application uses its own file format. The only way to transfer files to the app on the phone I see in the SDK is via web. Will a user be able to open an email attachment in my app?

No, email attachments will only be available to native applications, with no third party support at this time. We hope to relax those constraints in the future, as the ability is in the operating system. With WP7, we look to ensure no user has a bad experience with any of our apps, such as memory loss or battery drain. In the end, our goal is to make the devices perform in an outstanding way. Users won't ever get mad at the developer but instead will blame Microsoft for their bad experience.

Read full article

One Fruit to Rule Them All

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This week marked the pinnacle of the most impressive turnaround in the history of the technology industry. Apple, who only 10 years ago was thought to be out of the game and on the verge of shutting its doors, became the most valuable technology company in the world.

The valuation is based on an increase in Apple's stock price on Wednesday spread across the number of shares outstanding. That value, $222.12 billion, is higher than Microsoft's value, calculated the same way at $219.18 billion. The only American company to have value above these two giants is Exxon Mobil, valued at $278.64 billion.

Now, this number has nothing to do with the real-world value of these companies but only perceived market value. To illustrate this point in their last financial years, Microsoft had net income of $14.6 billion while Apple's net income was only $5.7 billion.

Read full article

Consumers Thinking Outside the Box for Online Software Purchases

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Research firm NPD Group has released a report this week that indicates consumers aren't buying boxed software online anymore. Digital downloads made up over 66 percent of the total online software purchases in 2009, which is up just a little from last year.

NPD broke the numbers down into new purchases, software subscription rentals and trial-to-paid conversions, among other categories. The largest of online software purchasing was in subscription renewals, at 34 percent, with new purchases coming in at 23 percent and trial-to-paid at 8 percent.

A large reason subscription renewals were down this year can be attributed to consumers not trusting online merchants as much as they have in the past. Over 40 percent of those surveryed said they did not renew specifically because of spam of unsolicited offers from merchants or their affiliates, while 5 percent said they did not renew because they felt the merchant would not renew their service correctly. 33 percent were misinformed, however, and stated they did not trust merchants with their credit card information, even though merchants have this information at one point or another prior to renewal.

Read full article

Internet Disconnections Actually Happening in Ireland

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Earlier this month, I talked about how the music industry is on the rise, yet countries like South Korea and Sweden are taking copyright infringement crimes to the max. This week, we can add Ireland to the list.

Ireland has decided to enforce their rendition of the "three strikes" rule when it comes to media piracy. One of the country's largest ISPs, Eircom, has committed to processing over 50 content complaints each week and will turn off the Internets of those accounts who reach three complaints.

The company has planned to do this for several months now, ever since Eircom was sued by several large music labels and challenged on their data privacy practices.

Read full article

Nokia and Yahoo! Team Up to Launch 'Project Nike'

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This came across our desk a few days ago:

Please join us for a Yahoo! press conference
Please join Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz for an exciting announcement about providing global consumers with rich online and mobile experiences, and bringing forward a new era in keeping consumers connected.

Because of that, we went and reached out to our sources, who have informed us that Nokia plans to build Yahoo e-mail, search and several other of their applications into a selection of their devices. This, however, is unrelated to a previous discussion these two companies had about creating a Yahoo-orientated phone.

Read full article

30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back Brings Surprises

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you are like me, you may know that the 30th anniversary of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was yesterday May 22nd. It's amazing to think that it has been 30 years since, in my opinion, the best Star Wars movie was released. For 30 years Star Wars has captured the imagination and hearts of over 3 generation. The media decided to celebrate the occasion in multiple ways, one being a Marathon of the original trilogy on SPIKE TV all day. That being said this anniversary didn't just spell happiness for fans of the movie franchise but also the community of BioWare's MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In case all the articles I have written about this game haven't gotten you excited yet, maybe this will get you a little more interested. Last Friday, May 21st, BioWare announced that in order to pay tribute to Episode V, that the game would contain that planet upon which one of the most memorable battles in the Star Wars movies occurred, Hoth. If you are familiar with the planet Hoth you are probably having the same reaction as most of the community of TOR, and saying things like "But it's just a planet of snow! We have a planet of only sand (Tatooine) and now we have a planet of snow!?!?"

Read full article

Geometry Just Became Fun

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Some of us here at the show have been playing the multiplayer open beta of Bizarre Creations' wonderfully addictive racing game known as Blur, and it turns out that Steam and Bizarre Creations are giving computer gamers more incentive to buy the game. Their bargaining chip? Offering every person who pre orders the game on steam a free copy of the just as addictive game Geometry Wars: Retro Evolution.

Blur goes on sale this Tuesday, so if you're hoping to grab Bizarre's twin-stick time sink at no charge, you should probably pre-order the game ASAP.

Portal Downloaded 1.5 Million Times

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you release it for free, they will download it. Valve has revealed that its free download of Portal, offered as part of the launch for Steam on Mac, has been anxiously grabbed by 1.5 million users. If you have yet to acquire your own free copy of Portal, get on it. You've only got until May 24.

Valve also released some interesting figures on Mac user habits on Steam. According to their findings, two-thirds of Steam for Mac users are running the service through a laptop. Also, more than 11% of purchases made on Steam have been by Mac owners. No word on whether one of those upcoming Mac title sets will feature the Valve catalog, with games such as Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike and Half-Life. When making their announcement in March, Valve had said their titles would be available in April along with Steam for Mac.

HP Uses the WebOS Platform for Printers

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

When HP purchased Palm earlier this month, we talked about why and for what reason the computer and printer retailer wanted a phone manufacturer. It turns out that now we possibly have found a reason for why they wanted the webOS. They want to introduce the multitask-intensive operating system into a line of printers! Yes, printers. That's what HP's Mark Hurd said on their quarterly earnings call:

I think in this case of Palm, and our planned acquisition of Palm, it really has more to do with the intellectual property and the fact that when you look across the HP ecosystem of interconnected devices, it is a large family of devices. When we think of printers, you've now got a whole series of web-connected printers that, as they connect to the web, need an OS. We prefer to have that OS in our case to be our IP, where we can control the customer experience as we always have in the printing business, and that's a big deal to us.

Read full article

Google to Own You

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Google wants to own you, that is a given. They already own your Internet search, your email, your videos, your browser (either Chrome or a plug-in), your phone and even your ads. What they don't own yet? The web apps you use on your computer, but they want to. How do they propose this next level takeover of our daily lives? The Chrome Web Apps Store.

Coming to Chrome users later this year, Google will be launching a store where you can purchase web applications, similar in style to the Android Marketplace. The difference here is that it will not be exclusive to the Chrome OS and the apps will not have to live only in the Web App Store. What is the reason for developing a non-exclusive store on the Internet? The ability to get more people to spend more of the time on Google's services.

If the images from Google so far are to be believed, gaming seems to be a big part of the store, with Plants vs Zombies from PopCap Games and LEGO Star Wars from LucasArts being features as apps available from the store.

Are you guys at all interested in installable web apps, or is using them on the web just fine with you? Let us know in the comments section.

One Bad Apple...

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

There has been a string of unusual deaths over the past year at a factory in Taiwan owned by Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision, the worlds' largest manufacturer of consumer electronics and has over 800,000 employees. Eleven of Foxconn's employees have tried to commit suicide and two of them have survived. This all started last year after an employee in charge of shipping for Apple's then iPhone prototype killed himself after one went missing. A sixteen year old employee also died of cardiac arrest while most of the other employees jumped off the building. Foxconn has acknowledged there is a problem and has taken steps to help improve their emotional and mental well being by hiring consolers and Buddhist Monks as well as creating an incentive program for employees to watch out for each other. Apple looked into accusations of bad employment practices and discovered that some employees were overworked during peak hours and not taking any days off. Otherwise the complaints were mostly unfounded.

I'm really not surprised that Apple can't make the connection between bad employment practices and death being a bad thing. The factory in question, where most of the deaths occurred, solely produces iPads and iPhones so they wouldn't want to mess with supply or profit margins in the interests of being humane. We've seen the way Apple treats their employees here and the only reason conditions are better is because they are required to be by law.

Who Needs the Back Story?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has a lot to live up to. The games in the series have been fantastic with a storyline perfect for the big screen. However, there has yet to be more than just a few (we have named 4) videogame movies that haven't been just awful. Plus, in the aftermath of Uwe Boll and his offensively bad films, worst of which being In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale which brought in only $10 million worldwide on a $60 million budget, people are scared of videogame movies. This film could be the one to change all that, however.

But, what does it take to make a great videogame movie? Apparently, not knowing you are making a videogame movie is the key. Mike Newell described to ComingSoon.net his realization that he was making a film adapted from a game.

When I first went into it I was absolutely in ignorance of it being a video game. I then discovered within the first few weeks that it was a video game and said to him, "Look, what do you want? Do you want a video game? Because if you do, I think I'm the wrong guy for you. I don't play video games. I'm not video-literate. I can just about send an email." He said, "No, don't worry about it." I think the reason that he said that was that he knew that I would have other things to offer. There would be sort of character and story and emotional things that I would have to offer, and comedy and all of that. He didn't want to freak me by saying, "Actually, the video game audience is very important to me"... and of course, it is. There are a lot of them out there and we must be very careful to satisfy them, you know?

Read full article

Watch Your Skrulls, the Avengers Are Coming!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

News is fun, but rumors are more fun. Reports from ComicBookMovie have suggested that the first film in the upcoming Marvel mega-movie, The Avengers, will not have the villain we have all expected; Hulk. They claim to have, on good authority, information that suggests we will actually see a battle between The Avengers and the well-known alien shape-shifters, the Skrulls.

For those who have not read the comics, the Skrulls have been around the Marvel Universe since 1962 when they first encountered The Fantastic Four. They have the ability to shape-shift and become anyone, including our favorite superheroes, albeit with green skin. The problem with the believability of this rumor is in the scope of the film. We know this is already a huge project even if they were to introduce no new characters. With the addition of a whole race of new characters plus an intergalactic storyline, it is not just a summer movie anymore, but becomes a much more nerd-centric film.

Read full article

Malware Is IBM Compatible

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

With the common usage of USB thumb drives it makes sense that keeping them clean and secure in everyday usage would be top priority for individuals and business alike. It is certainly understandable that even with care bad things will happen from time to time. However, you don't want that to happen at a major security conference like AusCERT in Australia and you certainly don't want to be IBM who was distributing free thumb drives full of malware. Oops. Glenn Wightwick, the chief technologist for IBM Australia wrote a letter to AusCERT explaining what the malware is and how to best get rid of it.

The malware is detected by the majority of current Anti Virus products {as at 20/05/2010} and been known since 2008. The malware is known by a number of names and is contained in the setup.exe and autorun.ini files. It is spread when the infected USB device is inserted into a Microsoft Windows workstation or server whereby the setup.exe and autorun.ini files run automatically.

Read full article

Free Condoms Aren't Large Enough

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Free stuff is always great, especially when it's something you already want or need. What really sucks is when the product just doesn't quite fit the needs exactly. Take, for example, free condoms. Great idea, unless they are too small or of poor quality.

Students from the District of Columbia have petitioned officials to change brands from Durex to Trojan and carry larger sizes. Apparently youth believe that Trojan is of better quality than Durex, despite a perfect score for both brands from Consumer Reports.

The officials have decided to listen and change what they are doing. It is important to the local government because there is a huge fear of the spread of HIV/AIDS. Studies show that 3 percent of residents in the DC area have HIV, so they will spend a little more to help protect the citizens.

There Will Be B**ching: Viacom Vs. YouTube

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In March of 2007, Viacom filed a lawsuit against Google-owned YouTube citing massive copyright infringement. They claim that around 160,000 video clips of Viacom's programming have been viewed over 1.5 billion times making this the largest lawsuit concerning intellectual property rights ever, but Google doesn't seem to be worried. After acquiring YouTube in 2006 for $1.6 billion, making it the largest online acquisition ever, Google expected there to be potential lawsuits in the future. At present day the two companies are still locked in legal turmoil but things are really starting to heat up. Viacom stated last Friday on their website that,

It is abundantly clear that YouTube and Google knew about copyright infringement on the YouTube site, encouraged it and profited from it.

There are also some very angry internal e-mails from Viacom execs and employees that reveal their true hatred for Google, including "F*** those motherf***ers." and "Google bastards."

Read full article

Virgin Games' Big Announcement

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In the 80s and 90s, Virgin Interactive Entertainment was one of the biggest names in the industry, topping their achievements with Command and Conquer. After they sold to Blockbuster in 1994 for a whopping $250 million, no one expected they would ever be a force to be reckoned with again. Boy were we wrong.

In 2004, Richard Branson, the billionaire playboy owner of the Virgin Group, started Virgin Games which owns and operates prize-based game sites. Among the featured games is a casino, poker and bingo. Certainly not what Virgin Interactive was all about. Rumor has it that Sir Richard Branson himself will be at E3 next month to step up their game.

According to MCVUK, Branson has been developing a cross-platform gaming environment.

The new gaming service rumoured to launch at E3 will seek partnerships with leading publishers and content owners, offering new and unique opportunities.

Ambitious and global, the business is expected to run across the leading console formats and feature the most popular games on the market.

MCV understands that the new video games venture will be online-only and again challenge-based, possibly built on a technology acquisition.

This wouldn't be the first product of its type in the gaming space (BringIt), but with the backing of the Virgin name and logo, it could be the first to be successful.

Even Pakistanis Hate Facebook

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Protesters in Pakistan are outraged by what they feel is a direct attack against their religion. In the Muslim world, it is sacrilegious to display the image of the Prophet Mohammed. Many free speech advocates, however, feel that there is a need to do it just to prove the value of free speech. One such person created a Facebook event and group entitled "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" which was this past Thursday.

Clearly, this is a controversial move and one that members of the Muslim world do not appreciate. At these protests, there have been chants of "Death to Facebook" and "Death to America," though the protests themselves have been mostly peaceful. As a result, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has blocked access to Facebook, YouTube and a collection of more than 450 other sites that have been deemed to be in conjunction.

Read full article

Intel Possibly Fading the Already Grey Line Between Netbook and Notebook

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Intel has tried to keep tabs on netbook sales overtaking notebook sales by placing a limitation on how large a netbook screen could be. Netbooks that used the Atom N series processor were restricted to screen sizes of 10.2" or less. Sound the rumor alert though, because word on the street is that Intel will be removing this hardware restriction sometime in the second half of this year, which will allow any netbook using the dual-core N550 processor to have larger screens.

This doesn't come as a shock to us, as Intel is trying to find a new way to keep netbook sales on the rise after seeing them level off in the past six months. Offering new models and styles will probably drum up a few percentage points in sales. It might also be that Intel is trying to keep up with Asus' move of the new EEE-PC netbooks, which offer 1080p video on a 10" screen, by combining Pine Trail and BroadcamCrystalHD to make it possible on larger LCDs.

Read full article

FTC Shuts Down Less-Than-Ethical ISP

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Guess what happens if an ISP hosts and distributes spam, malware and porn? It's going to get shut down, especially if the FTC gets involved! That's exactly what happened with Internet service provider 3FN. Earlier this week, the FTC made a request to a district court judge to shut down the ISP. 3FN's servers and assets were since seized and they have been ordered to pay $1.08 million of it proceeds to the FTC.

This started back in June of 2009, when the Federal Trade Commission initially charged 3FN with actively recruiting and colluding with criminals to distribute e-content such as spyware, viruses, trojans, phishing schemes and child pornography.

The FTC alleged that the defendant advertised its services in the darkest corners of the Internet, including a chat room for spammers.

Read full article

Heroes: Saving the Cheerleader Won't Save The Series

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Something that us fans of NBC's show Heroes have been anticipating has actually been confirmed, that being the cancellation of the series. Yes that is right, Heroes will be no more and we will no longer be able to hear about Mohinder and his father's research, nor will we be able to see problems fixed by a little memory wipe here or a trip back in time. The cancellation of the show has been speculated for the past two years but now that it has actually been confirmed it is a bit bitter sweet. I myself along with the rest of the crew have watched the show since day one and have seen the decline of the series since its amazing first season. Now don't get me wrong, each of the seasons have had their truly great moments and glimmers of hope but to find this news unexpected or surprising is a bit naive.

Read full article

LEGO Universe Pre-order

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

With the closed beta going along very well, the NetDevil team has finally given us a pre-order date for the upcoming family-friendly MMO of awesomeness, LEGO Universe! They also revealed some of the bonuses you get once you pre-order the game. For those who want to jump on and get your orders in, you've been able to do so since Friday, May 14th. There's currently no information on pricing available but we do know it will be based on a monthly subscription model. Once we get some prices we will let you know.

Read full article

How Many Fingers = $25M? Ask Home Depot

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The type of business that Home Depot is in comes with a huge potential for high worker's compensation claims. In fact, several years ago the claims averaged $1 million per year until Michael Powell designed a device that could save countless fingers among other body parts lost and swept under the steel shelves. Powell presented the simple device and the company agreed to test it in 8 stores with incredible success that resulted in lowering claims to $7,000 the next year. Powell was willing to sell them the device for $2,000 a piece but Home Depot decided to thank Powell by giving him the finger, which they were still able to do thanks to his device. When Powell's claim on the invention was brought up at a meeting a Home Depot exec responded with,

F**k Michael Powell. Let him sue us.

Read full article

Nintendo Still Hates Pirates

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Nintendo, makers of every family-friendly mini-game collection ever, has been battling pirates for years. In 2007, they petitioned the Hong Kong High Court to help them stop came copier devices. Apparently this petition didn't do the trick because they have ramped up the process.

This week the filed suit against a company that owns and operates several websites that "sell illegal video game copiers." The company, NXPGAME, has been under investigation by Nintendo for quite some time. The investigation found that the sites were enabling users to download, play and distribute illegal DS and DSi games.

Read full article

Hacking Ain't a Kids Job Any Longer

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Facebook hackers be aware! A new feature will be implemented on Facebook to prevent hackers from entering your account. Pretty soon users will only be permitted to access their profile from "approved" computers and handheld devices (mobile phones and iTouch.) With over 400 million "Facebooker's" across the world, the site felt that security needed to be heightened a bit.

Read full article

FarmVille - A Thing of the Past?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

While we may have spoken of FarmVille in the past, it isn't really popular among the PLuGHiTz Live! staff. It is, however, very popular among Facebook users. While it doesn't cost any money to play, you do have the ability to purchase in-game items with real world money, in the form of Facebook Credits - the only currency that Facebook allows on its network.

Facebook Credits are 30% profit for Facebook and 70% for the vendor who accepts them. While a very lucrative deal for Facebook, Zynga, the creator of FarmVille, wants more of the money. Facebook, on the other hand, has no interest in negotiating.

Read full article

Google Docs Has Data Defenciency Says Microsoft

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I bet most of you forgot about Google Docs but the good news is that Google didn't, or did they? Google acquired the company DocVerse in an effort to create a more Microsoft Office like software suite based on cloud computing. Recently, the director of Microsoft's online product management team, Alex Payne made the argument that Google Docs isn't something that should be used to replace or augment Microsoft Office. When you use Google Docs to convert Office files you lose data consistency such as page breaks, charts, SuperArt and more. To prove his point he gave a demonstration that can be watched below. To explain why consistency issues do not arise when copying Office files to Office Web Apps Payne stated,

If you have a document that was created in Office and you upload it to our Office web apps (Excel, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote) the document will look almost identical when you view it in the browser (IE, Firefox and Safari) *and* we maintain the components in the doc even if you don't see them in the Web.

Hit the break for a quote from Google and a video about the service.

Read full article

Adobe Sarcasm 10.1 Now Available On Apple's Audacity

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

A few weeks ago we talked about Apple being hardcore anti-Flash and the unusual relationship forming with Microsoft Silverlight but Adobe isn't going to take it sitting down after Apple stated last month that developers have to use programming tools based on open standards and not proprietary technology such as Flash. Just two weeks prior to this Steve Jobs released a public letter with 6 reasons why Apple chose not to use flash. The main points focus on supposed technical drawbacks and lack of common interests between the 2 companies. Adobe has responded by taking out advertisements in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, among other newspapers and websites. The "Adobe Loves Apple" campaign can be summed up in a single quote by Adobe founders,

In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? "And we believe the answer is: nobody -- and everybody, but certainly not a single company.

Read full article

Need to Pick Up a Girl? Tell Her You Have Nifty Gifties

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Guys aren't the only people that can be classified as techies anymore. It looks like technology makes the women happy, too!

Got to love the folks from the UK. One of their research groups, The Chartered Institute for IT, analyzed 35,000 responses from the World Values Survey to make the point that IT, in general, actually makes people happier across the entire globe.

The authors indicated that things like cell phones, computers and broadband open one's "sense of freedom" and allow people to feel more in control of their life, which then promotes the feeling satisfaction in life. They went on to say that it even helps during times of financial turmoil and challenge.

This goes along with the studies that have showed that IT helps the most with people who have it the least.

Those on lower incomes or with fewer educational qualifications appear to benefit more from access to IT than those on higher incomes or with higher educational backgrounds.

Read full article

PS3 Firmware Update May Affect Air Force Console Cluster

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last year I talked about how the PlayStation 3 could be receiving some high marks after the Air Force purchased 2,200 of the consoles for their Research Laboratories. Well, it looks like just the opposite may happen.

As we know, the recent PlayStation 3 update removed the ability to install a secondary operating system like Linux, which Sony claims is to protect copyrighted content. That's fine and all, but using that feature is the exact reason the Air Force purchased all those Cell processors!

Why did the Air Force purchase them and why this many? We have learned that this was the most cost-effective hardware option for them to move forward with several projects using a 500 TeraFLOPS cluster built entirely out of PS3s.

So, they have all the hardware and now it appears they won't be able to use it, right? Not so fast. The update is only downloaded when the console is connected to the PlayStation Network. Because of this, there is no direct, immediate impact on the cluster of consoles that the Air Force has concocted. But what happens when one of the PS3s dies or needs repair? Sad story.

Read full article

Sony Reports Another Annual Loss, but PS3 Sales Up

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sony reported its yearly results this week and it's another year in the red for them. Two years ago they saw a $1 billion drop, which was their first loss in fourteen years, so I guess that a $439 million loss this year isn't so bad!

Sony stated that LCD TVs and cameras were the big selling items on their list and that PlayStation 3 sales were up from 10.1 million last year to 13 million this year. To make things even brighter, this year was the first year that the console actually was profitable, mainly due to production costs going down.

Time for the bad news. PSP sales were down this year from 14.4 million to 9.9 million, with game sales falling to 44.4 million from 50.3 million. For the PlayStation 2, Sony saw a decrease of half a million, to 7.2 million and their gaming sales saw a significant fall off the shelf from 83.5 million to 35.7 million. This isn't surprising, as we know the PS2 is quickly fading out as other consoles are seeing stiff price breaks.

Read full article

EA Sports Learning From GameStop, Charging to Play Used Games Online

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We know that nobody except GameStop likes it when we purchase used games, so to counter, developers have introduced several incentives for buying new games (which has led to several lawsuits from not-so-bright consumers). For EA, games like Mass Effect 2 and Bad Company 2 came with one-time use codes in the box. If you bought the game new - or if the gamer before you didn't use the code - then you were good to go. However, for most used game purchasers, you had to shell out another $10 to get the code. EA Sports has figured this method out, and they're going to make you pay $10 to play online with a used game.

Starting in June with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, there will be a one-time use code in the box for games on the Xbox 360 and PS3. If you rent the game, there will be a seven day trial to play for free, but that will only work once per game. If you're buying used and want to get online, then you'll need to buy an Online Pass from EA for $10.

When you connect online with your new EA SPORTS game for the first time, you'll be prompted to confirm your EA account details. If you don't already have an EA account, you'll be asked to accept our Online Terms and Conditions and then create an account. After confirming or creating your account, a screen will appear that enables you to redeem your Online Pass code.

Easy, right? Hey, there's some perks here, too. You will also get access to "bonus" content, which to us, seems like stuff left out on purpose to make you go online with the game - see Madden 2010.

Read full article

APB Payment Method

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

APB is an MMO currently in development by Realtime Studios that is essentially Grand Theft Auto online. If you could do it in GTA (hijack cars, perform robberies, etc) you can do it in APB and then some. Not only is their gameplay different from most MMOs but their payment methods are also different from what we MMO junkies in the Western hemisphere have become accustomed to. Instead of having a standard monthly fee you will be able to purchase game play by the hour if you so desire. Another interesting feature is that there are two aspects of the game; one of which you have to pay for and the other which is entirely free to people who have purchased the game. On the free side you have the social aspect of an MMO: the trading, the chatting and the guild aspects. On the pay side you have the action portion of the game where you fight crime or participate in it.

Read full article

The Infinity Ward Employee Group Strikes Again!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It's a comforting to know that there are things in the world that will happen like clockwork, and Infinity Ward employees leaving Activision has become one of those things. Except now they come together and rallied under one banner calling themselves... "The Infinity Ward Employee Group!" Pretty intimidating right? So far, sixteen employees have gone to the new developer company known as Respawn Entertainment and even more have just called it quits. Thirty eight of said employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against their former publisher for between $75 million and $125 million in unpaid bonuses.

The suit alleges that Activision breached their contract to IW employees by not paying all of the royalties owed after the success of Modern Warfare 2. According to the report by G4, Activision has paid $28 million in royalties so far, but still owes $54 million for 2009, as well as other bonuses based on the first quarter of 2010. The group is also seeking $75 million to $500 million in punitive damages. Bruce Isaacs, attorney for IWEG stated the following:

Read full article

HP Purchases Palm for $1.2 billion

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We have known for some time that Palm has been in trouble, partly because of Verizon's poor marketing of the Pre and Pixi smartphones. After searching for a buyer and being turned down by everyone, including the manufacturer of their devices, HTC, HP has stepped up and purchased the struggling handset maker for $1.2 billion.

HP feels that Palm has a lot to offer the company who has had nothing but bad luck in the competitive smartphone market. Todd Bradley, Executive Vice President of HP's Personal Systems Group said,

Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices. And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.

Palm's executive team seems to be excited about this acquisition as well. Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein said,

Read full article

Respawn Grows Again

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Since Jason West and Vince Zampella left Infinity Ward and founded Respawn Entertainment, developers have been leaving Infinity Ward faster than passengers from the Titanic. Today's update brings us another 4, all of which have defected to the EA-backed Respawn.

Preston Glenn, Zied Rieke, Chad Genier and Sean Slayback, all designers, are the most recent batch of defectors. The total number of transfers (that we know of) is now at 16, with several more leaving for other studios as well. Stayback started his tenure with Treyarch, working on their last attempt at a Call of Duty game, World at War, before leaving and joining Infinity Ward in time to work on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The guys over at PCGamerUK put together a video of the end credits to Modern Warfare 2 with the names of everyone who has left scratched out. They have updated it somewhat, and here it is. It makes it much more obvious how big of a deal this is for Activision. Good thing they have Bungie on their side now.

Hit the break to see all the people that have left Infinity Ward.

Read full article

The Legendary Few Keep Going

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week I told you about The Legendary Few, a group of dedicated Halo 2 players who were still playing the game via Xbox Live, despite Microsoft shutting the service down 8 days prior. Well, today marks 16 days and there are still 8 very dedicated players still at it. Their dedication is about to earn them more than just nerd fame.

Microsoft has decided that, among all of the millions of Xbox players and Halo fanatics in the world, The Legendary Few are the best people to get involved in the Halo: Reach beta program. Microsoft said in a statement,

Read full article

Next Batman Film Has a Release Date

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Warner Bros. has sliced out a small corner of an already crowded party for themselves to release the still un-named third Christopher Nolan Batman. The movie will premiere July 20, 2012, rounding out possibly the best nerd film season ever.

Already we have The Avengers on May 4, Battleship's film adaptation on May 25, J.J. Abram's Nimoy-less Star Trek sequel on June 29 and the Spider-Man reboot film on July 3.

July has become a big month for Nolan films. The Dark Knight opened July 18, 2008 and Inception, his current project, opens July 16 of this year. Let's hope 3 is a lucky number for him.

What Piracy? Music Industry on the Rise in 2009

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We covered a couple months ago about how total music sales were down as well as piracy use from 2007 to 2009 but that was only for the United States. Here's a global stat: 13 markets worldwide saw an increase in music revenue for the year of 2009, including Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Sweden, the UK and Brazil. They all claim, however, that this means there needs to be more stringent anti-piracy laws.

IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said, "South Korea and Sweden in particular saw striking returns to growth...showing how an improved legal environment can help impact on legitimate music sales."

This may be true, but the data doesn't show that. Sweden did approve a new law in 2009 that gave rights holders a court-dictated way to get named of accused piracy infringers, which caused The Pirate Bay admins to go on trial. But we've used those tactics here in the States for years. So why did we suffer but Sweden didn't?

Read full article

Leonary Nemoy's Final Voyage

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone on the planet seems to know who Lenoard Nemoy is, and it is entirely thanks to the success of Star Trek and everything involved with it. It is a career setting that has been constant since the premiere in 1966, but after 44 years in Star Trek and 60 years in the industry, Nimoy is calling it quits.

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Nimoy said,

Read full article

Activision and Bungie Link-up for Ten Years

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Activision just lost all the important people from their Infinity Ward studio, so it only makes sense that they announced to the world this week that they will be teaming up with Bungie on a ten-year publishing deal. Bungie will be bringing games to platforms of the unknown apparently, because they really didn't announce anything else other than the fact that they will not be exclusive developers for the Xbox 360 and that the deal was in the works for about nine months.

Rest assure though, that even after all the dust settles from the Infinity Ward fallout, the announcement mentioned that Bungie will remain in total control of all of its upcoming titles.

Read full article

Microsoft Admits the Courier is Real, Then Destroys Our Hopes and Dreams

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Our visions of a future where there could be a DSi-type device with an operating system, that was larger, faster and more useful were acknowledged, then very quickly dashed as Microsoft finally opened their tight-lipped mouths about the Courier project. The dual-screen tablet has been something we have been longing for Microsoft to actually manufacture, however, it seems that won't be happening anytime soon.

Frank Shaw, Microsoft's Vice President of corporate communications released this in a statement:

Read full article

Flash 10.1 for Android in June

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I know, you saw the word Flash and thought that I was going to mention Apple. I can promise I'm not going to talk about Apple vs the tech world right now. Instead, I'm going to tell you about how Google and Adobe are trying to become best friends in the e-sandbox.

Last week, Adobe's Chief Technical Officer Kevin Lynch confirmed in his blog that Flash will be heading to the Android platform in June. He also mentioned about Adobe's tactic to move away from Apple and their devices, and instead plan to bring Flash to any and everything non-Apple, such as Google, RIM, HP/Palm, Microsoft, Nokia and several others.

Read full article

The Force is Strong With This Game

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Another week means another update from our friends at Bioware concerning their MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, and this week they pulled out the big guns.. quite literally. We received yet another video documentary, not on the game being the first fully voiced MMO or the actual integration of the fourth pillar but on something we are actually interested in... combat!

So far it seem that the forum community has people running in the streets for joy and others shivering in fear at the footage we all witnessed. It seems the consensus for the skeptics is that it just looks to much like World of Warcraft's combats. My reply to said skeptics is you are all morons. The video speaks for itself; it looks like you are actually in the movies, choreographed saber fights, blocking blasterbolts, using jetpacks, shooting around corners, you name it and it's there. Some of the more exciting footage contains a bounty hunter charging at an opponent with assistance from their jetpack, or seeing a couple Jedi blocking blaster bolts left and right like there is nothing to it.

Read full article

Microsoft's New Beta, Fix it Center

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Late last week, Microsoft subtly launched a new beta service, the Fix it Center. This program already contains 300 fixes, which will help users figure out and solve problems with their Windows PCs.

Upon installation of the Fix it Center client, it automatically downloads the latest troubleshooters in our library to your PC. The troubleshooters can "find and fix" issues immediately or "find and notify" you of the issues it detected. The "find and notify" puts you in control - you decide which issues you want the troubleshooters to resolve. No matter what you choose, we show you a report of what was performed on your PC and offer you options to learn or further investigate the issue or submit a support request at Fix it Center Online.

Read full article

Halo 2 - The Battle Continues

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

As you know, Microsoft shut down the Original Live service on April 15th, much to the dismay of all Halo 2 players. Well, I can't say ALL players, as some have kept the battle alive. How have they done this with the service shut down? Simple - don't turn off your console or exit the game... EVER!

As of Friday there were 27 unbelievably dedicated players still online, which is impressive considering that the system had been down for 8 days, with no power cycles, console failures or Internet glitches for any of them. As of today the number has shrunk significantly, and among the fallen is one of the broadcasters of their screen, known to Justin.tv as fraggedears. Among the other players and streamers are mrtankjump and xxbookerxx. As of the last known update, xxbookerxx was the only broadcaster still connected.

While I may not understand these players' obsession with the game, I do admire their dedication to keep alive this legendary title for as long as they can. We wish the final 17, now called The Legendary Few, good luck in their endeavors and hope they can find happiness after Halo 2's inevitable exit from Xbox Live.

Another Broken Internet Cable in the Middle East

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In 2008 the Middle East suffered a crippling blow to their Internet, with multiple cuts on the underwater wiring system that rendered them without web service for almost a week. Last week, the Middle East was struck with another outage, when cable SeaMeWe-4 had a "shunt fault" and made contact with the sea water somewhere in the Mediterranean.

This cable that just runs over 12,000 miles long, which gives Internet connectivity between Europe and Egypt, had a disruption that affected areas from Pakistan to the Gulf states. A segment of the cable running to Singapore, however, appears to still be functioning properly. A repair vessel is already on the scene and the fix should take place within the next 48 hours.

There is some good news, however, and it is that the SeaMeWe-4 will no longer be needed in the next year. Five new cables have been prepared to enter service between Europe and Egypt in 2010. These cables will allow up to a 4 tbps capacity each, where the SeaMeWe-4 was only able to sustain a maximum of 2 tbps.

Countries Ask Google to Try not to Screw Up Another Service Launch

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Have you heard the buzz? Google Buzz. The botched launch of Google's attempt at social networking has forced the hand of government leaders from Canada, Italy and eight other countries to tell Google to either shape up, or ship out. They are asking the company, in an open letter, to adhere to a list of privacy principles in which they will need to follow before launching any new project. Apparently, we're all tired of Google's "launch now, fix later" campaign.

The letter sent directly to Google CEO Eric Schmidt showed criticism on how Google handled its launch of Buzz in February, stating that the privacy problems "were serious and ought to have been readily apparent to you." Google users were surprised when Google automatically connected everything Google related into each other, including private Gmail contacts and Google Reader items.

Of course, Google responded to that matter days later by doing program-wide default settings change, but by that point users were already aggravated at the system. The letter to Google explains this:

Read full article

Hulu Plus: $10 Per Month For How Much Stuff?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Hulu seems to be finally caving into the pressures of making money that are inevitably placed on free services that grow quite large. Currently, Hulu is allowed to have no more than 5 episodes from any series available at one time. Meaning that in order to add new content the old content must go and this is where the $10 a month subscription comes in. Hulu plus subscribers will be offered a more comprehensive collection to choose from but how extensive is still uncertain. 10$ isn't a lot but it might not get you much either. Hulu has to pay $1 to $1.50 per subscriber to each of the networks with content on the site for retransmission purposes as well as streaming costs. In the end Hulu will need to pay $3 to $5.50 for every $10 subscription.

Read full article

Facebook Takes Over the Web

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you weren't sure yet, Facebook is taking over the world! Well, at least the Internet. We've all become accustomed to clicking "like" button on the social networking site when something interests us and now we'll be able to do it on a number of other sites. This feature is intended to make the web "more social." Essentially, everything on the Internet will be linked to Facebook. When you "like" a photo, link, or web page, it will post directly to your wall. Many have also noticed the "link-website" box that pops up when you sign into your account. This will link your accounts from sites like Gmail with your Facebook. If you don't already have a Facebook, it's about time you get one!

Read full article

Apple Engineer iTerminated Over iPad

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

One very excited and unlucky Apple engineer found himself iTerminated April 3rd after midnight during the iPad launch. Apparently the engineer was let go for showing Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak an iPad for 2 minutes, during which time he tried to replicate some of the things shown on the iPad web demo. Wozniak was the one who wanted to see the iPad but was told the engineer must wait until after midnight to take it out of the secure area. When he was talking about this situation with Jobs, he simply said, "so it's no big deal" and that was the end of it. Just last week another Apple employee, software engineer Gray Powell left his iPhone 4G prototype at a bar after drinking. Wozniak heard that Gray has not been fired for that indiscretion, speculating that it may not have violated Apple policy enough or did not cause harm to the company. With regards to the engineer let go for showing him the iPad Wozniak said,

Read full article

MLB Joins PS3 Family

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you are an MLB.TV subscriber and own a PS3 then I have got news that will make your baseball season exciting. Available right now, the MLB.TV app for PS3 allows you to watch every regular season game in HD. Some of the other features available include:

Read full article

Apple vs HTC Google Nokia Kodak

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Okay, I really wasn't lying a couple weeks ago when I talked about how Apple was confusing who they are suing and who their friends are. This week, the Crazy Fruit Company (all rights reserved) is going after Kodak! The good news is that at least Kodak started it this time.

Before we move forward with what is going on, let's fill you in on some of the recent companies Apple has attacked and some companies that have attacked Apple:

Read full article

Blippy Users May Be Surprised to Find Credit Card Numbers Exposed

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Since technology allows you to access pretty much any information you could ever dream of, you would think Internet users would take extra precautions to protect themselves from fraud. Well, Blippy, a site that permits users to share information about their online purchases from retailers such as Netflix, Woot, and eBay, did not do a very good job of protecting private information.

The site was intended for consumers to share their purchases with others looking to buy the product, but how much information is too much? When signing up for Blippy, they lead you to believe that the only information that will be shared is the item or service purchased, the amount, and the retailer. It was recently discovered that when a Google search was performed on some the the products, the entire credit card number and address were exposed. Bippy users were not aware that this information was being shared.

Read full article

Microsoft's Profits Good, Not Great

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Microsoft announced their quarterly numbers on Friday and they were pretty good. They posted a profit of $165 million for the quarter, due in large part to the Entertainment and Devices Division which is responsible for Xbox and Zune.

The console saw a slip of 12 percent on sales, however the cost of production was down and they saw record usage of the Xbox Live platform, more than covering the sales losses. Total sales were $14.5 billion, which is a 6 percent increase over this quarter last year. Some of that is because of a recovering global economy and part because of increased sales of Windows machines and Windows software because of Windows 7.

Read full article

What Do Krome Layoffs Mean for Game Room?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In March, Microsoft launched Game Room - a virtual arcade on your Xbox 360. The offering was developed as a partnership between Microsoft and Krome Studios and offered the ability to purchase full (digital) arcade cabinets of classic arcade games. Since launch, 30 cabinets have been added to the lineup with another 6 on the way next week. Although the service got off to a rough start, it does seem to be doing pretty well now.

On Thursday, Krome Studios confirmed rumors that they had laid off a number of employees earlier in the day via press statement.

Read full article

The Reaver is Here

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

My schedule for the week consists of a few repeatable tasks, mainly being catching up on my anime, watching The Office, doing homework and checking what new updates there are for Bioware's MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week has definitely been one of my favorite updates simply because it gave us a glimpse of the universe's past, as well as giving something for the Darth Revan fanboys to get excited for.

Read full article

Just Keep on Dancin'

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Flashback to last month when Ubisoft announced to the world that its fun-filled humiliation based game Just Dance had sold a cool 2 million copies world wide. Fast-forward to now, where based on data from the March NPD report, analyst Ben Schachter estimates that one million copies have been sold in the US alone between the game's November release and the end of March. Needless to say it's suprising to know that a lot of people out there have no shame in bustin' a move to the Trashmen's Surfin' Bird!

236,000 of those copies of Dance were purchased just last month in the US. In contrast, Ubisoft's new Wii release, Red Steel 2, sold only 50,000 copies. We look forward to the obvious knockoffs from other developers. Just for some example: Dancing Euphoria, You Can't Stop the Beat or who can forget Pump It... nevermind.

Privacy Not Very Private Anymore: Part 2

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Remember that school district in Pennsylvania? Yes, we're referring to the Lower Merion School District, the one that allegedly caught students performing inappropriate behavior through webcams in the district-issued latops. The boy's parents were unaware that an override feature allowed the county to access the webcam at any time. On November 11, the student was called into the office and punished for "inappropriate behavior" caught on the webcam. Turns out, some of the images captured were of the boy half-dressed. Also, personal instant messages were viewed without merit.

The override feature was intended to track stolen laptops, and while activated was capable of taking photos on the webcam and screenshots every 15 seconds. Blake Robbins and his parents were not happy when they found out the school had over 400 personal shots. When the laptops were issued, an agreement was signed agreeing to not engage in inappropriate behavior on the laptop itself, but that doesn't include what the student was doing in his home when the photos were captured.

Read full article

Silverlight 4 is Here

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Silverlight has been in the news a lot lately, and we have been avid supporters of Microsoft's Flash-combatant and have kept everyone up to date on their successes and shortcomings. Well, more great things at happening on the Microsoft front, as along with the announcement of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4, Microsoft has launched Silverlight 4!

What's so cool about this version? How about support for webcam and microphones, to start. Throw in a little better plug-in compatibility with Google Chrome to go along with the already supported browser array of Internet Explorer, FireFox and Safari.

Read full article

Viacom's 'New' YouTube Documents Shed No Light

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I had all but forgotten that Viacom was crazy until this week. On Thursday, they released new documents in their Google/YouTube lawsuit. These documents allege, surprisingly, that Google intentionally profited from copyright infringement and coercion. Viacom said in a statement,

{Google} embraced infringement as a business model... Indeed, not long before the {YouTube} acquisition, the executive in charge of managing Google's core product offerings, including search, sent Google's co-founders and CEO an internal presentation explicitly advocating that Google use the threat of copyright theft to advance its business interests.

While, out of context, the document could be taken to say that Google was intentionally trying to get content providers to pay instead of Google ripping them off, a Google representation said,

Read full article

Library of Congress To Archive Your Twit

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In the past the LOC has turned its attention to the web starting in 2000 with archiving presidential campaign websites and now it looks to capture your tweets, all of them. They are looking to record every single tweet since the first one written by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2006. Anyone who has ever used Twitter is aware that the majority of tweets are simply 140 characters or less of disappointment but there are some tweets with historical value like the one President Obama made after winning the 2008 election and the tweets from James Buck, the photojournalist arrested in Egypt. Interestingly enough the LOC is interested in all the tweets because the generally accepted views on historicism in academic circles are changing. The goal is to start recording history that does not involve proper novels and publications but the stories, thoughts, feelings, and mind set that a variety of different people during a specific time had in order to capture a more broad and accurate picture of the reality. Undertakings like this do pose problems for the LOC to overcome but this is necessary if they wish to achieve their goal of being the go to place for important historical information stored in a digital format, or as Matt Raymond, a official LOC blogger put it,

Read full article

Winter Olympics a Hit, but NBC Sports Strikes Out Financially

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

As expected, NBC Sports took huge losses for the 2010 Winter Olympics telecast. The Associated Press reported that NBC suffered $225 million in losses from its coverage in Vancouver in February.

However, it's less than what was anticipated. GE projected anywhere from $300 to $500 million in losses, so I guess this can be considered a win for the company. The good news is that NBC took in $800 million in revenue, which can quickly be forgotten as they had to pay out $820 million in production costs and rights fees to the International Olympic Committee.

Read full article

Hideo Kojima Looking to End Career?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Hideo Kojima is one of the truly legendary game creators. He is best known, of course, for Metal Gear, which is one of the top selling series of all time. Recently his Twitter feed has been getting a little weird, though, and he recently suggested his next game could be his last.

The next project will challenge a certain type of taboo. If I mess up, I'll probably have to leave the industry. However, I don't want to pass by avoiding that. I turn 47 this year. It's been 24 years since I started making games. Today, I got an ally who would happily support me in that risk. Although it's just one person. For a start, it's good.

Read full article

Apple iPad Finally a Grown-Up Device?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Looks like there may be a way for iPad users to finally use flash! Although most grown-up devices already support Adobe Flash like the Palm Pre, we all know the iPad does not. Well, they have discovered a way around it. By using a Personal Network Computing (PNC) Application, you can use a computer that does support flash and link it to you iPad.

One of the most popular PNC Apps in the iTunes store is Desktop Connect. Downloading the App will only cost you $12.99, and allow you to connect your iPad with your Flash supported computer if they use the same network. If they do not, you will be able to manually configure the network.

There are some downsides with this method though. Of course, there will be lag since you are running through another computer. Also, the zoom is limited and the biggest downside, no audio. This is a cool thing for iPad users, but purchasing a device that already supports Flash is probably the better option.

Sony Entices Potential Consumers with a 3D Extravaganza

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sony has been on the forefront of 3D technology, from having part of their E3 presentation in 3D to the recently announced 2010 FIFA World Cup schedule. We know that Sony is supporting 3D gaming, too, and they are releasing an update for the PS3 for it to support 3D movies and games. We also plan to look out for the new line of Bravia 3DTVs, the HX803, releasing in June.

For some strange reason, however, many consumers aren't ready to bite the 3D bullet, mainly due to the fact most people purchased an HDTV just after the switch to digital television. These nonsupporting slackers of technology have caused Sony to try a new promotion. They are giving away a collection of four games to anyone who purchases a new 3D Bravia TV during launch week. The games are WipEout HD, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Pain, and Super Stardust HD.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President Andrew House has this to say in a statement:

Read full article

Infinity Ward Seems Likely to Respawn

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

March 1st Activision let go IW heads Jason West and Vince Zampella claiming disloyalty and espionage among other reasons, for a refresher check out To Infinity Ward, Activision, and Beyond!, but the loss in human resources doesn't stop there. Several more key IW members are following suit. Modern Warfare 2 lead designers Steve Fukuda and Zied Reike along with artist Chris Cherubini, and programmer Rayme Vinsion have taken their leave. Activision is also threatening to withhold bonuses offered to existing members of IW that leave before the lawsuits are settled but that doesn't seem to be carrying much weight because with these resignations the top 10% of IW is gone leaving the future of the development company uncertain. The ex-IW members have said little about their future plans but West and Zampella have created a new development studio called Respawn Entertainment who has decided to partner with, you guessed it, EA. The deal made with EA is a little sweeter for West and Zampella as they will have full ownership of intellectual property and exclusive rights to publish and distribute worldwide. In a recent statement Zampella said,

Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me. For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We're very proud of what we built-and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again-open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.

Activision released a statement saying that they plan on continuing Modern Warfare with the leftover IW staff or anyone else they choose to work on it.

This agreement comes as no surprise to Activision given the myriad of improper activities detailed in the cross-complaint filed on Friday against Jason West and Vince Zampella. We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward's deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects.

I wish Activision luck in making future Modern Warfare games with the quality that the fans dedicated to the franchise have come to expect but even if they manage to it will never regain its former glory due to the treatment IW has received. Many newcomers and veterans of the franchise have probably already been chased away.

Hit the break to see who's left Infinity Ward so far.

Read full article

Teen Kills Dad Over Game

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week, in the Russian town of Tuapse, a 14-year-old boy killed his father because he wasn't allowed to play his videogame. As any normal American parent would do, the easy punishment for whatever the boy had done was to take away the game. Here we probably would have lost a controller or the power cord for the 360, there the father took away the computer keyboard. Then he went to sleep.

Read full article

Red Steel 2 Sells Only 50k

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

According to analysts, the Wii title Red Steel 2 sold only 50,000 copies its first week. In comparison, the original Red Steel sold over a million. The game itself is good, abandoning everything that was wrong with the first game, and has received glowing reviews from critics and gamers, yet there have been nearly no sales.

There are a couple of possibilities as to why. The first being that the terrible gameplay of the first game killed any hope of success for this one. It was a Wii launch title, so everyone bought it because it was the only non-minigame disc available at the time. That doesn't indicate that they ever finished it, and if they did, were immediately jonesing for some more. The fact that the developers made so many changes indicates even they knew it was a terrible game.

Read full article

Cybertronians Transform Yourself!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You may have heard of the game entitled Transformers: War for Cybertron which takes place before Optimus and the gang come to earth to cause ear splitting explosions and other various hearing related problems. Well, it looks like something extremely interesting and cool is coming out of this story line. Given that the game is placed in a time where transformers have never really been seen this means that there is tons of room for customization! Now you are probably asking yourself, "But why would I customize my own Transformer?" The answer is simple my friends, because if you plan on playing Transformers: War for Cybertron online, you will get to create your very own Transformer! There are countless possibilities when creating your Autobot or Decepticon. You get to chose from four archetypes being: The Scout, The Scientist, The Leader, and The Soldier, all having different powers and specialties at their disposal to wage war against the other side. But wait there's more! Thanks to this ambiguity of the games setting you also have to choice of changing into a wide variety of vehicles not necessarily set in reality. You can be anything from a space tank, to a fighter jet if that is what you desire. Needless to say I am truly looking forward to getting my hands on this game come June 22nd. Look out Decepticons cause here comes PLuGBoT!

Hit the break to check out the game trailer

Read full article

To Infinity Ward, Activision, and Beyond!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Activision and ex-Infinity Ward leads Jason West and Vince Zampella find themselves in a bit of a tiff after Activision filed a lawsuit alleging that West and Zampella went behind Activisions's back by talking to their closest competitor (supposedly EA) with regards to Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 3. Activision also alleges that they kept post-poning the pre-production work on the game to have more leverage in negotiations with Activision. The two were then fired March 1st. In the 23 page lawsuit filing Activision stated,

Read full article

gLee Flashmobs Take Over

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Over the last 6 months or so, popularity of gLee has increased significantly. As part of the popularity, a number of flashmob events have been organized. Some of them officially, some of them unofficially, all of them awesome. Most recently, FOX Television planned a major flashmob in Seattle, Washington for yesterday. They produced a pair of instructional videos hosted by the choreographers for the show and hosted several rehearsals over the past few months.

With all of this hard work, what were they expecting to get out of this? Well, FOX says they wanted to create a fun experience. Obviously they wanted to create a media buzz for the return of the show this Tuesday both on TV and online, and it seems to have been successful.

Hit the break to see the flashmobs.

Read full article

Silverlight Has Seen the Shiny Light

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We already remember the words that people were using when Microsoft's Silverlight service launched over a year ago. Ugly, Horrible, Lacking, Under-performing. It was a very sad time. The MLB dropped Silverlight for Adobe, which caused a huge uproar and a loss of followers who are loyal to baseball. Even worse, a list of glitches over at Netflix caused the platform to be under fire.

Luckily, times have changed. Call Silverlight butter because they're on a roll! Microsoft has seen a plentiful bounty with NBC using Silverlight to stream the 2010 Winter Olympics as well as CBS using them for a mainly lag-free NCAA Men's college basketball tournament. CBSSports.com had reported to have streamed more than 11 million hours of live audio and video using Silverlight. Even Netflix has had a change of heart, stating that managers are generally happy with the service and performance with delivering digital content over the Internet. To make things better, Microsoft has announced that they are teaming up with Intel and Broadcom to make Silverlight work on set-top boxes and other devices. Also, later next week we should expect a release date for Silverlight's latest upgrade.

Read full article

Welcome to Apple's Social Game Center

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Mobile gaming has been evolving as of late. Nintendo added social gaming to their DS series a while back. Microsoft has announced the inclusion of Xbox Live in WinPho 7. Even the Apple mobile platform has a couple of choices for gaming networks, including OpenFeint and Plus+. When iPhone OS 4.0 releases this summer, Apple users will have yet another choice - Apple Game Center.

Game Center will have all of the features you would expect to find in a social gaming network - achievements, friends lists, leaderboards, matchmaking, profiles, etc. What does this mean for OpenFeint and Plus+, though? Both companies seem to have been prepared for this possibility down the line and appear to have a plan in place to not necessarily compete against it, but use it to enhance their own product offering. ngmoco's chief publishing officer, Simon Jeffrey, said in an email statement,

Read full article

New RIM For Your Ride In The Near Future

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Anyone living in the industrialized world is familiar with the BlackBerry smart phones that have been popular since smart phones existed. Competitors like Apple, Nokia, Google, Palm, and Microsoft has made expansion in the smart phone market quite difficult and costly. This is why the Canadian based Research In Motion is looking to expand into the automotive market. They are attempting to acquire QNX, a Canadian based company that was purchased by Harmon International in 2004 who developed the Neutrino operating system that is currently used in other industries such as telecommunications, medical, defense and aerospace markets. Mike Lazaridis, RIM's co-chief executive said,

Read full article

Adobe Scared of Apple Because Their Products Don't Flash?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Adobe knows Apple is so anti-flash that they could probably police Mardi Gras better than New Orleans' finest every year, but it seems we may have found a chink in their armor. Adobe has said in their latest quarterly SEC filing that they may be scared of Apple.

In their Risk Factors section of their 10-Q filing, they reported:

Read full article

Child Sues Mother, Where Has the Power Gone?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Believe it or not, there once was a time when children respected their parents, obeyed orders without any questions, and would never get away with inadequate behavior. Well, that time is long gone. Teens these days have complete control over their parents. An Arkansas women, Denise New, will be sued for harassment by her 16-year-old son. The reason being, she hacked into his Facebook. According to the mother, she was well within her parental rights to monitor her underage son's Internet activity. The boy however, was outraged, stating "Denise first hacked my Facebook and changed the password...She also changed the password of my email so I could not change it," he continued on to say, "she posted things that involved slander and personal facts about my life." What gets me here, is the fact that the boy called his mother by her first name, that alone shows the level of disrespect. We all know how annoying it can be to have a parent as a friend on Facebook, but as a minor parents do have the right to monitor what is occurring in their home.

Read full article

Konami Brings Karaoke Revolution to the Hip-Hop Generation

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you enjoyed Karaoke Revolution and like the hippity hop, then you are in for a treat. Konami and Def Jam are teaming up to bring you Def Jam Rapstar, a new hip-hop karaoke game. What we weren't expecting to hear, however, is that it will support motion control on all of the consoles.

We assume that this is going to be an addition of the types of motion that you would expect to see a rapper doing while on stage. While it may sound a little odd, the inclusion of motion control in a karaoke game isn't all that crazy. Singers don't stand motionless while they perform, even karaoke singers (if we can consider them performers), so it will add another level of engagement with the game.

Read full article

F.E.A.R. Returns, Monolith Does Not

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Since Warner Bros. decided they wanted a major piece of the gaming pie, culminating with the buyout of Midway, they have definitely been making their mark, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. This week's announcement certainly is surprising and possibly concerning. Warner Bros. announced a second sequel to F.E.A.R, but Monolith will not be involved.

Read full article

Cliff Bleszinski Cancels on Fallon, Doesn't Inform Microsoft

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Thursday night Cliff Bleszinski, AKA Cliffy B, was scheduled to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Unfortunately the appearance was canceled late on Thursday and he was replaced by Justin Bieber. Don't worry, though, because the appearance has been rescheduled for Monday night. Fallon's executive producer explain it like this:

To all of my gaming peeps: Due to a scheduling conflict, @therealcliffyb's appearance has been moved to Monday. Same awesome dude, new day!

Bleszinski explained it a little differently:

Read full article

New Silent Hill Coming Soon

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Konami made an interesting and completely detail-less announcement at its recent gamer day event. Showing a teaser, a man stumbles through a foggy street and is attacked by a huge, unidentified creature. The video was in the traditional Silent Hill style, very colorless and very depressed, always amplifying the fear that is so prevalent in the Silent Hill series.

Read full article

Sony Finalizes First Ever Global 3D World Cup Schedule

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Back in December I briefly mentioned Sony's announcement to take the FIFA World Cup to 3D, along with a brief overview on how they intended to do that. Well, this week brought more details for us to get excited about!

The original topic told us that North America would have to wait for the Blu-ray disc to see it in 3D, but Sony's press release (link is at the bottom) told us that our good friends over at ESPN are going to handle the good ol' US of A. Cable giant Sogecable was also announced to handle the broadcasts for Spain, and more partners are going to be named soon, and eight matches will also be televised in 3D cinemas around the world.

Read full article

iPhone 3GS - The S Stands for Suck - NOT

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This week has brought a lot of revelations for the Apple world. We'll start with what we learned from the iPad launch - 2 new iPhones coming soon. Someone with too much time on their hands went searching through the iPad firmware and discovered a series of new hardware models. iPhone3,2, iPhone3,3, iPod4,1 and iProd2,1. A new iPod Touch is not unexpected, especially with one of the next announcements we will discuss and an upgrade to the iPad is not surprising as Apple never keeps their first model anything on the market too long. The double iPhones, however, is a bit more of a surprise. We would definitely expect to hear about a new model soon, but 2 new models indicates to me that we will see AT&T's exclusivity ending soon, and a new CDMA version could be around the corner. I have heard rumors from an Apple employee that there is a CDMA device in the works, but it wasn't expected to carry the iPhone branding.

Read full article

Sprint - NFL + ESPN = Not too Bad

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sprint has had a long history with sports. Many years ago, ESPN launched their own mobile offering - ESPN Mobile - that was run on Sprint's mobile network using rebranded Sprint phones, most notably the Samsung A900. Later, Sprint gained an exclusive deal with the NFL to provide Sprint NFL Live, an app available on almost all of their handsets, that provided streaming of live content as well as news stories, special announcements and exclusive videos. Recently, however, Sprint NFL Live was shut down because Verizon Wireless offered almost double, a total of $720 million, to take the exclusivity away from Sprint.

Read full article

YouTube Outage Stirs Up Rumors, China Not to Blame

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Rumor alert, rumor alert! There was talk earlier this week that the YouTube outage was caused by outside tampering, but the rumor has been put to rest.

As we know, Google has pulled the plug on censorship in China earlier this week, leaving room for speculation surrounding the YouTube outage. Technical problems caused the site to be down for only about an hour on Thursday morning, and in no way is related to Google's recent move.

Read full article

Twitter Still Trying To Figure Out That Business Model Thingy

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Here at PLuGHiTz Live! Radio, we have been forcing ourselves to keep pace with the ever growing and quickly changing world of Twitter. It's been a while so feel free to catch up on what's happened so far with Twitter Gets Another Cool $100 Million....Seriously? and Twitter Is Worth One Billion? Why?. Otherwise this is what has been going on since we last reported Twitter's exploits, or lack there of. Biz Stone and Evan Williams finally presented a business model at the South by Southwest interactive festival in March as promised.

Wait. What's that? I'm sorry, this just came in that in fact that didn't happen.

Read full article

Toys R Us Kids All Grown Up

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The problem with the Easter weekend is that it's one of the many holidays celebrated the world over in which we don't get presents. Don't get me wrong, peeps are delicious and extremely satisfying but not as satisfying as getting a brand new game half off. Thanks to Toys R Us that has been made possibility.

On April 2nd and 3rd, stores nationwide, as well as the retailer's site, will offer the sale on its entire stock of video games, among other non-gaming goods. You could pick up two MW2's for you and a friend who just haven't had the money to afford shooting up terrorists. Or you could pick yourself up copies of Skate and Skate 2, so you can catch yourself up on the franchise in anticipation for Skate 3.

What games have you been waiting for a deal on to purchase and are you going to take advantage of this sale to buy it?

Warhammer for Free

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It seems our friends at EA Mythic are really trying to get themselves some more subscribers. Recently they have made their "Unlimited Trial" instantly upgradeable! Meaning what you may ask? This basically means that if you already have a trial version of Warhammer Online downloaded you now are no longer required to buy a retail version of the game to gain access to everything the game has to offer. Instead, you can just upgrade you account and all you have to do is pay a subscription fee of $15 per month. While it is nice that you don't have to shell out an additional $10, yes that's right - the game is only $10, it gives us a little glimpse into how well Warhammer Online is doing and just how big its current player base is.

Do you play Warhammer Online? Let us know why or why not in the comments section below.

Kindle App for iPad May Make Amazon the Prime E-Book Supplier

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

For over a year the Kindle app for the iPhone has been available in Apple's App Store, and just last week Amazon released a beta version of its Kindle app to the Mac platform, allowing users to purchase e-books on their various Apple electronics. We were wondering what those two moves meant for Amazon when we learned that Amazon also plans to launch a free Kindle app for the iPad and other tablet devices. Now things seem to be a little clearer to us.

The move is huge for Amazon, because this allows them to move into a whole sector of the market which would otherwise be locked into the iTunes Store to download e-books. With the ability to select from over 450,000 titles, this now puts Amazon at the top of the list when it comes to where consumers go to purchase e-books for their on-the-go needs.

The app will also include their Whispersync technology which is found in the PC and BlackBerry versions as well, that will remember and sync up your last page read. Basically this means you can go from device to device, picking up where you last left off on your reading, not to mention keeping all your bookmarks, highlights and notes as well.

Ian Freed, VP for Kindle at Amazon, had this to say to the New York Times:

Read full article

FiOS Goes MIA

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Verizon has been beating us all over the heads with their FiOS service and how much better it is than the poor cable guys. Since they started installing the service a few years ago it certainly seemed like this was their new directive and everyone would eventually be privileged to use an all digital, fiber-based service. That dream, however, seems to be dead.

Verizon has been slowing installation over the past few months and stopped entering new markets as well. The Associated Press reports that Verizon has canceled plans to enter any new markets with the service, though it will continue to build-out the markets it has already announced service for.

So, if you live in Tennessee or Alabama and would like to have FiOS, you will have to move to Tampa or Massachusetts.

Google Finally Pulls The Plug

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The verdict is in: Google WILL stop censoring content completely in China. The long-awaited announcement came at 3:03pm ET on Monday via Google's official blog. Included in the announcement, Google also stated that Chinese users will now be re-routed to the site that citizens in Hong Kong are currently using.

Google was unhappy with the fact that their content was being censored and hopes that this "will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China."

Read full article

Australia Bans {insert name of game here} Series Canceled

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You will all recognize that since we started PLuGHiTz Live! Radio and The UpStream, there have been a lot of stories about Australia banning or watering down a videogame. Off the top of my head I can think of Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2, Aliens vs Predator, just to name a few. The reason for the ban is because the ratings board for the country canot classify them under the MA15+ and there is nothing higher.

Read full article

The History of Aperture Science

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Shortly after completing the original Portal I spent some time exploring the origins of the game and much of the backstory. Anyone who has ever looked into Valve and their ways knows that there is always content that they don't include in the game, all available for those who are interested. In this case, it had a lot to do with the origins of everyone's favorite robot-powered testing facility.

Read full article

A DC Legend Dies

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This morning, Dick Giordano passed away at the age of 77. Mr. Giordano has had a long, distinguished career including time with Marvel, DC, Dell, Valiant and others. In addition to being a talented artist and all-around good guy, Giordano also held Executive-level positions in several art companies.

He spent time as the Executive Editorial Director for DC Comics as well as forming Future Entertainment, a multimedia company, with his creative partners Bob Layton and David Michelinie. He also helped setup two ad-art companies, Continuity Associates and Dik-Art, Inc., which he continued to manage until the end.

While at the helm of DC Comics, he helped to launch such revolutionary concepts as Alan Moore's Watchmen, Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. He also spent time working on Batman: Dark Knight of the Roundtable and Batman: Hollywood Knight.

A former colleague of his, former DC President Paul Levitz, had a lot to say about Giordano's career, and said it better than I could, so I will end with this:

Read full article

Fan-made Palm Pre Advertisement > Any Million Dollar Ad Campaign

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This is much less an article and much more giving major kudos to the Internet community yet again!

Web-guy ThiesFX has shown that you don't need millions of dollars to come up with an exceptional advertising campaign. You can just do it for the love of your mobile device!

Verizon Wireless has screwed up the Palm Pre Plus by trying to target soccer moms when true techies are using this device, and Palm has caught major heat because of it, and has since relaunched the campaign for the wireless carrier. Because of that, however, the world forgot all about how cool the Palm Pre commercials were for Sprint. At any rate, this homemade ad kicks the pants off of any paid marketing group's ad that I've seen in the past few years!

So, we got the solution, Palm: Hire this guy. Check it out for yourself!

Hit the break to see the fan-made ad for the Palm WebOS

Read full article

At the Movies Cancelled, Then Announced for a Relaunch Within One Week

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Earlier this week, the long-running show At the Movies was cancelled due to a number of reasons. In this day in age, we know that any twelve year-old with a laptop can become movie critic with the power of the Internet, and nobody reads reviews in the newspaper or on TV anymore. And although Roger Ebert had no problem accepting that the Internet exists, medical conditions caused him to leave the show in 2006 to be replaced by several different hosts. The good news is that Ebert seems like he's back on his feet and ready to give it another go - at least on the production side - because on his blog the other day he confirmed that he and his wife are collaborating to create a new movie review show. Even better is that he states it will have a strong presence online.

Read full article

Thanks To RFIDs Long Lines Could Be So Last Mac World

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone knows what it's like to wait in long lines at the mall, convenience store or the DMV. Thankfully, researchers from Suncheon National University located in Suncheon, South Korea along with Rice University in Houston Texas have been working hard to make long lines something for the history books. The RFID tags they are developing consist of 3 layers filled with a special semi-conductive ink that contains carbon nano-tubes. This is important because the transistors have to be semi-conducting to store information.

Currently, the tags can only store 1 byte of information but with this proof of concept they can add more transistors to achieve a 96 bit memory capacity which would be enough to store SKUs for all items sold in large grocery stores. The RFID tags cost 3 cents per package to print which is considerably less than silicon tags that are around 50 cents per package. They can also do things that silicon tags can't like store and provide information about product freshness and how long it has been on the shelf. Researchers predict that the cost of their RFIDs if printed directly on the package would fall to 1 cent per package.

Read full article

Lawsuit Against GameStop for Deceiving (Dumb) Customers

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

There are two worlds in the gaming industry: the gaming developers who work themselves to the bone (most of the time) to put out great games for consumers to purchase... and GameStop. The former works to make a paycheck and the latter makes a paycheck off of the work of the developers by selling used games at outrageous prices and profit margins. So of course another lawsuit has been filed against GameStop, stating that game boxes read that content is included, when more than likely the code was used or simply not included when the game was traded in. Shocking.

Gamestop's return policy is for seven days, but apparently the plaintiffs feel this is not enough time to realize that something doesn't come with a game, and that employees of GameStop should inform their customers of these circumstances. Do we really think a company who relies on used game revenue as their bread-maker is going to disclose these things?

Here's what the suit says:

Read full article

CD's May Soon be Cheaper Than iTunes Downloads?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Not too many of us out there actually purchase a physical CD anymore, unless we're interested in the cover art that is. Since it is currently cheaper to just download the whole album from iTunes, what's the point of having the physical disk right? Well, Universal Music Group is hoping to change your mind, by lowering CD prices to a $10.00 maximum.

Beginning in April, almost all of the company's CD's will be cut to a price between $6.00 and $10.00. The drop in price hopes to have an increasing effect on sales. For all those devoted fans out there, UMG has stated that they plan to generate more "deluxe" editions then they currently have, but it'll cost you a little more.

Read full article

Valve Listening to the Players

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

While we wait for Valve to finally release the Engineer update for Team Fortress 2, Valve is letting anyone else add content to their hit multiplayer shooter. This week Valve released an update to the game that includes new weapons and items that were submitted by Team Fortress fans. Here's a little hint for the people out there wondering what's been added, have you noticed Elvis has been brought back from the dead to play some TF2? Well you can thank your fellow players for that little add-on.

Read full article

Over 9000!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia recently visited EA to check in on the progress of the company's upcoming, cutscene-driven MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. He reported that "earnings are somewhat depressed" due to the development costs for the game, but EA management is hopeful that they'll recoup this cash when the title brings in over two million subscribers. He added that, at the very least, the game needs over one million players in order for EA to break even on its biggest development project to date. For you number junkies out there, your standard computer game these days cost around $50 just to buy the game. This means that SWTOR could potentially cost a petty 50 million dollars to develop.

Read full article

Edward Norton as Hulk is in YOUR Hands

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In addition to Captain America news, we had an interesting week for Hulk. After the off-camera drama that occurred around the production of The Incredible Hulk between Edward Norton and the studio, it was predicted that we would not see Norton in the role of Bruce Banner again. This, of course, causes some issues for The Avengers seeing as Hulk is sort of their rallying force.

Luckily, Hulk himself is CGI, leaving the ability to banish Banner to the same depths of Hell as the Fantastic Four, but it does pose a problem for them once Hulk becomes a part of the team and Banner is needed once again. Or what if his existence is so well received they decide to do another Hulk exclusive movie, bringing in The Leader for his full performance after his cameo in the last film. A departure from Norton as Banner would make for a continuity issue across the Marvel Film Universe.

Read full article

Captain America Gets His Actor

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The road to picking Captain America for the upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers films has been a long one. There has been a lot to consider when casting any of these iconic roles. The short-list has been parsed and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the winner is - Chris Evans.

You will know Chris Evans from his time as the Human Torch in the less-than-stellar Fantastic Four films. While the films were plagued with bad story design and implementation, Evans did the best he could with what he was given. Apparently they guys at Marvel want to see exactly what he can do with a product that isn't bad right off the line.

Read full article

USB Storage Support for Xbox 360 in Spring 2010 System Update

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Several sources are reporting that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon become more than idea, with an upcoming Spring 2010 system update. The reason? The document states: "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will finally let the Gamers of America load, copy and save data from USB devices.

The question on our mind was what kind of data, and that has been answered. Once you download the (more than likely) required update, you can download Title Updates, Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, DLC and Games on Demand to the USB device. More importantly, you will be able to store disc games on the device as well! Of course, you will have to have the disc in the tray in order for the game to authenticate, just like it does now.

Read full article

T-Mobile Batting For the Other Team?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The network team at T-Mobile USA seems to be in the middle of an identity crisis. They know if they want to make it any longer in the highly competitive US market it will all be about data, which is something T-Mobile has sorely lacked in. As of today, their 3G network isn't really up and running completely while Sprint is launching more 4G markets every few months. T-Mobile has taken notice of this and started talks with Clearwire.

While you may not know the name you have most likely seen commercials for their work: Sprint's WiMax network. WiMax is the CDMA evolution into 4G which was a natural progression for Sprint seeing as their network has been CDMA since it was built. T-Mobile, on the other hand, is a GSM network which has its own evolution, called LTE. It would appear T-Mobile is considering switching teams, but in the opposite direction as Verizon, who is making the 4G switch from CDMA to LTE.

Read full article

Who Needs Toys When You Can Hack?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Remember when children used to spend their free time messing with tinker toys and playing sports? It seems as if toys aren't intriguing enough for kids as they used to be and many in England have found a new way to occupy their time.

Apparently, the art of hacking has shifted from a difficult task that only few gifted and corrupt people could master, to a fun activity for teens and even children. A recent survey performed in England showed that 26 percent of children and teens interviewed have attempted to hack a wide variety sites from Facebook to school websites and even corporate sites. What was even more shocking, some succeeded. This is despite the fact that of the 1,150 interviewed, 78 percent believed it was inappropriate to hack into other's accounts and 53 percent believed it was actually illegal to do so.

Read full article

Second Annual Talk Like William Shatner Day

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone knows the name William Shatner but not everyone knows the name Maurice LaMarche. If you are a regular UpStream reader, though, you probably know his voice. Maurice has voiced many popular animated characters including The Brain on Pinky and The Brain (and Animaniacs of course), Lil' John McCain on Lil' Bush, Egon Spengler on several Ghostbusters series and our favorites Hedonism Bot, Kif, Calculon and many others on Futurama.

One thing that stands out about Maurice is his love of William Shatner, especially his voice. Maurice claims to be the world's third best Shatner impressionist, and in honor of Shatner's birthday, has created International Talk Like William Shatner Day. Now, I know what you're thinking: "How can anyone talk like William Shatner ALL DAY?" Well, my friends, it is easier than you think. In fact, Maurice LaMarche has made a few videos to help you on your quest.

Hit the break to see how Maurice LaMarche can help you talk like William Shatner all day.

Read full article

WinPho 7 = Microsoft iPhone

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It is no secret that we have had a lot of complaints about the iPhone and the things that a device in its product category should do that Apple seems to have no interest in doing. It is also no secret that we have been excited about the future of Windows Phone 7 Series as a replacement product for the iPhone seeing as we have all had several WinMo devices over the years (I still use one for a TV remote). Well, some recent revelations about the next generation of WinPho indicate Microsoft has lost their way.

The #1 selling point of WinMo has always been multi-tasking. The ability to listen to Pandora while using your navigation is wonderful (if not a huge drain on the battery). Unfortunately, Microsoft seems to have decided that no one would want to keep using this feature because the iPhone doesn't have it available on its platform and Apple is kicking WinMo's butt.

Another feature that has been available on WinMo forever is Copy/Paste. In fact, Microsoft pioneered the feature in the mobile space in even the early editions on their mobile OS. Well, who needs that? WinPho 7 will not offer Copy/Paste at launch. A statement from Microsoft on the topic said,

Read full article

Live WebChat with Gian Wilson of Windows Phone 7 Series

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It seems like there is a whole department of people at Microsoft that need to justify their jobs, so Microsoft sends them on conventions... every week! Last week was MIX10, Microsoft developer and web designer conference in Las Vegas, and there were lots of exciting events happening. We got to join in on a live webchat with Gian Wilson, Microsoft's Gaming Mobile Product Manager. Apparently, he's quite the SkiFree pro!

Wilson's primary area of focus is Mobile Gaming for the division's Windows Phone business. In this role he is the organization's industry and product subject matter expert for all things mobile gaming. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and management from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business.

We are currently working with our existing game publisher partners to make sure that we build great games and great experiences for the Windows Phone 7 Series. As you can imagine playing a game on your phone is a little different than playing a game on your Xbox with a TV, so the experiences that we create will be a little different as well. For Xbox LIVE games, yes they will both be connected to LIVE, and will likely have achievements and activities that will increase your Gamerscore, but exactly how these games will be further related will be left up to the discretion of the publisher.

We saved the entire transcript and here are some of the highlight questions that can explain Windows Phone 7 Series' functionality with mobile gaming better than we can.

Read full article

It Is Almost Zero Day for Apple

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple has been telling its customers for years how its operating systems have been safer than Windows. While technically true, the reasons may not be the same as what Apple's pompous advertising suggests. They would want you to believe that it is because Apple is gifted by God to be the best but Charlie Miller, an expert in computer security, says, "Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town."

Read full article

Greater Florida Lego Users Group at Florida MegaCon 2010

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We all loved our Legos as kids, but some kids never grew up. Felix Greco of the Greater Florida Lego Users Group (GFLUG) talks with me about their group and all the hard work that goes into building such intricate designs out of Legos. We met these guys last year at MegaCon and were so impressed we knew we just had to get their wonderful creations on video. For pictures of their work, check out the PLuGHiTz Live! Radio page on Facebook!

Hit the break to see the interview with Greco and some of the incredible creations.

Read full article

Shroud of the Ancients at Florida MegaCon 2010

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone seems to love table-top RPGs, at least once they get past the stigma of being a D&D nerd. However, it has been difficult to dethrone the kings of the genre. Rod Edwards, Vice President of Dark Tavern Press, talks to me about their new D5 tabletop role playing game, "Shroud of the Ancients." We believe if someone has a chance to take control away from Wizards, it is these guys.

Hit the break to check the interview with V.P. Edwards and hear about "Shroud of the Ancients".

Read full article

Star Command at Florida MegaCon 2010

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We have seen more than our fair share of indie sci-fi series and this year at MegaCon we saw yet another. This one is different, however. These guys do a great job and have the talent to keep people interested for more than the opening sequence. Here Captain Richard Sheppard (Ben Boardman) of the web series Star Command talks to me about the series, its origins and where it is going from here (TO SPACE).

Hit the break to see the interview with Ben Boardman as he talks about the series.

Read full article

MegaCon 2010: Loading Please Wait

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last year Scott and I wandered up to Orlando for a Saturday trip to MegaCon just to see what in the hell was going on there and we essentially did the same thing this year while our friend Cody tagged along. Immediately on arrival we noticed a key difference from the previous year (I'm not talking about Cosplayers seemingly wearing less and less each Con). The line to get in was longer than the time it takes to complete a Gran Turismo game and about as enjoyable as repeating endurance races. Finally, we found our way to a faster and shorter line outside that only took an hour of our day. Later on we found out that the lines were so long because there were 3 other conventions happening at the same time, one of which was a cheerleading convention that was epic because it's always fun to see normal people who don't know what the hell is going on and gage their reactions.

After all the unnecessary line hopping and time wasting we were finally able to go where we boldly went before the previous year. On average MegaCon draws about 30,000 people over it's 3 days of operation. This was evident by the amount of densely packed people and vendors on the floor. There seemed to be more this year than last year but one thing about MegaCon is they always seems to have several exceptional vendors that we end up talking, interviewing and/or befriending. One of which was a group of 10 or so Sci-Fi enthusiasts who have created a series called "Star Command" which consists of full episodes and shorts that puts a comedic and more realistic spin on deep space starship travel. The basic premise is that the USS Lee is falling apart and it's captain is a disgraced loser but they somehow are able to stumble their way into surviving in the end. You can check out their web series at the Star Command website and I suggest that you do. Anyone who appreciates Sci-Fi will appreciate this. At some other point in the day (it all blurs toghether) we also ran into a rather interesting tabletop RPG called Shroud of the Ancients. I say interesting because the game itself is very versatile from the shape of the dice to the rules of the game. For example, there are no classes, no levels and no limits (WOW players QQ) but the game is still D&D compatible as well. Shroud of the Ancients has been recognized at Dragon*Con and is close to debuting as a full versioned game sometime soon. For more on this go check out Shroud of the Ancients website.

Read full article

PlayStation's Home is Still not Big Enough

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Jack Buser, Playstation Home's Director was Sony's first proverbial foot forward for the final day of GDC 2010 panels, stating that the virtual community's worldwide userbase now stands at a cool 12 million. To put how truly pathetic that number is into perspective, Xbox Live had around 10 million users in ... 2008. The population has grown by two million users since December 2009, and is double of what it was in June of last year.

Buser expanded on the stats, pointing out that these numbers aren't based on one-off visits; according to Sony's data, 85 percent of users who create a Home avatar return more than once. The average citizen, he said, spends an hour in Home each visit. So needless to say there are 12 million people bored enough to kill an hour of their time on PS Home.

While Buser's talk was primarily aimed at developers interested in developing in-Home games, he spoke on what to expect in terms of Sony's strategy for the service in 2010:

Read full article

Modern Warfare 2 DLC: The Better Stimulus Package

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We may have to wait until March 30 for Modern Warfare 2's first DLC, the "Stimulus Package," but thanks to an Xbox Live Marketplace listing for the map pack, we get to know just how much bang we are getting for our buck. The blurb reveals the pack will contain "5 additional action-packed maps," including three all new ones (Bailout, Storm, and Salvage), as well as two remakes from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Crash and Overgrown).

Read full article

Dice and Battlefield Building

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

EA DICE has been a fairly prolific developer during the current console generation, developing both a high-profile title based on original IP (Mirror's Edge), as well as ones based on established franchises like Battlefield. EA was searching for a way to capitalize on the downtime between these blockbuster releases - a game which would be relatively quick and painless to create - while still standing up to the quality standards set by their previous releases. So mommy and daddy loved each other very much and the idea for Battlefield 1943 was born.

Battlefield 1943 producer Patrick Liu explained the studio's unique design philosophy while making the game, which boiled down to "make the game as long as resources last." They maximized the amount of content they produced under this strategy by settling on the somewhat smaller scope of the game early and focusing on recreating the Battlefield experience to adhere to that scope.

Read full article

Sony Reintroduces PlayStation Motion Controller at GDC with More Tech Demos

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sony's GDC panel "Introducing the PlayStation Motion Controller" (E3, Part 2) was exactly what you would think it is: An introduction to the newly named Move peripheral. David Coombes, Kirk Bender and Anton Mikhailov showcased impressive tech demos, tech demos, and more tech demos - many of which demonstrated the Move's incredible precision along with its low latency. One of the more eye-capturing demos showcased full body tracking using an on-screen body puppet, similar to one of Project Natal's tech demos.

Thanks to the panel we learned that body tracking is made possible by combining the Move and PS3's head tracking capability. According to the presentation, the PS3 can also detect faces, going so far as to identify individuals through face contour and feature recognition. The software will be able to recognize gender, age, smiles and when eyes open and close.

Read full article

Nintendo Breaks a New Record...Their Own

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

February didn't look too bad for Nintendo according to a recent NPD report. Although Nintendo wasn't sure if the numbers we're good (yes, we went there), the 1.9 million combined DS handheld and Wii consoles sold through February was impressive, to say the least.

Not only did Nintendo hold its own in console sales, but they also broke their own record! Compared to February of last year, Nintendo's all time high for DS sales, 597,000 units sold was nothing. This year in February alone, 613,000 DS handheld consoles were sold, a big increase from last year. This is surprising considering the DSi XL is set to be released in a few weeks. But, with this upcoming release, Nintendo hopes to break their record once again. Looks like the console, which has now been out for six years, is running strong.

Corporate IT Policies Violated on Purpose

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We are well aware that the largest problem in IT security is the employees in the company trying to work around established security protocols. We can safely accredit that fact to ID 10 T errors, not knowing the standards or IT admins not enforcing the policies. Well, that seems to not be the case as a poll has shown that 12% of corporate employees are well aware they violate IT rules and regulations in order to accomplish their jobs.

Fiberlink, a company who tries to "help enterprises connect, control and secure laptops and mobile devices," surveyed 1,347 employees for this poll, and we can't say the results surprised us. We know several people who has sent personal emails or instant messages on a work computer without permission or even used proxies to get to forbidden websites.

Fiblerlink's CEO Jim Sheward had this to say:

Read full article

It Only Took Four Tries: iPhone Finally Getting Multitasking?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I was always curious as to why Apple lived seven years in the past when it comes to ideas (like getting MMS to work on a mobile device) but I think I have found the reason! It must be either they have a broken hot tub time machine, or they live in dog years. Either way, an exciting rumor has come from sources for AppleInsider, and it is that Apple is finally planning to include a task manager into the iPhone OS for version 4.0!

I know, you thought from all these new commercials that you already could multitask! Not so, my friend, as you can only do those things while you're on a call. Want to post a picture to Facebook while checking your mail? Sorry, no can do.

Read full article

Privacy Pounced On, Considered Privilege Once Again

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Once again, consumers are outraged by issues regarding invasion of privacy. Google stepped on some Gmail user's toes recently, and apparently they are not the only ones. A lawsuit, filed against Netflix, claimed that the company had not done enough to make sure their customer's information remained anonymous in a recent contest.

The contest was established to formulate a better system of suggesting movies based on the films the user has already viewed. Seems like a good idea right?

Read full article

Another Day, Another Bundle

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

There are a few definite truths within the world: one being that the Canadians are gods of hockey and another being that Microsoft really enjoys their bundle packages. If you are like me and are looking to buy your third (yes I said third) Xbox 360, chances are you are looking for the most bang for your buck as well as the reliability of your system's functionality. Alternatively, are you perhaps looking to break your Xbox 360's hymen? It seems that both of us are in luck; Amazon recently added a listing for an Xbox 360 Elite Spring 2010 bundle, which includes Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3 and a 120GB hard drive for just $299.99.

Read full article

Cake May Be a Lie, But at Least You Can Eat it With Your Friends

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This Saturday we all got a big reveal when we saw a preview of Portal 2 being next month's Game Informer cover. This is extremely exciting for all of us here at PluGHiTz Live!, but didn't reveal much to us as to the cold hard facts of this highly anticipated game. Now, between Eurogamer being told by Valve that the game is heading to Xbox 360 and PC, and Game Informer's reveal that the sequel features a "two-player co-op mode with its own campaign featuring two new playable characters," I am excited to see how exactly Valve plans on pulling this off and even more excited that the game is coming out this holiday season.

Read full article

It Never Ends...Apple and Nokia at it Again

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Remember the ongoing battle between Apple and Nokia? Oh yes, the incident you try to forget but it just wont go away. Well, there's more! What a shocker.

The last update in the case occurred when Apple decided to retaliate after Nokia filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC). Nokia's reason for filing the complaint was to have the ITC ban imports of Apple products into the U.S. This complaint was completely ridiculous since it did not relate to the original grievance in any way. Yet, Apple had to get a piece of it and decided to file a complaint with the ITC themselves. Their reasoning was unclear. By this point, we knew that this dispute would not be settled in court.

Read full article

"Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal." Thanks, Steve Jobs!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Yeah, Steve Jobs said that. Looks like 1996 Steve Jobs and 2010 Steve Jobs haven't met. When 1996 Steve Jobs was fired and sold off all his shares and anything Apple Computers-branded, 2010 Steve Jobs killed that man and renamed the company to Apple, Inc. And with that, he also went on a tirade of lawsuits and counter-suing with Nokia to now duking it out with HTC. Apple has sued HTC for infringing on 20 patents "related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware."

Apple's claims are nuts! Just because ANOTHER phone has touch screen doesn't mean it's infringement. I got news for ya, Apple: You weren't the first. But yes, I understand, you're lost in the cloud that is your beloved operating system and won't admit that you merely passed the phone off by calling it innovation when inventions before you have outperformed it, I get it. It's fine. But you've even surprised HTC with these claims, who, by the way, had the PPC6600 before the thought of a touch device was even a gleam in your development team's eyes.

Here's the press release:

Read full article

This Week in Portal

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Do you remember Portal, the fantastic shooter puzzle game from Valve where you had to escape from a psychotic robot? It turns out that Valve remembers about it, too, and even updated the PC version of the game this week completely unexpectedly. Their release notes said,

Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations.

Immediately we got excited and knew something was up with the radios. In digging into the audio files for the game, it was discovered that there were a number of new MP3 files all related to the radio. The new files include several Morse Code transmissions and the rest are SSTV encoded photos. The images all appear to be photos from inside Aperture Laboratories, possibly from the security cameras. There is definitely a lot of thought behind what is going on here.

The guess has been that all of these new challenges are leading up to a Portal 2 which Valve then announced officially. The official description of the game says,

Read full article

Looking for a Vacation? Why Not Visit Google, Kansas?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You know the Internet has taken over when a capital city is actually considering renaming themselves to Google. Yes, Google.

The mayor of Topeka, Kansas has decided that the city will temporarily be named Google, through the end of March. This decision has been made in hopes of receiving Google's new "Fiber for Communities" service. Google has begun taking nominations for the service that may have been successful if it wasn't for Buzz and DNS. Google's failed attempt at a social networking site makes the "Fiber for Communities" program less impressive in our opinion. Yet, 79-year-old mayor Bill Bunten thinks that the quicker service will benefit the residents of Topeka...I mean Google, Kansas.

Nominations run through March 26th but the number of cities that will be chosen for the project is unknown. Google has said, "We'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people." This program is intended to get the U.S. caught up with the world when it comes to Internet speeds. We'll have to see how that goes.

Scammers Pull Off $150k Heist on Twitter, Facebook

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Jon has been upset for months over the fact that droves of people flock to Twitter for absolutely no useful reasons, and investors keep throwing money at them because of it. So when users were scammed for over $150,000 on the social media site, we knew Jon would be elated.

Scammers set out to target brides-to-be and exhibitors last week when they opened an account on Twitter for promotion of a nonexistent bridal show, claiming to be part of the The Boston 411, a community site for local Boston residents. Police have launched a full investigation and are hunting down the conmen.

Read full article

New Line to Reboot Police Academy

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Are you as tired of reboots as we are? Well, get ready for another 80s franchise making a return from the dead: Police Academy. You guys remember the films, right? A city is in danger and there aren't enough police, so they bring in anyone who is interested in joining and most of them are nuts? After they joined they seemed to not be able to get rid of them because there were 5 more films after? Good, you'll need that information to prepare for even more films in the series!

The good news is that Paul Maslansky, the producer who brought us the original comedy gold (and the rest of the series as well) is back to oversee the project. Hopefully New Line will let him do what he wants like the first movie and not try and make it something it's not, such as a family movie, like Warner Bros. did with the last 5. Maslansky seems to think they will, saying,

Read full article

A Prius Kills

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I know what you're all thinking - another Toyota car fails? Big surprise. Well, this story is not at all what you're expecting. In Asia there is a free-to-play MMO called Prius in which you take care and raise "Anima" children. A couple allegedly let their real life baby starve so they could focus their energy on their virtual child instead.

Apparently these "parents" were spending up to 12 hours each day in Internet cafes playing this game, all the while leaving their 3-month old baby at home by itself. Now, if it were a 3-month old poodle, there would have been little to no problem, but baby humans tend to need a little more attention and food than their canine counterparts at this point.

Read full article

WinPho + Xbox Live + Games for Windows = Awesomeness

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apparently Microsoft couldn't wait until the next major conference to whip out their new little friend, Windows Phone 7 Series. This week, it peeked its head out at TechEd Middle East in a surprising new way: a demo of a three-way cross-platform gaming experience, all held together with Xbox Live.

Microsoft's Eric Rudder got the chance to keynote the conference and decided this would be the best place to show the world what gaming on all devices would look like. While the game itself was simple, the technology was not. Built in Microsoft Visual Studio with the capability of 90% code sharing, a team designed an Indiana Jones game that could be played on the PC with a mouse and keyboard, the Xbox with a controller and the ASUS WinPho device with accelerometers and multi-touch.

Read full article

Xbox Live Rules We Are The World

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If we can think back to 2009 for a moment then some of us remember Microsoft got itself into a pickle after banning gamertags that were found objectionable because they expressed the sexual orientation of the user. After consulting with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD) Microsoft is moving forward with opening up expression of race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality and religion. Marc Whitten posted a letter on Xbox.com saying that the terms of service,

Read full article

Google 's DocVerse Takes On Microsoft Office

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

DocVerse is the latest company or victim in the recent Google acquisition. The details of the acquisition are not known however according to unnamed sources in an article from AllThingsDigital blog the final sale my between 25 and 30 million. This is by far not a large amount for Google to spend on acquisition but they fell in love with them and see DocVerse as an exciting and important component in competing with software giant Microsoft. Last Friday Google announced the news on their company blog.

DocVerse is a small company of 20 employees that was founded back in 2007 by former Microsoft mangers. Google also has Google Docs which they use to try and convert loyal Microsoft Office users away from but with DocVerse Google seemingly intends to create a more formal office program that uses both PC and cloud computing to the user's advantage. Microsoft stated in an e-mail that,

Read full article

Another Open Source Operating System Opens Its Doors to Severe Problems

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Android has come a long way since it launched its first device November 5, 2008. In fact, it has come 1.1 versions since then. This advancement in technology seems to be a great thing, until you think that there are still devices running the original Android OS, which seems just as strange to me as the idea that there are still people using Internet Explorer 6.

This fragmentation in the Android community is a huge problem for Google and their plans to keep the platform viable. It is incredibly difficult for a software designer to make software when they have no idea what version of Android is being used. Imagine if you had to write software for only one version of Windows and it was your responsibility to pick which one. You would only be able to market to the elite early adopters or the people who have had their computers a while, but never both.

Read full article

Halo 2 LIVE Service Ending, Everybody Wins!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We mentioned eons ago about why Xbox LIVE would only allow 100 friends, among other limitations that didn't make sense. The culprit was Halo 2 and the facts were that since so many people still played the original Xbox game online, that Microsoft couldn't update. Well, the top played Xbox game's ability to play online is coming to an end on April 15th, and we are all excited for this. Yes, even the Halo 2 players, because they get some neat goodies.

On April 15, 2010, we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox games playable on Xbox v1 and Xbox 360. In our continuing efforts to evolve the service, we need to make changes to the LIVE service that are not compatible with original Xbox v1 games.

Read full article

Founders of Infinity Ward Forced Out of Activision

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

A couple of days ago, non-uniformed security guards showed up at Infinity Ward's offices unannounced and did not speak to any of the employees there. Several hours later, Jason West and Vince Zampella, the co-founders of Infinity Ward Studios and the huge blockbuster game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were escorted out of the building. Were they given a choice, or was it a power move by Activision's top brass? Looks to me like Activision was well aware of what was going to happen.

On Monday, Activision filed a form 10:K with the SEC, mentioning many details about problems with the company that we find suspicious.

Read full article

The WoW Killer is Here - With a Hoe in Hand

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

According to information collected by AppData, the FarmVille player base passed the 80 million mark yesterday. We'll give you a second to soak that in. It might help you digest it if we present the number numerically: 80,920,421. Or, perhaps you need another point of reference: That's almost the population of Germany. If you tried to orally count the number of people currently playing FarmVille, it would take you close to four years. And God only knows how large the player base would be then.

It seems that the WoW killer came in something that nobody expected. You would think that someone in the gaming industry would recognize how crazy people are about virtual farming and monopolize the situation. I can tell you with the straightest face that if Marvelous Entertainment, the owner of the Harvest Moon franchise, decided to make an MMO based off of the universe, my social life would officially be dead.

Read full article

WinMo 6.5 to Become WinPho Starter Edition

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We've been calling Windows Mobile WinMo for ages, and so has everyone else. But ever since MWC and the announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series we haven't heard anyone mention Windows Phone as WinPho. So we did. And we are copyrighting it in text right here. So Microsoft, start payin' to use that, buddy. Anyway, we learned this week that WinMo 6.5, the new operating system coming to several phones in the upcoming months will be renamed to Windows Phone Starter Edition, mainly due to Microsoft's everlasting rule of launching a product and naming it something else without changing anything but the wrapper.

Zdnet got a hold of a Windows Mobile spokesperson who said something interesting when asked about the difference between WinMo 6.5 and if WinPho Starter Edition will be a stripped-down version.

The Windows Phone 6 Starter Edition SKU is offered in multi-language versions with and without Microsoft Office Mobile and supports 2G (GSM), 2.5G (CDMA2000 xRTT, EDGE, GPRS), CDMA (Rev A, EV-DO Revision A), and TD-SCDMA radios.

Read full article

The Buzz Continues

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone is buzzing about Google Buzz, just not in a positive way. Not too many Gmail users were thrilled to see that Google had automatically signed them up for and linked them with other Buzz users, but that was just the beginning.

Users were curious about the new social networking service but lost interest when linked with people automatically. Google claims that they plan to fix the auto-follow feature by using a suggestion box to add new friends, sound familiar?

Read full article

Total Music Sales are Down, but so is P2P Use

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week, the world held their breath during the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics while at the same time salivating over the announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series at MWC, so I guess the media had nothing better to do than to report on studies and researches. Here's another for you.

Marketing research firm NPD Group has reported that numbers have plummeted from '07 to '09 when it comes to how much music was legally purchased. Stating at the Digital Music Forum: East conference in New York, NPD analyst Russ Crupnick mentioned that 24 million fewer people bought music in the two year time frame, whether it be CD or online. However, total spending per user has increased, and more shockingly, P2P use has decreased in the same time.

Read full article

Ups and Downs for Palm

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

This has been a bitter-sweet week for Palm fans. On the positive side, WebOS 1.4 hit this weekend (Saturday morning for Sprint and Sunday morning for Verizon), adding some much-needed feature enhancements. On the bad side, so did some preliminary numbers for this quarter.

WebOS 1.4 was a bit of an overhaul on what we think about when we think of the WebOS. Everything from the application load screen to the Memos application were altered. A lot of the changes involve adding interoperability to the apps, like clicking a phone number in a memo to call the number, etc. However, there are a few big changes to the way it works. A new application does not go full-screen until it finishes loading, so users know why they cannot use it yet. Also, you can change the alert sounds for each event, as opposed to one alert sound for all events. The most important addition, however, is video. You can now record video and then edit it right on the phone. The edit feature is similar to that on the iPhone, without the lag some users experience when the phone tries to re-render the preview images.

Read full article

Lonely? Talk to a Stranger

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

As if trying to keep yourself and your children safe on the Internet wasn't difficult enough already, a new website known as Chatroulette takes risky to a whole new level. The chatroom allows you to hook up with complete strangers, communicating via text AND webcam. Once you get tired of talking to your new "friend," just click and begin a new conversation with another random stranger.

The site is completely unpredictable, you never know what may pop up in the little webcam box. Some users partake in the chatroom just for some entertainment, like a French man who has been known to wear a jester's hat and tell jokes in his native language, but there is always the possibility of partially to completely naked people appearing on the screen.

Read full article

DSi XL Coming Next Month

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We here have all been excited about the release of the DSi XL, because who doesn't need a huge piece of technology in their pockets. Nintendo finally announced this week, at their day-long media summit in San Francisco, that the device will be released in the US on March 28th. Looks like we won't have to wait too much longer to get our hands on the latest in the DS family.

In case you don't remember, the DSi XL will sport a screen nearly double the size of the current DSi, offers a better viewing angle and longer stylus. But it also comes bundled with DSiWare pre-installed, so no work on your part.

You can look for the device to hit shelves with a price of $190 on March 28th. Are you guys going to get one for yourselves or did you buy the DSi when it came out? Let us know in the comments section below.

When Our Powers Combine...

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last July I told you about Inspired Media Entertainment launching a Christian gaming portal. Well, the road to Damascus has been a little longer and harder than they thought, because since then their public name has changed to Left Behind Games and they have now merged with Digital Praise, creators of the rhythm games Guitar Praise and Dance Praise. I bet you can guess what type of company they are. Troy Lyndon, CEO of Left Behind Games, described it like this:

Read full article

PSP Go Launch Could Have "Confused" Customers

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It all makes sense. At first we thought Jon couldn't get the PSP Go because of a long story involving the act of a disappearing console, illegitimate credits and spontaneously combusting receipts. But we have now learned that it could just be the fact that the launch of the PSP Go, along with the higher price, may have just caused Jon to join the ranks of the Metal Gear Solid Russian soldiers by having a question mark over his head. At least, that's what Sony Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer told us. Go ahead, ask him!

Read full article

Apple's is Huge, but Palm's is Rapidly Growing; We're Talking Apps Here!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You know we here at PLuGHiTz Live! just love numbers. So when our fellow techies at Distimo came out with an application store study, we just had to share the news! However, we have to point out that they may seem a little bit Android-biased. They reported that the Android Market is expanding by more than 3000 apps per month, which is about 15% of the total applications available for the platform. Kudos to Android for stepping up to fight the Apple app store, but most of us on our show have Palm Pres, and because of that, we found some other numbers to be as equally exciting.

On January 1st, 2010, the webOS App Catalog hit 1000 apps. Awesome, right? Well, it gets better. Since then, over 500 apps have joined in on the fun, keeping a pace of 10 apps per day, or 300 apps per month. That means a 20% growth, which after I have checked in with our resident accountant Jon, is more than 15%. So take that, Android!

Read full article

New PS3 Home Add-ons!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Looks like Playstation Home just became about a million times more appealing to me versus Xbox Live. If you can't tell I am an enormous Star Wars fan and LucasArts has invaded PlayStation Home this week with a bunch of new virtual goods and a space to hang out in. Without all of the crime and sudden de-limbing that goes on in the Mos Eisley Cantina, the LucasArts storefront will offer patrons a safe environment to purchase virtual goods. Sorry, no power converters available, so it looks like you WILL have to go to Tosche station; just watch out for those Sand People. But it doesn't stop there! Looks like they are also adding some Indiana Jones add-ons for you striving archeologists out there.

Hit the break for the list of the new additions:

Read full article

Talk About Being in the Right Place at the Wrong Time

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

If you attended Blizzcon 2008 two years ago you recieved voucher codes for long-to-the-5th-power-awaited StarCraft 2 Beta (yes that's right we are still in beta), and it turns out that not everyone who received those vouchers got into the first wave of beta like some were lead to believe. A Blizzard representative explained on the Battle.net forums that "due to the sheer number of BlizzCon attendees, we could not get everyone in with the first wave." That being said, you might want to reconsider dropping $300 on one of those vouchers. I say this because more than 50 beta keys, most of which came in the form of coupons handed out at BlizzCon 2008, are now being auctioned off on eBay. The prices range from around $120 on the low end, averaging out at about $300, and reaching as high as $450! If you're as independently wealthy as you are impatient, this may be your only option to get what we've all been waiting so long for.

The poster confirmed that these neglected BlizzCon attendees "will be included in a future wave, possibly within the next two weeks." We're hoping the wave isn't restricted to just this group of globetrotters, and that us plebes can get our hands on the highly sought-after strategy title as well.

Apple Upgrades Download Limit, Do We Panic or Praise?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I guess all the talk from AT&T and Apple about fixing their 3G and bandwidth issues is finally leading to some action being taken. We reported back in December about Apple launching an app that will allow you to report when your iPhone drops a call or loses reception. Now, Apple has upped their download limit across the board, from 10MB to 20MB, for their 3G network.

The upgrade is coming off the heels of several new additions to the iPhone, including Apple's late, but long overdue arrival of the ability to make calls using VoiP applications and seeing the Slingbox video-streaming app.

Read full article

PlayStation Network Getting Cross-Game Chat... But for How Much?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Three months ago we talked about Kaz Harai confirming a premium level that will be added to the PSN. This caused an uproar in our fanboy community, with a lot of people saying we were making it up. Just one month later, a survey was spotted that mentioned several platforms and prices, obviously hinting towards some level of a paid subscription service. Well, to further fuel the rumor fire and subsequent flame war that is raging on forums everywhere, the Official PlayStation Magazine has reported that a cross-game chat feature will be added, without failing to mention that "it might be restricted to paid (PSN) subscribers." This, of course, going in-line with the PlayStation already being committed to 3D Blu-ray and several other major upgrades labeled as "next big features" to the console.

As of right now, the charge for the cross-game chat is just a rumor, but as we have talked about in the past, the only way for Sony to come out of the financial hole that they have placed themselves in is to start adding a premium level to their services. It only makes sense to do that with a feature like cross-game chat, which is something the PSN user base has been demanding for well over two years.

Would you pay for cross-game chat on the PSN? And for how much? Let us know by leaving us a comment.

Privacy Not Very Private Anymore

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Bring yourself back to the good ol' days, where gas was a quarter per gallon, technology was a new concept, and people still had privacy in their own homes. Well, back to reality! Living in a era that is extremely technologically developed definitely has its up sides, but having the capability to spy on you and your children while in the "privacy" of your home, certainly isn't one of those.

A school district in Pennsylvania has allegedly overstepped their boundaries and invaded a high school students privacy all through a webcam. The boy's parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, have brought forth a lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District, including its board of directors and superintendent.

Read full article

HTC Tips Their Hand(sets)

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

At HTC's Media presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, they showed off a nice collection of new handsets and gave us some interesting information on some known handsets.

First, we'll cover the Desire, because everyone is mostly familiar with it. It is a the Google Nexus One, with HTC Sense and a loss of the older roller ball and replaced with the newer trackpad. We all know that the first thing to go on an older Blackberry was the roller, so replacing that was a good idea. It will also ship with Flash 10.1 stock, so you will definitely get to take advantage of that 1GHz processor in ways the Nexus still hasn't.

Read full article

Verizon Embraces 3G Skype

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Next month brings good news to the users of Verizon Wireless services. They will finally be able to enjoy "unlimited" Skype-to-Skype voice calls to and from anywhere in the world over Verizon's 3G network so long as your plan has the appropriate data plan attached. The reason why the word finally was chosen is because this is nothing new for AT&T users who have been doing this since last fall and Sprint users who have been doing it for over a year now. Verizon is right to finally get on board and it's no surprise they took a while to do so seeing as they are the most controlling wireless carrier in the U.S. Be mindful that in the cell service industry unlimited doesn't always mean unlimited so read the fine print before going all out.

Hit the break to see a list of phones the Skype mobile app will be available on, with more to come in the future:

Read full article

Apple Proves That Cencorship Is Cool And Hip

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Apple has recently been cleaning up the App Store but this time their goals are a bit more Puritanical. In the past they have gone through and gotten rid of apps considered to be rip-offs all in the best interests of the customer. Now they have decided to take things a step further in the purification process by purging any "overtly sexual content" from the App Store. What does a company who advertises itself as cool and hip determine as overtly sexual content? An Apple representative recently disclosed its judgments to the developer of Wobbie who is among those developers with apps expelled by Apple. According to him this is what they said,

Read full article

The Feds Ctrl + F P2P Files Because They Can

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In 2007 a Nevada resident, Charles Borowy, was convicted of possessing child pornography as determined by the FBI. The FBI agent used software that verified hash marks of files and identified known images of child pornography then used the "browse host" feature in Limewire to download all the offenders hosted files, 4 of which turned out to be illegal. In the end Borowy pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 45 months in prison. The guilty plea did allow him to appeal on the basis that the search and seizure required authorization as per the Fourth Amendment because he thought he turned off the share feature. The San Francisco appeals court just recently ruled that the searches and seizures only require warrants if it "violates a reasonable expectation of privacy." Files shared on a very public P2P network fall outside the reasonable privacy category.

Read full article

Windows Phone 7 Series

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Microsoft announced the next version of its mobile operating system in Barcelona this week, named Windows Phone 7 Series. Although not the most pleasant sounding name, it is definitely the most pleasant looking Windows Mobile ever.

When Microsoft stopped calling it Windows Mobile and started calling it Windows Phone when 6.5 hit, we knew what was in store - a complete overhaul of the operating system - and that is exactly what we got. It's a smartphone, a Zune and an Xbox Portable (our name) all in one device.

The first thing to note is that the familiar Windows feel is gone, replaced instead with a more ZuneHD feel; multiple tiles on the Start screen, which are completely customizable. Similar to an Android home screen, but with a more widget feel. You can have Facebook status updates, Xbox Live, Internet Explorer, Zune, Pictures, etc.

Read full article

Adobe Allows for EPIX Mobile Streaming

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

While EPIX already has control over your television and computer, Adobe's Open Screen Project has opened a door for their Big On Any Screen philosophy to make its way to mobile devices as well.

The Open Screen Project is based around Flash Player 10.1 for mobile, which some devices currently support. If the mobile version can keep up with the capabilities of its desktop cousin, there is a lot of possibility here. They will be working on a feature where you can start a movie on your TV or computer and finish it on your mobile, but there was very little information available on that.

We also have no release date, carrier partners or info on whether you will need to have your wireless and cable linked to use the continue feature, but if so I can certainly see a partnership with Verizon VCast or AT&T Uverse, though Sprint's media offerings and capabilities tend to overshadow the others.

Maemo and Moblin Become MeeGo

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Intel and Nokia have each been working on new Linux-based mobile operating systems. Neither is really finished and neither is really hugely innovative, but what they do have in common is that they no longer exist.

At Nokia's media presentation at the Mobile World Congress on Monday, Nokia and Intel announced that Intel's Maemo and Nokia's Moblin would be ditched and their joint Linux knowledge and development would be combined into a single product, named MeeGo. While their individual products were designed to be semi-device specific, the combined MeeGo is a "software platform that will support multiple hardware architectures across the broadest range of device segments, including pocketable mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems."

We expect to see the first MeeGo devices sometime this year, but we don't know exactly what types of devices they will turn out to be.

Telecom Unites Over Apps

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

To start out the Mobile World Congress right, 24 of the largest mobile operators in the world, representing a total of 3 billion customers, have come together to create an open industry platform for app developers through the Wholesale Applications Community.

The companies include China Mobile and Vodafone, the world's largest operators (almost 1 billion subscribers just to themselves), Deutsche Telekom (which operates T-Mobile USA), Verizon Wireless (partially owned by Vodafone and now owns Alltel) and Sprint Nextel, covering all of the important US carriers.

In addition to the largest players in the carrier world, the group also has the support of 3 of the important handset manufacturers: Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG. The WAC hopes to have a standard for working cross-platform within the next year.

Did You Hear the Buzz? Google Buzz

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Like many people who use Gmail, an interesting little surprise popped up in my account this week. Google's has decided to enter the social networking game with their new service known as Google Buzz. Not only was it announced this week, but if you have a gmail account, you were automatically set up with Buzz and are following people that Google has chosen for you. Google making decisions for you? Sounds familiar!

Read full article

Tunes of the Sea

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

One aspect of video games that is near and dear to my heart is soundtracks. If Bioshock 2 can deliver a soundtrack that is even half as cool as its prequel, then we will all be in for a treat. I have some exciting news if you were wondering what kind of music would be in Bioshock 2, because you can dial into the game's Rapture Radio RIGHT NOW and listen to swinging classics from the 30s, 40s and 50s. Tap your toes and waggle your fingers in the air with songs like Fred Astaire's We Saw The Sea and many other hits from decades past.

If you are interested in listening to Rapture Radio, tune in via iTunes or Winamp or Windows Media Player.

Lego Universe - Not Just for Kids

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

When I first heard that the game known as LEGO Universe was going to be an MMO I said to myself, "You've gotta be joking." However, now that I have seen the trailer and game play for the game, I stand in front of you whole heartily corrected. Yes, it's an MMO aimed at younger gamers that seemed like just another gimmick to me, similar to the games Free Realm and Fusion Fall. Now I slap myself for putting Lego Universe in the same league as those games. Whether you have watched the trailer or not, you need to watch it right now.

Having seen that, know this: The LEGO Universe beta is now accepting signups. We suggest you head over to the site and sign up immediately. Unfortunately, no one is guaranteed a slot in the beta so while you're waiting on confirmation why not check out some footage of the actual game in action? You can thank me later if you get into beta.

Get That Flashlight Out of My Eyes!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Some big news came to us from the Xbox 360 themed X10 Convention this week when Microsoft announced that we will no longer have to wait for the psychological thriller Alan Wake. Looks like after what seems like years and years of development we will be able to get our hands on the game May 18th, when the game lands in US retail outlets. Our friends overseas won't have to wait much longer to blind people with their virtual flashlights - it will be damaging European retinas on May 21.

Read full article

Can I Borrow Your Sausage?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Those wacky Europeans are at it again. Apparently when it comes to touchscreen phones, citizens in Finland prefer resistive touchscreen phones over capacitive touchscreen phones. The reason being, capacitive screens - which rely on the electrical charge in your finger - don't work if you're wearing gloves, unlike resistive which is based on pressure. So, if you aren't a fan of the cold weather and absolutely dread taking your gloves off, even for a few seconds during an intense Finnish blizzard, there's some good news for you!

When I was reading about this I honestly didn't understand why a person couldn't just remove their gloves for a short time, but then again I am from Brazil and live in Florida - so cold isn't a word in my immediate vocabulary (until this year apparently.) Thanks to the innovative Koreans, there may be a solution for the people of Finland. Just use a sausage!

Read full article

Facebook Pulls the Plug on Pestering Prisoners

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

With technology taking over, being behind bars doesn't necessarily exclude you from the world as much as it used to. In fact, security seems to be much more lenient. With some prisons allowing inmates to watch television is their cells, to somehow being able to gain access to the Internet, being locked up doesn't seem half bad. In England, 30 pages have been taken down by Facebook, pages of prisoners. The prisoners were able to use these pages to provoke victims and their families from the slammer.

Jack Straw, UK Justice Secretary stated "The abuse of social networking sites by prisoners is offensive to public morality and decency -- updating these sites from within prison is an offence under prison rules and using them to abuse victims is deplorable."

Read full article

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games - Opening Ceremonies

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Everyone in the world is probably now aware that the winter Olympics have begun in Vancouver, Canada. They opened Friday night at BC Place with one of the most interesting winter games opening ceremonies ever. After the Beijing Summer games and their opening ceremonies, which was the most expensive and elaborate in history, Canada had a lot to live up to. They hired a great executive producer, David Atkins, who is not afraid to think a little crazy to produce an unmatched presentation.

Atkins decided that thousands of participants, like the Beijing ceremonies, was not the way to show off Canada. Instead, he wowed the audience with the inclusion of A LOT of technology, including more than 100 projectors, and unique stage effects.

Read full article

Pirate Bay First Mate Looks To Share Booty

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Most everyone is familiar with The Pirate Bay and its legal nightmares. You probably are not familiar with a new web service called Flattr which is being developed by Mr. Sunde who was one of the top 3 admins for The Pirate Bay. Essentially, it is a micro payment system that members can subscribe to for a nominal monthly fee. Members who have Flattr buttons on their websites will receive a portion of the total membership fees collected for the month based on the number of clicks received though the Flattr button on their web pages. Sunde stated,

Read full article

Amazon Kindles The Flame Of Competition With the iPad

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In the left corner weighing in at 10.3 ounces. The pride of the e-book reader industry. The Amazon Kindle! In the right corner, the challenger, weighing in at 1.5lbs., the Apple iPad! Wait a minute, this match up seems a little one sided. After all the iPad is more than just an e-book reader. Many of you may be wondering what in the world Amazon is thinking by directly competing with the iPad. Apple's new pride and joy turned up a little over two weeks ago and Amazon wasted no time releasing some impressive numbers regarding the Kindle in Q4 last year. There was a 42% increase in sales and a 71% increase in net income. Amazon execs are expecting a promising year for both versions of the Kindle, especially since 6 Kindle books are sold for every 10 physical books. Their CFO, Tom Szkutak stated, "We believe that readers deserve to have a dedicated device." That reasoning certainly has worked well for them but what do others think about the iPad as a competing e-book reader? Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell said,

Read full article

Better Than a GPS: New Software Allows Doctors to Navigate the Human Body

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Seems like everyone has a GPS these days. Who wouldn't want one? After all, it can lead you wherever you want to go with easy-to-view maps and directions. Well, what if they took the great idea of GPS and incorporated it into a device that allows doctors to navigate the body? Good news, they've done just that.

Fortunately, some new software announced by researchers this week will give doctors the capability of viewing 3-D images of their patient's coronary arteries. Although it is not fully developed, this may be a huge breakthrough for Cardiologists, and in the long run may prevent heart disease from being as serious as it is currently. Since it is the number one killer in America, Doctors are thrilled to hear about the software. Like a GPS system, the software will allow a more accurate view, much quicker. Technology has come far in the medical field and this will take the 2-D images cardiologists view now, to a whole new level. Although it was just recently tested on humans for the first time the development is on schedule and after being tested on many more patients in the U.S., then all over the world, the software should be released.

The Eye is Revived!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Sound the alarms! It looks like we've got more news on the Playstation 3 Motion Controller, this time about how it will give gamers a reason to actually utilize the Playstation Eye! According to a Nikkei report spotted by Andriasang, the device, which pairs with the Eye, will have "around 10 or so games" by year's end, including sports and pet raising titles. A title I think would be fun to see that would be compatible with the Playstation 3 Motion Controller would maybe be a hack and slash game or Rpg similar to Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

It's nice to hear that instead of us having to buy a big bulky attachment we only have to buy the controller. But at the same time, does that mean the Playstation Motion Controller (rumored to be called the Arc) will basically be a copy of the Nintendo Wii controller with its Wii Motion Plus adapter?

What do you think? Will this device be unique, or is it a Wii ripoff? Let us know in the comments section!

Starcraft 2 - PC and Mac

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

StarCraft 2 may still be a long ways off. On the bright side, Blizzard has been giving us patient few consistent updates on the long anticipated sequel. The latest bit of information involves platform support, as a Blizzard employee recently popped onto the game's forums to verify that SC2 will support PC and Mac right out of the box. Sounds all well and good, but what about those who like to keep our computer desk drawers clean and want to go with a digital download?

"Further details on digital download possibilities will be released as we get closer to the ship date," the forum post reads. While we'd like to speculate on what these "digital download possibilities" are, it would be just that: speculation. Maybe once the game is out we will be out of the recession and I'll be able to afford a new rig....that is if I even need one at this point.

Gaming Super Soldiers

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Looks like we've found an alternative option to creating super soldiers! The Office of Naval Research is currently conducting research in video game training that it says has "surprising" results in regards to military personnel reaction time and adaptability in the fight against terror. Personally I always thought that this was common sense but I guess Uncle Sam just got the memo. According to an article available on the Department of Defense's official website, doctor of educational psychology and program officer Ray Perez said the research has discovered that video game players perform "10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability" than non-gamers.

Read full article

February 11th's Forcast: Heavy Rain

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

It's amazing how with today's technology we STILL can't determine whether or not it is going to rain these days (at least for those of us in Florida). Well I am here to tell you that there is a 100% chance of PS3's Heavy Rain demo for those of you that are worried about exactly what the game is. Understandably, many gamers out there are still on the fence about Quantic Dream's latest adventure game. Is it just a long QTE? Is it actually a game? Well hopefully the new demo will be able to clear up some of the questions. A free demo will be available on the PlayStation Network on February 11th, in both Europe and North America.

Read full article

Pirates Pay the Price...Part 2

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Last week we brought you the court case involving willful copyright infringement by Jammie Thomas-Rasset in Minnesota. She was originally convicted of the crime and forced to pay $2 million dollars, just for downloading 24 songs without permission! Recently however, a judge decided to overturn the decision and instead charge Rasset only $54,000 in fines. The only part left to do for the decision to be finalized, was receiving approval for the new amount from the recording industry. Things can never be that easy!

From the beginning, the industry has made it pretty clear that they did not want the case to go to court in the first place, but unfortunately for them Thomas-Rasset refused to settle out of court with RIAA. Now that the judge has sliced the amount to $54,000, RIAA has decided to try once again to resolve the case out of the court room to avoid a third trial, silly RIAA. Thomas-Rasset has once again refused the new offer of $25,000, vowing that she will not pay any restitution at all.

Read full article

The Avengers Revealed

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, made some interesting announcements in an interview with SFX Magazine about the upcoming Avengers film. The most notable was the team itself.

We know Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man will be front and center, as well as Thor and Captain America, all coming to the team off of their self-titled films over the next 18 months. The hardest part will be maintaining the individual characters while still creating a team. On this, he said,

Read full article

iPad - Love It or Hate It?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Since Apple finally announced the iPad (or TamPod as Colbert called it), everyone in every industry has had to make a statement. The reviews are, well, mixed, but so it the industry. If you are an iPhone app developer, you probably liked the processing power and big screen. If you are in the mainstream gaming community, you probably hate it because of its potetial threat.

Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, said to The New York Times "it was a bigger iPod Touch." What Iwata seems to have forgotten is that Nintendo made a big deal over the DSi, which is just a bigger DS. On the other hand, he did also say that 3D games were also no realistic because the glasses would make people think you were crazy. This sttement probably has little or nothing to do with the fact that the Wii platform cannot render true 3D graphics. Seems like Nintendo and Apple are more alike than we realised.

Read full article

Texting While Driving, No Big Deal?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Texting while driving seems to be a controversial subject in the United States, and actually all over the world. We've all seen that horrific video released on YouTube with the gruesome reality of what can happen while texting, but according to a new study, banning the use of cell phones and other hand-held devices has NOT reduced the number of accidents in at least four states.

New York, California, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. all have laws restricting the use of cell phones while driving, but when compared to other states that do not have the ban, accident rates have remained the same. "The laws aren't reducing crashes," according to the president of the Highway Loss Data Institute, Adrian Lund. Even though cell phones have been known to increase the risk of an accident while operating a vehicle, the study did not agree.

Read full article

Google Gets Too Personal?

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

For years Google has been the leading search engine out there. Just type in a fragment of the information you're looking for and bam! Well, Google may be getting "too good" at searching the web. I know, it doesn't seem possible for a search engine to be "too good" but now that Google searches will include social networking sites, it may be a bit too personal.

In the last year, some select Google users were introduced to a new way of searching the Internet, which allows you to link your social profile to Google and then gives your friends the ability to view information linked to your social networking page before all other web results.

Read full article

Apple vs. Google With Microsoft In The Middle

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

In 2007 Apple eagerly made a deal with Google to make them the default search provider for the iPhone. The reasoning was that Google's growing popularity could help boost the popularity of an iPhone. That does make sense and Google certainly has the most revered search engine and they would benefit from the extra ad exposure. It's too bad for Apple that Google has also spent the last few years encroaching on their domain. With the Nexus One Google has certainly done that.

Read full article

Pirates Pay the Price...Petty Compared to Previous $2 Million

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We all know someone who has downloaded music illegally before. Come on, you know you've done it. A few months ago, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was convicted of willful copyright infringement for illegally sharing music on the Internet. Because of the "crime," she was required to pay a whopping $2 million, that's more than $8,000 per song. Yes, it was only 24 songs!

Well, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, Michael Davis, has overturned the decision, slashing the fine to $54,000. While much less expensive than the original amount, it still comes out to an astounding $2,250 per song. That's a lot more than the iTunes price of $.99 per download! Davis went on to say that "the need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music."

Read full article

Microsoft's Don't Ask Don't Tell: Zero-Day Flaw

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

By now you are well aware of the recent attacks on Google and others originating from inside Chinese borders. What you might not be aware of is that the Zero-Day Flaw that primarily effected Internet Explorer 6 and was used to exploit those companies didn't just spring up out of nowhere. Last September, Meron Sellen, a BugSec security researcher, reported the security vulnerability to Microsoft and they immediately realized the severity of the flaw but did not address the issue immediately and instead decided to include the fix in a cumulative update sometime next month. Microsoft stated,

Read full article

Rickets is Back (and not the Hippo)

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I apologize for the Death to Smoochy reference, but I have been thinking about it since I read this report. Aside from the hippo, though, when was the last time you heard the term rickets? Maybe in health class? Or even history class? I can't recall for myself, but it must have been a long time ago and mostly in passing. It is a long-gone disease from Victorian England, right?

Apparently not. As a health class reminder, rickets is a bone softening issue, caused by a significant lack of Vitamin D and Calcium. Well, guess what - it's back, and we might be the reason. Vitamin D is introduced into the body through sunlight, which gamers traditionally do not get a lot of. Obviously, being here in Florida, we get enough sun for most of the rest of you, but those of you living in, say Tennessee, should probably spend some extra time outdoors, or at least take a multi-vitamin.

The British study that I eluded to at the top of this article, says:

Read full article

Lights Go On at the BBC

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The BBC has been in the dark ages for most of its existence, but seems to have seen the light recently. They are currently shopping out developers to bring some of the biggest names, including Doctor Who and Top Gear, to the gaming world. They are considering all platforms, from Facebook and iPhone to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Their preferences are the DS and Wii for the family-friendly titles and the big boys for the more adult games.

Read full article

Free Content Not Always Free in Mass Effect 2

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Several months ago on PLuGHiTz Live! Radio we had a discussion about the future of used games in the industry. Several executives from some big game companies have called used game stores, such as GameStop, the reason why sales and profits are down. We have seen publishers come up with some ways to make gamers want to purchase new rather than used. Electronic Arts has a new process they are trying in Mass Effect 2.

Read full article

Pants on the Ground Goes Through the Roof

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We all know how crazy, kooky, and just all around outrageous American Idol can be, but 62-year-old Larry Platt took a whole new approach this year as the tour hit Atlanta. Caution: you may want to grab a belt to avoid the problem of "Pants on the Ground," a song written by the singer himself.

His performance on American Idol has given him celebrity status, and although it may not not the type of fame he was looking for, the 1 million fans on Facebook and over 1 million views on YouTube are astounding. This video has even sparked many spoofs from Jimmy Fallon to Brett Favre. In fact, the editor of the social-media blog Mashable, Adam Ostrow, declared the spectacle "the year's first mega viral hit." Pretty impressive for such an old American Idol contestant. We just can't get enough "Pants of the Ground."

New Super Mario Bros. Puts Galaxy in World 1-2

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

The New (if you can call him that) Mario is ground-pounding his galaxy-venturing counterpart into another universe, with sales of New Super Mario Bros. Wii having already eclipsed Super Mario Galaxy in the US. According to the NPD, Galaxy has sold approximately 4.1 million units in the two years since its November 2007 release, while NSMBW has sold 4.2 million sales in about 45 days! For those of you that are number crunchers, if the game kept selling at this pace it would sell at least 10 million copies by the end of this year!

Read full article

UK Calls Just Dance to Duty

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Looks like there's a new sheriff in town and its name is Just Dance. For nine straight weeks the people of the UK have spent hours on-end worshiping the ground that Modern Warfare 2 has walked on. As of recently, that's all changed. With the latest Chart-Track data showing that the acclaimed game of the year has been dethroned, the king of all shooters has been replaced by Ubisoft's quirky dance title for the Wii and has attained a level of popularity that nobody could have imagined or foreseen. Could it be that its success is because of a successful ad campaign with MC Hammer? Or could it possibly be the United Kingdom's limitless love of Footloose starring Kevin Bacon?

Wait, there's more! Wii Fit Plus managed to grab the silver medal, while Infinity Ward's shooter had to suck it up and take home the bronze. Looks like Infinity Ward is going to have to train with Michael Phelps if they want to win back the gold, minus the narcotics, of course.

I'm Giving Her All the Beta She's Got, Captain!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

On January 12th, Cryptic launched their Star Trek Online open beta in hopes of enticing gamers and Trekkies alike into buying their newly developed MMO based within the new J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Universe. The only problem is that they didn't think that their game would be so popular! It's a hard enough task to actually get the client downloaded but once you actually accomplish that feat you may not be able to log into the game because of the huge Trekkie population inhabiting it.

The developers said in a recent update:

Read full article

Bending the Xbox 360

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves demonstrated the power that the PS3 had in 2009, and this year it is time for Halo: Reach to show the consumer that the Xbox 360 can match last year's game of the year punch-for-punch. Whereas Halo 3: ODST was using a two year old graphics engine, Bungie has stated that Halo: Reach, its next shooter, is already "bending the Xbox as far as it'll bend."

We are ... taking every advantage of everything on the CPU and GPU, and every bit of memory in order to produce the look of Reach beyond anything of Halo 3.

Read full article

Famous Soccer Stars Get Red Carded for Twitter Usage

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You would think as a professional athlete, watching what you say would be important. After all, you are a role model to thousands all over the world. But to some of the world's greatest soccer players, biting your tongue is optional. Looks like there are going to be a lot of yellow cards issued. The offense: sharing too much on social networking sites, like Twitter.

Many professional soccer players from Steven Gerrard to Cristiano Ronaldo frequent sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep the rest of the world up to date in the soccer world. Well, some coaches have decided to ban players from using these sites due to inappropriate news feeds. One well known club, Manchester United, believes these sites have caused many problems with rival teams. What happen to beating your opponent on the field?

Read full article

Lights! Camera! YouTube!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

I'm going to pretend that I'm not writing about Google or anything affiliated with them again. That being said, YouTube announced in its company blog Wednesday that this coming Friday it will be launching its new rental service. I wouldn't expect another Netflix just yet though. YouTube partnered with the Sundance Film Festival to bring you such independent films as Bass Ackwards, The Cove, One Too Many Mornings and Children of Invention. YouTube is searching for more independent film makers and other partners as well. They have already invited several potential partners and want to keep the content coming.

Read full article

Neflix Has Disney Seeing Starz

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Back in October 2008, Netflix made a deal with Starz that allowed them to stream Disney movies instantly on the Internet. Netflix made out pretty well on this deal, but maybe a little too well.

Disney has decided to renegotiate terms with Starz. Originally, Netflix users were not required to pay a premium for the Starz movies, but now Disney is looking to make more money, hence the renegotiating. With this deal, Starz hopes to have access to Disney films for up to five years, including continued digital rights. What does this mean for Netflix? Well, in 2012, Netflix may lose some of its most viewed content when the contract expires. There is some talk of a new movie rental service, according to Disney Chief Executive Officer, Robert Iger. This may be the motive for the change, but many involved declined comment, including Netflix, who claims,

Read full article

Where Did Crazy Jack Move to? Apparently Australia

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

First video games, now movies? Really, Australia? Have you lost your mind? Oh, wait, you mean you didn't really ban the games? You're just banning them without actually banning them? Allow me to reiterate, have you lost your minds!? How much more are the ex-cons of the UK going to take before they overthrow the government with a coupe whose morales represent lessons learned from the things banned?

Turns out, leaving it at Left4Dead Lite, Modern Warfare 2 and the flip-flop decision on Alien vs Predators just wasn't enough. Oh no, now they're going as far as to restrict the viewing on rated-R movies - essentially treating them just like pornography.

This new anti-freedom law will make it illegal to display R-rated movies alongside other movies. If the theater decides to, the cover of the movie must have no markings other than the name of the film and must have this really stupid label:

Read full article

Iron Man 2... in... IMAX!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Good thing Robert Downey Jr. didn't say "elementary, my dear Watson" in his latest movie, Sherlock Holmes. Now Scott and the rest of the PLuGHiTz crew can see Iron Man 2. Actually, they can see it in IMAX! How exciting!

We know that most of you were upset at the lack of a huge climax (that's what she said) at the end of Iron Man, but we think they have laid all the chips on the table with the sequel. With the addition of the War Machine, we think more explosions, fire, destruction and utter chaos is in order. So what better way than to look at a suave, debonair and charismatic man such as Downey Jr saving the world one more time than on a gigantic 72 foot screen? There isn't!

Read full article

New Records For the Wii and PS3

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

December is always a big month for video game sales, but this past one was the biggest month the video game industry has ever seen. Unfortunately, this hugely successful month, increasing 4% from last December, didn't make up for the drop occurring throughout the year.

Thanks to December 2009, sales almost caught up to the record breaking sales occurring in 2008, but came up short at $19.7 billion, compared to last year's $21.4 billion. Consumers helped Nintendo Wii hit an all time high, at 3.81 million consoles sold, only 2.15 million were purchased the previous year. Another console making the record books, Sony PS3, with 1.36 million units in 2009. It even surpassed Xbox 360 sales by 50,000 consoles. I never though i'd see that!

Read full article

IE Vulnerability Leads to Temporary German Boycott

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Coming off the heels of the possible Chinese government attacks on 20 major companies, the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology, BSI, has urged the country to immediately switch from Internet Explorer to a different browser. Users would be advised to switch back only after Microsoft has released a patch for an information leak and vulnerability found in the browser that is still popular, but rapidly losing marketshare.

The reports from Google and McAfee have specified a critical flaw in every version of IE that would allow culprits to "perform reconnaissance and gain complete control over the compromised system." Microsoft has quickly responded, stating they are working on an update. However, even in protected mode potential hackers could still exploit the systems, albeit much more difficult.

I know most of our readers aren't fluent in German, so here is the statement from their website, translated via Google:

Read full article

Google and Yahoo! vs China

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

By now we all know that last month Google and about 20 other major companies in technology, finance and chemicals were victims of a cyber-attack unlike anything seen before. The culprit? Early investigations put the attackers in China, and all signs point to a calculated, specific attack from the government itself.

Google alone announced the attack to the media and told what had happened. According to the spokesperson, the attack included the theft of intellectual property, including source code for one or more of its products and access to the emails and searching habits of about 20 political activists.

Read full article

Digital Dissident Disobedience

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

We have it pretty good here in the U.S. if you think about it. Our government makes sure that our internet is unadulterated whether its research for academic reasons, implementation for commercial purposes or porn for more a more personal experience. If I couldn't wake up in the morning and check Facebook to see everything interesting people I know did last night while I was immersed in my textbooks I might not feel so connected with my friends or have the sense of self loathing I get sometimes.

Oddly enough the lack of some people in China and Iraq being able to check their facebook profiles among other things may be fostering some digital disobedience. We've seen this before, China's Internet oppression isn't new. In the past the government initiated an Internet cleansing of sorts blocking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Read full article

Back in the Ring! Apple Retaliates...Yet Again.

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

And the battle continues! Apple has decided to punch back in this never-ending, back and forth dispute with Nokia. Didn't see that one coming...

Last we heard, Nokia had filed a complaint with International Trade Commission. But this just seemed like a sad attempt to get the upper hand in this battle, considering the claim had nothing to do with the original complaint in the lawsuit. They attempted to have the ITC ban imports of Apple products into the U.S. Even though this move was somewhat expected, we're not too sure on how banning products from entering the U.S. is going to compensate for the patents that were infringed on, the original cause for the legal system to intervene.

Read full article

Wait Longer, We Must

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Looks like the American people aren't the only ones feeling the pain of our current recession or at least that's what the people of Electronic Arts are saying. Once again it seems EA Games is anticipating a less than ideal year. An EA spokesperson said,

Revised fiscal year 2010 expectations are primarily the result of weakness for EA and the overall packaged goods sector in Europe in December and a product mix shift to lower margin distribution products in the December quarter, primarily in North America.

After the announcement, EA's CEO John Riccitiello mentioned several big titles that EA is releasing this quarter like Army of Two: The 40th Day, Mass Effect 2, Dante's Inferno, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight trying to see the light at the end of this tunnel. On a lighter note, EA's digital sales were above expectations but not enough to offset lowered packaged-goods sales. The thing that caught my attention was that Riccitiello was also quoted saying "our major new MMO," presumably BioWare Austin's Star Wars: The Old Republic slated to release in Spring 2011.

Read full article

The Economy Strikes Back

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Another week and yet another disappointment. It looks like Ubisoft is once again delaying Splinter Cell Conviction from February 23 to April 2010. No reason has been given as to why the game was delayed but I have a theory. Ubisoft is probably looking to start off their fiscal year with a bang and Splinter Cell is just the franchise to do it. After all, for the fiscal year 2010-2011 Ubisoft has revised its sales target to €860 million (roughly $1.25 billion) down from an estimated €1,040 million. Due to the less than ideal retail performances of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game and a few unspecified "non-casual" Wii titles along with weak back catalog sales could also be to blame. Needless to say, we hope that this will be the last delay for Mr. Sam Fisher but we will just have to wait and see as the new fiscal year begins March 31.

What is your theory on the delay? Let us know in the comments below.

NBA Jam Returns

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

You may remember a basketball arcade game developed by Midway back in 1993 called NBA Jam. I remember the days when I would go to the arcade, pick out my favorite NBA player and endlessly dunk flaming basketballs one after the other until I ran out of tokens. Well, if you had a similiar childhood and are the owner of a Wii, I have some great news for you!

EA Sports just recently announced that NBA Jam will be relaunched on the Wii console this year! EA didn't release tons of information as to the specific details of the game, however, they did assure us that there will be "new game modes, characters and gameplay depth," while simultaneously "re-defining the visuals for a sports game yet again." The most surprising part of this is that it will be brought to us by EA Canada. One bit of information that I am hoping EA will announce is that the original creator of the series, Mark Turmell, will be collaborating with EA on the game. It shouldn't be that difficult to accomplish, seeing that Turmell is currently at EA Tiburon located in Orlando, Florida.

Nothing has come forward yet as to whether or not game will be released on the Xbox 360, or PS3 but in case it isn't then consumers have yet another reason to hop on the Wii Train before it leaves the station. Looks like Canadians are useful for something afterall, eh?

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's More News About Project Natal!

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT

Recently, at the Consumer Electronics Show, one of Microsoft's "three big points" was the announcement that Project Natal would be available this holiday season. In a recent interview, Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment and Devices, mentioned how 70-80% of publishers around the world are already working on games for Natal. He also stated that Microsoft would be making a few Natal-based games to "show the way" but would mostly be working on the hardware for the Xbox 360. This allows for third-party developers to come up with more innovations utilizing Project Natal. Bach also said:

Read full article