Sales and operating income for Sony Corporation fell in its home territory of Japan, and also in North America, for the financial year ending March 31, 2008.
But that was offset by growth elsewhere, including a rise of 14 per cent in Europe, and 19.3 per cent in other territories - leading to an overall increase 6.9 per cent, and making Europe the company's biggest market in terms of its entire portfolio of products.
The numbers for Japan fell by 3.4 per cent to JPY 2.06 trillion (USD 19.6 billion), while North America showed a reduction of 0.5 per cent to JPY 2.22 trillion (USD 21.1 billion).
Meanwhile Europe's total sales and operating income rose to JPY 2.33 trillion (USD 22.1 billion), while the rest of the world saw numbers jump to JPY 2.27 trillion (USD 21.6 billion).
The numbers include sales of consumer electronics and videogames, as well as income from its other divisions, including Sony Pictures. Specific numbers for the PlayStation business by region were not disclosed.
At 36 years of age i have one "illness" that reduces my summer months to one of despair, not only does the summer bring out all the idiots, yes those who when the suns out act like a bunch of prats, but also the suffering of the triple whammy of Tree Pollen, Grass Pollen and General Dust in the air.
As a gardener by day and if i may say so one of the countrys best (part of a small team to win awards for the last 17 years) i struggle every summer with the fight against hay fever, at the moment i have tried every brand in an effort to beat it but like a prat i walked through a meadow with long grass tonight and ended up paying by one of my worst sneezing fits for a while and then spending 2 hours breathing into a tshirt so as to stop any pollen getting to me and calming down my throat.
So to all Hay Fever suffereers worldwide i for one know your pain, and if anyone has or knows of a tablet thats extremely effective then please post away
A tumultuous transitional phase for SEGA-Sammy's core Pachinko business has attributed to an operating loss for the Japanese giant in the fiscal year ended March 31st 2008.
Net sales for the year ended at 458.98 billion yen (£2.32 billion) compared to 528.24 billion yen (£2.62 billion) in the year ended March 31st 2007. As a result the company posted an operating loss of 5.83 billion yen (£28.92 million) for the fiscal year in contrast to an operating profit of 76.53 billion yen (£386.47 million) in the previous year, resulting in a net loss of 52.47 billion yen (£264.97 million) compared to a net income of 43.46 billion yen (£215.62 million) in the year ended March 31st 2007.
Despite a decrease in the Japanese market, SEGA-Sammy's consumer business posted a decrease in net sales from 103.85 billion yen (£524.44 million) to 91.23 billion yen (£452.61 million), resulting in an operating loss of 9.81 billion yen (£49.54 million) compared to an operating income of 132 million yen (£654,883) in the previous year.
As a result of focusing on its core business, SEGA confirmed that it has dropped plans to develop a new amusement centre in Yokohama's Minato Mirai 21 district. The company also confirmed that it has dissolved SEGA Amusements Singapore and SEGA Korea Ltd as a means to reviewing its operations.
Continuing uncertainty surrounding the Pachinko parlour business suggests the Japanese company will face a difficult year, but suggests continuing synergy with Ginza Corporation and Taiyo Elec Co will assist in the changeable market. The company suggests it will generate revenue in the consumer business by selling licensed film titles overseas and focus on a revision of its Japanese line-up.
For the year ended March 31st 2009, SEGA-Sammy predicts net sales to reach 470 billion yen (£2.37 billion), representing a 2.4% year-on-year increase, operating income to return back to profit of 15 billion yen (£75.75 million), with a resulting net income of 5 billion yen (£25.25 million).
... is on Malcolm's mind after being freed from his stony statue. Sadly he is unable to plan his revenge on his own, so give him a helping hand in The Legend of Kyrandia: Book Three: Malcolm's Revenge. It will be damn fun for you and him!
Procedure for playing is as always: Grab your copy of The Legend of Kyrandia: Book Three: Malcolm's Revenge and a daily build of ScummVM. Also we ask you, our fellow users, to report any bugs you run across to our bug tracker. Make sure you got all required datafiles before you report a bug though. For further information, check out the bug submission guidelines. We also ask for screenshots, which should be reported to our patch tracker. For further information about this, check out the screenshot guidelines.
After the successful signing of a License Agreement with SEGA Japan (SEGA) for the design and production of several on-line multi-player digital games with DNY BVI Limited, [HQ: British Virgin Islands], a subsidiary of DYNASTY GAMING (OTCBB: DNYFF) (TSX-V: DNY) [HQ: Montreal, Canada] (Company), the Company is pleased to announce that the first of its licensed SEGA online games is undergoing a closed testing process with the Company's China partner, Beijing Baiyouhuitong Net Technology Co. Ltd. [HQ: Beijing] (Partners).
Interviewed in Beijing, Company CEO Albert Barbusci stated that, "This represents the final step in the process to launch the first of our licensed 'China Suite' of SEGA games; a massively multi-player online roll-playing game (MMORPG) to be known as 'Sanguko Seisen' (Saga of the Three Kingdoms). Testing will continue throughout May to ensure that the new SEGA game meets all specifications for mainstream commercial operation in Mainland China."
SEGA, one of the most internationally recognized names in world-class, digital gaming products and software, worked in close collaboration with Dynasty Gaming and Partners to create "Sanguko Seisen." Adapted from a popular Japanese street game, SEGA seamlessly transposed unique elements of traditional Chinese culture, fashion and style in designing a fast-paced, exhilarating game of challenges and skills. Using the latest, state-of-the-art digital gaming technologies, the final product will engage Chinese players in a game of personalized roll-playing that stimulates strategic thinking. Designed to give players the opportunity to achieve personal goals as well as sharpen tactical manoeuvring and focus, players attain ever greater strengths in a game that is never the same twice. The realistic imagery and dynamic characters give the player a true sense of being in a real-world setting of ever-changing scenarios that will maintain player interest and guarantee longevity for succeeding generations. "Sanguko Seisen" also promises to secure a loyal following of SEGA game enthusiasts in China; hungry to see subsequent games in the SEGA "China Series."
"This is an exciting milestone in the company's goal to establish the dominant software design, operation and distribution networks within Mainland China, and join in congratulating SEGA and our China-based Partner in the fulfillment of this extraordinary goal," said Dynasty Gaming CEO, Albert Barbusci.
Entertainment retailer HMV has revealed that group sales for the year ended April 26 2008 have risen by 10.3 per cent.
For the the last sixteen weeks of the financial year sales were up 11.9 per cent, with like-for-like growth of 10.1 per cent.
The Group said it expects pre-tax profits for the full financial year to be at the upper end of GBP 146 – GBP 158 million.
The company is in the first year of its three-year strategy to revitalise the business, which involves a bigger commitment to online sales and to the videogames market.
“As we complete the first full year of our three-year turnaround plan, we are ahead of where we expected to be,” commented chief executive Simon Fox.
“We have made good progress driving forward our strategic initiatives to increase efficiency, revitalise our core business and establish new channels to market.
“We still have much to do, but I am confident that the Group is well positioned for the next phase of our transformation.”
Atari Inc., a subsidiary of Infogrames, has had its securities delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market, suspending trading in the company's shares.
The company has announced it plans to request a review of the delisting, which could result in Atari's stock being traded on the Nasdaq again but will not immediately see the suspension end.
Atari Inc. now expects to be quoted on the Pink Sheets, which allow for the continued trading of securities of delisted companies. The company's common stock could be traded under the symbol "ATAR" or "ATAR.PK".
As previously announced, Atari failed to maintain the market value of its shares at USD 15 million or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days prior to March 20, 2008.
Videogame retailers as a whole have shown vast improvement in their efforts to restrict sales of mature-rated games to minors, according to a recent study by the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC sent undercover shoppers to specialty retailers, discount stores and electronics stores to test clerks' adherence to Entertainment Software Ratings Board restrictions on the sale of M-rated games to consumers under the age of 17. According to the results of the test, 20 percent of mystery shoppers aged 13-16 were able to buy M-rated games. That's down from 42 percent in 2006 and from 82 percent in 2000 when the study was first launched.
"Video game retailers have clearly stepped up their efforts to enforce their store policies, and they deserve recognition for these outstanding results," said ESRB president Patricia Vance in a statement. "We commend and applaud retailers for their strong support of the ESRB ratings, and will continue working with them to help ensure that these levels of compliance are sustained if not further increased."
According to the FTC, sales of videogames to minors were far less frequent than sales of mature-rated DVDs, CDs labeled as explicit and tickets to R-rated movies. Discount and electronics stores often had varying responses to underage requests to buy different media. Best Buy, for example, rejected 80% of underage buyers of video games but turned away underage shoppers for PAL (parental advisory label) music only 47% of the time, R-rated movie DVDs only 38% of the time, and unrated movie DVDs only 17% of the time.
The FTC found that, of all the retailers it tested, GameStop performed best, turning away 94% of underage videogame shoppers trying to buy M-rated games.
THQ and Marvel Enter into Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Games Based on Marvel's Super Hero Squad
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) announced today that they have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement to create video games based on the burgeoning, kid-friendly Marvel Super Hero Squad franchise. Pursuant to the multi-year agreement, THQ has obtained the exclusive, worldwide rights to publish content for all current and next-generation consoles, handheld systems, as well as Windows PC. The initial Marvel Super Hero Squad game is scheduled for release in fall 2009.
The agreement fits perfectly in both THQ's and Marvel's growth strategies. For THQ, the addition of the Marvel brand further strengthens its position as the pre-eminent creator and publisher of kids video games. For Marvel, the relationship with THQ provides a premier interactive entertainment partner for its important Marvel Super Hero Squad franchise, which is designed to be an engaging introduction into the Marvel Universe for young kids.
"Marvel is one of the true crown jewels in the entertainment industry and we are thrilled at the prospect of both building the Marvel Super Hero Squad brand and further developing our relationship with Marvel," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO, THQ. "We are dedicated to expanding our unmatched success story in the kids space and this agreement with Marvel is an excellent complement to our portfolio."
Simon Phillips, President, Marvel International and Head of Worldwide Animation and Video Games, added, "Licensing of the Marvel Super Hero Squad brand is a priority for Marvel, as we see it as a great entry point for kids to experience our renowned characters. We are making a strong commitment to the brand across toys, television and other media and consumer product channels and developing Marvel Super Hero Squad as a video game will play an important role in the development of this brand. The platform is an incredibly powerful medium that enables kids to experience the excitement of our franchises, as well as extend our characters and storylines. With THQ, we are confident we have a partner with a best in class pedigree of building and extending licensed kid-friendly brands in the interactive space."
An all-new Marvel brand, Marvel Super Hero Squad features an exciting, super-stylized look of the greatest Marvel Super Heroes, serving to expand the traditional Marvel audience to a core 4-10 year-old audience. Fun and humor are waiting around every corner in Marvel Super Hero Squad where popular characters including Iron-Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, The Fantastic Four, and many more are thrust into adventures in a single caricatured Super Hero City. Along the way, they will have to thwart the plans of popular Marvel villains Doctor Doom, Magneto, Iron Monger, Loki, the Abomination and countless other infamous baddies.
Marvel is launching a major multi-media campaign for the brand. Marvel Animation is currently in production on an animated television series that is expected to debut on air in 2009. Additionally, Marvel Comics is now featuring Marvel Super Hero Squad comic strips within several of its all ages books and will be introducing a dedicated Marvel Super Hero Squad comic book series in fall 2008. Marvel has already secured deals with Hasbro as master toy partner, Disguise/Cesar for dress-up and Mega Bloks for construction toys and continues to seek deals with industry leading partners to develop merchandise based on the unique look of the Marvel Super Hero Squad propert
Oh Spam, my how you have grown! Thirty years ago, on this day, you came into the world as a little misguided e-mail sent by an equipment engineer over Arpanet to promote a new line of computers. You were quickly shot down by other Arpanet users who called it an "insult... to have an obvious commercial message sent out over a research network." Yet, at some point in time, people stopped protesting you loudly enough. Now you comprise 80 percent to 95 percent of all e-mail sent, your crafty trojans and pesky viruses have infected millions of computers, and you've cost IT departments nearly $200 billion to combat you.
Today is the day that all fans of Nottingham Forest Can rejoice and that finally after 3 years in the 3rd tier of English football we are now promoted and back, for anyone who doesnt know Nottingham Forest are 2 time Euro Cup Winners (back to back) and in the late 70s were the worlds best football team under Brian Clough.
Todays win over Yeovil and the beating of Doncaster by Cheltenham gave Notts Forest the first signs of getting their rightful place back among the top teams of England and Europe.
Even Google Maps is getting in on GTA IV fever, making an online version of the map that came with the game. In a way, it's much better than the paper map because you can click on and off different points of interests (missions, restaurants, safe houses, gun shops) and know where you're going. What with Google mapping out the ocean, an imaginary world isn't that much of a stretch. Are we the only ones here that wishes they were playing GTA IV instead of working?
See the Liberty City Grand Theft Auto map from IGN here
Terry Kenney's Dragon Power Station prototype works by harnessing the kinetic energy of trucks passing over plates buried in the road and turning that energy into electricity. The system he's got set up now in the Port of Oakland, with 2,500 trucks passing over it in a day, is enough to power 1,750 homes. It's a very interesting concept that can be extended to busier streets, harnessing a little bit of the energy that would otherwise be lost.
It's not all free energy, however, as these trucks slow down ever-so-slightly as they depress the plates in the road. TreeHugger supposes that this would be even better for the times when you actually do want to slow down, like going down a hill, where they could load up on these plates and slow down cars enough to not have to ride the brakes the whole way. Sounds good to us.
Do you enjoy gangs of tiny, spider-like robot insectoids swarming all over your house, car, or personage? If you answered "yes," you're going to love what BAE Systems is cooking up.
The company recently received an infusion of $38 million from the US Army Research Lab to fund the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) consortium; a team of scientists and researchers hell-bent on developing an "autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places too inaccessible or dangerous for humans."
Sure, that description (and accompanying photos, straight from BAE) does give you the impression that whoever came up with this really liked Minority Report, but won't it make you feel safer at night knowing a swarm of metallic spiders are looking out for you? No? Huh, weird.
Hey all just got home and whilst deleting some spam posts i came across what seems to be an hack attempt, someone had stuck links on the PSP News/Off Topic Forums, ive removed the link, hopefully Martin (server admin) will find out what went off and investigate any more problems if any have arisen.
It was a spectacular own goal from the man once considered the best striker in the world. Ronaldo, the AC Milan forward, was questioned by police yesterday after an altercation with transvestites in a Rio de Janeiro motel.
Footballers in sex scandals are nothing new but this one has a twist. In an episode that seems more like a plot-line from the infamous TV show Footballers’ Wives, the striker left a nightclub in the Barra de Tijuca district early on Monday morning with three prostitutes, only to make an unexpected discovery at the motel.
Police said that the incident began when Ronaldo discovered he was dealing with transvestites instead of women and was reportedly infuriated. Carlos Augusto Nogueira, a police inspector, said that Ronaldo admitted he knew they were prostitutes when they met but did not realise they were transvestites until they reached the motel.
“He admitted to everything, he wanted to have fun,” Nogueira said. “But he committed no crime at all, it was immoral at best.” Prostitution is not illegal in Brazil. “Ronaldo said he is not good in the head and that he is going through psychological problems because of his recent [knee] surgery,” Nogueira added.
The player and the prostitutes voluntarily went to a police station for questioning. The 31-year-old told police he offered to pay the transvestites anyway, but before he left one of them allegedly asked for 50,000 reais (about £15,000) to hide the story from the media. Nogueira said he believed Ronaldo because the transvestite left the police station before being questioned fully.
The transvestite also accused Ronaldo of asking him to buy drugs. In a statement to TV Globo, Ronaldo reiterated that he was a victim of extortion and denied he has ever used drugs.
The three-time world player of the year is in Rio recovering from a career-threatening knee injury. He also played for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid and scored both goals for Brazil in the final of the 2002 World Cup. However, his career has suffered a down-turn in recent years and he appeared to be overweight in the 2006 World Cup finals.
Ronaldo was married for four years to Milene Domingues, who holds the world record for keepie-uppies. They have a son named Ronald. They divorced in 2003 and then he was briefly engaged to a Brazilian model and MTV presenter, Daniela Cicarelli.
Something tells me this 3,800 HP jet-powered bike isn't the safest or most efficient way to get around town, but then again, you aren't going to fry a crosswalk's worth of schoolchildren to a crisp driving around a Plymouth Voyager. Oh, and the name of the guy who built this monster? Mad Ron Laycock.
It’s 30 years ago this week that spam, as we know it, began but no one will be singing Happy Birthday considering it’s become the bane of everyone’s online life.
The first Spam email is attributed to Gary Thuerk, a marketing exec at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) who sent an email on May 3, 1978 to 393 users on Arpanet, a US government computer network that evolved into the Internet.
Even then, people were pissed off and he received direct complaints from recipients and DEC got a wrist-slapping from the network administrators. Did it do any good?
No. Right now, according to New Scientist, 80-90% of all emails are spam – that’s roughly 120 billion messages a day and it’s worth billions of pounds.
High Street retailer GAME has reported record sales growth of 86 per cent for the year ended January 31 2008, with like-for-like sales up 41.2 per cent.
Profits before tax were GBP 75.5 million, a massive increase of 156 per cent on the previous year. The retailer opened 116 new stores in overseas territories and saw international profits more than double to GBP 13.2 million.
The company's online business also saw strong growth, with profits reaching GBP 2.9 million, up 61 per cent.
"This is a record set of results and clearly demonstrates that we've taken the right steps to expand the scale and geographic reach of our specialist offer to benefit from the broadening appeal of PC and videogames products," commented Peter Lewis, chairman of GAME.
"This performance marks a transformational year with a significant improvement in a number of core business operations, further enhanced by the acquisition of Gamestation in the UK. In addition we more than doubled international operating profits and increased eCommerce operating profits by over 60 per cent, both of which continue to be a focus for growth," he added.
The company has completed the acquisition of rival Gamestation's 217 stores, bringing the total number of shops in the UK to 649, and across all territories to 1,161.
Austrian police on Sunday arrested a 73-year-old man accused accused of locking up his daughter in a basement for 24 years and fathering seven children with her.
A prosecution spokesman said that Elisabeth Fritzl, 42, had accused her father of "massive crimes". It is the third stunning case to be revealed in Austria in recent years of children being locked away by their parents.
Investigators said the woman gave birth to seven children in the sealed cellar of her father's house near Amstetten in Lower Austria state, in the east of the country.
Gerhard Sedlacek, spokesman for the Sankt-Polkten prosecutor's office, told a press conference that Fritzl's accusations of kidnapping and incest are "credible".
Police said they are still trying to get the man, silent since his arrest, to talk, although the head of Lower Austria's criminal detective division, Franz Polzer, added that they are hopeful of a breakthrough.
Police said DNA samples would be taken as part of their investigation.
They said the woman had three boys and three girls aged from five to 20 and that a seventh child died three days after its birth.
According to ORF national television, the mother and her children are now in the hands of a team of psychologists.
The six surviving children were never registered with the authorities. And the extraordinary case only came to light after one of the girls, a 19-year-old named Kerstin, was admitted to hospital in Amstetten in a serious condition in mid-April.
Doctors trying to establish the nature of her infection sought to contact the mother for background medical information and Fritzl's incarceration came to light.
Fritzl had been reported missing for several years and Interpol had opened a file on her disappearance.
Local Austrian authorities, who had no social security information on her, believed she had fallen into the grip of a religious sect.
“Hi, here’s Uwe Boll and you see my outfit so you know what’s coming up now basically. Michael Bay responded to my note about him in a very insulting way for me. He said that he doesn’t care about me and this was very insulting because I care about him and I think that with the money he has for his movies, he sucks big time. I think it’s time to meet in the ring actually.
So it’s my message to Michael Bay, Michael, in between your pool parties in LA or your casting sessions with the strippers you should start training now. And I’m sure you look good, you look thin. I saw you at the Hollywood Film Festival, I think you’re a fit guy and you do like private karate Asia bullshit crap fighting stuff in LA where you think you’re super cool that you do that with your 500 bucks per hour trainer.
So let’s meet in the ring in September or October. Pay-per-view. Mandalay Bay. Las Vegas. Twelve rounds of boxing. Boll against Bay.
It’s also independent against the studio system and I think that this day in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas we will clear it up who is not only the better director who is also able to fight more for that what he wants.
OK Michael, if you see that message I expect that your people contacting me, it will be all arranged. We even make money with it, and so let’s go for it. Boll against Bay. It’s on.”
We’ve all heard by now what goes into making in-game ad placement successful: contextual content, relevance to gamers, seamless integration and added value. In-game ad firms commonly cite case studies in which gamers embrace in-game ads as long as their placement “makes sense.” But what happens when those ads just don’t fit?
Back in 2006, I worked with the former Disney executive director of Internet marketing to attempt to gauge player perceptions of advertising in a popular MMORPG. We conducted an experiment with 100 participants aged 18-24, with the test group playing the game with real in-game advertising and the control group playing a version of the game with fake ads. Participants in each group played for 30 minutes and responded to a questionnaire following the game session.
The game in question, which is set several thousand years in the future, featured virtual billboards and video ads for several real brands, including a fast-food company, an athletic apparel brand, and a hairstyling product line. Interestingly, none of the advertisers made an effort to update their brands to match the game’s futuristic tone… so how did the players take it all in?
Playing the Numbers Game
We looked for statistically significant differences between the test group and control group, as well as distinctions between subsets of participants, such as avid gamers vs. non-gamers and males vs. females. After the game session, those in the group who saw in-game ads agreed more with ad-negative statements, such as “advertising should never be present in games,” and less with ad-positive statements, such as “advertising in videogames makes the games seem more realistic and immersive.”
Looking at differences between genders, more females disagreed with the statement that "advertising in games is annoying or obtrusive" than males. In fact, more females believed that in-game advertising makes games seem more realistic and immersive than did male participants.
Analysis also revealed key differences in reactions between non-gamers (those who reported playing videogames zero hours per week) and avid gamers (those who reported playing games 10+ hours per week). Non-gamers agreed less with the statement "ads should never be present in videogames," and more with the statement "advertising in videogames makes the games seem realistic."
Avid gamers agreed more that in-game advertising is acceptable when the products advertised are fictional. On the contrary, non-gamers agreed more that in-game advertising is acceptable when the products advertised actually exist. Could it be that (gasp!) hardcore gamers are truly more jaded when encountering any kind of advertising in their digital entertainment? Our signs pointed to “yes.”
A new report claims Codemasters could be about to acquire recently shuttered developer Sega Racing Studio.
According to Develop sources, Codemasters, itself a big player in the racing genre, may be close to signing a deal that would allow it to offer former Sega employees roles at its HQ in Southam, UK. A number of the team who worked at Sega Racing Studio, which was closed two weeks ago, previously held positions at Codemasters, including founder Guy Wilday who served as a producer on the Colin McRae series.
UK-based Sega Racing Studio developed just one title, 2007's Sega Rally Revo for PS3, 360 and PC (pictured), which was built using proprietary tech.
Dave Jones, the architect behind Grand Theft Auto (not the crime but the game) and current CEO of Realtime Worlds, spoke with developmag.com where he said APB could succeed in the face of WoW's MMO stranglehold. Realtime Worlds recently acquired $50 million in funding and Jones has very ambitious plans for the companies first MMO.
While others have called it dangerous to compete with Blizzard's World of Warcraft, which holds an impressive ten million user install base, Jones asserted WoW focuses too much on grinding against mindless AI and PvE aspects of game play. APB aims to highlight player vs. player interactions.
"What I wanted to do with APB was use the players against the players, but in a unique way. It's not just PvP where you're trying to kill each other; it's trying to think of ways to pit people against each other, but create more of a mission structure around it. That's exciting because that way you can play a mission over and over again, but depending on who you are playing against it will be different, it means personality becomes involved, and introduces real human element into missions," said Jones.
In addition, Jones believes there is still a lot of room for growth in the young MMO market as he cites half of WoW's success depends on the Chinese market. This divides the other 5 million WoW subscibers amongst the US and European markets, which he equivocates to a standard good selling console game.
Jones recently announced that APB is on target for a 2009 release. APB is a urban style MMO that comes from the studio that brought us action shooter Crackdown on the Xbox 360, look for more information on APB as it develops.
Clearly proving that some Nintendo fans have more time than sense, a man has been recorded playing the theme to Mario by using a remote control car to run a wire against the sides of a line of bottles filled with different amounts of water.
Imagine, if you will, being well bored in a pub with a table full of half-empties. You might have the urge to try and play the music from Close Encounters by smacking the bottles with a fork. After a few tries, you crack it and feel happy for a moment. Then grow bored again.
That's essentially what we're seeing here, except on a minute long, note-perfect level.
By our estimations, there's got to be at least a hundred bottles there. We imagine he spend days working out precisely how much liquid was required in each bottle to achieve every note on the scale, then worked out the notes required by the tune and replicated enough bottles to achieve his minute of fame on YouTube.
Because of all that, we think you owe it to him to at least watch it. Whether you mock him mercilessly afterwards for wasting so much time is something we'll leave for you to decide.
We can still fondly recall those afternoons during our formative years when, while returning from school, we would notice a rolled-up, plastic sheathed bundle of gaming journalism joy poking out of our mailbox. We're sure it's an occasion that most of you can warm-heartedly remember as well, whether your poison was Nintendo Power or Electronic Gaming Monthly. Unfortunately, in a recent interview with the mighty Ombudsman, 1UP's Simon Cox spoke about the closing of Games For Windows magazine, and how EGM (as well as print gaming journalism as a whole) may have an expiration date.
Cox explained that "dollars and eyes," particularly the beady, sunken eyes of PC gamers, are continually moving away from print media and towards internet publications, stripping the ink-and-papers of their subscribers, advertisers and, eventually, life. Cox remarked that while EGM still has a great deal of spunk, and is supported by a body of loyal readers, it too will eventually be crushed by the incipient, grim claw of new media. The fact that you're reading this right now may support his claim -- have your gaming news consuming habits changed over the past few years?
Malicious hackers beware: Computer security expert Joel Eriksson might already own your box.
Eriksson, a researcher at the Swedish security firm Bitsec, uses reverse-engineering tools to find remotely exploitable security holes in hacking software. In particular, he targets the client-side applications intruders use to control Trojan horses from afar, finding vulnerabilities that would let him upload his own rogue software to intruders' machines.
He demoed the technique publicly for the first time at the RSA conference Friday.
"Most malware authors are not the most careful programmers," Eriksson said. "They may be good, but they are not the most careful about security."
Eriksson's research on cyber counter-attack comes as the government and security firms are raising alarms about targeted intrusions by hackers in China, who are evidently using Trojan horse software to spy on political groups, defense contractors and government agencies around the globe.
The researcher suggests that the best defense might be a good offense, more effective than installing a better intrusion-detection system. Hacking the hacker may be legally dubious, but it is hard to imagine any intruder-turned-victim picking up the phone to report that he had been hacked.
Eriksson first attempted the technique in 2006 with Bifrost 1.1, a piece of free hackware released publicly in 2005. Like many so-called remote administration tools, or RATs, the package includes a server component that turns a compromised machine into a marionette, and a convenient GUI client that the hacker runs on his own computer to pull the hacked PC's strings.
Using traditional software attack tools, Eriksson first figured out how to make the GUI software crash by sending it random commands, and then found a heap overflow bug that allowed him to install his own software on the hacker's machine.
The Bifrost hack was particularly simple since the client software trusted that any communication to it from a host was a response to a request the client had made. When version 1.2 came out in 2007, the hole seemed to be patched, but Eriksson soon discovered it was just slightly hidden.
Eriksson later turned the same techniques on a Chinese RAT known as PCShare (or PCClient), which hackers can buy for about 200 yuan (about $27).
PCClient is slightly better engineered than Bifrost, since it won't accept a file uploaded to it, unless the hacker is using the file explorer tool.
But, Eriksson found, the software's authors left a bug in the file explorer tool in the module that checks how long a download will take. That hole allowed him to upload an attack file the hacker hadn't asked for, and even write it into the server's autostart directory.
The software's design also inadvertently included a way for the reverse attacker to find the hacker's real IP address, Eriksson said. He said its unlikely that the malware authors know of these vulnerabilities, though its unlikely that PCClient is still in use.
But he says his techniques should also work for botnets as well, even as malware authors start using better encryption, and learn to obfuscate their communication paths using peer to peer software.
"If there is a vulnerability, it is still game over for the hacker," Eriksson said.
The European Space Agency has just released images showing all the satellites and human-made debris now orbiting space as a result of 51 years of launching stuff since Sputnik. That's about 6,000 satellites up there—of which only 800 remain operational—plus thousands of other objects from launches and accidents. According to their mindblowing simulations things are getting a lot worse:
About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).
Yes, we knew that there was a lot of crap out there, but not to this extent. According to the ESA, this is really bad news and urgent measures are needed. Explosions in space are not disastrous on their own, but because of the aftermath. One example: a geostationary satellite travels at 6,213 miles per hour. If it explodes, all the debris stays near the orbit, forming a cloud around the Earth within a few days, as this simulation shows: in the article link here.
Nintendo's recent success story has marked up another chapter with the revelation that its Japan-based studios sold games in the UK in 2007 worth a total of GBP 129.8 million (USD 257.3 million), up significantly on the previous year, and almost double the amount made by second-placed EA Canada, whose FIFA 08 title helped to make it GBP 68.8 million (USD 136.4 million).
Other notable entries in the list, compiled by Chart-Track for ELSPA and published by Develop, include Ubisoft Montreal in third with GBP 52.2 million (USD 103.4 million), Konami in fourth with GBP 41.7 million (USD 82.6 million) and Infinity Ward - the team behind astonishingly popular Call of Duty 4 - in fifth with GBP 39.6 million (USD 78.5 million).
The highest-placed UK studios were Traveller's Tales in tenth, taking GBP 27.1 million (USD 53.7 million), and Rebellion in 16th taking GBP 20.1 million (USD 39.8 million).
The top ten was dominated by studios in the US, Canada and Japan, with three entries apiece, while only three Europe-based studios featured in the top twenty.
In fact it took 36 European studios in the list of the top 100 to beat out the performance from the 12 studios featured from just Canada, with total sales equalling GBP 284 million (USD 563 million) and GBP 221 million (USD 438 million) respectively.
Studios in the UK did dominate in terms of European representation in the list with over a quarter of all entries, while there were just three entries from France, and one each from Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Romania.
Sega's UK-based Racing Studio has been closed, MCV sister site Develop understands.
According to a former staff member from the studio, the Solihull-based outfit has shut down effective immediately.
Sega Racing Studio had so far developed just one game, its PS3/360 and PC remake of Sega Rally. Released in September 2007, the game debuted to fairly good reviews (with an average score around 75 according to Metacritic), but less stellar sales.
The reason for the closure is not yet known. Reps from Sega UK had not returned Develop’s call for comment at the time of publication.
A 2-year-old girl was in a coma Monday after her mother's boyfriend allegedly beat her with a video game controller, police said.
York police Lt. Ron Camacho said the girl suffered severe injuries to her head and body and was being treated at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Police did not release her name.
The girl's mother, Neida E. Baez, 19, called an ambulance Sunday afternoon after her boyfriend, Harve L. Johnson, 26, brought the unconscious child to her, limp and wet from his attempt to revive her in the bathtub, according to a police affidavit.
Both Baez and Johnson were in York County Prison, police said. Baez was charged with endangerment of a child and Johnson was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and other counts.
Johnson admitted to beating the girl with a video game controller before she lost consciousness, police said. Baez said Johnson has abused the girl in the past, the affidavit said.
The staff of District Judge Richard E. Martin II said they did not know whether Baez and Johnson had attorneys.
Since the 1980s, cities like Guiyu, China, have been taking in electronic waste from other countries for dismantlement and processing. It's great for other countries, but takes a huge toll on the people managing the effort because of the "metal extraction of circuit boards" and "open dumping of waste and ash residue into open water". It's made the well water and ground water of Guiyu undrinkable, and has to be trucked in from other villages. The lead poisoning level in children is 69%.
