Laser Sharks

Remember the gossip game in school? It is the one where the first person whispers “Bill is wearing brown shoes” to a second person, the second whispers it to a third, the third whispers it to a fourth, and so on. Eventually, the twentieth person says what he heard, which is something to the effect of “Bill and Susan were making out under the monkey bars.” Well, the same thing happens in so-called respectable journalism.

Here is the original story from the BBC.

Teenager serious after stabbing

A 19-year-old is in a serious condition after he was stabbed in broad daylight in a town centre in south London.

The victim was stabbed on Tuesday morning in Croydon, near the town’s Whitgift Shopping Centre, and taken to hospital by air ambulance.

In a separate incident, a 15-year-old boy was shot in Streatham, south-west London on Monday evening. His injuries are described as not life-threatening.

No arrests have been made in connection with either incident.

The 19-year-old was stabbed shortly after 0930 BST on Tuesday.
Police described his attacker as a mixed-race man, about 5ft 11in tall, with a scar on the right side of his face.

No doubt, this is a very sad story. However, this story was reported on April 29, 2008, which just so happens to be the launch day of Grand Theft Auto IV. British publication The Mail decided to jazz things up a bit. Below is an excerpt from their story.

Man stabbed queueing for midnight launch of ultra-violent video game Grand Theft Auto IV

The launch of the ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto IV video game descended into real-life horror when a man was stabbed repeatedly in a queue of fans waiting to buy it.

Shoppers thought they were witnessing a promotional stunt for the launch when the blood-soaked victim staggered among them.

They realised the attack was genuine only when police arrived.

It took place outside the Gamestation store in Croydon, South London, one of 40 stores which opened at midnight to sell the new game.

Not wanting to be outdone, The Press Association, which is a British news service similar to the Associated Press and Reuters, published this story.

Police hunt video game attacker

Police are hunting a hooded man who stabbed a passer-by as he waited to buy a new edition of a notoriously violent computer game.

Up to 100 people witnessed the knife attack as they queued ahead of the midnight release of Grand Theft Auto IV on Monday.

The 23-year-old victim was attacked as he passed the queue outside Gamestation, in George Street, Croydon, at about 11pm.

Certainly the Croydon Guardian had to top any other publication about a story in their own town. Below is an excerpt from their article, with the title “Grand Theft Slaughter.”

Grand Theft Stabbing

A man was stabbed in the town centre of Croydon last night at the opening of the new controversial video game Grand Theft Auto 4.

Queues of people waiting outside Gamestation in George Street at around 10.50pm saw the 25-year-old man staggering around covered in blood as they waited to get their hands on the latest copy of the game.

He was carrying a knife, which was also reportedly covered in blood.

Wow, we have people standing in line so desensitized to violence that they are ignoring a rapidly-aging blood-soaked man and only care about getting GTA IV so that they can get their next violence fix. However, in the reader comments of the Croydon Guardian, someone leaves the following comment.

“I’d just like to clarify, that the incident and the four “blokes” involved had no connections with the people who were in the queue for Grand Theft Auto 4, nor did they have any intentions of purchasing the game. It just happened in the same place.”

“I was in the queue and saw the events unfold, but once again it seems instead of looking at the root of the problem it’s much more conveniant to blame the games that we play.”

The stabbing had absolutely nothing to to do with GTA IV, as evidenced not only by the eyewitness account but also by the radical change in the story. The original article does not even mention the game while the Croydon Guardian article practically blames GTA IV for the stabbing. Gamers knew all along that this was the case. The insatiable desire for the media to have more attention-grabbing headlines combined with the general public’s ever-present need for something to fear has once again cast a bad light on video games and gamers. Gamers are currently a very easy target, mostly because games are a newer form of art, and the majority of people who run newspapers/tv stations/etc. do not play games. The gaming public needs to educate the general public. Perhaps this is a good start.

Popularity: 31% [?]

The Wii version of Rock Band, with its sleek white drums and wireless guitar, will release this June. The Wii version will even feature five additional songs that were not included on the other consoles - “Roxanne” by The Police, “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis, “Roam” by The B-52s, “My Dirty Little Secret” by The All-American Rejects, and “Rockaway Beach” by The Ramones. While these songs are not included off the shelf for the Xbox 360 or PS3, they are available as downloadable content.

Sounds great, but this is where the Wii version drops the ball on one of the major benefits to the other consoles’ versions of Rock Band. Rock Band Wii will not offer downloadable content. A Harmonix representative confirmed to Shacknews that

“The Wii edition of Rock Band will not include online multiplayer or support for downloadable content.”

1Up is also confirming this

“It’s a major bummer that the Wii version of Rock Band will not have online play or downloadable content. We can live without online play, but the lack of downloadable tunes is a big blow to Wii owners, especially when Harmonix releases three new songs every week for the other versions.”

Yes, it’s true, not only will you not be able to download new songs to your Wii, your best friend 1423-2344-5355 and you will not be able to play online.

Rock Band has had a steady flow of downloadable content since it first launched for Xbox 360 and PS3. In fact, those two versions have combined for over 6,000,000 downloads. Averaging somewhere between $1.50 to $2.00 per song, Rock Band has made a killing off of these downloads.

Why will the Wii not offer downloads and online play? Laser Sharks has been unable to find an explanation for this. It appears this is simply a case of Nintendo’s Friend Code strategy.

Popularity: 36% [?]

The Wiimote has nothing on this controller.

An engineering firm called Emotiv has developed a neruo-headset which interprets neuron interactions in the brain. The headset uses a technology known as non-invasive Electroencephalography (EEG) to sense electrical impulses from the brain. Electroencephalography has been used in medical practices for almost 100 years but has only come to be used to explore brain computer interfaces since the 1970s.

According to Tan Le, president of US/Austrailian firm Emotiv,

“It picks up electrical activity from the brain and sends wireless signals to a computer. It allows the user to manipulate a game or virtual environment naturally and intuitively.”

“Emotiv is a neuro-engineering company and we’ve created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically.”

The headset controller will be used to create a more realistic interaction between gamers and the games. The Headset can sense over 30 different types of emotions, actions, and expressions such as excitement, meditation, tension and frustration; facial expressions such as smile, laugh, wink, shock (eyebrows raised), anger (eyebrows furrowed); and cognitive actions such as push, pull, lift, drop and rotate (on six different axis).

Le stated,

“This is the first headset that doesn’t require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it and does require gel on the scalp,” she said. “It also doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars.”

“The headset could be used to improve the realism of emotional responses of AI characters in games. If you laughed or felt happy after killing a character in a game then your virtual buddy could admonish you for being callous.”

The Wiimote has nothing on this.

Emotiv is working with IBM to develop the technology for uses in “strategic enterprise business markets and virtual worlds.” The headset features a gyroscope to detect movement and has wireless capabilities to communicate with a USB dongle plugged into a computer. It is expected to ship later this year and cost $299.

Source

Popularity: 30% [?]

The Wiimote is arguably the best accessory every created for a Nintendo console. The Power Glove is one of the worst, second only to R.O.B. (Virtual Boy does not count as an accessory). The Power Glove, although it is certainly the coolest Nintendo accessory, sucked because it was basically only a controller glued to a glove and did none of the things that you envisioned when you saw an ad in Nintendo Power or watched The Wizard.

Nintendo should combine the best accessory with the coolest accessory to form the Wii Power Glove. Unfortunately, Nintendo isn’t always known for doing the obvious things. However, that didn’t stop one Nintendo fan from creating this awesome Wiimote Power Glove.

Popularity: 28% [?]

A pirated copy of Grand Theft Auto IV was leaked to the internet by a group called iCON earlier this week. Initially, just the iCON leaked just the PAL version but now the NTSC version is available as well. The previous entry to the Grand Theft Auto series, San Andreas, was also leaked early on the internet. However, the early leak certainly did not harm game sales - San Andreas has sold over 21.5 million copies.

iCON also issued a strong warning against playing the game on Xbox Live before its official release, as that would basically put a large bullseye for Microsoft on any console modders. iCON is also encouraging people who download the pirated copy to purchase the full game once it is released saying that “R* deserves it.”

It would be surprising if the Swedes that run thepiratebay.org were to suddenly start apologizing or feeling shame for running one of the largest torrent sites on the internet. However, they it is a bit surprising to see that they have changed their main page logo to say “Liberty City” to correspond with the recent leak of Grand Theft Auto IV.

The Pirate Bay frequently changes their main page image, but it is unexpected to see such a timely logo change. Traffic is still light on the torrents, most like due to a requirement to mod an Xbox 360 to be able to play it. Remember kids, stealing is bad!

Popularity: 31% [?]

Microsoft announced in its 10-Q report that its Entertainment and Devices Division, home to the Xbox, turned an $89 million dollar profit during the fiscal quarter (Q3) ending March 31. During the same quarter one year ago, the division lost $746 million. The division had total sales of $1.58 billion in the third quarter, an increase in 68% from the a year ago. Microsoft EDD division has also experienced revenue growth over the past 9 months, up 34% to 6.58 $billion.

Microsoft is attributing most of the gains to the success of the Xbox 360, claiming that it sold 1.3 millions units in Q3, 7.5 million units in the past nine months, and 19 million overall.

Microsoft stated in the report that,

“During the three months ended March 31, 2008, Xbox platform and PC game revenue increased $418 million or 85% primarily as a result of increased Xbox 360 console sales, Xbox 360 video game sales, and Xbox Live revenue,” the company said. “Xbox platform and PC game revenue increased $1.4 billion or 42% during the nine months ended March 31, 2008, as a result of increased Xbox 360 console sales, video game sales led by Halo 3, Xbox Live revenue, and Xbox 360 accessory sales.”

The upcoming release of GTA IV from Rockstar Games will no doubt help boost Xbox 360 sales as well. Overall in Q3, Microsoft reported revenues of $14.45 billion and operating income of $4.41 billion.

Popularity: 28% [?]

A Frenchman going by the name kotomi has released a sweet mod for a Nintendo Entertainment System.

Kotomi has used a NES-on-a-chip clone chip to pack an entire NES inside a Super Mario Brothers cartridge. The system is complete with a power switch, reset button, two controller ports, slot for cartridges, power jack, and A/V hookups.

Technology has advanced a longs ways when an entire console can fit within single one of its cartridges.  With today’s NES-on-a-chip clones, expect to see more of these types of hacks in the near future.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers franchise has been wildly successful since its launch on the Nintendo 64. The original Nintendo 64 game sold approximately 2.5 million copies. Super Smash Brothers Melee, the Gamecube successor,  broke previous expectations garnering higher scores from game critics and selling just short of 4 million copies.

The latest entry to the Super Smash Brothers franchise certainly holds up well compared to its predecessors. Super Smash Brothers: Brawl has already sold 2.7 million copies. In the first month since its release, Brawl has outsold the entire run of the Nintendo 64 Version and sold over 70% of the units of the Smash Brothers game sold on Gamecube.

Below is the NPD data comparing each version’s sales.

Overall, Nintendo has had a great March. The video game powerhouse has the top selling game for the month of March with Super Smash Brothers.  Nintendo also had the two bestselling consoles worldwide - the Wii and the DS, which each sold about 700,000 units.

Popularity: 30% [?]

There is always that piece of technology that grabs your attention when it is first announced. It is usually something so amazing that you pass the time before it is released by envisioning all of the ways that it will change your life. You make a promise to yourself that you will buy one as soon as it is available, which should be sometime next year, right? Then you wait, wait, and wait a little more. Eventually you forget about the amazing little piece of tech heaven. After all, it has been about five years and besides, the next piece of revolutionary tech has already been announced.

From time to time, you think back about the tech that might have been.  Maybe it is closer to consumer release than you think. Maybe someone pulled an electric car and killed it. Maybe it is still in the works, but still has a decade or more worth of development before it can be released. It would be great to find out what’s up with this apparent vaporware. Laser Sharks is introducing its latest semi regular feature to its somewhat less than semi regular blog. The first topic - flexible displays.

What’s Update: Flexible Displays

The Vision
Flexible displays first hit future tech news circuits in 1996, where they were touted primarily for their ability to bring large screens to devices, such as cell phones, that don’t lend themselves well larger screens. The plan was to include displays that could simply roll up into the cell phone or PDA body that when fully extend could display resolutions similar to a desktop computer monitor. The dream of a roll up screen on a cell phone certainly has not died, but many current futurist have shifted their attention to miniature projectors as the way to bring larger screens to hand held devices.

While some flexible display experts focus on benefits to portable electronics, others focus more on the expressive side of things. ComputerWorld.com’s Robert Mitchell wrote in an article about flexible displays that “some displays may be embedded on a shirt sleeve or curve around a watchband.” Flexible displays have been considered for everything ranging from maps to wallpaper.

Followers of flexible display technology may still envision large roll up displays to give your cell phone a large screen or shirts that look like they belong in the Tubbytronic Superdome, the near term future most certainly hold a more utilitarian purpose - lightweight, ultra thin displays for mobile computing.

The Reality
Although flexible displays are currently nowhere near the dreams of the late 1990s, flexible display technology is starting pop up in a surprising number of places. Flexible displays are closely technologically tied to e-paper. E-paper was first developed in the 1970s, but has recently made its way into consumer electronics such as the Amazon Kindle and the Motorola M3 phone.

The Amazon Kindle

E-paper is advantageous among other reasons for its extremely low power consumption. It can even hold its displayed images when the power is off. If it is made with the right plastic substrate, it can be flexible.

Another piece of technology that is closely-intertwined with flexible displays that is currently available in the consumer marketplace is the OLED. OLEDs, or organic light emitting diodes, can be printed on flexible plastic substrates enable the display to bend. OLEDs, like e-paper, also use very little power, which would be critical in using large displays for small portable electronics. Although the screen is not flexible, Sony has commercially released the XEL-1, an OLED based display that is only 3 mm thick.

Sony’s 3mm XEL-1 OLED TV

Although Kindle and the XEL-1 feature technology that is closely tied to flexible displays, neither one of these devices are actually flexible. What is actually available today in flexible displays? Well, most of what is available are just tech demos and concepts. Nothing is actually available in the marketplace. However, there are some pretty impressive tech demos out there. For instance, Sony has developed the 2 inch full-color flexible display shown in the picture below.

Sure, it’s razor thin, but does it have the comfort of three razors?

Here is a video of the flexible display in action.

Here is a neat piece of tech that appears to be a flexible e-paper device

The Driving Force
The primary driving force behind flexible displays is to solve the need of humans to interface with electronics that are undergoing continuous miniaturization. Until the robots take over, humans will need ways of accessing and inputing data into our gadgets.

The secondary push for flexible displays is the desire to place computers in objects that they previously did not belong. This could be shirts, golf clubs, or watches. This is your Casio C-801 to the nth degree.

The Obstacles
The market for flexible displays is very hard to judge and some companies may not want to risk big money researching a new product that already has competitors based on an established technology (mini projectors). Flexible displays are very expensive to manufacture compared to current generation displays because new materials and processes have to be developed. Cost of manufacturing is certain to go down with time, however, the real challenge is figuring out how to best used flexible displays to interface humans with their devices

The Outlook
Flexible displays will almost certainly become a reality, but the time frame is debatable. Initially, expect to see more devices such as the Amazon Kindle or Sony XEL-1 OLED TV which do not have flexible displays, but feature related technologies. Also, a new generation of portable laptops and tablets should emerge with ultra-lightweight screens. Within the next five years, expect to see flexible displays that are at used in curved displays, but are held firm in static positions. Also around that time, expect displays in small objects, such as watches, that have traditionally been too small for computer monitor style screens. It will be ten years or more before wearable displays or frameless flexible display based e-paper is introduced.

The Final Word
Flexible displays will be here for the long term, but will be used more often in making rigid, small, and ultralight displays rather than allowing you to play your favorite Simpsons episode on your curtains or to sell dynamic ads on the back of your shirt.

Popularity: 36% [?]

EA has been pursuing publisher Take Two Interactive since mid-February when the video game giant offer a $2 billion buyout. Take Two refused the initial offer but EA continued pursuing the company stating in a letter that “if you are unwilling to proceed on that basis, however, we may pursue other means, including the public disclosure of this letter, to bring our offer and the compelling value it represents to the attentions of Take-Two’s shareholders.” If the takeover is successful, EA will have control of hit franchises such as 2K Sports, Midnight Club, Bioshock, The Elder Scrolls, and most notably, Grand Theft Auto.

EA has a reputation within the gaming community for being unwilling to take risk, pushing out annual games just with minimal improvements, and using microtransactions to charge for things that other publishers give out for free. Take Two, although having a reputation outside of the gaming industry is less than good, its reputation inside the gaming community is stellar.

TheGamingReviews.com wrote an article about the worst things that EA could do to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Here is the summary of the article below.

EA Trax Replaces Radio Stations

The radio stations have been crucial in creating the setting and mood throughout the Grand Theft Auto series.  In fact, the Vice City soundtrack is probably the best collection of 80s music ever created. However, EA may think it is better to institute their own brand of licensed music with the dreaded EA Trax that everyone tries to turn off when loading up an NHL or Madden game. Speaking of other EA properties, no doubt the company would see that just like real life radio, the air waves permeating Liberty City would also be a great way to keep you informed of whatever other EA products are being released.

Capitalizing on Downloadable Content

Changing clothes and adding accessories is a staple of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. EA, with their history of abusing microtransactions, would see the potential of putting all of these virtual items to good use.  Imagine having to pay real dollars for a nice new jacket, sunglasses, shotgun or even in the worst case, cars themselves. Like it or not, GTA is a prime candidate for downloadable transactions that go far beyond a little episodic content. Despite their folding at the outcry over purchasing guns in Battlefield: Bad Company, no amount of torrential wailing from gamers could stop them from being tempted to pick such low hanging fruit.

Annual Releases

Big franchises such as Rainbow Six and Guitar Hero have move to a yearly release to suck the maximum amount of money from gamers’ pockets. EA is certainly not a stranger to this trend with their yearly lineup of sports franchises.  EA may push for an annual GTA game which, as evident from other annual releases, would suffer from a lack of improvements from game to game and difficulty in creating new settings. Who else is looking forward the GTA: Topeka?

Driving Rockstar Away

In order to keep up with an increased number of games (see Annual Releases), publishers have started using alternate developers for games such as Call of Duty 3 and Guitar Hero 3. These games never seem to match the magic of the games from the original developers. There are lots of GTA clones that are released every year, but none of them live up to the game created by Rockstar. Take Two was smart enough to leave Rockstar alone and let them create their art. EA does not have such a good track record of handling developers that they purchase.

Giving In to the Man

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is a very controversial one. Mass media, mothers, and Jack Thompson all hate the series. GTA has made a lot of money for Take Two, but Take Two has also spent a lot of money defending GTA in legal battles. Would a company like EA, which may not have a particularly sparkling clean image in the gaming community but certainly does outside of it, be willing to take responsibility for such scandalous software? Would they try to release a “T” rated version with toned-down violence, humor, and edginess? While some PR problems within the gaming community are one thing, getting criticized from the government and society at large probably isn’t something EA wants, given that they’re an even easier target than Take 2.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Mortal Kombat 8 is actually going to be a spin-off game called “Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. Apparently, Midway is hoping to cash in on some of the Marvel vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. SNK popularity. Although it seems like MK vs DC was announced about a decade too late, it is actually shipping this Fall for Xbox 360 and PS3. There is another plot twist in the newest iteration of Mortal Kombat - it has been confirmed to have a “Teen” rating. This is most likely a concession to DC Comics. Midway is still including lots of blood and bone-crunching moves, but the over the top fatalities that angered mobs of overly-concerned parents in the 1990s are gone.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Take the following steps to unlock each of the 14 secret characters in Mario Kart Wii.Baby Daisy: Get a “One Star” rank or better in all 50cc cups.
Baby Luigi: Unlock eight Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials mode.
Birdo: Play 16 different courses in Time Trials mode.
Bowser Jr.: Get a “One Star” rank or better in all 100cc Retro Cups.
Daisy: Win the 150cc Special Cup.
Diddy Kong: Successfully complete all 50cc Cups.
Dry Bones: Win the 100cc Leaf Cup.
Dry Bowser: Get a “One Star” rank or better in all 150cc Wii Cups.
Funky Kong: Unlock four Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials mode.
King Boo: Win the 50cc Star Cup
Mii (Outfit A): Win the 100cc Special Cup.
Mii (Outfit B): Unlock all 32 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials mode.
Rosalina: Get a “One Star” rank or better in the 100cc Mushroom Cup. Alternately, have a saved game file from Super Mario Galaxy and win a number of races.
Toadette: Play on all 32 courses in Time Trials mode.

But there’s much more to be unlocked in Mario Kart Wii. The following lists show the rest of the unlockables:

Bonus bikes
Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding bikes:

Bubble Bike (small): Win the Mirror Leaf Cup.
Dolphin Dasher (medium): Win the Mirror Star Cup.
Magikruiser (small): Play on eight different courses in Time Trials mode.
Nitrocycle (medium): Get a “One Star” rank or better in all 100cc Wii Grand Prix Cups.
Phantom (large): Win the Mirror Special Cup.
Quacker (small): Win the 150cc Star Cup.
Rapide (medium): Win the 100cc Lightning Cup.
Torpedo (large): Unlock 12 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials mode.
Twinkle Star (large): Win the 100cc Star Cup.

Bonus karts
Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding karts:

Aero Glider (large): Get a “One Star” rank or better in all 150cc Retro Grand Prix Cups.
B Dasher Mk 2 (medium): Unlock 24 Expert Staff Ghosts.
Blue Falcon (small): Win the Mirror Lightning Cup.
Cheep Charger (small): Get a “One Star” rank or better in all 50cc Retro Grand Prix Cups.
Dragonetti (large): Win the 150cc Lightning Cup.
Glory (medium): Unlock 24 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials mode.
Piranha Prowler (large): Win the 50cc Special Cup.
Rally Romper (small): Unlock one Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials mode.
Royal Racer (medium): Win the 150cc Leaf Cup.
Turbo Blooper (medium): Win the 50cc Leaf Cup.

Bonus Cups
Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding Cup:

Star Cup: Successfully complete the Flower Cup with a trophy.
Special Cup: Successfully complete the Star Cup with a trophy.
Leaf Cup: Successfully complete the Banana Cup with a trophy.
Lightning Cup: Successfully complete the Leaf Cup with a trophy.

Mirror mode
Win all 150cc Cups to unlock Mirror mode.

Expert ghosts
Defeat a normal course ghost with a time at least seven seconds faster to unlock the expert ghost for that course.

Alternate title screen and ending sequence
Get a “One Star” rank or better in all Cups, including those in Mirror mode to unlock an alternate title screen and ending sequence.

Special credits
Win all trophies in a class to view the credits and see a congratulations screen featuring your Mii with Mario and Peach. Win all Grand Prix Cups to get another congratulations screen featuring your Mii with all the racers.

Quick start
When the countdown starts, wait until the “2″ begins to disappear, then hold 2 to get a boost at the start of the race.

Quick recovery
When you fall into an obstacle, press 2 precisely when you land to get a temporary boost.

Profile name stars
You can add a star next to your profile name on the results screen and the Wi-Fi races by completing all Grand Prix races with a certain rank:

One star profile name: Earn a “One Star” rank in all Grand Prix races.
Two star profile name: Earn a “Two Star” rank in all Grand Prix races.
Three star profile name: Earn a “Three Star” rank in all Grand Prix races.

Popularity: 53% [?]