Some critics say in the game "Medal of Honor," it's "disrespectful" to allow players to play as the enemy ? in this case, the Taliban ?and shoot back.
Medal of Honor - Taliban - Video game - Game - Electronic Arts
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Ultimate Edition - Xbox 360
Price: $59.99 ETA: 8/30/2010The March 2010 smash hit Battlefield: Bad Company 2 now comes in an Ultimate Edition. Experience the game that New York Times calls 'a better game than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' and the best-selling March release on record, now with even more explosive content. The Ultimate Edition includes Battlefield 1943 and Onslaught co-op mode, as well as the early-access unlocks from the Limited Edition. The package also includes a VIP code granting access to a multitude of downloadable map packs.
LAND SOFTWARE LAM RESEARCH L-1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
Ex-Staffer: Abundance of Start-Up Money Made Realtime Worlds Complacent
Large cash reserves led to complacency and a lack of discipline, according to an ex-RealTime Worlds staffer discussing the Scottish developer's recent closure and poor sales of APB.
"We got all this money, and it made us relax, when really it should have focused our attention on making sure we had a really good approach to managing the project, to ensuring the design was exactly what it needed to be, to focus testing early on, and just proving that we were doing the right thing, rather than taking the old 'it'll be done when it's done' attitude," an anonymous source told The Guardian.
Realtime Worlds went into administration on August 24th, 2010, cutting 150 jobs and having spent an alleged $105 million in funding. The majority of this money was spent on APB, the company?s flagship 'cops and robbers' multiplayer online game, with development difficulties channeling funding away from the studio?s second project, social media game, Project MyWorld.
Fears of financial trouble were felt at the studio months before the closure. "The first hint we got was, a few months before APB launched, the company started ? quite bizarrely ? to make cleaners redundant," said the source. "Later, rumors started coming in that redundancies were imminent. And then RTW let all the contractors go early, which was another sign that money was running out. But they said everything was fine."
Then, on 13th August the news broke that the entire Project MyWorld team was being laid off. "APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players," said the official company statement. "We were told that the budget for the game had been spent on APB," said the source.
The reputation of the studio?s CEO, Dave Jones, best known as the creator of Grand Theft Auto, also contributed to the sense of complacency. "When you're working for someone like Dave, it's all too easy to not believe what your ears and eyes, and QA and beta testers are telling you," said the Guardian source. "You're like: 'Dave knows what he's doing, it's going to be fine'."
"The team was saying for a long, long time that there were things that were not quite right with the game? It was never the case that the design was fundamentally broken, but in the execution of a lot of the features there are things that didn't quite come together, that weren't polished to the level that people expected," continues the source.
The length of the development and management structure also contributed to the project?s failure, said a second source, an ex-staff member from the studio?s second project, Project MyWorld. "The middle management ? and there was a LOT of middle management at this company ? they were on that game for years and they continued to run it as though they were managing an architecture project or something.
"Fun never seemed to be a criterion for what they were doing; managers with little clipboards would go around and tick off things, saying 'OK that's done' and moving on. There was never any consideration for whether or not what had been done was any fun."
"We got all this money, and it made us relax, when really it should have focused our attention on making sure we had a really good approach to managing the project, to ensuring the design was exactly what it needed to be, to focus testing early on, and just proving that we were doing the right thing, rather than taking the old 'it'll be done when it's done' attitude," an anonymous source told The Guardian.
Realtime Worlds went into administration on August 24th, 2010, cutting 150 jobs and having spent an alleged $105 million in funding. The majority of this money was spent on APB, the company?s flagship 'cops and robbers' multiplayer online game, with development difficulties channeling funding away from the studio?s second project, social media game, Project MyWorld.
Fears of financial trouble were felt at the studio months before the closure. "The first hint we got was, a few months before APB launched, the company started ? quite bizarrely ? to make cleaners redundant," said the source. "Later, rumors started coming in that redundancies were imminent. And then RTW let all the contractors go early, which was another sign that money was running out. But they said everything was fine."
Then, on 13th August the news broke that the entire Project MyWorld team was being laid off. "APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players," said the official company statement. "We were told that the budget for the game had been spent on APB," said the source.
The reputation of the studio?s CEO, Dave Jones, best known as the creator of Grand Theft Auto, also contributed to the sense of complacency. "When you're working for someone like Dave, it's all too easy to not believe what your ears and eyes, and QA and beta testers are telling you," said the Guardian source. "You're like: 'Dave knows what he's doing, it's going to be fine'."
"The team was saying for a long, long time that there were things that were not quite right with the game? It was never the case that the design was fundamentally broken, but in the execution of a lot of the features there are things that didn't quite come together, that weren't polished to the level that people expected," continues the source.
The length of the development and management structure also contributed to the project?s failure, said a second source, an ex-staff member from the studio?s second project, Project MyWorld. "The middle management ? and there was a LOT of middle management at this company ? they were on that game for years and they continued to run it as though they were managing an architecture project or something.
"Fun never seemed to be a criterion for what they were doing; managers with little clipboards would go around and tick off things, saying 'OK that's done' and moving on. There was never any consideration for whether or not what had been done was any fun."
LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE LAND SOFTWARE
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Ultimate Edition - Xbox 360
Price: $59.99 ETA: 8/30/2010The March 2010 smash hit Battlefield: Bad Company 2 now comes in an Ultimate Edition. Experience the game that New York Times calls 'a better game than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' and the best-selling March release on record, now with even more explosive content. The Ultimate Edition includes Battlefield 1943 and Onslaught co-op mode, as well as the early-access unlocks from the Limited Edition. The package also includes a VIP code granting access to a multitude of downloadable map packs.
Sunny Boom
Figure out how to use the blocks, wheels, bombs, and other pieces you're given to send Sunny tumbling down the hole!
Monday 30 August 2010
Lenovo To Launch Chinese Gaming Platform Called Ebox
siliconbits writes "Chinese manufacturer Lenovo will build a video gaming console for the Chinese market and has already spun off a company called Eedoo Technology, including a team of 40 engineers, with the task of developing the platform. It will be called the Ebox, and will be specifically designed to recognize shapes and movement without the need for a dedicated game controller, not unlike Microsoft's Kinect."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES LSI LINEAR TECHNOLOGY . LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL
Perfect Hoopz
Click to play the game Perfect Hoopz now. We offer the best free games and add 10 new games every day of the week.
Jeff the Archery Master
Shoot your arrows at the bullseye, collecting power-ups as you become an archery master! Reach your goal before you run out of arrows to move on.
APB Lessons, Habbo, Cow Clicker Talks Added To GDC Online
Organizers of this October's GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) are rolling out more major new talks, including ex-Realtime Worlds exec Joshua Howard on 'self-inflicted wounds' in game creation, Sulka Haro on the $500 million Habbo Hotel economy, and Ian Bogost on his satirical Facebook title Cow Clicker.
The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference is focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.
There are already more than 80 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the October 5th-8th event -- and following the announcement of a keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), a number of other notable talks are debuting:
Some of the newly announced highlights from notable sessions across the GDC Online Main Conference, which takes place from Wednesday October 6th to Friday October 8th, and for which 'early registration' passes are only available until Wednesday, are:
- In 'Self-Inflicted Wounds: When We Are Our Own Worst Enemy', U.S.-based ex-Realtime Worlds executive producer Joshua Howard (APB) will discuss "common management and organizational failures that leaders talk themselves into accepting, which almost always end up impacting a game's success." Along the way, the former Carbonated Games exec "will provide techniques that anyone can use if they find themselves on a project that has already made one of these mistakes."- The lecture 'From $0 To $500 Million A Year - The Evolution Of Habbo's Virtual Economy' sees Sulake's lead designer Sulka Haro discuss ten years of microtransactions in the company's online world Habbo Hotel. The online world for teenagers has more than 15 million monthly users, and collected more than $60 million in revenue in 2009, primarily from micropayments, as the amount of value traded in the economy is now over $500 million a year. The talk "examines how Habbo's economic system has evolved, including learnings from the recent addition of taxation into the economic structure of the game."
- Satirical Facebook game Cow Clicker has created a stir in recent months, and its creator, game designer writer and academic Ian Bogost is giving a lecture called 'Making A Mockery: Ruminations On Cow Clicker'. In it, he explains that the title "has enjoyed surprising success among players, developers, and the general public." As a result, the session covers the creation and reception of Cow Clicker, "as well as the lessons it invites us to chew on."
These lectures join recently announced talks from Relic, Sony Online, Carbine, KingsIsle, IMVU, Disney, Playdom, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, Playfish, InstantAction, Ubisoft and a host of other notable companies at the leading worldwide online game-specific conference.
GDC Online is operated by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks and summits for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.
The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference is focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.
There are already more than 80 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the October 5th-8th event -- and following the announcement of a keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), a number of other notable talks are debuting:
Some of the newly announced highlights from notable sessions across the GDC Online Main Conference, which takes place from Wednesday October 6th to Friday October 8th, and for which 'early registration' passes are only available until Wednesday, are:
- In 'Self-Inflicted Wounds: When We Are Our Own Worst Enemy', U.S.-based ex-Realtime Worlds executive producer Joshua Howard (APB) will discuss "common management and organizational failures that leaders talk themselves into accepting, which almost always end up impacting a game's success." Along the way, the former Carbonated Games exec "will provide techniques that anyone can use if they find themselves on a project that has already made one of these mistakes."- The lecture 'From $0 To $500 Million A Year - The Evolution Of Habbo's Virtual Economy' sees Sulake's lead designer Sulka Haro discuss ten years of microtransactions in the company's online world Habbo Hotel. The online world for teenagers has more than 15 million monthly users, and collected more than $60 million in revenue in 2009, primarily from micropayments, as the amount of value traded in the economy is now over $500 million a year. The talk "examines how Habbo's economic system has evolved, including learnings from the recent addition of taxation into the economic structure of the game."
- Satirical Facebook game Cow Clicker has created a stir in recent months, and its creator, game designer writer and academic Ian Bogost is giving a lecture called 'Making A Mockery: Ruminations On Cow Clicker'. In it, he explains that the title "has enjoyed surprising success among players, developers, and the general public." As a result, the session covers the creation and reception of Cow Clicker, "as well as the lessons it invites us to chew on."
These lectures join recently announced talks from Relic, Sony Online, Carbine, KingsIsle, IMVU, Disney, Playdom, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, Playfish, InstantAction, Ubisoft and a host of other notable companies at the leading worldwide online game-specific conference.
GDC Online is operated by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks and summits for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.
Sunday 29 August 2010
Gameforge To Publish KingsIsle's Wizard101 In Europe
Developer KingsIsle Entertainment announced a licensing agreement with German online game publisher Gameforge to localize and release free-to-play MMORPG Wizard101 in Europe.
Launched in North America in September 2008, Wizard101 has more than 10 million registered players. Though the client-based 3D game is free to play, it has a microtransactions system and subscription options ($9.95 per month) allowing members to access all of the areas, ranked player versus player combat, extra content, and more.
The 'tween-targeted MMO has players creating and customizing student wizards (picking from different schools of magic, like Fire or Death), completing quests in a wizardry school, battling monsters and each other with collectible card game-style duels, raising virtual pets, and more.
Wizard101's European launch is scheduled for late 2010. Texas-based KingsIsle Entertainment says this release will be "an important first step" in its strategy to expand the MMO beyond the U.S. market and reach international audiences.
"Wizard101 has proven to be a high-quality MMO that appeals to a large audience of all ages," says Gameforge CEO Carsten van Husen. "We are very excited to partner with KingsIsle in bringing this great game to the European market and expand its audience globally."
Launched in North America in September 2008, Wizard101 has more than 10 million registered players. Though the client-based 3D game is free to play, it has a microtransactions system and subscription options ($9.95 per month) allowing members to access all of the areas, ranked player versus player combat, extra content, and more.
The 'tween-targeted MMO has players creating and customizing student wizards (picking from different schools of magic, like Fire or Death), completing quests in a wizardry school, battling monsters and each other with collectible card game-style duels, raising virtual pets, and more.
Wizard101's European launch is scheduled for late 2010. Texas-based KingsIsle Entertainment says this release will be "an important first step" in its strategy to expand the MMO beyond the U.S. market and reach international audiences.
"Wizard101 has proven to be a high-quality MMO that appeals to a large audience of all ages," says Gameforge CEO Carsten van Husen. "We are very excited to partner with KingsIsle in bringing this great game to the European market and expand its audience globally."
NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MOTOROLA MOODY’S
Pony Friends 2 - Nintendo Wii
Old Price: $29.99 Current Price: $19.98Pony Friends 2 allows players the chance to create their perfect Pony and take part in fun activities. Featuring 12 Pony breeds (4 new breeds) players can customise every aspect of its appearance, along with its own unique personality. Players can choose all their Pony's accessories and even design some of their own.Taking special care of their Pony to keep it clean and healthy, players can take it on trail rides across different landscapes and environments. Grab the reins, photograph wildlife and unlock a whole host of secrets on your journey.Pony Friends 2 features an exciting and energetic competitive mode across all formats: players can compete in races and trick competitions alone or with a friend on the Wii and DS (single cart play). Players can trade ponies and even talk to their Ponies on the Nintendo DS system specifically.
MILLICOM INTL. CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY NII HOLDINGS
'Scott Pilgrim' movie speaks to gamers
After decades of Hollywood adaptations of hit game franchises like "Tomb Raider," "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill," Hollywood has created the first film that is designed to really speak to the video game enthusiasts.
Video game - Resident Evil - Scott Pilgrim - Tomb Raider - Games
Video game - Resident Evil - Scott Pilgrim - Tomb Raider - Games
ON SEMICONDUCTOR NVIDIA NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS NOVELLUS SYSTEMS
Filler 2 is a bubble popping Time-Waster
Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters
Filler 2 is a simple time-waster. You click and hold the mouse to start creating a bubble. While your bubble inflates, it may not touch any of the red bubbles that are floating around the screen. As soon as you let go of the mouse button, your bubble becomes solid and floats down the screen; the red bubbles can no longer harm it.
Your goal is to fill two-thirds of the screen space with your bubbles. You can only make so many bubbles before you strike out. You're allowed to make more and more bubbles on each new level (so they can be smaller), but there are more and more red bubbles floating around the screen, too (so you have to make your bubbles smaller).
If all of this sounds a bit too soothing, there are also challenges that you can take. There are five challenge types: timed challenges (where you need to complete a level before the timer runs out), bubble-size challenges (where you must make a bubble of a certain size), perfection challenges (where you must finish the level without popping any balls), and quantity challenges (where you get fewer bubbles than normal to finish a level). There's also a "meta" challenge mode, where "everything is a challenge." I failed horribly with any and all challenges; they're simply too tough for me. I like the normal mode, though. It's kind of soothing, and that's just the way I like my time-wasters.Filler 2 is a bubble popping Time-Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Download Squad - Mouse - Video game - game - Business
Filler 2 is a simple time-waster. You click and hold the mouse to start creating a bubble. While your bubble inflates, it may not touch any of the red bubbles that are floating around the screen. As soon as you let go of the mouse button, your bubble becomes solid and floats down the screen; the red bubbles can no longer harm it.
Your goal is to fill two-thirds of the screen space with your bubbles. You can only make so many bubbles before you strike out. You're allowed to make more and more bubbles on each new level (so they can be smaller), but there are more and more red bubbles floating around the screen, too (so you have to make your bubbles smaller).
If all of this sounds a bit too soothing, there are also challenges that you can take. There are five challenge types: timed challenges (where you need to complete a level before the timer runs out), bubble-size challenges (where you must make a bubble of a certain size), perfection challenges (where you must finish the level without popping any balls), and quantity challenges (where you get fewer bubbles than normal to finish a level). There's also a "meta" challenge mode, where "everything is a challenge." I failed horribly with any and all challenges; they're simply too tough for me. I like the normal mode, though. It's kind of soothing, and that's just the way I like my time-wasters.Filler 2 is a bubble popping Time-Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Download Squad - Mouse - Video game - game - Business
LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE LAND SOFTWARE LAM RESEARCH
2. Build the Bridge
Use your master mason skills to help this train reach its destination safely!
UNISYS TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS
Saturday 28 August 2010
Top Flight Turtle
Defend your pond as Top Flight Turtle! Fly with your jetpack and patrol your turf with laser guns and bombs as you fight off enemies.
COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM. D-LINK DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS DIRECTV GROUP
Sunny Boom
Figure out how to use the blocks, wheels, bombs, and other pieces you're given to send Sunny tumbling down the hole!
LIBERTY GLOBAL LM ERICSSON LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
Anti-Depressants Used Against StarCraft Addiction
dotarray writes "Hope may be at hand for the poor souls addicted to video games. Recent research from South Korea has shown that a common anti-depressant, Bupropion (sold as Welbutrin, Zyban and Voxra) can 'decrease craving for Internet game play' as well as the brain activity triggered by video game cues. This is a drug often used to help quit smoking, to lose weight or to recover from drug addiction, in addition to typical anti-depressant and anti-anxiety uses. And, with Korean scientists already on-board, how better to test this theory than to gather up a bunch of StarCraft players?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
HYPERCOM HEWLETT PACKARD CO HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS GOOGLE
Blockbuster adds video games to mail offerings
Blockbuster Inc. has added video games to its rent-by-mail service, giving shoppers access to more than 3,000 titles on game platforms including Wii, Xbox and Play Station.
Video game - Blockbuster - Wii - Games - Shopping
Video game - Blockbuster - Wii - Games - Shopping
Doctor Who games announced for Nintendo DS and Wii
Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth for Nintendo DS and Doctor Who: Return to Earth for Wii will materialise in the shops this winter.Doctor Who fans will have two new video game adventures to look forward to this winter. BBC Worldwide has just announced Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth for the Nintendo DS handheld console, and Doctor Who: Return to Earth for Wii. No game play details are available yet, but it seems the titles will be family-focused and will feature both the Doctor and his companion Amy Pond. The box art suggests that while Evacuation Earth will centre around the Daleks, Return to Earth is set to feature the Cybermen.The games are being developed by British studio Asylum Entertainment, a specialist in licensed content. The company has previously worked on game versions of TV favourites such as Peppa Pig and Scooby Doo. The BBC's series of free online titles, Doctor Who: the Adventure Games has been a huge success attracting millions of downloads for the first two episodes. It's not clear yet whether the DS and Wii versions will follow a similar style of adventure gameplay. Certainly, the Wii console will offer some new control possibilities to wannabe Time Lords. The Wii Remote control is bound to make the perfect ? yes ? sonic screwdriver...GamesDoctor WhoNintendoTelevisionKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Friday 27 August 2010
Steam Prompts OS X Graphics Update
Stoobalou writes "Mac gamers got a massive boost when online gaming hub Steam started supporting the platform a few months ago. The arrival of the online service, which allowed Mac-toting gamers to play some of the same games as their PC brethren, in some cases cross-platform, created a great deal of debate between the two camps, with the PC crowd pillorying Mac fans for the relatively poor performance of their expensive hardware. Now it seems that Apple has gotten the message, as they have provided a graphics update for OS X Snow Leopard which will make progress toward closing the gap between the two platforms."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
It's (still) on like 'Donkey Kong'
Billy Mitchell has triumphed again. The hot-sauce magnate and star of the documentary "King of Kong" has retaken the world's highest "Donkey Kong" score.
Billy Mitchell - Donkey Kong - Video game - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Games
Billy Mitchell - Donkey Kong - Video game - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Games
ADOBE SYSTEMS ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS ALLTEL
Star Ocean: Second Evolution - Sony PSP
Old Price: $29.99 Current Price: $19.98Space Date 366: A young Federation officer finds himself transported to amystical planet, where he is suddenly anointed as the Hero of Light. He beginsa journey to fulfill a prophecy and save a newfound race.Continuing the franchise for STAR OCEAN fans, this PSP release of theclassic RPG delivers the same epic storytelling and dazzling art style. Set 20years after the events of its predecessor, STAR OCEAN: Second Departurereceives special treatment in its PSP incarnation to further entice gamers torelive the adventure. The title takes the next step with fully animated movies,all-new character designs, extra playable characters, fully voiced dialogue, andmore.
Results from Game Design Challenge: Warriors
How hard is it to make an interesting new game in the Dynasty Warriors franchise? Our readers answer that question in GameCareerGuide's in these latest Game Design Challenge results.
Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den Screens
5 new shots posted. Get the full article at GameSpot
"Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den Screens" was posted on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:42:06 -0700
"Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den Screens" was posted on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:42:06 -0700
COMPAL ELECTRONICS COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM. D-LINK DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS
Is Mozilla making a huge mistake by breaking add-ons so badly on Firefox 4?
Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers, Op-Ed
I'm stoked about Firefox 4; I think many of us are. It's a beautiful browser, and with the addition of Tab Candy (now "Panorama"), it's even cooler.
Whenever Mozilla release a new version of Firefox, add-ons break. It's become routine, so nobody's overly worked up about it by now. The Mozilla add-ons site is littered with yesteryear's great extensions, including such crowd pleasers as Hit-a-Hint, which has not been updated since 2007.
Okay, ... so with every iteration, some add-ons get left behind, and some are updated by their creators and live on. That's just how the system works, right?
In the past, whenever a new Firefox version came out, the blogosphere was soon full of posts showing how to disable the add-on compatibility check. You just make Firefox stop checking for compatibility, and all of your add-ons work again. Great!
But with Firefox 4, something has changed: Mozilla has made bold, significant, lasting changes that may drastically impact the amount of work the average coder needs to put into their extension to make it compatible with Firefox again.
That's a gutsy move. I mean, when you see a blog post aimed at developers that includes language such as "The nsIExtensionManager interface is no more, along with its RDF backend," you can tell they're not taking any prisoners in their quest for modernizing the aging browser, which now seems kind of sluggish when compared to Chrome (and even Opera 10.61).
You can see it in the adoption rate, too. I have 22 add-ons on my own system, including massively popular ones like Read it Later, Greasemonkey, Adblock Plus, Delicious Bookmarks, ... you get the picture. Firefox is now in its 4th Beta, and none of these extensions are compatible yet (at least on my system.
That's definitely an indication, at least to me. And that's a change as compared to past release cycles, where add-on compatibility updates were much swifter (and easier).
Right now, Firefox 4 is kind of like Opera. It's very neat, very sexy, and completely lacking in add-ons. Chrome definitely has the upper hand on Firefox 4 right now in terms of "working extensions."
It seems like Mozilla is taking a large step back in hopes of taking an even bigger one forward. I hope this dance move works.Is Mozilla making a huge mistake by breaking add-ons so badly on Firefox 4? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Firefox 4 - Add-on - Mozilla Firefox - Google Chrome - Mozilla Foundation
I'm stoked about Firefox 4; I think many of us are. It's a beautiful browser, and with the addition of Tab Candy (now "Panorama"), it's even cooler.
Whenever Mozilla release a new version of Firefox, add-ons break. It's become routine, so nobody's overly worked up about it by now. The Mozilla add-ons site is littered with yesteryear's great extensions, including such crowd pleasers as Hit-a-Hint, which has not been updated since 2007.
Okay, ... so with every iteration, some add-ons get left behind, and some are updated by their creators and live on. That's just how the system works, right?
In the past, whenever a new Firefox version came out, the blogosphere was soon full of posts showing how to disable the add-on compatibility check. You just make Firefox stop checking for compatibility, and all of your add-ons work again. Great!
But with Firefox 4, something has changed: Mozilla has made bold, significant, lasting changes that may drastically impact the amount of work the average coder needs to put into their extension to make it compatible with Firefox again.
That's a gutsy move. I mean, when you see a blog post aimed at developers that includes language such as "The nsIExtensionManager interface is no more, along with its RDF backend," you can tell they're not taking any prisoners in their quest for modernizing the aging browser, which now seems kind of sluggish when compared to Chrome (and even Opera 10.61).
You can see it in the adoption rate, too. I have 22 add-ons on my own system, including massively popular ones like Read it Later, Greasemonkey, Adblock Plus, Delicious Bookmarks, ... you get the picture. Firefox is now in its 4th Beta, and none of these extensions are compatible yet (at least on my system.
That's definitely an indication, at least to me. And that's a change as compared to past release cycles, where add-on compatibility updates were much swifter (and easier).
Right now, Firefox 4 is kind of like Opera. It's very neat, very sexy, and completely lacking in add-ons. Chrome definitely has the upper hand on Firefox 4 right now in terms of "working extensions."
It seems like Mozilla is taking a large step back in hopes of taking an even bigger one forward. I hope this dance move works.Is Mozilla making a huge mistake by breaking add-ons so badly on Firefox 4? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Firefox 4 - Add-on - Mozilla Firefox - Google Chrome - Mozilla Foundation
Thursday 26 August 2010
Facebook game 'I Woo You' will not woo you
This new dating game from MTV is a good example of what's wrong with Facebook games.
Facebook - Social network - Online Communities - New Facebook - Google
Facebook - Social network - Online Communities - New Facebook - Google
Facebook spam infinitely more effective than email spam
Filed under: Security, Social Software
Security firm F-Secure has shared some interesting information regarding spam. It's no secret that Facebook has become a popular platform for spammers and poisoned links (URLs that lead to malware). What you might not realize is how successful spammers are on Facebook.
F-Secure reports click rates as high as 40%. That's insane. Email spam isn't even in the same solar system percentage-wise. There have been several highly-publicized Facebook incidents, from the rogue antivirus scare to fake like buttons. These problems aren't unique to Facebook, of course -- but it's more effective because links and likes appear on a trusted friend's profile page.
I didn't really need to read F-Secure's report to know this was the case -- I've already heard a familiar tale of woe from dozens of end users:
"My computer was running fine yesterday, and then I got this weird message on Facebook..."
"... And you clicked something you shouldn't have?"
"I ended up on some page and then Windows told me I had 834 infections on my computer."
"..."
My guess: people just haven't come to terms with the fact that Facebook is an Internet petri dish full of rapidly-multiplying spam bacteria. Email? Yeah, they're well aware of the inherent dangers in their trusty old inbox. They've been dealing with Viagra mails and Nigerian princes for years.
Facebook? Not so much. The general public is still laboring under the impression that Facebook is a place for them to socialize with their friends, play games, and like stuff.
Eventually people will figure it out. As for those of you who (like me) earn a living cleaning up after careless clickers? We've probably still got several years of reformat and malware removal income on the way.
Share TweetFacebook spam infinitely more effective than email spam originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Facebook - F-Secure - Spam - Download Squad - E-mail
Security firm F-Secure has shared some interesting information regarding spam. It's no secret that Facebook has become a popular platform for spammers and poisoned links (URLs that lead to malware). What you might not realize is how successful spammers are on Facebook.
F-Secure reports click rates as high as 40%. That's insane. Email spam isn't even in the same solar system percentage-wise. There have been several highly-publicized Facebook incidents, from the rogue antivirus scare to fake like buttons. These problems aren't unique to Facebook, of course -- but it's more effective because links and likes appear on a trusted friend's profile page.
I didn't really need to read F-Secure's report to know this was the case -- I've already heard a familiar tale of woe from dozens of end users:
"My computer was running fine yesterday, and then I got this weird message on Facebook..."
"... And you clicked something you shouldn't have?"
"I ended up on some page and then Windows told me I had 834 infections on my computer."
"..."
My guess: people just haven't come to terms with the fact that Facebook is an Internet petri dish full of rapidly-multiplying spam bacteria. Email? Yeah, they're well aware of the inherent dangers in their trusty old inbox. They've been dealing with Viagra mails and Nigerian princes for years.
Facebook? Not so much. The general public is still laboring under the impression that Facebook is a place for them to socialize with their friends, play games, and like stuff.
Eventually people will figure it out. As for those of you who (like me) earn a living cleaning up after careless clickers? We've probably still got several years of reformat and malware removal income on the way.
Share TweetFacebook spam infinitely more effective than email spam originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Facebook - F-Secure - Spam - Download Squad - E-mail
Epic Games Releases August 2010 Unreal Development Kit Beta
Epic Games, Inc. has released the August 2010 UDK Beta, the latest version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides uncompromised access to the award-winning toolset used in blockbuster video games, 3D visualizations, digital films and more.
Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at http://www.udk.com/download.
Are you creating something great with UDK? Drop us a line in the Project Show-Off forums, where links to tech demos, gameplay videos and screenshots are always welcome.
You can see many of the top UDK games and applications at http://www.udk.com/showcase. This month we would like to congratulate Teotl Studios on their upcoming commercial release for The Ball.
It?s easy to sign up as a commercial UDK developer online. Our FAQ can help you determine which type of license is right for you.
This month?s beta release includes many upgrades, such as:
* Scaleform pipeline improvements
* Improved motion blur
* New detail lighting view mode
* Recompile materials directly from Content Browser right-click menu
* New character indirect lighting controls
* Better hair lighting
Plus, new documentation like the Scaleform workflow, introduction to FaceFX and camera technical guide will be helpful to those getting started with UDK.
Here?s the full list of improvements in detail:
Scaleform GFx
* Scaleform GFx 3.3.85 is now merged in and all UDK UI is GFx-based.
* Made many improvements and fixes to the Scaleform import pipeline.
Point Light Shadows
* Whole scene shadows for point lights are now supported.
Precomputed Visibility
* Precomputed visibility allows occlusion on platforms that don't support hardware occlusion queries.
Motion Blur
* The quality of Motion Blur has been significantly improved without a performance loss.
New Detail Lighting View Mode
* Replaces diffuse and specular color but keeps all other material parameters like normal map, opacity mask, two sidedness, etc.
* Useful for viewing lighting without material diffuse color influence.
* Lighting-only view mode is still useful for looking at lightmap artifacts and compression.
Character Indirect Lighting
* Added new controls for fine-tuning runtime indirect lighting settings on characters.
* Added distinct controls for both lit and shadowed environments.
Hair Lighting
* Implemented a new, single-pass technique for translucency lighting.
* Previous technique relied on multiple passes, which over-brightens on multilayered objects, such as hair.
* The single-pass technique uses about half the number of shader instructions as multipass lighting, so hair will be much cheaper.
Normal Maps, Indirect Lighting & Lightmaps
* Normal maps are now taken into account for indirect lighting with simple lightmaps.
Other New Stuff
* Can now recompile materials directly from the right-click menu in Content Browser.
* New texture streaming system saves memory and prioritizes textures more effectively.
* Added limited support for importing non-power-of-two (NPOT) textures into the editor. MIP maps are not allowed, and image dimensions must be divisible by four for DXT compression.
* Vertex normals are now correctly saved with static meshes exported as OBJ files.
* Terrain export now supports holes.
* New ContentComparison commandlet helps optimize content.
* Lightmass static shadows now have texture space filtering on by default, which smoothes out aliasing.
* Material editor Undo and Redo are now much faster.
* Added multiple camera offset support for particle modules and camera offset support for mesh emitters.
* Spawn at bone/socket now allows rotating mesh particles to the orientation of the bone/socket.
New Documentation
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CameraTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformWorkflow.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/EditorConsoleCommands.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentAuditCommandlet.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PrecomputedVisibility.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/RadialBlur.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MovieTexture.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/IntroductionToFaceFX.html
Updated Documentation
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBlog.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitBuildUpgradeNotes.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitGettingStarted.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitProgramming.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitContentCreation.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKProgrammingHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKContentCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKLevelCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCommunityLinks.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCustomCharacters.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Scaleform.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformImport.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CreatingCinematics.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealEdUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CascadeUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AnimSetEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StaticMeshEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TaskBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TextureStatsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ReferencedAssetsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AttachmentsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GroupsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SceneManagerReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LevelBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ActorsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/FractureTool.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SettingUpTerrain.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ModularEnvironmentCreation.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MeshPipeline.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorPicker.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorGrading.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisualizeTexture.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TranslucentHairSorting.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Lightmass.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MotionBlur.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisibilityCulling.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhysicalMaterial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsCompendium.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/NavigationMeshTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PostProcessTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StringsInUnrealScript.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CompilingNativeClasses.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandletList.html
Community Links
UDK Forums: http://www.udk.com/forums
UDK Developers on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2493123
UDK on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UDK/183744733429
Epic Games on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/EpicGames
Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at http://www.udk.com/download.
Are you creating something great with UDK? Drop us a line in the Project Show-Off forums, where links to tech demos, gameplay videos and screenshots are always welcome.
You can see many of the top UDK games and applications at http://www.udk.com/showcase. This month we would like to congratulate Teotl Studios on their upcoming commercial release for The Ball.
It?s easy to sign up as a commercial UDK developer online. Our FAQ can help you determine which type of license is right for you.
This month?s beta release includes many upgrades, such as:
* Scaleform pipeline improvements
* Improved motion blur
* New detail lighting view mode
* Recompile materials directly from Content Browser right-click menu
* New character indirect lighting controls
* Better hair lighting
Plus, new documentation like the Scaleform workflow, introduction to FaceFX and camera technical guide will be helpful to those getting started with UDK.
Here?s the full list of improvements in detail:
Scaleform GFx
* Scaleform GFx 3.3.85 is now merged in and all UDK UI is GFx-based.
* Made many improvements and fixes to the Scaleform import pipeline.
Point Light Shadows
* Whole scene shadows for point lights are now supported.
Precomputed Visibility
* Precomputed visibility allows occlusion on platforms that don't support hardware occlusion queries.
Motion Blur
* The quality of Motion Blur has been significantly improved without a performance loss.
New Detail Lighting View Mode
* Replaces diffuse and specular color but keeps all other material parameters like normal map, opacity mask, two sidedness, etc.
* Useful for viewing lighting without material diffuse color influence.
* Lighting-only view mode is still useful for looking at lightmap artifacts and compression.
Character Indirect Lighting
* Added new controls for fine-tuning runtime indirect lighting settings on characters.
* Added distinct controls for both lit and shadowed environments.
Hair Lighting
* Implemented a new, single-pass technique for translucency lighting.
* Previous technique relied on multiple passes, which over-brightens on multilayered objects, such as hair.
* The single-pass technique uses about half the number of shader instructions as multipass lighting, so hair will be much cheaper.
Normal Maps, Indirect Lighting & Lightmaps
* Normal maps are now taken into account for indirect lighting with simple lightmaps.
Other New Stuff
* Can now recompile materials directly from the right-click menu in Content Browser.
* New texture streaming system saves memory and prioritizes textures more effectively.
* Added limited support for importing non-power-of-two (NPOT) textures into the editor. MIP maps are not allowed, and image dimensions must be divisible by four for DXT compression.
* Vertex normals are now correctly saved with static meshes exported as OBJ files.
* Terrain export now supports holes.
* New ContentComparison commandlet helps optimize content.
* Lightmass static shadows now have texture space filtering on by default, which smoothes out aliasing.
* Material editor Undo and Redo are now much faster.
* Added multiple camera offset support for particle modules and camera offset support for mesh emitters.
* Spawn at bone/socket now allows rotating mesh particles to the orientation of the bone/socket.
New Documentation
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CameraTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformWorkflow.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/EditorConsoleCommands.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentAuditCommandlet.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PrecomputedVisibility.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/RadialBlur.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MovieTexture.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/IntroductionToFaceFX.html
Updated Documentation
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBlog.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitBuildUpgradeNotes.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitGettingStarted.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitProgramming.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitContentCreation.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKProgrammingHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKContentCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKLevelCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCommunityLinks.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCustomCharacters.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Scaleform.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformImport.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CreatingCinematics.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealEdUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CascadeUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AnimSetEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StaticMeshEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TaskBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TextureStatsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ReferencedAssetsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AttachmentsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GroupsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SceneManagerReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LevelBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ActorsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/FractureTool.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SettingUpTerrain.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ModularEnvironmentCreation.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MeshPipeline.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorPicker.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorGrading.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisualizeTexture.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TranslucentHairSorting.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Lightmass.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MotionBlur.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisibilityCulling.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhysicalMaterial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsCompendium.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/NavigationMeshTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PostProcessTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StringsInUnrealScript.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CompilingNativeClasses.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandletList.html
Community Links
UDK Forums: http://www.udk.com/forums
UDK Developers on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2493123
UDK on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UDK/183744733429
Epic Games on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/EpicGames
RESEARCH IN MOTION ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS SAIC SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES
GDC Online Announces Keynote From FrontierVille's Reynolds
GDC Online organizers have confirmed industry veteran and Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds to discuss smash hit title FrontierVille and the future of social game design in a keynote at October's show in Austin.
In his keynote address, 'Bears and Snakes! The Wild Frontier of Social Game Design,' Reynolds will explain how his Facebook title FrontierVille "treads new territory" by combining the classic techniques of traditional game design with the social gaming expertise that Zynga has gained from their FarmVille and Mafia Wars titles.
Reynolds, whose career has spanned more than 20 years with companies such as Firaxis and Big Huge Games, and who has co-created titles including Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations, will also confront the challenges of taking familiar social game models and making them more entertaining for gamers and non-gamers.
With the massive gains and rapid progress of the social game space, Reynolds will offer his take on why games like FrontierVille -- which currently has 30 million monthly unique users on Facebook alone, according to Appdata.com -- are only the first step towards other exciting opportunities for the video game medium."Social games are increasingly attracting traditional game developers, while also providing key learnings to leverage social features in all types of games," noted Izora de Lillard, Event Director, GDC Online. "We are proud to present Brian Reynolds at GDC Online with a talk that will inspire traditional and social game designers alike."
Reynolds joins a host of other major speakers for the 2010 Game Developers Conference Online event, with design talks from Relic, Sony Online and Carbine, notable lectures from KingsIsle and IMVU, and in-depth lectures from Disney and Playdom already confirmed.
The full session list for the October 6th-8th Main Conference includes over 50 talks from Sulake, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, InstantAction, Ubisoft and many more, with co-located Summits on October 5th and 6th including one and two-day events on game narrative, iPhone and iPad gaming and 3D stereoscopic gaming.
GDC Online is operated by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is only open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online?s official website.
In his keynote address, 'Bears and Snakes! The Wild Frontier of Social Game Design,' Reynolds will explain how his Facebook title FrontierVille "treads new territory" by combining the classic techniques of traditional game design with the social gaming expertise that Zynga has gained from their FarmVille and Mafia Wars titles.
Reynolds, whose career has spanned more than 20 years with companies such as Firaxis and Big Huge Games, and who has co-created titles including Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations, will also confront the challenges of taking familiar social game models and making them more entertaining for gamers and non-gamers.
With the massive gains and rapid progress of the social game space, Reynolds will offer his take on why games like FrontierVille -- which currently has 30 million monthly unique users on Facebook alone, according to Appdata.com -- are only the first step towards other exciting opportunities for the video game medium."Social games are increasingly attracting traditional game developers, while also providing key learnings to leverage social features in all types of games," noted Izora de Lillard, Event Director, GDC Online. "We are proud to present Brian Reynolds at GDC Online with a talk that will inspire traditional and social game designers alike."
Reynolds joins a host of other major speakers for the 2010 Game Developers Conference Online event, with design talks from Relic, Sony Online and Carbine, notable lectures from KingsIsle and IMVU, and in-depth lectures from Disney and Playdom already confirmed.
The full session list for the October 6th-8th Main Conference includes over 50 talks from Sulake, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, InstantAction, Ubisoft and many more, with co-located Summits on October 5th and 6th including one and two-day events on game narrative, iPhone and iPad gaming and 3D stereoscopic gaming.
GDC Online is operated by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is only open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online?s official website.
LAM RESEARCH LIBERTY GLOBAL LM ERICSSON LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL
Pop Queen
Click to play the game Pop Queen now. We offer the best free games and add 10 new games every day of the week.
SUN MICROSYSTEMS STANDARD MICROSYSTEMS SRA INTERNATIONAL SPSS
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Adobe updates Photoshop.com, releases Express Editor, Organizer and Android app
Filed under: Photo, Utilities, web 2.0
When Adobe released an updated Photoshop app for iOS devices, I was more than a little green with envy. I own an Android phone, y'see -- and I wanted in on the action! I needn't have worried though, because as of today, Adobe has released an updated and shiny Photoshop Express for Android app. I'll review it later today.
Also released on Photoshop.com today are the redesigned Express Editor, Organizer and Uploader. As you can see from the screenshot above, the Editor is both beautiful and full of functionality. The Organizer is very neat, allowing you to sort all of your uploaded photos into albums -- plus you can also connect it to Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket and Picasa! The Uploader is a desktop AIR app that basically replicates the Organizer's uploading capabilities, but it lets you drag-and-drop images into its window. Apparently it also lets you upload PSD files, though I haven't tried that yet.
I've only touched on the features provided by these new tools, and obviously I need to investigate further. If you have a go with them, report your findings in the comments!
Share TweetAdobe updates Photoshop.com, releases Express Editor, Organizer and Android app originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
Facebook - Photoshop.com - Adobe Photoshop Express - Adobe Systems - Android
When Adobe released an updated Photoshop app for iOS devices, I was more than a little green with envy. I own an Android phone, y'see -- and I wanted in on the action! I needn't have worried though, because as of today, Adobe has released an updated and shiny Photoshop Express for Android app. I'll review it later today.
Also released on Photoshop.com today are the redesigned Express Editor, Organizer and Uploader. As you can see from the screenshot above, the Editor is both beautiful and full of functionality. The Organizer is very neat, allowing you to sort all of your uploaded photos into albums -- plus you can also connect it to Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket and Picasa! The Uploader is a desktop AIR app that basically replicates the Organizer's uploading capabilities, but it lets you drag-and-drop images into its window. Apparently it also lets you upload PSD files, though I haven't tried that yet.
I've only touched on the features provided by these new tools, and obviously I need to investigate further. If you have a go with them, report your findings in the comments!
Share TweetAdobe updates Photoshop.com, releases Express Editor, Organizer and Android app originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
Facebook - Photoshop.com - Adobe Photoshop Express - Adobe Systems - Android
Halo Reach Leaked To Filesharing Sites
Stoobalou writes "What appears to be the full version of Bungie's Halo Reach game has turned up on a number of file sharing sites. The hotly-anticipated multi-player shooter had been hosted on a private area of the Microsoft Live site in order for journalists to preview the release, but Microsoft has admitted that a security breach has meant that pirates have been able to bypass personal download codes given to writers. Disk images of the game are now appearing on a number of public torrent and P2P sites as well as on popular NZB aggregators and Usenet binaries newsgroups."
The game isn't due to be released until September 14th. Microsoft is said to be "aggressively pursuing" whoever grabbed the files without their permission.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The game isn't due to be released until September 14th. Microsoft is said to be "aggressively pursuing" whoever grabbed the files without their permission.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tekken 6 with Wireless Fight Stick - Playstation 3
Old Price: $99.99 Current Price: $89.98With over 33 million units sold worldwide, the #1 fighting game franchise of all time soars onto the next generation platforms with unbridled vengeance!
HON HAI PRECISION IND. HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
MicePaceMaze Squares Screens
3 new shots posted. Get the full article at GameSpot
"MicePaceMaze Squares Screens" was posted on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:03:06 -0700
"MicePaceMaze Squares Screens" was posted on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:03:06 -0700
NCAA Football 11 - Playstation 2
Price: $39.99 ETA: 7/13/2010NCAA football fans are some of the most devoted fans out there, and that's why the NCAA Football 11 team has made every effort to provide the excitement and emotion of an authentic college football game. This year's offering features 120 schools, giving you 120 different ways to win. Or if you're really true to your school, you might say it gives you one way to win and 119 ways to dominate. Each team is customized to behave like the real thing. If your school runs the no-huddle spread offense, it's in there. If your school locks arms and walks out of the tunnel before the game, it's in there. Plus, an all-new locomotion and real assignment A.I. complement that real college football experience.
Tuesday 24 August 2010
U.K. official decries video game with Taliban role
A video game that allows players to adopt the role of the Taliban is a "tasteless product," Britain's defense secretary said Sunday, calling on retailers to show their support for troops by not selling it.
Video game - Taliban - United States Secretary of Defense - Afghanistan - Asia
Video game - Taliban - United States Secretary of Defense - Afghanistan - Asia
It's official: Nintendo has sold a whole lotta Wiis
It seems Americans are playing a whole lot of "Wii Bowling." Nintendo has announced that they've sold 30 million Wiis in the United States alone.
Nintendo - Wii - United States - Video game - Games
Nintendo - Wii - United States - Video game - Games
OPENWAVE SYSTEMS ON SEMICONDUCTOR NVIDIA NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS
Results from Game Design Challenge: Warriors
How hard is it to make an interesting new game in the Dynasty Warriors franchise? Our readers answer that question in GameCareerGuide's in these latest Game Design Challenge results.
Max Damage 2
Cause as much damage as you can to the objects on the screen! Different kinds of balls behave in different ways so launch them accordingly.
Pop Queen
Click to play the game Pop Queen now. We offer the best free games and add 10 new games every day of the week.
True Blood Quiz Screens
5 new shots posted. Get the full article at GameSpot
"True Blood Quiz Screens" was posted on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:11:43 -0700
"True Blood Quiz Screens" was posted on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:11:43 -0700
Monday 23 August 2010
MLB 10 The Show - Playstation 2
Old Price: $29.99 Current Price: $19.98The deepest, highest rated and best selling baseball is back inMLB 10 The ShowWelcome to The Show All-Star. The best selling and highest ratedbaseball franchise is back in MLB 10 The Show throwing youinto an unsurpassed baseball experience where big moments comealive. It's all here too; from AI Improvements to new personalizedbatting stances to Joe Mauer, newly crowned American LeagueMVP, as the new cover athlete.Get ready. The Show is about to begin.
Ice Cream Mania Screens
5 new shots posted. Get the full article at GameSpot
"Ice Cream Mania Screens" was posted on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:02:01 -0700
"Ice Cream Mania Screens" was posted on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:02:01 -0700
MICRON TECHNOLOGY MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY METHODE ELECTRONICS MENTOR GRAPHICS
GDC Online Reveals Host Of iPhone, iPad Summit Lectures
Organizers of this October's GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) have announced key speakers for its iPhone and iPad Gaming Summits, including Words With Friends/We Rule's David Bettner, Pocket Legends' Cinco Barnes and more.
The two new Summits, focusing on Apple's portable gaming devices, take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 5th-6th in Austin, Texas alongside the larger GDC Online event, to provide a lexicon of key facts and advice for all those working in the iPhone and iPad game areas.
From key business learnings through top technical takeaways, some of the developers who are even now surging to major success on the iPhone, iPad and other mobile platforms are shaping this inaugural GDC Summit on the subject.
Some of the newly announced highlights of this year?s iPhone and iPad Gaming Summit talks, chosen by a distinguished Summit advisory board including Gamevil's Kyu C. Lee, Canabalt's Adam Saltsman, GeoDefense's David Whatley and Backflip's Julian Farrior, include the following:
- The lecture 'Turn Based: The Power and Potential of Asynchronous Gaming in Mobile' sees Newtoy co-founder David Bettner, one of the minds behind smash iPhone hits Words With Friends and We Rule, explaining why "turn based gaming, previously confined to the living room, has been liberated. At its core, it's gaming meets text-messaging and it allows you to play with your friends anytime, anywhere, in a way never before possible."
- Successful indie Arash Keshmirian of Limbic Software (Tower Madness) is presenting 'App Store Survival ? Launching and Sustaining a Successful Franchise', outlining "strategies for developing a game that not only thrives at launch but holds players attention and can become an enduring franchise." Attendees will learn how to analyze and hone initial concepts (including revenue models) for the best chance of success, managing a launch and an ongoing marketing calendar, and a host of other notable tips.- In 'Surviving and Thriving as an iPhone MMO Developer', Cinco Barnes, previously lead designer of Star Wars: Galaxies, discusses how his company abandoned their charter to create large-scale PC MMO games and leveraged their advantages to find profitability in the mobile games biz via games like acclaimed persistent iPhone online game Pocket Legends.
- 'Fun Meters: Data Driven Design For TILT' sees noted player experience expert Nicole Lazzaro discuss her popular iPad/iPhone title TILT, with plenty of information on "how to use data to make your game more fun, what data we collected, how data from real players is different from Betas, viral web mechanics' effect on App Store positioning, [and] answers to such mysteries as why advanced players continually replay."
Additional confirmed lectures include a panel on getting your game noticed by the press with representatives from SlideToPlay, IGN, and 148Apps, some analysis on 'rapid development in the mobile games space' from NewToy's Vijay Thakkar, a look at mobile social games in Asia from DeNA's Tomoko Namba, and much more still to be announced.
The iPhone Games Summit and the iPad Gaming Summit will be just one part of GDC Online, which will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas and also features a main conference based around social games and MMOs, plus Summits on game narrative and 3D stereoscopic gaming.
To learn more about the other lectures and summits for GDC Online, part of the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and for which early, reduced-price registration is only open until September 1st, please visit the official GDC Online website.
The two new Summits, focusing on Apple's portable gaming devices, take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 5th-6th in Austin, Texas alongside the larger GDC Online event, to provide a lexicon of key facts and advice for all those working in the iPhone and iPad game areas.
From key business learnings through top technical takeaways, some of the developers who are even now surging to major success on the iPhone, iPad and other mobile platforms are shaping this inaugural GDC Summit on the subject.
Some of the newly announced highlights of this year?s iPhone and iPad Gaming Summit talks, chosen by a distinguished Summit advisory board including Gamevil's Kyu C. Lee, Canabalt's Adam Saltsman, GeoDefense's David Whatley and Backflip's Julian Farrior, include the following:
- The lecture 'Turn Based: The Power and Potential of Asynchronous Gaming in Mobile' sees Newtoy co-founder David Bettner, one of the minds behind smash iPhone hits Words With Friends and We Rule, explaining why "turn based gaming, previously confined to the living room, has been liberated. At its core, it's gaming meets text-messaging and it allows you to play with your friends anytime, anywhere, in a way never before possible."
- Successful indie Arash Keshmirian of Limbic Software (Tower Madness) is presenting 'App Store Survival ? Launching and Sustaining a Successful Franchise', outlining "strategies for developing a game that not only thrives at launch but holds players attention and can become an enduring franchise." Attendees will learn how to analyze and hone initial concepts (including revenue models) for the best chance of success, managing a launch and an ongoing marketing calendar, and a host of other notable tips.- In 'Surviving and Thriving as an iPhone MMO Developer', Cinco Barnes, previously lead designer of Star Wars: Galaxies, discusses how his company abandoned their charter to create large-scale PC MMO games and leveraged their advantages to find profitability in the mobile games biz via games like acclaimed persistent iPhone online game Pocket Legends.
- 'Fun Meters: Data Driven Design For TILT' sees noted player experience expert Nicole Lazzaro discuss her popular iPad/iPhone title TILT, with plenty of information on "how to use data to make your game more fun, what data we collected, how data from real players is different from Betas, viral web mechanics' effect on App Store positioning, [and] answers to such mysteries as why advanced players continually replay."
Additional confirmed lectures include a panel on getting your game noticed by the press with representatives from SlideToPlay, IGN, and 148Apps, some analysis on 'rapid development in the mobile games space' from NewToy's Vijay Thakkar, a look at mobile social games in Asia from DeNA's Tomoko Namba, and much more still to be announced.
The iPhone Games Summit and the iPad Gaming Summit will be just one part of GDC Online, which will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas and also features a main conference based around social games and MMOs, plus Summits on game narrative and 3D stereoscopic gaming.
To learn more about the other lectures and summits for GDC Online, part of the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and for which early, reduced-price registration is only open until September 1st, please visit the official GDC Online website.
COGNIZANT TECH. SOLUTIONS COMCAST COMMSCOPE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS
Study: 90% Of U.S. 'Tweens' Playing Games Online, Industry Missing Opportunity
Kids are playing video games "more than ever before," notably online, as social networks, mobile and console games become more ubiquitous. But game makers might be missing out on the tween opportunity, says M2 Research.
M2's summary of its report "The Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls are Playing Today" found that 91 percent of tween (8-11) boys and 93 percent of tween girls play games online. Facebook, home of the burgeoning social game market, is also the favorite website of tween boys and teen (12-15) girls -- even though technically users have to be at least 13 to use Facebook.
"We have found kids tend to play a wide variety of games, and their favorite games and gaming sites change often," said Louise Curcio, the M2 Research analyst who led the report. "There are opportunities for companies, and we believe the kids market has been overlooked."
The report added that Nintendo is leading the portable gaming space, although Apple's iPhone and iPad are gaining share among youth, namely girls, M2 said.
Sony's PSP, the firm said, had the largest gender discrepancy -- 17 percent of teen girls play PSP games versus 44 percent of teen boys.
The research also found that 20 percent of girls said the Mario franchise was their favorite video game series, making it the top pick among girls. Thirty-six percent of teen boys said they prefer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, making it that group's top pick.
Wanda Meloni, contributing author to the report, told Gamasutra in a phone call, "The data definitely shows that kids are influenced by video games, probably more than any other media, yet we did an analysis specifically for online gaming, and found that total investment in online games for kids is quite lower than what's been historically invested -- Club Penguin was pretty much half of the total investment in the kids space."
She added, "Companies have been slow to realize that this is a very strong market, and kids have a good deal of influence, and know what they want."
And with an M-rated game -- Call of Duty -- being the top pick among young boys, that datapoint could show that there is opportunity to offer that demographic more age-appropriate content. "It even really shocked us when we pulled the data for the first time, that these trends are happening," Meloni said.
M2's summary of its report "The Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls are Playing Today" found that 91 percent of tween (8-11) boys and 93 percent of tween girls play games online. Facebook, home of the burgeoning social game market, is also the favorite website of tween boys and teen (12-15) girls -- even though technically users have to be at least 13 to use Facebook.
"We have found kids tend to play a wide variety of games, and their favorite games and gaming sites change often," said Louise Curcio, the M2 Research analyst who led the report. "There are opportunities for companies, and we believe the kids market has been overlooked."
The report added that Nintendo is leading the portable gaming space, although Apple's iPhone and iPad are gaining share among youth, namely girls, M2 said.
Sony's PSP, the firm said, had the largest gender discrepancy -- 17 percent of teen girls play PSP games versus 44 percent of teen boys.
The research also found that 20 percent of girls said the Mario franchise was their favorite video game series, making it the top pick among girls. Thirty-six percent of teen boys said they prefer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, making it that group's top pick.
Wanda Meloni, contributing author to the report, told Gamasutra in a phone call, "The data definitely shows that kids are influenced by video games, probably more than any other media, yet we did an analysis specifically for online gaming, and found that total investment in online games for kids is quite lower than what's been historically invested -- Club Penguin was pretty much half of the total investment in the kids space."
She added, "Companies have been slow to realize that this is a very strong market, and kids have a good deal of influence, and know what they want."
And with an M-rated game -- Call of Duty -- being the top pick among young boys, that datapoint could show that there is opportunity to offer that demographic more age-appropriate content. "It even really shocked us when we pulled the data for the first time, that these trends are happening," Meloni said.
Video game lets players be 'Bad' to Jackson hits
Video game publisher Ubisoft announced Wednesday its dancing-and-singing "Michael Jackson The Experience" game will feature such Jackson hits as "Bad," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean."
Video game - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean - Beat It - Games
Video game - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean - Beat It - Games
APPLE COMPUTER APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ARROW ELECTRONICS
Sunday 22 August 2010
Those crazy Taiwanese have done it again: 'Google Does Evil' (video)
Filed under: Fun, Google
From the same news agency that produced that fantastic iPhone 'Antennagate' video comes a brief one-minute synopsis of Google's apparent abandonment of its don't be evil mantra. If you haven't been following the news (we haven't really covered it here on Download Squad), Google is coming to terms with having to be a little more ruthless to maintain its market lead. In turn, this has sparked a lot of commentary about Google being evil.
I don't think this is as funny as the iPhone video -- and it could certainly do with some English subtitles -- but it does feature, rather succinctly, all of the pertinent facts. I only really laughed out loud at the dead girl (see image after the break), which pays homage to a British news story from last week. I guess it's pretty awesome that these guys can pump animations out in just a few days!
[via Gizmodo]
Those crazy Taiwanese have done it again: 'Google Does Evil' (video) originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Google - Download Squad - iPhone - Searching - Search Engines
From the same news agency that produced that fantastic iPhone 'Antennagate' video comes a brief one-minute synopsis of Google's apparent abandonment of its don't be evil mantra. If you haven't been following the news (we haven't really covered it here on Download Squad), Google is coming to terms with having to be a little more ruthless to maintain its market lead. In turn, this has sparked a lot of commentary about Google being evil.
I don't think this is as funny as the iPhone video -- and it could certainly do with some English subtitles -- but it does feature, rather succinctly, all of the pertinent facts. I only really laughed out loud at the dead girl (see image after the break), which pays homage to a British news story from last week. I guess it's pretty awesome that these guys can pump animations out in just a few days!
[via Gizmodo]
Those crazy Taiwanese have done it again: 'Google Does Evil' (video) originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Google - Download Squad - iPhone - Searching - Search Engines
Google TV demoed on video -- Google Chrome on board, slick search capabilities
Filed under: Video, Google
Over at StuffWeLike they've posted a video gem from Comic Con 2010 (of all places) of Google TV being demoed to attendees. Comic Con? Hey, a demo's a demo -- who are we to argue?
What you'll see in the video after the break is darn near a geek's TV dream come true. Apart from adding super-slick search abilities to your DIRECTV receiver (Google TV can search everything from the program guide to your PVR stash), there's Google Chrome -- front and center on the apps menu.
Since Chrome is on board, you'll be able to enjoy the same Web content you do on your computer. That also means anything which runs on the "Chrome platform" -- extensions and the Web Store's upcoming assortment of apps and games -- should also work. While they're not demoed, it's interesting to see Netflix and Pandora apps on the menu as well.
It's an interesting look at what Google TV is all about. Check out the video and share your impressions in the comments!Google TV demoed on video -- Google Chrome on board, slick search capabilities originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Google Chrome - Google - Netflix - Download Squad - Television
Over at StuffWeLike they've posted a video gem from Comic Con 2010 (of all places) of Google TV being demoed to attendees. Comic Con? Hey, a demo's a demo -- who are we to argue?
What you'll see in the video after the break is darn near a geek's TV dream come true. Apart from adding super-slick search abilities to your DIRECTV receiver (Google TV can search everything from the program guide to your PVR stash), there's Google Chrome -- front and center on the apps menu.
Since Chrome is on board, you'll be able to enjoy the same Web content you do on your computer. That also means anything which runs on the "Chrome platform" -- extensions and the Web Store's upcoming assortment of apps and games -- should also work. While they're not demoed, it's interesting to see Netflix and Pandora apps on the menu as well.
It's an interesting look at what Google TV is all about. Check out the video and share your impressions in the comments!Google TV demoed on video -- Google Chrome on board, slick search capabilities originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Google Chrome - Google - Netflix - Download Squad - Television
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'Paradox Connect' To Add Social Features, Achievements
PC-based strategy game company Paradox Interactive this week announced Paradox Connect, an upcoming community networking feature that will soon introduce "Paradox Achievements." Stockholm-based Paradox, developer of games such as Crusader Kings and Hearts of Iron, said that the feature is an effort to create a "seamless experience between in-game play and between game sessions." Paradox Connect will integrate with the developer's forums -- players registered on the forum will automatically become part of Paradox Connect. ...
TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE SYNTEL SYNTAX-BRILLIAN SYNOPSYS
Is the smartphone gaming challenge real?
Competition from smartphone games could hurt traditional handheld game machines, analysts say. But Nintendo, Sony execs say they aren't worried.
Nintendo - Sony - Video game - Games - Console Platforms
Nintendo - Sony - Video game - Games - Console Platforms
MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY METHODE ELECTRONICS MENTOR GRAPHICS MCAFEE
Catapult Madness
Click to play the game Catapult Madness now. We offer the best free games and add 10 new games every day of the week.
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