Posted by Stephen Johnson - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 6:18 PM
Here's what happened today in the world of videogames, popular culture and technology:
- Capcom released their quarterly financial statement for Q1 2008. They're making bank.
- Learn about Bioshock from Ken Levine.
- Tis' the season to be jolly already for Nintendo, as they announced a a $996 million profit on revenues of $3.9 billion from their first quarter.
- The game critics announced their E3 08 nominations.
- No political statement was intended by destroyed D.C. in Fallout 3.
- Check out this cool Star Wars action figure.
- This morning's Today show featured a couple of awesome things: X-Play host Adam Sessler and Rock Band 2.
- Richard Garriott is taking Tabula Rasa players' DNA to outer space in "Operation Immortality".
- We review the Klipsch Icon WF-35 Home Theatre System.
- Are we all destined for fatness?
- GTA Chinatown site is there, sparse.
- Warcraft is going to Russia.
- PlayStation 3's Firmware (v2.42) is now available.
- Armored Core screens are yours to drool over.
- Check out the trailers for Xbox's original shorts.
- The Grand Ole Party has launched a web site mocking Barack Obama's sweeping online support in the Facebook community.
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Tags: Daily Wrap-Up, Videos
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 5:23 PM
The internet empire, Google, is planning to implement its "AdSense" advertising program in video games and the company has been apparently testing it for months, according to Venture Beat.
But, things might get scary if it happens. According to the source, the tech demo showed an game character introducing an ad by saying, "And now, a word from our sponsor." Does this mean, when we get to a climactic battle in Gears of War 2, Marcus Fenix has to drop his lancer and pick up a Pepsi?
As the report mentions, Google's initiative of in-game ads may have started with the launch of their Second Life-like MMO, Lively By Google. And since they have been quietly testing the "AdSense" program, they might be launching it in the coming months.
VentureBeat: Google testing "AdSense for Games"
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Tags: Tech, Videogames
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 5:07 PM
Alright MMO grinders, time to hault your current quests and pay attention to what you need in order to get some Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning action going on your PC. Below the cut are the system requirements needed to run EA's antcipated MMORPG on your hardware. The game is set to be released this September for the PC.
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Tags: E3, PC Gaming, Videogames
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:38 PM
There's definitely people...but lazy genes?
Another very smart person by the name of J. Timothy Lightfoot from the University of North Carolina has suggested that there is a specific gene embedded in our DNA that just makes us really, really unproductive. Lightfoot's a kinesiologist who tested his theory on mice (micez?!) as he came to several conclusions that a laziness gene exists cause of either:
- Genes affect our muscular system
- A Biochemical effect in our brain, such as dopamine and serotonin
We'll take: A combination of buffalo wings and curly fries. Mmmmm...
It's cool, we're all going to be fat anyway.
Times: Is There a Laziness Gene?
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Tags: Other People's Misfortune, Tech
Posted by Frank Meyer - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:33 PM
Universal Music is launching Lost Tunes today, an online U.K. download store focused on deep catalog and rare, exclusive and "overlooked" tracks from the label’s vast catalog.
Powered by digital media delivery company 7digital, the site launch features 134 Universal albums as exclusive downloads, including tracks from subsidiary labels Trojan, Fiction, Decca, Verve, A&M, Motown, Stax, and more. The site was built to help consumers rediscover archive favorites and find new treasures, with a "smart search" facility and music sorted into eight genres and a total of 38 sub-genres.
An additional 500 titles will be made available for download throughout the rest of ‘08. Sept. 1 will bring the first of Lost Tunes' planned exclusives, a new collection of previously unavailable tracks by early 1990s Liverpool band the La's. Plus, Fiction/Universal band the Delays are recording their four fave "lost tunes" to be released on the site on the same date.
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Tags: Internets Culture, Music
Posted by Brian Leahy - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:22 PM
David Pottinger, Lead Designer of Halo Wars, gives us the story on the new RTS in the epic Halo franchise from Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Games Studios.
Will Halo work as an RTS? We like what we see so far and the promise of an in-depth online skirmish mode makes us very happy. Will you be playing this game when it releases exclusively on the Xbox 360?
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Tags: E3, G4 Web Exclusive, Videogames, Videos, Xbox 360
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:16 PM
The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning today about a new variation of the infamous "Storm Worm" malware. The statement disclosed that e-mails containing a "F.B.I. vs. Facebook" headline should be immediately discarded as they could be a worm trojan.
"The spammers spreading this virus are preying on Internet users and making their computers an unwitting part of criminal botnet activity," according to the issued statement. The Bureau added that everyone should be encouraged to become "web" savvy as it should prevent any further damages to your home networks and hardware.
The "Storm" worm obtained its alias from its first net infestation during a heavy storm in Northern Europe last year. Since then, it has been using social and political names on its headlines to entice users.
CNET: FBI Warns Of New Storm Worm Variant
FBI Press Statement
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Tags: Tech
Posted by Ty Colfax - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:05 PM
 Italian media giant, mediaset is suing YouTube and subsequently their parent company, Google, for $795,000,000 plus damages. That's plus damages!
Mediaset lawyers said that on a random visit they found 5,000 clips totaling about 325 hours of their content hosted and distributed on YouTube. And the "plus damages" from above is yet to be determined as it will be a calculated loss of revenue for advertising that they couldn't get because people weren't watching the shows on tv in the classic way.
YouTube has always been good about removing content as soon as there is a copyright complaint lodged on it, but this appears to be more a case of striking for cash than for stopping the content's proliferation on the internet and it could set a dangerous precedent if Google is found liable.
hollywoodreporter.com: Mediaset sues YouTube
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Tags: Internets Culture, Other People's Misfortune, TV
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:54 PM
Before the abacus, the 2-bit calculator and definitely, our lack of mathematical skills, there was...the Antikythera mechanism.
It may look like a algae-smothered sewage knob, but the mechanism on your right was used by the Greeks to calculate astronomical positions - somehow at least. We mean look at it, it's apparently only the main fragment of the whole structure, but the only thing to calculate is how exactly did they use the damn thing. However,scientists have even found out more possible uses for it, as the device supposedly tracked the four-year cycles of the Olympiad. Let's bask in some geekness from a NYTimes report:
"Only now, applying high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography, have experts been able to decipher inscriptions and reconstruct functions of the bronze gears on the mechanism. The latest research has revealed details of dials on the instrument's back side, including the names of all 12 months of an ancient calendar."
Eureka?!
Slashdot: Workings of Ancient Calculating Device Deciphered
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Tags: Tech
Posted by Frank Meyer - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:27 PM
Warner Bros. is developing a film at Alcon Entertainment based on the spacey antics of Marvin the Martian, made famous in many classic Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons. The family flick will blend live action and CGI.
Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove and Steve Crystal are on board as producers producing. Crystal, a former Warner executive with a first-look deal at Alcon through his Charlie Co. organization, developed the pitch as “a Christmas story, with Marvin coming to Earth to destroy Christmas but being prevented from doing so when he’s trapped in a gift box.”
Marvin was created by Chuck Jones and made his first appearance in a Looney Tunes cartoon in 1948. The pint-sized alien was constantly trying to blow up the Earth, only to be hiariously thwarted by Bugs or Daffy.
Variety.com: WB to develop 'Marvin the Martian'
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Tags: Movies, TV
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:34 PM
There's a lot of mis-perceptions out there about how cell phones affect us--the technology is so new, there just hasn't been all that much research done on it--but researchers at the Brain Science Institute, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne are looking into the matter, and what they've found is provocative and maybe scary.
They strapped cell-phones to people's heads as they slept and measured the alpha waves, and their research showed that the phones boosted alpha waves, especially beneath the cell phone. Before you start taping your phone to your head in an effort to get super-powers, mostly the waves kept people from sleeping.
But the implications are much bigger than a few hours of lost sleep. We're constantly bombarded with a growing array of electro-magnetic rays, and no one really know how it will effect us. That's why we wear a tin-foil helmet and only listen to the voices that tell us to do nice things.
Scientific America: Mind Control by Cell Phone
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Tags: Other People's Misfortune, Tech
Posted by John Manalang - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:30 PM
Call it "blowing things out of proportion", but we're huge fans of Casino Royale and if there's any news or gossip about 007's latest mission in Quantum of Solace, we're all ears...or eyes. When BBC reported about R&B Sensation Alicia Keys and Raconteurs front man Jack White recording the new Bond theme song, they may have written a phrase that links to Daniel Craig's first film as Bond. Of course, you have to click the link to find out (and we're not splling anything from the first film).
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Tags: Movies, Nintendo DS, PC Gaming, PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Videogames, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360
Posted by Frank Meyer - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:10 PM
 Years after a Wu Tang Clan comic book failed to click with readers, the legendary hip hop collective is taking another stab at the comic world…but this time as solo artists.
Method Man just released his self-titled debut graphic novel last week, a collaboration with artists Sanford Greene and David Atchison. Available through Grand Central Publishing, the novel is 96 pages and sells for $13.99. It tells the tale of Meth’s comic counterpart, private investigator Peerless Poe, whose “concealed past catches up with his calm enjoyment of civilian life when old cohorts from the Order of the Secret Method call on him for help. When the Order seeks Peerless to rejoin them in spearheading this epic fight against evil, it is an offer he cannot refuse.”
Next up will be RZA, who recently revealed to Prefix that he has a comic in the works for his Bobby Digital alias, and that the characters from the book will somehow be incorporated into some of his music down the line.
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Tags: Comics, Music
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