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CIG spotlighting Star Citizen's Freelancer this weekend
Cloud Imperium is spotlighting Star Citizen's Freelancer class hull this weekend, with a lengthy website update, one of those spiffy in-character ship brochures, and three new variants either available via a pre-release backer purchase or available to earn in the finished game. CIG has also patched Star Citizen's hangar module, so if you own one of the Freelancer variants you'll now be able to explore them to your heart's content (though you can't use them in the recently released dogfighting module just yet). The new variants include the DUR, custom fitted for exploration, the MIS, a missile boat design, and the MAX, a dedicated hauler with additional cargo space.
How to tell how much space your trash is using in OS X
Are you a trashophobe? I am. I delay, delay, and delay some more when it comes to emptying my OS X trash because I always worry about throwing something away that I'm going to need to recover later. I've made enough mistakes in life that I'm really cautious about hitting that Empty Trash option. This morning, when I checked my system in preparation for writing up this how-to, I found endless old software betas and more screenshots than you could possibly imagine clogging my trash can. In total, I had more than 100 GB sitting in my bin. It was time for a deep cleanse. For many Mac users, it's not immediately obvious how to check how much space your OS X trash occupies. You don't get much help from the Dock's contextual pop-up menu in Mavericks. What you need to do instead is this. Open the trash to a new Finder window, and with that window frontmost select File > Get Info (Command-I) from the Finder menu. If you're like me, it may take a minute or two for Finder to finish calculating the size. Once I realized exactly how much space I was using, I knew it was time to move on. And now my Trash looks like this. It won't last like that for long, but it's nice to have the confidence to make a fresh start every now and then. Thanks, robotive
Raptr rewards gamers for playing with discounts, beta keys, and more
Do you wanna earn fabulous prizes just for playing your favorite games? Of course you do. Well, you're in luck because Raptr has just announced its new Raptr Rewards program, which is "a program to reward active gamers with real rewards just for playing their favorite games." The program is "on track to offer over 350,000 rewards totaling $1.3 million [US] in value just in the first month of launch." The prizes that are available for dedicated players are myriad, ranging from discounts on Gunnar brand gaming eyewear to beta access for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and much more. The full details of the available rewards and how to earn them can be found on the official Raptr site, so go check it out, then start playing for your prizes. [Source: Raptr press release]
CCP launching EVE Online drop pod into the stratosphere tomorrow
EVE Online players are well-accustomed to flitting about the depths of space in internet spaceships, but tomorrow, CCP Games will be taking its first jaunt into real-life space with the launch of a high-altitude balloon from just north of CCP headquarters. The balloon will carry a replica EVE pod (pictured above) containing the names of EVE Online players high into Earth's stratosphere before landing (hopefully) in the middle of Kleifarvatn, a lake on the Rekhjanes peninsula in Iceland. Iceland Telecom will be providing a live video feed and GPS tracking of the balloon, and three HD cameras aboard the balloon will allow fans to view the entirety of the balloon's journey after the pod is recovered (by the Icelandic Coast Guard, no less). For the full details and links to the live video stream and GPS tracking, just head on over to the official announcement at EVE Insider.
Win Lottery > Design MMO > ??? > Profit!
If you won $27 million in the lottery, what would you do with it? Buy a new car? A new house? Maybe invest in the stock market? Psh, yeah right. You'd make an MMO and you know it, you filthy liars. As it happens, that's the idea of Ellwood Bartlett, who recently hit the big time with a rather sizeable lottery jackpot. Now he's taking to Kickstarter to build interest for his ideas. What ideas? Glad you asked. Bartlett wants to create an MMO where each server is its own unique world. For example, Bartlett says that "one will be a mostly water and all avatars will have underwater breathing. Another will be a volcanic world and your avatar will have a high resistance to fire." Players would be able to travel between servers in order to tackle "universal quests" and to participate in PvP. The goals are lofty, but one question remains: Why would a multi-millionaire take his ideas to Kickstarter? In short, he wants to gauge interest before he commits to the huge investment of time and money that is the development of an MMO. So far, he says, he has gotten "tons of positive feedback as well as negative." One way or another, it should be interesting to see how this one pans out.
CNN observes the migration habits of the elusive wild gamer
We all know that one guy who flits between MMOs with the same attention span as an ADD goldfish on cocaine. Heck, we've probably been there ourselves a few times. Well, CNN's Geek Out blog has decided to take a look at the migratory patterns of the MMO gamer in his natural habitat, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. With the recent release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, gamers everywhere are deciding whether or not to migrate. The author of the piece takes a look at the comparative subscription numbers of major players in the MMO game, and speaks to Warner Bros. Entertainment's Jim Drewry and Adam Mersky regarding how the folks behind Lord of the Rings Online deal with MMO migration. It's really a rather interesting look into the culture, so click on through the link below to give it a read.
Mobile Miscellany: week of January 23, 2012
This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of January 23, 2012:
Mobile Miscellany: week of January 16, 2012
This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of January 16, 2012:
The SOPAbox: Defeating online piracy by destroying the internet
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you've heard of SOPA and PIPA. The Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act are two radical pieces of copyright legislation currently being pushed through the US government. Although the stated intent of the new legislation is to provide companies with additional tools with which to combat piracy, the bill's loose wording has raised some serious alarm bells. Opponents to the proposed law say it would give corporations the ability to shut down any almost any website under the guise of protecting copyright infringement. Gamers will be affected worst of all, as the loose wording of the law makes any website with user-submitted content potentially vulnerable to a shut down order. That could include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, any blog with a comment section, or even any online game with a chat system. Perhaps the scariest part is that you'll be affected even if you're not in the US, as one of the new law's enforcement mechanisms is to remove a site from the DNS records, a move that assumes the US has jurisdiction over the global Domain Name System. AOL is among many huge companies strongly opposing SOPA, and so naturally Massively opposes it too. In this week's massive two-page Soapbox, I make the case for why you should be worried about SOPA, and I suggest what can be done to tackle piracy in the games industry. Comments can be left on page two.
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 28, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 28, 2011: Last week, the FCC announced that it had approved AT&T's request to purchase 700MHz spectrum from Qualcomm -- previously used to support MediaFLO service -- but it hasn't finalized the process yet. So, the company recently met with the FCC to ask if the deal can be sped up. [Phone Scoop] The Nokia Lumia 800 is rumored to finally be available at O2 beginning December 9th. [Unwired View] Nokia also announced the X2-02, a Series 40 dual-SIM handset geared towards music. It comes with an audio processing feature that brings clear sound, dedicated music keys and a feature that lets you play recordings directly from the FM radio. It also offers a 2.2-inch QVGA display, dedicated Facebook and Twitter clients, 2MP camera and 9.7 hour talk time. Sadly, the phone doesn't come with 3G included, and no markets or launch dates were announced, but it'll be priced around €60 before subsidy. [Unwired View] Cincinnati Bell added the HTC Radar 4G to its lineup this week and is available for free to new customers with a two-year commitment and after a $100 mail-in rebate; existing customers eligible for an upgrade can get it for $100 on contract and after $50 mail-in rebate. [BusinessWire] Samsung just released SDK 1.0 for the S Pen, also known as the stylus for the Galaxy Note. As to be expected, the kit will aid developers in writing apps that will take advantage of the pen. [Android Police]
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 21, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 21, 2011: Bell Canada is getting a couple new LG devices: the entry-level LG Eclypse, coming December 2nd, is a QWERTY device with Gingerbread [PocketNow], and the high-end LG Optimus LTE, which offers a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, HD display, 1,830mAh battery, 8MP rear camera and 1.3MP front-facing cam, is available now. The Optimus LTE is available for $150 with a three-year commitment. [AndroidCentral] MetroPCS announced the availability of the HTC Wildfire S sometime this week. You'll be able to grab one for $180 with no contract attached. [Unwired View] T-Mobile is getting its Galaxy S II in white, so why not the Skyrocket on AT&T? A few press images of the device's new hue have leaked out. [PocketNow] Verizon's message app just got a refresh which now offers support for SMS / MMS syncing between your phone and tablet. Both devices have to be attached to the same WiFi network, however. [AndroidCentral] Verizon's rolling out LTE to another selection of cities on December 15. [PhoneScoop] User Agent Profiles outed the Sony Ericsson Arc HD (previously known as the Nozomi), amongst other unknown devices. [Android Community] It appears that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 may be coming to T-Mobile, according to leaked marketing materials. [PocketNow] Cincinnati Bell just launched the BlackBerry Torch 9810 for $200 with a two-year commitment and after $50 mail-in rebate. [BusinessWire]
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 14, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 14, 2011: Sony Ericsson has teamed up with Ingram Micro, a distributor that ships phones to Amazon, Buy.com, Best Buy and Newegg, to expand the distribution of its Android lineup in the US. The deal will include a healthy chunk of the Xperia series, including the arc S. [PRNewswire] Like the Motorola Defy+ but it's just not tough enough? Check out the limited-edition JCB version of the rugged device, which adds a hardcore JCB case, a special app with handyman tools and a two-year extended warranty. And it can be yours through Clove on December 6th for £219. [TechDigest] Verizon introduced the LG Extrovert, a prepaid device with a slide-out four-row QWERTY, 2.8-inch WQVGA (400 x 240) touchscreen display, 2MP camera and expandable storage. It, however, lacks 3G data. It's all yours on Verizon's prepaid site for $110. [PhoneArena] Speaking of Big Red, the rugged Casio Gz'One Ravine 2 was launched this week, and can be yours for $150 with a two-year contract. [PhoneScoop] The BlackBerry Bold 9790, announced this week, is confirmed to show up in the UK on Vodafone and O2, likely sometime in January. [Unwired View] SFR is selling the ZTE Tania, but it appears to be sold as a carrier-branded Windows Phone. You can purchase it without a contract for €269, or with a two-year commitment for €9.99. [MobileTechWorld] Twitter for Windows Phone just got updated to be compatible with Mango. It's meant to offer a smoother experience, but doesn't bring any new features with it. [WMPowerUser] Fandango debuted a new paperless ticket system, in concert with Regal-owned theaters, which can send a scannable bar code to your phone when you want to go see a movie. The ticket-takers then simply scan the code and you're all ready to root on Team Edward in the latest Twilight movie. Just don't forget the popcorn. [Yahoo!]
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 7, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 7, 2011: Motorola's finding itself in the hot seat with the Advertising Standards Authority for its TV ads regarding the Defy (shown above). The ASA banned the ads, stating that Moto's claims of the Defy being an indestructable phone are misleading, as evidenced by several people who've cracked or severely damaged their Defy due to drops or kicks. [The Register] The Huawei Blaze is now being sold at Phones4U for £79.95 on a PAYG plan. [Unwired View] How nice would it be to have a live tile on your Windows Phone that displays your current battery charge by exact percentage, instead of guessing what that small meter at the top of the screen means? If you have an unlocked WP7.5 device, head over to XDA to find out how to get one for your Start Menu. [WMPowerUser] Who wants some more white BlackBerry news? Bell's likely getting ready to sell the Bold 9900 on November 24th for $170 with a three-year commitment, and Rogers is getting the aforementioned device alongside the Bold 9790 and Curve 9360 -- since these were based off of leaked internal device lists, no dates or pricing were specified. [MobileSyrup 1, 2] More Canadian release tidbits: MobileSyrup reports that the Samsung Galaxy W will be hitting Bell shelves sometime this quarter, and Rogers should offer the Samsung Galaxy S Glide sometime soon for $150 with a three-year contract. [MobileSyrup 1, 2] Orange UK's website shows the HTC Sensation XE as "coming soon." [CoolSmartphone]
Mobile Miscellany: week of October 31, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 31, 2011: If you have a Verizon tablet and a strong aversion for Google Maps, try UpNext HD Maps. Released by the carrier this week, it's interactive and offers 3D, and uses quick tabs to help you find restaurants, nightlife, businesses and so on. [Droid-Life] Motorola Droid RAZR release rumor: how does November 11th, 2011 at 11:11AM sound? [AndroidCentral] Apparently it's Verizon week, because here's another one from Big Red. This rumor's about the LG Spectrum, which is being regarded as the Revolution 2. It's apparently showing up in some Verizon database, according to screenshots; the images don't really give away a whole lot, other than the fact it appears to have LTE -- not really a shocker for the sequel to the Revolution. [Droid-Life] The BlackBerry 9790 Bellagio got a bit of hands-on time, and has a bunch of images to prove it. [N4BB] Let's face it -- not everyone is enamored by the look of the Motorola RAZR. Y'know, the new one. This week, a version of the device with a different design, dubbed the MT917, was spotted en route to China. It has a lot of similar specs inside, but it has rounded corners and includes a TD-SCDMA radio. [Unwired View] The Google Reader and Google Docs apps on Android have been given refreshes, both of which having been inspired by Ice Cream Sandwich. Head to the Market and check them out. [Droid-Life]
ChangYou reports record revenue, registered accounts
With all the layoffs that seem to be going around the MMO industry as of late, it's about time we hear some good news from a developer. ChangYou, known in North America primarily for its quirky title Zentia and the bizarrely named Duke of Mount Deer, reports a 119 million USD revenue for its third fiscal quarter. The company's amount of registered users rose as well, with the company citing 159 million current gamers inhabiting ChangYou's titles. CEO Tao Wang is understandably pleased with these results and says that "we believe these results once again demonstrate our ability to understand and fulfill gamers' needs and showcase our content development and game operation strengths." For the full details, check out the article over at Gamasutra.
Mobile Miscellany: week of October 17, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 17, 2011: The HTC Rezound (codenamed the Vigor) started showing up in Cellebrite systems, just another indicator of its impending arrival -- and likely name. [Droid-Life] AT&T's current lineup of Windows Phones, such as the Samsung Focus, LG Quantum and HTC Surround, are now showing up as EOL -- End-of-life -- likely in preparation for the trio of incoming devices we saw earlier this week. [WMPowerUser] Cricket added another ZTE feature phone to its lineup this week, called the Memo (shown above). It's got a full QWERTY keyboard and is available for $100. [Cnet] Google Maps for Android was the beneficiary of yet another update. This time, version 5.11 makes one critical feature change: it offers different-sized maps for phones with different screen resolutions. Thus, if you have a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, you're not forced to download a map designed for a 4.3-inch qHD display, saving space on your phone in the process. [MobileBurn] Vodafone 360, launched in 2009 as a LiMo-based cloud synchronization and backup service, will be officially closed by the end of the year. The carrier stopped developing handsets that took advantage of the plan last year, so it really was a matter of time before this happened. [Wall Street Journal] Toshiba Mobile Display announced this week that it's working on a new type of mobile display optimized for wide-angle viewing. Dubbed the "Soludina," it'll be shown off at next week's FPD International in Japan. [Nikkei] Sprint announced a new plan called Wireless CapTel that's designed for those who are hard of hearing. The service, which can be used on Android devices, allows the caller to view conversations in real time as word-for-word captions on their phone's screen. [BusinessWire] Telus will officially launch the 4G Samsung Galaxy S II X on October 28th, according to its website. [Unwired View]
Richard Garriott's Britannia Manor II up for grabs
Have you ever wanted to live in a king's castle? Well, now you can... sort of. Richard Garriott (or Lord British, if it pleases you), creator of Ultima Online and Tabula Rasa, is selling his home -- affectionately named Britannia Manor II -- for the paltry sum of $4.1 million. If you're in the market for a multi-million dollar house, then what are you doing reading Massively? Go on over to the home's Re/Max listing and have a ball.
New documentary follows the Race to World First
MMO players, have you ever thought that your in-game exploits were worthy of a feature film? Well, they probably aren't, but at the very least they're worth a documentary! An upcoming documentary film by the name of "Race to World First" is about the World of Warcraft guild Blood Legion and its journey to become the number one guild in the world. The only catch is that the current numero uno guild is the internet-famous Paragon. The full documentary can be watched at Looking for Group Productions' website for the meager fee of $2.99. If you'd like a peek at what you'd be getting yourself into, follow on past the cut to watch the documentary's trailer.
Mobile Miscellany: week of October 3, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 3, 2011: The Pantech Hotshot featurephone (above left) launched on Verizon this week. It's a full 3.2-inch touchscreen with a 3.2 megapixel camera and video capture. It's offered for $100 with a two-year contract. [PhoneScoop] AT&T launched the Pantech Link II (above right) this week, a follow-up to the popular Quick Messaging Device. It features BREW mobile 1.0.2 and is available for $10 with a two-year commitment. Cincinnati Bell launched the HTC Sensation 4G for $250 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. The HTC Amaze 4G is heading north. Canadian carrier Telus has given the device its own piece of real estate on its site, having it listed as "coming soon." [AndroidCentral] According to benchmark tests, the Sony Ericsson Nozumi actually has a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU and uses Android 2.3.5. [LandofDroid] Open Range Communications, a WiMAX provider in the Denver area, is laying off more than a hundred employees, shutting down its WiMAX service to new customers and the CEO resigned. [PhoneScoop] Prefer the Washington Post over the New York Times? The former has its own Android app now available in the Market for free. [AndroidCentral] The Nokia N9 is now officially for sale in Australia, on Telstra. Vodafone and Optus haven't put the device on sale yet, though both companies have announced intentions to do so at some point. [ComputerWorld]
Mobile Miscellany: week of September 26, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of September 26, 2011: Last week we heard the rumor that Sprint would be launching the BlackBerry Curve 9350 on October 2nd, and we've finally received the official confirmation. The device will be hitting stores tomorrow for $80 with a two-year contract. [PhoneArena] The Motorola Photon WiMAX, referred to as the Photon 4G in the US, is now making its way to Japan as KDDI announced the launch of the device this past Monday. [Motorola] Verizon Wireless launched the Pantech Jest 2 this week, which is a feature phone with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. [Verizon Wireless] The Samsung Galaxy Y is now listed as "coming soon" on O2's website, which makes it the second carrier to announce upcoming availability in the UK. The actual date of release, however, is still unofficial. [O2] Softbank (Japan) looks ready to land the ZTE Lord V882, which appears to be an Android device running on Gingerbread, and comes packed with a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 3.8-inch LCD at WVGA resolution and a 5MP camera. [LandofDroid] NTT DoCoMo and Orange have teamed up to offer the Sharp AQUOS SH80F, which features dual 8MP stereoscopic cameras and claims to be the world's first Android device capable of converting 2D content into 3D in real time. It'll first be launched in France on October 6th and will follow to other European and Asian countries shortly after. [Softpedia] Maybe Microsoft Canada just assumed nobody actually reads terms and conditions, because the company outed the names of a few upcoming Windows Phones in the T&C for a developer contest: the Nokia Sabre and a duo of Samsungs named the Yukon and Wembley. The Nokia Searay was also named in the list, indicating the Sabre is a second device running on Mango. [Nokia HDBlog (translated)] In preparation for its Windows Phone debut, Nokia is also rumored to be featuring a new voice navigation system with 3D maps, according to some leaked marketing materials. [WinRumors] Here's a rendering of the HTC EVO Design 4G, also known as the Kingdom or Hero S. [Pocketnow] Samsung may have a midrange device coming soon to AT&T's lineup as a complement to the Galaxy S II. We've already seen the I857 pass through the FCC and show up in a leaked roadmap, and now it appears to have been dubbed the Doubletime, according to uncovered Cellebrite records. [Pocketnow] Also appearing in Cellebrite records are the HTC Vigor (PH98100), Motorola Droid HD (XT912), and the Samsung Nexus Prime (SCH-i515). [Droid-Life]
