Posts by Glass_Joe

stop this thread

that's the spirit

Haha hold on, let me write it down for you...

But seriously, I'll check.

Remember back in 2001 when that 56k chorus of screeches meant you were connecting to the newfangled internet and you screamed at anyone who would pick up the phone? AOL felt pretty good about the stranglehold they had on the online market then. However, it was released yesterday morning (August 4th) that the service provider which helped herd us to the digital renaissance where dot-coms roam, in an ironic turn of events, is getting beat down by the same monster it helped create.

AOL posted massive $1.41 billion second quarter losses in writedowns after recent sales of both their Bebo social networking site and ICQ instant messaging service. Year-over-year, revenue has fallen 26% to $584.1 million, down from the $791.5 a year ago, landing well short of the expected $602 million. The company’s ad revenue also dropped 27% during a time when online sales have been booming for competitors.

"We're committed to whatever model works," said CEO Tim Armstrong, a former Google executive now at the helm of a ship headed towards rocky waters. "Advertising is our main model now, but we'll be testing other ways to monetize content in the future."

AOL acquired Time Warner Inc. back in 2001 during the dial-up boom, when free internet discs practically became currency and were inescapable from mailboxes everywhere. After the rise of broadband went straight for their communal throat, the chemistry between the conglomerates failed to create sparks. In an attempt to drive people to …

Forget all that stuff your parents taught you about not talking to strangers. One lucky user brought Twitter to its 20 billionth tweet over the weekend, an award as prestigious as being swept away in the confetti and balloons of being the 10,000th grocery market shopper.

The momentous tweet was made by user “GGGGGGo_Lets_Go”, a Japanese graphic designer on Saturday, July 31st. When translated, his post said, "So that means the barrage might come back later all at once." Riveting stuff.

Status updates of 140 characters known as “tweets” have broadcasted banalities worldwide since Twitter’s inception in 2006. The service, dubbed by some as the “SMS of the internet”, went on to take the World Wide Web by storm, with currently over 190 million users tweeting at a rate of 65 million times a day. That’s a lot of noise.

This milestone comes roughly five months after the service reached its 10 billionth tweet and just two months since its 15 billionth. At the current rate, the micro-blog is seeing 10 times the tweeting of its first four years of service combined.

“What are the chances? Maybe I'm going to die. Is it more amazing than winning the lottery? I thought it was a joke," user “GGGGGGo_Lets_Go” said in another Twitter message just moments later.

It seems only statistically fitting that a Japanese user would be the one ringing in the 20 billionth tweet. Roughly 12% of all tweets originate from the country, due partly …

I never announced any of this as fact when I wrote it, and since the post, that is what they said publicly stated. Bill Clinton and O.J. Simpson both publicly said they were innocent too. I can say I want to be an astronaut or that I want a pony and it holds as much validity as their statement.

I guarantee to you we will see it eventually. There is no doubt in my mind Activision will be the first to break the seal. Maybe not with Black Ops, but a big change is coming soon enough.

Soundgarden, one of Seattle’s seminal grunge acts, is breaking new ground in the midst of a comeback, and I’m not talking about headlining the main stage at Lollapalooza this Sunday. With the release of their first album in over 10 years on Oct. 5--Telephantasm: A Retrospective--the grizzled 90s vets are smashing video game industry guitars on their way back to center stage.

In conjunction with Activision’s newGuitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, due out on Sept. 28, Soundgarden will be bundling their latest album with the initial million shipments of the game, marking the first time a retail CD has been packaged with a video game. Before it's even available in stores, Telephantasm will already be certified platinum. In addition, three expanded versions of the new album will be available for sale in union with the game’s release, including a double-disc set, Soundgarden’s first ever DVD, and an individually numbered Super Deluxe Collector’s Edition. The bundled basic album will is due out the following week.

“We’re extremely excited to be collaborating with Soundgarden on this monumental moment in their music career,” said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Guitar Hero. “Guitar Hero continues to break new ground by being the preeminent interactive platform for debuting original content and a stage for the biggest acts in all genres of rock and roll to reach new audiences in an all-new way.”

Telephantasm is essentially Soundgarden’s greatest hits album, with Grammy-winning hits "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman" …

Porn—it’s a multi-billion dollar industry fueled by mankind’s innate notions of lust and desire. iPhone 4—a smartphone device with millions of users worldwide connected through FaceTime videoconferencing. Porn+iPhone 4=iPorn, the shameless new venture of the adult-entertainment industry as it improves upon its limitless digital expanses.

In truth, it was only a matter of time before porn companies began utilizing FaceTime for the lucrative, virgin market behind this new wave technology, albeit for anything but showing the face. This will be the first time video sex chat services have allowed customers the opportunity to watch and be watched concurrently.

"We've been working on it since the iPhone 4 was released," said Quentin Boyer, spokesman for the adult production company Pink Visual. "We just want to give customers what they want."

The FaceTime technology allows iPhone 4 users to connect live across a Wi-Fi connection via the phone’s front camera to other iPhone 4 users. Commercials advertising the product have shown a giddy mother-to-be videoconferencing her husband to announce they’re expecting, graduates waving to their grandparents too cheap to travel to the ceremony, and sassy, liberated women helping each other make outfit decisions. The video chat the San Fernando Valley porn moguls had in mind won’t be so Disney.

“A phone is such an intimate thing, you usually don’t lend it out or have someone else use it,” said Boyer. “It has a very personal feel—your mobile phone to hers.”

Craigslist ads have already begun springing up …

The world’s leading productivity suite is coming to a Mac near you late October and it will surprisingly save you an arm or a leg. Three editions will be available upon its venture onto store shelves: Mac Home and Business, Mac Home and Student, and Mac Academic 2011.

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Messenger, and Outlook, the most notable addition to the productivity software, which replaces the current Entourage mail client. Not to be outdone though by itself is the price at $199, down substantially from its $399.95 forerunner. A two-installation license will cost $279.

The Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 version will feature Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Messenger and will cost $119 for a single license, down 20% over Office 2008’s $149.95 tag. A family license package of three installs will be available for $149.

Mac Academic 2011 will be available for $99, but will only be available at authorized academic stores for purchase by higher-education students, staff, and faculty. The affordable option for the classroom setting provides everything seen in the Office for Mac Home and Business at a drastically more affordable price. While it was left unclear as to what specific version, Microsoft noted that anyone purchasing Office 2008 between August 1st and November 30th will receive an upgrade to Office 2011 at no additional charge.

The software will also be available in 13 languages, including Danish, Dutch, …

• Half-Life 2
• MGS4 1
• MGS4 2

If you can think of MGS4 and Raiden or the boss battles don't come to mind, we didn't play the same game. Did you play Sons of Liberty or Snake Eater?

If you’re one of the outstanding users yet to make the pilgrimage to Gmail from your dilapidated Hotmail account, you may have been one of the lucky ones (like myself this morning) rewarded recently with a handful of e-sunshine for your continued loyalty.

The once affluent e-mail service received a facelift back in June that would make even Heidi Montag proud. Windows Live Hotmail Wave 4, the latest generation of its e-mail client, was introduced to address issues users had with lacking file and media sharing privileges, but less than 2% of its users actually received the new services before the end of the month. Enter July, which has seen a drastic turnaround in rollouts, passing the 100 million user mark yesterday. Currently, 28% of the 360 million global Hotmail subscribers are able to utilize the new features, with a gradual 100% completion being estimated before the year’s end.

For those of you with accounts already in the green, there won’t be much new info for you to graze about here. For those of you yet to receive a golden ticket, here is what you can look forward to when the doors open to the e-chocolate factory:Photos and videos can now be viewed directly from your e-mail, preventing the need open a separate browser window download a photo to view them.

The “Sweep menu”, located on your header of options, helps users manipulate multiple e-mails in one fell swoop. The “Delete …

Amen brother. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about anything any of these studios produces. The games are infinitely obnoxious, juvenile at best, and make Burger King's Sneak King on the 360 look like it's Grand Theft Auto 4. If you want a quick fix with titles worth praising, pick up a PSP.

You honestly took my next post right out from under my fingers with Metal Gear references. The things in that first video look like they're right out of MGS4. Let's just hope they don't sing that song from Peace Walker whenever they attack.

If you're a fan of tower defense games my friend, look no further than PixelJunk Monsters on the PS3. The game is a must-own title and one of the best offerings on the PSN.

Does anyone know where I can find some Excel password recovery software? I lost my login information and was looking for the strongest, most powerful program for breaking, cracking, or recovering it.

Steve "8 Ball" Ballmer

With a fanship of over half a million people strong morbidly updating us about going to the gym and how they’re about to eat dinner semi-colon right bracket, Facebook's dominance seems untouchable, as they relish on their throne as the Wal-Mart of social networking. That is, until you mention Google.

Google’s intentions for creating a “Facebook killer” entered the limelight on Wednesday when it was revealed by sources close on the matter that media mogul was in heavy talks with the juggernauts of social gaming. Rumored as “Google Me”, the service will be driven by a wide variety of games produced by Disney’s recently acquired Playdom Inc. , Electronic Arts Inc.'s Playfish, and the Zynga Game Network Inc., the latter of whom Google recently invested $100 million in. These partnerships with Google would be the first in a long line of steps to pull the rug out from under the immovable object known as Facebook, and the numbers agree that it's the right initiative.

According to a recent report released by theWall Street Journal, social gaming in China and Japan was a $700 million market last year. By 2012, that number is supposed to triple. Creators of Facebook’s FarmVille, Zynga have raised over 61.6 million users alone on their ranch, holding the potential to draw these prospective users to wherever their cows graze next. It’s a lucrative market which sees 30% of virtual purchases paid out to Facebook by the developers. Google is seeking …

Ban and ye shall receive!

“Hello, recently, your Steam account was erroneously banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you. We have reversed the ban, restoring your access to the game. In addition, we have given you a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to give as a gift on Steam, plus a free copy for yourself if you didn’t already own the game.”

You read that right. After Valve’s anti-cheat software made the egregious error of progressively banning 12,000 Modern Warfare 2 players from its Steam digital distribution platform over the past two weeks, the innocently accused weren’t just met with excuses. As tokens of gratitude for their patience and understanding following the public outpouring of confused players, Gabe Newell, Valve president, issued apologies bathed in digital awesome leaving many gamers wishing they had been banned.

He explained in his e-mail that, "the problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version." As a result, all banned players were given two free copies of Left 4 Dead 2.

Other companies take note:this is how you handle a mistake to maintain customer relations.

Not so Thriller

Following a formal complaint filed by the estate of Michael Jackson, PopCap Games has weeded the Dancing Zombie character from its iPod iteration of their insanely addicting Plants vs. Zombies.

Yah, there are nothing but amazing benefits to be had here. The meek are going to get walked over anyways, so what does it matter if it's with hydraulics? And I was really just looking for an excuse to give a nod to T2. It probably would have made more sense if I included links to these insane military advancements:

http://www.thefutureisawesome.com/2009/03/08/another-big-dog-robot-video-still-freaky/

http://www.thefutureisawesome.com/2008/04/13/im-in-yur-base-killin-yur-dudes/

The University of Central Florida is currently knee deep in $434,000 of federal tax money programming a video game for teenage girls which acclimates them to the pressures of sexual advances in social environments.

Working with UCF’s Institute for Stimulation and Training, Dr. Anne Norris, statistician and methodologist for the College of Nursing’s Office of Research, hopes to implement her groundbreaking software into local middle schools as an aid in preventing teen pregnancies and encouraging abstinence amongst pubescent young adults.

“They have an opportunity to interact with the avatars and they'll earn points for particular social skills that they develop. A boy similar in age might approach the person playing the game and ask her to make out or there might be some sexual innuendo," said Norris.

The game features a motion-capture suit, which the frightened teen's overprotective parents will force her to wear, allowing her to enter into a digital universe fraught with the sexual innuendos of budding young males, also known as 7th grade. The life-size avatar will mimic motions captured by the users suit, allowing for real-life scenarios to unfold on a screen before her very tear-filled, "I hate you mom and dad" eyes.

“It's a place to practice where there aren't any social consequences," said Norris.

While details are currently scarce regarding other aspects of the game, three levels have been announced: a darkened bleacher setting with fireworks in the background after the homecoming game, a parent’s minivan on top of …

Last week, Indian officials unveiled a $35 Linux-based touchscreen computer to the dropped jaws of users holding tablets 16x as much. Capable of web browsing with JavaScript and Flash support, word processing, video conferencing, viewing multimedia content, reading PDF files, and housing USB ports, Wi-Fi, and 2GB of storage, its affordable price tag left some in awe and the rest in disbelief. Slated for release in “early 2011”, the tablet is aimed at university students from roughly 8,500 colleges, allowing affordable access to nearly 500 courses available online in attempts to promote a turn around for a failing countrywide educational system.

"This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer," said Shri Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development of India. He is of course referring to the endeavor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte, who back in 2005, made similar claims regarding his Children’s Machine computer. Its initiative was to revolutionize education in underdeveloped countries by offering an affordable alternative that would help extend internet access abroad. Its inability to gain the momentum of large-scale government purchases kept the price from falling below $200. Its failure to deliver as promised seems extremely foreboding amongst the recent headlines. Other than broad capabilities and vague details about this $35 mystery Indian tablet, little is known about the endeavor. R&D officials have yet to release processing power or memory capacity, leaving many people speculating this is some sort of …

So what inane, extremist position are you attempting to gain over him by making him sound like he's sitting around in a wife beater drinking a Natty Ice with your replies? Until the sun stops shining, there will be an endless sea of stupid people always doing stupid things, some of who will inevitably purchase firearms and do said stupid things with them. The same stupid people get behind the wheels of cars and kill families on their way to vacations because they're texting or drink and shoot off fireworks and blow their friend's eye out. He's just vying for himself and many other gun owners by saying that there are measures to take, and like the intelligent person he is, does utilize to insure his wellbeing by owning a firearm, and in the process, protecting the wellbeing of others by owning one responsibly. It's not Hollywood. Americans aren't sleeping with pistols under their pillows.

And ardav--I suggest you look at a per capita comparison between the US and Mexico.

@Biker - yeah, that'll be the macho posturing I was talking about.

Allowing, though, that you're about the deadliest superhero with watchful eyes to put a hawk's to shame, bear in mind that most people are not that, and if they try to be like you, you're going to have a lot of dead and injured non-muggers (false positives) and a lot of well-armed muggers (false negatives).

I'm part of the philosophy that it's better to own a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it.

Apple IIgs

RAM: 8 MB
CPU: 65C816 processor at 2.8 MHz
Hard drive: Dual 5 1/4" floppy drives
Graphix: a palette of 4,096 colors
Operating System: ProDos 16
Display: 9" Monitor II
Speakers: 1.0 surround sound

I enjoy this system because it helps be ford the rivers in Oregon Trail with stunning realism.

Sante Fe-style rice and beans with tortilla chips and a glass of raspberry lime seltzer water ;)

A Nine Inch Nails "In This Twilight" remix on YouTube. So beautiful...

[youtube]ahBgfQeLTuU[/youtube]

...you dance like this...

[youtube]RGPnPHrrZeA[/youtube]

Thanks to a federal copyright law ruling on Monday by the Library of Congress, jailbreaking your iPhone doesn’t have to be kept to the underground forums like it's alcohol during a digital prohibition. The process is now completely legal under US law. Grab a glass of e-freedom! The resulting decision was part of a tri-yearly board review by the Library which discusses exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The legalization of jailbreaking comprised two of the six provisions agreed upon today by the Library. See “ DMCA Changes: Copyright Rules Made More Flexible ”.

The filing was brought forth by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who wanted handsets to be liberated from anticircumvention provisions in order to serve a greater purpose for their users who were living under a shadow of the “law's overbroad reach” with their hands tied with creative limitations.

Thanks to this victorious outcome, smartphone owners will be able to install lawfully obtained third-party apps or custom operating systems which unlock aspects of the phone otherwise shut off to an unassuming user. Also as a result of this decisions, owners will be able to install software which removes carrier limitations and circumvents restrictions, allowing universal access to network providers across all mobile fronts.

The Register of Copyrights, part of the Library of Congress, came to the following conclusion in regards to Apple’s defense:

[INDENT]“Apple is not concerned that the practice of jailbreaking will displace sales of its firmware or …

With what seems like inescapable, up-to-the-minute coverage of dropped call banter swirling around a tech universe with Apple as the sun, you almost forget that other brands exist. The most recent angle on their reception debacle has been the “But they’re doing it too!” defense, Steve Jobs’ attempt at dragging down his competition in the same sinking ship of arrogant excuses by releasing comparative antenna results of other smartphone brands. The photos depict users gripping a variety of phones like rigor mortis has set in and insinuate that Apples loyalists holding their iPhones like hulking gorillas manhandling a plantain are the real problem.

Samsung is combating Apple’s gorilla grip defense with a gorilla campaign of their own: free Galaxy S phones. Users in the UK who recently escaped to their Twitter accounts to express their frustration with dropped calls on the iPhone 4 were met with responses from @samsungukmobile , telling them to reply with their contact information and they would receive a free cell phone. Responding to a stranger’s advances online usually makes you a target for a missing persons headline on the evening news; Tiffany Nieuwland wasn’t afraid.

She spoke with Wired UK: [INDENT]"So I did what anyone else would do: I vented my frustration on Twitter. Imagine my surprise, then, when this morning I am tweeted by Samsung offering me a free Galaxy S, their latest phone. Too good to be true? I decided to investigate.” "I called a friend …

Just to clarify, the score would only accept a whole number, no decimals. 9.6 is the pure, unaltered score of the genius that is Limbo on XBLA. Stop reading--go download.

The iPhone Case Program was announced earlier this morning, just a week after Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed the reception issues spreading through the news like wildfire. In his shrugging off of the recent headlines, Jobs explained that only 1.7% of iPhone 4s have been returned and that just 0.55% of owners have called to complain. Regardless of the numbers, free bumper cases were the solution given by Jobs, which allows the external antenna band room to breathe in between the purchaser’s kung-fu grip. It’s now time for you to cash in.

Users in dire reception straights looking to gain better bars will hopefully find a hot spot to download the app released to accept iPhone 4 bumper case requests. You read that right—an app. I’m not sure if making its users download an app to initiate the process in receiving a free case is ingenious or pretentious.

As per instructions via the Apple site:Download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store.
Launch the app on your iPhone 4 and sign in using your iTunes Store account or Apple ID.
Select your Bumper or case.
[INDENT]For iPhone 4 purchases made before July 23, 2010, you must apply no later than August 22, 2010; otherwise, you must apply within 30 days of your iPhone 4 purchase. To qualify for this program, you must purchase your iPhone 4 by September 30, 2010.[/INDENT]Owners will have the option of selecting an Apple Bumper (available …

Hells yeah! I can not wait for Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

A Halo: Reach branded console was unveiled yesterday at Comic-Con to the rejoicing of millions of people still driving their mom’s minivan and living off three-year-old caches of Mountain Dew’s Game Fuel.

For $399 USD and £249.99 respectively, the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo: Reach Bundle includes a custom designed Reach Xbox 360 Slim model—250 GB hard drive, 802.11n built-in Wi-Fi, quieter design—as well as two special edition Reach wireless controllers, a black wired headset, a downloadable token for in-game limited edition Elite armor, an episode of the animated series “Halo Legends”, and of course, a coveted copy of the game itself.

Hyped as “the end” of the Halo series, Reach puts you at the helm of Noble Team, an elite Spartan special forces unit. Produced with a stunning new graphics engine and including new weapons, playable characters, vehicles, enemies, multiplayer classes, a fresh wax coating, undercarriage rinse, and the new car smell, this prequel to Master Chief will undoubtedly arrive as the be-all, end-all to anyone with a pulse on Xbox Live.

A first for the Xbox 360, the limited edition console reportedly will make Halo-themed sounds when you turn it on and the shield power-up effect heard in-game when you press the eject button. As showcased by the photos, the matte-finished console plays twinsies with all the bundled accessories, featuring a distinct silver exterior riddled with in-game artwork. I’m not usually one for gimmicks, but this thing had me at “Halo”.

The limited edition …

Apple released on Tuesday that even amidst iPhone 4 woes and bruises left by “Antennagate”, there weren't any worms in their financial statements, posting second-quarter net income profits up 78% to $3.25 billion.

Figures from April-to-June soared up 61% year-over-year to $15.7 billion, producing Apple’s highest quarterly profit ever recorded. Their sensational figures are attributed to booming sales of the recently released iPad, which sold roughly 3.3 million units, leaving empty shelves nationwide in its wake. Fears by investors that the iPad would attract customers away from Macintosh computers were all in vain: Mac sales jumped up 33% to 3.5 million, aided along by record distributions to the educational sector.

It wasn’t all sunny orchards and cider mills for Apple, however. Sales of the trend-setting iPod were down at 9.4 million units, an 8% drop from the previous year. Apple also mentioned its intentions to set aside $175 million from the October-through-December quarter to account for the free cases it intends on shipping all of its iPhone 4 owners.

Speaking of which, the iPhone 4 was only available the last three days of the quarter, still managing to sell 1.7 million units, but only representing a fraction of its full sales potential. It will be interesting to witness its recorded success once third-quarter reports are released.

Apple isn’t the only pig rolling in the digital slop. AT&T, holding hands and skipping along with Apple’s success, has also witnessed strong numbers, reporting in their quarterly …

It's just comical to me that Activision is afraid they're not making enough money from people, so they intend on charging them more money which will in turn only push them further away. High five Kotick!

If you’re looking for a competitively priced portable Blu-ray alternative, look no further than Plextor’s recently shipped PX-B12OU.

Available currently only in Europe for €92 including VAT, the 4x BD-ROM drive is an insanely affordable, fully USB operated external option for users still searching for their Blu-ray glass slipper. Not only can it play The Dark Knight in stunning 1080p quality on your next flight, it also doubles as an 8x DVD+RW and a 24x CD+RW drive for all your basic computing needs.

The only thing rivaling its function is its form, which is a completely minimized experience. Similar products are bulky and look like they’ve been stripped right out of your PC and placed directly on your desk. The top-loading drive is no larger than the discs it holds, with a stylish aesthetic accompanying its svelte demeanor. The use of a single USB port to operate the drive eliminates the need for clumsy AC adapters, and in the end, you are left with a clean-cut experience almost as streamlined as the product itself.

While the promise of a cheap, portable Blu-ray player may leave buyers wide-eyed for the jump into high-definition, it should be noted that laptop computers must reach the following minimum specifications to fully utilize its Blu-ray decoding capabilities: an Intel Pentium-D 3.0 or higher CPU, 1GB RAM, an HDCP supported graphic cards with 256 MB RAM and 32-bit color support, an ATI x 1600 or nVidia 7600GT or later GPU, Windows XP …

Have you ever envisioned being Robocop? Have you ever envisioned being Robocop with the funding of Lockheed Martin? Enter the hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton known as the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC), the result of Lockheed Martin’s partnership with Berkeley Bionics that was unveiled earlier today.

Like something straight out of a James Cameron movie, the HULC exoskeleton has recently begun eight weeks of rigorous field tests in Afghanistan. The system, comprised of primarily titanium components, offers strength without compromising weight. Managed by an on-board processor, the hydraulics at the leg joints are put into action as sensors all over the chassis monitor your every move, mimicking the motion. Its flexible design allows for a complete range of natural movements, including kneeling crawling, squatting, and a run up to 10 mph.

The HULC is ready to take the weight of the world off of the backs of US troops by minimizing the effort a soldier exerts and reducing the wearer’s metabolic cost. In the process, soldiers will be able to carry loads up to 200lbs on the backpack frame plus the 53lbs of the device itself, alleviating the carried weight. According to project lead Doug Medcalf, the impact is so profound that “the soldier has the feeling of maybe an extra five to 10 pounds.” Attachments are also being engineered to front-load additional equipment. The end result is a well-rested soldier capable of enduring long missions at higher altitudes while decreasing oxygen consumption and preventing fatigue.

Xbox Live’s third annual Summer of Arcade, presenting the biggest and best smash hits of the season, kicks off today with the release of Limbo. A short description on the Xbox Live Marketplace leads way into a marvelously morose journey: “Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters LIMBO.”

That’s it. There is no before, no after, no rhyme or reason as to why you awake in a wind-swept meadow where everything wants you dead. Premonitions of your sister haunt you, leading you from beginning to end across the puzzles and platforms of a title that you won’t soon forget.

Curiosity killed the cat and it will kill you endless times as you traverse through the relentlessly unforgiving, monotone terrains of Limbo. Your shadowy antagonist will die six ways from Sunday, leaving his body at the mercy of the gory elements as he gets tossed to his demise, flailing around like a ragdoll before impact, or is severed up proportionally like a sushi roll over countless deathtraps. As I progressed further through the alien environments of the eerie, foreboding wasteland, I grew more and more impressed at the difficulty of the puzzles aspects presented in this game. Limbo is, if nothing else, a tremendous addition to the puzzle-platform genre, with challenges that almost out-grace its design. Almost…

An incredibly distinct and stylized experience on a plain of its own, Limbo is a misleading title because the game leaves you in anything but. Imaginative 2D backgrounds …

Trust me--you were NOT ALONE in your thoughts.

For those of you living with sheets over your windows for the better half of the last year, the record-setting opening day release of Modern Warfare 2 would only be a sign of things to come for a game that would go on to gross over $1 billion dollars since its release back in November of 2009, setting all the industry bars in its wake.

Regardless of Modern Warfare’s success, as of June 2010, industry-wide software sales were at $531 million, a 15% decline from last year’s $627 million. In his latest investor report, Michael Pachter, consumer analyst at Wedbush Morgan, suggests big changes coming to the way we enjoy our daily dosage of multiplayer gaming.

"We estimate that a total of 12 million consumers are playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for an average of 10 hours per week on the two platforms' respective networks, and the continued enjoyment of this game (along with an estimated 6 million Halo online players, 3 million EA Sports players, and 5 million players playing other games, such as Battlefield, Red Dead Redemption, Left 4 Dead and Grand Theft Auto) has sucked the available time away from what otherwise would be spent playing newly purchased games."

You don’t need me to tell you these numbers are staggering, but I will anyways because it helps me to vocalize things that hurt my brain: these numbers are STAGGERING. With so much time being spent across so few titles, it’s no …

The land of maple syrup, curling, Mounties, hockey, Mexican beer's sudsy love child, free healthcare, and self-titled bacon has just obtained another claim to fame: the first Netflix stream-only endeavor.

Netflix, the world's leading movie and TV subscription service with over 13 million subscribers, is extending its services to Canada later this fall by offering its inaugural stream-only service. They opted out of the DVD/Blu-ray delivery portion of memberships commonly seen in the United States because the costs of shipping them via French trading boats up the Mississippi River would have been astronomical.

Canadian users will be able to instantly stream a plethora of available TV episodes and movies titles directly to their computers and televisions via devices accepting of the service. While the press release is extremely vague as to which devices will actually be included, it can safely be assumed that Canadians can look forward to functionality from the following hardware currently in use by American audiences:Microsoft's Xbox 360
Sony's PS3
Nintendo's Wii
Blu-ray disc players from Samsung, LG, and Insignia
Internet TVs from LG, Sony, and VIZIO
the Roku digital video player and TiVo digital video recorders
Apple's iPad tablet

At this time, prices have not been announced. To put a perspective on what can be expected, subscriptions in the US are a monthly flat-rate of $8.99, including both the streaming and DVD mail delivery components of the service. Does this mean that …

Big bucks, no whammies, and STARCRAFT II! At least that’s Activision Blizzard CEO’s Bobby Kotick’s take.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal interview with Kotick, Activision Blizzard has exceeded an already belt-busting budget of $100 million on their soon-to-be industry-leading cash cow.

Released in March of 1998, the science fiction real-time strategy (RTS) game StarCraft would go on to take the world by storm, changing the landscape of all things to come out of the RTS genre and forever leaving a dent in Korean productivity. It would later move on to take Game of the Year accolades from many of the top PC game publications and currently rest comfortably on many critics lists as one of the greatest games of all time. At present, more than 11 million copies have been sold globally, 4.5 million of which were sold in the Koreas. Kotick expects a similar brilliance from its successor.

"There is no shortage of consumers for StarCraft. For a game that is more than ten years old, there's millions of people still playing it."

The sophomoric release is lavish in part due to the complete overhaul of the outdated Battle.net matchmaking and community software, which receives its unveiling on July 27th as well when StarCraft II hits storefronts worldwide. But $100 million is only a number to Kotick, one he easily see’s past when considering his company’s success on the PC market.

"Today, probably 70 percent of our operating profit comes from non-console-based …

At a recent Q&A session in front of investors at E3, Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime adamantly defended the Wii console’s pace to break the record-setting game sale trends of the Playstation 2, claiming that his console is at the “high watermark” of its existence, with software sales numbers topping that of the PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 in the current market. Matt Matthews, analyst for Gamasutra, has compiled a data outlook suggesting otherwise, contending that the Wii console has recently reached its software peak.

"[Wii software] appears to have hit a plateau in 2009 with sales inching up only marginally, and falling behind the estimated trajectory of PlayStation 2 software sales."

According to a May 2010 report released by The NPD Group, one of North America’s leading market research companies, Wii hardware sales have increased 44% since May 2009, while software sales are down 29%. Michael Pachter, gaming analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, suggests that at in its current state of decline, we may see an “unprecedented” showing from the console in 2010, with the Wii only moving two software titles per owned console. That’s not the good type of unprecedented.

“Wii software sales were down 29 per cent year-over-year…while PS3 software sales were up 58 per cent and Xbox 360 software sales were up 29 per cent. We think this is remarkable, given growth in the Wii hardware installed base of 44 per cent and growth in the DS installed base of …

It only took Sony four years, but they’ve finally created their version of the Wii killer: a glowing magic wand lollipop known to the world as the PlayStation Move. Requiring Sony's PlayStation Eye camera to deliver the experience dubbed by some as the most advanced motion controlled gaming to date via Bluetooth technology, it is slated to take interactivity to new heights for casual and hardcore gamers alike In conjunction with its release on September 19th, Sony plans to release two Move bundles, which were announced and priced on Wednesday: the PlayStation 3 Sports Champion Move Bundle and the Playstation Move Bundle.

The PlayStation 3 Sports Champion Move Bundle comes packaged with a Playstation 3 console (hard drive size forthcoming), the Sony Eye, the PlayStation Move, DualShock controller, a PlayStation Move demo disc, andSports Champions, one of the premier launch titles for the hyped peripheral. The Sports Champions disc—aka Wii Sports’ bigger brother—contains the following games: Disc Golf, Gladiator Duel, Volleyball, Archery, Table Tennis and Bocce.

The aptly titled Playstation Move Bundle is perfect for current PS3 console owners, and for $99.99, contains the basics to get you Move-ing (ba zing!): the Move, the Eye, and the Sports Champions game. If you currently own a PS3 and the Sony Eye, players can simply purchase the Move controller itself for $49.99. Regardless of the peripheral porridge that is just right for you, it’s interesting to note that the PlayStation Move Navigational Controller—the Wii …

A recent study by Texas A&M International University found that contrary to popular belief, violent video games can actually aid in alleviating stress. The beneficial findings are a sharp contrast to the otherwise bleak shadow cast in recent years by narrow-minded big wigs trying to get ahead in the polls or by the attorneys hired by the parents of vacant-minded teen killers looking for a “Get Out of Jail Free” card from public scrutiny.

Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, associate professor at the university, has spent a large portion of his career conducting research that deflates any substance behind the rationale that violent video games actually cause violence. His most recent endeavor, appearing in European Psychologist, Volume 15, is refreshing and relevant incite into a global phenomenon that sees 53% of adults and 97% of teens partaking on a daily basis (according to a 2008 poll).

“In this study, 103 young adults were given a frustration task and then randomized to play no game, a non-violent game, a violent game with good versus evil theme, or a violent game in which they played ‘the bad guy’. The results suggest that violent games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management.”

For years, the popular myth that violent video games have fueled the disassociation between troubled teens and society has always been at the blaming end of pundits and politician’s and parents looking for any answer that will help rationalize their failures with a decent upbringing. While video game violence …