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redandjonny: My favorite Tree on Hoth

Awesome Bacteria Soap Will Keep You Nice and Clean

By Jimmy Rogers (@me)
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Valentine’s Day is over, but it’s never a bad idea to stock up on gift ideas for that geeky girl or guy in your life. I just discovered these while browsing Etsy and HAD to share them with the [GaS] community!



These were crafted by Houston-based CleanerScience. As a microbiology researcher, I can tell you they might fool me if you laid them out on my lab bench – they even have the streak marks on them. Of course if they were left open, I’m sure the Apple or Grapefruit scents might give them away!
Even better, here are a couple of “cultures” that will glow in the dark (for fun, or a surprise during a power outage):


So let your geeky sweety know you care with a stack of E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and others! Their selection gets extra points for including many less-well known organisms that people might work on in their labs!
P.S. – They also have some neat mini-soaps that look like red blood cells (erythrocytes)!


[CleanerScience's Etsy page]

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gabulous:This gif is perfect.PRESS PLAY AND LOOK AT...

This gif is perfect.

PRESS PLAY AND LOOK AT THE GIF.

$30,000 My Keepon Robot On Sale Soon—For $40 [Robots]

True, it's not the exact robot that initially cost a large percentage of your house, but the My Keepon toy-robot can still recognize music beats and dance in rhythm—so he's doing better than me, at any rate. More »

Dell Inspiron One 2305 (Blu-ray)

 
The Dell Inspiron One 2305 (Blu-ray) ($1,099 direct) is an all-in-one desktop PC with a touch screen, Blu-ray, and competitive performance numbers. While it's not going to usurp the HP TouchSmart 310 ($1,159 direct, 4 stars) of its Editors' Choice, the Dell Inspiron One is certainly a viable alternative—especially if you're looking for a primary media-center PC.
Design & Features
The Inspiron One (Blu-ray) has a 23-inch widescreen with a 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, which means full 1,080p HD viewing. Its frame is made of black plastic that was designed to resemble brushed wood. The rest of the chassis is silver-colored, except for the transparent stand. The desktop is raised high enough that there is a gap to slide the wireless keyboard underneath—a welcome feature when in want of desk space.

On the side of the Inspiron One (Blu-ray) are a few easy-access ports and buttons, including volume and brightness controls, 2 USB 2.0 ports, an SD card slot, Blu-ray player, and audio-in and -out. In the back are 4 more USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, composite video, S/P DIF, TV Tuner, and Ethernet. It would have been nice to have seen some future-forward external expansion ports like eSATA or USB 3.0. But USB 2.0 will suffice for most of your external hard drive needs—though the data transfer speeds will not be as fast. The Inspiron One does come with 1TB of space that should be able to contain all your multimedia files.
The touch interface that comes with the Inspiron One (Blu-ray) is the "Dell Stage," and while I enjoyed some of the added games and apps, I felt like it was a completely separate experience. The Dell Stage is essentially a dock bar that sits on the Windows 7 desktop and you can launch touch apps from there. In comparison, the HP TouchSmart 310 has a whole interface dedicated to touch that you can launch on top of Windows 7. I would have liked to see something more advance than a toolbar with no app store, but maybe version 2.0 will have more to offer.

Specifications

Type

Mainstream, All-in-one, Digital Entertainment System

Processor Family

AMD Athlon II X4

RAM

8 GB

Storage Capacity (as Tested)

1000 GB

Graphics Card

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470

Primary Optical Drive

Blu-Ray Disc

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

More

Performance
The Dell Inspiron One (Blu-ray) comes outfitted with a 2.4GHz AMD Athlon II X4610e processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics chipset. With these components, the Inspiron One (Blu-ray) scored well on our PCMark Vantage test (5,354), which measures overall computing performance. Compared with the HP 310 that sports a slightly faster 2.5GHz Athlon II X4 615e processor, it scored 656 points less than the Inspiron One (Blu-ray). The HP310, however, bested the Inspiron One (Blu-ray) by mere seconds in our Handbrake video encoding test (2:56 HP, 3:03 Dell), Cinebench R11.5 (2.82, 2.7), and Photoshop CS5 (6:42, 6:56).
The Inspiron One (Blu-ray) is no 3D powerhouse, but it faired well in our 3DMark Vantage test (6,572). However, it ran Lost Planet 2 at a slideshow pace of 11 frames per second (fps) on Middle quality and it couldn't even run our Crysis test. Your gaming experience is probably going to be limited to games like Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, and Farmville.
The Dell Inspiron One 2305 (Blu-ray) has all the performance to make it a decent all-in-one desktop, but a touch PC must have the added features to make the touch-functionality worthwhile. As it stands the HP TouchSmart 310 has the better applications coupled with its multi-touch screen.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
Check out the test scores for the Dell Inspiron One 2305 (Blu-ray)
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Inspiron One 2305 (Blu-ray) with several other desktops side by side.

Source:PcMag

How to Buy a Business Printer

Of all the ways you can slice and dice printers into categories, the most significant distinction is between printers meant for the home and those meant for the office. Here are the key questions to ask as they apply to office printers.
Do you need a single-function printer or an multifunction printer (MFP)?
Consider whether you'd rather have separate devices for faxing, copying, scanning, and printing versus a single machine that does it all. At a minimum, an MFP combines a printer and scanner and works as a copier as well. For an office MFP, you'll probably want one that also works as a standalone fax machine. Advantages of MFPs include cost and space savings, as well as integration of some features.
On the other hand, single-function printers are optimized for certain tasks that your business may require. Laser printers for general office use are usually faster than comparably priced MFPs. Photo and graphic arts studios will certainly want a high-end photo printer, and probably a single-function scanner as well. Road warriors may also want to get a portable scanner, for scanning business cards or receipts while away from the office. Of course, buying a specialized device doesn't preclude you from getting an MFP as well.
If you decide you want an MFP, you might also want to look for an e-mail feature, which is potentially more useful than faxing. Most often, that means the AIO will launch an e-mail message on your PC and attach a scanned document. Some AIOs can e-mail scanned documents directly, however, and a few offer both choices.
Finally, if you are getting an MFP, you should demand an automatic document feeder (ADF) so that you can fax, copy, scan, or e-mail multipage documents with minimal work. ADFs also generally handle legal-size pages, even if the flatbed is limited to letter size.
Do you really need color?
If you never print anything but letters and monochrome documents, there's no reason to spend money on color. When considering whether you need color, though, keep in mind that many color lasers can print at high-enough quality to let you produce your own advertising handouts and trifold brochures. If you tend to print only a few hundred copies of this sort of output at a time, doing it yourself can save substantial amounts of money compared with printing small quantities at your local print shop.
How big a printer are you comfortable with?
Just because something is called a desktop printer doesn't mean it's small enough that you'd want it on your desk. Even a printer with a small footprint can be tall enough for you to feel as if it's towering over you. Be sure to check out the size.
How are you going to connect?
Most printers designed for the office include both USB and Ethernet ports, but you may prefer a wireless connection, particularly in a home office. Keep in mind, though, that if you have a wireless access point on your network, you can print wirelessly from your computer to any printer on that network, whether the printer itself offers a wireless connection or not.
What level of output quality do you need?
Printers vary significantly in output quality. Check out text, graphics, and photos separately, since high quality for one kind of output doesn't necessarily mean high quality for the others.
For office use, you probably want the kind of crisp, clean edges for text and line graphics that you can only get from a laser printer. But consider also whether you need graphics and photos that are merely good enough for internal business use, or whether you need high-enough quality to print your own marketing materials.
How much speed do you need?
If almost everything you print is one or two pages, you probably don't need a fast printer. But if you print a lot of longer documents, speed is more important. In that case, be sure you're judging speed by actual throughput. Most importantly, note that you can't compare claimed speeds for inkjets with claimed speeds for lasers. As a rule, laser printers will be close to their claimed speeds for text documents, which don't need much processing time. Inkjets often claim faster speeds than more expensive lasers, but don't live up to the claims.
How much do you print?
Figure out how much you print by how often you buy paper and in what amounts. Then pick a printer designed to print at least that much.
Unfortunately, this isn't as simple as it could be. Contrary to what most people think, a printer's maximum monthly duty cycle isn't the maximum you should be printing. It's the maximum you can print without damaging the printer. Some manufacturers state a recommended maximum in addition to a maximum duty cycle. For those that don't, you can follow the (very rough) rule of thumb of picking a printer whose maximum duty cycle is at least three times the number of pages you print per month.
Also consider input capacity. The rule of thumb here is to pick a printer with enough capacity to let you add paper no more than once a week.
There are other paper-handling issues, too: Check the minimum and maximum paper size. And if you need to print on both sides even occasionally, make sure the printer has an automatic duplexer. (Many small-business printers, even light-duty models, now include one as a standard feature.) Keep in mind, too, that the more people are in your office, the more you may benefit from things like a stacker or sorter, to keep the print jobs separate from each other. Also consider whether you can benefit from a finisher to handle things like stapling and hole punching.
How much does it cost?
Finally, be sure to check out the running cost and total cost of ownership. Most vendors will tell you the cost per page. To get the total cost of ownership, multiply the cost per page by the number of pages you print per year, then multiply that by the number of years you expect to own the printer, and add the initial cost of the printer. Compare these totals for any printers you're considering, and you may well find that you'll save money in the long run by buying the more expensive printer. Once you're armed with that information, you're ready to pick the best choice for your office.

Source:PcMag

Super Meat Boy patched on XBLA, new levels to follow

If you envision Microsoft's nebulous certification process as a sadistic Super Meat Boy level -- some lava pits here, a few saw blades everywhere -- you may understand why a tiny weakling of a file, less than 1MB in size, spent over 3 months attempting to survive the gauntlet unscathed. Yes, the Super Meat Boy patch, which should cover up all of the squishy protagonist's oozing faults (including that auto-save glitch), is now available on Xbox Live Arcade. Just launch the game to download it automatically.

With the XBLA version corrected, Team Meat can continue pushing new content to "Teh Internets," the in-game hub that hosts free, downloadable levels. Indie developer Gaijin Games is constructing a level pack for Commander Video, and Michael "Kayin" O'Reilly -- indefensibly evil creator of I Wanna Be The Guy -- is making some Kid-unfriendly levels. Team Meat's Edmund McMillen says that a pack remixing Super Meat Boy's best bits is also on the way. "We also have a few other devs lined up but we want to space level updates out a bit," he tells us.

The game's level editor and level portal will be live on Steam "as soon as possible," he adds, and "we will also have a few cool bits of info about the future of SMB around that time as well." So ... that's a lot of incoming levels. When you've conquered all of them, it'll be time to concern yourself with a different kind of certification -- that of your inevitable insanity.
 Source: Team Meat (Twitter)

Animatrix Jue vs Thaddeus: Is it the best animation video?

PRINCE vs ASSASSIN

This Is Sparta!!!

Videos of stick figure fighting - Xiao Xiao 3

Animator vs Animation 2

Ice Age 4 Teaser

Ice age teaser.

Intel's mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through

The forecast for speedy, razor-thin laptops is looking pretty sunny right about now, because it seems Intel's SSD 310 truly does bring the power of a full-sized solid state drive on a tiny little board. Storage Review and The SSD Review thoroughly benchmarked the tiny 80GB mSATA module this week, and found it performs even better than advertised -- easily tearing through 200MB / sec reads and 70 MB / sec writes -- which put it slightly behind Intel's legendary X25-M series but well ahead of the company's X25-V boot drives. While we're still not seeing Sandforce speeds from Intel's tried-and-true controller and 34nm silicon and they might not make Toshiba's Blade run for the hills, we can't wait to test it out in some new Lenovo ThinkPads when they integrate the SSD 310 later this year. Oh, by the way, that big green board up above isn't the drive. It's actually the tiny one on top.

Source: Storage Review, The SSD Review

Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides

It's been a long time since we used a laptop that had a monochromatic display -- it was a giant white block of a thing that is not missed -- but flip around just about every laptop we use today and you find a backside that stubbornly refuses to change color no matter the light that hits it. Is that a problem? Not really, we think it's quite fine since we're not often staring at that bit, but for Toshiba such tedium simply won't do, so it's introducing the Dynabook Qosmio T750 with a color-shifting lid. Turn it in the light and it shifts and shimmers, just like the chameleon paint tuners have been using on custom rides for decades. Here, though, we're told it's done with multiple layers of film, no paint at all. Oh, the inside? A 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-480M, 4GB of DDR 3 memory, and a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display that's LED backlit -- which is also capable of displaying multiple colors, in case you're interested.
Source:RegHardware

Olympus XZ-1 reviewed: $499 for sweet simplicity

We had a feeling the Olympus XZ-1 would be a winner, and Digital Photography Review seems to think so, too -- it called the 10 megapixel, full-manual point and shoot "the best photographers' compact currently available" at the end of a thorough review. Most of the praise was heaped on that F1.8-2.5 Zuiko lens, providing an "unbeaten combination of range and brightness" whose potent, detailed low-light performance was practically enough to cancel out the publication's worries about the lack of a adjustable noise reduction setting. Though the publication admitted that the camera lacked the customization of certain Micro Four Thirds cousins, it didn't miss most of the advanced controls, preferring the streamlined menus and manual dials for easy access to common adjustments. (Battery charging over USB and a dedicated movie button were also deemed nice touches.) In fact, the only major ding DPReview had for Olympus was the complete omission of auto exposure and autofocus locks for focus-and-recompose shooting, but if you're willing to snap shots using Olympus's 11 AF points and aren't looking to tote a set of expensive interchangeable lenses around, this might be the one. Dive into our source link to find out for sure.

Source:DPReview

Sanho announces new HyperDrive line-up, still enough storage for your Frank Zappa discography

Surely you remember Sanho's HyperDrive lineup -- ya know, the only portable HDD that plays nicely with the iPad? Well, if you don't dig the $249 entry level price, you're in luck. The company just announced a bunch of new HDDs for you to take with you and your iPad on that road trip you've had planned for years. As we saw at CES, the new drives no longer sport the QVGA color display or the CF and SD card slots -- instead, the black case has two mini USB ports and a power socket. The HyperDrive doesn't come with the traditional AC adapter but instead a USB-to-DC cable and the user-replaceable battery will allow up to 40GB of transfers on a single charge. And if you're wondering why there's two USB ports, we really couldn't tell you. Perhaps if you choose the right port while connected to your PC and enter the Konami code, unicorns and fairy dust will pop out of your screen -- wishful thinking, we know. The HyperDrives ship in March (pre-ordering is available now) with prices starting at $99 for a bring-your-own-drive housing, 1TB for $349 and various sizes in-between. So, if your photo/video library is worth accessing at all times, well, props to you. Press release is after the break.

Enspert Identity Tab E201 rings up at $350 with Froyo, Gmail and Android Market

Enspert blindsided us at CES 2011 with a pair of quality Android tablets, and here's another surprise -- next month, the company's Identity Tab E201 will apparently ship 100% Google-certified. Importer Dynamism is taking preorders on February 1st for the 7-inch Android 2.2 tablet, which comes with both Gmail and Android Market on board, though admittedly for a somewhat larger outlay than we originally heard. $350 is what you'll pay for the 800 x 480 slate, which sports a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and PowerVR SGX540 graphics, 8GB storage and 512MB RAM, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a full compliment of sensors and an SD card slot. Just a month ago we'd have called this quite the deal, but come February 1st you may want to wait -- after all, Google's busy bees may show off the fruits of their labors the very next day.
Via:jkkmobile
Source:Dynamism

Here's a big list of developers and publishers working on NGP projects

Beyond the handful of games revealed onstage during last night's big Sony event, an enormous list of developers and publishers currently working on games for this holiday's "next generation portable" device has surfaced. Game Informer posted up the entire list broken down by region, which features big names like Activision, Ubisoft, 2K Games, Square Enix, and Capcom.

Perhaps more notable than the big name publishers is the group of listed developers, including Rockstar Games, Capybara Games, From Software, and Grasshopper Manufacture. As GI points out, both Electronic Arts and THQ (and their respective development studios) aren't currently listed as working on games for NGP, though we imagine that will change as the year goes on (we already know that EA has had exposure to the in-development system).

Japan

• Acquire Corp.
• Alvion Inc.
• AQ Interactive Inc.
• Arc System Works Co. Ltd.
• Arika Co. Ltd.
• Artdink Corporation
• Ascii Media Works Inc.
• Capcom Co. Ltd.
• Chun Soft Co. Letd.
• Codemasters Software Company Limited
• Crafts & Meister Co. Ltd.
• CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd
• D3 Publisher Inc.
• Dimps Corporation
• Edia Co. Ltd.
• Enterbrain Inc.
• From Software Inc.
• Gameloft K.K.
• Genki Co. Ltd.
• Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.
• GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.
• Gust Co. Ltd.
• Hamster Corporation
• Hudson Soft Co. Ltd.
• Idea Factory Co. Ltd.
• Index Corporation (Atlus)
• Irem Software Engineering Inc.
• Kadokawa Games Ltd.
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd.
• Konami Digital Entertainment Co. Ltd.
• Level-5 Inc.
• Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
• Media5 Corporation
• Namco Bandai Games Inc.
• Nihon Falcom Corporation
• Nippon Ichi Software Inc.
• Nowproduction Co. Ltd.
• Q Entertainment Inc.
• Sega Corporation
• SNK Playmore Corporation
• Spike Co. Ltd.
• Square Enix Co. Ltd.
• SystemSoft Alpha Corp.
• Tecmo Koei Games Co. Ltd.
• TOMY Company Ltd.
• TOSE Co. Ltd.
• Ubisoft K.K.
• Yuke's Co. Ltd.

North America

• Activision Inc.
• Capybara Games
• Demiurge Studios
• Epic Games Inc.
• Far Sight Studios
• Frima
• High Voltage Software
• Kung Fu Factory
• Paramount Digital Entertainment
• PopCap Games
• Powerhead Games
• Trendy Entertainment
• Ubisoft
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• 2K Games
• 2K Sports

Europe/PAL

• Avalanche Studios
• Climax Studios Ltd.
• Codemasters Software Company Ltd.
• Eurocom Developments Ltd.
• Eutechnyx Ltd.
• Exient Ltd.
• Firemint PTY Ltd.
• Gameloft SA
• Gusto Games Ltd.
• Home Entertainment Suppliers PTY Ltd.
• Impromptu Software Ltd.
• Rebellion
• Rockstar Games
• Sidhe Interactive
• Sumo Digital Ltd.
• Team 17 Software Ltd.
• Ubisoft Entertainment SA
• Zen Studios Ltd.

Report: PS3 getting cloud saving in firmware update 3.60

According to a recent report from Kotaku, unnamed sources in the game development community have received notifications from Sony telling of a feature which will be incorporated into PS3 firmware update 3.60: Cloud storage for saved games. According to the report, the feature (called "Online Saving") gives developers the opportunity to let players set up their save files on a remote server, preserving the precious, precious space on their own hard drives, and allowing players to access save data from multiple consoles.

These developers also reportedly explained that the feature will only be made available to PlayStation Plus subscribers, or, as they'll henceforth be called, the "Save File Insured." This report sounds fairly believable -- remote storage was one of the rumored features of PlayStation Plus before its reveal, and there was also that Sony trademark for "PS Cloud" back in 2009. We've contacted Sony for a comment on this report

Source: Kotaku

Mastertronic bringing PopCap games to UK retail on DS, PC and 360

Our friends overseas -- who live in the United States of Kingdoms, which we're fairly certain is what the UK is short for -- are about to have their free time sucked into oblivion. Publisher Mastertronic has announced plans to bring PopCap's most devilishly addictive titles to UK retailers on various platforms, starting with the February 18 release of PopCap Hits for Xbox 360; a tidy bundle which includes Bejeweled 2, Peggle, Feeding Frenzy and AstroPop.

Shortly thereafter, the publisher will port Plants vs. Zombies to the DS, and will release a second collection of PopCap Hits for 360, including Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma, Feeding Frenzy 2 and Heavy Weapon. Mediatronic also plans on releasing retail versions of a few of the casual developer's titles on PC later this year. Basically, we hope that the UK doesn't have any big projects coming up that will require its citizens to be as productive as humanly possible, because, hoo boy, that's a whole lot of PopCap

Source:Joystiq

AIAS Hall of Famers delivering 2011 D.I.C.E. Summit keynote

So, you've only got a few hours set aside this year with which to absorb illumination from some of the gaming industry's smartest folks? You won't find a more efficient way to satisfy your needs than the 2011 D.I.C.E. Summit keynote panel, which will feature the shared wisdom of a number of Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Famers from years past. (And years current!)

Presenters include Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, Grandfather of the RTS genre Bruce Shelley, Cerny Games president Mike Cerny and BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk. If you can make it to the panel on the evening of February 9, we're pretty sure that you'll possess all the knowledge you'll need to create the industry's next big game. At the very least, you'll have some inspiration for some awesome last names for said game's characters.

Source:Joystiq

NGP features two proprietary card slots for memory storage, games

The NGP's memory storage capabilities are puzzlingly absent from the hardware specifications released by Sony today. During the PlayStation Meeting 2011 press conference, the company briefly introduced a "new game media" format, a flash memory-based card on which retail titles will be sold (replacing the clunky, power-sucking UMD). These SD-looking game cards -- said to be proprietary -- will feature extra storage for relevant data, including games saves and add-ons.

"NGP adopts a new game medium, a small flash memory based card, dedicated for NGP software titles," a Sony press release later confirmed. "Taking advantage of the flash memory feature, this innovative card can store the full software titles plus add-on game content or the game save data directly on to the card. By adopting flash memory based card, SCE will be able to provide game cards with higher capacity in the future, allowing developers to store more game data to deliver rich and immersive games."

But where will users store non-game data? The NPG's LiveArea UI suggests that multimedia applications will be integral to the handheld, and many of these apps will obviously require data storage -- not to mention the storage requirements for downloadable games. While Sony has not mentioned an internal flash memory component of the NGP, SCE Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida revealed to Game Informer that the device will feature "two slots" for memory cards; one for the new game cart format (which Yoshida confirmed would be proprietary -- not SD) and a second port for additional storage.

Whether the additional slot has been designed for Sony's existing proprietary Memory Stick (the "Micro" version is used for PSP Go memory expansion) has not been specified. "At this point, all we're saying is it is proprietary storage capabilities," SCEA boss Jack Trenton told Engadget, "we're not getting into defining what it is yet."

"Digital distribution's role and scope and ratio of sales will definitely increase," Yoshida suggested to GI, indicating that memory expansion is important for the NGP to flourish. "It's just a matter of time as people get faster internet connections. So the role and importance of digital sales will increase. But at the same time, there are people who just want to buy a game at a store and plug and play. That's why we decided to adopt the flash media format."

However, according to SCCE president Andrew House, digital distribution of games -- via the PlayStaiton Store -- could be NPG's primary retail format. "So what we're intending to do is have everything available on PlayStation Store," he told Eurogamer, "and potentially be on physical media as well." He reiterated the general perception that "if you have games that are only available for digital download, you remove clearly a huge amount of risk for publishers."

"I wouldn't want to call too many things too early," House added, "but I think what you'll see in the physical space is the larger, and I mean in terms of data capacity but also in terms of bigger, blockbuster franchises that will probably lend themselves more to the physical medium -- you know, big games that you don't necessarily want to spend an awful lot of time downloading." Can you imagine pulling down MGS4 over 3G? No, thanks.
Source: Game Informer, Engadget, Eurogamer

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Crysis 2 Multiplayer Demo Announced!

Walmart wants your 3DS pre-order so bad it's throwing in this bonus case

Little known fact: 3-Dee is powered by microscopic hamsters on equally microscopic wheels. Not only does the technology's dependency on living organisms jack up the price, it also means that the 3DS will require a constant supply of oxygen. It's a good thing, then, that Walmart's 3DS pre-order freebie, a Power A-designed case (pictured), has plenty of breathing holes. Just remember to take the device out of its cage every once in awhile -- it needs direct sunlight too!

You can see more images of the bonus Power A "Flex Case" (a $10 value, you could brag) in Walmart's product gallery. Actually, no -- wait. These are ... GoldenEye screenshots?

• Source: Walmart

Bulletstorm PC to support Nvidia 3D Vision display

Based on all the promotional materials we've seen and hands-on time we've had withBulletstorm, we can confidently say that the game looks to be what those in the scientific community would call "a trip." Epic Games has clued in our sister site Big Download to a feature that might exponentially increase said trippyness: The PC version of Bulletstorm will include 3D-display support, provided you've got the right kind of monitor, glasses and an Nvidia GeForce-based graphics card.

As excited as we are about the opportunity to freeze an enemy in the air, then kick him backward through actual planes of depth, we're actually more thrilled about something else: seeing the game's dialog as three-dimensional subtitles. It's like we can reach out and touch the "dick-tits."

Source: Big Download

LittleBigPlanet 2 online players report 'infinite loading' glitch

Much like its predecessor, LittleBigPlanet 2 is experiencing some technical difficulties during its first few days in the would-be capable hands of its creative community. Some players havereported that when they attempt to connect with other players online, they hit what's being colloquially referred to as the "Infinite Loading" glitch, which freezes the game on a neverending loading screen. (And that, as you might imagine, is kind of a bummer.)

The exact cause of the issue is unknown, though there's a quick and dirty workaround (which worked for us, when we experienced the glitch): If you get stuck on the loading screen, turn your controller off, and the level should actually load. Once you're in the level, you can turn your controller back on and get back to whatever it was you had set out to do -- probably slapping around your fellow players and being generally unhelpful, you jerk.

Media Molecule had not responded to our request for comment as of publishing, but a recent tweet from the developer seems to indicate that a freezing glitch has been cornered and a fix is in the works.

Source: LittleBigWorkshop

Homefront dev explains the importance of dedicated servers

Following the wildly negative reaction to Modern Warfare 2's lack of dedicated servers on PC, one of the marketing bullet points for THQ's FPS Homefront has been its promise of suchdedicated servers -- not only on PC, but on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, as well. But how important are they?

"You have to think about your constraints when you're making a game," Homefront senior designer Brian Holinka, of developer Kaos Studios, explained to us at a recent press event for the game. "If we host a server on a console, all of a sudden, that console is both server and it's playing the game. That really lowers everything: player count, the number of vehicles, everything. Dedicated servers allow us to offload all that work and basically all the client has to worry about is running the game."

Through dedicated servers, Homefront will support a chaotic 16-versus-16 online mode, whereevery player can summon a vehicle at will. "It means everything is bigger -- there's more players, more vehicles, more targets, more airstrikes," Holinka hyped.

"It really helps us offload a lot of work," he reiterated about the servers, "and now our scope is a lot bigger." But can you really call a 32-player match "a lot," when a game like MAG has littered the virtual battlefield with 256 players? We asked Holinka why Kaos wasn't using the dedicated servers to expand the number of players per match even further, and he reminded us that "we had more in Frontlines," the studio's previous game. Apparently, the team tested out larger battles for Homefront, but "it just didn't work," Holinka said. "We just found it wasn't fun. It just plays better at 32."

"If you played a level with 50 or 60 people in there," the developer found, "every time you turn around, you'd get shot."

Via:Joystiq

Digital Foundry pits PS3 Mass Effect 2 against Xbox 360 original

Not satisfied with its analysis of the PS3 Mass Effect 2 demo -- which was apparently based on old code -- Digital Foundry has posted a lengthy comparison of the PS3 and Xbox 360 retail editions of Mass Effect 2. There's a lot of information to digest in the article, including several videos and screenshots. The upshot: Most gamers won't notice the differences between the two games, though it seems the 360 version barely edges out the PS3 one in terms of a consistent frame-rate.

The only significant difference, which boils down to personal preference, is the lighting in the two games. DF notes that the PS3 version's lighting is generally brighter than the 360 game, though not necessarily improved from a technical standpoint. The article also examines the effectiveness of the PS3's "Genesis" comic intro, as opposed to actually playing the original Mass Effect on 360.

In the end, if you just have to own the most technically impressive version, DF suggests you choose ... the PC version, of course.

Source: Eurogamer

Via:Joystiq

Marvel vs. Capcom 3's alternate costumes' comic book origins explored

 

Apparently, a little bit more thought went into the alternate costumes of Marvel vs. Capcom 3than just "hey, this outfit would probably look cool in red and black." IGN recently explored the canonical comic book origins of a handful of Marvel fighters' extra duds, including Storm's crimson X-Treme X-Men get-up, Dormammu's Strange Tales green-and-yellow armor, and Captain America's Red Guardian costume, which, as you probably sussed out, is pretty red.

It looks like Capcom (with a lot of help from Marvel, of course) is taking these character skins pretty seriously. We're happy to see that so much consideration went into these outfits -- but we can't wait to see how they explain all the different additional costumes for Capcom's fighters. "Oh, you don't remember that time that Haggar wore a bright purple chest-belt? That was a real thing that happened, we promise."

Source: IGN

Dawn of Fantasy combines MMO with RTS on PC this June

Better set your alarm -- 505 Games has announced a title called Dawn of Fantasy, developed by Reverie World Studios, to be available on the PC this June. As you can see in the trailer after the break, the game is an MMORTS, combining single-player kingdom building and strategy warfare modes with a persistent online multiplayer experience. The title will have three different races available to players -- elves, men and orcs -- and, in addition to multiplayer skirmishes and a scenario editor, the game's economy will continue trading and growing even as you log off.

Check the screenshots below for a better look at what could be a really interesting title.

App review: SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Phone 7

As you might have heard a little while back, Windows Phone 7 is the latest smartphone OS to have joined the SlingPlayer gang, meaning WP7 fanatics like Ballmer can be couch potatoes wherever they are. Well, assuming they have data connectivity -- be it 3G or WiFi -- and some battery juice on their phones. For better or for worse, the latest SlingPlayer Mobile app is very much like its other flavors -- same easy preparation, a familiar interface, and a similarly tear-inducing $30 price tag. There is, however, one nice addition: a new "Zoom" button on the menu page, which actually chops away a good portion of the black border around the picture. Another noteworthy difference is the more stylish interface in comparison to the Android and iOS versions, but of course, some might think otherwise.

Also on the menu page is a "Quality" button for toggling between standard video quality and high video quality. Annoyingly, said switch is always set to standard at every launch. We can't help but to think that this is for covering up the app's shortfall -- we noticed while high quality streaming does indeed have good picture quality, the frequency of buffering increased over time. Similarly, response time to our button and gesture inputs also got longer and longer -- at one point it took about 20 seconds for us to change a channel on our Freeview box, and that's with our HTC 7 Mozart sitting on the same network as our Slingbox Pro HD! Needless to say, it took even longer over 3G. We then double-checked using our iPhone and Nexus One but failed to reproduce the same bugs. Thankfully, a simple restart of the app eased our frustration, but we expect Sling Media to actually deliver a fix soon. Anyhow, we have a video walkthrough after the break while you wait for an update.

Via:Engadget

Killzone 3 includes admission into SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta

Yo, readers: Sony heard you like shooting, so it put a shooter in your shooter so you can shoot while you're shooting. More specifically, the publisher has announced that both regular andHelghast Edition copies of Killzone 3 will include vouchers which give early access to the SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the beta will arrive at the same time as Killzone 3's launch -- Zipper Interactive's Chris Roper explained on PlayStation Blog, "To find out when the SOCOM 4multiplayer beta begins, be sure to check back at SOCOM.com once you pick up your copy ofKillzone 3, hitting shelves on February 22nd." Perfect; so we'll have some time to get really used to Killzone 3's control scheme before switching over to SOCOM 4's presumably wildly different control scheme. We anticipate that we'll be eating quite a few of our own accidentally-thrown frag grenades.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Via:Joystiq

Retailers: 3DS games priced at $40-50 in US; £33-40 in UK; €50-60 in Europe

Nintendo has refuted our attempts to wrangle 3DS game pricing info so far, but retailer listings may be shedding some light on the subject. We hope you weren't hoping for a standard price point, because it looks like there's some wiggle room. A review of GameStop and Amazon listings reveals 3DS prices of either $39.99 or $49.99 in the US. Meanwhile, Eurogamer reports that UK retailer Game has confirmed the standard software price will be £39.99 in the region, though other UK retailers have prices listed as low as £32.99. Finally, we perused Amazon France and spotted prices of €49.95 and €59.95.

The disparate prices between titles matches up with pricing in Japan, though it is a bit more standardized. We'll keep poking Nintendo for official details.
Source: Eurogamer, GameStop, Amazon France - PilotWings Resort, Amazon France - Nintendogs & Cats, Amazon US - 3DS

Propaganda Games shuttered

Propaganda Games -- developer of 2008's Turok reboot and, most recently, Tron: Evolution -- is officially closed. Parent company and publisher Disney Interactive confirmed the unfortunate news to Joystiq this afternoon, issuing this statement: "Disney Interactive Studios confirms the closure of its Vancouver-based internal game development studio, Propaganda Games. The studio has completed all work associated with its most recent project."

Propaganda's Pirates of the Caribbean game was canceled last October, and the studio was reduced in size, with the only apparent goal to complete Tron and its planned post-launch DLC. It's as yet unclear if any more DLC will be released beyond the day-one freebie.

[Thanks, Alex]

Source:Joystiq

Rayman 3D is an 'adaptation' of Rayman 2

Tucked away in Ubisoft's 3DS lineup press release is this golden nugget: Rayman 3D is actually an "adaptation" of the classic Rayman 2 (the Dreamcast version, specifically). Those of you who have experienced the joy of Rayman 2 can probably stop reading now. The rest of you will be glad to hear that the 3DS version will feature "major updates" to certain gameplay elements, including "accessibility, progression and learning curve."

Frankly, we're just glad