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Google reopens Map Maker edits after digital vandalism
Google is ever so slowly reintroducing Map Maker, the service that allows anyone to contribute to Google Maps. The company was left a little red-faced in May when a prank submission was discovered depicting an Android mascot urinating on the Apple logo. Google eventually took it down and suspended auto-approved edits while it figured out a new moderation system. The answer, it hopes, is to increase its reliance on the community. Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, India, Ukraine and the Philippines are now open for editing again, but this time Google has appointed "regional leads" to double-check the submissions in each area. Google only has so many employees dedicated to Map Maker, so it's praying the passion of its fans will be enough to avoid any further mishaps.
CyanogenMod's new mascot, Cid, gets his own start-up animation
Equal parts creepy and adorable, CyanogenMod's new character has been gifted his first big appearance, in his own animation for the Android modder platform of choice. Cid (that's short for CyanogenMod ID) will replace the slightly overfamiliar skateboarding Android icon when you turn on your now tinkered-with gadget. Gaze at his sweetly-sinister glow right after the break.
Mobile Miscellany: week of April 2nd, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, CyanogenMod gained a new logo, Google acquired a mobile payments company and we learned that the HTC EVO 4G LTE for Sprint will include an embedded SIM card. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of April 2nd, 2012.
Leaderboard: GW's Gwen vs. EQ's Firiona Vie
Like breakfast cereals and discount tire retailers, MMO companies have a long tradition of cultivating mascots to promote their games. Typically, said mascot is on the cover, shows as much cleavage as the ESRB allows, and is shooting rainbow magic from her navel. Or something. Today, Leaderboard is pitting two of the more well-known MMO mascots against one another, sort of like Top Model if Top Model contained three-dimensional characters. In the left corner is Guild Wars' Gwen, an orphan, refugee, warrior, and storybook princess all rolled into one. In the right corner is Firiona Vie, the Vanna White of EverQuest box art. Firiona may be flaunting a bit more skin than battle protocol requires, but it's certainly served the purpose of getting players to pick up the box and wonder whether true Elfy love lies within. Gwen's recent marriage to Keiran Thackeray unfortunately takes her off the market to those hoping that a sentient computer would digitize and throw them into a video game in the hopes of (ahem) mesmerizing her with charm. It's Elfish mage vs. human mystic, blonde bombshell vs. goth cutie in today's knockout poll! Hit the jump to cast your vote.
The Perfect Ten: MMO mascots
Everyone knows that a good mascot can make a difference between a video game's death and rabid popularity. Mario, Master Chief, Duke Nuke 'Em, Pac-Man, Samus Aran, Pyramid Head -- each one of these mascots isn't merely an aspect of the game, they are the virtual spokesperson (or spokesthing) which represents the game itself. Yet when you think about it, MMOs have had a tougher time producing mascots than other video game genres, partially because unlike other games, you don't play as the mascots, and partially because when you have a cast of thousands of NPCs, picking out one to elevate above the rest is a difficult job. Difficult, that is, but not impossible. Today we're going to look at ten MMO mascots (MMOscots?) that studios have tried to promote as the face of these games, to varying degrees of success.
HTC invades Belgian train stations with miniature Android army
The master of bizarre marketing ploys, HTC, has employed a more militant approach to its latest PR stunt. In a move apparently aimed at promoting the launch of a bunch of new Android phones (specifically the Flyer, Sensation, Incredible S, Desire S, and Wildfire S), the outfit meticulously filled railway stations in Antwerp, Brussels, and Namur with varied configurations of the little green monsters. While the stunt's grabbed our attention, we're happy the bantam buggers weren't there to greet us at the outset of our morning commute. More pictures await you at the source link below.
Meet Power Matt, Powermat's new pun-based superhero ready to answer your tech questions (updated)
The biggest problem with modern society? A lack of good super villains. Seriously, today's superheroes are getting flabby from sitting around, twiddling their powerful thumbs. Look at poor Power Matt here -- dude's clearly been working out and doing his shopping at the Justice League department store. So what is he doing with his time? Foiling bank heists or intercepting speeding missiles? Nope. He's Powermat's new mascot, and he's fielding questions about the inductive charging pad on the company's Twitter account. Can someone please help the poor redheaded hero out and kidnap a world leader or something? Or at least steal their microUSB cable? Update: Ah, so according to reader Virginia Comicon, turns out this image is, ahem, inspired by the cover of Superman issue 233. Check out the comparison after the break.
Caption contest, video edition: Android gets its groove back
The Android mascot certainly gets around, there's no doubt about that -- but did you know it can also get down? Watch and learn. Tim: "And thus the talent portion of the Ms. Xperia Arc pageant proved to be far more interesting than the swimsuit competition." Darren: "First stop: Akihabara Mall. Next stop: Dancing with the Stars." Joe: "Fragmentation or no, our man can still krump with the best of them." Don: "And now, a preview of Android 3.2: Electric Boogaloo." Sam: "What version of Android is the person in the costume running?" Chris: "I call this next move the Force Close." Myriam: "Go-go gadget Android dance app?" Michael: "I've seen b-boys and b-girls, but never knew there were b-bots." Richard Lawler: "Chris Brown is making a quick comeback after today's Good Morning America blowup." Christopher: "Lady Gaga fires stylist following first mall appearance." Sean Hollister: "Look ma, no thumbs!" [Thanks, Anders]
Google's Androidify app lets you create your very own bot avatar (video)
While we're probably still years or decades away from getting our very own animatronic clones, Google's released the next best thing for the time being. Available on the Android Market is this Androidify app, which, as the name says for itself, lets us mere mortals craft our Android mascot lookalikes. Hell, you can even slap on some facial hair or a baby droid while you're at it. We'll say no more -- see the app in action after the break, if you're not already busy dishing out your new avatar across the web.
Vodafone Australia creates giant Android mascot, sets it free on the streets of Sydney
In the States it's almost voting time and the posturing has certainly come to a fever pitch. If someone hasn't come a knocking on your door yet, promising to fix whatever ails you, they surely soon will. So, it's nice to see a representative going door-to-door without an ulterior motive... well, without a political one, anyway. Meet Andy, the full-scale Android mascot who can be found wandering the streets of Sydney in an attempt by Vodafone to get people more familiar with the little OS that could (and is). We're thinking he's more likely to scare small children than create converts out of competing smartphone users, but maybe our pollsters are reading this one wrong. [Thanks, Geoff]
38 Studios challenges college students to create games
College students in the United States and Canada with an interest in entering the MMO industry, this one is for you. 38 Studios -- creators of the forthcoming 'Copernicus' MMO -- are inviting aspiring game artists, designers, and programmers to enter their contest, the 2nd Annual Massachusetts Game Challenge. The contest announcement states: "If you are enrolled in college you can win thousands of dollars in prizes by developing a compelling video game featuring our company mascot, Munch. Roll solo or pool your talents into groups of two or three for ultimate game creation results." First prize in the contest brings $1500 per team member, while second prize earns $1000 per team member. Third prize winners get $500 per team member. Beyond the prize money, the 38 Studios game challenge is a chance to get your work recognized by people in the industry. See the FAQ for the 2nd Annual Massachusetts Game Challenge for more details and take a look at last year's winning submissions for a better idea of what 38 Studios is looking for. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to check out the announcement page for the 38 Studios game challenge. The submission deadline is March 2, 2009.
Flapi: YDreams' augmented reality mascot
It's one thing to be held captive in a mixed reality universe with a bickering lady-friend, but we could probably stand to hang for awhile with Flapi. The aforementioned character is YDreams' own in-house mascot, presumably used in a variety of augmented reality testing scenarios. In the video posted after the jump, Flapi is controlled with a Logitech gamepad and comes eerily close to slapping hands with a perfect (human) stranger. Somebody should really tell the kid Earthlings aren't that bad.
2008 Olympics inspired phone ready to scare children
At first glance, we're not sure whether CECT designed its cell phone around an Olympic mascot or some sort of cellular voodoo doll. Apparently inspired by 2008 Beijing Olympics mascot Fuwa Huanhuan, the kid-friendly candybar rocks a 1.5 inch screen, 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD expandable memory with a 256MB card, media player, and the requisite assortment of Olympic ringtones, wallpaper, and screen savers. The device will be a Chinese market exclusive, so we can see it being branded as an Olympic collectible and ending up on eBay for enormous amounts of money -- or peanuts. Hard to say.[Via Newlaunches]
Today's potential franchise relaunch video: Crash Bandicoot
Gameplay footage from Crash of the Titans held our interest for today's video pick. The upcoming Bandacoot adventure for all current platforms besides PS3 will be out this fall, and Crash fans may find a new title to love. (We're not talking about you, Action Pack.) Or is Crash looking a little too like The King for his own good?See the new video after the break, and watch a longer GameTrailers developer interview, too.
Winners of the Engadget Mascot contest!
Ok, it's time to coronate the Engadget mascot -- we know how you've waited to find out whose character is going to appear on Engadget (and take home the Wii). We're just as stoked as you. Whenever you're ready, the winners are posted after the break.
Crash Bandicoot goes long way from home - avoids PS3 entirely
Remember when Crash Bandicoot used to be Sony's mascot for the PlayStation brand? Things have certainly changed over the course of three console generations. While we don't mourn the loss, it's interesting to point out that, like an angry ex-girlfriend, Sony's ex-mascot is avoiding Sony's latest console endeavor altogether. The newly announced Crash of the Titans will have the trademark marsupial doing his thing on Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii ... with PLAYSTATION 3 suspiciously absent.Is this an intentional omission or is there something far more malicious? Regardless, we can't say we really care. Sorry Crash, but we think Ratchet is so much dreamier than you these days.
The Engadget mascot contest ends tonight!
Just in case you need one last reminder before time's up, the Engadget mascot contest ends tonight! You can win yourself a Wii and some serious Engadget notoriety by whipping up a mascot (or a family of 'em) to help represent. All the details you need to know are here, but the most important bit is the cutoff time: tonight at 11:59pm EST. Best of luck!Big ups to the WMExperts store for providing the still very difficult to find Wii as the grand prize for the contest!
The Engadget mascot contest: win a Wii!
Let's face it, Engadget needs a mascot that's not one of our dear, sweet readers all dolled up like some random device on Halloween. That's where you and your artistic talents come in: we want you to make us an Engadget mascot to appear on the site, on future t-shirts, and anywhere else you think an Engadget mascot might show up (think: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade -- just kidding). Just for fun we made Paul draw up that little guy to the right, Sonny the Explody Battery: "Stay safe, boys and girls!"For your efforts we'll repay you with a brand new Nintendo Wii, provided by the WMExperts store.Here are the rules (and some suggestions on how to win our favor): You may only enter this specific contest once, but you can enter it with as many mascot entries as you like. You can create a whole family of mascots, or just one. These have to be production quality. In other words, don't send us an outline or sketch you did on a napkin, or a 30-second MS Paint mockup. We want to see some effort! Suggestion: if you're only sending one mascot, try sending multiple poses. If you're sending a bunch of mascots and can't do multiple poses, send them in a pose that's easy to use for a variety of scenarios. Preferred in vector formats, but rasterized images are ok, too. Keep the mascot theme relevant! We don't have any need for a cartoon hippopotamus mascot, you know? Do not use trademarked or copyrighted materials. Note how our character's name is Sonny, not Sony? The grand prize (Wii, NTSC) is open to international entrants. Contest is open until 11:59pm EST on Sunday, May 6th. Send your entries to us at contest [AT] engadget.com. Make sure you put "MASCOT" in the title of your email. Attachments are cool. Thanks and good luck to everyone!
Nintendo and Sega execs talk about Sonic and Mario at the Olympics
In the spirit of Sonic and Mario uniting for a friendly sporting exhibition, N'Gai Croal brought Nintendo of America Vice President Perrin Kaplan and Sega of America President Simon Jeffery together, ushering in a new age of Sega and Nintendo Doing Stuff Together. In addition to the quite promising info that Shigeru Miyamoto is involved in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games "more ... than sort of the average game," there are some hilarious quotes from Kaplan, who seems to be euphoric in the extreme over the Sega-Nintendo collaboration. On why Mario gets top billing in the title: "He's Italian, he's really sexy, and he can get more women than Sonic." Depressingly, we have evidence to the contrary of that last point (said evidence is a Sonic 360/PS3 spoiler, so be warned ... in fact, be warned in general).
Chimp My Ride: new Ape Escape racer
(That, loyal readers, is the BEST headline EVAR created for PSP Fanboy. You can applaud my creative genius in the comments section below.)Anyways, it appears that Sony's branching out the Ape Escape series into the competitive mascot racing genre. While details are scarce, it appears that what separates this game from other mascot racers is that the monkeys don't drive go-karts... they ARE the go-karts. Maybe the development team was inspired by the upcoming Transformers movie, but this diagram should explain it all:Check out the official Japanese website to get more details and screenshots.[Via QJ]
