Dead Space 2 Announced for PS3 in 2010

Visceral Games has today announced Dead Space 2, the sequel to the award-winning Dead Space. Hero Isaac Clarke will be back on the PS3 for yet more seemingly endless necromorph slaughter, only this time he’ll have a whole new arsenal of grim tools with which to dispatch the fiends, alongside his trusty Plasma Cutter.

“Like so many gamers worldwide, we love the Dead Space franchise and are very excited to announce a new game in the series,” said Nick Earl, senior VP and group general manager, EA. “Visceral Games is quickly becoming known for delivering high-quality action-packed games. Dead Space 2 is on target to deliver a jaw-dropping experience gamers won’t soon forget.”

“We’re thrilled to jump back into the series, making the next chapter in Isaac’s journey. The infection continues to spread throughout space and our hero Isaac Clarke is the only person able to contain it. There are still lots of necromorphs that need killing!” said Steve Papoutis, executive producer of Dead Space 2. “In Dead Space 2, not everything is exactly as it seems. Expect plot twists that will surprise you and a huge cast of twisted, disgusting monsters that are sure to scare the daylights out of you.” Sweet.

The original Dead Space, released in 2008, has won almost 100 industry awards as well as being lauded by critics and fans alike as one the scariest horror games of recent years. Dead Space proved that it is indeed possible to still play a game while hiding behind the sofa, and we can’t wait for the sequel, which unfortunately has no official release date so far.

Oh, and look, here’s the first two bits of art from Dead Space 2! That ink blot thing looks intriguing, looks like they’ll be messing with our heads all over again!

When news first surfaced in February this year about a “reimagining” of Namco’s 2002 third-person shooter Dead to Rights arriving on the PS3 from developers Volatile Games, I was pretty excited, having had a real soft spot for the original Xbox game. The teaming up of crime-fighting dog Shadow and police officer Jack Slate seemed very original at the time and it actually worked really well in the game, especially when you got to sic Shadow on villains! Now the dynamic duo is back, only this time with the full-force of the PS3 behind them.

“Dead to Rights: Retribution is a fresh look at the franchise, with a ground-up design for the game mechanics, world, characters and narrative,” said Imre Jele, project director for Volatile Games. “We’ve reimagined Dead to Rights for both fans of the franchise and a brand new audience alike.”

Players will once again get to control both Jack and Shadow, this time using an innovative new hybrid combat system, featuring third-person shooting, hand-to-hand combat and dog-on-criminal action from Shadow. In this latest game, as with the first, you get to explore the dark underbelly of Grant City. The advanced combat engine sounds very versatile, enabling you to use your sidearm to target the enemy at distance, to take cover and blind fire, to use human shields, steal enemies’ weapons with special disarm moves, and finish them off with deadly takedowns.

The screenshots that Namco Bandai has released today are the first since those released for Gamescon back in August, so we’ve been waiting a long time for something new other than the odd developer’s diary. This new batch of visuals looks quite similar to those from August – they’re very dark and gritty, with some real hardcore combat action going down, including Shadow sinking his teeth into a man he has pinned down on the ground.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is set for release for PS3 in 2010.

Quantum Theory Screen Shots And Details Released

Tecmo Koei has today released some eye-popping screenshots from Quantum Theory, their forthcoming first foray into the third-person shooter genre. Koei is probably best known for the sumptuous Dynasty Warriors series, and Tecmo is best known for Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, so this could very well be a marriage made in visual heaven.

In the game, players take on the role of humungous gun-toting warrior Syd as he romps his way through intense action sequences in a shape-shifting battlefield, helped by the acrobatic AI-controlled Filena. The two characters will be able to perform certain moves and combo attacks as a pair, and must sometimes work in harmony in order to bypass a specific obstacle.

Quantum Theory is set in a world which has been decimated by war. Only a few humans remain, and now the existence of even those few survivors is threatened by a black material called Erosion. A militia is recruited by the survivors to hunt down the Erosion and destroy the evil Living Tower. When Syd arrives at the tower, he meets the mysterious Filena; they join forces and climb the forbidding structure together, searching for answers. Look for Quantum Theory to be released for PS3 in Spring 2010.

Red Dead Redemption Release Date Announced

Rockstar Games has just announced the release date for Red Dead Redemption on the PS3. The successor to the hit 2004 game, Red Dead Revolver, will be available from 27th April 2010 in North American, and 30th April 2010 internationally, so mark that date in your diary if you like your gun slinging on the brutal side.

“This is our vision of the American West: beautiful, bloody and action-packed. The game is a true epic, and has been developed with the same production values and attention to detail we put into all our projects,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “Red Dead Redemption represents another milestone for us in the development of open-world games.”

The game depicts the American Wild West at the turn of the 20th century, with players taking on the role of somewhat reformed outlaw, John Marston. After John is blackmailed by the government and his family threatened, he takes off roaming the Western frontier looking for members of his old gang. His travels take him from the lawless frontier to the civilized North and then back on down to Mexico, which he finds on the verge of civil war.

Red Dead Redemption is built on the internally developed Rockstar Advance Game Engine (RAGE) and Natural Motion’s Euphoria physics as featured in Grand Theft Auto IV. This makes for a vast open-world environment that players are free to explore, and where they can expect to face gunfights, meet all sorts of strange characters and experience the Wild West at first hand.

New Grand Turismo 5 Demo Announced

SCEE and Polyphony Digital have today announced that a new GT5 demo for the PS3 will be available for download on the European PlayStation Network from 17th December. According to this post on the PlayStation.Blog from Penrose Tackie, Gran Turismo European brand manager, the demo is actually the GT Academy 2010 Time Trial competition, in which players get to drive the Nissan 370Z (tuned and non-tuned versions) on a new section of the Gran Turismo 5 circuit. The top 20 qualifiers from each country will get the chance to take part in a national final. The 20 winners of that final will then get to attend the actual GT Academy 2010. The two best drivers from the five-day GT Academy trial will then undergo specialized driver training to determine the overall winner. There will be no other opportunities to enter the GT Academy aside from the Time Trial completion. The closing date for the competition is 24th January 2010.

Japan’s PS3 Preorder Craze

If fans on our side of the planet literally gobbled up PS3 preorders, we were wondering how fast the Japanese gamers will consume theirs. Apparently, a few stores and online sites have began limited PS3 preorder offers all in preparation for the launch. The tricky part is that Sony Computer Entertainment admitted that only 100,000 units will be available by November 11.

PlayStation.com has not yet confirmed any preorders on its website, but our Japanese friends already have a number of choices. Online store Tsutaya has not yet given any dates but confirmed they would be taking orders. For Amazon’s case, people who had previously subscribed to a mail news service will be entertained, but this is a strict one-per-person basis. Actual stores (you know, the cashier-toting ones) Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera are set to entertain eager to preorder (cool rhyme huh?) customers, while some shops like GEO have already sold out all their slots.

SCE announced that a million more PS3 units will be available by the end of this year. With all these preorder craze, we can’t help but feel bad for those who are bound to miss out on having the promising machine before the holidays. Our Japanese friends though might be doing the right thing: going to stores both online and real and placing their preorders, instead of waiting for the next Sony announcement.

Japan Hardware: Wii Edges Out PS3

It’s a Nintendo week in the hardware charts, but for how long?

Nintendo dominates the hardware charts this week in Japan (23rd November ~ 29th November 2009), reflecting the popularity of Wii and DS titles in the software Top 10 via MediaCreate.

In the home console race, the Wii has only just squeezed a victory over the PlayStation 3, with only 115 units between them. The battle for the favourite TV games machine is getting very interesting indeed. This month sees New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Final Fantasy XIII release for the Wii and PS3 respectively – which will come out on top?

The power struggle between handheld devices is not as close, with the DSi LL/XL maintaining a good lead over its closest rival, the PSP 3000, despite dropping from its initial week’s sales of over 100,000. While the LL is in a class of its own, the PSP 3000 and the regular DSi are battling like bitter rivals for second place.

One factor that rings true for both hardware charts is the huge gulf between the top two or three formats and the others. The Xbox 360 falls short of a whopping 42,873 units behind the PlayStation 3, and the DS Lite is sitting roughly 30,000 seats away from it’s camera-based cousin.

Seems like nobody wants the PSP Go either, sitting in the corner with a meagre 3,809 sales. The PlayStation 2, however, is the real hero, still chugging away at the bottom of the chart after more than ten years on sale with over 2,000 units sold.

Home Console
Wii: 46,673
PS3: 46,558
360: 3,685
PS2: 2,057

Handheld
DSi LL: 67,243
PSP: 38,839
DSi: 37,021
DS: Lite: 7,268
PSP Go: 3,809

Cool and Unique watch by Phosphor Watches

So your looking for a new cool LED watch, one that is both unique but subtle. Well take a look this way at a new watch by phosphorwatches.com. This unique and styleish time piece sports technology that is rare in watches and is sure to turn heads with its sleek look. Based on “E-Ink” the same type of technology used in Amazon Kindle and Sony ereader the display has a very book like font to it, unlike regular LCD watches that have an absolute streight edges. Having e-ink technology in the watch allows the user to instantly change the appearance of the watch dail as well as present the date and time information.

An elegant curved watch case houses a distinctive digital display that fits comfortably on your wrist. The bright, high contrast E Ink electronic paper display insures readability day or night and allows you to select between differing watch dial modes to match whatever style fits your mood.

The Phosphor watch also has a contured case that wraps around your wrist to give a great fit and feel. If you are looking for a great Christmas gift this year thetechnologyblog.net highly recommends the Phosphor E Ink Digital Hour Clock Watch Stainless Steel

Cool Watches from Tokyo Flash

Looking for a cool LED watch? tokyoflash is having a sale on most of its unique and ultra fashionable watches. One of the most amazing watches in the tokyoflash line-up right now is the Negative and the Keisan. The Negative has an “always on” LCD display and one of the most sophisticated designs Tokyoflash has to offer. The Keisan on the other hand is a streamlined one motioned design that is both cool and streamlined. Even if they cant read the time it will be a eye catcher both in the board room and the dance floor. Check out the Ultra cool watches at http://www.tokyoflash.com

Mineral Oil Submerged Computer

Ive seen it all, Now we have a mineral oil submerged cooling system by Puget Systems.

“We built this system because with all the oil cooled projects out there, no one built a system that looked good and functioned well! After seeing all the other projects, we had a lot of ideas of how we could do it better and more easily. Many projects used vegetable oil, which would go rancid after a short time. The mineral oil does not have this problem, and is completely clear. We also wanted to use an appropriate enclosure — the Toms Hardware system used a clear acrylic case, and they had to painstakingly seal each rear connector to keep the oil from leaking. We wanted to put the ports on top to solve that problem the simple way. Other people have built systems in aquariums before, but they were always oversized and square. When we found the Eclipse System 6 Aquarium, we were excited to see an aquarium that was absolutely perfect in size — you couldn’t go any smaller. In addition, we had questions about performance and long term effects. Our initial tests, which we go over below, answer the questions about cooling performance. At the bottom of the page, we’ve posted subsequent follow ups after a few months and even a year, to let you know how a system like this performs in the long term.”

Learn all the Facebook Chat Symbols

Cool free Facebook smiley face pictures and keyboard text emoticons – keyboard Text face smiley. Smiley is the emoticon icon to express your happyness, sadness or whatever you feel. We’ve got free cool emoticons smiley icons here! You can use them on social networking sites like facebook or myspace in some chat, icq or msn. It’s like pictures of smiley faces just a bit more original. =) Type codes (smiley text) on your keyboard required or just quote these free msn emoticons to input text msn smileys. Surely it’s fantastic collection of social networking and Facebook chat smileys for im (internet messangers) and chats! Most of Facebook emoticons depicted here are easy to input on your keyboard. Though some use Unicode symbols or keyboard alt codes for symbols. Other characters can be found here: Facebook symbols.

Softbank cellphone to turn into ‘robot’ buddy

TECHNOLOGY For those who feel a bit lonely just talking on the phone, Softbank Mobile Corp. is offering a cellphone that turns into a robot buddy ready to chat.

WII’s Next Big hit for Nintendo? Super Mario Brothers.

It’s retro right down to the box art.

(Credit: Nintendo) This holiday season, amid an economy that’s still in the tank, game companies are stingier with their first-party release schedule. In fact, each of the Big Three (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) are only targeting one or two games for their systems before Christmas. Nintendo has one single title that’s prominent for the Nintendo Wii, and that’s New Super Mario Bros.
We got a chance to play one or two of the side-scrolling title’s multiplayer modes awhile back, but we didn’t know whether Mario’s home console return to 2D platforming would also feature a single-player mode that had as much going for it as old-school favorites like Super Mario World.

After last night’s playthrough and a discussion with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto (translated via Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen), the answer to that question is undoubtedly yes.

Mr. Miyamoto answered questions regarding his new game, in particular why it’s a 2D game when Super Mario Galaxy achieved such great success both critically and financially as a 3D Wii title.

According to Miyamoto, who participated in a reporter’s roundtable Thursday night in New York City, what makes a Mario game is being “simple to control and easy to understand.” The multiplayer modes of New Super Mario Bros. Wii include both four-player competitive Smash Bros.-inspired modes such as Coin Battle, as well as hop-in four-player co-op throughout the entire single-player story mode of the game.

“We wanted the game to appeal to and be accessible to as wide an audience as possible, and because we wanted to make it multiplayer, we felt that the original concept for Mario Bros. was the one best suited to multiplayer gameplay,” Miyamoto added. “Multiplayer platforming is much better suited to a 2-D environment versus a 3-D one.” He was referring specifically to same-room gaming as opposed to online gaming, raising a point that we’ve often thought about with the Wii–namely, other than Wii Sports, that there just aren’t a great number of multiplayer games for the console.

Miyamoto went on to explain how New Super Mario Bros. Wii and next year’s upcoming sequel to Super Mario Galaxy were simultaneously co-developed as two separate ways to look at the Mario experience on the Wii. One is a natural evolution of Mario’s recent 3D efforts, while New Super Mario Bros. is unabashedly retro, even down to its box design and cover art.

“The game stems from 8-bit Mario,” Miyamoto admitted, although he also claims the original Mario was always intended to be a two-player co-op experience. With the DS game New Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto said he “tried a balance of level difficulty that would still satisfy long time Mario fans,” but found the balance “hard to do.”

The new Mario game allows players to be as proactive or casual as they want, according to Miyamoto and Nintendo. They mean this quite literally: the game triggers a “Super Guide” option after the player dies eight times, which is a video showing exactly how to make it through the level. The player can jump in at any time, or even skip the level entirely. It’s a controversial idea to the hard-core, but Miyamoto stressed that it needn’t be used, and wouldn’t be a great idea in all games. “A lot of people buy strategy guides or go online–we incorporated it within the game itself,” Miyamoto explained, adding that the Super Guide “doesn’t show secret areas or how to get star coins.”

Amusing developer and tester-made “expert” videos were also shown that can also be unlocked by collecting hidden Star Coins, showing off how much extra can be applied to certain levels with a little extra hard-core effort.

It seems that Miyamoto’s greatest pride is in how this game enables a meeting between hard-core and casual players, and how same-room “living room” multiplayer, as opposed to online play, can be a source of old-fashioned fun. “The more advanced can carry novice gamers through levels,” Miyamoto said, and referred to his observations testing the game with focus groups. “What we noticed was when people played alone they had a very serious look on their face and they were working very hard trying to figure out their way through a level…but as soon as we had multiple people playing the game, their expressions changed dramatically, and all of a sudden they had smiles on their faces,” noting that “some of the people playing multiplayer can have a really good time without playing much of anything.”

While some might fault Nintendo for not making New Super Mario Bros. Wii into WiiWare DLC (for the record, Miyamoto claims he prefers things in boxes), the playtest afterwards confirmed that this game is exactly what an old-school Nintendo fan or a retro-obsessed Mario lover would want–it’s a full Mario game through and through. Strangely, it eschews many of the Wii’s prime features–it’s controlled exclusively using the nunchuck-less Wii-mote turned on its side, and doesn’t use Wii MotionPlus–but that could be an appeal for many Wii owners, not a hindrance. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it adds enough tributes and new wrinkles (like an ice flower power-up) to make it worth the visit. Come to think of it, New Super Mario Bros. Wii might be the only Nintendo Wii game besides Wii Sports to successfully blend hardcore gaming, casual appeal, and multiplayer into one package. If Wii owners agree with that sentiment, then Nintendo’s destined to be printing money once again this holiday.

“Suicidal Astronaut Wanted” says Craiglist Ad

Craiglist Ad seeks

Just because there’s a recession, it doesn’t mean you can’t find your dream job. So allow me to direct your boundless ambition toward an ad on Craigslist’s Calgary site.

While many people scour Craigslist to see if Starbucks or Bed, Bath and Beyond might be seeking additions to their cheery teams, the poster of this ad is searching for an altogether more adventurous type, proudly announcing “Astronaut Needed (Northern Alberta).” Is that the cough of a million scoffs I hear? Perhaps. But this is truly an interesting opportunity, to say the least. Just look at the first, enticing sentence of the ad: “Astronaut needed for experimental flight to Titan.”

Perhaps you might be concerned that this ad was not, in fact, placed by NASA. Please, let me put your mind into horizontal mode. The advertiser assures all applicants that he has been “working on this project for near 40 years.” Indeed, the only reason he is seeking an Armstrong for his flight is that he himself seems to have weaker limbs now that the years have passed.

You might also be wondering what kind of craft will shuttle you into orbit. Well, again, I can be your Xanax. The advertiser declares that his secret craft is “the result of my professional experience and imagination while serving the U.S. military in advanced aeronautics as a scientist.” You see, this man is a veritable expert in his field. This spaceship enjoys “a revolutionary propulsion system and its fuselage is fabricated with the most advanced material.”

Surely, you can have no more concerns. Surely, you are ready to reply to this advertisement, beaming at the idea that you will soon be beamed into the great beyond. Well, in the interests of full disclosure, let me draw your attention to some of the finer details. In the advertiser’s own persuasive and humane words: “I am certain you will make it safely to Titan but there will not be enough fuel to get home. This is for someone unique that has always wanted to see the universe first-hand and has perhaps a terminal view on life here at home. Here’s your shot at romantic history.”

Yes, that’s right. You won’t be coming back. At all. Ever. So perhaps you might want to check what the nightlife is like on Titan. Because that might be the only way you could really create romantic history.

Should I have failed to deter you from applying for your life’s (and death’s) dream, do note that the job specs declare that you should be no taller than 5 feet 10 inches and “relatively slim.” One imagines that any appearances in a Ralph Lauren advertisement might enhance your chances of being chosen.

Linux Foundation aims to boost membership with new perks

In an effort to expand its ranks, the Linux Foundation has improved its selection of perks for members. New perks include hardware discounts and the availability of a lifetime e-mail forwarding account at the linux.com domain.

The LF was formed in 2007 when the Open Source Development Labs merged with the Free Standards Group. The organization is responsible for maintaining the Linux Standard Base (LSB) project and also employs Linux creator Linus Torvalds. The group has largely been funded by its corporate sponsors, which include many of the largest companies in the technology industry. Last year, the LF launched an individual membership program, inviting Linux enthusiasts to pay annual dues for various privileges.

Members receive a linux.com e-mail forwarding account and discounts on various conferences hosted by the foundation. The LF obtained the linux.com domain from SourceForge, Inc. earlier this year and has been transforming it into an information hub and social network for the Linux community. The e-mail addresses are not permanent, however, and could disappear if the user neglects to pay the annual dues.

In a bid to increase its membership, the foundation has added several new perks. One of the changes is that users can now pay a flat one-time fee to make the e-mail address permanent. Existing members can get the lifetime e-mail address for $150. New members can get a package of one-year membership and lifetime e-mail for $250. Regular annual dues are $99. Another significant new perk is hardware discounts from Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

I’ve been eyeing Dell’s new 537s with Ubuntu, so I decided to put the new Linux Foundation membership discount to the test. The discount is offered through Dell’s Employee Purchase Program (EPP). Ironically, I had serious difficulty finding the Linux-based computers through Dell’s EPP storefront (you can’t get the discount if you just aim your browser directly at dell.com/ubuntu). “Linux” isn’t included in the “Operating System” filter at the EPP portal (though, surprisingly, FreeDOS is). I eventually found the tiny “Open-Source PCs” link towards the bottom of the left-hand column. The discount from Dell is roughly 7 percent, but it’s a pretty nice deal because it stacks with other discounts and coupon codes.

Members also get discounts on O’Reilly and No Starch Press books, Linux Journal Subscriptions, and some ThinkGeek.com purchases. For Linux enthusiasts who regularly buy computer hardware and other discounted stuff, the $99 membership fee could pay for itself pretty quickly. The lifetime e-mail offering, on the other hand, doesn’t seem all that appealing. $150 is a lot to pay for a mere forwarding service.

As the economic downturn compels people to close their wallets, nonprofit organizations have been exploring ways to entice supporters to continue contributing financial resources. Some open source groups have come up with interesting solutions. The GNOME Foundation, for example, has a special Friends of GNOME program that allows contributors to “adopt” their favorite GNOME hacker by supplying a small monthly donation. The Participatory Culture Foundation, the organization behind the Miro media player, launched a program that allows donors to adopt a line of code. The LF membership program lacks the cuteness and novelty of those approaches, but it makes up for it by offering pretty solid perks.

Microsoft giving away another 777 copies of Windows 7

Microsoft Netherlands is giving away 777 copies of Windows 7 to people who live in the small town of Zevenhuizen, which literally translates to “Seven Houses.” They will be getting an English-language copy of Windows 7 Ultimate with a license code valid for one Windows PC. In fact, one of the requirements is that you must be in possession of a PC with Windows as the primary OS; those using mainly Mac OS or Linux can’t participate. Another requirement is that the PC gets a green light from the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Microsoft employees and those under 18 years of age not included.

Zevenhuizen residents must opt in over at zevenhuizengaatover.nl. The site explains that there are four options to choose from for getting Windows 7: pick up a copy, bring the computer over to have it installed, have Microsoft come pick up the PC and bring it back with everything installed within 48 hours, or have Microsoft install it for them at home. Microsoft is also offering to back up files (but not software) and to install Windows Live programs as well as Microsoft Security Essentials. Users are on their own for reinstalling their other applications.

Signup on the actual website ends tomorrow, though signup in person is possible till Tuesday, October 20. Actual Windows 7 installs will take place from October 17, 2009 to October 23, 2009, meaning these residents have the option to get the operating system early; much like those who choose to buy PCs from small custom PC makers as of earlier this week.

Microsoft’s obsession with the number seven for Windows 7 marketing became obvious in September 2009 when it debuted a Windows 7 sweepstakes on Twitter over at @mswindows with the #WinWin7 hash tag. Their most recent giveaway was for tickets to Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show in LA.

Microsoft claims 200,000 people in the Netherlands have already tried the beta version of Windows 7, but now it’s time to promote the RTM version, and this is one of the ways to do it. Microsoft has already given away the RTM version of Windows 7 to its faithful testers, to event attendees, to launch party hosts, and so on. The software giant is going to keep at it for the next few months though, so if you still don’t have your free copy, don’t make any rash decisions to move to Zevenhuizen.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates Supports Technology in Agriculture to Fight Hunger

Farming has the power to lift up lives of the poor, says Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is funding agricultural research for developing countries. Gates spoke this morning at The World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Helping the poorest small holder farmers to get food from field to market is the single most powerful lever to ending hunger and poverty,” Gates says.

But Gates fears that solutions to solving the world’s food crisis are being endangered by division. On the one side are groups who want to increase technological improvements in crop production, including biotechnology, and on the other side are those fighting for sustainability.

“They say you have to choose, but I believe it is a false choice,” Gates says. “I believe we can have both.”

The next green revolution must be guided by technology, Gates explains. “When productivity is high, people can farm on less land,” he says. “We have to develop more crops that can be grown in a drought. But we will never get there without a continuous and urgent science based approach.”

The Gates Foundation is collaborating both public and private partners around the world to support a wide range of crop production methods, including some transgenic approaches. Gates says he was inspired by the work by Dr. Norman Borlaug, father of the green revolution.

“We can be the generation that sees Dr. Borlaug’s dream fulfilled, a world free from hunger,” Gates says.

For more information on The Gates Foundation work on crop production, read the upcoming issues of Farm Journal magazine.