This almost complete video compilation lists every Doctor Who story from ‘An Unearthly Child’ in 1963 right up to ‘The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe’ Christmas Special. Unfortunately, the BBC currently has 106 episodes missing from their archives, so these are absent from the video.
[Via Topless Robot]
The folks from Beat Down Boogie have just released this really cool series of posters to promote their upcoming Mario Warfare web series. There’s not much details about the series on their website, but if it looks like anything they’ve produced in the past, this is going to be one cool show.
In what would surely be one of the dumbest decisions in entertainment tech history, there are rumors that the next generation of the Xbox won’t allow owners to play used games.
With a release expected to be about 18 months away, we’re at the point where Microsoft is likely firming up the final specs and planning production. That’s led to a flurry of speculation that may be a little more credible than previous rumors.
On the hardware side, it appears the console’s graphics processor will go into production later this year and will be at least six times as powerful as in the Xbox 360.
A couple of other rumors both seem to make sense: that the new console will support Blu-ray discs, and that it will ship with a new version of Kinect. In the latter case, Microsoft may well intend to include the motion control system by default, but events could come in to play. If Sony releases a new PlayStation around the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft give buyers the choice of getting the new Xbox without Kinect to keep costs down.
It’s the reported ban on used games that could be biggest story however. Microsoft has already described the claims as “rumor and speculation”, but it wouldn’t be surprising to learn Microsoft has surreptitiously put the idea out there to see what response it gets, without publicly committing to the idea.
That response has certainly been highly negative, with serious skepticism about the theory that a drop in overall sales would be outweighed by a higher revenue for game producers from new sales.
It would also mean a serious threat to the business models both of used games stores and online rental companies. And whatever technical method was used to enforce the rule would inevitably attract hackers, who’d probably gather public support. It’s easy to attack people who are trying to rip-off games to avoid paying for them whatsoever, but it would be hard to demonize people who wanted to play a used game that they’d legally purchased.
There’s also an important point made by Computer & Video Games’ James Jenkins: forcing gamers to pay full price for every game would be a serious deterrence to trying out unfamiliar or offbeat titles, likely leaving developers sticking to mainstream blockbusters and annual series sequels.
(Image credit: Francesco Falciani via Creative Commons license)
In this video, Youtuber C.G.P. Grey debunks ten popular misconceptions that most of us have probably heard a few times in the past.
[Via]
We’ve already featured some of BloOp’s amazing artwork in the past, and to my great pleasure, the artist has just released a new batch of awesome minimalist-style superhero posters.
My initial inspiration for these designs comes from designer Marko Manev and his superhero posters Marko Manev
Although I’m not selling these I am a designer always looking for work!
[Source]
I just love this new show from the ladies over at comediva.com. Oh, and about that geek girl therapist? Hottest geek girl alive! :)
[Comediva]
While Blizzard Entertainment’s official All-Things-Starcraft-Warcraft-Diablo gaming convention is such a big deal, it seemed odd that they would NOT have one this year. After all, the media gaming giant has Heart of the Swarm (Starcraft2 Expansion), Mists of Pandaria (World of Warcraft Expansion) and Diablo 3 all being released this year. But in a side note in a Battle.net news post about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship event in Asia later this year, it was announced that they were skipping out on the wildly popular convention for 2012.
GamingBlend quotes the release:
“We’re excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We’re also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, [World of Warcraft expansion] Mists of Pandaria, and [Starcraft II expansion] Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.”
This baffles my mind. I know they said they want to focus on getting those games out this year so they are not doing the convention, but I don’t see the connection.
There is very little overlap of the people involved in making the convention happen and the people involved in actually finishing the game. One weekend off is not going to delay the game anymore than we already assume it will be!
Blizzard does not have a great track record for reaching initial release dates (Diablo3 was shown off at the last 4 years of Blizzcon) so if it did get shoved back no one is going to be surprised.
Maybe this is one of those things where an executive looked at the bank account and said “We don’t need the money” and a PR guy looked at all the online buzz about these products and agreed while noticing “We don’t need to advertise”
They will use Blizzcon on the years they have nothing to release to keep the buzz alive!