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Tag: Gaming

EA Offers “Something For Your Trouble”

Posted by JenThorpe at 10:25 PM on March 8, 2013

EA LogoSimCity has been mentioned quite a bit in blogs, news articles, and various forms of social media recently – for all the wrong reasons. EA, the makers of the game, have done an excellent job of finding ways to frustrate potential players. I haven’t seen this much complaining about a game since the launch of Diablo III (which didn’t have nearly as many problems as SimCity has).

The situation is a quick study in how to completely alienate your customers. Create a game that requires you to be online in order to play it, and there will be people who loudly voice their opinion that they want to be able to play the game without having to connect to the internet. You know, like they could with previous versions of SimCity.

Follow that with serious server instability issues, and you will quickly frustrate the players that were willing to play the game online. The longer this goes on, unfixed, the more frustrated and angry players are going to get. Eventually, people got fed up and tried to return the game, only to learn that EA was refusing to accept any returns on SimCity. Its an effective way to decimate the amount of customers who once were loyal to EA, as well as to discourage new players from considering the purchase of one of their games.

Today, it appears that EA has become aware of the negative publicity regarding SimCity that is spiraling across the internet. The company will be offering “something for your trouble”. EA is offering a free PC download game from the EA portfolio as a peace offering. Their blog says:

And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.

The question is, will this freebie be enough to encourage frustrated gamers to stick with EA (and potentially buy another game from them, someday)? Is it enough to make you decide to “hang in there” as SimCity gets updated throughout the weekend?

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Posted in Gaming, PC

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Monster MVP Carbon headphones

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 7:33 AM on March 4, 2013

monster logoMonster is known for its audio cables, but the company produces other products as well. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show Product Manager Elbert Lee dropped by TPN to talk a bit about it.

The company has partnered with Electronic Arts (EA), the popular game manufacturer. Monster is producing new high-end caming headphones like the MVP Carbon, which is EA-branded and powered by Monster. The new headphones come in both black and white colors and are for more than just gaming — you can easily use it for Skype, Music and more. The MVP Carbon is even so flexible that it can be folded up. The cable and mic are also removable. It has debuted at $269 retail.

Interview by Nick DiMeo of F5 Live and Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine

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Posted in audio, ces, Gaming

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Able Planet Gamer’s Choice

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 9:30 AM on March 1, 2013

able Able Planet winner of several awards over the years for their Linx Audio Technology showed off their new gaming headphones at CES 2013 the Gamers’ Choice. Linx Audio Technology enables you to hear frequencies you can’t hear normally or with other technology. It splits the signal in to three tone harmonics . This technology enhances sound quality and clarity, reduces distortion and because it is an analog technology it also reduces interference from other digital devices.

The new gaming headphone with the Linx Audio Technology comes in eight colors. It has an adjustable headphone strap. You can easily move the microphone to the position you want. It also has an inline volume control, The headphones come with several adapters so you can use them with portable gaming devices, laptops and an Xbox. One headphone for all your gaming needs. The adapter for the laptop is also a must for podcasters with older laptops it will turn your audio into 16 bits and reduce the hissing sound. For more information about these headphones, lynx technology and other Able Planet products visit the Able Planet website

Interview by Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine, and Interview by Nick DiMeo of F5 Live.

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Posted in Gadgets, Gaming, Gear, Information, Special Media

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Phenomenal D-Link Wireless Gaming Router at CES

Posted by Andrew at 1:01 AM on January 7, 2013

D-Link LogoAt CES today, D-Link will announce a phenomenal wireless gaming router that will support data transfer speeds in excess of 1 Gb/s by combining 11ac and 11n technologies in a single router.

DGL-5500 D-Link Gaming RouterThe D-Link Gaming Router (DGL-5500) uses Qualcomm’s StreamBoost technology offering Gigabit wireless speeds for fast gaming and HD video streaming to multiple devices. The phenomenal wireless speeds of up to 1.3 Gb/s are achieved by aggregating both 11ac and 11n wireless technologies. Using both, 11ac can deliver up to 867 Mb/s and 11n, 450 Mb/s, which when taken together gives the 1.3 Gb/s. In addition to wireless connectivity, the router has four wired Gigabit ports. Obviously the receiving devices will need to support the same standards and there will be data overheads but it’s still amazingly fast.

And it looks pretty cool too.

“The Gaming Router represents the ultimate in home network speed and control, offering the ability to fine-tune bandwidth to deliver the high-performance hungry gamers crave,” said Daniel Kelley, Associate Vice President of Marketing at D-Link Systems. “Through the unique Qualcomm StreamBoost technology, this router intelligently optimizes a home network for the games you want when you want, making lag time, buffering and failed downloads a thing of the past. With the new Gaming Router, play against real opponents live, any time day or night, for unparalleled multi-player combat performance and first-person shooting experiences online.”

The DGL-5500 will be available from late spring with pricing to be announced.

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Posted in ces, Gaming, Network, wireless

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Space Invaders

Posted by Andrew at 5:30 PM on November 29, 2012

Wind up Space InvadersSpace Invaders marched into the arcades in 1978, making the pixellated alien an instant classic, daa-da-ing his way backwards and forwards across the screen. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, Space Invaders brought video games to a worldwide audience.

The National Media Museum in Bradford, England, is offering a range of Space Invader-themed novelty items that would make great stocking fillers for old and young geeks alike. There’s an ice cube tray full of Space Invaders (£6), a Space Invaders-themed iPhone cover (£6), a pocket Space Invaders game (£8) and a wind-up Space Invader (£8). With the 80s being particular in vogue at the moment, anything Space Invaders is undoubtedly cool.

Space Invader Ice TraySpace Invader iPhone Cover

Somewhat bizarrely, you can’t order these on-line and you have to actually phone up to place an order. It’s probably taking the retro experience a bit too far but there you go. Order from the Museum Shop to beat the Christmas rush on 01274 203448 for our UK readers.

While reviewing the Museum of Media’s website (vainly looking for the on-line store), I also discovered that the Museum has a Videogame Archive, dedicated to consoles long forgotten such as the Nintendo Famicom. There’s also an Internet and Home Computing collection, with several items looking very familiar, including a BBC Microcomputer.

Worth a quick browse on-line or a real-world visit if you are in the neighbourhood.

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Posted in Apple, Gaming, iPhone, Toys

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Elite: Dangerous

Posted by Andrew at 6:56 AM on November 7, 2012

There’s a pretty good chance that if you are a 40+ British geek, the mere mention of “Elite” will roll back the years to hours of gameplay in front of a BBC Model B, flying a wireframe starship around an almost limitless universe. Trading, fighting, arms-dealing, slavery, whatever it took to get respect and the coveted Elite status. Even now, I still feel a small hint of pride in my own Elite achievement, over 20 years later.

Created by David Braben and Ian Bell, Elite was the first 3D game and eeked every last ounce of performance from 8 bit processors and 32 KB of RAM, even less once the OS had taken its share. There were tricks such as making all the objects in the universe concave, which significantly reduced several calculations in techniques such as hidden line removal and despite being largely only in monochrome, it was totally amazing for its day.

The successor to Elite, “Frontier”, never gained the same traction as the original Elite. In some ways it was too big and just wasn’t as immediate as the original Elite.

Returning to the original ethos of Elite, David Braben has launched a Kickstarter campaign for “Elite: Dangerous“ to raise £1.25 million ($2 million) for the development of a new game in the canon, aiming for delivery in March 2014. Elite: Dangerous will be a multi-player game in a massive universe and initially the game will be for the PC, but other platforms will be looked at.

As usual, there are various funding levels, but £20 gets you a copy of the game plus the opportunity to reserve your commander’s name. But if you were looking to get lunch with David Braben at £5000, I’m afraid that all five slots have already been taken.

There’s additional reporting at the BBC.

 

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Posted in Gaming, Geek Culture, PC

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Ouya Has PayPal Problems, Drops Payment Service

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 12:54 PM on September 11, 2012

OUYA Console

Ouya was the darling of the tech news cycle not long ago as they rocketed up the KickStarter charts to (likely) record donations (no real records seem to exist).  If you aren’t familiar, Ouya is a proposed gaming console that will be based on the Android operating system, and is expected to launch in early 2013.  The box has been highly anticipated and netted $8.5 million in donations after looking to solicit only $950,000.

After the KickStarter funding round closed, the console became available for pre-order to those who didn’t donate, but wanted to receive an early edition of the product.  This is where I bought in.  I ordered a device, expected to ship sometime around next April, and threw in a second controller because, after all, what fun would it be if I couldn’t play against my wife, daughter or son?  The price was reasonable – only $139.  I was also assured that I wouldn’t be charged until the thing actually shipped, which is generally standard practice.

Ouya, as it turns out, claims they were misled by PayPal and customers placing a pre-order were actually charged immediately for the console.  While they are issuing apologies, and offers for refunds (which will cancel your order), there really isn’t much else they can do.  An inquiry sent to the company was met with following prompt reply:

Unfortunately, we were misled by our PayPal representative (the main reason we’re no longer working with PayPal).
We understand it’s not cool and, believe us, that’s not how we wanted it to go either.
 
If you’re not comfortable, we can process a cancelation for you. Just let us know.

If you are interested in pre-ordering (even after knowing this) or simply want more information about the new gaming console, then head over to ouya.tv.

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Posted in Android, Gaming

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Plants vs. Zombies Game Review

Posted by Andrew at 1:10 PM on September 4, 2012

PopCapPlants vs. Zombies was one of the first Free App of the Day games in the UK’s Amazon Appstore but if I’d known about it beforehand, I would have paid the full price as it’s a lot of fun and simple to play.

Published by PopCap, the premise is simple: stop hordes of marauding zombies from crossing your lawn by using a variety of vicious plants and vegetables. It’s a simplified riff on “Tower Defense” with the zombies and plants only acting in straight lines.

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There are 50 levels with over 26 kinds of zombie and 49 killer plants. As you’d expect, the more advanced members of the armies of darkness appear in later level as do more evolved plants with greater killing potential. Triffids have nothing on these botanical beauties. The controls are straightforward with tapping on the screen being the only skill required. That and managing your resources of sunshine to grow your plants.

But enough of the dry features…this game is great fun. There’s absolutely nothing like setting up your garden to hurl flaming peas at the undead. The game’s difficulty progresses at the just the right level to keep the player challenged and the introduction of new zombies and complementary plants keeps the death-dealing interesting.  It’s all done with great humour in a cartoon fashion so there’s no blood’n'guts to worry about. And the game’s not complete without the inimicable groaning of “brains”.

According to PopCap’s website, Plants vs. Zombies is available for a multitude of platforms but I was playing on Android tablets. Presumably it was originally designed for smartphones, as some of the graphics aren’t as well-defined as they could be. Looks fine on a 7″ tablet but is more obvious on a 10″.

The game is available from the Amazon Appstore for £2.06 as Plants vs. Zombies doesn’t appear to be sold in Google Play.

Braaaainsssssss.

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Posted in amazon, Android, Gaming, google, Information, smartphone, tablet

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Teen Arrested for Trying to Steal Digital Currency

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 12:53 PM on August 13, 2012

It’s one thing to be arrested for trying to rob a convenience store or “knock over” a bank, but Humza Bajwa is facing up to 15 years in prison for trying to steal pretend currency with pretend cash and using a pretend gun.  The bizarre crime took place recently at Fordham University in New York.

Allegedly students David Emani and Jonathan Dokler decided to sell their RuneScape coins for the real money sum of $3,300.  The buyer, Bajwa, initially tried to pay with counterfeit money, but Emani recognized the fake cash.  At that point, Bajwa pulled a fake gun and forced Emani to call Dokler and initiate the transfer.  The gun Bajwa pulled on Emani turned out to be a BB gun, which he held to the victim’s head during the phone call.  Once the transfer was complete Bajwa left the scene, leaving the counterfeit money behind as evidence.

Bajwa has been charged with second degree robbery and grand larceny with a bail set at $20,000.  He faces up to 15 years in jail.  For the record, RuneScape doesn’t endorse selling or trading of the coins and may begin enforcing lifetime bans for those caught doing so.

Source: NY Post

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Posted in Gaming

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KB Covers Keyboard Overlays

Posted by Andrew at 8:57 AM on February 17, 2012

KB Covers offer specialised keyboard covers for Apple Macs and MacBooks. Rather than dust covers, these are keyboard overlays which re-label for foreign languages or show keyboard shortcuts.

KB Cover Keyboard Overlay

A good example for the former is a foreign language student who wishes to use a keyboard with the studied country’s layout and alphabet. Imagine the convenience for students of Arabic or Cyrillic languages. For software packages, the overlays highlight keyboard shortcuts to enhance productivity – it’s much faster to press “alt-f” than it is to use the mouse to select an item from a pull-down menu. All major software is covered – Photoshop, Final Cut, Media Composer, Sibelius, etc.

The overlays are a ultra-thin and made from high quality silicone. There’s a big selection of overlays for different countries and software packages. Prices are in the range $20-$40 and I think they’re great value.

Interview by Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin of SDR News and RV News Net.

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Posted in Apple, ces, Gaming, Gear, Interview, mac, Software, Special Media, travel accessories

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