Ford’s Active ParkAssist system. http://www.motorauthority.com/ford-unveils-automated-parking-system-for-lincoln-mks-and-mkt.html
Archive for December, 2008Filed under: Hardware
Citing the current economic crisis as part of the cataylst for this move, Sood says, ” There was a time when selling high-end hardware was simple, because we believed in it. Now we’re retooling and retasking our configurations so they make sense; let’s face it, high-end hardware has delivered diminishing returns in terms of value. This is why you don’t see ridiculous offerings like Quad SLI and 2-kilowatt power supplies coming from our company.” Sood feels that Personal computer game developers know they can’t rely on the high-end hardware audience to purchase their titles anymore. He states, “The glory days of wicked-stupid hardware stipulations are pretty much gone. Game developers are in the business of making money, and thus want to distribute their games to the widest possible audience.” Is the high-end (and expensive) gaming Personal computer dead? originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.  The worldwide economic crisis has hit the island nation of Iceland particularly hard. The banking system and Iceland’s own currency, have collapsed. One victim of this could be the otherwise successful game developer CCP, the creators of the popular space based MMO EVE Online. The UK based web site The Guardian has an overall look at Iceland’s issues with a mention of CCP’s problems as well. According to CCP team member Eyjolfur Gudmundsson states, “The present currency restrictions are putting us in a straitjacket. We’re in talks with the government, but if we can’t let capital in, we might be compelled to leave Iceland, although this would be against our wishes.” CCP does have offices in Atlanta and China as well so a move out of Iceland, while painful, could be done. [Via Massively] Could EVE Online’s creators leave their native Iceland? originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. The worldwide economic crisis has hit the island nation of Iceland particularly hard. The banking system and Iceland’s own currency, have collapsed. One victim of this could be the otherwise successful game developer CCP, the creators of the popular space based MMO EVE On the internet. The UK based web site The Guardian has an overall look at Iceland’s issues with a mention of CCP’s problems as well. According to CCP team member Eyjolfur Gudmundsson states, “The present currency restrictions are putting us in a straitjacket. We’re in speaks with the government, but if we can’t let capital in, we might be compelled to leave Iceland, even though this would be against our wishes.” CCP does have offices in Atlanta and China as well so a move out of Iceland, while painful, could be done. [Via Massively] Could EVE Online’s creators leave their native Iceland? originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Filed under: Action, Browser, Left 4 Dead  Let’s get this out of the way right now. Even Left 4K Dead’s own author, Markus Perrson, admits that his new free Java web browser game doesn’t really have much resemblance to Valve’s zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead. He states, “It’s a game about zombies, with some elements taken from the AWESOME game Left 4 Dead, and the name is pretty darn punny if you ask me.” That stated, this game, made for the 2009 Java 4K Competition, is still a lot of fun as your dot takes on a ton of zombie dots with just a flashlight and weapon. There’s a random element to where the zombies are placed in the levels but aside from that this could be easily be a Resident Evil or House of the Dead Java based zombie game. Still, kudos to Perrson for making a bloody pleasing title with not a lot of programming. Left 4K Dead takes on zombies for free originally appeared on Massive Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Filed under: Downloads  Christmas Eve is turning out to be a “Bah Humbug” for many people in the US who are dealing with bad weather. Among the cities getting hit is the Seattle area which is the home to, among other game developers, Valve. The weather has caused power outages in the area over the past few days. That might explain why Valve’s Steam web site is currently inaccessible as of the writing of this post. The site has been down for a few hours now, along with the Steam client’s store, and it’s likely the reason is a power outage that has affected the site’s servers. Hopefully this is a temporary problem that will be addressed soon. Update: Looks like the Steam web site is back up to speed. Steam web site down; power outages to blame? [Update] originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Filed under: Downloads, Action, RPG  Yet another game developer wants to enter the episodic downloadable genre but this time the game is of the Diablo-like action-RPG variety. Bulgaria-based developer Dagger Games has recently announced their plans for Hazen; The Dark Whispers, which they plan to release in four episodic installments. The game’s web site has already launched along with the game’s first screenshots which we’ve reproduced here. The game’s FAQ promises much of what’s in a normal action-RPG; hacking and slashing, lots of loot, character classes and the like. However, the game itself will be released in four episodic chapters. Each is a stand alone adventure but getting all four will unlock “new challenges and secret places with quality rewards and interesting quest to solve.” The first chapter is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2009. There’s no word on the pricing of each of the episodes. Gallery: Hazen
Hazen: The Dark Whispers announced originally appeared on Huge Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Filed under: Culture
Our sister site Joystiq has collected a number of game industry Christmas cards they’ve received in the mail and on the web. However, their gallery doesn’t include everything so we at Large Download decided to collect a few other on the internet Christmas cards in our own gallery. The images come from publisher Akella (promoting their game A Stroke of Fate), American McGee’s game developer Spicy Horse, Age of Conan developer Funcom, publisher NCsoft (with adorable versions of various game characters) and publisher Paradox Interactive who haven’t one but three different on the internet cards promoting their upcoming strategy-sim game Majesty 2. Browse through selection of Computer game Christmas cards originally appeared on Huge Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Filed under: Culture, Features, Meta BD  Since it’s the day before Christmas where I am (with a nod to those of our readers who do not celebrate Christmas — congratulations on escaping the seasonal guilt), I thought I’d take a step back and get a meta-level look at life as it relates to video games. Well, to be honest, that’s what every installment of Big Ideas is, an exploration of some meta-idea or another. But this time around, let’s personalize it just a bit further. To wit: If life is a game, is it single-player or MMO? The answers may shock you! Or you’ll just skip the whole piece as ridiculous after the first few paragraphs, in which case think about it my gift to you. In the spirit of the holidays, then, read on! Continue reading Massive Ideas: The Game of Life: single-player, or MMO? Large Ideas: The Game of Life: single-player, or MMO? originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Filed under: Culture, Features
Click on the image at the right to read more on All They Want For Christmas Gallery: All They Want For Christmas
Feature: All They Want For Christmas originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. |
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