Not to be beaten at its own game, TV streaming service Hulu has started airing its first original series to compete with Netflix. The show is called Battleground, and it centers around a Senate campaign in Wisconsin. Netflix just debuted it's first series Lilyhammer, but the two companies are going about things quite differently.
Netflix is a subscription-only service, whereas Hulu has a public-facing version with limited content. Battleground is being offered up to paying and non-paying users alike on Hulu. Netflix chose to release all 8 episodes of the big-budget Lilyhammer at once for viewers to plow through. Hulu's Battleground is dropping a new episode every Tuesday in classic TV fashion.
Both companies are trying to gain a foothold in scripted content outside the traditional TV industry. For Netflix, this is only natural, but Hulu is partially owned by TV studios. It seems unlikely its benefactors would like to see too much original web content take off.
Time Warner has rolled out a new TV viewing option for its customers to enjoy from the safety of home (and only from home). Live TV streams are now flowing to compatible web browsers for those with Time Warner TV and internet services. The TWC TV web app is in beta, but supports Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Although, the service does have a number of catches.
Users will first need to install the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in if it's not already present. Viewers can only watch live TV at home, where the cable box is set up. Additionally, content from Viacom (like Comedy Central and MTV) are not included in the new streaming service. It was Viacom that pitched a fit last year when Time Warner started streaming content to mobile devices.
The TWC TV app also has guide data for 7 days and DVR controls. These features will work anywhere; it's just the streaming that is limited to the home. Do you think content companies will ever get over their fear of online streaming?
Most users are content to use the default DNS servers run by their ISP, but it turns out that quite a few folks have made the jump to a third-part solution. Google announced today that its public DNS system is no longer "experimental" and has become the largest in existence with upwards of 70 billion requests every single day. To top it off, 70% of that traffic comes from outside the U.S..
DNS servers are used to turn the URL you type into the address bar into the IP address your computer actually connects to. Since Google Public DNS launched in December 2009, Google has been hard at work making the system faster for users in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Google also added access points in new regions like Africa, India, and Japan. There are also IPv6 versions of Google's DNS servers.
Anyone that wants to try Google DNS can change their DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Your ISPs servers might work just fine, but users in many places fear government mandated DNS blocking. If you've been using Google Open DNS, let us know how it works for you.
We've seen workstations before, and we've seen plenty of all-in-one (AIO) PCs, but according to Hewlett-Packard, there has never been a 27-inch AIO that qualified as a workstation. Until now. HP claims its Z1 Workstation is the world's first to combine both types of systems into a 27-inch form factor, and what's more, the OEM says it's a snap to swap out parts without using any tools, a feature that's few and far between in the AIO sector, but critical if it's to be taken seriously as a workstation.
"The revolutionary HP Z1 sets a new industry standard for workstation design, performance and serviceability," said Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager, Commercial Solutions Business Unit, HP. "With its game-changing design and an experience that optimizes visual and computing performance, the HP Z1 will help attract new customers and expand our market leadership."
The Z1 can be configured with an Intel Core i3 2120, Xeon E3-1245, or Xeon E3-1280 processor. It supports up to 32GB of DDR3 memory, integrated and discrete level graphics (up to a Nvidia Quadro Q4000M), various HDD and SSD options, and up to a Blu-ray writer for optical duties. The Z1 also ships with six external USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, 6-in-1 media card reader, GbE LAN, a single PCI-E x16 slot, three mini PCI-E slots, and a 400W power supply.
HP says the Z1 Workstation will be available in April starting at $1,899.
We have a hard time believing tablet PCs will knock the desktop and notebook markets out cold, but that doesn't mean these portable slabs of hardware aren't ultra-popular. They're so popular, in fact, that at least one analyst believes tablet PCs sales will skip way ahead of traditional PC sales in just three years. There is, however, a major caveat
Here's the deal. A new report by BI Intelligence predicts tablet sales will reach nearly 500 million units by 2015, compared to 'just' 360 million traditional PC sales. However, those tablet PC figures also include dedicated eBook readers, which is a popular market in and of itself, and one that doesn't compete with PCs in any form.
That right there might be enough to render the report worthless in the eyes of some, though it appears that even without eBook readers included in the mix, BI still thinks tablet sales will surpass PC sales, but by a much slimmer margin (around 40 million units).
Lower prices will help drive tablet sales, and according to BI, the Kindle Fire was proof positive that there's a lot of "pent-up demand" for a solid, sub-$500 tablet.
No matter how Kick Ass your gaming rig is, the PC's bound to crash and burn if your power supply isn't up to snuff. Cooler Master's Silent Pro M series of PSUs gets a lot of love from hardcore system builders for its efficiency, silent running and reasonable price -- and now it's getting an update. Today, the company pulled the proverbial curtain off the creatively named Silent Pro M2 series, which Cooler Master claims is better than its predecessor in every possible way.
A wide range of models will be available when the PSUs hit the streets sometime next month: 420W, 520W, 620W, 720W, 850W and 1000W models are all planned in prices ranging from €80 ($105) to €170 ($223). The 850W and 1000W variants are 80 Plus Silver, while the rest are "just" 80 Plus Bronze. All of the Silent Pro M2 PSUs sport a single 12V rail, modular cabling, and a new 135mm Hydraulic Dynamic Bearing fan that should help to keep things cool and quiet (with a little help from a copper-aluminum heat sink.) The series also includes a host of different power protections, and if those safeguards somehow fail to work, Cooler Master backs up its product with a 5-year warranty.
Listing out the various specs would take a lot of space, so if you're interested, head on over to the Silent Pro M2 Series page over at the Cooler Master website for more info and pics. As we said, expect to start seeing these in March.
With so much data moving to the cloud these days, OCZ figured the time was right to roll out its Z-Drive R4 CloudServ PCI Express solid storage solution, essentially a massive 16TB solid state drive (SSD) designed to accelerate cloud computing applications and significantly cut down operating costs in the data center, the company explains.
"The Z-Drive R4 CloudServ PCIe solid state drive delivers game-changing performance and enables clients to process massive data-sets with up to 16TB of storage capacity on a single, easy-to-deploy card," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. "With this new solution, system architects are able to design more efficient and dynamic cloud computing infrastructures while simultaneously reducing system complexity and the high maintenance costs associated with traditional infrastructures."
OCZ says its Z-Drive R4 CloudServ serves up to 6GB/s of bandwidth and delivers up to 1.4 million IOPS. It's built around cost effective multi-level cell (MLC) memory, supports 256-bit AES encryption, and implements OCZ's proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) 2.0 to provide a multifaceted virtualization layer with TRIM, SCSI unmap, and SMART monitoring.
The Z-Drive R4 CloudServ will be available in capacities ranging from 300GB to 16TB. No word on price.
Apple's been harassing Samsung (and others) around the globe, using legislation and intellectual property nuances to suffocate competitive sales and yank Galaxy Tabs off store shelves. Now it's Apple's turn. After a Chinese court ruled that Apple has no right to use the "iPad" name in mainland China because a company called Proview Technology (Shenzhen) holds the trademark, Proview announced they were suing Apple for $1.6 billion in damages. Now, Proview wants a complete iPad import/export ban -- and since all iPads are manufactured in China, an export ban could choke off worldwide supply for the mega-popular tablet.
Yesterday, the Verge reported that government officials began confiscating iPads from stores in Shijiazhuang, the capital of the Heibei province. Today, Proview told the Associated Press that it is seeking similar actions in 30 additional cities, as well as the aforementioned ban on exports and imports.
"We are now working on a request to China Customs to ban and seize all the import and export of the iPad products that have violated the trademark," said Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for the company.
Funnily enough, the MPAA/RIAA's plight against overseas pirates is helping Proview try to strangle to iPad sales. The laws that allow Proview to ask for the iPad ban were originally enacted to stop Chinese counterfeiters from shipping trademark-infringing items to other countries. Of course, since Apple is sitting on $97.6 billion in cold, hard cash, we're guessing the company would just peel off a few bills for Proview before it let the supply of iPads grind to a halt.
Still, we have to ask: now that you've had a taste, does your litigious medicine taste bitter, Apple?
If your penchant for frequently washing your hands ventures into obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) territory, by all means, you're probably safe to use Android's swipe-to-unlock security feature to keep nosy Nancys from spying your contacts and text messages. But for the rest of us, so-called '"reverse smudge engineering" might be the bane of greasy fingers.
Canadian software developer, entrepreneur, and current Google employee, Tim Bray, warns that the swipe-to-unlock feature in Android is fairly easily thwarted just be looking at the pattern of smudges your fingertips leave behind.
"Last year I was touring around with a bunch of Googlers doing DevFests and Developer Days and so on, and an emergency arose when a couple of colleagues had my original Galaxy Tab and needed to use it for something, but I wasn't there. They managed to figure out my pattern by looking at the fingerprints on the glass and it only took them a few minutes. Maybe I'm a little greasier than average, but that's still sobering," Bray explained in a blog post.
Bray, whose opinions are his own and don't necessarily reflect that of Google's, favors the PIN feature, which works for him because he feels he could punch in his code "really, really fast" so even if someone were to peer over his shoulder, they'd have no clue what numbers he pressed.
Do you lock your phone down, and if so, what method do you use?
Samsung's mobile DRAM business is at the top of its game, and the company is doing pretty well moving smartphones and tablets, too. The company's LCD flat-screen television business is an entirely different story. Samsung has been losing money on LCD TVs and is reportedly thinking about spinning its LCD division off, though no decision has yet been made.
"We are internally reviewing various options," Samsung spokesman James Chung told Reuters, "but nothing has been decided yet."
Samsung's LCD business resulted in an $891 million operating loss for all of 2011, so it's easy to see why the company would consider ditching TVs and focus more heavily on profitable sectors like mobile devices and memory products. Another option being discussed is merging Samsung's LCD business with Samsung Mobile Display, a joint venture with Samsung Electronics and affiliate Samsung SDI Co. that produces OLED panels.
News of the possible spinoff and merger comes after Samsung's LCD partnership with Sony ended in late 2011.
Mabinogi and Atlantica Online are celebrating Valentine’s this week in their own special ways.
At 5pm Pacific every night this week, Mabinogi players can embark on a scavenger hunt. Taking place on a different server each day, players can participate in trivia, minigames, and other events for fun and prizes. The team will also be soliciting comments and questions after each event to get community feedback to help improve the game.
In Atlantica Online, players are encouraged to celebrate by submitting a picture and screenshot of their favorite activity to the Valentine’s Snapshot Contest. This celebrates the couples in Atlantica Online, and rewards players for their contributions.
Both games are published by Nexon.
Mabinogi Gameplay Screenshot
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Feel the Love Breeze through Erinn and Atlantis
Nexon will host a series of Scavenger Hunts in "Mabinogi" this week and celebrate real love stories for Valentine's Day
This Valentine's Day, the "Mabinogi" team is expressing their love to the ones they care about most: dwellers of Erinn. Players can join exciting Scavenger Hunt events starting today in "Mabinogi," Nexon's fantasy-themed MMORPG. The "Mabinogi" team will celebrate with players each day this week beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT.
The Scavenger Hunts will be hosted by a group of "Mabinogi" team members who will conduct the event on a different server each day and provide a variety of fun activities for players. Trivia questions, mini games and more will provide players with the chance to both mingle with Nexon's "Mabinogi" team and win fabulous prizes. At the conclusion of the event, players will be invited to share questions and comments with the team, who welcome proactive suggestions for future improvements in "Mabinogi." After all, love is about give and take.
For more information on the Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt event, visit mabinogi.nexon.net.
Love often blossoms in the most unexpected places. Sometimes, soul mates find each other in "Atlantica Online," Nexon America's strategic turn-based massively multiplayer online game. In celebration of Valentine's Day, Atlantian couples participated in the Valentine Snapshot Contest by capturing a photo and screenshot of their favorite activity. The contest revealed how creative, exciting and passionate Atlantica players can be when pronouncing their love in Atlantis and also in person.
Here's a first taste of Lime Odyssey's amazing soundtrack, created and composed by the renowned Yasunori Mitsuda. He has composed and worked on music for over 35 video games, including titles such as Chrono Trigger (SNES), Xenogears (PS1), Chrono Cross (PS1) and Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2). His vast experience helps bring the music of Lime Odyssey to life.
Though this is his first Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) soundtrack, Lime Odyssey's music production shines through with Mitsuda's signature touch. By immersing himself into the game, the pieces he has composed perfectly complement the aesthetics of each area while establishing the mood and tone to correlate with the progression of time. Each respective area has variations of its main theme to reflect the cycles of day and night throughout the world of Orta. Instrument choice strongly comes into play with these compositions and for anyone familiar with his previous works will feel a sense of nostalgia as they play through Lime Odyssey.
The theme for the Human designated town of Blue Coral has a predominate piano melody setting the homely pace for this sea port town as the accompanying strings carry the melody which cause it to resonate into the surrounding areas of Blue Coral Forest. This piece is a prime example of Mitsuda's minimalistic approach in the majority of his compositions.
The main theme for West Tumbara Plains starts off small and builds up to this grandiose march which fits perfectly with the progression of the Turga as they press forward on their journey towards the Lime. Using light strings, woodwinds, and brass to correlate with the vastness of the plains, and then leading into the introduction of the drums to further instill the sense of progression, Mitsuda complements the Turga's strong willed personality while taking their surroundings into account with this piece.
The theme for the Muris hub of Pripet is very light and airy while still maintaining and earthy tone as it completely fits the ambiance of the lush and colorful forest of the floating Shimmering Isle. The lively strings and piano coupled with the woodwinds and bells inject the area with life and magic. This piece is a prime example of the tea-loving Muris and another example of Mitsuda taking all the factors of a setting into consideration for his compositions.
gPotato (Gala Networks) Europe has also prepared to celebrate Valentine’s Day with its players across its games as follows:
* Canaan Online: Players will obtain experience point items throughout the day, and in-game events will offer players the chance to get marriage items. A community competition also asks players to submit pictures of their real-life pets for prizes.
* Castle of Heroes: Until the 19th of February, players can take part in a Romeo and Juliet themed series of quests. The game will also host a funny love competition on Facebook for items including Rice Ball hero upgrades, grade equipment drops, and Goblin’s Toolboxes.
* Dragonica returns the Cookie Factory mission map, new Cupid outfits, and a new Port of the Winds vending machine.
* Flyff players can enjoy Valentine’s until February 23, by defeating the Love Thief. Collecting heart pieces lets players earn Loyalty Chocolate, 3,000 experience, and a special ticket. These tickets will determine the winner of an angel versus devil competition, with rewards going to both sides depending on whether they won or lost.
* Rappelz players can find herbs and flowers to combine into a lucky box, which may contain Rings (with stat bonuses) or Bouquets (which improve stamina regen). Valentine’s Chocolates can also be found as drops, and a side event will offer a chance to win a “Love” looting pet for a short story about the person they love. Rappelz is also celebrating its fourth anniversary for German and French servers, and will grant players 100% bonuses to Lak, drops, and Exp and Anniversary boxes. Other Rappelz servers will get 50% bonuses to celebrate the anniversary.
* Terra Militaris is giving players a week of love with double and triple experience days, removed taxes from the auction house, reduced requirements for neutral area battles, and a Facebook event with prizes to be had.
Rappelz Gameplay Screenshot
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Gala Networks Europe Sends Valentines to All
Valentine's Day Special Events Revealed
Dublin, Ireland – Gala Networks Europe, one of the leading free-to-play games publishers and operator of the www.gPotato.eu portal, has revealed the romantic events it will be holding across its suite of MMO titles throughout the Valentine's Day period. A huge array of special events, item drops and all manner of other lovely happenings will be coming to Canaan Online, Castle of Heroes, Dragonica, Flyff, Rappelz and Terra Militaris.
Canaan Online will be full of passion on the 14th February, expressing its love for its players by sending out experience point items to all players. Events will be run to win marriage items, allowing players to receive the in-game experience and money gained from being in a party with a marriage partner. The community will also be invited to submit pictures of their real-life pets in a competition to find the cutest pet owned by a Canaan Online player, with fabulous in-game prizes up for grabs.
Castle of Heroes is celebrating the Valentine period between 14th and 19th February with a very special two-part quest themed around Romeo and Juliet. Players must assist the two lovers by distracting border patrols and defeating border control offices, allowing the two lovers to meet in the land of Kimmeria. Running alongside the romantic quest is a Facebook competition, where Castle of Heroes GMs will post a funny picture and players must declare their undying love for the subject of it in the comments. The best five declarations will win an array of in-game prizes, including items such as Rice Ball hero upgrades, 20 good-to-excellent grade equipment drops in the form of Goblin's Toolboxes and a Gold Recruitment Card to speed up unit recruitment times. Everyone who posts a declaration of love will automatically receive 10 Goblin's Toolboxes, meaning there are no losers in love for Castle of Heroes players.
Dragonica will see the return of the Cookie Factory mission map, which comes with two new modes and two never before seen bosses named Coofie and Ademia. The modes are defence and tower defence challenges, and players completing the Cookie Factory will be rewarded with event items that can be traded with NPCs for new jewellery sets. Additionally, new Cupid outfits will be available and a new vending machine will appear in Port of the Winds, stocked with new items.
From 9th of February to 23rd February, Flyff will have a Valentine's visit from two unique NPCs in the form of an angel and a devil, and the appearance of a special monster, the Love Thief. Players that defeat the Love Thief will obtain pieces of a broken heart, which can be given to either the devil or the angel. Collecting and giving 100 heart pieces will grant players Loyalty Chocolate, 3,000 EXP and a special ticket, depending on which side they give the 100 pieces to. After the event, the total number of tickets collected will be counted and whichever side gave out the most tickets will be determined the winner, with boxes of random rewards given to both sides, but the winner's boxes will be full of cool rewards and items such as the Black Panther Hoverbike, Pet tickets and Cloak Exchange tickets. The loser's box will give a random pick of food and drink items.
Valentine's in Rappelz brings special drops in the form of herbs and flowers, which can be combined to receive a special lucky box; from this, players will be able to acquire powerful items such as Rings, which will provide bonus to character's stats, and Bouquets, which will improve their stamina regeneration. Valentine's chocolate will also appear in drops during the event that will run from the 07th to the 14th of February. Besides, players will have the chance to participate in a side event where they will have the chance to win a special "Love" Looting Pet together with an Outfit of their choice. To win those prizes they will have to create a short story, along with an in game screenshot, to express their feelings for the person they love.
As well as the Valentine's events, February will mark the 4th anniversary for Rappelz's German and French servers. gPotato.eu will be awarding players with a 100% drop, Lak and Exp bonus and players will be able to find special 'Anniversary Boxes', which offer the chance to receive special items normally available only in the Guild of Merchants. To round off the 4th anniversary celebrations, the Rappelz team has decided to organize a fantastic giveaway; via social media and in game events, German and French players will be able to win three 'Razor Packets', each containing a Razer Mouse, a Razer Keyboard and a Razer Headset, at a total value of 250€. The other countries with Rappelz servers won't be left out of the grand celebration, as the drop, Lak and EXP bonuses will be set at 50% for the duration of the anniversary events.
Seven days of romance are coming to Terra Militaris with Mars & Minerva Love Week, starting on the 9th February and running until the 16th February. Themed around the love of the Roman gods of war and knowledge, the event will see a doubling of EXP for the entire run, with an extraordinary triple EXP day on the 14th February. The auction house will be showing its love to Terra Militaris players by removing all taxes for the week, and a special blessing from Mars will lower the requirements for engaging in battle in neutral areas. This opens the doors for smaller guilds to participate in big battles for controlling holy shrines. Running alongside the in-game event is a special Mars & Minerva Love Week Facebook event, where fans are invited to contribute a love message to Terra Militaris itself, its gods or even its GMs, on a special event page. These can take the form a love letter, a poem, a photograph with comments, a drawing or a single sentence to represent the Valentine's spirit. The winners will be decided by community voting via liking the submissions and a cool pack of in-game items will be awarded to the top 10 'most liked' posts.
For more information, visit each game's official website via www.gPotato.eu.
RF Online has launched a new server, Primus, and with it come a set of events for players.
Primus is the first server to be launched after the server transfers, and opened on February 9. With it come two special Primus-only events:
* Win Weapons: The top ten highest leveled characters per race on Primus by March 31st will earn a special weapon. The first place winner will earn a +3 Leon Weapon (55 Lv), while second through fifth place will earn a +4 Intense Weapon (55 Lv) and places sixth through tenth will earn a +4 Intense Weapon (50 Lv).
* Experience Boosts: Primus will grant 500% bonus PT, drop, and experience rates to players until February 16.
* Rewards for leveling up: Special armor can be obtained when a player reaches levels 47, 50, 53, 55, 56, 60, and 61.
Bigpoint has announced the international launch of a new title: Pirate Storm.
Pirate Storm offers a pirate-themed, browser-based Flash MMO where players can navigate the ocean, fight enemies and monsters, duel others, and more. The game is designed to offer ease of player for beginners. Previously in beta, the game is now available in several languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese.
Bigpoint also publishes Seafight and Battlestar Galactica Online.
Pirate Storm Gameplay Screenshot
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Anchors aweigh! Pirate Storm is going live
· Pirate Storm is being produced in numerous languages
· Enthralling pirate adventure for action MMO fans
Hamburg, 14 February 2012 – As reported by Bigpoint (http://www.bigpoint.com/), one of the leading international providers and developers of online games, "Pirate Storm" (http://www.piratestorm.com/) is now available online across the globe. In "Pirate Storm," players navigate the ocean as dreaded pirates, and fight adversaries, monsters and fiends in the battle for fame and glory. After a successful test phase in specific markets, the action-packed MMO can now be played worldwide in languages including, but not limited to: Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish and Polish.
In addition to the classic "Seafight," Bigpoint is now happy to present "Pirate Storm" – yet another dynamic pirate game that can be played for free directly in your browser.
"Pirate Storm" is a more contemporary version of one of our favorite game concepts," said Marco Matz, Executive Producer, Bigpoint. "Complete with gripping duels on the high seas, 'Pirate Storm' is an exciting addition to our portfolio that is aimed at pleasing the many players who really enjoy playing pirate-themed games."
"Pirate Storm" is also intended for beginners by offering uncomplicated game entry and an enthralling introduction into the world of buccaneers. Alone or with other pirates in their guild, players must face monsters from the darkest depths of the ocean and greedy, enemy pirates. Players must give their all – because waiting for them at the end of this Flash game's challenging missions is legendary treasure … or death!
Pirate Storm is internationally available as of now in over 24 languages. Click here to play for free http://www.piratestorm.com.
Today, a new update arrives in Rusty Hearts, along with a new playable avatar.
Requiem introduces a host of new content through a new quest hub. There are four new story dungeons – Opera House, Catwalks, Gallery, and Ramparts – and three new training dungeons that revolve around challenges – Room of Chaos, Maze Garden, and Forgotten City. In these new areas, players can discover new weapons, including Bone Weapons found exclusively in Forgotten City. Finally, the Altar is now available, Rusty Hearts’ first raid dungeon.
Also new in the Cash Shop is the Roselle Vergerious avatar, based on Frantz’s skills and weapons.
Rusty Hearts is published by Perfect World Entertainment, which also publishes Forsaken World and Jade Dynasty.
Rusty Hearts: Requiem Launch Trailer
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After weeks of anticipation the Requiem update is finally here! There's no time to waste, get a quick summary of what's new below and hit some dungeons. Be sure to also check out all the sales and promotions we are running in celebration of the update!
What's new in Requiem:
New Playable Avatar/Character- Swing by the Cash Shop and purchase your Roselle Vergerious avatar. Her skills and attacks are based on Frantz and are deadlier than ever.
New Story Dungeons
Opera House- Robust acoustics, perfect sound insulation and throngs of minions, the Opera House is the first dungeon available as you enter the Training Camp and it'll having you screaming in falsetto. Welcome to Cirque De La Mort, or Circus of Death. The clowns, marionettes and vocalists residing in this abandoned Opera House are no laughing matter. Fight your way through a variety of new foes and encounter the graceful thespian boss, Baron.
Catwalks- Think you're too sexy for Catwalks? Think again! The Golden Seal team will have to navigate their way through the dangerous wing of the Opera House and encounter Nobleman, Knights, Bishops and more. Don't think just because you're traversing the catwalks that you'll be stuck in the rafters; rumor has it there is a secret underground lair filled with mysterious and gargantuan monsters.
Gallery- As a haven for art connoisseurs the gallery is known for immaculate and awe inspiring masterpieces. Unfortunately you'll find more than just impressionism, pointillism or cubism in this gallery… Watch out for Eel-lusionists, Templars, Prankers and the egomaniacal dungeon boss, Joker, as you get a massive dose of surrealism.
Ramparts- As a heavily fortified embankment this stone fort stands between you and the fire-breathing bull, Chimera. One does not simply walk in to Ramparts; you will need to brawl your way in to the castle's stone defenses to defeat Gargoyles, Lion Statues, Grave Keepers and Fallen Wizards.
New Hub World Training Camp- New world location for players to continue the story and gain access to new dungeons and quests.
New Training Dungeons- Join the fight and take on these challenge-based dungeons with special rewards including new equipment and crafting materials.-Room of Chaos
-Maze Garden
-Forgotten City
New Weapons
New sets of weapons including the powerful new "Bone Weapons" available exclusively in the new "Forgotten City" training dungeon.
New Raid Dungeons
The Altar- The Altar of Margoras is viral cesspool of dark energy created by the Gatekeeper of chaos and destruction. Face enemies from all dungeons as they plot against you in mass. Hordes of enemies will overwhelm you in an exercise of attrition. Assemble your party as you'll need all the help you can get!Requiem is now live! Load up Rusty Hearts, patch your game and start slaying enemies!
Ignited Games is offering special Valentine’s events in three of its titles.
In Rosh Online, players can collect cocoa, almonds, and milk to combine into chocolate boxes. These boxes can be given to others, and may contain artifacts, experience point boosts, and mounts.
In Wind Slayer 2, players can find and kill Love Bugs to collect chocolate box ingredients. These boxes will include combat abilities like Surfing Dash and Speed Boost potions. Players can also propose to each other and become official couples with special bonuses, or visit the Premium Shop for holiday items.
In DarkEden, chocolates can be found and exchanged for weapons and armor, and five lucky fans will win in-game bonuses through Valentine’s Day Cards.
Rosh Online Gameplay Screenshot
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Love Is in the Air Throughout Ignited Games’ Titles
Collect Chocolates or Get Bit by the Love Bug in Rosh Online, WindSlayer 2 and DarkEden
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Feb. 14, 2012 – Ignited Games is delivering a big gift to all of its sweethearts today with special Valentine’s Day events across all three of its free-to-play online games, Rosh Online, WindSlayer 2 and DarkEden. Players that sign in throughout the events will be showered with gifts, including special items that provide stat-buffs during combat, and will have access to a variety of holiday-themed items in the games’ Premium Shops. New players can fall in love with all three games by visiting Ignited Games official website and downloading each for free.
Special holiday content includes:
Rosh Online: The Return of Karos – Online warriors will collect special ingredients, including cocoa, almonds and milk, as they battle their way across the fantasy world of Asmara, and combine them to create a variety of chocolate boxes to share with a special someone in the game. Each unique box will award a fellow player with bonus items, including mounts and artifacts that provide experience point boosts.
WindSlayer 2 – A swarm of vicious Love Bugs is on the loose and, in classic WindSlayer 2 style, players can slay them to collect ingredients for a variety of chocolate boxes containing special combat abilities including, Surfing Dash and Speed Boost potions. The WindSlayer 2 Premium Shop has been updated with new holiday items, including the limited edition “Purrr-fect Couples” outfit, which provides unique effects for in-game characters. WindSlayer 2 fans also can propose to other players with a special ring and become an official couple in the game, granting special bonuses including additional experience points and speed boosts for their in-game character.
DarkEden – Monsters throughout the Helea region will drop chocolates once defeated. Players can collect and trade in these chocolates for special prizes, including weapons and armor. In addition, five lucky DarkEden fans will win a Valentine’s Day Card that grants in-game bonuses.
War Inc. Battle Zone has launched a new update today, granting some promises after a community event.
The update includes the addition of a new deathmatch map, the Citadel. A 16th century building located in the town of Zemo Zenkari, this map features vantage points and mountains for intense action. The update also introduces a new user interface, a revamp to weapon sounds, and a restructuring of the match-making system to keep players of a similar level together.
War Inc. is published by Arktos Entertainment Group.
War Inc Citadel Screenshots:
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Hey mercs!
The wartorn soldiers of War Inc. Battle Zone have spoken, and Online Warmongers listened. After 10,000 Facebook likes, Online Warmongers is ready to make good on their end of the bargain. Rolling out is a major update to the stunning, AAA, free-to-play shooter experience that is War Inc. Some of the thrilling updates to the stunning War Inc. experience include:
Citadel – A brand new community unlocked deathmatch map, centered on a 16th century citadel in the town of Zemo Zenkari. This vital control point for the mountain highway features close intense combat and a variety of unique vantage points sure to keep soldiers and their comrades team frosty
Strictly structured match-making system, keeping similarly leveled players together
Brand new, engaging user interface
Fully revamped suite of jaw-dropping weapon sounds
Crystal Saga has launched a new update, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
The update introduces the Marriage System, a Valentine’s Quest series and in-game activities. Players can get and exchange Valentine’s Cards for prizes, plant roses for a special bonus and experience, a Mystic Pack for staying logged in for at least five hours, and jump in on a late night sale in the item shop. The update also introduces the Rebirth system for level 80 characters, which lets players reset their level to one while gaining 10 extra skill points and 50 extra attribute points. Servers 4, 5, and 7 will also be merging.
Crystal Saga is published by Reality Squared Games.
Crystal Saga Gameplay Screenshot
Source:
Get Married in Crystal Saga in Newly Added Marriage System for Valentine’s Day!
February 14, 2012 – Reality Squared Games — The leading browser-based MMORPG by Reality Squared Games has officially launched their newest gameplay feature just in time for Valentine’s Day! Players can now get married to their special someone in Crystal Saga’s new Marriage System. A guide can be found here.
Along with the launch of the new Marriage System is the official launch of the Rebirth system which gives players a a reset on their character but gives players new skills and attributes.
More details are as followed:
VALENTINE’S DAY CONTENT UPDATES:
Vidalians of all ages are searching for their “special someone.” This will be a large update scheduled to go live on Friday, February 10th that includes:
Launch of the Marriage System.
Brand new Valentine’s Quest Series.
Valentine’s in-game activities and promotions.
Rebirth:
The wait is over… rebirth is coming to Vidalia! Are you level 80 yet? Rebirth is only available to level 80 characters, but don’t worry there is still time to level-up! Rebirth resets your character’s level to 1, while giving you 10 extra skill points and 50 extra attribute points. Use these extra benefits to become even stronger as you take Vidalia by storm! Race to level 80 before Wednesday, February 15th to secure your place as one of the first reborn Vidalians!
Other events include (and can be found here):
Valentine Quest (event forum thread)
Valentine’s Day Card Exchange – Players level 30+ can receive a random Valentine’s Day Card from the Starglade Quartermaster. Valentine Prize Packs are given to those who receive special cards of a specific type.
Rose of a Holiday – Players level 40+ can receive rose seeds from the Starglade Quartermaster. Plant and collect the roses to collect the seeds to receive something special and additional experience.
Valentine’s Free Lunch – Stayed logged in for 5+ hours and receive a special Mystic Pack.
Crystal Saga Valentine’s Day Blowout! – Ends on February 14th at midnight so hurry up to get you +20% Crystal bonus if you recharge your account.
More events can be found on the facebook page and on the forums. Also, there will be a server merge for servers 4, 5, and 7.
As always, we have a bunch of new activities, promotions and content updates in the works. Stay tuned to our forums, Facebook page and Twitter feed for more info! Visit http://cs.r2games.com for more info!
Dragon Saga has now launched its Valentine’s Day Event for players to share with their sweethearts.
The event, “Trouble in the Cookie Factory,” challenges players to make their way through two different instanced mission maps, and also offers twelve quests, four recipes, costumes, and pets for Valentine’s Day.
Dragon Saga has also extended their Call to Arms event, granting 100% defenses, HP, MP, and experience (plus weapons and armor) to players under level 40 on Channel 1. This extension is in preparation for an upcoming “Jump into the Action” event, which will begin on February 22. This event lets players create a new character on their account that may begin playing at level 40, with a full set of Anukus Armor and a Dark Soul Weapon. Players must have a character above level 40 on their account to qualify for the event.
Dragon Saga is published by Gravity Interactive (WarpPortal), which also publishes Rose Online and Ragnarok Online.
Dragon Saga Gameplay Screenshot
Source:
DRAGON SAGA CELEBRATES VALENTINE'S DAY WHILE PREPARING TO "JUMP INTO THE ACTION"
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (February 14, 2012) –WarpPortal began their Valentine's Day celebration this week, as hints begin to drop of the "Jump into the Action" Event coming soon, for its popular action MMORPG, Dragon Saga.
Players can participate in all the events by downloading the game for free at: https://www.warpportal.com/landing/dragonsaga/registration.aspx.
This year's Valentine's Day Event, Trouble in the Cookie Factory, two gangs have taken over the Cookie Factory and are preventing their world famous chocolate from being made. Players will have to make their way through this cookie factory themed instances and monsters to save the day. This event offers two all new instanced mission maps (F6 & F7), 12 New Quests, 4 New Recipes, New Costumes, and Valentine's themed pets. More details: http://playdragonsaga.com/news/eventsdetail.aspx?id=229
In preparation for the Jump into the Action Event, WarpPortal has also extended their A Call to Arms Event. This event grants a bonus for all users between level 1-40, that play on Channel 1. These Bonuses include:
Physical/Magical Defense +100%,
HP 100%, MP +100%, EXP +100%
Upon Character Creation: 1x +10[Normal] Darksoul weapon & +10 Underground Graveyard armors Top/Bottom
These bonuses will aid players in reaching the level 40 required for the Jump into the Action Event.
More details: http://www.playdragonsaga.com/news/eventsdetail.aspx?id=224
The Jump into the Action Event, coming February 22nd 2012, will allow players to create a new character on their account which begins play at level 40, with a full set of Anukus Armor(Lv32) and Dark Soul Weapon (Lv20~40). This character comes fully equipped and ready for battle. Jump into the Action will give players a chance to experience an all new class at mid-level or recreate their favorite class without having to start from 1. Account must have at least 1 character level 40 or higher during the event period to qualify.
More details to be released 2/15: http://playdragonsaga.com/news/eventsdetail.aspx
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Between DICE taking place last week and Tim Schafer successfully turning to Kickstarter to fund a Double Fine-developed graphic adventure, there has been a lot of talk recently about the role publishers serve in the videogame industry. There is the belief among many people that publishers do little more than stifle innovation, a suggestion Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg takes issue with.
During a panel at DICE, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter made the case that today’s publishing model isn’t good for for the industry. Publishers are opposed to risks and many shy away from bringing out games unlikely to sell millions of units, he said, also adding, “We are getting fewer choices as consumers because financial guys are taking over. Financial guys are making the decisions.”
Research group EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich countered that publishers allow for innovation to be brought to gamers. “Innovation doesn’t occur at the publisher level, but they do put it in front of a mass market so that [the masses] can experience it,” he said. “Your Limbos, Braids, Bastions — those games wouldn’t have been successful without a publisher.”
The latter is a sentiment Hirshberg would likely appreciate. Speaking with Gamasutra, he argued, “I didn’t see the panel, but there are two things. One, we were one of the few publishers that launched a new intellectual property [Skylanders] this year, and not only launched it well, but in the top 10 games of the year. And we launched a fairly ambitious and entrepreneurial digital service for our Call of Duty community that took two years to develop, that there was no proven model for.
“It’s simply a fallacy to say that we’re not innovating, or that we’re not attempting to bring new IP and new ideas to the industry. What we are doing is making those choices very carefully, and focusing on areas where we think we have something unique to contribute, and a real competitive advantage.”
Activision has moved towards supporting fewer titles, but each of those tends to be much bigger than the average game we’ve seen in the past (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, etc.). Hirshberg said this is a result of what gamers are doing, where they “are voluntarily spending more and more time with the games that they love, and that by nature drives you to innovate within those franchises, as opposed to maybe the behavior we saw a few years ago, where people grazed more, and sampled things from many different categories, and moved on. Now you have really long-standing relationships between gamers and the games that they love, and to an extent, we’re responding to that behavior.”
It’s hardly going out on a limb to suggest Activision is smart for having gone in the direction it has given its phenomenal financial success, but I do think it does not deserve to be accused of lacking innovation. Risk averse, sure, and calculating in a way that can be frustrating to a segment of gamers, but a lack of innovation doesn’t seem correct. Skylanders is a hell of an idea and has rightly made the company a great deal of money. Call of Duty Elite is really smart — there exists a market of gamers who buy a game or two year and are clamoring for more Call of Duty content to play until the next one is available. And there are clearly people willing to pay for that content, as evidenced by there being more than 1.5 million paying Elite subscribers (even though many of the franchise’s haters would like to think paying for new content is… foolish, to put it kindly). Even Electronic Arts has admitted on more than one occasion that Activision did well with Elite.
It’s not surprising Activision is accused of this sort of thing; it has undeniably done things to draw the ire of gamers such as refusing to publish low-margin games or those that can’t be “exploited” on an annual basis. It’s one thing to approach publishing in such a manner, and you could argue it is simply good business, but given the way it attempted to block the release of Brutal Legend by filing a lawsuit it’s easy to see why many gamers have an anti-Activision attitude. Even Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, who once famously called Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick a “total prick” (by accident, mind you), seems to still hold somewhat of a grudge even when defending publishers in general.
“I’m not vilifying or saying publishers are evil, or that they’re not doing what they should be doing,” he told IndustryGamers. “It’s just it’s inherent in that set up that they risk a lot of their own money and, therefore, they need to invest in mitigating that risk and there’s a cost or a burden with that risk mitigation that affects development in a negative way. But I don’t think that they’re jerks — well some of them are, the ones that sue us. But, there are great people at the publishers, they’re making a lot of money, they’re doing the right thing for themselves.”
There are other reasons for the anti-Activision sentiment among gamers, namely the way many would argue it ran Guitar Herointo the ground by insisting upon annual retail releases. Even when it was apparent downloadable content could have more than sufficed, boxed products — complete with all the plastic hardware — were released year after year until the band genre had been played out. Some would say the same thing is bound to happen with Call of Duty, although with each new iteration topping the previous year’s sales records, there are no signs of that happening yet.
I do wish Double Fine, for instance, had a choice other than resorting to asking fans for help to fund an adventure game and that a company like Activision would be more willing to back a game which might not have annualized franchise potential. But between Elite and Skylanders, I think it’s hard to claim Activision is completely against innovation — that innovation just needs to have moneymaker potential.
Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/news/op-ed-activision-defends-innovation
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Square Enix hasn’t announced Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for U.S. release yet, but I hope it makes its way west. It’s a stiff challenge for musically challenged people like me, but the adorable visuals and great music combine to make it a fantastic audio-visual experience. That being said, Theatrhythm — or at least the version on display at Tokyo Game Show — isn’t quite ready for prime time.
The problem, unfortunately, is that it’s a just a bit unpolished. That’s to be expected from demos, and I’m happy to give the game the benefit of a doubt. But the things that I love about it also create some minor issues that make it feel a little sloppy and unfinished. Again, demo. I get it.
Let’s start with the music. Theatrhythm is a Final Fantasy music game, and it uses the original game soundtracks. That means when you play tracks from the original Final Fantasy, you’re hearing NES chip tunes. When you play “One Winged Angel,” you’re hearing Final Fantasy’s VII’s compressed samples and cold PCM. That’s cool. The problem, however, is that those tracks were meant to loop, so they don’t have a natural conclusion. And rather than fading down where they would on an original soundtrack compilation, they just fade after an arbitrary amount of time. So that NES theme loops several times, while “One Winged Angel” doesn’t even complete a single cycle. Much as I love the authentic, original renditions of the music, the game would probably work better with arranged versions that end properly and embellish some of the more simplistic older tunes with added variety and improvisation.
Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/previews?cId=3185692
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So, for the Indonesian players currently on the Southeast Asia servers hosted by Cherry Credits, I think it is time to stop spending cash on the top-ups! According to foreign reports, Indonesian online games publisher, PT.Kreon, ha secured the rights for Dragon Nest Indo. The game is expected to go live later this year, with efforts now focused on localizing the content.
It’s funny what a mix of good and bad timing can do for a game. Take Radiant Silvergun, for instance: originally an arcade game and then a relatively limited Japanese Saturn release in 1998, the game became a favorite among the ultra-hardcore, import-happy crowd… assuming they could get the game. Due to its short life on the shelf and the general fervor over its developer Treasure, Silvergun quickly gained triple-digit price tags. Some would suggest that not playing Radiant Silvergun doesn’t make you a real gamer. Well, it’s not that good, but now it’s back and better and easier to get than ever.
Radiant Silvergun is definitely a shooter from 1998. It requires a different kind of skill than today’s arcade shoot-em-ups, where the number one strategy is knowing when to tip-toe between curtains of bullets. Here, enemies are typically small and everywhere, bosses and midbosses are frequent, and they all have tricky patterns that can throw you off if you don’t learn them or don’t kill the boss before they get really tricky. On top of that, the game has an orthodox emphasis on weaponry. You have three basic attack types — vulcan, homing, or spread — that can be combined to make different combinations, like a vulcan cannon that fires from both ends of the ship, or a homing laser that goes for any enemy in your radius. Oh, and a “radiant sword” that you can swing around or use it to absorb certain pink bullets and charge up a super slash. In this version, you can map the combinations to any button you want, but the tower of button icons on the side of the screen when playing can still look a little intimidating. Nevertheless, it’s a feast of firepower.
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Not to be beaten at its own game, TV streaming service Hulu has started airing its first original series to compete with Netflix. The show is called 
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Most users are content to use the default DNS servers run by their ISP, but it turns out that quite a few folks have made the jump to a third-part solution. Google 
We've seen workstations before, and we've seen plenty of all-in-one (AIO) PCs, but according to Hewlett-Packard, there has never been a 27-inch AIO that qualified as a workstation. Until now. HP claims its Z1 Workstation is the world's first to combine both types of systems into a 27-inch form factor, and what's more, the OEM says it's a snap to swap out parts without using any tools, a feature that's few and far between in the AIO sector, but critical if it's to be taken seriously as a workstation.
We have a hard time believing tablet PCs will knock the desktop and notebook markets out cold, but that doesn't mean these portable slabs of hardware aren't ultra-popular. They're so popular, in fact, that at least one analyst believes tablet PCs sales will skip way ahead of traditional PC sales in just three years. There is, however, a major caveat
With so much data moving to the cloud these days, OCZ figured the time was right to roll out its Z-Drive R4 CloudServ PCI Express solid storage solution, essentially a massive 16TB solid state drive (SSD) designed to accelerate cloud computing applications and significantly cut down operating costs in the data center, the company explains.
Apple's been harassing Samsung (and others) around the globe, using legislation and intellectual property nuances to suffocate competitive sales and yank Galaxy Tabs off store shelves. Now it's Apple's turn. After a Chinese court ruled that Apple has no right to use the "iPad" name in mainland China because a company called Proview Technology (Shenzhen) holds the trademark, Proview announced they were suing Apple for $1.6 billion in damages. Now, Proview wants a complete iPad import/export ban -- and since all iPads are manufactured in China, an export ban could choke off worldwide supply for the mega-popular tablet.
If your penchant for frequently washing your hands ventures into obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) territory, by all means, you're probably safe to use Android's swipe-to-unlock security feature to keep nosy Nancys from spying your contacts and text messages. But for the rest of us, so-called '"reverse smudge engineering" might be the bane of greasy fingers.
Samsung's mobile DRAM business is at the 
Launch of the Marriage System.
