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Google I/O, The Conference Where They Announce Their Biggest Products, Sells Out In An Hour
One of the big announcements from last year’s Google I/O conference.
Are you a developer that was looking to get in on some one-on-one time with Google at their biggest conference of the year, I hope you already purchased your tickets because they’re gone. While the conference is designed, much like Apple’s WWDC, to take advantage of Google’s services care of Google engineers themselves, it also has a very media friendly side in that they spend their keynote announcing some of their biggest products of the year.
Netflix Social Is Finally Here: Share All Those Bad Animes And Kids Shows With Your Friends
Yes, Netflix knows how often you’ve been watching THAT show.
It’s been a long time coming for American users, and already available worldwide for everyone else, but you’ll soon be able to share all of those Netflix programs you’ve been watching with your friends and relatives. Lots of programs and apps share things these days, but there will no doubt be a rush of panic as people realize episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba are suddenly on their Timelines for all to see.
Sword Of The Stars: The Pit (PC) Review: Another Welcome Roguelike
You’ll have plenty of abilities to upgrade as you play.
Sometimes you just need a new Roguelike. From the guys who brought us those Sword of the Stars 4X games I didn’t care much for comes something spunky and new. I’d wanted an easier and more colorful version of Teleglitch and Kerberos Studios didn’t let me down. After a plague has vanquished the citizens of Arbuda IV, as the heart-pounding intro explains, you’re sent to cut through level after level of baddies to find The Pit, a mythical place that may harbor the cure.
Ken Levine Killed Gore Verbinski’s ‘Bioshock’ Movie
Too-ta-loo.
It wasn’t long after Bioshock released in 2007 that rumors sailed about that a movie was being produced by Universal and to be directed by Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Carribbean and The Ring fame. Even if you felt the game was somewhat underwhelming compared to Ken Levine’s previous work with System Shock 2, the idea of someone committing $150 million to bring that vision to the big screen is enough to get anyone giddy. Well, everyone except the people who were going to make it.
Valve: Yeah, We Had Nothing To Do With That $1,000 Steam Box That’s Being Sold Now
Not a Valve-sponsored product, yo.
Last night, Kelly and I were having an argument about why someone would spend a thousand dollars to buy a Steam Box. Valve had been trumpeting a design made by Xi3 during CES at the beginning of the year and talked down virtually every other player in the space. Well, they ended up just bashing Microsoft a lot. The use case for something like this, I argued, is definitely for the hardcore. At any rate, you’ll have to wait a bit longer because despite the clever specs, Xi3’s Piston PC isn’t an official Steam box at all.
‘Strip Search’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 4 “Elimination #1”
Pick out your ideas Katie, for they will be your DOOM.
Our progress into the bowels of Penny Arcade’s Strip Search continues with the series’ first elimination round. In this episode, Alex and Katie must battle it out on massive Wacom Cintiqs to spare themselves from utter destruction.
Why Does Michael Pachter Irritate Gamers? Because He’s Wrong Too Often
Do you trust this man with your entertainment investments?
Out of left field, it seems that today became ‘Defend Michael Pachter Day’ after my beloved colleagues over at The Escapist posted a write-up about how hard Michael Pachter works every day and his various missteps over the years. Pachter is kind of a gaming industry celebrity and definitely the only analyst (he works for Wedbush Morgan) who’ll step on camera for investment advice and industry speculation, which is why major outlets keep enlisting him for air time and an extra paragraph in their gaming industry news piece. GameTrailers even gave him his own show.
My relationship with Michael Pachter goes back nearly a decade, back to the web forums where posting an article with his name in the header was an invite for a cheap laugh. I’ve never met the guy, I’m sure he’s swell. He obviously works really hard, but Nostradamus, Mister Pachter, is not.
The Nokia Lumia 928 Arrives: Verizon To Finally Get A Cool Windows Phone In April
Imagine this, but in aluminum and on Verizon.
Word has come into The Verge that the previously codenamed ‘Laser’ Nokia Windows Phone for Verizon is indeed the Lumia 928, a variant of the Lumia 920 flagship that launched on AT&T earlier this year. Verizon is definitely better off for it, especially since Microsoft is reportedly swearing a number of dollars to market the thing.
Better Than GPS: Automatic Plugs Directly To Your Car, Improves Your Driving
The Automatic module on the left, the app running on your smartphone on the right.
Between standalone GPS devices and smartphones, there’s been a lot of new functionality added to your car in the past ten years, but little’s actually come from the car itself, it’s merely been a benefit of riding along in a car. Automatic is changing that. For $69.95, you get a module that plugs straight into your car’s data port (they say any car as far back as 1996 will work), even helping you to find it without any additional installation. Now directly connected to your vehicle, the module helps to improve your driving through the provided iOS app (Android, sadly, not out until this Fall).
Oh, Right! ‘StarCraft 2: Heart Of The Swarm’ Expansion Launches Tonight
Those little forehead thorns must be irritating.
You didn’t forget that the second major campaign in the StarCraft 2 saga, the Zerg-themed Heart of the Swarm, released tonight at midnight Pacific, right? Obviously, I didn’t. Isn’t it amazing how ‘eighteen months between expansion packs’ quickly becomes nearly three years? Well, we’ll forgive Blizzard because it’ll give me plenty of time to cozy up with the real-time strategy game’s most gooey and blade-equipped faction. It’s also the one I’ve spent the least time with.
