Daily Wrap-Up 12.13.07
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 6:00 PM
Here's what went down today in the world of videogames, technology and popular culture:
- Older people are getting way into the Wii.
- Baroque, a newly announced hardcore RPG for the Wii and PS2 is coming in February.
- A disembodies brain on a plate can fly a flight simulator.
- The makers of Turok may trash the "Team Kill" achievement.
- Microsoft has just acquired Multimap.
- One word: Jetpack!
- A lawsuit has been filed against the makers of Guitar Hero 3 because the game is mono-only.
- Most people use google to search.
- The U.S. Army has set up a special office in their Kansas National Simulation Center to help beef up the graphics in their outdated combat simulators.
- An uncover report on the use of drugs among videogame characters.
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TAGS: Daily Wrap-Up
'Burnout Paradise' Demo Gameplay Video
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, December 13, 2007 4:12 PM
The Burnout Paradise demo dropped today and here is the gameplay footage to prove it.
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TAGS: Cars, G4 Web Exclusive, Videogames
Rumor: Activision Testing 'Guitar Hero IV'?
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, December 13, 2007 3:43 PM
We here at TheFeed received word from a reliable source that Activision is conducting testing for Guitar Hero IV already. The first round of testing is supposedly happening tomorrow and appears to be a small-scale test (4-6 people).
This could be testing downloadable content and the mention of Guitar Hero IV could be a mistake on the part of the firm conducting the test, but it could also mean that Guitar Hero IV may be closer than we think.
This would fit with recent comments made by Activision that Guitar Hero (along with Call of Duty and Tony Hawk) would be a franchise that is "exploited" yearly.
TheFeed is interested if this means that the plans for downloadable content support for GHIII are being put aside for another boxed release.
Activision was not available for comment as of press time, but we will update you with any statement they make on this topic.
Also, if they continue to use Roman numerals for this franchise then Guitar Hero IV will be abbreviated “GHIV”. LOL.
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TAGS: PC Gaming, PlayStation 3, Videogames
Rumor: Wii Attracts Roaches!
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:59 PM
 The Wii in TheFeed's heavily armed compounded is covered in roaches, but we like it that way, so it's okay. But the (probably ridiculous) rumor-of-the-day is that a powered-on Wii emits a sound which cockroaches absolutely love. It draws them like flies...or roaches, really.
So when you're playing Metroid, don't be surprised if a bunch of ugly roaches want to play as well.
Of course, the source of this rumor, Japanese site BARKS, by way of destructoid, is highly dubious, and it seems totally silly, but still, it would make a good excuse for your poor housekeeping skills, eh? You could just be like, "The roaches are attracted to the sound of the Wii, not the half-eaten pizza that's been on the floor since last week!"
Destructoid: Rumortoid-San: Wii emits a frequency that attracts cockroaches?
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TAGS: Videogames, Wii
ASStounding New Jackass 2.5
Posted by Frank Meyer - Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:58 PM
Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, MTV New Media and Blockbuster announced the upcoming release of Jackass 2.5, Hollywood’s first studio-backed broadband movie streamed in its entirety for free!
Jackass 2.5 will be available for free courtesy of Blockbuster at blockbuster.jackassworld.com as December 19 through December 31. To mark this unprecedented event, Johnny Knoxville is launching jackassworld.com, a new site and joint venture of MTV Networks and Dickhouse Productions that officially goes live February 9, 2008.
So what the crap is Jackass 2.5, you ask? Well, it’s a new, unrated version of the flick you’ve already seen, but augmented by 45-minutes of never-before-seen footage and new interviews with cast members Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Steve-O, Ehren McGhehey, Jason "Wee Man" Acuña, Preston Lacy and Ryan Dunn.
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Movies, TV
63% Of America Videogamers
Posted by Frank Meyer - Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:45 PM
 You are out there.
You are ever-growing.
You are huge.
No, you are not Dom Deluise (right) or an elephant. You are the gamers of America and it is official, you are 63% of the U.S. population.
YOU HAVE ARRIVED!
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TAGS: Videogames
Guns In School? No Way Says Teacher!
Posted by Frank Meyer - Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:23 PM
You think your teachers are out of touch?
Think again!
A Roxbury, Conn. teacher thought she was being threatened over the loudspeaker when a school custodian sang a karaoke version of Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome To The Jungle” over the public address system after-hours.
Yes, this dim-witted Booth Free School educator thought no one else was in the building and barricaded herself inside a classroom upon hearing the shrieking and called the cops on her rocker janitor. Apparently she mistook Axl’s line “You're in the jungle baby/You’re gonna die!” as a threat.
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TAGS: Music
Hilary Clinton Wants To Know What You Play
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 1:39 PM
 Wannabe first-woman-president Hilary Clinton wants to know what games you're playing.
The plucky democrat has sponsored a research study for her run for president that includes a question about what games voters play.
Which of the following have you visited or played online?
- Sim City
- Second Life
- Sims
- None of the above
- Other
- Don’t know
Strangely, any violent game and/or console title is left off the list... hmmm. Also, how could you "not know" what games you've played or visited?
The survey also probes internet usage.
Which activities do you do online most?
- Research issues or questions
- Use a webcam
- Share digital photos
- Download music or video
- Read or post to blogs
- Research products or services
- Watch video sites like youtube
- Email
- Shop
- Read the news
- Play video games
- Instant message
- Online banking or bill pay
- Use online social networks
- Talk on the phone using VOiP
Filefront: Hilary Wants to Know Your Gaming Habits
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TAGS: Videogames
Nugget From The Net
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:22 PM
Porn For Girls, By Girls feature hot girl-off-girl action and hardcore sociable lunch with the parents! Send it to your girlfriend!
Pornforgirlsbygirls
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TAGS: Nuggets From The Nets
Glow Cat, Glow
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:18 PM
If Science has taught us anything, its that meddling with nature’s delicate balance only proves to have disasterous consequ—HOLY S**T, GLOWING CATS!
It’s finally happened, folks. Scientists in South Korea have cloned cats that have the ability to glow in the dark once exposed to Ultraviolet light. They don’t straight up glow by themselves. They have to be exposed to UV and we’re not sure how long the charge lasts, but hodang, Pyong Yang! That’s awesome.
And I hate cats.
Gizmodo.com: Glow-in-the-dark Cats…
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TAGS: Toys
Epic Fail Thursday: TV Finales
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:16 PM
TheFeed is proud to present the third installment of Epic Fail Thursday, our weekly feature that brings you the greatest failures in the world of videogames, popular culture and technology. We're not talking run-of-the-mill defeat here; Epic Fail Thursday is reserved for the top of the bottom: Grand-scale fiascos only.
Why Thursday? Because that’s the failingest day of the week: It’s not Friday, even though it feels like it. Fail!
Today's Epic Fail: Television Series Finales
X-Files – This finale, which came about two seasons too late to save the series, shows just how far this once-brilliant television show had fallen from the pre-movie seasons.
Once Mulder and Scully had seen the giant UFO take off from the base station in Antarctica, it was hard to buy that they could still go back and find monsters in someone’s backyard. Also, by the end of the series, David Duchovny had been gone for two seasons, replaced by Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish. The last episode featured Mulder on trial, the Cigarette-Smoking Man waiting in a cave to be killed by aliens, the revelation that Mulder was the father of Scully’s baby, and the actual date the humankind would be invaded by the black oil aliens. Just ridiculous.
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TAGS: G4 Web Exclusive, TV
G4 Presents: The Thompson Report
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:03 PM
As you probably know, the Mitchell Report will be released today. The report details, names and subsequently shames professional baseball players who have used performance-enhancing drugs.
Coincidentally, G4 is releasing The Thompson Report today, an exhaustively researched and completely not-imaginary compilation of the illegal substances abused by video game characters.
The report's revelations are shocking; many of your most cherished digital childhood heroes from the last 25 years of gaming will be forever tarnished at the revelations contained herein, so make sure you're prepared before you continue reading.
The Thompson Report
- Paperboy, Cocaine-- The high pressure world of paper-delivery in the go-go eighties drove this yuppie to abuse the "Columbian marching powder."
- Sora from Kingdom Hearts, GHB-- Sora was believed to have ingested GHB from accidentally swallowed Aqua-Dots.
- Leisure Suit Larry, Enzyte, Rohyphnol, 'Ludes -- Larry tested positive for outdated downer Quaaludes and modern herbal "enhancement" drug Enzyte. Strangely, he was caught with several vials of "roofies," although none of the date-rape-drug was found in his system.
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TAGS: G4 Web Exclusive, Other People's Misfortune, Videogames
Army of Pwn
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, December 13, 2007 11:58 AM
 The U.S. Army has set up a special office in their Kansas National Simulation Center to help beef up the graphics in their outdated combat simulators. The Project Office for Gaming, or TPO Gaming (the T stands for TRADOC which stands for Training and Doctrine Command) is not the first such foray into entertainment intelligence to attain a military objective. The Marine Corps has delved into this arena with Virtual Battlespace 2, an adaptation of ArmA. And who can forget America’s Army, which was developed as a recruiting tool?
Well, we’ve seen these simulators in movies (the end-all of truth,) and considering the amount of dough that’s spent on defense, you’d think these simulators are top notch, but I’d be willing to bet that your COD4 is more fun and just a better game. And if Project X taught us anything, it’s that Ferris Bueller doesn’t like to see monkeys getting nuked.
WIRED.com: Army Sets Up New Office of Videogames
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TAGS: Videogames
Google Used for 65% of US Searches
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, December 13, 2007 11:11 AM
 If you had any doubts as to how much of a (John Woo's) Stranglehold Google has on the online search engine war, we're here to learn you a bit.
They account for over 65% of searches on the net made by US users.
Yahoo comes in second with 21.21% followed by Microsoft's MSN at 7.09%.
Old people who don't know how computers work account for 4.63% of searches using Ask.com.
Google is still growing and it won't be long before they take over the world.
Yahoo News: Google Accounts For More Than 65% Of U.S. Searches
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Tech
Wii 'Guitar Hero 3' Lawsuit Filed
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 11:06 AM
You had to have known this was going to happen: A lawsuit has been filed against the makers of Guitar Hero 3 because the game is mono-only.
Samuel Livingston of San Diego, represented by the law firm KamberEdelson, LLC, "seeks actual damages, individual restitution, equitable relief, civil penalties, costs and expenses of litigation, including attorney's fees, and all further relief available."
While Activision has promised replacement discs to purchasers of Guitar Hero 3, the suit points out the that the game is still on store shelves, and thus, Activision is continuing to engage in fraudulent practices.
Combined with yesterday's accusation that the company is blocking the Rock Band guitar compatibility patch, this has been a very bad week for Activision.
Wired.com: Activision Sued For Guitar Hero Sound Problems [Update 1]
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TAGS: Videogames, Wii
JETPACKS!
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:52 AM
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TAGS: Products, Tech
Microsoft Acquires British Mapping Firm
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, December 13, 2007 9:50 AM
Microsoft has just acquired Multimap, a British online mapping company, which should help Microsoft expand their mapping business and help compete with Google.
No financial terms were released, but Multimap is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Big M.
Yahoo News: Microsoft buys online mapping company Multimap
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TAGS: Tech
'Turok' Re-Thinks Team-Kill Achievement
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 9:35 AM
The makers of Turok may trash the most annoying achievement we have ever heard of.
Originally, the dinosaur-stabbing simulator included the "Grab Bag" achievement,that gives you ten points if you "kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match."
Fun, right?
But they're now backing away from the achievement.
"We've read some of the concerns that were described online, and maybe we underestimated the length to which so-called 'achievement whores' will go to [in order to] get their achievements," Josh Holmes, VP of Propaganda Games, told Computerandvideogames.com "We are currently looking at readying a patch or solution for it if it does become an issue when the game releases," he added.
Thanks, Turok!
Computerandvideogames: Turok dev to scrap team kill achievement
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Xbox 360
Brain In A Dish Loves Videogames
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:28 AM
 Let's face it, life is pretty boring for disembodied brains. What do you do all day if you are a collection of 25,000 rat neurons suspended in a liquid and laid across a grid of 60 electrodes in a small glass dish? If you're the brain created by (presumably mad) scientist Thomas DeMarse, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Florida, you play videogames all day. Specifically, a flight simulator.
DeMarse linked his second brain to a jet simulator. Manipulated by the electrodes and a desktop computer, the brain was taught to control the flight path of an F-22, even in mock hurricane-strength winds.
“Initially when we hook up this brain to a flight simulator, it doesn’t know how to control the aircraft,” DeMarse said. “So you hook it up and the aircraft simply drifts randomly. And as the data comes in, it slowly modifies the (neural) network so over time, the network gradually learns to fly the aircraft.”
Had we know that the end result would be teaching disembodied brain to play videogames, we would have studied a lot harder in science class.
New Shelton Wet Dry: Travolta’s pilot assistant almost ready to go
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TAGS: Videogames
'Baroque' RPG Announced
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:08 AM
Baroque, a newly announced hardcore RPG for the Wii and PS2 is coming.
Baroque is rated T for Teen. It comes out in February.
Baroque has "many ever-changing levels, each teeming with perverse monsters and tormented souls," which is awesome, because we love tormented souls!
Here are some Baroque features:
- Death is Not The End--Take part in a unique story progression system in which the end of your life only serves to drive the adventure forward. Each time your character dies, more secrets about the forsaken world are revealed!
- Deep customization options – The player has full control over how they shape their character and how they play the game. Find and equip a vast assortment of weapons and items, some with a variety of uses. Acquire powerful stat-boosting parasites and combine them to multiply their potency. Only the resourceful will survive!
The Wii needs a good dungeon crawler/RPG, so we have high hopes for this one.
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TAGS: Videogames
Geezers, Oldsters Love Wii
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, December 13, 2007 7:49 AM
It's not just kids and and people in their 20s who enjoy the Wii. Everyone seems to enjoy it. Even old people. Even old people who listen to National Public Radio!
According to Marketplace, NPR's daily radio podcast, Nintendo Wii has caught on among the over 60 set enough that Wii Sports tournaments are all the rage among the elder set. Erickson Nursing Homes sponsored a cross-home tournament for bowling (See TheFeed's coverage here.), and everyone over 70 is getting into the Wii act. Some have been known to shout "Oh, Nelly!" while playing Wii Play, and even "Voh-do-de-oh-doh!"
All is not well in Wii for old people, though. Below is a quote from Marsha Burger, who takes a Wii class for geriatrics in Pasadena and wishes advertising for old people was a bit more realistic:
Sometimes when I see the Viagra commercials -- and my husband takes Viagra so we love it -- um you don't see somebody my husband's age. You see someone in his 40s. It's like my husband's 67. Where are those guys?
Listen to NPR's report here.
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TAGS: Videogames, Wii
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