firehoselol
God of War: Ascension includes King Leonidas DLC with GameStop pre-order originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
firehoseALL MY FAVORITE MECHS MECHS MECHS MECHS
By John Walker on March 6th, 2013 at 12:00 pm.
MechWarrior Online BZZZZZTT –MAJOR UPDATE– Juggada-guggada-beeeeeooooooooooo. I speak fluent Giant Robot. The freebie stompy robots game has just added another new batch of content, which includes yet another mech to charge about in, and a tutorial zone called Testing Grounds.
Testing Grounds is a practice area, where you’re not risking bots in the arenas proper, letting you get familiar with it all without losing bits and pride. So if you were hesitant about early play seeing you on the bottom of public scoreboards, you can put aside your shame and rehearse a-plenty.
Also new in this patch are Savior Kills and Defensive Kills. The former is… oh, blimey, I’ll let them say it:
“Savior Kills give rewards upon killing an enemy Mech, if an enemy who had been attacking a teammate who has a critical component that is 50 percent health or lower within the last 10 seconds you will be awarded 7500CBills, and 150XP.”
Yeah, that. Defensive Kills are slightly less confusing:
“Defensive Kills rewards for killing an enemy Mech if that enemy was currently capping a base, anyone who had attacked the capturing mech within the last 10 seconds will be awarded 7500CBills, and 150XP.”
There are improvements for players suffering with latency issues, new pretty colours for dressing up your massive killer dolls, and indeed a new killer doll to play with: the Hero Mech, Cicada. He goes 133kph forward, 90kph backward! But actually that’s only 83mph and 56mph backward, so you know. Tricksy Canadians. Here’s a little film introducing this new chap.
Are you stamping your way about in this one?
firehose"All the thrills of a shooting game, none of the misanthropy."
By Alec Meer on March 6th, 2013 at 1:00 pm.
Once upon a time, flight simulators were the single most exciting aspect of PC gaming. First-person perspectives were the bleeding edge of software entertainment and, at that point, sticking a gun in that first person-perspective had yet to achieve the total dominance it has now. (A first-person perspective never was the only way to play a flight sim, of course, but at the time it seemed like the most thrilling one, as the skies and clouds hurtled across peripheral vision, the ground loomed and zoomed dangerously into sight and rival planes threatened to fly directly into our eyeballs.)
I thought, even post-Wolfenstein, that flying a pretend aeroplane was the single most exciting concept I’d ever heard of. Apart from flying a real aeroplane, anyway.
A flight sim didn’t have to mean what the phrase usually entails now, and the genre hadn’t been dominated and imprisoned by a steely-gazed few who demanded ultimate simulation at the expense of escapism or fantasy-fulfillment.
While today I might shy from them, then I sought out flight sims because they were exciting, because they were wild and fantastical, not because they promised to faithfully recreate every last dial and lever. I thought the future was neither Doom or X-Plane: I thought it was Stunt Island.
The games-as-action-movie concept was, to me at least, not yet defined by the gun. It was defined by impossible, spectacular heroics – loop-the-loops around the Golden Gate bridge, plucking an escaped prisoner from the roof of Alcatraz, landing in the centre of a castle, nose-diving into the pyramids… In a pre-YouTube age, I could also ‘film’ and edit these polygonal tales of derring-do, reliving my own accomplishments without the need for a pop-up icon and some arbitrary reward of points to tell me that I’d done well.
This is perhaps to presuppose I was adept at Stunt Island. I most certainly was not. It was the near-death experiences which merited such treatment, not the achievement of cold, technical perfection. A nose dive recovered from, panicked steadying after a wing clipped on a skyscraper, a high-speed hurtle through a giant barn which missed fatal collision by mere millimetres: these are forever-memories, not the short-term pride of a perfectly-executed real-time flight from Stevenage to Orlando.
There is and always was a place for those too, and I do not deem them bad or unwelcome in any way: I simply wish that they’d not become a wholesale replacement for the adrenalised, tongue-in-proto-3D-cheek future which Stunt Island seemed to promise. It was a game by Disney in a way which seemed to make perfect sense then and now both – the very concept of Disney rather than the Epic Mickey-style license-milking of Disney.
All the thrills of a shooting game, none of the misanthropy. It was even a game I could play with my dad – granted, he was constantly admonishing me for my impatience and ineptitude, but at least his face wasn’t a mask of barely-concealed horror as bits of chopped man flew at the screen. And, at the end of the game-day, I wouldn’t simply click an Exit button – I would leave the set and head home, departing the island on a private ferry while I ruminated happily upon all that I had done, all the stunts I had pulled off, all the planes I had crashed, all the amazing micro-movies I had directed. It was always sunset.
It was always sunset, and it was always beautiful. It was always a fantasy, and unashamed to admit it.
No more.
Zeno Clash 2 slugs plenty of skulls in this gameplay trailer originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
In an interview with Palm Beach Illustrated, actress Carrie Fisher said that she will be returning to Star Wars to reprise her role as Princess Leia for the new series of films.
Disney is going to continue the Star Wars saga, producing movies set to hit theaters starting in 2015. Can you confirm whether you’ll reprise the role of Princess Leia?
Yes.
What do you think Princess Leia is like today?
Elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home [laughs].
I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle.
And still wearing the bagel buns?
The bagel buns and the bikini, because probably she has sundowners syndrome. At sundown, she thinks that she’s 20-something. And she puts it on and gets institutionalized.
image by David Daring
via io9
Magician Rahat Hussein has taken his previously posted “Drive Thru Invisible Driver Pranks” (part 2) to the next level with help from a creepy little Chucky doll from the Child’s Play film series. He surprises unsuspecting fast food drive-thru employees by pulling up to their window in a car with the doll as the driver. Rahat stays out of sight by hiding underneath a fake car seat cushion, which is behind the doll.
Square Enix trademarked and registered domains for something called 'Deus Ex: The Fall' this week, adding to the speculation of what's up next for the franchise. Meanwhile, it's emerged Deus Ex: Human Defiance, which the publisher trademarked last week, is likely the name of the film in production; after associated domains were registered by CBS Films.Deus Ex: The Fall trademarked, while Human Defiance points toward film originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
firehosestill fascinated by this whole thing. kickstarted setting licensed for kickstarted followup to a daceds-old game before the setting is even released. and that's before you factor in monte cook
'Torment: Tides of Numenera' is inXile's new Kickstarter originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mila Kunis learns about “lad bombs” and football from nervous, unorthodox interviewer Chris Stark, and even finds a little time to discuss her latest movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful in this interview from the Scott Mills show on BBC Radio 1.
via Gawker
At the J.P. Morgan Aviation, Transportation & Defense Conference, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger hinted that the airline may offer free in-flight Wi-Fi for more than just the first thirty A320 aircraft on which it is installed, Skift reports.
“In essence, the entire aircraft will have the enjoyment of Wi-Fi should they decide to participate with the product, which we announced would be free for the first 30 aircraft that we install across the A320 fleet. And we’re evaluating pricing into the future, including keeping it free, and so we’ll see how that plays out.
image by Anthony92931 via Wikimedia Commons
via Todd Lappin
that guy’s phone in the first panel became more high tech in tony stark’s presence
Unstable Matter: An art installation of thousands of ball bearings on a wobbling table. To me, it’s part rain machine, and part homage to entropy, with periods of near stability dominated by the crashing rain of randomness.
(via Colossal)
On harvesting the fruit of freedom of thought.
“Writers do not merely reflect and interpret life, they inform and shape life,” E. B. White wrote of the role and responsibility of the writer.
In The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (public library) — the anthology that gave us The Great Explainer’s insights on the role of scientific culture in modern society, titled after the famous film of the same name — Richard Feynman adds to history’s famous definitions of science and considers the responsibility of the scientist as just about the polar opposite: to be continuously informed and shaped by life, free of the despotism of opinion and the addiction to rectitude.
Speaking to the notion that “every child is a scientist,” Feynman champions the true responsibility of science education — a responsibility and purpose sadly belied by the current education system — and argues:
When we read about this in the newspaper, it says, ‘The scientist says that this discovery may have importance in the cure of cancer.’ The paper is only interested in the use of the idea, not the idea itself. Hardly anyone can understand the importance of an idea, it is so remarkable. Except that, possibly, some children catch on. And when a child catches on to an idea like that, we have a scientist. These ideas do filter down (in spite of all the conversation about TV replacing thinking), and lots of kids get the spirit — and when they have the spirit you have a scientist. It’s too late for them to get the spirit when they are in our universities, so we must attempt to explain these ideas to children.
He then moves on to the broader role of science as a cultural force. The idea that ignorance is central to science — as well as film, media, and design — is an enduring theme, but Feynman lives up to his reputation and articulates it more beautifully and eloquently than anyone:
The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darn sure of what the result is going to be, he is in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize the ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty– some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain.
Echoing Rilke’s counsel to “live the questions,” Feynman traces the roots of science to the vital anti-authoritarianism of brave minds like Galileo and reminds us:
Now, we scientists … take it for granted that it is perfectly consistent to be unsure — that it is possible to live and not know. But I don’t know whether everyone realizes that this is true. Our freedom to doubt was born of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle. Permit us to question — to doubt, that’s all — not to be sure. And I think it is important that we do not forget the importance of this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained. Here lies a responsibility to society.
With his signature blend of graceful language and uncompromising conviction, Feynman echoes Bertrand Russell’s contention that “without science, democracy is impossible” and aims at the bullseye of the scientist’s responsibility:
We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. There are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions and pass them on. It is our responsibility to leave the men of the future a free hand. In the impetuous youth of humanity, we can make grave errors that can stunt our growth for a long time. This we will do if we say we have the answers now, so young and ignorant; if we suppress all discussion, all criticism, saying, ‘This is it, boys, man is saved!’ and thus doom man for a long time to the chains of authority, confined to the limits of our present imagination. It has been done so many times before.
It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress and great value of a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress that is the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom, to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed, and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations.
Pair with Feynman’s timeless commencement address on integrity and Stuart Firestein’s fantastic Ignorance: How It Drives Science, one of the best science books of 2012.
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firehoseshadowrannnnnn
BodyCom™ Technology provides a secure communication channel using the human body:
Microchip’s BodyCom™ Technology is a short-range, low-data-rate communication solution for securely connecting to a wide range of wireless applications. Activated by capacitively coupling to the human body, the system communicates bidirectionally between a centralized controller and one or more wireless mobile units. Intra-body communication occurs utilizing the human body as the transmission medium.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
firehosereminder that this happened and that David Tennant is fucking weird as hell
The latest issue of Famitsu purportedly reports that a new entry for cult hookshot-based platformer series Umihara Kawase will release to 3DS in Japan this summer. Members from the original team are said to be working on this, which is great to hear since fans took issue with their absence from the recent PSP game’s development (and its buggy physics).
I should mention it’s unlikely this will ever release to the West, seeing as none of the previous releases ever left Japan. It’s a shame considering the 3DS’s region-locking and the possibility that this might be the last Umihara Kawase (going by its title, at least).
The GIFs above, by the way, come from the Super Famicom release, and were ripped by Yakuza Dryclean.
BUY Umihara Kawase games (DS import is region-free)
firehoselg: your mom joke at 0:50
This battered Mazda RX-7 may look like a Mad Max prop car, but it is actually a DIY rat rod built by 21-year old Corbin Goodwin of Los Angeles. Goodwin spent two years and $13,000 customizing the car in his parents driveway (he describes the build process over at RX7Club.com). The car has a monstrous Ford V8 wedged under the hood, as well as a host of improvised modifications including a wooden front spoiler. Matt Farah of Drive took the car for a test drive found it both quick and “sketchy.” Goodwin has reportedly sold the car to a San Francisco buyer for $10,000 in order to finance another DIY car project.
via Nate Bolt
Art Game is a simple browser game from designer Pippin Barr that allows users to create art out of classic games. Players can choose between painter Cicero Sassoon, who paints with Snake, and sculptor Alexandra Tetanov, who sculpts with Tetris. The game also has a two player mode, in which players create a video by cooperatively playing Spacewar. Barr told Gamasutra that the game wasn’t intended as a direct commentary on the rising trend of art games. “The idea of going out of my way to make a self-proclaimed ‘art game’ seemed a funny approach to the idea,” Barr said. “I don’t know how many of the ‘real’ art game makers are sitting there thinking ‘this is an art game’, or ‘I am making an art game,’ so I kind of wanted to go right at it.” Instead, he wanted to give players the “feeling of making something, giving it a name, and putting it in front of other people to see what they think.”
via IndieGames
firehose"Keen also worked on Far Cry 3 as a writer"
"rumored to be working on a new entry in the Need for Speed series"
not boding well for Watch Dogs
Jamie Keen, lead game designer on Ubisoft's upcoming open-world action game, Watch Dogs, is rumored to have left the company. According to his altered LinkedIn profile (pictured below), Keen has taken a new position with EA at Ghost Games, the Gothenburg, Sweden studio rumored to be working on a new entry in the Need for Speed series.Continue reading Rumor: Watch Dogs designer leaves Ubisoft, heads back to EA
Rumor: Watch Dogs designer leaves Ubisoft, heads back to EA originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
