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Atari 2600 excavation documentary exclusive to Xbox in 2014
An upcoming documentary focused on the video game industry crash of 1983 and the subsequent burial of thousands of unsold Atari cartridges will launch exclusively on Xbox in 2014, Microsoft announced this week. Canadian film production company Fuel Industries plans to head up an excavation of a New Mexico landfill for the documentary, aiming to uncover a derelict batch of Atari hardware and software that the company crushed and encased in concrete more than 30 years ago. The landfill reportedly entombs unsold copies of infamous Atari-licensed releases like E.T. and Pac-Man, among other critically-panned games that led to Atari's closure and sale to Commodore International in 1984. Fuel Entertainment's film will be the first in a series of Xbox-exclusive documentaries launching in 2014 through Microsoft's new media company Lightbox. Microsoft has enlisted the help of producers Simon Chinn (Searching for Sugar Man, Man on Wire) and Jonathan Chinn (FX's 30 Days and PBS's American High) to handle series production. X-Men 2 writer Zak Penn will direct the Atari documentary, which begins shooting in January.
Microsoft's first Xbox-exclusive documentary is digging up Atari's past
Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios will launch its first original documentary production next year, a film exploring the rise and fall of game industry legacy Atari. You read that right: a modern game console manufacturer is creating a documentary about a failed game console manufacturer. A bit meta if you ask us! Anyway, the documentary will focus on digging up the symbolic grave of the early game industry: a burial site with "millions of unsold game cartridges" in New Mexico. The game in question was the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T., a holiday 1982 release -- often called one of the worst games ever made. A new production studio co-founded by Simon and Jonathan Chinn (Man on Wire, FX's 30 Days), named Lightbox, is heading up production; filming is slated to start in early 2014, with an exclusive debut on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One at some point later in the year. It's unlikely that the Atari doc will be the first product from Xbox Entertainment Studios to launch in 2014, as shows are scheduled to roll out starting in early 2014.
Starhawk dev lays off 24, 'much smaller studio' to focus on first iOS title [Update]
Update: Lightbox Interactive President Dylan Jobe has told Joystiq his company will see "a sizable reduction in staff." Twenty-four staff members have been informed that Friday will be their final day at the Texas-based developer. Jobe added that "all 24 of them are getting a severance package.""Lay-offs always suck but they are an unfortunate reality of business sometimes. The best we can do is try and treat our people with respect during the shocking transition of a lay-off," he said.Jobe says Lightbox will become a "much smaller studio" after the cuts as it focuses efforts on the development of its first game for iOS.Original Story: There are rumblings that LightBox Interactive, the developer behind the PS3 exclusive Starhawk, will lay off most of its staff by Friday. 3D Realms founder (and previous layoff predictor) George Broussard tweets, "Good luck to my buddies at LightBox in Austin. Layoffs and rumors of near whole studio gone by Friday."Yesterday LightBox Interactive president Dylan Jobe sent out an ominous tweet, reading, "And yeah, its time for another drink...." LightBox artist Jonathan Lindblom tweeted early this morning, "I feel like my brain has been taken out and passed around, I can't think straight, everything is muddled." Associate producer and community manager Pete MacKay tweeted his thoughts today as well: "And so another chapter closes on my life. Let's see where I go next! (taking suggestions)."We've contacted LightBox Interactive for clarification.
Facebook likes Karma app, buys the whole darn thing
What does one do after generating billions from an initial public stock offering? Go shopping, of course. After falling short of expectations following its somewhat helter-skelter IPO debut, Facebook simply shook off the whole thing and acquired itself some good Karma. No, we're not talking about that Karma. Instead, Facebook purchased the startup responsible for the Karma social gifting app. The move was apparently made to bolster Facebook's mobile chops -- an area the company considers ripe for opportunity. Just recently, Facebook also acquired mobile stalwart Instagram and the Lightbox team, for example. As for its newest purchase, Karma will be allowed to "continue to operate in full force" despite its recent status change, according to a blog post by co-founders Lee Linden and Ben Lewis. Details weren't disclosed about how much the deal was worth but judging from celebratory nature of their post, it doesn't look like Linden and Lewis will "Unlike" the agreement any time soon.
Facebook snaps up mobile photo sharing firm Lightbox, decides Instagram isn't enough
We get the impression that Facebook is on a big mobile photo sharing kick: just weeks after it bought Instagram for a cool billion, the social network has just hired the staff behind Lightbox. The two-man team of Nilesh Patel and Thai Tran is bringing its mostly Android- and HTML5-focused knowledge over to Facebook, where it's hoping to reach many, many more people. You'll have to wait awhile to see what the Lightbox team brings to Facebook's ever more mobile platform, but you'll also want to hurry if you want to keep anything hosted on Lightbox: the service shuts down on June 15th. As a consolation for the shutdown, the startup's code is being posted to GitHub so that the fruits of its efforts live on in open-sourced form.
Starhawk online pass grants free Warhawk download in Europe
There's a good chance a lot of Starhawk players haven't experienced the game that started it all, let alone for free. Every new copy of Starhawk comes bundled with a free copy of Warhawk (PSOne) in Europe.It's part of the online pass voucher, which is visible on the back of the instruction booklet for Starhawk. Once you input the code and unlock online functionality, the original Warhawk will be added to your download list. Here in The States, however, you need to grab one of the first-run "limited editions" available exclusively at GameStop.
Latest Starhawk trailer showcases jetbikes, mech-jets
Similar to how combining peanut butter and chocolate dramatically improves both, Starhawk has discovered that combining jets and bikes, or jets and mechs, exponentially increases the level of wickedness associated with each craft.
Starhawk beta adds 32-player map, tanks, jetbikes
The Starhawk beta has been updated to version 1.3, and the update comes packing lots of new goodies. First up is the Sidewinder Jetbike, a vehicle focused on speed an maneuverability. Next is the Ox Heavy Tank, a vehicle focused on being a tank. Finally, the update adds a new map, Planet Dust. Did we mention Planet Dust can accommodate 32 players? Because it can. See the update in action in the video above.If that gets you all excited for some Starhawk, you might be interested in the limited edition trailer after the break.
Starhawk lifts off on May 8, PS Plus beta starts today
Starhawk will engage in all-out war on May 8, the PlayStation Blog announced today. It also reiterated that the game's "public beta" begins today for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Those who purchased Uncharted 3 can fly into the beta January 31 in the US and February 1 in Europe. Normal ol' PSN accounts can try it out February 21, with Europe receiving access the following day. There are also opportunities to obtain beta codes from GameStop and IGN on February 7 and 14, respectively. Sony also reminds: "a Beta is a real world 'in the wild' test of the core game systems and gameplay. It is NOT a demo. Most of the final game features are not included."
Starhawk beta goes public starting with PSN Plus subscribers next week
For the last few month, LightBox has been running a Starhawk private beta, which just concluded on January 3. Like a big bouncer guarding the door of your city's hot new club, the developer barred entry to all Joe and Jane Schmoes looking to get their taste of what's to come. Boys and girls, soon you'll have your chance: the beta's going public. PlayStation Plus subscribers get first crack at the public demo starting next week on January 17 for the US and January 18 for Europe, PlayStation Blog reports. If you picked up Uncharted 3, you'll get a crack at the public beta two weeks later: January 31 in the US and February 1 in Europe. Finally, if you've got a regular ol' free PSN account, you can jump in on February 21, when the beta is open to all US users; European users get in on the following day. If you were one of the lucky few to get into the private beta, you'll have access to the public beta starting next week, granted you didn't erase your original beta files.
Starhawk dev rethinking DLC strategy: It 'might be surprising'
Starhawk will enter public beta soon in North America, Europe, Japan, Korea and Latin America, senior produer Harvard Bonin tells Respawn Action. The closed beta ended Jan. 3 and Bonin says the mix of veteran Warhawk and new players caught a lot of unsurprising bugs and balance issues, and that update 1.2 will fix a lot of these. There are plans for "a bunch of" free DLC that "might be surprising," Bonin says, although he adds that he'd be "happy to take your money" for some of the planned content. "We rethought our DLC strategy and we'll reveal more about it as we get closer to release," he says. More information on the Starhawk public beta will come "very soon," Bonin says, and the game will release "when it's damn good and ready."
Starhawk beta invites start rolling out on Tuesday
You're only a few short days away from sampling Starhawk, folks! Well, okay, you have to be a veteran Warhawk player and have opted-in for the beta, but we're sure you already did that, right? At the very least, we're sure you'll get to check out some videos on YouTube. But we digress. The PlayStation Blog reveals that Tuesday beta keys should be hitting anxious inboxes for the select few who'll be in the semi-private beta. If you don't see a key on Tuesday, don't fret: SCEA's Harvard Bonin says this will be a "slow rolled" beta -- as the beta chugs along, Sony will slowly be adding more players. So try to be patient!
Starhawk launching a semi-public private beta for Warhawk veterans in November
Lightbox Interactive is hosting a private beta for Starhawk in November, but with a twist -- this private beta will be selectively public. Lightbox will invite "a bunch of" dedicated Warhawk players to test out Starhawk this November, chosen by their rank in Warhawk, their community involvement and a few other undisclosed parameters, president Dylan Jobe said. The public private beta will include access to a secure SCEA forum for players to discuss the game and ask questions of the Lightbox team, who will also post their PSN handles and be available for voice chat in-beta. If you're a Warkhawk beast with a clean record, look for an email with an invite soon.
Starhawk makes a smooth transition into a new cutscene trailer
Starhawk first got us excited with its E3 cinematic teaser, in a Borderlands, Halo, Red Dead Redemption, Terminator kind of way, and now LightBox Interactive is revealing more graphic goodness at Comic-Con, showing off the game's transitions between cutscenes and gameplay. The video follows the story's introduction, featuring Emmett Graves, a mercenary with a special connection to both the overrun town of White Sands and the Outlaw who are holding it captive, making the game kind of like a backwards District 9 as well. But whatever we call it, Starhawk's transitions sure do look smooth here (also like Shaft).
How to photograph jewelry with an iPhone 4
You know those beautiful photos of jewelry that you see in ads and catalogs? The folks at Modahaus wanted to see if their table top studios could be used with an iPhone 4 to make images that would be good enough for a professional photographer to sell. The results were astonishingly good. The Modahaus studio comes in three sizes, ranging from 8.5" to 24" wide, and use a set of translucent and opaque backdrops that work with studio lights to create varied lighting effects. The crew at Modahaus used Tap Tap Tap's Camera+ app, a Glif tripod mount, a GorillaPod flexible tripod, and lights to take some very professional photos. Similar setups are available from other vendors as well. ThinkGeek, for example, has the $49.99 Portable Photo Studio, complete with lights and collapsible lightbox. With an iPhone 4, the right lighting, a good camera app, skill, and some patience, you could be shooting professional-quality product images.
Starhawk takes Warhawk into the future on PS3
You've probably heard the name before, but now Sony and LightBox Interactive have officially unveiled Starhawk, the follow-up to 2007's multiplayer-only PS3 game, Warhawk. Due next year, Starhawk brings the on-foot and vehicle-based third-person shooter into a new setting -- desolate moons full of highly valued "rift energy." It also adds a single-player story mode and a new "Build and Battle" system that allows players to choose structures from a menu and drop them into the level as they fight, adding a layer of real-time strategy-esque gameplay. You can see the first screens in our gallery, and a LightBox dev diary after the break. You can also read about the game in more detail in our hands-on preview!%Gallery-123409%
Facebook starts rolling out high resolution photo sharing to users
Facebook is already a popular way to share photo with your 'friends,' but the quality leaves a little something to be desired, to say the least. Well, that's all about to change, as the company has announced that it'll be rolling out high resolution photo uploading to all of its users over the coming weeks. Users will be able to upload and store photos that are eight times larger than what the service now allows (720 pixels). At the same time, the photo viewer will be upgraded to have a lightbox feel -- black background -- for better viewing. Great news, no doubt, for those of us who just couldn't stand another low res shot of someone's baby doing something silly.
TUAW review: Camera+ for iPhone
Last week, TUAW featured a post about how development house tap tap tap has been able to string together a series of App Store successes. In that post, we used tap tap tap's sales stats for Camera+ to demonstrate the company's success not only in the U.S. App Store, but internationally as well. That post got me intrigued about the Camera+ app, so I purchased it for installation on my iPhone 4. What I found is a US$1.99 app (it's currently on sale at that price, so buy it soon) that is a must-buy for any iPhone owner who likes to dabble in photography. The UI for Camera+ is the first clever detail in an app that's chock-a-block with little wonders. What you see after launching the app is what appears to be the viewfinder on an DSLR camera with a small LCD display below. On that display are two buttons -- Take photos and Lightbox. Take photos does exactly what you would expect -- the screen zooms up from the viewfinder view to a full-screen iPhone image of what your camera is facing. On the iPhone 4, of course, you have the choice of either the front-facing camera for self portraits or the high-resolution (5MP) camera for taking pictures of other people or objects. When you're ready to shoot, you can either just press the traditional shutter button or turn on image stabilization. %Gallery-97828%
