Screen Shots From ‘Myst’ For The iPhone
March 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
A handful of screens have surfaced from the upcoming iPhone version of classic adventure game Myst, simultaneously reaffirming its existence after months of ambiguous silence and offering fans a glimpse at the game’s progress.
A beta tester, using the presumably phonetic nom de internet "Mystdee," posted the images to the Myst Online forums, saying, "I have been given permission to post a few screenshots of the Myst for iPhone so you can see it’s really happening and coming along well."
I don’t quite know what I was expecting when viewing the images, so while they’re quite obviously an aesthetically correct recreation of Myst, I feel a bit let down.
I don’t know if it’s the advances made in gaming since Myst’s "photo realistic" graphics drove the adoption of CD-ROM drives, or if I had remembered the game as more attractive than it actually was, but something about these screenshots just seems so stagnant.
Google Cuts 200 Jobs in Sales and Marketing
March 27, 2009 by tcgames · 2 Comments
Google has announced another round of layoffs, this time for about 200 people in sales and marketing. The move comes two months after the search giant said it would scale back hiring of recruiters.
"Just under 200 were affected with about half those working in North America," said Matt Furman, a Google spokesperson. "Everyone affected was told yesterday. Each person will be given a chance to find another job at Google and if they can’t or they choose to leave, they will be given severance."
The company also offered the affected employees outplacement support.
In January, Google said it would scale back its engineering efforts by reassigning positions. The company closed offices in Texas, Norway and Sweden and moved engineers to other offices.
The announcement of the cuts sent a chill on Wall Street and throughout the industry, signaling that even Google was feeling the brunt of the weakening economy and the worst may be yet to come.
Google in January also said it would scale back recruitment efforts. The company said it would continue hiring, but at a reduced rate.
Google began by scaling back all its contracts with external contractors and vendors that were providing recruiting services. Then the company decided it needed deeper cuts and reduced the overall size of its recruiting business by 100 positions.
Google said the job cuts are a result of the company’s fast growth in a short period of time. Since 2001, Google has acquired 53 companies. While most of its growth was between 2005 and 2007, with 36 acquisitions, the company continued to acquire businesses in 2008, despite the ailing economy. Companies acquired in 2008 were Omnisio, an online video company, and Tatter and Company, a blogging-software company.
"When companies grow that quickly, it’s almost impossible to get everything right — and we certainly…
Romero’s ‘Night Of The Living Dead’ Gets Re-Animated
March 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
George Romero’s ’68 classic Night of the Living Dead has opened itself up to various interpretations due to its "public domain" status – less a blessing, more of a curse as history has taught us (see: Night of the Living Dead 3-D ). The latest stab is Night of the Living Dead: Re-Animated .
This is a "collaborative artistic re-envisioning" of the film featuring international artists and animators who are invited to select their favorite scenes and recreate them through the animated medium of their choice (CG, stop-motion, etc.).
For an example, check out the trailer below. The organizers of this endeavor are still seeking contributions and have extended their deadline to April 24th. For more details, visit NOTLDR.com .
Book Review – “The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane” by Robert E. Howard
March 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Solomon Kane is one of Robert E. Howard’s most enigmatic characters. First appearing in 1928, there were nine short stories, three poems and four fragments written by Howard about the dour-faced Puritan avenger. All of these woks appear in “The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane” by Robert E. Howard. This edition contains all of Howard’s published work on Kane, as well as the known fragments that were never completed. Also included is a dedication to Robert E. Howard by H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft admired Howard as a writer and as a man. Through their correspondence, they shared their ideas and experiences with each other, forming a friendship that lasted until Howard’s death in 1936.
Some of the Kane stories are much darker than others, but they all share the same dark mood, symbolic of Kane’s time. Taking place sometime during the late 16th, early 17th centuries, the stories follow the Puritan avenger all over the globe. From England, Africa, Cathay, and beyond, Kane travels the world and goes where fate leads him, one day at a time. Read more
Netflix Launches New Personalization Features
March 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Netflix has posted an update to their online streaming service. The competition is heating up, and Netflix looks like it’s still a serious contender for online streaming content. With the news that BlockBuster is entering the on demand market, this competition is always beneficial for the end user.
The features include:
Taste Preferences: The ability to set taste preferences across a variety of moods (e.g. feel-good, dark, goofy, gritty, etc.); storylines (e.g. courtroom, dinosaurs, mid-life crisis, etc.); qualities (e.g. critically-acclaimed, visually-striking, etc.); and other category types, on a new, easier, three button system.
Some of the rows will be based on what the member explicitly sets. Others will be based on a member’s recent activity.
Please comment on what you find helpful and suggest possible areas of improvement so we can continue to take personalized movie discovery to the next level for you.
Rockstar Announces The Return of Max Payne
March 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Following months of internet rumors, Rockstar today officially confirmed the development of Max Payne 3.
In production at Rockstar Vancouver (The Warriors), Max Payne 3 features a now-retired Payne who still can’t escape a world of corruption and violence.
“We’re starting a new chapter of Max’s life with this game,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “This is Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation.”
Max’s new chapter will include a new city, as he left behind New York City after the events of Max Payne 2.
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It's priced at $5 and weighs in at 13.2 MB, meaning you won't be able to download it via 3G or Edge.
Capcom points out that the gameplay has been rebalanced for iPhone, which is undoubtedly for the best, as a touch screen-controlled port of platformer that demands absolute precision problably isn’t the best idea, especially given the amount of broken gamepads that Mega Man II has left in the wake of its multiple incarnat…
Twilight Sells Over 3 Million DVD Units
March 23, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Summit Entertainment announced today that the home entertainment release of the studio’s action-packed, modern day vampire love story Twilight sold over 3 million DVD units in its first day of release. The DVD launch commenced this past Saturday morning at midnight with nationwide events during which time Summit and its retail partners provided Twilight fans with the chance to celebrate the DVD release of the film. “‘Twilight’ at Midnight” allowed participating retailers the opportunity to stay open late as fans lined up in impressive numbers to purchase the DVD of the epic romance at midnight parties.
Thousands of Twilight fans across the nation participated in the “‘Twilight’ at Midnight” event and some were surprised by filmmaker and cast appearances. 2,500 fans attended in Salt Lake City to see Rachelle Lefevre who plays Victoria; 2,000 showed up in Los Angeles to see Ashley Greene who plays Alice Cullen; over 1,000 fans came out to see director Catherine Hardwicke in Dallas; 700 fans lined up in New York for Edi Gathegi who plays Laurent; and 500 fans in Chicago saw Nikki Reed who plays Rosalie Hale.
With over 3 million DVD units sold,Twilight enters the top five best first day DVD releases over the past two years along with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers.
Summit Entertainment’s Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger stated, “The Saturday release in conjunction with the groundbreaking retail events across the country have proven to be overwhelmingly successful which in turn benefited ‘Twilight’ fans as well as our retail partners. Home Entertainment President Steve Nickerson, the home entertainment group and the entire family at Summit are to be commended for the conceptualization and execution of this unique approach.”
Video Games Continue Strong Sales in February
The video-game industry is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise grim economic environment. According to figures compiled by market research firm NPD Group, sales of games and hardware were 10 percent higher in February compared to a year before, bringing in a robust $1.47 billion in revenue.
That good news follows a similar increase in January, when U.S. retailers reported a 13 percent rise. Altogether, the industry has generated nearly $3 billion in sales in the first two months of this year.
In an e-mail to media late Thursday, NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier said that despite the tough economy, "the U.S. video-game industry continues to post strong year-over-year comps. Unit sales increased even more than dollar sales did, reflecting a slightly lower average retail price for all categories as compared to last year."
The leader of the pack in the game-console battle once again was Nintendo, which sold a remarkable 753,000 Wiis in February alone. The company was also strong in the handheld market, selling 588,000 DS devices.
Microsoft finished in second place for the month, moving 391,000 Xbox 360 units, while Sony once again brought up the rear with 276,000 PlayStation 3 sales.
Taken together, hardware sales increased slightly more than the video-game sector as a whole, rising 11 percent over the same period last year.
Sony’s solid position at the back of the console pack has lent credibility to rumors that the company is planning a price reduction (estimated to be $100 off the PS3′s $399 price) to regain market share. News on whether the company will go through with a price drop and how much it will be is expected at the end of next week.
Nintendo also took top honors in the software segment — the Wii Fit with Balance Board sold 644,000…
Unlock virtually any iPhone with new software
March 21, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The iPhone 3G is one of the more desirable handsets to date, and it has an impressive track record to back up that particular statement. How many people have thrown a glance of envy at somebody who walks by while fiddling with their iPhone? I myself have clamored for one, but the prohibitively high price tag when purchased unlocked ($599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB model from AT&T themselves) is a major stumbling block. For those who want to have their cake and eat it, here’s one method to stay ahead of Apple’s own game by unlocking a supposed contract-tied iPhone to choose a network operator of your choice. While the latest iPhone firmware and baseband updates have already closed up a great many of the commonly exploited software loopholes, the UnlockAnyiPhone.net (www.unlockanyiphone.net) solution still has not been circumvented (much to the chagrin of the folks at Apple I presume) as it offers a safe, physical SIM insert designed to work with any iPhone model without having to cut or cause any loss of service.
According to Peter Smit of UnlockAnyiPhone.net, “Our solution is one of the most reliable unlocking products on the market, and we’re proud to offer our customers an easy route to unlocking their iPhone. Unlike many of our competitors, our SIM unlock solution is completely unaffected by the latest updates from Apple, and as a result, UnlockAnyiPhone.net customers can still enjoy safe, legal and easy unlocking thanks to our product. Those that provided software unlocking solutions have been closed off in later models, with Apple successfully closing down the security loopholes that made software unlocking possible. However, our physical unlock will continue to function regardless of modifications made to the 3G handset’s programming, allowing the user to bypass the automatic network configuration to choose their own preferred operator.”
You can pick up unlocking solutions for both models of the iPhone from $29.95 onwards.
Johnny Depp’s ‘Dark Shadows’ Seems To Be Moving Ahead
There is apparently more activity on Dark Shadows than we would have initially believed. To rewind for a second: Johnny Depp picked up the rights to the iconoclastic ABC vampire soap opera in hopes of producing it through his Infinitum-Nihil brand. After that, there was plenty of speculation about Depp starring as lead vampire Barnabas Collins as well as who might direct it.
Infinitum’s Sam Sarkar confirmed to MTV the news that Depp is planning to star in the film, but would not commit to Tim Burton directing the project. "I can neither confirm nor deny that,” he said. “But I know it’s out there in the ether.”
“All I can say is that one is very active,” added Sarkar. “The studio will be making some announcements regarding it pretty soon. Very soon, probably.”
