John Drury

Nuggets of gold in 140 characters or less.

(via TumbleOn)

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Microsoft Senior Director of Product Management Albert Penello called the reveal of the Xbox One "the dark days," when the company didn't present a clear message to customers and it saw a wave of backlash to an all-digital, DRM-tuned console.

"I do feel like we never got a chance to have a rational conversation about what we were trying to do," Penello told Engadget.

When Microsoft revealed the Xbox One, it didn't have consistent answers to basic questions: Was it always on? Would it allow used games? Eventually, Microsoft announced Xbox One would require an internet connection once every day, and that didn't go over so well. Microsoft reversed its DRM features a few weeks later.

"Sometimes the customer just says, 'No. I look at it this way, I'm done, I've made up my mind,'" Penello said. "And we go, well, we've gotta fix it. It's not worth it. And that's where I think we were on the digital stuff. We'll get back to some of the cool stuff, and we have a lot of the cool stuff still in there."

Penello said Microsoft hasn't given up on a fully digital future. "We just think that's the way the future's gonna go," he said. "We may have been right. What we were wrong about was that it's just too soon. People just weren't ready to make that leap right away."

Penello: 'People just weren't ready' for all-digital Xbox One originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Nov 2013 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony has made several tweaks to the PlayStation 4 launch lineup, adding a handful more titles — including indies Trine 2: The Complete Story and Blacklight Retribution — and subtracting others like Tiny Brains and Pinball Arcade that were previously expected to be available alongside the console on Nov. 15.

As of today, players will have access to the following 23 games on launch day:

• Angry Birds Star Wars, Activision
• Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Ubisoft
• Battlefield 4, Electronic Arts
• Blacklight Retribution, Zombie Studios
• Call of Duty: Ghosts, Activison
• Contrast, Compulsion Games
• DC Universe Online, Sony Online Entertainment
• FIFA 14, EA Sports
• Flower, Sony Computer Entertainment WorldWide Studios
• I...

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Steam‘s come a long way since its days as a streetwise tough with nothing to lose glorified Trojan horse building block for Valve’s empire, but it’s far from perfect. Far, far, far, far from it, to be precise in a uselessly vague sort of way. One especially purple, pulsating sore spot? Offline mode, which kind of, well, isn’t. Best case scenario, it requires an Internet connection once every couple weeks, something many players have chalked up to the increasingly unnecessary evil that is DRM. Apparently, however, Valve considers that a kink in the system, and it’s working to let Steam run offline indefinitely.

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With 154 days to go before the actual event, PAX East 2014 is officially sold out. The annual expo is set for April 11-13, 2014, in Boston.

"Sunday passes are gone! We are now entirely out of badges for PAX East 2014," tweeted the official PAX twitter this morning.

So, that's it. We'll see you there if you're going. Actually, wait, did we get our tickets? Yikes! This is all so sudden.

PAX East 2014 sold out originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Nov 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Think back all the way to 1997 and you might recall something called the Big King on the menu at Burger King. It had a lot of thee same fixings as the Big Mac, but it never caught the hearts and stomachs of consumers and was pulled from the menu before it went national, and it lacked the all-important middle bun. Now it’s back from the dead with a few new additions in an effort to put the heat on the Big Mac.

It sure sounds a lot like the Big Mac, what with “two savory fire-grilled beef patties, topped with, melted American cheese, fresh cut iceberg lettuce, crisp onions, crunchy pickles, and featuring a sweet thousand island style dressing, all on a warm, toasted, sesame seed bun.”

But since there’s no trademark on how you assemble a sandwich, accusing Burger King of copy-catting likely won’t trouble consumers much, notes BurgerBusiness.com. After all, Big Boy has been selling a similar double-decker burger since 1937, 30 years before the Big Mac showed up in a Pittsburgh McDonald’s in 1967.

“Consumers care about price, quality and taste, not whether this is like that,” explains BurgerBusiness.com’s Scott Hume. In other words, all the fast food companies are just copying each other anyway, so who cares?

Burger King says the Big King will stay on the menu for good this time, complete with the middle bun that wasn’t there during its first go around.

Both the Big King and Big Mac claim 29g of fat and 10g of saturated fat. The King is slightly lower in calories (510 vs. 550 for the Big Mac), sodium (780 mg vs. 970mg) and total carbohydrates (38g vs. 46g), but some of these numbers could vary wildly depending on just how much sauce is put on any one sandwich.

Burger King claims its old-is-new again sandwich is not the same as a Big Mac because of the hamburgers.

“What makes Big King different than any other burger on the market is the unique fire-grilling,” says chief marketing officer Eric Hirschhorn, in a statement via USA Today.

McDonald’s isn’t taking the bait either, with a spokeswoman saying the company is “focused on our business and our customers.”

However, the McDonalds.com page for the Big Mac now reads “There is only one,” which could easily be understood as a knock against Burger King’s clone.

And in a very odd side note — who knew that Burger King tried to buy Elvis Presley’s former home in Beverly Hills? The offer was rejected, but still. What in the what?

“He is the original “King,” Burger King said of its attempt. So there’s that.

Burger King adds Big King, $1 BBQ Rib [BurgerBusiness.com]
Burger King re-rolls out Big Mac-buster Big King [USA Today]

This is too much, even for Halloween. Proof that the universe hates me, and that entropy affects video games, is the announcement of The 7th Guest 3. I thought the evil of the two previous dreadful games had been safely locked in the 90s, but keep your pets inside, they’ve escaped. You think you remember liking them? You’re forgetting what an idiot you were when you were 20 years younger. These half-arsed petrol station puzzle book puzzles, draped in the dullest FMV since man first drew on cave walls, were a novelty at the time. 7th Guest even predates the ghastly Myst, for dazzling our dumbass eyes with pre-rendered backgrounds and Z-list actors drooling careless dialogue projected over the top. You can fund it via Kickstarter!

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Do ducks prepare for the winter by gathering supplies from nearby retail outlets? No, they don’t, so it’s not really clear why about fifty ducks reportedly wandered into a CVS drugstore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and wouldn’t leave until an employee coaxed them out with popcorn.

Smartfood popcorn, to be precise. In the video, you can see an employee try to herd the animals out with a dry Swiffer, but this was powerless against the flock.

Why did the birds come inside the store? How did they get through the automatic doors, whose sensors are calibrated for people and not for ducks? We may never know.

According to the videographer, the animals left behind no damage: just a few muddy webbed footprints.

THERE WAS AN INCIDENT LAST NIGHT AT CVS [Newsflare]

PlayStation 4 controllers are capable of working on Mac operating systems, as shown in a recent Vine from user Chris Gallizzi.

The short video footage shows the DualShock 4 being used to play Hotline Miami on a Mac. This follows previous confirmation from Sony that basic features of the controller will be compatible with Windows PC, although the company has yet to announce whether it will make any official steps into helping with the compatibility of features like the controller's touchpad.

The DualShock 4 will be available in Jet Black, Magma Red, and Wave Blue colors, with an recommended retail price of $59.99 and can be purchased independently of the console. The PlayStation 4 will release on November 15 in North America and on...

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I am not an overly emotional person, and I love my binge-watching sessions of streaming video wherein I try to catch up to Breaking Bad before the finale so everyone doesn’t ruin it for me (successful, by the way), but something about watching this video explaining video stores to today’s youth, well… It got to me.

It’s a simple tale told by BuzzFeed Yellow, all about the humble video stores we all used to visit when we needed a movie to do what it is that movies do to us.

Part of that movie-watching experience just doesn’t seem the same anymore now that we don’t have to get up and physically go to the video store, driving five miles in the snow just to get there.

“Instead of cycling through a list of movies on demand or typing a movie into a search engine, you’d actually have to walk around with your feet and use your eyeballs to find it,” explains the video. “It could take a while. Especially if you weren’t that great at the alphabet.”

There’s the agony of finding the movie you want has been rented, the ecstasy of discovering someone else has returned it, and the fun of watching a movie all together as a family (once you’d all agreed on something), since it was a time before everyone had screens in their pockets.

And then, you had to take it back — but not before rewinding it or you’d get fined.

“It was a pretty big deal — there were signs.”

Maybe misty eyes just comes with getting older, but this little YouTube vide (which was not rented from a store, either) makes me kind of pine for the old days.

Video Stores Explained To Modern Kids [BuzzFeed Yellow]

It’s no secret that we’re fans of fanning the flames of humor around these parts, especially when it comes to getting down to the nitty gritty of what companies are really about. Which is why we were tickled to see the work of Clif Dickens, which, much like our friend Lisa Hanawalt, cuts right to the heart of what companies should really be saying with their slogans.

Dickens displays his alternate slogans on his Tumbler Honest Slogans, where he’s got page upon page of giggle-worthy graphics.

He was kind enough to share a few of his favorites (scroll down) and we added a few that elicited snorts, titters and bubbles of glee from us.

“I like ones that are clever enough for people that know the product to get, yet may in fact be lost on others that don’t know the product or brand,” Dickens tells Consumerist.

1. Pepsi (see above): One of Dickens’ favorites, he says: “I always found it hilarious when I would go to a restaurant, ask for a Coke, and the waitress/waiter would say, ‘Is Pepsi okay?’ It seemed to me that Coca-Cola was (and always will be) the more-favored soft drink.

2. Capri Sun: Another Dickens favorite — “I can almost guarantee that everybody that has had a Capri Sun has accidentally poked a hole through the entire pouch at least once in their lives.”

3. Hot Pockets: We’ve all been there, right? Another of the artist’s favorites.

4. Ticketmaster: Uh-huh, that sounds about right.

5. Best Buy: Showrooming, anyone?

6. Yellow Pages: It’s so true. SO TRUE.

7. Cap’n Crunch: Whether he’s a captain or not, this is a common experience.

8. Adobe: I swear, this is the only thing Adobe has ever said to me.

9. Kmart: As Dickens says, this one might seem harsh, “But I bet even THEY are surprised they are still around!”

10. Nyquil: Sweet, sweet oblivion.

11. Fedex: Yup.

Want more? Check out HonestSlogans.com and keep your eyes peeled for new additions — Dickens says he doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.

*Thanks to Steve for the tip!

The first half of BioShock Infinite's story-driven add-on content, Burial at Sea — Episode 1, will launch on Nov. 12 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC, Irrational Games announced today.

BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode 1 will be available through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace and Steam for $14.99. Players who purchase the $19.99 BioShock Infinite Season Pass will receive both episodes of Burial at Sea as part of the pack. The pass also includes the previously released combat-based Clash in the Clouds DLC, which offers players a handful of new challenges to tackle in the floating city of Columbia.

Burial at Sea — Episode 1 is the second piece of downloadable content for BioShock Infinite, which...

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As Google's search advertising business faces new challenges, it is experimenting with banner ads in search results, despite past promises to users that it would never show such ads.

KFC’s recently launched Go Cup, which combines the thrill of eating fried foods with the exhilaration of being stuck in traffic on the way home, is just the latest from the attention-seeking food-marketers at Yum! Brands who brought you the Double Down, the Doritos tacos, and cheese on donuts. But Stephen Colbert thinks KFC could still make it even more convenient to clog your arteries while clogging the intersection.

On last night’s Colbert Report, the host admitted that KFC’s “new potato-and-poultry Big Gulp… is a good idea, but it could be gooder.”

“Last time I checked, the cup-holder is still an arm’s length away from the ol’ grub chute,” continued Colbert, “and it’s not like you can put the Go Cup between your legs because that’s where the tub of Ben & Jerry’s goes.”

Colbert then generously suggested what he believes is an improvement on the Go Cup — the Wheel Meat, “A one-piece, circular macro-nugget that mounts snugly onto your steering column.”

No more reaching for that snack while you’re enjoying your evening commute. It’s right there in your hands, along with sauces that automatically coat the Wheel Meat as you steer. You don’t even need to take your hands off the steering wheel, as you can just lean forward and chow down directly on the Wheel Meat.

Of course, reminds Colbert, safety first: “Remember, it’s hands at 10 and 2, mouth at 12.”

[via Eater]

Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut is launching for Windows PC and Mac later this month after Sony's decision to lift its exclusivity deal on the content early, according to a series of tweets from developer Jasper Bryne.

Lone Survivor initially launched for Windows PC and Mac last year, with a Director's Cut version featuring additional content hitting PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita just last month. Tweets from Bryne late yesterday reveal Sony had an exclusivity deal on the content, which would see it solely on Sony's platforms for two months. But according to Bryne, Sony is allowing the content to launch on other platforms about a month early.

massive thanks to @curvestudios, @shahidkamal + Sony for letting me put the PC...

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The PS4 will allow players to use their real names online at launch, Sony confirmed to Kotaku. This is an option that isn't available to Xbox One players, at least not in that console's launch window. Microsoft said its lack of real-name support stems from the need to prioritize certain features.

In March, Sony showed off the PS4's ID system, which grants each player two identities: a player handle and a real name. Real names are pulled from Facebook and accessible via name search, but as a default, PS4 won't display a player's true name.

Rejoice, 420brobawlsxxx, also known as Barnaby Chester Jones III.

PS4 allows real names online at launch originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Registration for PAX East 2014 badges will begin tomorrow, Oct. 23, on the Penny Arcade Expo website, the convention's organizers announced today.

According to the PAX Twitter account, interested parties should start checking the PAX site as of noon ET tomorrow. In a few follow-up tweets, the organizers noted that three-day badges for PAX East 2013 (photo above) sold out within one day when they went on sale last October, although single-day badges remained available for months. In addition, the organizers confirmed that hotel registration for PAX East 2014 will also go live tomorrow, at the same time as the badges themselves.

Asked why they tweeted a heads-up about registration — something they had not done in the past — the...

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The New York Senate Select Committee on Science, Technology, Incubation and Entrepreneurship is headed to the Rochester Institute of Technology Tuesday to learn more about the video game industry, according to the state senate's official site.

The committee will hold roundtable called "Growing Computer and Video Game Development in New York" from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity. The goal of the discussion, which will be open to the public, is to learn how to attract those in the industry to the state.

Members of the committee met last month with the CEO of Take-Two Strauss Zelnick, executive producer of MTV Digital Tom Akel and co-president of Games for Change Asi Burak at the...

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The latest project by master swordsmith Tony Swatton, a veteran propmaker for television and film, is the hidden blade sported by Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag — and making the weapon a functional piece takes a lot more elbow grease than you'd think.

In the above episode of Swatton's show Man At Arms, the swordsmith replicates the iconic spring-loaded hidden blade through a long process of firing, grinding and polishing. Swatton notes that he previously worked on weapons for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Master and Commander, making the famous and favored blade of the Assassin's Creed series an easy challenge.

Swatton even mounts the blade on a bracer that looks as though it was pulled right out of the...

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Amazon.com has BioShock Infinite (PC Digital Download) for $9.99.

 

Linky.

 

Note: Game activates via Steam client

The Nintendo 3DS bundle featuring a Zelda-themed 3DS XL and a copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds may be on its way to the U.S., if a leaked Black Friday ad for GameStop is anything to go by.

As seen on BFAds.net, the purported GameStop circular includes a listing for the bundle, which Nintendo has thus far announced only for Europe. The company will launch the bundle alongside A Link Between Worlds on Nov. 22 for £199.99 in the U.K.; according to the Black Friday ad, it will cost $219.99 in America.

We've reached out to GameStop and Nintendo for more details, and will update this article with any information we receive.

Update: GameStop representatives confirmed to Polygon over the phone that the leaked ad is...

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Double Fine does not, cannot, will not stop. Not for me, not for you, not for Death (which is why we’ll probably never see another Grim Fandango). Recently, we’ve seen the international house of chuckles both branch out from and return to its roots in Massive Chalice and Broken Age, respectively, but let’s not forget about Amnesia Fortnight. Last year, Tim Schafer and co teamed up with Humble Bundle to let players vote on prototypes, essentially deciding which games would win a golden ticket into full-scale development. Spacebase DF-9 is set to be the first fruit of those labors, and what a delectable thing it’s looking to be. Think Dwarf Fortress, but (for now) a bit simpler, far easier to parse, and in space. Oh, and it should be on Steam Early Access riiiight abouuuut… now. Video walkthrough with project lead JP LeBreton, interview, and more below. 

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Cellar Door Games' action platformer Rogue Legacy is now available on both Linux and Mac, the studio announced today.

As detailed in Patch 1.1.0, users who previously purchased the game on Steam access to the title for free via Steam Play support, as well as bringing a number of changes to the game. This includes the ability to save between three save game profiles, alongside a huge list of bug fixes.

The game's availability on Mac and Linux follows its Windows PC release earlier in June 2013.

At its initial launch, the game received a 9 out of 10 from Polygon in a review that states: "No matter how many times I died, I was immediately pulled back in by the promise of more powerful weapons, shinier armor and game-changing skills -...

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Sony Computer Entertainment started offering pre-orders for two digital PlayStation 4 titles today, Knack and Warframe.

Both downloadable games are currently available for pre-order on the Sony Entertainment Network store and PSN, which can be accessed via the PlayStation 3. Sony announced on Twitter that Knackand Warframe are the first two pre-order offerings, with more PS4 titles being made available in the coming weeks.

Knack is priced at $59.99 and Warframe is being offered for free.

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