As part of YouTube’s attempts to push its own original content, they pushed a new movie from Sebastian Gutierrez on their front page. A Girl Walks Into A Bar has great production values, Hollywood stars and is free and only on YouTube.
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While Intel had a great first quarter of 2011, many analysts are concerned about the company going forward given the uncertain future of PCs and the looming power of smartphones and tablets. Intel CEO Paul Otellini recently fired back at those doubters, saying that an Intel chip will find its way into a smartphone in the next 12 months and is working to have chips for Android/Honeycomb, MeeGo and Microsoft/Windows mobile OS based tablets.
“We’re heads down on a number of designs on tablets, on all three of those operating systems,” Otellini said.
Source: MarketWatch
The gaming industry has changed radically in the past five years, with trends like social games, free-to-play and motion control shaking up the established base. While it’s an exciting time to be in the industry and cover it, it’s a scary time for those in the traditional games business.
“We have not been this uncertain about what’s coming next in the games industry since Epic’s been around for 20 years,” said Mike Capps, president of Epic Games. “We’re at such an inflection point. Will there be physical distribution in 10 years or even five? Will anyone care about the next console generation? What’s going on in PC Can you make money on PC if it’s not a connected game? What’s going on in mobile?”
“Tons of really scary things… It used to be, ‘Well, of course PlayStation 3 will be successful because PS2 was amazingly successful,’ he added. “But can you say for sure that you know everyone’s going to jump to the next generation I sure hope so I’m going to try to make some great tech that will make everyone want to. But it’s scary.”
While Epic has achieved some success with Infinity Blade on iOS, Capps acknowledges that cheap apps are a major threat. “If there’s anything that’s killing us [in the traditional games business] it’s dollar apps,” he lamented. “How do you sell someone a $60 game that’s really worth it … They’re used to 99 cents. As I said, it’s an uncertain time in the industry. But it’s an exciting time for whoever picks the right path and wins.”
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}
On the official Facebook page for the game, the SOCOM 4 Teammate Finder {link no longer active} allows fans to build a firefight team from their friends on Facebook. The experience begins by asking the user a series of questions about what they look for in a teammate (loyalty or self-reliance ) and multiple choice answers to determine what they would do if they were lost somewhere in a southeast Asian jungle. Once the questions are answered, the user s Facebook profile pic becomes the Team Leader image and four friends are chosen to fill the role of sharp shooter, demo and infantry, recon and close combat. Teammates are chosen based on number of posts and photos that they have on Facebook to determine their team role. Fans can show off their chosen team on their wall or post to a friend s wall that they have been chosen to be part of their team. Users can also watch a trailer of the game or send an application to a friend to also look for their own team.
Rio is here and #1 at the box office! And if you haven t been one of the 10 million plus people that have already downloaded the Angry Birds Rio for your mobile phone, check out an official website destination or the official Facebook page {link no longer active} for the film to access links to both the iTunes App store {link no longer active} and Amazon Android marketplace. Download now and launch some angry birds across two chapters with 30 new levels inspired by the story of the film. Launch some angry birds to rescue caged exotic birds and attack evil marmosets. After you ve gotten three stars on all levels, don t worry because more is on the way with additional level updates in 2011 slated for May, July, October and November.
EA Playfish has announced that they are switching over to Facebook Credits from Playfish Cash. Customers can exchange Cash for Credits on a one-for-one basis until June 30 and will receive bonus item for the game in which they complete the Playfish Cash conversion.
“It s actually something we re excited to get behind because we think that having individual game currencies in connection with Facebook Credits is a better user experience,” said Playfish VP of publishing and product management C.J. Prober. “So going through that hurdle over the next couple of months will get us to that endpoint.”
“We’ve always taken the high road and really been focused on the consumers from everything from virality to payment methods, he added. Credits provides a much more seamless purchasing experience across the whole platform.”
Source: Inside Social Games
Square Enix today announced that they will release a Deus Ex: Human Revolution Collector’s Edition. This limited edition will come with an Adam Jensen action figurine, a new mission pack (featuring a cameo from an established Deus Ex character), several exclusive in-game weapons, 10,000 extra credits, a “making of” DVD that also includes the soundtrack and more, and a 40-page art book.
Adam looking awesome in action figure form.
“Deus Ex: Human Revolution immerses gamers in its world with its compelling story, smart, varied gameplay and breathtaking visuals,” said Sarah Hoeksma, VP Brand for Square Enix Europe. “The Collector’s Edition takes players’ experiences with the game to the next level with must-have, in-game content and supplemental items. This truly is the total package for all fans of the Deus Ex franchise.”
A Duke Nukem comic book is set to release by July 2011, coming on the heels of the Duke Nukem Forever release in June. The IDW publishing release will be a 32 page book priced at $3.99.
“What do time-traveling Nazi UFOs, space pigs, and a hot French Resistance babe code-named the French Tickler have in common? They’re all about to run head-on into Duke Nukem, and for some of them (the ones that don’t look good in bikinis, that is), it’s gonna end painfully,” reads the comic’s description. “Video game legend Duke Nukem tears it up in his first comic book series! The King is finally back, baby, and he’s bigger and badder than ever!”
Source: Comics Consortium
Swedish design artist Viktor Hertz has created several “honest logos” for several recognizable brands. Check out some of the choice pictures below.
Source: AdWeek
The recent earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan have devastated the country’s infrastructure and crippled its power grid. The federal government of Japan has asked its largest manufacturers to consider reducing their energy consumption, and Sony is looking to give some of its employees some time off during the energy peak of the summer in order to reallocate their time later in the year.
“We are looking to provide two weeks of holidays to workers to alleviate the electricity consumption,” said Sony spokesperson George Boyd. “We are likely to bring the work hours forward to cut electricity usage on a day-to-day basis as well.
Source: BBC
