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First Person Shooters (Games)

EA Outs Battlefield 4, Plans To Charge $70 For New Games 323

Justus writes "Posts at NeoGAF and IGN show that a quickly-removed Origin advertisement for Medal of Honor: Warfighter reveals plans for Battlefield 4 and a new-game cost of $70. With Battlefield 3 DLC promised through 2013 and PC games cheaper than ever with things like the Steam Summer Sale, are gamers ready to buy Battlefield 4 at next-gen pricing?"
Cellphones

Universal Remote's Days Are Numbered 429

theodp writes "While the universal remote has served humanity with distinction, its days are numbered, and your smartphone is to blame. Whether you want to control your music, your television or your PowerPoint presentation, there's probably a solution using your phone. Try as it might, the universal remote simply can't navigate the digital world the way the smartphone can — it's a lot easier to put the remote's abilities in the smartphone than vice versa."
Classic Games (Games)

Matt Hazard Returns 31

D3Publisher has announced Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, bringing everyone's favorite gun-toting superstar back to the forefront of gaming culture. Or at least, that's what they tell us. Nobody's actually ever seen or played a Matt Hazard title before; it's just a clever marketing campaign for what is essentially a parody game based on popular shooter standards. They've even made a fake history of Matt Hazard games. "Eat Lead parodies some of our fondest memories in classic gaming and pop culture, so gamers will have a laugh out loud experience everytime they pick-up the controller," said Pete Andrew, a D3P exec.
The Almighty Buck

Game Devs Using One-Time Bonuses to Fight Used Game Sales 229

ShackNews reports on an emerging trend which sees game publishers offer one-time bonus codes to unlock extra content for certain titles. Rock Band 2, for example, comes with a code which will allow free 20-song download, but is only usable once. NBA Live '09 has functionality to update team rosters on a daily basis, but will only do so for the original owner. "'This information and data is very valuable and it wasn't free for us,' an EA representative explained on Operation Sports. 'T-Mobile is paying for it this year for all users who buy the game new. This is a very expensive tool to use, and if you don't buy it new, then you'll have to pay for this. It isn't greed at all.'"
Security

Now Google's CAPTCHA Is Broken 408

steveit_is writes "Yesterday it was reported that Microsoft's revised CAPTCHA had been cracked. Now it's Google's turn. In a move that is sure to surprise no one, the spammers behind 'Xrumer' have announced that they've not only cracked Google's CAPTCHA, but other forms of image verification as well, including 'pick the cat' style CAPTCHA."
Communications

Nerve-tapping Neckband Allows 'Telepathic' Chat 205

ZonkerWilliam writes "Newscientist has an interesting article on tapping the nerve impulses going from the brain to the vocal chords, allowing for 'Voiceless' phone calls. "With careful training a person can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound. These signals are picked up by the neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into words spoken by a computerized voice." It's not quite telepathy, but it's pretty close."
Cellphones

Modu Unveils Modular, Transformer-style Phone 88

An anonymous reader writes "A company called Modu has come up with an innovative take on a mobile phone. Instead of giving you the finished product, you get a base unit and a choice of 'sleeves', which you can plug the base unit into and turn it into a variety of devices. "If, for example, you're going out clubbing, you can pop it into a fashion sleeve with a fancy design. If you're on a business trip and you need a phone with a Qwerty keypad and large screen, you just have to pop it into a 'jacket' with those features." There's also the option to plug it into a satellite navigation device or even a car stereo. While it seems like an interesting system, I wonder whether modular devices are better than buying standalone products or all-in-one products?"
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - BioWare World Design Contest

grayblob writes: BioWare is holding a World Design Contest to find talented level designers to work in Austin on their first MMORPG. To enter you must create a module with a 20-40 minute playtime in the NWN1 toolset. The module should include "a cut scene, intricate puzzles and interesting NPC behavior." The contest ends July 20 and like the writing contest doesn't guaranteed employment for the winners.

Feed Lorne Michaels Wishes NBC Would Put More Of SNL On YouTube (techdirt.com)

Just as Viacom employee Jon Stewart appears to believe his bosses are making a mistake in taking Viacom content off of YouTube, it looks like NBC employee and Saturday Night Live creator and producer, Lorne Michaels can't understand NBC's position on YouTube (found via GoogleWatch). The interview of Michaels is especially interesting, because it was a Saturday Night Live clip of the infamous "Lazy Sunday" music video that is often credited with putting YouTube on the map. At the same time, however, almost everyone admitted that it did wonders in revitalizing SNL's reputation (as well as boosting Andy Samberg's reputation to new heights). Yet, NBC's lawyers shot it down, limiting the benefit to SNL. It appears that Michaels understands that, and says he wishes they could put more of the show on YouTube: "YouTube has been great for us." He also understands the promotional aspect of YouTube: "I think it's simple for me. If the work is good, I want the most number of people to see it -- period. Anything that leads to that would be my objective." As for NBC's new deal with News Corp to distribute videos: "I think it should be clear, I don't quite understand what NBC is doing with Fox." Apparently, the lawyers and decision makers at these entertainment companies never bothered to talk to those who actually understand what the audience wants. When your decisions are driven less by pleasing your audience and more out of some kind of fear of changing business models, you know your strategy is doomed.
Security

US Planning Response To a Cyber Attack 359

We've all heard of Google bombing; the US Government may be taking the expression rather literally. Planning is now underway across the government for the proper way to respond to a cyber attack, and options on the table include launching a cyber counterattack or even bombing the attack's source. The article makes clear that no settled plan is in place, and quotes one spokesman as saying "the preferred route would be warning the source to shut down the attack before a military response." That's assuming the source could be found. From the article: "If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nations critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the president, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source."

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