| E3 2014: Interview with Star Citizen Creator Chris Roberts [Video] Posted: 12 Jun 2014 06:12 PM PDT  An ambitious sci-fi MMO
Star Citizen has been making waves with the unprecedented amount of money it has made from crowdfunding which is currently around $46 million. Maximum PC editor Jimmy Thang was able to interview famed video game designer and Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts about his new IP. Chris Roberts, known for creating Wing Commander, returned to developing games after a long hiatus. In 2011 he started a Kickstarter project for Star Citizen, a new sci-fi trading and combat MMO game, that piqued the interest of gamers and garnered over $2.1 million in Kickstarter backing. From there, interested gamers were able to keep funding the game through the official website. Describing Star Citizen Roberts said, "The game is about space and flying around and you can go anywhere. You can start on a planet, get a mission, buy or sell goods, and get in your ship. Then take off and fly around space." The game will be a persistent MMO with an active AI population and dynamic economy. It will not be a subscription-based MMO, rather it will follow Guild War 2's model of purchasing the game and no other fees. Since the game will feature a lot of ship-to-ship combat Roberts pointed out the Arena Commander Module, a dogfighter simulation within the game, being shown in the background and explained its purpose, "The idea is when you want to test out your skills and everything, you would actually go into your hangar, get into your ship, and start up the simulation. It allows you to fly and test your combat skills without risk of losing your ship." The reason for this simulation, Roberts went on to explain, is because of the nature of Star Citizen, "In the real, full game there's investment in your ship and the hull and the goods. If you lose it, you get tractored back to the nearest planet and then you have to start it again." Star Citizen, which is being developed with high-end PC gaming in mind, is a big undertaking and Roberts is not expecting to fully release it anytime soon. When asked he replied, "It's kind of hard to give a specific date because there is so much stuff happening." Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Teens Demonstrate Easiest Way to Hack an ATM is to RTFM Posted: 12 Jun 2014 11:21 AM PDT  There's no excuse for this kind of lax security
You don't have to be a seasoned hacker to break into an ATM, nor do you need to play with explosives or take other extreme measures. In some cases, thwarting an ATM's security is as easy as reading the flipping manual. That's what a pair of 9th grade students in Canada did. Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon, both 14 years old, 'hacked' an ATM by looking up the unit's user manual online. The ATM in question belongs to the Bank of Montreal. Instructions provided in the online manual showed how to access that model's operator mode, which the teens did. They then took a shot at randomly guessing the ATM's six-digit password and got it right on the first guess. "We thought it would be fun to try, but we were not expecting it to work," Hewlett told Winnipeg Sun. "When it did, it asked for a password." The boys then went to one of BMO's branches and notified them how easy it was to infiltrate the ATM. The person they spoke with shrugged them off at first, saying they'd never be able to get anything out of it. Faced with the challenge, the boys went back to the machine, fired up the operating mode, and printed off documentation showing how much money was in the machine, information regarding withdrawals, and more. They also found a setting to change the surcharge amount, so they changed it to a penny. Finally, the boys changed the greeting from "Welcome to the BMO ATM" to "Go away. This ATM has been hacked." After all this time, the boys were late for school. BMO wrote them a letter on official letterhead that read, "Please excuse Mr. Caleb Turon and Matthew Hewlett for being late during lunch hour due to assisting BMO with security." What this all boils down to is having an incredibly weak password. One could also argue that ATM operator manuals shouldn't be so easy to access online. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Some Charter Customers in St. Louis Report Free Speed Bump to 100Mbps Posted: 12 Jun 2014 10:53 AM PDT  More than three times faster Internet service for no additional cost? Yes, please!
Charter Communications is building up some good will for itself in the St. Louis area, or so it would seem. Several Charter customers report having their base broadband service increased from 30Mbps to 100Mbps this week for free. It's not clear if Charter intends to roll out the same speed upgrade to other parts of the country (a forum users says it's limited to St. Louis), but as far as St. Louis goes, this appears to be a planned speed bump. "Asked an agent about the speed increase in my area from 30Mbps to 100Mbps -- this is only for St. Louis customers and it is happening on June 10th," a DSLReports forum user posted back in May. "I have confirmed the 100Mbps three times. They have been rolling these upgrades out on Tuesday I have seen, so this must be true. We will see in two and a half weeks. So excited." More recently, Nathan Kirsch over at Legit Reviews said he reset his modem on June 10th, and sure enough, his Internet service jumped from 30Mbps to 100Mbps (uploads stayed the same at 4Mbps). "This is a pretty nice increase for free, so if you are in the St. Louis area you might want to power cycle your DOCSIS 3.0 cable model and see if you can get the new 100Mbps service with a speed test," Kirsch says. According to Kirsch, Charter Ultra 100 customers are getting a speed increase to 120Mbps. That's not nearly as exciting as the more than three-times speed bump that base customers are getting, though he also claims that Charter Ultra 100 customers will see more speed improvements as time goes on. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| E3 2014: Check Out KOR FX's Haptic Feedback Suit for Gamers [Video] Posted: 12 Jun 2014 09:47 AM PDT  Feeling some good vibrations in the KOR FX booth at E3
A company out of Cambridge, Massachusetts is trying to raise $75,000 on Kickstarter to fund a gaming vest that offers haptic feedback. The company is KOR FX and its gaming vest uses "4DFX" technology to transform audio coming from your games or media into pinpointed high-definition haptic feedback so that you can feel movements, bullets, explosions, and more. Our tireless Online Managing Editor Jimmy Thang made his way over to KOR FX's booth at E3 to see the vest in person and learn about the technology behind it. KOR FX explains that the vest processes audio into haptic feedback using a proprietary chipset and millions of lines of algorithm that in an instant can figure out what needs to be done and produces "haptic events." All of this feedback occurs on just two spots on the chest. However, it's not a simple rumble pack, the company says. The way it's explained, your brain processes the haptic feedback in the chest internally to create a sense of immersion that goes beyond rumble packs. Have a look: The project has raised a little over $45,000 so far on Kickstarter with 42 days still to do. If you'd like to back it, just go here and issue your pledge. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| E3 2014: Razer CEO Talks Project Christine, New Computer Case, and More [Video] Posted: 12 Jun 2014 09:17 AM PDT  Razer's cutting it up at E3 with plenty of product announcements
You would expect a gaming peripheral maker like Razer to be hyper active during this time of year, and you'd be right. Razer announced a handful of new products during E3, including a new PC case design licensing program and the Nabu Smart Band, which is now shipping to developers. Maximum PC Online Editor Jimmy Thang met up with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tang to talk about these products and more. Tang seemed particularly excited to talk about Nabu, which he points out is a not a fitness band, but a "Smart Band." The intention is to combine the best of a smart watch with a smart band into a single wearable device with a compact form factor. It's capable of streaming from both Android and iOS. You can track your steps, see how many calories you've burned, and more. One unique feature of the Nabu Smart Band is that if you shake hands with someone else that has one, you can both transfer data to each other. As for Project Christine, this is something Razer is still pursuing. At present, the company is talking with major OEMs to try and make this happen. More info on that in the video below: The discussion didn't stop there. Tang talked about getting its design team to work with case manufacturers to launch cases branded as "Designed by Razer." It's essentially a certification program in which Razer will work with case makers who are interested in building custom enclosures with Razer's branding. Have a look: NZXT is first up to bat with the licensing program. Over time, expect other case makers to jump on board. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| E3 2014: A Close Encounter with Alienware's Alpha PC Gaming Console [Video] Posted: 12 Jun 2014 08:47 AM PDT 
It looks like a Steam Machine but runs Windows Valve didn't do its hardware partners any favors by delaying the availability of its in-house developed Steam Controller, which by extension means everyone else has to push back the launch of their respective Steam Machine systems until next year. Bummer, right? Well, yes, but Alienware isn't letting the delay mess up its mojo. Instead, Alienware took its Steam Machine design and ran with a configuration that runs Windows, plus a custom 10-foot UI during boot for accessing music and movies. We took a closer look at the Alienware Alpha Console at E3. The custom UI will also allow gamers to get directly into Steam Big Picture mode, a special mode in Steam that's intended for big screen HDTVs. So even though the Alpha Console is running Windows 8.1, Alienware's goal is to get gamers into Steam Big Picture mode and gaming as quickly as possible. As we previously reported, the Alienware Alpha Console will ship with an Xbox 360 controller. The system will start at $549 and come with an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, and a custom built Nvidia "Maxwell" graphics solution. For gamers with a bigger budget, they can upgrade parts for a higher end configuration. Check out the video below for more information, including whether or not Alienware might make the Xbox 360 controller an optional add-on rather than a standard accessory: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Asus DirectCU II Radeon R9 270X Graphics Card, AMD FX-6300, and More! Posted: 12 Jun 2014 08:28 AM PDT |
