Guitar Hero On Tour.
It’s Guitar Hero for the DS :D
More DIY videos at 5min.com
Archive: May, 2008
J.K. Rowling Writes Potter Prequel – J.K. Rowling : People.com
Yay!
J.K. Rowling Writes Potter Prequel – J.K. Rowling : People.com:
By Caris DavisWithin the past month, J.K. Rowling has written a prequel to Harry Potter.
And the succinct, 800-word story, written in the author’s own hand, will be auctioned off for charity in London on June 10. (The tale is so shrouded in secrecy, it’s not even clear if the boy wizard makes an appearance.)
Proceeds will go to the writers’ association English PEN and to Dyslexia Action.
Fans – who have gone almost a whole year since Rowling’s last installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – will be able to read the prequel for themselves when it’s published by Waterstone’s in August.
In her sign-off to the story (written on a piece of paper not much bigger than a postcard), Rowling said, “That was fun!”
Stringer: PS3 Was On “Life Support” : Next Generation
Wow. Interesting, frank and open comments about just how close the PS3 was to failing, by Sony’s CEO, Howard Stringer.
Stringer: PS3 Was On “Life Support” : Next Generation:
By Kris Graft“Two years ago PlayStation was on life support,” Stringer said during The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital Conference on Wednesday.
Lofty development costs for the console were nearly “catostrophic” for his company, he said.
Stringer said as early as January this year that PS3 was “out of the woods” after a rough launch, hindered by a high retail price tag, stiff competition from Xbox 360, and a slim games lineup.
As for the movie format war, Stringer said that if HD-DVD would’ve won, a reference to “Betamax 2” would’ve been engraved on his tombstone.
I love how honest he is about the fact that PS3 was in horrible shape, and just how dire the situation was.
MTV Multiplayer » The Game Reviewer’s Bill Of Rights
Stephen Totilo wrote an interesting article about the status of game reviewing in the form of a Game Reviewer’s Bill of Rights. In response to his asking what the gaming public’s thoughts were, I commented with:
I’d like to see more reviews from media outlets that aren’t at all involved in the game publishing and reporting industries.
Unethical publisher/gaming press pressure is now slowly being confirmed, like in Alex Navarro’s comment, where he was asked to delay a review until after the game’s launch if it’s score was going to be <9.0. Admissions like that, while greatly appreciated, leave (intelligent) readers skeptical. It’s not all doom & gloom, though — Giant Bomb was created out of it, and I’m very much enjoying Jeff & Ryan’s work, again. Sadly, Gamespot is a husk of it’s previous self after nearly all of it’s talent have fled, but deservedly so.
When I read a music or movie review, I usually temper my expectation based on the reviewer’s past writing. The question of whether or not the media publisher has explicitly (Gerstmann-gate) or even IMPLICITLY (Navarro’s comment, above) pressured the reviewer, never comes to mind.
MTV Multiplayer » The Game Reviewer’s Bill Of Rights:
by Stephen Totilo on 5/27/08 at 8:54 pm.The Bill of RightsGame reviewers aren’t satisfied with the opportunities they get to review games. In interviews, they tell me that things could be better. And they’ve explained how some standard practices affect the reviews they write.
What if it could all be perfect? I asked a few top game reviewers to tell me their desires for the perfect review experience. I put their requests in a list. The result is the first draft of:
The Game Reviewer’s Bill Of Rights
(rough draft!)Item 1: A final, boxed copy of a game will be provided to a reviewer prior to the writing of a review
Item 2: The review copy of a game will be made available to the reviewer at least a week prior to a game’s release
Item 3: Developers and publishers will not be present while a game is reviewed
Item 4: Reviewers will be given access to a game’s online mode during the review process
Oh internet, I <3 you, so
This was on tinypic… so I have no idea who put it there, but thank you :)
Delicious Library 2
Delicious Monster Catalog your books, movies, music, software, toys, tools, electronics, & video games.
When we demo Delicious Library to people, about ⅔ of them instantly say this:
“Wait, I just hold a CD or DVD or video game or book or whatever up to my webcam, and it magically reads the UPC and downloads that item’s cover and all pertinent information about it, and displays all my stuff on photorealistic shelves? I’ll take it! Right now! This is why I bought a computer in the first place! ”
But a few people are skeptical, or slightly less obsessive. “Ok,” they say, “then I have my stuff in my computer. Big whoop. I can just look at my real shelf, right now, for free.”
And we say, “True, but have you ever had someone break in and steal all your CDs or DVDs? Your insurance company wants an exact list of what you had, but you can’t remember every last thing, and so for years afterwards you think, ‘Drat, I forgot to list Rocky Horror Picture Show, and now it’s too late!’ Well, with Delicious Library you always have a complete inventory of your stuff, with replacement costs. You can print it or back it up to the web, so it’s not going anywhere.
”Or, have you ever loaned a book or DVD or $200 DeWalt Cordless Driver to a friend, and forgotten which friend? And then bought another? With Delicious Library you just drag any item onto any friend from your Address Book, and it’ll remember the loan for you — and even put an entry in iCal reminding you when it’s due. Or maybe you have something lying around you don’t use, like an out-of-print book, that’s worth serious bucks and you don’t know it? Because with Delicious Library 2 you always know the current value of your things, and can put your used items up for sale with three clicks. Or maybe you just want to publish your library to the web and share it with your friends…“
At this point, usually the only people who aren’t buying are the ones who don’t own Macs. To them, we say: we’re sorry. For the rest of you… enjoy.
Yesss… I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I don’t have a really solid need for this app, but I want it.
bit-tech.net | Study: Male gamers have need to conquer
Umm…. duh?
bit-tech.net | Study: Male gamers have need to conquer:
Author: Joe Martin
Published: 27th May 2008Is Halo 3 so attractive to men because we have an innate need to conquer, or is it something deeper?
Just what the difference exactly is between male and female gamers is something that has long been the subject of debate, but the results of a recent study in Stanford may hold the answer.
According to new research by Dr. Allan Reiss, the difference between female and male gamers is so fundamental it occurs at the neurochemical level and men and women experience vastly different emotions when gaming.
Dr. Reiss led researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in a worlds-first imaging study which performed MRIs of gamers as they played a bespoke computer game, according to Bio-Medicine.org. The results showed that men and women have vastly different brain activity when gaming, with men having more activity in the mesocorticolimbic region of the brain.
This section of the brain is the one which governs feelings of reward and addiction and has led Dr. Reiss to think that male gamers are so fond of the hobby because it stimulates the basic male need to conquer.
“These gender differences may help explain why males are more attracted to, and more likely to become ‘hooked’ on video games than females,” said the research team in a paper on their findings.
“I think it’s fair to say that males tend to be more intrinsically territorial,” added Dr. Reiss.
How do *I* get paid to come up with such brilliant study results as these? Seriously.
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