Growing Up Otaku

Xbox 720, neXtbox, Infinity, Whatever You Called It, Is Now Called Xbox One. Watch the Press Conference Here

2013-05-21T16:36:00.001-04:00

Microsoft has announced their next-next-generation console, the Xbox One. In a stark contrast to Sony’s ‘gamer’s first’ reveal of the PlayStation 4, Microsoft has positioned the Xbox One as an entertainment solution for everything for everyone. The mantra for the new system repeated ad nauseam throughout the press conference was “All in One”.Microsoft further elaborated this goal as to “Take your passion for gaming and apply to your entire TV experience.” Even the big Halo news revealed wasn’t about a game but about a live-action, “premium” TV series produced by Steven Spielberg.

So what does this mean? Instant switching between your cable TV (assuming you are subscribed with a supported provider), digital movies, gaming, and web browsing via Kinect’s voice and gesture command system. Even more interesting, the Xbox one will allow users to open multiple windows and utilize Internet Explorer along side your live content. Also sure to tickle early adopter’s fancy is the integration of Microsoft’s Smart Glass mobile integration and the ability to use your smartphone as a remote control. A cloud based DVR service is also promised, though very unlikely to be available at launch, for customers who continue to dump money into Microsoft’s Xbox Live online service.

Also in contrast to the PlayStation 4 show, Microsoft showed off the physical incarnation of their console. The form factor of the Xbox One certainly shows MS’ commitment to becoming the new set-top box for your living room. The Xbox Box one is a giant, black box bearing no trace of the style or attention to aesthetics that dominated the gaming machines of the past seven years. It is a brick of a electronics meant to be dumped into a dark corner and never looked at again.

The rest of the revealed features are pretty much what you expect out of a modern connected device. Hulu, Nexflix, ESPN, and the rest of your favorite online video pushers are on board. Twitter, Facebook, and Xbox Live will scavenge the usage habits of your contacts to decide what to sell you. Skype is also part of this next-Box experience promising HD video conferencing from the comfort of your couch.

Tech specs are a little light at the moment with this first peek emphasizing the capabilities of the new version of the Kinect motion tracking camera. We know it will have 8GB of RAM, USB 3.0 ports, built-in 802.11n, and support for Wi-Fi Direct. For more tech info, I highly recommend Wired’s Gadget Lab’s exclusive first look.

What? Games? Oh, yeah. There’ll be some sports and driving games. Microsoft has once again teamed up with Remedy, one of the very few game creators with any skill at storytelling in the medium, for a new title called Quantum Break and has something to do with seeing the future. Most of the scant time spent addressing the gaming crowd was dedicated to Call of Duty: Ghosts which is… well, Call of Duty. It’s safe to say that MS is holding the big game presentations for E3 later this year.

It was later confirmed that none of your old Xbox 360 software will be compatible with the Xbox One. Hard drive installs will be possible, but only for the first owner of a particular disk. Fans of used titles will need to pay for the privilege.

Xbox One will be available in a world-wide launch “Later this year” for an undisclosed, but probably exorbitant price.

Watch the Xbox One May 21, 2013 press conference for yourself below. The show starts at 1:08:40 and runs for about an hour.

Watch live video from gamespot's channel on TwitchTV

Live Streaming Star Trek Online Romulan Launch May 21 at 6:30 PM EDT | Twitchy Tuesday

2013-05-20T21:12:00.001-04:00

You are cordially invited to join me, The Mrs, and Brandon The Unpaid Redshirt as we boldly go where no one has gone before.

Tuesday, May 21st is the launch of the Romulan Legacy expansion for the free-to-play MMO Star Trek Online and we’re bringing our first impressions to you live beginning at 6:30 PM EDT.

Join us in game, on Twitch.tv, right here on GUO, or search for GrowingUpOtaku on the TwitchTV app for iOS or Android as we begin to explore the plight of the once mighty Romulan Star Empire following the destruction of their homeworld. With new character creation options, a revamped user interface, and a brand new faction with a unique 50 level campaign, there’s a ton to see and discuss!

For more details on Star Trek Online’s first expansion, the Legacy of Romulus, check out our pre-release coverage.

Watch live video from growingupotaku on TwitchTV

Kepler Space Telescope May Be Busted, But The Mission Will Go On

2013-05-20T07:09:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday NASA reported a failure of the reaction wheel number four onboard the Kepler Space Telescope. Sadly, this is the second of Kepler’s four reaction wheels used to keep the craft properly oriented to have failed. Wheel number two called it quits back in July 2012. While Kepler was able to maintain its orientation around the sun in the search for new exoplanets with only three wheels properly functioning, it is unlikely that the brave eye above the sky will be able to keep pointed in the same direction long enough to continue its mission of high-precision photometry. Currently Kepler is ‘parked’ in a “Thruster-Controlled Safe Mode” in orbit around the sun, much too far and dangerous for astronauts to reach and repair.

NASA hasn’t given up on the little guy yet. The spacecraft is stable and safe. Kept in Safe Mode, the telescope has enough fuel to last for years. Engineers are trying a number of possible software solutions, transmitted via an X-band communication downlink, to fix the error. One possibility is that of a hybrid operational state that would use thrusters in conjunction with the two working reaction wheels to control the craft. There is also some hope that the busted wheel two will come back to life again following a reset of the telescope’s systems. It is possible that wheel two didn’t function due to a lack of lubrication that may have finally settled into the correct spots. Charlie Sobeck of NASA’s Ames Research Center also has a backup plan, “Like with any stuck wheel that you might be familiar with on the ground, we can try jiggling it. We can try commanding it back and forth in both directions. We can try forcing it through whatever the resistance is that's holding it up.”

While disappointing, don’t feel too down about Kepler. The little guy has actually been working on overtime since November of 2012, having already completed its 3.5 year primary mission. The Kepler mission has returned data on the potential of more than 2700 previously unknown exoplanets. Scientists have only been able to confirm 132 of them thus far, but mission experts expect that 90% of Kepler’s findings to be real. Mission Principal Investigator Bill Borucki explains, “We have excellent data for an additional two years. So I think the most interesting, exciting discoveries are coming in the next two years. The mission is not over."

Then there is future missions in the realm of high-precision photometry. We have certainly learned a lot from both the successes and failures of the Kepler mission. In the words of Growing Up Otaku’s Lou Jorgl, “It may be most interesting to realize that this is our first generation of planet detecting equipment, techniques, and we are only focused on a small portion of the sky. The future will provide equipment that may much more easily find small planets or even moons around larger planets. One thing is for sure, eventually we will find another planet in our galaxy that we will be able to live on.”

Source: Space.com, NASA.gov, GrowingUpOtaku.com

Amazon’s Big Downloadable PC Games Sale for May 16-31. Here’s Our Recommendations.

2013-05-16T16:28:00.001-04:00

Let’s go shopping! Amazon is running a “Digital Games Mayhem” sale for the next couple weeks. It looks like it’s going to be a quiet summer for big releases so now’s a good time to stuff that backlog full of interactive fun as we brace ourselves for the tumultuous times that come with the changing of the gaming generation.

There’s so much on sale, I’m not really sure where to start. There’s a Firaxis Pack that’ll get you Xcom, Civ 4 Complete, and Civ V Gold for a svelte $20. The Desert to Sea Bundle nabs you the first two Bioshock games and Spec Ops: The Line , the best narrative experience to ever to grace a modern military shooter, for $10. You can also grab the first season of Telltale’s amazing The Walking Dead game for $10. Mr and Mrs Otaku recommended!

Looks like we’re all caught up on the AAA stuff. Hmm, what else… There’s the Sega Fun Pack where a tenner gets ya Ron Gilbert’s (Monkey Island) new joint The Cave, indie platformer Hell Yeah! and all its DLC, awesome vehicle arcade shooter Renegade Ops and that DLC, the Nights remake Into Dreams, and… DUDE! Jet Set Radio got ported to the PC! OMG! AND I don’t have to use that crappy Dreamcast gamepad! Don’t tell the Mrs. I am SO going to blast that all night long after she’s in bed, LOL. Mr adored! Mrs abhorred!

Everybody loves indies, and those scrappy little guys at indie publisher Microsoft (lulz) have a bundle. $10 gets you Deadlight, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Iron Brigade, Toy Soldiers, and Mark of the Ninja in the Microsoft 5-Game Arcade/Indie Pack (or $3.75 separately). I seem to have missed all of those, so let me just tuck that in the cart.

Looks like they’ve got some strategy games I’ve been meaning to catch up on. Top of that list is Unity of Command, an Eastern front game with emphasis on keeping your supply lines intact, for $5. That middle ages Sims-meets-strategy game of Thrones simulator Crusader Kings II is $10. Hmm, think I’ll wait for a bundle with all the DLC.

I highly recommend the Majesty Franchise for the stupid low price of $10 ($104 value). It comes with Majesty Gold, Majesty 2 and all the DLC (and it’s BEEFY DLC with all-new campaigns and you get to play as the monsters in the last one), Defenders of Andania tower defense, and Warlock with all of its DLC. Warlock is, hands down, my favorite 4X fantasy game to date! It was a steal when it came out at $20. I own and love all these titles!

There’s also a category for “casual games” on sale. Here’s you’ll find your usual assortment of time management, seek-n-finds, and a few miscategorized surprises. The first game on Amazon’s “casual” list: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat , the brutal, hardcore, first-person RPG-shooter that puts you gun-to-claw with mutants in the radioactive wastes surrounding Chernobyl. This was the height of the STALKER series. If you enjoyed Fallout or Deus Ex and don’t mind a game that isn’t afraid to kick you in the teeth, don’t miss this for $2. I also saw a few classic Microids adventure games like Post Mortem and Syberia for $3 a pop. The Mrs loves those! Anyway, DO check out the casual list even if you don’t think they’re your cup of tea.

Broke yet? Good. This sale even covers free-to-play stuff. Topping of the list, if you sign up for the online city-builder Stronghold Kingdoms, you get a voucher for a free download of Stronghold Crusader HD, the remastered version of the RTS, castle builder classic. Do this! The Mrs and I are big, big fans of those original Stronghold games. There’s also The Troobles Pet Pack for Second Life (that’s still going, huh?) and a couple other deals.

Thanks for going shopping with us! Now, where did the Mrs hide that credit card this time?

Review: Haunted Hollow (iPhone/iPad)–Half-Dead Monster Mash

2013-05-14T08:58:00.001-04:00

Firaxis Games is no stranger to strategy titles. The house that Sid Meier built is home to some of the most compelling exercises in tactics known to gamers like the Civilization series and the recent reimagining of Xcom. The strategy game powerhouse has something a little more intimate in mind than a globe conquering Incan Empire or an Earth threating alien invasion for their this original foray into the iOS games space. This time you’ll be recruiting a team of Hollywood monsters and racing against a single opponent to scare to bejeezus out of the local townsfolk while battling the horror of overpriced in-app purchases.

Haunted Hollow is a board game styled experience that pits you against a friend, or a rather weak AI, in the role of the dark lord of a spooky mansion. Each turn you’ll draw and build a random monster lair from your deck and spend Fear Points (actions) as you see fit to add extra lairs to your haunted house, create monsters, move, attack, and activate special abilities. Monsters come in three types: Scary monsters used to gain ground, Fighty monsters to put the smack down on your opponent’s minions, and Special monsters that usually do both. The goal is territory control as your monsters race to Scare (claim) every house in town. As more houses are claimed and frightened townies flock to the local church, a tough, neutral third party enters the fray in the form of a torch-wielding mob that burns everything, monsters and houses, in its path.

Overall, it’s a great concept that’s decently executed. There are a few balance issues, notably the ability for ghosts to ignore all terrain and a questionable advantage for the player moving first, but generally acceptable. Acceptable as a board game to be taken out and played between friends a couple times a month, anyway. As a video game destined for quick and easy replays, Haunted Hollow fares much worse. The single, symmetrical map gets old fast. The AI plays a pretty weak game and matchmaking is only available between friends on Apple’s Game Center or local pass-n-play. The UI feels sloppy with some infinitely looping tutorial text, a lack of stat indicators for units, and a query tool that doesn’t give enough information on monsters before you recruit them. Worse, more than half of the game pieces are locked behind a shockingly high paywall.

Yes, those most nightmarish of creatures, In-App Purchase and Dee el See, join Frank and Wolfie in the cast of Haunted Hollow. The stock, free game includes a five creepy critters with another six available at $2 a pop, one for a buck, and one for signing your identity away on a 2K Games account. As if this weren’t enough, four of the nine bonus items (heals and buffs) doled out as the game progresses are also up for grabs at 99 cents each. Like Haunted Hollow enough to want the full set? You’re looking at $16 worth of microtransactions. And nearly every screen in the game will remind that they’re all waiting in the cash shop. A “Season Pass 1” promising “All monsters and items in the Launch Set” is available for $8 but implies that the juicing will continue as long as customers persist.

Haunted Hollow is an immensely promising game. The concept is fantastic and the basic mechanics at play work well for a fast head-to-head match. However, even without the absurd pricing structure, there just isn’t enough variety to keep your attention for very long. Couple this with some minor but frequently annoying UI omissions, a less than stellar AI devoid of difficulty settings, and a limited matchmaking system, and I’d be surprised if Firaxis is capable of trapping customers in the haunted house long enough to sink their teeth in for a second “season” of DLC.

Haunted Hollow is available now for free on iTunes. Compatible with iPhone 3GS or newer and iPads running iOS 4.3 or later. Reviewed on iPad 2 running iOS 5.1.1.

Reviewer Rating: 2/5 – Shambling Skeleton

Review: Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol (iPhone/iPad)–Strategy Versus The Red Baron

2013-05-13T06:44:00.000-04:00

Turn-based tactical depictions of aerial combat have long been a mainstay of miniature wargamers’ tabletops for decades. Armed with millimeter rulers and protractors, armchair air commanders have fussed over tiny miniature planes on fiddly adjustable bases for decades. Strangely, this form of gaming has never garnered much attention in the digital space, and all but vanished since Windows stopped sporting double digits on it’s splash screen. Enter legendary game designer Sid Meier, whose past credits include some of the most loved flight simulators of the DOS era like F-15 Strike Eagle and F-19 Stealth Fighter, with this latest mobile title that brings the high-flying heroics of World War I aces to a touchscreen near you.

Sid Meier's Ace Patrol (SMAP!) gives you command of a squadron of pilots during the first War to End All Wars tasked with a variety of missions including bomber escort, blowing up supply trains, gunning down observation balloons, and generally furballing it up with opposing aircraft. Ace Patrol takes a number of cues from Firaxis’ recent rebooting of the vaunted Xcom franchise and features both the engrossing tactical action of the air duels themselves and a strategic metagame that sees your best pilots and planes improving while your worst ones sit grounded for healing and repairs.

The majority of your time Ace Patrolling will be spent in the tactical view. Normally you’ll be in control of two aircraft, four for the ‘boss’ style mission at the end of each of the game’s four operations, and even a rare solo flight. A few missions also include an AI controlled bomber or recon plane needing escort. You’ll move all of your planes at once, in any order you choose, before the enemy has a chance to do the same. A zoomable, rotatable hex map shows the countryside dotted with outlined areas covered by anti-air guns to avoid, home fronts to retreat to, and cloud banks to hide in. The elevation of each aircraft is easily identifiable by the number of cones beneath a plane. Damage is depicted as a green circle that turns red. Upon selecting a pilot, an array of arrows will be displayed on the map indicating which maneuvers that unit is capable of performing based on pilot skill, plane ability, and current orientation. Blue arrows show movement while green ones indicate that you’re pilot will take a shot during the maneuver. A pulsating green crosshair identifies which maneuver will deal the most damage. Tapping a maneuver arrow displays an animated preview of exactly how your plane will move. Tapping again sends the fighter on its way, frequently dropping to a close-up chase camera view of the action when gunplay occurs. This cinematic move looks fairly lo-fi and planes occasionally move awkwardly to keep their guns on target, but it still provides a giddy thrill as you fire and are fired upon.

It is a wonderfully elegant system executed perfectly. The arrows on the map explain at a glance exactly where an aircraft will move to, what direction it will be facing, and any change in altitude. Hexes can get a little crowded with experienced pilots possessing a wide variety of maneuvers, so those with small screens or large fingers should plan on lot of zooming or resorting to a stylus. Planes move in a realistic fashion and each maneuver is clearly identified with a number of indicators such as which banked state a move can be performed from. Maneuvers are limited to basic turns, climbs, and dives at the beginning of the war but your pilots will gradually expand their repertoire with loops, rolls, and “ace maneuvers” like the famed Immelmann turn as they level up, RPG-style, with every kill. Attacks display factors affecting each shot like firing angle, enemy aspect angle, and distance to target. While these details are sure to delight dedicated pocket aviators looking to chain a particular set of maneuvers together for the perfect attack run, the more casual player need only tap away at the colored arrows to dogfight through the game’s easiest of five selectable difficulty levels. At the conclusion of each mission players have the option of watching the past 15 minutes of scheming and swearing strung together in a 30 second continuous replay movie; A thrilling and satisfying experience. Deep yet easy to play. It is a goal few titles execute as perfectly, and with as much flair, as Ace Patrol.

As high as the tactical game flies, it is very nearly shot down by the brutal, almost unfair, difficulty at the strategic level. Ace Patrol’s campaign consists of four operations of 6 missions each. Aside from the final ‘boss’ encounter of the op, players have their pick of three missions to fly at any given time. These missions are randomly determined from a pool of a dozen or so tasks such as convoy defense or clearing the skies of an enemy squadron. The ideal goal of each operation is to achieve 7 victories (the final ‘boss’ encounter counts as three) for a decisive victory. Gradients of victory are scaled down from there based on player performance. At then end of the war, victory conditions from all four operations are averaged together to score your campaign. Victory ratings range from a decisive victory all the way down to, strangely, a stalemate. There is also a point scoring mechanic, but this is only usefully for comparing high scores with friends via Apple’s constantly hacked Game Center leaderboards. A list of your own local scores is, unfortunately, not recorded.

Fine and good. The real problem lies in the recovery time for your men and materials. Planes taking major damage are grounded for the next three missions, pilots injured from a crash are out for five missions (the length of an entire operation), and the poor sods downed behind enemy lines will only be returned at “Christmastime,” an event that only occurs following the final battle of the first and third operation. Considering that players only ever have access to the same four pilots, the effects of a mission gone bad are crippling. Neither replacements nor recruits are ever made available. Instead the lengthy recovery time makes players to skip a number of missions on more than one occasion throughout a campaign or, worse, force them to fly undermanned against impossible odds. Further putting players at a disadvantage, the enemy is consistently upgraded with new maneuvers and upgrades while your pilots recover. Cunning players may elect to take a single survivor on more recon oriented missions, zipping in, photographing a target, and evading enemy interceptors on the way back home, only to find out that mission success doesn’t actually contribute to pilot progression. In a baffling decision, only kills contribute to ranking up pilots.

A triumvirate of microtransactions casts a dubious shadow over these proceedings. These three ‘medical facilities,’ available for $1 each, will automagically heal all your pilots, repair all your planes, and returned captured POWs immediately when bought. They then become a permanent part of your base that decreases all future repair and hospital times by one mission per purchased upgrade. It feels as though two of these real-money upgrades are practically mandatory to bring the strategic game back in balance, leaving only the “shot down behind enemy lines” as a fate to be avoided at all costs. Being able to change the game difficulty at any time can take some of the sting out of the enemy’s upgrade curve, but feels like the developer threw up his hands and admitted you’d sometimes be screwed rather than trying to balance the later stages of the campaign.

Speaking of in-app purchases, Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol comes with several squadrons of ‘em. Fortunately, aside from the afore mentioned medical upgrades need to, ya know, fix the game, the rest are much more understandable. While marketed as a free game, the cashless version of Ace Patrol will only allow players to partake in the first operation of the campaign flying the earliest two British planes against the Germans. In other words, it’s a demo. A beyond reasonable $0.99 opens up the full campaign for play as the British without restriction. The ability to fly planes from America, France, and Germany are available for $2 a pop, or $4 for all three. These optional “Campaigns” don’t actually change any of the missions, but rather allow the same game to be played with planes of other nationalities. The developers were even so kind as to include appropriate uniforms for pilot illustrations, additional voice acting, and change the names of medals (if not ranks) to match each country.

Another batch of DLC is available in the form of “Aces.” These pose as legendary airmen from WWI like Max Immelmann, Edward Mannock, and Manfred von Richthofen, better known as The Red Baron, and grant the player a new skin for use on their planes and an additional skill added to the random pool of those available for squadron leaders and veteran pilots. Two aces are available for each nationality for $1 each or $5 for the whole bundle. Players concerned with aesthetics may feel their wrist twisted slightly as the default skin forced upon veteran pilots is a horribly garish rainbow affair that resembles a graphics glitch more than an actual paint job.

So, how much does Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol actually cost if I like the demo? Figure two to four bucks. One to unlock the full game as the British and a few more to fix the grueling campaign timeouts to your comfort level. All of the other items available are entirely optional and feel like a justifiable add-on purchase in this modern, DLC laden world. Even if you decide to pimp SMAP out with all the additional goodies, it justifies the cost by looking, playing, and entertaining like a premium $10-15 iOS game.

Except for the multiplayer. Multiplayer is technically included in Ace Patrol, but merely as an afterthought. The delightfully titled “Hot Pad” mode allows two players to pass a single device back and forth on alternating turns. Sadly, players have no choice as to the planes, pilots, or mission they’ll be playing. Owners of the optional campaign DLC packs will be able to pick a nationality, but that’s the only decision to be made. Once engaged in a game, it can be hard to tell when one player’s turn ends and another begins, especially if AI controlled objective aircraft are in the mix. Careless players can easily end up moving their opponents aircraft in a clustered furball. This could have been alleviated by simply replacing the brief “Player # Turn” fly-by text with a simple pop-up prompt and OK button. Adding to the confusion, there is no replay option for the off-player to see where or how they got hit. This means both players must be watching the same screen at all times for optimal awareness. “Networked” play for two players is also apparently a feature, but was wholesale inoperable during the several days we played SMAP for review. Questions regarding the capabilities of this mode were left unanswered on 2K’s message forums. While this will surely be fixed in an upcoming patch (Update: Fixed a week later in v.1.2), I would expect the same random setup featured in the Hot Pad mode utilizing Apple’s barely adequate Game Center (Update: Yep. Spot on). Start to finish, multiplayer is a mess and better left forgotten.

In spite of the woefully lacking multiplayer and darkest of The Dark Side free-to-play schemes, Ace Patrol soars as an exceptional strategy game in a romantic setting largely neglected by digital games. While grognards will gripe about the lack of ammunition tracking or how half your squadron is female, this latest title bearing the Sid Meier name lives up to the tradition of his other strategy titles. Much like Railroad Tycoon, Antietam, and Civilization, Ace Patrol boils down traditionally complicated mechanics to a form playable by everyone without sacrificing depth. Also keeping with tradition, Meier’s latest offering is a must play for strategy fans and the perfect entry point for anyone curious about the genre.

Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol is available now for free from iTunes for iPhone 4 or iPad 2 and newer devices running iOS 5.1 or later. Tested on iPad 2 running iOS 5.1.1.

Reviewer Rating : 4/5 – Aces

Refueling In Space | Out Of This World Weekly

2013-05-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

Refueling on Earth is something that we all have to deal with. Pull up to the gas station, insert pump, and fuel up the car until you get a full tank. Spacecraft on Earth refuel in a very similar way, when they are on the launch pad, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are commonly pumped into rocket fuel tanks just before takeoff. These super cold gases are loaded just before takeoff because they will turn from a liquid to a gas. As they naturally warm up and simply boil off the surface of the liquid, they are vented so that pressure in the tanks doesn’t become so great that they burst. Most of this propellant is used up on launch because it is very hard to keep these freezing cold liquids at low temperature in outer space for long periods of time. This ability to keep liquified gases cold would greatly enhance our ability to reach the outer solar system as well as decrease the amount of time needed to reach closer objectives.

Space is thought of as a very cold place and it can be, reaching temperatures of just a few degrees above absolute zero. Unfortunately, this is the temperature that is reached in the deepest, darkest space with absolutely nothing around. In Earth orbit, temperatures can vary by 500 degrees depending on whether direct sunlight is shining on an object. This means that temperatures ranging from –250 degrees F to 250 degrees F can occur within a short time. This doesn’t help super cooled liquids stay cold for long, with large tanks only being able to stay cooled for hours at a time before evaporating. If we are ever going to refuel spacecraft with liquid coolants, we need to find ways to keep those super cooled liquids cold for long periods of time.

NASA knows this and is working on a program using micro experiments. One of these experiments would use a small CubeSat in Low Earth Orbit, while another would use equipment mounted on the outside of the space station. The space station experiment would attempt to capture excess Hydrogen and Methane that is regularly vented into space and liquefy it using liquid Helium so that tests can be run on the liquified gases. Turning excess gas back into liquid may be necessary to keep large reserves of liquid available in space. The other experiment involves a small cube satellite sent into orbit with liquified gases held in a six centimeter diameter tank. The satellite would use a series of shields that could be deployed to protect the cargo from direct sunlight and enable the tank to release heat when the temperature is low enough to cool the liquified gas as much as possible. Combinations of these techniques and others, like possibly keeping a refueling station in the L2 Lagrange point where it would be shielded from the Sun from the shadow of either the Earth or the Moon to help keep it cool, should eventually allow for refueling of spacecraft and this will allow much further exploration of our Solar System.

Master of Movie Monsters, Ray Harryhausen | Weekend Watchlist

2013-05-11T07:32:00.000-04:00

When I was naught but a tiny nerd, there were few flights of fancy that could stand up to the creature packed features of visual effects mastermind Ray Harryhausen. Widely considered the father of special effects (well, pre-computer generated ones, anyway), Harryhausen’s stop motions creations elevated movie monsters from mere puppets to characters in their own right.
Mentoring under Willis H O’Brien, the stop motion artist who brought King Kong to life in 1933, Ray would strike it big with his amazing animation of a dinosaur ripping apart New York City in the 1953 film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. His list of credits doubles as a 'Best of…” list for the greatest flights of fantasy from the 50s, 60s, and 70s: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, Mysterious Island, One Million Years B.C, Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, and the Sinbad trilogy (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger) which he also helped write.

Sadly, Ray Harryhausen departed this mortal realm Tuesday, May 7 2013, at the ripe, young age of 92. In this very special edition of the Weekend Watchlist, we’re capturing one fame at a time while waving a fond farewell to The Master of Movie Monsters, The Sultan of Stop Motion, The Vizier of Visual Effects, Ray Harryhausen.

We kick off this Watchlist with a tribute from Jack Perez, a true fan and director of such delightfully kitschy films like Monster Island and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus.

This next feature is a fantastic collage of some of the fan favorite fiends throughout the years. Here’s hoping the light bulb goes on over the heads of our younger audience members as they finally understand what we’re talking about

And now it’s time to hear from the man himself! Harkening back to 1974, here’s and interview with Ray following the release of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

And now we fight! One of my personal favorites, the skeleton fight from the end of Jason and the Argonauts. So… um, 50 year old spoiler warning, I guess.

Special kudos to Dave Conover, the producer of our next selection. Three years ago Dave put together this wee (you’ll get the pun later) tribute to Ray’s special effects wizardry.

Yeah, 2010 was a great year for salutes to this maker of monster mayhem. What follows in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, better known as BAFTA, tribute to Ray’s 90th birthday. Join the Academy and a array of special guests as they reminisce about how Harryhausen’s work influenced the special effects artists for decades to come. In the words of Ken Ralston, Visual Effect Supervisor and Creative Head at Sony Pictures Imageworks, “It took armies and armies of people to do what you did by yourself.”

Sorry, BAFTA won’t let us share this one. You’ll need to watch it direct on YouTube.

Our next feature turns back to the man himself. Channel 4 in the U.K. interviewed Ray as part of their Big World Animators series back in 1991.

Finally, we go on location with model memorabilia makers Gentle Giant as they check out the original figured used in what is widely considered to be Harryhausen’s magnum opus, Clash of the Titans. Don’t let Ray’s typewriter fool you! This feature is from 2004. Release the Kraken!

22 Countries Battle It Out Medieval Style Live on YouTube

2013-05-10T10:39:00.001-04:00

Teams from 22 countries around the world are donning full plate and hoisting a sword for the honor of king and country once more this weekend in Bataille des Nations (Battle of Nations). No mere cosplay event, this western martial arts tournament has participants wielding metal swords and axes in fights to the non-fatal finish. Matches include everything from single duels, 5-on-5 (pictured above), and “mass combat” featuring 21 knights per squad.

The event runs from May 9th thru the 12th in Aigues-Mortes, France, but you can catch the spectacle live on YouTube from anywhere in the world. Head on over to the official YouTube channel and check out the latest live stream. Replays of past events can be found here.

Review: Zeno Clash II (PC/Xbox 360/PS3)–Twice as Big, Twice as Weird, Twice as Unmissable

2013-05-09T08:10:00.000-04:00

It could be argued that the original Zeno Clash never should have made it to market. Born out of the Source mod scene, its gameplay took the first-person shooter engine and retuned it for melee combat, a strategy that’s rarely met with success. It’s surrealistic art style brazenly thumbed its nose at overused, mass-market friendly settings filled with elves, space marines, and dude-bros in camo with assault rifles. It was a fantasy boxing simulator spliced Through the Looking Glass with the works of Salvador Dali. Yes, Zeno Clash was the sort of title hardcore gamers clamor for: New, bold, and wholly original. Now, four years later, Zeno Clash is back, thanks to the help of Atlus, famed publisher of strange JRPGs, and it is bigger, bolder, and more beautifully original than ever.

Zeno Clash II is a direct sequel to the original first-person puncher and picks up shortly after Ghat’s return from the End of the World with the Golem and the reveal of Father-Mother’s horrible secret. The sequel’s opening has Golem taking a guiding role to the city of Halstedom, teaching the barbaric inhabitants new terms such as “law,” “criminal," and “jail". These concepts don’t sit well with many of the Zenos, including the notoriously rebellious Ghat. Spurred to action by his sister, Ghat begins a new journey to reunite the family of Father-Mother, break her out of jail, and discover the means to fight the Golem at the upcoming trial. Along the way, he’ll face-punch the many unique people and critters inhabiting the world of Zenoziok while trying to stay one step ahead of his nemesis in an effort to stave off civilization. Yes, really.

While Zeno Clash II’s tutorial does its best to catch players up on the events that transpired during the first game, those interested in the plot will certainly want to brush up on the original title in preparation. It’s not that the plot of the first game was particularly hard to follow, but the alien concepts, terms, and unique story may make it difficult to comprehend. Still, when you sign up for Zeno Clash, you’re diving headlong into strange end anyway. Even returning veterans confortable with the masked, deformed, and/or anthropomorphic inhabitants of Zenozoik with find their concepts of the world shaken to the core by revelations at the beginning of the game’s third act. And then the two-headed monkeys riding fire-breathing vultures show up. Again, yes, really.

Unlike other titles that delve into strange, otherworldly realms, Zeno Clash plays it’s bizarre setting and story straight, and to great effect, never devolving into horror or self-parody. The fact that the details of your trip through this Wonderland are delivered flatly by its gruff inhabitants too primitive to bother with questions such as “Why?” lends an air of authenticity to the odd proceedings most creators would never even attempt. As with Zeno Clash’s other paradigm shattering aspects, such as art and gameplay, developer ACE Team not only beats the odds, but succeeds far beyond imagination. This is a fresh, new story you’re not likely to forget.

Speaking of shaking up concepts to their core, Zeno Clash II reevaluates every aspect of the original’s gameplay and crafts a much more expansive experience, both in terms of mechanics and gameflow. Gone are the linear levels of the original as players are now free to wander the weird, wild world at will, complete with multiple objectives and secondary tasks, and brought to life with a dynamic day/night cycle. Ghat’s face-punching controls have been retooled to put left and right hands on their respective triggers and augmented with an extensive combo system, including grabs and throws, similar to an arcade fighting game. Character stats can now be upgraded RPG-style by finding hidden skill totems. The pebble shooting firearms cobbled out of bits of bone and wood return, but eschew reloading in favor of finite ammunition cementing them as a useful but disposable tool. Finally, a selection of new secondary weapons, including a mortar that must be fired using the position of the sun or moon and a life tether that binds two targets’ physical reactions together, join the skull bombs of old. Larger fights allow you to call allies into battle resulting in some truly spectacular brawls, particularly if you happen upon two conflicting factions, and a second player can join you at any time through the co-op friendly campaign. No aspect of the original has been left untouched and the resultant sequel is a much larger, more immersive, more satisfying game.

What hasn’t been changed is Zeno Clash’s seemingly insatiable appetite for the weird. A move to the Unreal engine has brought the impossible creatures and improbable architecture of Zenozoik to a whole new level with more detailed character models, lighting, and some fantastic use of depth-of-field effects. Quad-breasted rat ladies have never looked so good! Environmental textures look a little flat, but you’ll hardly notice as you marvel at the 20ft. tall bubble-blowing plants or struggle to sock a guinea pig-faced midget in his oversized nose. All of the locations from the original game make a return appearance and are augmented by and equal number of new ones. Far from a simple reuse of assets, the levels featuring the city of Halstedom and it’s surrounding lands have been retooled to fit the new sandbox style gameplay. Moreover, bringing back those original sets makes the Zeno’s unique world feel that much more real, a fact players will certainly appreciate once gaining access to some of Zenozoik’s formerly forbidden areas. Best of all, these visuals are accompanied by an outstanding and strangely appropriate soundtrack. From the drum pounding main theme to the ethereal choir of the final confrontation, Zeno Clash’s music is perfect.

Also worthy of note is Zeno Clash’s approach to violence. In an era where even Teen rated games see players sending literally hundreds of foes into the afterlife, Zeno Clash’s combat opts for a comic book inspired knockout to end fights. On the rare occasions that death does come knocking for a character, it usually does so by means of a cutscene and is a result of said character’s own obstinance. While a game dedicated to popping folks in the kisser can hardly be considered nonviolent, it is refreshing to see one where the violence is nonlethal.

Much like its predecessor, Zeno Clash II probably shouldn’t exist in the gaming market today. In an industry ruled by bloated marketing budgets and the need to play it safe, both in terms of content and mechanics, Zeno Clash II delivers a triple-A, 8-10 hour action-adventure the likes of which you’ve never experienced before for the bargain price of $20. Yup, $20. Even Zeno Clash II’s price tag defies explanation! Everything about his game is fresh, original, and unforgettable. From its humble beginnings as a Half-Life mod to this latest iteration, Zeno Clash has compromised none of its punk rock aesthetic, original gameplay, or commitment to quality. Here’s hoping the folks at ACE Team continue to defy the odds and brings us many more Zeno Clashes in the future.

Zeno Clash II is available now for Windows PCs and is coming soon to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $20. It has been rated T for teen by the ESRB for “Violence, Blood, Partial Nudity, Mild Language, and Use of Alcohol”. Reviewed on Windows 7 PC.

Reviewer Rating: 5/5 – 5 Out of 5 Punches to Giant Crab Face

Game Publisher EA Cutting Costs Via Copyright Infringement

2013-05-08T11:03:00.001-04:00

One of the largest publishers of video games in the Western World is trimming the fat in their budget. EA has decided that it can save a few bucks by nixing a deal with firearms manufacturers to use likenesses of their weapons in games. They’re still going to use the likenesses anyway, they’re just not going to pay for the privilege. EA claims that they are within Fair Use rights to go ahead and continue offering virtual Colts and Remingtons to players without striking a licensing deal with the gun manufacturers. EA President of Labels Frank Gibeau explained to Reuters, “We're telling a story and we have a point of view. A book doesn't pay for saying the word 'Colt,' for example.”

Books also don’t have exacting 3D recreations of a Colt accompanied with sound recorded directly from the weapon either.

Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, etc) Ditches the Box for Subscription. Still Expensive.

2013-05-08T08:39:00.000-04:00

Adobe is “reinventing our desktop apps to make your creative process seamless, intuitive, and more connected than ever.” Publication of new versions of Adobe’s legendary Creative Suite of products that includes notable titles such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere, Prelude, and more has been suspended. CS6 is the last version of these programs that will see stand-alone, buy-to-own releases. So, what’s next for these mainstays of desktop production? A subscription model that that keeps all your apps cloud connected and takes ‘em away if you decide to stop paying.

Meet the next generation of Adobe products: The Creative Cloud. Under this new model, customers are required to sign up for a monthly subscription ranging from $20 per month for a single product like Photoshop, or $600 per year for the entire suite. While this pricing pales in comparison to current boxed copies of Adobe products (Adobe Photoshop CS6 retails for $700 USD), the value proposition is a good deal more questionable for those who don’t need the latest and greatest version every couple of years. This new form of software delivery also comes free with the problems that afflicts all always online software: What if can’t connect? What if I don’t like the new version? What happens when the server is too busy?

So why the big change? The answer is threefold. First, everyone is high on clouds these days. The concept of having your stuff on all your devices everywhere you go is a wonderful idea, even if modern technology isn’t quite up to the task yet. Second, Australia's House of Representatives recently investigated why companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe charge so bloody much for their products down under. It turned out you could save $600 by flying from Australia to the United States to buy your boxed copy of Adobe’s Creative Suite. Adobe would cut prices, but only on the Creative Cloud subscription, in the region following the price-gouging probe. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is to curb piracy. I’ve known several of individuals who swear by Photoshop over the years. I think only one of them actually purchased the software. And this goes way, way back before file sharing or even the Internet.

What does the future hold for the mindshare leaders in desktop production? It is certainly a bold plan and professional production companies may welcome the new subscription service to save a few bucks. At least until a bad patch gets pushed out or an authentication server dies. Losing a project due to local hardware failure is one thing, losing a project for undisclosed reasons by someone you’re paying to look after it is quite another. What of the next generation of creators growing up making YouTube videos who can’t, or won’t, shell out $20 every month for access to Premiere and instead go about singing the praises of their pirated copy of Final Cut Pro or iMovie? Adobe doesn’t exactly have the market cornered on this type of software and some big name competitors like Sony and Apple are waiting in the wings. A number of free, open source alternatives, such as Gimp, even exist for users looking for a free alternative.

Or might this move open up Adobe’s applications to a whole new audience who would not have been able to try them any other way? Certainly $20, even if just a rental, fits into most budgets a lot easier than $700. Software as a service also opens up the risk-free potential for demos or temporary giveaways. Adobe has already begun offering the first taste freely with a 30 day trial that includes 2GB of cloud storage. Microsoft seems to be sitting pretty since flying its own suite of applications into the clouds with Office 365.

Adobe’s latest plan will definitely keep generating revenue from their true customers, but will it be enough to keep those customers for another generation?

Congress Goes Nuts With Online Sales Tax

2013-05-06T21:10:00.000-04:00

Everybody's worst nightmare is here. No, not the death of Hello Kitty but the U.S. Congress has recently approved a bill to add sales tax to your online purchase. According to USA Today, this bill will add a sales tax to your order from websites like E-bay and Amazon at checkout at a rate to be determined by each company.

"The Senate passed a bill Monday night aimed at making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases, but its final prospects remain uncertain. Even so small online retailers are already thinking about the bill's potentially large impact on their operations." - from a recent USA Today article.

So now we will have a tax in store and online. Well, the only thing left to do is say goodbye to your money. That's lost forever to cyberspace in online fees.

Current Commercial Spaceflight | Out Of This World Weekly

2013-05-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

After the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, America’s hopes for spaceflight were put into the hands of commercial spaceflight. The idea was to fund competing corporations so that they could handle orbital space operations and free up NASA for other tasks like planetary probes, robotic exploration, and even manned lights to other planets like Mars. This would mean that NASA would be working on a new rocket, the SLS project, and not just abandoning manned spaceflight altogether. This SLS rocket would be designed for deep space flight to the Moon, asteroids, and beyond. Since this would be a extremely large and powerful rocket, low Earth orbit missions to the I.S.S. wouldn’t be a priority, as smaller rockets could do that job at much less cost. So the corporations received their government funding and after a series of trials to make sure that they were meeting their goals, they are showing that they have what it takes to take care of everything in Low Earth Orbit.

Lately, commercial spaceflight has made some notable advances. Orbital Sciences has achieved a successful launch of their Antares rocket last week, showing that they are proceeding towards launching cargo to the I.S.S. later this year. Orbital Sciences is the second corporation to achieve spaceflight, after their competitor SpaceX has not only launched into orbit but also achieved a successful resupply of the space station earlier this year. Both of these corporations have plans on making a manned module to fit on top of their rockets for manned trips to the space station, although it may take until 2017 before these manned flights are ready to go. Another successful recent test of Virgin Galactic’s Space Ship Two breaking the sound barrier while testing their rocket engines shows that this company continues on the right track toward commercial spaceflight. Their one seat aircraft captured the X Prize in 2004 and their new Space Ship two is set to handle up to six passengers and two pilots Even NASA’s Orion capsule continues to successfully undergo testing with that capsule’s parachutes to achieve a human rating on that craft.

There have been a few setbacks for the commercial space programs. NASA just re-upped their commitment with Russia to launch astronauts on the Soyuz rocket, costing $424 million. This additional cost may strip the commercial programs of the few hundred million dollars that they seem to be short and push back their programs by about another year or two, changing a possible 2015 manned flight back to 2017. This is all money that could be spent here in America on advancing our space program and is instead being sent to Russia. Did I mention that Russia is charging an additional $8 million per astronaut more than the last time we had to make a deal with them? It is also quite possible that if full funding cannot be found, then these dates will slip back farther and farther, leaving us to question when will we get back a manned launch capability. Progress is being made by real professionals who are shooting for realistic goals. It is only a matter of time and funding before manned commercial space flight becomes an everyday reality.

Star Wars Fan Productions | Weekend Watchlist

2013-05-04T07:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Star Wars Day! Yessir, we nerds sure do love our puns! The fourth of May is a day reserved for celebration of science fiction fandom’s most beloved franchise, Star Wars, due to how “May the fourth” reminds people of that classic line “May the Force be with you” that Spock managed to shoehorn into every episode. While May 4th has only recently (2011) come to be officially recognized as Star Wars Day, the origins of the pun can be traced all the way back to 1979 when Margaret Thatcher was elected as the first female Prime Minister. A political party advertisement in The London Evening News wished Thatcher good luck stating "May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations."

And yet, as much as that classic trilogy of films did to set our imaginations free and revolutionize the process of filmmaking, where would it be today with the ~~consumers~~ fans. And so it is that we here at Growing Up Otaku celebrate the ~~cash flow~~ love of all those stargazing dreamers who have toughed it out through the intervening decades of mass produced crap, canon twisting ‘expanded universe’ stories, and atrocious prequels to nurture the love of the greatest sci-fi films of all time.

In order to get us all in the proper mood, ladies and gentlemen, our opening act. I give you YouTube sensation, Erock.

And now, our feature presentation. In a seemly impossible coordination of crowd sourced Internet talent, Casey Pugh had the mad idea to ask the Internet to remake the 1977 original Star Wars film 15 seconds at a time. Years in the making, Star Wars Uncut is a fascinating tribute to love, dedications, and ingenuity of thousands of individuals. Star Wars Uncut would go on to receive a 2010 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media. So what’s their next project? Why, The Empire Strikes Back, of course!

Next up, we check in with Darth Vader’s less successful, younger brother, Chad Vader. This is quite an extensive series, so if you’re looking for more, check out the YouTube Channel.

Paul Michael Johnson, an anime artist in the U.K. whose credits include work on the animated adaptations of RoboCop, Street Fighter, and Doctor Who, has been toiling in secret on a personal project: An all new, anime inspired Star Wars adventure!

Star Wars just didn’t reinvent movie making, it reinvented merchandising. Unbeknownst to toymakers, these miniature versions of Star Wars’ men and mecha would be used as the perfect props and personalities for budding filmmakers everywhere.

STAR WARS: Quest Under Darkness part 1 from Usby Thape on Vimeo.

Perhaps Star Wars’ most successful merch tie-in was the partnership with LEGO. Combining the DIY brick building kits and charming, blocky mini-figures with tales from a galaxy far away has been a great success for both the companies involved as well as fans.

Even when plastic bricks are in short supply, intrepid CG artists turn to the LEGO Star Wars aesthetic to set their films in.

In recent years, combining blocky construction with computers has become quite popular, and Star Wars fandom has come right along with it. I refer to, of course, Minecraft.

And then there are the viral videos.

In conclusion, this Star Wars Day I think can I speak for all the fans out there when I say “Thank you, George Lucas! Not just for sharing your creative vision with us, but for not suing our butts off of the Internet when we make and share our own little piece of your galaxy!” Thank goodness the Star Wars IP rests in the hands on an understanding, creative individual and not some litigation-happy global media conglomerate!

Star Wars to be Dubbed into Its 40th Language: Navajo

2013-05-04T07:15:00.000-04:00

Manuelito Wheeler, director of the Navajo Nation Museum, has partnered with Lucasfilm and Deluxe to bring the original Star Wars film (that’s Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope to you kids out there) to the big screen once again. While Star Wars has long been a staple of sci-fi fans around the world, this latest version of the 1977 classic is being redubbed in a most unexpected language: Dine’, the language of the Native American Navajo Nation and the most widely used of all Native American languages. From The Hollywood Reporter:

There are not direct translations for many words in Star Wars, notes Wheeler. Dine, the Navajo language, often uses a description of what a word does to convey meaning so that several English words are needed to produce a translation.
Wheeler said he hopes to avoid "what people saw in the old Kung fu movies when the lip movements didn't coincide at all with what was said. I don't want to disparage the Kung fu movies because I loved watching them, but this can become very distracting and we don't want to see that happen here."

Wheeler explains the importance of this translation, "By preserving the Navajo language and encouraging Navajo youth to learn their language, we will also be preserving Navajo culture."

The translation project has been underway for three years now. Auditions for actors to portray the leading roles of Luke, Leia, Darth Vader, and Han Solo began today.

Internet Cats Sue Scribblenauts

2013-05-03T15:25:00.001-04:00

Scribblenauts! You guys know how much we love to bring the nauty scribbles over here at GUO (our thoughts on DS/iOS/PC versions). The wacky puzzle game series gives players a chance to stretch their vocabulary skills and conjure up anything they can think of to get the job done. Need to get a cat out of the tree? Why use a Ladder when you can leverage the powers of a Kindly Heroic Flying Fireman or a Hungry Pink Undead Beaver? Now it looks live publisher Warner Bros. is destined to try some wordplay of their own with the help of a Smart Rich Professional Lawyer. It seems the owners of some of those cats are none too pleased that their furballs have moved into the Scribblenauts universe.

An Easter egg in last year’s Scribblenauts Unlimited gave players the power to conjure up a few popular characters from the equally wacky world of Internet pop culture, apparently without the permission of their creators. Nyan Cat originator Christopher Orlando Torres and Keyboard Cat owner Charles Schmidt have joined forces to sue to video game developer. It seems both creators have registered copyrights and pending trademarks for their respective felines.

Frankly, this is kinda sad. I could understand if it was “Scribblenauts Unlimited featuring Internet Cat Memes!” but to issue litigation against such a minor shout-out to a couple popular geek fads of the moment seems like overkill. I also have to wonder if the copyright holders even attempted to contacted the game developers to have their creations removed or if the first shot was cha-ching sound of an IP lawsuit. Regardless, you can bet that these cats of the Internet, as well as any other hidden popular culture references, will be patched out of your copy of Scribblenauts Unlimited shortly thanks to the ‘miracle’ of an always connected world.

Smartphones and Tables Causing Addiction in Children as Young as 4

2013-05-02T07:52:00.000-04:00

The Telegraph cites unnamed psychiatrists in declaring that the number of people classified as “digitally dependent” has risen 30% over the past three years. The latest demographic afflicted by an addiction to our always-on lifestyle: Toddlers.

Dr Graham said that young technology addicts experienced the same withdrawal symptoms as alcoholics or heroin addicts, when the devices were taken away.

He warned that the condition prevented young people from forming normal social relationships, leaving them drained by the constant interaction.
"Children have access to the internet almost from birth now,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
“They see their parents playing on their mobile devices and they want to play too. It's difficult, because having a device can also be very useful in terms of having a reward, having a pacifier. But if you don't get the balance right it can be very dangerous.
"They can't cope and become addicted, reacting with tantrums and uncontrollable behaviour when they are taken away. Then as they grow older, the problem only gets worse. Even the most shy kids, when they hit their teens, suddenly want to become sociable and popular."

The article opens with a warning about how experts agree that babies and toddlers using tablets and smartphones for several hours a day are in danger of long-tern addiction and social dysfunction. It goes on to cite the case of a four-year-old girl for the United Kingdom that has been enrolled in therapy for compulsive iPad usage.

Dude, seriously, if your toddler does ANYTHING for “several hours a day,” you’ve got a problem.

Behind the Blog: May 1, 2013–Crispy Crunchy Crankies

2013-05-01T07:40:00.000-04:00

Ah, good ol’ BtB! My reserved space to do a little blogging on this ‘ere blog. So… Guess what? I don’t feel like blogging. I’ve been particularly sullen and cranky lately. I also need to go in and tweak my video settings. These old eyes o’ mine are getting a bit cranky themselves about reading text. Lord knows I’ve got no room to complain with a blind guy coming in here on Sundays to carry the show, LOL! So, anyway, short monthly rap session this time.

In the analytics department, it’s been yet another sagging month for clickery. Looks like it’ll just be you and me again in about six more months. Still, we did have some pretty popular material in April. This being the Internet and all, they were, of course, video game related.

The biggest hit was the review for Wizardry Online. I’m rather pleased about that. WO is certainly a unique entry in the world of online gaming and I didn’t see very much coverage of it. This is one of those titles that falls into the ‘love it or hate it’ category, hence the lack of a final score at the end of the review. It’s good to be the editor! I certainly put enough time into the text. I think I’ve said enough that you’ll either want to give it a shot or avoid it like the plague after reading. This one wasn’t originally supposed to be as long as it turned out. Heck, it didn’t even start life as a review. Still, by the time I was done explaining why this game was special I had more than enough to rebrand it. I bumped the article two weeks to pour some additional time into the game to feel the ‘review’ moniker justified and flesh out my feelings. Overall, I think it’s a fine bit of writing.

The other big hitter for the month was the video of the Mrs. & I playing Papers, Please. The YouTube hits have been a good deal higher than our other recent videos. Good sign for this game. I’m glad. It is most certainly unique and I can’t wait to get my rubber stamp on the final version. I’m also pretty happy with the “Mr and Mrs Otaku Play” title for a series. I rebranded our run through of Miasmata to see if a husband/wife Let’s Play series would be a thing. So far, popularity hasn’t trickled back down the line. Our banter needs to be a LOT better It’s a series I would like to explore a bit further, but the Mrs. keeps pretty busy and is exhausted whenever she’s not, so no real hopes for getting this going on a regular basis. At least she put down the smartphone long enough to record this one

Last month’s BtB also hit a bit bigger than it has been lately. Something tells me that may just be a Google quirk from having the subtitle “fetishizing bloggery". I wonder if I posted that one to my personal Facebook feed… I do that when I remember I still have a personal Facebook account. It’s the only bit of self promotion I allow myself. And that’s why I suck at this, LOL. Information overload is more the rule than the exception these days. If you’re not screaming in people’s faces all the time, you’re as forgotten as last season’s reality show winner.

On the Out of This World Weekly front, the Kepler space telescope dominated, pulling in about a third more traffic than April’s other contenders. Man, Kepler just keeps bringing home the habitables! This is, what, the second or third batch? Exciting stuff!

So, that’s about that. I told ya it’d be a short one! I’ve got moping to get back to. And yard work! Ugh, Spring time in Florida… No new news on the Mrs’ health to report. She did get a new CEO at work. Heads are rolling so much you’d think it was a bowling alley. Looks like she made it through unscathed at least. Oh, and don’t be surprised if I skip out on ya for a couple weeks. I may spend some time mastering the melancholy rather than bringing the bloggery.

Until next time, here’s wishing you and yours all the best. We love ya!

Thanks for reading!

Free MMO Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Starts Open Beta Today

2013-04-30T14:52:00.001-04:00

After several delays, the latest incarnation of Neverwinter has been released to the masses. The long running Dungeons & Dragons’ property has surfaced as several very different games following its initial unveiling as Neverwinter Nights, an early online game hosted by America OnLine back in 1991, and this one is no different. That is to say, it is not different by being different. Or something. Quick, look over there while I bail!

Created by Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment (Champions Online, Star Trek Online), this free-to-play MMO takes brave adventures back to the Forgotten Realms a hundred years after the land was decimated by the Spellplague. As this is a video game, you’ll be to restore order and culture to the land by whacking things in the face with a shiny stick of your choosing while hoarding as much loot as possible. When that gets old, you can hide behind your Dungeon Master’s screen and take a spin at creating your own stick-swinging, loot-stealing adventure via the game’s Foundry construction set to be shared online.

Find out more or download at nw.perfectworld.com

Western Digital Makes Mechanical Hard Drives Thinner Than Ever Before

2013-04-29T07:27:00.000-04:00

Solid-state hard drives (SSDs) have dominated the the race to create the thinnest computers possible. Long time hard drive manufacturer Western Digital has fired back and proved that old school mechanical drives still have a place in the future of skinny laptops. Merging the usual SATA power and data connectors into one new plug, WD has created a 500GB, 2.5” hard drive that is a mere 5mm thick. The best part? These new “Ultra-Slim” hard drives drives have begun shipping to OEM system builders for a mere $89. In comparison, Samsung's 500GB SSD costs about $350 at the time of this writing. Looking beyond Ultrabooks, it’s not hard to imaging these credit card-sized drives being offered in tablets. Imagine the coup for the first company to market with a 500GB Android tablet for the price of a 32GB model!

Source: Western Digital

Gravitational Waves | Out Of This World Weekly

2013-04-28T07:16:00.000-04:00

The universe can be a strange place and today that means two stars orbiting each other very close have been observed to give off waves of gravity. One of these stars is a extremely dense and rapidly spinning neutron star which is very capable of bending the local space around it. The gravity on this star is about 300 billion times stronger than here on Earth and it spins very rapidly at 25 times per second. The other star is an old white dwarf star caught by the neutron star’s extreme gravity and is so close, that it orbits once every 2.5 hours. Together, these two stars caught in their gravitational dance are warping and twisting spacetime around them in a very precise manner which confirms Einstein’s theories about general relativity. A predicted loss of a small amount of the energy in this system was to have been caused by ripples in space called gravitational waves. Sure enough, no less than six telescopes have confirmed this loss of the miniscule 8 millionths of a second per year of the orbital period of the white dwarf due to gravitational waves radiating energy out of the system.

Scientists have been working on detectors to be able to directly measure gravitational waves and this new information will help them to design better ways to detect these waves. Since gravitational waves are move outward at the speed of light, this method of detection could shed new discoveries in a spectrum that we are not currently familiar with. It is thought that gravitational radiation could be measured like any other type of radiation and this could yield new discoveries and insights that we have no way of currently mapping. Gravitational waves should be able to penetrate all dust clouds and every other type of interfering matter, allowing an unobstructed and distortion free look into the universe. These waves may also provide a look into the very early universe, before the 370,000 year mark where electromagnetic radiation was able to escape.

To detect these gravitational waves, we have been designing both ground based and space interferometers. Early Earth based detectors very precisely measure the amount of variance of force caused by the strain from one end of a bar being distorted by a passing gravitational wave, although this could only detect the most powerful gravitational waves. New methods include the use of laser interferometry to measure small distortions in matter caused by a passing gravitational wave through a 4km long by 4km wide laser field. Space based laser interferometers are being designed because the further away each detector node is from each other, the more sensitive the entire detector can become. Plans are under way for three test masses to form an equilateral triangle with each detector being separated by five million kilometers. These new generations of gravitational wave detectors should provide new insights into our universe in a way that we may not be able to easily visualize but being able to detect unobservable masses like planets and stars through their gravity could show profound results in a short time that couldn’t be achieved by any other means.

Smash Hello Kitty’s Face into Every Meal

2013-04-25T07:59:00.000-04:00

Food, eh? Been there, done that. Isn’t it about time we just turn our meals into a quick, easy pocket of nutrients that we can just shove into our gobs and keep going? I refer, of course, to sandwiches. Why have grilled salmon when you can have a grilled salmon sandwich? Meatloaf? Meatloaf sandwich! Scrambled eggs? Scrambled egg sandwich! Big, juicy steak? Big, juicy steak sandwich! Spaghetti and meatballs? Spaghetti and- er, maybe you should keep a bowl on hand for that one.

Now that we’ve make mealtime much more manageable, wouldn’t if be great to have a gadget that purrfectly prepares pockets of protein? Worry not, friends! As luck would have it, the overworked, ever-insane marketing boys in Sanrio’s tech labs have just just the thing. Now available with compliments from the cute factory comes the Hello Kitty Sandwich Maker. It looks like Hello Kitty AND makes your sandwich look like Hello Kitty! Just crack open Kitty’s skull, stuff your square shaped Wonder of a meal inside, push down really hard for several minutes, and BLAMMO! A yummy meal compressed into a charred lump of bread! Brilliant!

Not convinced? Check out these testimonials from Amazon !

JxG1991 calls it “Perfectly serviceable for a decent price.” Oborochann screams “Awful!” and complains that the machine squeezes all the cheese out of the sandwiches, a claim verified by Kevin M Albeck’s testimonial: “The first couple sandwiches ended up with no cheese in them because it ran out all over the machine.” Delicious AND helps you loose weight! Finally, hallegirl and Hello Kitty Fan agree that the machine doesn’t actually do a very good job at branding the cute cat character’s face into the bread. But that’s probably user error! What would you expect from someone posting as “Hello Kitty Fan” who just bought a machine to make sandwiches?

So what are you waiting for? Revolutionize meals in the cutest possible way with the Hello Kitty Sandwich Maker

Florida Cracks Down on Surveillance Drones

2013-04-23T07:28:00.000-04:00

While the United States federal government has no qualms about flying Reaper drones over Texas to tighten up security on the Mexican border, Florida lawmakers have other ideas.

Legislators in The Sunshine State have passed the “Freedom From Unwanted Surveillance Act” and Governor Rick Scott has already agreed to sign the bill. Under this bill law enforcement would only be allowed to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles in certain circumstances such as managing hostage situations, fugitive manhunts, terrorist threats, or tracking hurricanes and wildfires. Before UAVs are allowed to be deployed for use in any criminal case, authorities will require a warrant to be issued by a judge.

The “Freedom From Unwanted Surveillance Act” makes Florida the third state, following Virginia and Ohio, to all but ban the use of airborne drones. Three law enforcement agencies have been licensed by the FAA to use UAVs, but all have yet to deploy any.

Review: Wizardry Online (Windows)–The Heroically Hardcore Dark Souls of MMORPGs

2013-04-22T07:59:00.000-04:00

Wizardry Online makes doesn’t mix words. It is out to kill you. Permanently. Its home page proclaims WO as the “most hardcore fantasy MMO ever created,” and sports the tag line “Free to ~~play~~ die.” Its intro video features an adventuring part being wiped out with a lone survivor running for his life. The first two dungeons include dying NPCs with dire words of warning. Wizardry’s bark is a thunderous roar that shakes the very foundation of online gaming, but does its bite live up to it?

While it may not fulfill the “ever” part of the claim, Wizardry Online certainty IS one of the most intense and challenging dungeon romps available today. How so? Ah, where to start… No regenerating health, no regenerating mana, deteriorating weapons and armor, spells and specials are easily interruptible, dungeons are full of traps; treasure chests are full of traps, leveling needs to be done at an inn or magic fountain, character stats can go down as well as up when leveling, PVP is always on after a ‘noob’ grace period, gankers can steal your stuff, and the tutorial dungeon killed me. Twice. Oh, and poor or unlucky players are subjected to the possibility of character-rerolling permadeath. Also, the game is hard. All that said, WO tempers its laundry list of lulz with with smart design that keeps the game feeling fair and ensures that its most dramatic features are kept in check.

Before delving into the dark depths of Wizardry Online’s most intriguing features, we should perhaps discuss what exactly Wizardry Online is. WO is an unabashed dungeon hack. You’ll build your character from the standard fantasy races and classes, assign points to attributes, and pick perks from a skill tree. Town hubs provide shops, services, quest givers, and delightful billboards featuring bounties on player-killers as well as daily and monthly totals of the dearly departed. Speaking to a gate guard sends your avatar to the publicly instanced dungeon of your choice where the real action occurs.

More than most MMORPGs, WO plays very much like a third-person action game. Those that cringe at the likes of Terra being considered ‘action oriented’ will be pleasantly surprised by Wizardry’s combat. After drawing your weapon, you’ll lose the ability to run while gaining a suite of combat moves. Dodging, blocking, and weapon strikes are all handled in real-time and without cool-down timers. Right-clicking a foe or pressing the tab key locks your character on target. Shields can only absorb so much damage before needing a break and blocking only works when struck from the front. Tactical maneuvering is tense and interesting as Wizardry’s claustrophobic, trap laden dungeons do not suffer from the bizarre gigantism found in most modern MMO environments. You'll need to master these intricacies to make it very far in WO as many of your opponents sport beefy life bars, attacks that cause special effects like poison, and above average AI that will see them fall back to launch ranged attacks or flank around chronic blockers. In addition to the challenge presented by the average baddie, WO’s dungeons sport a rather aggressive respawn rate. This is not an MMO for impatient players. You’ll be making several trial sorties into any particular den of nay’er-do-wells to learn the ways and means of your enemies before gearing up to take on the final challenge in earnest. Suffice it to say, grouping is all but mandatory in the later dungeons.

So, you’ve geared up, grouped up, learned up, leveled up, and conquered Wizardry’s darkest depths of danger. You win, right? Nuh-uh. Now’s the time to wonder if your fighter buddy is thinking about sticking a broadsword in your back, fight the temptation to do the same to that loudmouthed mage standing next to you, and brave a face to face confrontation with WO’s most devious, demented, hysterically brutal enemy of all: The dreaded treasure chest. Yes, the treasure chest. These bastard boxes from the blackest bowels are armed with everything from a direct damage that might kill you, deadly poison gas which will probably kill all of you, or the fiendish zap trap which WILL kill you twice over. Yes, really. So how many times are you going to tempt fate trying to up your disarm chance before biting the bullet? Hurry up, those monsters you just killed will be respawning soon.

As we’ve touched on briefly, player-versus-player combat is always on in Wizardry Online and only boss arenas feature private instances. Additionally, killers are free to take unequipped items from their vanquished prey so keeping your spare cash and gear in your shared account bank is a good idea. While the majority of the game’s population tend to walk the straight and true, there are some players that have chosen the PKing path of the criminal. Exactly who these individuals are won’t come as any great surprise. Criminals in WO are clearly marked with a red (or purple in extreme cases) aura following their wrong doing. Town guards and entire guilds of goodie-two-shoes have thus far ensured the ganking population is kept under control, but the second major dungeon can get a bit rough as new players are allowed their first taste of open PvP. Still, as with the other challenges in Wizardry, cautious progress will steer you clear of most potentially fatal encounters. Especially savvy (re. cowardly) adventurers can stick to lower populated channels or even log out to change instances at the slightest sign of glowing red people. On the other side of the coin, players branded as criminals open up a new whole new way of life most Wizardry players will never experience. Criminals are open targets for anyone, making grouping even among like-minded individuals touchy due to the potential of friendly fire. The crime and punishment system also allows for additional achievements such as running through town as a marked man or a chance of being thrown into prison, complete with the possibility of busting out. Or being shanked in the shower. Those wishing to give up the life of crime can lay low in the unpatrolled Twilight Alley slums until the tint of their wicked ways fades.

Perhaps Wizardry Online’s most surprising feature is the inclusion of character-erasing, very permanent death. While certainly an attention grabbing feature, the chances of actually losing a character to this fate is rather slim. Upon being slain, characters appear next to their body as a ghost, leaving behind their easily looted corpse. In a backwards twist on the corpse runs of old, a ghost’s task is to sprint its incorporeal butt to the nearest Guardian Statue. You’ll be immune to all the traps and traitors of the cruel physical world while in this ghost form. Naturally, this being Wizardry Online, there is a whole new peril to face. You are not alone in this realm of undeath. Ghostly demons called Walkers wander the ether to prey upon lingering souls. Get grabbed by a Walker and you’re starting over at your corpse once again but with a penalty to the chance of being resurrected successfully. Folks in a hurry (or, again, cowards) can take the easy out and teleport to the last known statue, but at the cost of a hit to the durability of their gear. Other players also have the option to haul your lifeless body back to town for revival at the local church.

Upon reaching the Guardian Statue, church, or revive spell, players must face the Scales of Soul before being readmitted to the world of the living. The Scales measure the weight of your soul versus the weight of your death and display the odds of a successful resurrection. Factors influencing the scales include a character’s level, earned Soul Rank bonuses, having/hit by blessed or cursed items, and overall condition. Living impaired players can sweeten the deal by adding gold and items to tip the scales in their favor. Succeed and it’s back to business. Fail and your corpse will turn to ash. Once you’ve been turned to ash, a state of REALLY dead also achievable by being hit from a high damage electrical attack, you’ve got one final chance at the Scales to respawn. Fail the Scales of Soul after having been turned to ash and your soul becomes lost, you face becomes sad, and you character data becomes a long string of zeroes, never to return. Still, it will take a few strings of bad luck before anyone needs face oblivion.

Even if the worst comes to pass, you can rest assured that your banked inventory and even campaign progress are all immediately available to future characters. Yes, in a shocking twist of mercy, Wizardry’s story progress falls under the ‘bind to account’ category. There is even a account wide leveling system, termed Soul Rank, that will provided bonuses to all the characters you create.

So, does Wizardry Online bite as ferociously as it barks? Almost. The headline features of open PvP and permadeath imbues WO with a very real sense of tension, even fear, due to the possibility of being suddenly stabbed from the shadows and losing a character forever. Still, these features are kept in check by clever gameplay mechanics, generous newbie grace period, and a friendly user base. Where WO doesn’t mess around is the general difficulty level of the game itself. While on paper, and in name, this title may seem like a throwback to the old-school RPGs of yesteryear, yet it has been tempered with the wisdom of modern game design. While hard, it never feels cheap. It’s usually clear exactly why you died and what you could have done differently. As you learn, so shall you conquer, and that’s the real thrill. Even without the chance at being permanently killed off, Wizardry Online would be a rewarding game to play. With real death lurking around every corner, no matter how remote the chance, it is a exhilarating game the likes of which is seldom seen these days. Wizardry Online has no intentions of being a game for everyone, and is exceedingly special because of that.

Wizardry Online is available for free from Sony Online Entertainment.