Posted by Matthew Bretz - Friday, June 22, 2007 6:44 PM
Mad scientists in Japan have developed technology that allows people to move objects using only the power of their minds.
The evil geniuses at Hitachi, Inc.’s Advanced Research Laboratory recently demonstrated their “brain-machine interface” technology, which translates brain activity into electrical signals, affording them the most sinister of means to propel toy trains along their tiny tracks. It’s the first step toward developing what Hitachi hopes are numerous commercial applications for the technology.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 4:30 PM
Here are some more iPhone stories to feed the fever.
Google's CEO shows the iPhone at a press event in Paris and mentions that consumers should expect more Apple/Google announcements in the future. InformationWeek.com: Google CEO Demos Apple's iPhone, But Not On YouTube
Web Dev's should take a look at this if they are planning an iPhone site. This OS X app will show you what your page will look like on the iPhone. ZDNet.com: Meet iPhoney: a simulation of an iPhone simulator
Know what I'm wearing in the above picture? Gamer's Shield Finger Guards.
See, they are these padded sleeves you slip over your digits while you're gaming. They prevent blisters and relieve pressure on the hand bones. Plus, they cure finger cancer.*
They're available in five colors and two sizes to fit even the most splindly or portly fingers.
As if our descriptions isn't enough to sell you on it, you can get your own, free set, if you're diligent and awesome enough. If you're among the first 200 visitors to Gamer's Shield's official site on July 3rd, and you send an email through the contact page that says, "I want my gamer's shield" you'll get your own set. Other people will envy you. Girls will start to like you. I swear!
I'm typing with my finger guards right now, and it's like it's like I'm in heaven! And I have my legs again!
This is the best product on earth, althought there's always room for improvement. We suggest the following to add even more awesome:
Celebrity finger shield: They'll call you "Mork" with Robin Williams hairy knuckle guards!
Formal-wear finger shields, with mahogany inserts.
Stealth finger shields. Flesh colored shields allow the discrete gamer to keep his advantage secret. Shhh!
Scented finger shields: For the not-so-fresh gamer.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 3:24 PM
Microsoft is working on bringing the technology behind its Surface Table to consumer laptops. Take a look at this video, which shows researcher Steve Hodges demonstrating some of the features of their prototype. It doesn't quite look like it's there yet, but we can't wait to get Surface tech on our laptops.
Tabula Rasa is an upcoming MMORPG from Richard Garriott, the creator of Ultima Online, and publisher NCSoft.
Check out our interview with game producer, Starr Long, where we go way in-depth about Rasa's plot, innovative character creation system, unique combat mechanics, special Garriott-created language and raft of other awesome details.
To say we're exctied about this PC game is a vast understatement.
Usually, videogame swag consists of t-shirts you'd never wear, ever. But Midway is bucking the trend with an awesome pair of fake guns to hype upcoming shooter John Woo's Stranglehold.
And they're lighters! Guns and smoking in one package? We're sold!
We're big fans of free, fake-guns and John Woo, So we took some Woo-inspired photos to share with ya.
The guns came in this carrying case, like actual dueling pistols:
Posted by Dana Vinson - Friday, June 22, 2007 2:10 PM
Starting this fall, not only will you be able to bowl, play tennis and smash raving rabbids with your Wii, you'll also be able to fish!
A new game from Core Gamer and Aksys called Hooked! Real Motion Fishing, is bringing all the fun and excitment of fishing to your home without the smelly bait and wet water.
The game comes with a fishing rod shell for your Wiimote, so that you'll feel totally immersed in the fishing experience. Plus, in game you can choose from six different fishing locales and play online with other fish enthusiasts.
We here at TheFeed are huge fans of the Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch, which is all about crab fishermen risking the lives on the vast Bearing Sea. By proxy, we're automatically fans of a fishing game for the Wii. However, what SJohnson has often said about Deadliest Catch will probably be true for this game too: "No matter how exciting it gets, you're still reminded of how ultimately boring fishing really is."
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 1:06 PM
Check out the Sea Phantom. This prototype boat uses a unique body design to minimize drag while keeping the boat close to the water. The foils on either side of the boat act like shock absorbers, which keeps the hull up and absorbs bumps. With this design a standard outboard motor can bring the boat up to around 70 miles per hour. A future version hopes to hit 100mph.
There are versions planned that will even use jet engines, but there will be consumer boats coming that will cost you $400,000 - $600,000 or 800 - 1000 iPhones.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 12:05 PM
If you purchase the new Tokyo Club Mix Pack (aka SOS Charity Campaign Pack) for Lumines Live! on Xbox Live Arcade you will get four new songs and skins for the game and a portion of your purchase will go to "climate protection NGOs and causes" if you purchase the content between June 27th and July 17th. The pack will be available on June 27th and will cost 350 Microsoft Fun Bucks.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 11:52 AM
A new Halo 3 ARG video has surfaced and it's as cryptic as ever. The text may be referring to the Forerunner race, which fans have been waiting to learn more about. We think we saw The Ring in there, so look out for creepy, dark-haired girls in about 7 days.
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, June 22, 2007 11:07 AM
If you're the kind of person who really loves dragons, and can't figure out why there's no good dragon game for the Wii, you're going to be very happy to know that D3 is making Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire for the system. In the game, you'll play a warrior who's trying to reconstruct a weapon that has the characteristics of a dragon. Isn't that neat?
Dragon Blade is one of the few sort of hack-and-slash games coming out for the Wii in the fall, and, as far as we know, the only one with a dragon theme. The game was written by Richard A. Knaak, who is responsible for the Dragonrealm series, and several books based on Warcraft and Diablo.
The Sony PlayStation Portable is like a majestic, wild stallion; it has got to be free, man--free to frolic, jump around and stand on its head and pick daisies and whatnot. But, little did you know, the PSP has been fettered.
Its mighty, throbbing processor was held back, imprisoned in chains, with developers only able to run its CPU at 266MHz rather than its full potential clock speed of 333MHz. Late May marked the independence of the PSP. With the release of 3.50 firmware, developers were finally able to tap into those elusive 67 MHzs, and thus, a new era of PSP freedom and love was born.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 10:59 AM
I got a fever. And the only prescription... is more iPhone! Apple has thrown a 20-minute guided tour movie up on their website and it looks sweet. This is the best look you're going to get at the iPhone without actually seeing one in person. Put simply, this is the slickest looking phone ever. You will want this phone after watching this.
The visual voicemail feature is worth the price alone, but it's got a ton of other features. The tour contains footage from the feature videos previous videos that Apple had up, but there is a lot of new information and an in-depth look at most of the features. The way it integrates the phone and iPod features are incredible. We want! Check it out.
Posted by Dana Vinson - Friday, June 22, 2007 10:39 AM
Upscale design house and world-wide sponsor of wimbledon and douche baggery, Ralph Lauren, recently launched their window-sized touch screen shopping pannels. This new technological innovation allows customers to actually "window shop" by pressing their selections in on a giant touch screen that is also a window.
Customers pay for purchases the next day via phone or email.
No word yet on when you pay to get your dignity back.
Seriously, look at the guy in this picture. Seriously.
Tattoos are like haircuts from the 1980s, except permanent! That's why we love them so, and that's why we love the guy who got not one, but two Zune tats.
The healthy-looking fella was repayed for his permanent life decision to advertise an MP3 player on his flesh by being flown to Redmond, Washington to meet the people who inspired his devotion.
Sadly, "mszunefan," as he's known on the message boards that define his interaction with other humans, won't be buried in a Jewish cemetery when he dies-- after spending his entire life covered in Zune tattoos.
PS--TheFeed does not regret the tattoos we got of our Texas Instruments DataChron calculator. Not only does it do graphing, if you turn it upside down you can totally spell "BOOBIES"
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:55 AM
Rataouille has been leaked online to pirate video sites, where it can be downloaded and watched before it gets to the theater.
This is obviously not good news for Disney and Pixar, who are collaborating on the project. However, the good news is that it seems to be of the home video-camera-filmed-off-a-screen variety, rather than something leaked from a person at the studio or in production.
So, the question is whether or not people are going to want to download a blurry and crappy-looking version of the film to watch at home, instead of taking their kids to the movies. We're betting that it won't deter too many parents from taking kids to see it, but the danger is that there will be a lot of reviews of the film, from a lot of people. You never know what they're going to say.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:52 AM
Everybody have their grains of salt? Good. After a 6-month investigation into the vulnerabilities of different operating systems, Jeff "Security Guy" Jones has claimed that Vista is more secure than any other OS out there. Get the salt ready. The numbers are based on the security vulnerabilities found and not the ones that are actually exploited. Take the salt now. Jeff Jones works for Microsoft's Security business unit.
You can be sure Microsoft will promote these findings, but we can only hope that they start releasing commercials with their own Windows and Mac guys to start flinging flames the other way. Nerd fight!
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:43 AM
You know they're making Indiana Jones 4, right? And you know that it's happening right now, don't you? Well, there's now proof that this isn't all some sort of elaborate hoax. There's a picture of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones to be had online, the first since 1989. Taken for some sort of Danish blog. No, we're not kidding.
The good news is that Indy doesn't look quite as old as we'd feared. Although there's literally no indication of what he could be doing, aside from sitting in a chair, that might tell us about what we can expect from the film, it's comforting to know that he's around nonetheless. Being Indy.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:38 AM
Microsoft and Doritos are going to let you jokers make your own game. If you follow the rules and have a great idea. Remember, the games must be Doritos (Achievement Unlocked - Corporate Tie-in - 20G) related. Here are the rules so head on over and submit your ideas.
Doritos-inspired video game ideas can be submitted at www.snackstrongproductions.com between June 21 and July 29, 2007. Submissions must describe an original idea for a Doritos-inspired video game in no more than 500 words along with any other original elements or components gamers would like to have considered as part of their entry, to help describe, depict or illustrate the original idea.
Five finalists will be able to make their games with the help of some XBLA devs and then trials will be released to the masses in October for voting. If you win, your game will come out next summer for free, but you'll get a $6000 goodie-bag just for making it to the final five.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:22 AM
The trailer to the upcoming videogame based movie Hitman will be shown before Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard, which opens nationwide on Wednesday, June 27. The movie stars Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47 and will hopefully have him kicking ass again because HBO cancelled Deadwood. If you actually needed any more reasons to go check out Die Hard 4, here you go.
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, June 22, 2007 9:14 AM
Fans are a-buzz about an upcoming new Battlestar Galactica telemovie called “Razor” that will focus on the Cylon attacks from the Pegasus POV, and recreate some of the events that took place on the ship only talked about before. The flick will air in November on SciFi Channel, and be released on DVD soon after.
But this ain’t gonna be no a typical flashback episode, folks, as producers are saying “it will bring together fans of both the original 1970s series and the 2003 remake like no episode has before, and it will feature revelations that will make jaws drop and instill fear on what might come in Season 4.”
Other details we've heard (PLOT SPOILER ALERT!!!):
According to an article by Smart House.com, nearly a third of 360s are sent back to Microsoft for repairs. The article states: "Retailers are claiming that Microsoft has had to handle a failure rate of over 30% with their Xbox 360 console," and goes on to publish several of the "over 100" emails the company has received complaining about bricked 360s.
Yeah, it's hardly a scientific survey, and, if we judge by internet website reports, it's an improvement: This site proclaims at 61% failure rate for 360s! There is really no way of verifying these reports, as no one is releasing the numbers. We know one thing, though, 100% of our 360s went belly-up the other night in the middle of a rousing game of Uno.
Microsoft denies there is a systemic problem with Xbox 360s.
Had any similar problems, 360 owners? Or are these internet reports a bunch of nonsense?
Hey, are you going to Blizzcon? Blizzard Software's annual meeting-of-the-tribes will feature a playable version of Starcraft 2. Is that not enough reason to go?
Oh, you didn't buy your $100 tickets?
Too bad, sucker. It's all sold out. And I, personally, Steve Johnson, spent my family's fortune to buy every single ticket.
I will play Starcraft 2 against myself at the kiosks. Or maybe I won't even play it all. I'll sit around playing Mario Kart on my DS all day, just to make you angry.
I'll have thousands and thousands of the in-game Murloc suits for World of Warcraft that Blizz is giving out, and every last beta key for an unnamed Blizzard Entertainment game. I will be the only one at the signings. I will be the only attendee at the panel discussions with developers
And I won't even sell anything on eBay, because that's how I roll. I hope the new Blizzard game is an MMO, so I'll be the only play in the Beta, and thus, by far, the 'leetest.
I (and I, alone) will be attending Blizzcon August 3-4 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
You had to see this coming. Fresh from the news that Manhunt 2 was given a dreaded Adults Only rating by the ESRB, developers Take Two have shelved the PS2 and Wii game for the time being, presumably madly cutting offending content to get a more acceptable "mature" rating. So the game will not come out on on its previously stated release date of July 10th.
"Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with regard to the recent decisions made by the British Board of Film Classification and Entertainment Software Rating Board," a representative told GameSpot.
No new release date has been set.
"What's all the fuss about?" You may be asking. Well, maybe you can tell what's so offensive from the screenshots that live at this post. What would you rate the game, based on the pics?
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, June 22, 2007 3:00 AM
Once again, kiddies, we've got the newest episode of Devil's Trade from our kissin' cousins over at FEARnet. This week, it's Episode 3: Hanging, and the horror's just heating up.
Pull your covers up tight, lock the door, grab something heavy, and watch the newest episode.
As if our descriptions isn't enough to sell you on it, you can get your own, free set, if you're diligent and awesome enough. If you're among the first 200 visitors to Gamer's Shield's 
Starting this fall, not only will you be able to bowl, play tennis and smash raving rabbids with your Wii, you'll also be able to fish!
The Sony PlayStation Portable is like a majestic, wild stallion; it has got to be free, man--free to frolic, jump around and stand on its head and pick daisies and whatnot. But, little did you know, the PSP has been fettered.
Rataouille has been leaked online to pirate video sites, where it can be downloaded and watched before it gets to the theater.
Microsoft and Doritos are going to let you jokers make your own game. If you follow the rules and have a great idea. Remember, the games must be Doritos (Achievement Unlocked - Corporate Tie-in - 20G) related. Here are the rules so head on over and submit your ideas.
Hey, are you going to Blizzcon? Blizzard Software's annual meeting-of-the-tribes will feature a playable version of Starcraft 2. Is that not enough reason to go?