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Games

Submission + - Miyamoto steps down from lead role at Nintendo (wired.com) 4

AllyGreen writes: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto is stepping down from the head position, saying he wants to concentrate on smaller games with younger developers. Massive loss for Nintendo or a move in the right direction?
Music

Submission + - Revealed: what music stores pay their artists (pcpro.co.uk)

Barence writes: There's a huge disparity in the royalties paid to independent musicians by online stores such as iTunes, Amazon and Spotify, according to a musician writing for PC Pro. While artists can earn $7 for a five-track album sold on iTunes US, that same album only commands a royalty of $3.50 on Amazon — because of Amazon's rigid insistence on charging per track rather than by album. Royalties accrued for streaming sites, meanwhile, are tiny. Artists receive $0.01 for each track played on sites such as Rhapsody and Napster — not enough to buy a cup of coffee for hundreds of downloads. "There has to be a point at which we decide music is worth paying for, that it's worth supporting the music makers," argues artist Robin Vincent. "Pursuing the lowest price, the cheapest consumer experience, will not, I believe, help us in the future."
Linux

Submission + - Build a $200 Linux PC (extremetech.com) 1

An anonymous reader writes: Lots of us have built our own computers, even on budgets. But ExtremeTech has a story about one of the cheapest builds I've seen: a Linux system for under $200. It's not really decked out (obviously), but it shows how you can make smart buying decisions even during tough economic times. What's the lowest-priced system you've ever built, and could you build one for less than $200? If so, how?
NASA

SpaceX Eyeing June 4 Window For Falcon 9 Launch 67

PeterBrett writes "SpaceX has finally announced the window for its first much-awaited Falcon 9 launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Subject to good weather, the company plans to launch either on Friday, June 4, or Saturday, June 5, with the window opening at 12:00 UTC on each day. As usual, SpaceX will be broadcasting the launch live from its website."
Cellphones

Tetris Clones Pulled From Android Market 396

sbrubblesman writes "The Tetris Company, LLC has notified Google to remove all Tetris clones from Android Market. I am one of the developers of FallingBlocks, a game with the same gameplay concepts as Tetris. I have received an email warning that my game was suspended from Android Market due to a violation of the Developer Content Policy. When I received the email, I already imagined that it had something to do with it being a Tetris clone, but besides having the same gameplay as Tetris, which I believe cannot be copyrighted, the game uses its own name, graphics and sounds. There's no reference to 'Tetris' in our game. I have emailed Google asking what is the reason for the application removal. Google promptly answered that The Tetris Company, LLC notified them under the DMCA (PDF) to remove various Tetris clones from Android Market. My app was removed together with 35 other Tetris clones. I checked online at various sources, and all of them say that there's no copyright on gameplay. There could be some sort of patent. But even if they had one, it would last 20 years, so it would have been over in 2005. It's a shame that The Tetris Company, LLC uses its power to stop developers from creating good and free games for Android users. Without resources for a legal fight, our application and many others will cease to exist, even knowing that they are legit. Users will be forced to buy the paid, official version, which is worse than many of the ones available for free on the market. Users from other countries, such as Brazil in my case, won't even be able to play the official Tetris, since Google Checkout doesn't exist in Brazil; you can't buy paid applications from Android Market in these countries."

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