mea-culpa
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Aventurine apologizes for Darkfall delay
Darkfall fans have good reason to be disgruntled at the news yesterday that Aventurine announced a major delay in the relaunch of the game. The studio has posted a brief explanation as to why the announcement cut it so close to the anticipated release date. "We want you to know that 55 people fought until the last minute to make that announcement unnecessary," Tasos Flambouras wrote. "This is not a matter of lack of respect towards the community; it's a matter of unfortunate timing." Flambouras apologized, saying that the delay allows his team "to do what's best for the game and for [its] players" and that Aventurine is not using Darkfall's transition onto Steam as an excuse.
CCP to EVE players: We've heard you, unprecedented development refocusing in the works
Significant change is afoot in EVE Online, and no, we're not just talking about the latest clothing item on the Noble Exchange or additional captain's quarters built on top of Incarna's foundation. A brief blog post on the official website indicates that CCP has taken the firestorm of criticism from long-time players over the last several months to heart. While it's not quite a mea culpa, CCP Zulu does say that the company has been engaging in an "extensive and intense introspection and revitalization. The result of this is a refocusing and reprioritization on a scale unheard of within our company." How extensive (and how intense)? That remains to be seen, of course, but the post points to the recent ship-spinning update and also goes a step further. "We are listening to you, we have heard you, and plans are already in motion," Zulu writes.
Sony announces line of SD memory cards -- no, really
We've heard rumors that Sony has some pretty interesting things in store for CES, but nothing that's hinted at anything like this shocker: Sony is producing a line of SD memory cards. Those will come in the form of both SD and mircoSD cards, the former of which run the gamut from 2GB to 32GB (all Class 4), while the latter will be available in 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB capacities. Is this the beginning of the end for Memory Stick? Not according to Sony, which assures us that the SD cards merely "complement" its existing Memory Stick line, and strengthen its position as a "full line media supplier." The folks at Sony don't even seem to have been able to bring themselves to show some pictures of the actual cards just yet, but you'll be able to see them for yourself when they roll out later this month, at prices ranging from $14.99 to $159.99.
About the 1st generation iPhone/push notification post: an apology
On Tuesday evening, in the leadup to the release of the iPhone 3.0 firmware update, TUAW ran a post that included wrong information. The post stated that first-generation iPhone owners would not be able to use the push notification feature of 3.0 and receive phone calls at the same time. This was incorrect with respect to the final 3.0 release. Although the post was well-intentioned, the conclusions stated came from a source who had experienced a conflict between push notifications and incoming calls while testing a beta push-enabled application, and the source did not adequately confirm the issue with other iPhone developers or other push-enabled applications. Furthermore, the technical information in the post about how push notification works was not accurate. As editors, we can blame the lateness of the hour and the excitement over the iPhone 3.0 OS release on not catching the mistakes pre-publication, but in truth, we made an error in judgement. Based on our confidence in the source, we didn't assign the same level of scrutiny to the post that our readers have come to expect (and that we have come to expect for ourselves), and for that we are sorry. Had the post been framed differently as "one user's story" rather than as a blanket technical explanation, that would have been a better choice; however, due to the NDA status of participants in the iPhone developer program, it was not possible to directly credit the source at that time; the 3.0 firmware had not yet been released.Although we amended the post as soon as the mistake was realized and removed it from the front page within minutes, the nature of the Internet means that this misinformation is hard to erase. Our editorial policy dictates that we not "unpublish" or delete posts, once they appear on the site. Still, even removed from our front page, and even with our editor's note atop the post, we are aware that the post continues to be a point of confusion for readers.TUAW's bloggers and editors strive to provide accurate information and to clearly distinguish conjecture or rumor from fact. In this instance, we got it wrong. We are truly sorry for this situation. We understand that it reflects poorly on us as a site, to readers and to the community at large. As a result, we have strengthened our editorial resolve to do more vigorous checking of the technical details of posts, so that this sort of misinformation does not get published in the future.As always, thank you for reading TUAW. Without your support, we wouldn't be here, and we are very much aware how important our credibility is to your continued readership and participation.We look forward to continuing the conversation on this issue and responding to your questions and concerns. While comments on the initial post are closed, we welcome your feedback in comments here, via our tips line and on Twitter and Facebook.
Takahashi apologizes for Mass Effect review
Mercury News reporter Dean Takahashi has quite publicly apologized for his negative and unfair review of Mass Effect. Takahashi's mea culpa reveals that he rushed into (and through) the early levels of the game without taking the time to learn the rules. BioWare can also be faulted for its lack of explanation in teaching the uninitiated the finer points gameplay.The lengthy apology clearly highlights issues we've heard about and experienced in Mass Effect over and over again. Some simple thoughts to enjoy Mass Effect: Take your time and be sure to make time, it is an RPG after all and not a rushed experience. Hopefully for the sequel they'll fix blatantly ridiculous things like the inventory system, inability to run around the Citadel, and the slowest elevators in intergalactic history -- the title sure sold enough to warrant future installments.
