2
Jun

General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Capcom Has Change of Heart, Majorly Tones Down Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition DRM

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Now this is different. A major publisher decided to cement-shoe its game with practically paralyzing DRM and... no, no, that's not the different part. See, instead of sticking its fingers in its ears, closing its eyes, and blindly charging forward, Capcom actually paid attention to its fans. Other publishers take note: this is how it's done.

"The argument that legitimate users would have a worse experience than pirates was the loudest and most convincing. We certainly don't want that to be the case and that was never our intention," wrote Capcom's Christian Svensson on his blog.

"Shortly after launch (it might even be at launch, but we'll see how submission timing and approval goes) we will roll out a small title update that will completely remove the character limitations for offline mode. That is to say, once you've updated, you will be able to use all 39 characters when not connected to the Internet to practice your combo timings, have some fun with a friend on a laptop, or whatever while offline."

Granted, from the looks of things, you still won't be able to save progress in challenges or settings, but we're checking with Capcom just to be sure. At any rate, it's incredibly encouraging that Capcom heard fans loud and clear the second they piped up – instead of, you know, sweeping the issue under the rug for a solid year like a certain other publisher. So then, we'll definitely be supporting this one at launch – even in spite of the fact that we have the fighting game skills of a used Kleenex that's really bad at fighting games. 

Sony Restores All PSN and Qriocity Services, Error Messages Persist

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 03:06 PM PDT

psnAfter restoring gaming service for PSN recently, Sony has now started a full scale restoration of PSN and Qriocity services. The services should be back online in the Americas, Europe, and Asia today. Although, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea will have to wait a bit longer. The PlayStation store is already poised for return with a collection of new games and demos. But not all is going to plan.

The system seems to be working intermittently in many regions. Users are getting frequent error messages reading "80710D36" when accessing the PlayStation Store. We wouldn't be surprised if this was related to everyone grabbing those free games Sony is offering as an apology. Users will also be getting a free 1 month membership in PlayStation Plus.

On the plus side, more users than ever before know what PlayStation Plus and Qriosity are now. Are you going to be lining up for those freebies, or is your PS3 already on the auction block?

Groupon Files for $750 Million IPO, Still Not Making Money

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 02:42 PM PDT

grouponHot on the heels of the successful LinkedIn IPO, Groupon has filed its S-1 paperwork with the government to have a public offering of its own. The online purveyor of deals is looking to raise $750 million. Can Groupon's 83 million subscribers get it the cash it needs? Its profits certainly won't.

As part of the IPO process, a company has to lay out their financial so potential investors can see what they're getting into. Groupon actually lost $456 million last year, and then went on to lose a further $146 million in the first quarter of 2011. CEO Andrew Mason added a personal letter to the press release to explain why he thinks Groupon is a good investment.

The company has been investing heavily in acquiring new users, Mason said. It's about the long game for him. He continued more generally saying, "We don't measure ourselves in conventional ways." But will the market see it that way? Still, their user base is large, and a fair chunk of users have actually bought a Groupon deal. How do you think this will pan out?

Intel Ships 100 Million Atom Processors

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 12:52 PM PDT

Tech companies tend to get flashy at Computex. Want an example? Fractal froze a computer chassis in a giant block of ice using water from a Swedish river, then shipped the rig – still frozen – all the way to Taipei for the show, just because. Intel's not like that though. It's more of the strong, silent type, the kind of company that lets its numbers do the talking, rather than blocks of ice. Intel's numbers caused a stir at Computex when the company announced it had shipped more than 100 million Atom processors in the last three years.

Intel spent Computex pushing the Atom's versatility and the freedom of choice, at least when they weren't busy patting themselves on the back over the processor's success. Even though netbooks spurred Atom's growth, Intel's focus seems to have shifted to tablet PCs. The company several tablets running on the Atom on display, running a variety of different operating systems. One tablet could even boot into MeeGo, Android and Windows. We'd call that showing off, but the tablet wasn't encased in a shell of Swedish ice, so we're only mildly impressed.

Google Apps To Abandon (Slightly) Older Browsers

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 12:05 PM PDT

Google Apps are awesome. Google Docs is excellent for business and school work, Google Voice lets you check if strangers' refrigerators are running worldwide, and everyone and his one-eyed sister has a Gmail account. As it turns out, Google Apps is so full of unadulterated awesome that a lot of the older Web browsers on the market just can't keep up with all the HTML5 goodness. Rather than bend over backwards to support obsolete software, Google's kicking them to the curb.

"Older browsers just don't have the chops to provide you with the same high-quality experience," Venkat Panchapakesan, Google's VP of Engineering said in a blog post on Wednesday. The official deadline is August 1st; on that day, Google Apps is going to shove Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7 and Safari 3 off the train, leaving the browsers tumbling in the dust as technology speeds by without them. After that, Panchapakesan reports that Google will only support the two most recent versions of the major browsers. When a new version is released, the third-oldest version will be be dropped.

In a nutshell: it's time to upgrade to Firefox 4 if you haven't already, and if you rely on the late-night mathematics of Gmail's beer goggles feature to keep you from drunk-emailing your boss and telling him how much you hate him in the wee hours of the morning, make sure to keep your browser up to date.

Microsoft's Windows 8 Management Angers Manufacturers

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 11:08 AM PDT

After Microsoft's unveiling of Windows 8 at the D9 conference yesterday, we were a little perplexed. One OS for both PCs and mobile devices? Don't manufacturers make hundreds of different variations with gajillions of different configurations for tablets and PCs? How's it going to work? Microsoft's answer: we'll rule the hardware manufacturers with an iron fist. Okay, that was a bit of a paraphrase, but not much of one if industry reports are any indication.

"From day one we've started engineering these systems with a much closer degree of hardware-software integration than ever, and that integration starts with manufacturing and continues all the way through to the final system configuration," ComputerWorld reports Michael Angiulo, the Microsoft vice president in charge of Windows planning, hardware and ecosystem, as saying yesterday.

Huh?

Acer's CEO, Jim Wong, sums it up differently. "They're really controlling the whole thing, the whole process," he told the crowds at Computex earlier this week, a day before the Wall Street Journal ran an article claiming that Microsoft told chip-makers Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to select one hardware manufacturer apiece to work with on Windows tablet development, in order to speed up the process.

"The industry does not belong to Microsoft, and it does not belong to Intel," Wong said. "It belongs to all participants. They cannot make the decision for all of us. That is the problem." Limiting development to certain manufacturers can give those manufacturers a big edge in the ultra-competitive PC market.

We don't know whether it's good for Microsoft to keep Windows 8 close to the chest. Closed development certainly works for Apple, after all, and to be fair, it is their operating system. We can say one thing for certain: Jim Wong's pissed.

Never Forget Anything: 16 Ways to Record, Document and Archive Your Life

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 10:23 AM PDT

Even if you haven't split any atoms or won a reality TV show lately, your life is chock full of things that are important to your personal history. Diplomas, photographs, audio or video recordings, software, cameras, receipts and documents. The stuff that's left behind tells a story of your life. Don't you wish you had some personal memorabilia from your grandparents or your great-grandparents? You know, the normal day to day items that tell a tale of how they spent their time, their money, their vacations and fascinations, which items were important enough to keep, which just turned up randomly in a box. These things serve to make their descendants feel as if they are part of something bigger.  Just think of the ways in which we now catalog, record and archive our lives – Chrome's "Dear Sophie" commercial is a prime example of how modern technology has changed the ways in which we chronicle our lives.

What follows is our take on seventeen ways to get your life archived, in order, and ready to pass on to your kids/nieces/nephews, etc. We're pretty sure there are more than sixteen ways so let us know what we've missed in a comment after the article.

Get Your Stuff Together

After reading the whole article, you'll have an idea of the kinds of things that you've already got that would be a great archival legacy. Some of it is yours,  but other parts might have been supplied by your parents and other relatives. If you've got a box of 8mm film, old negatives, war medals, deeds, wedding certificates and so on, gather them all up and figure out how much work you've got ahead of you. Some families save every bit, bobby, part and parcel from the past while others have pretty slim pickings when it comes to memory bins. Collect what you can and ask around for the rest.  You have to start somewhere, right?

Write/Record/Film Your Own Recollections

When you've got all your items in one place, describe everything you know about each one. Where did it come from? Who had it before you? Tell every detail you can think of, enlisting other members of your family if needed. This will create a kind of family saga that you will add to with your own things. Write it out, tape it or record it on video. Do it now. We'll wait. OK, now we can begin the seventeen step process.

1. Scan Negatives

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For around $100.00, you should be able to pick up a scanner that will scan 35mm negatives and slides as well as full size pictures and documents. If you've got the negatives, scan those instead of the photos themselves, since photos will obviously deteriorate over time.  Canon, HP and Epson each make decent scanners. We've used the HP G4010 with great success. If you have 2 1/4 negs or larger, check out the HP G4050. The HP software works well to make sure you get a good image on average but you can adjust the settings for individual negatives that are under or over exposed.

Numbering the negative sleeves according to scheme you are using to save the images will help you organize the negatives for the future.  Itemize everything, save it all to multiple DVDs and remember to write down everything you know about each picture, most importantly the date the photo was taken as well as who is in each one.  HP has tips here and here for basic techniques. A resolution of 300 or 600 dpi is perfect for 35mm negatives.

2.  Convert 8MM Film to Digital

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If you've got some old home movies, you're in for some fun when you try to digitize them. Bonus points if you've got a projector! Transferring 8 or Super 8 film to digital video involves a good deal of trial and error. If you don't have a whole lot of material, you can project onto a small white piece of cardboard or your old screen, if you still have it. Use your camcorder to capture the image, checking the result on a monitor. What you will have to tweak is the shutter speed of either the film projector or your camcorder, if possible. Getting rid of the flicker is what it's all about.

If you've got lots of material, consider paying someone else to do it. Prices run up from around thirty cents a foot with volume discounts. You might be able to find a basic telecine unit at a thrift store or garage sale. These use a mirror to project the image onto a ground glass screen. Capturing the image from the screen results in a very bright and perfectly square image.  Again, DVD it with as much information as you can. Do a director's commentary by adding an audio track in your editing.

3. Transfer Data from Floppy Disks

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If you've been computing for a number of years, you're sure to have some of your memories on floppies. If you can print your words out, that's great. Scan the pages then use the basic OCR software that's usually included with scanners to read the printed pages. If you've been using PCs since the start, adding a disk drive to your current computer is easy. If you have a Mac in your past, check out Transmac which will read Mac disks on your PC. It's free to use for the first 15 days. If you have other disk formats, check out some of the conversion tools here.

None of these are free but you can try them to see if they can read your files before you buy them. If all else fails, search for support groups for your old computer type. The antique computer community is pretty good about helping people out.

4. Recover Audio from Vinyl Records

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Since vinyl records deteriorate with use, now is a good time to archive both your old and new LPs to digital. With a good turntable and Audacity this is a reasonably straightforward, though time consuming, experience. Pro-Ject and Stanton make good quality USB turntables for under $500 but if you're planning to use your older unit, remember that you need a preamp between the computer and your turntable. 

A quality receiver will work well in lieu of a standalone preamp. You'd use the 'tape out'  to feed directly to your computer. Make sure you ground the turntable to the receiver to eliminate any hum. Set up Audacity to use your line-in as a recording source and monitor the input on your computer speakers or stereo speakers. Make sure you have the correct .dll files for MP3 or AAC conversions. You can adjust the volume and remove some of the scratches in Audacity as well. 

Much has been written about tweaking LPs in Audacity but the main principle is to archive the best quality recording in a lossless format, FLAC for example. Then, if you have to convert the original recording for other uses later on, either for file size or compatibility, you can relax knowing your original is safe. We prefer FLAC which creates a substantially smaller file when compared to a standard WAV file.

5. Archive Your DNA

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There are companies that will create a pretty cool piece of wall art from a graphical representation of your very own DNA, DNA 11 being just one example (althought it'll cost you roughly $200 plus shipping). While you're at it, get a little box and put some of your own DNA sources in it. Hair roots, bits of skin, blood are all good sources for it. Yes, it's gross but your roots may be important to someone down the road. We can envision a DIY kit for DNA retrieval in the near future. The little box of you might become a science experiment for your grandchildren!

6. Sing the Body Electric

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If you've got a double jointed thumb or crooked front teeth, or some other unique physical aspect, take some photos and include a description.  Some of what you record is for fun (green eyes, for example) but you should also let your descendents know if you have any ailments which might affect them. A full medical history would be a great resource but, for now, write or record as much as you can about yourself and your ancestors. Include types of cancers, heart disease, anything that you know. When genetic profiling becomes more mainstream, this information will help your children's children's children. 

7. Convert V.H.S. and Beta

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If you've got family movies on any kind of video tape, start the transfer now, again - before the tape deteriorates. VCRs are disappearing rapidly, as are 8mm and VHS/VHS-C  video camcorders.  One of the quickest and best capture tools is the Diamond One Touch Video Capture unit (which goes for under $50.00).  All you need is the audio/video source and a USB port. Play the tape, record what you want and then edit it with the Ulead software that is included or DIVX/MKV it and make a data DVD. You can also output directly to DVD.  Remember to record dates, places, names and events in a text file that you burn to the DVD.  Once you're finished archiving, you can use the capture unit in lieu of a monitor for retro computing or analog game units, anything that has a composite or S-Video out.

 


 

8. Use Google maps to Plot Your Past

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Where you've lived is part of who you are. Use Google maps and streetview plus the screen capture key to make a record of the residences in your past. Save the jpegs along with dates and descriptions of each crib. Consider this your George-Washington-slept-here moment. Make a map of your common routes and pin point places along the way using Google Street View or Google Images to annotate. Commemorate the pub crawl where you met your wife, or leave the kids a fake map to buried treasure, there are a lot of fun options here.

9. Remember the Wonder Years

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Google maps works to document schools you've attended as well, but scans of report cards and pictures of uniforms or prizes won is striking gold. Remember to put names to faces in class photos as well as any memories you have of those good old days. If you have old school uniforms, hats or jackets, be sure to take pictures of them, too.

See if you can gather up old buddies to recreate old photos of you, or get everyone to write a letter with their favorite memory.

10. Create Your Own Video Autobiography

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Grab your camcorder and wander around your house making sure to highlight important fixtures or rooms as you go. Nothing is better than a live tour of your home, full of descriptions of rooms, additions and items that are memorable.

Once you're done, see if you can edit in some of the old video material that you've captured in previous steps. Take your time and use good camera technique. This will make all the difference for future viewers. Once you've done your own place, consider adding additional locations (with permission). Maybe head over to your relatives' houses and do the same with them. Make it a family event and you'd be surprised at how much fun it can be. Don't wait until you're missing a family member, do it now and reap the benefits of having them always nearby.

11. Make a Mix Tape (on DVD)

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While you've digitized your LPs in a previous step, why not make a DVD that has all of your favorite songs on it? If you can't find the song in your collection, use Freecorder to save it from YouTube or any other online source. Again, a text file which describes why these songs are important to you is a must.

Consider making a couple different playlists to create a chronologically accurate soundtrack to your life. Sure, it's a little High-Fidelity style uber-geekery, but can you imagine the impact photos would have with sound? Just think about looking at a photo of your parents in their heyday, and listening to their favorite tracks – it really puts a context and a feel to the moment.

12. Immortalize Your Work History

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If you've got pay stubs and employment records, scan them and add them to the collection. Details of your job, your wages, letters of recommendation (or…reprimand as it were) as well as addresses of where you worked would be interesting, too.  Some of your jobs may not be around in the future and your recollections will be very interesting for future generations. Throw in your old nametags, training manuals, local advertisements from the business, menus, etc.

13. Commemorate Cars, Bikes and Motorcycles

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Computers and cars are linked, somehow. Those of us who are hardware addicts tend to be car addicts, too. Even if you didn't think to take photos of the cars in your life, check the Internet for pics and save them with written notes about the details. How much did the car cost? What was the gas mileage? Did you name it? Take it to the drive in? Cross country road trip that only got as far as Arizona? Repair bills and mundane things like gas receipts and traffic tickets will make for interesting conversation later on….or maybe you don't want to tell that story about rear ending that cabbie to your kids. 

14. Extra! Extra! Preserve the News!

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Regardless about how you feel about the future of print, the fact remains that much of our local and national history has been captured on the front pages of newspapers. If you've got old newspapers from special days in your past, here's a link to the Smithsonian mag that gives you the tips you need as well as links to archival tissue and folders.

Much of the other material you collect will be on paper, too, so use these tips to preserve important and irreplaceable documents. Think marriage licenses, birth certificates, etc. Scanning all of these things is important, too. Don't forget to digitize as much as you can.

15. Family Tree

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There has been a resurgence in the last decade or so in creating family trees. With online services, such as Family Search, searching for long-lost relatives can be fun and rewarding. Check around to see if any of your relatives have done a family tree in the past then add to it or start your own. Depending on your background, you just might be able to trace your roots back several hundred years or more. Some countries, China for instance, have family records that go back more than five hundred years.

Scientists have recently been able to graph the spread of humanity using Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA, the former is from the father, the latter from the mom. Depending on the details you are interested in discovering, 23andMe will link you up to your genetic past for $99 and a year's subscription at $9 a month. You can get tips on your ancestry as well as your current health risks. Faces of America, on PBS, uses this company for tracing the roots of their guests. Fascinating stuff that will be an invaluable part of your archive.

16. Honor Military Service

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Whether or not you yourself have served in the armed forces, someone in your family almost certainly has. Now is the time to document that history with photos of the uniforms and mementos as well as detailed notes about bases where you or your relatives might have been stationed, countries visited, training, etc.

Creating memorial cases for flags and medals can be valuable time for you, surviving family members, as well as those who have been in the service of their country. Unfortunately, many of these items are still around but don't have any history with them. Often military personnel don't really like to talk about some parts of their past, or cannot. Convincing them to relive what bits and pieces of their service they're able to will go a long way to getting a more complete history of your family's military past. Do what you can, act with respect. Your future relatives will appreciate your efforts.

Final Thoughts

Going back through the past can be a rewarding experience for you and your family. Many of these collections would work well in a stand-alone Powerpoint presentation or a browseable html page. Here's an example of ultimate archiving.   We've given you some ideas but if we've missed something or if you know of a better way to do parts of this, let us know in a comment. We're open to suggestions, criticisms and, of course, praise! 
 

Use Mom's Netflix Login, Go Directly To Jail

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT

Log on to your Mom's Netflix account, get thrown in jail. Sounds silly, right? Not if you live in Tennessee. State lawmakers just passed a bill that makes it illegal to use somebody else's login for a paid Internet service like Netflix or Rhapsody. Did your computer automatically sign in to your buddy's premium Pandora account because he was screwing around on your PC earlier? You just crossed The Man! Say hello to Big Bubba for us.

The measure's being tacked on to Tennessee's existing theft of services legislation, adding "entertainment subscription services" to the list of banned behaviors like stealing cable or gas, the Associated Press reports. The bill allows service providers who feel they're being ripped off to press charges against offending customers and freeloaders alike. The penalty, as it so often is with laws backed by the RIAA, drastically outweighs the crime. Stealing up to $500 worth of services can be punished with an absolutely ridiculous $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail. The penalties only increase from there. Sheer craziness.

Proponents of the bill, including the RIAA, say it was designed to go after college students who pass around their account information in bulk, "but its sponsors acknowledge it could be employed against people who use a friend's or relative's subscription," the AP reports. Awesome.

Browser Extension of the Week: exfm

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 10:10 AM PDT

There's nothing better than discovering music that moves you. Too bad we have to wade through so much crud to find that one aural gem that'll keep us bopping all week long. For those of us sick of  what mainstream joints Amazon or the iTunes Store have to offer, you're going to want to know about the awesomeness that is exfm, our Browser Extension of the Week.

exfm is a browser extension for Chrome that indexes every MP3 file you stumble across during your online adventures. Running in the background as you browse the web, the extension quietly builds a library of music for you to listen to.

Sounds cool, no? Well, it gets cooler. 

To keep that library of yours growing, exfm automatically checks back with pages you've visited previously, adding any new music it finds. If that's not enough for you, the extension also boasts integration with Tumblr, Facebook, Last.fm and Twitter so that you can source music from your friends and the other folks you follow, making for an awesome playlist full of some of the finest free music in the world today.

Throw some slick pre-loaded keyboard shortcuts into the mix, as well as an optional desktop notification every time a new song starts and you've got yourself a musical tour de force that set to go toe-to-toe with just about any other music streaming application on the market today.

Be sure to check back with us again next Thursday for another awesome Browser Extension of the Week.

Check Out iBuyPower's New Laser Case Engraving Service in Action

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 08:47 AM PDT

Do you stand up at the start or end of an intense virtual battle and yell out a battle cry to let other LAN party goers know you're the top dog? If so, you can immortalize your catchphrase on your computer case through iBuyPower's new laser engraving service, provided you're buying a system from the boutique system builder. Other options include customized graphics, or you can upload your own custom design to be etched on the side panel.

"Whether it's our flame scorched Chimera systems, modern Level 10 rigs, or the new Erebus flagship system, our commitment to building the best gaming computers possible extends beyond simply incorporating the latest and greatest components," said Darren Su, Vice President of iBuyPower. "Our computers look the part and the new engraving service provides our customers with truly personalized gaming systems."

Custom graphics need to be in black and white or grayscale and can be up to 1000x1000 pixels, or you can choose from one of five pre-rendered designs. Messages can up to 35 characters, enough to accommodate "Leeeeeeeroy Jenkins!"

The process, as shown above, runs $49 for a custom message and $99 for a custom graphic, whether you choose from one of iBuyPower's designs or upload your own.

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