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EVE invites players back to try out Incursion
As anyone who follows EVE Online should know, Incursion, the 14th expansion to the game, will introduce new avatars. For many MMO players, the graphics-quality -- especially the quality of the player character -- is an enormous draw or repellent. CCP recognizes this, so it has offered something not many companies do. The developers would like former players to come back for five days to try out Incursion on the test server Singularity before the expansion is officially launched. Specifically, they would like you to try the character creator and the social media tools in EVE Gate. This morning many former EVE players received an email asking them to come back. If you had an active account between March 13th, 2009 and November 3rd, 2010, you may want to check the inbox attached to your EVE account, as you probably have an invite in there. Unfortunately, active and expired trial accounts don't count, but Steam is offering a the full downloadable game plus a 30-day subscription. To read more about the character creator, be sure to check out the developer blog, and while you're there, read up on EVE Gate and its mix of social media and gaming. With Incarna releasing next summer, Incursion is a the perfect opportunity to try out the precursor to walk-on stations -- today.
Steam-powered Batmobile choo choos to world record 140mph (updated with video)
We'll burst that bubble right quick and say it's not actually a Batmobile, but it sure reminds us of one. The British Steam Car Challenge might not have reached its original goal of 200mph, but it has finally succeeded in becoming the world's fastest boiler on wheels. We noted preparations for the world record attempt back in April and, somewhat surprisingly, all has gone to plan and pilot Charles Burnett III now has broken a 100 year old record to go with his flamboyant pair of spectacles. That's the Brits for you -- break records in the morning, have tea and crumpets in the afternoon. Update: We've got video now! See the rocket of steam after the break.
Steam-powered vehicle looks to scald world record
Sheesh -- what is it with UKers and their stupidly fast alternatively powered vehicles? Just days after Britain's own Richard Jenkins set a new world record by going 126MPH in a wind-powered vehicle, Charles Burnett III is gearing up to smash a record of his own in the contraption pictured above. Hailed as the planet's fastest kettle, this steam-powered automobile is currently being shipped to Southern California in order to blister the Mojave Desert and hopefully obliterate the current record of 127.659MPH. For the historians in the crowd, we needn't tell you that said record was set way back in 1906 by American Fred Marriott, but we won't be surprised in the least to see this honor head across the pond in late June. Lots more images and nitty-gritty details are positioned in the read link.[Thanks, Robert]
EVE's Quantum Rise on Steam at reduced price, 21-day trial
EVE Online's latest expansion Quantum Rise is here. We've written a fair amount on this expansion thus far, but it's primarily been a multi-staged release that introduces some new features and enhancements to benefit EVE's industry-focused players. We just noticed EVE Online's Quantum Rise pricing on Steam -- it's $9.99, down from Steam's already reduced $14.99; the initial cost when directly dealing with CCP Games is $19.99. Steam also offers a 21-day trial which trumps the standard 14-day trial you get from CCP Games. Based on these numbers, Steam certainly looks like a good way to go. However, none of us at Massively have ever gotten our MMOs via Steam to date. We're curious, have any of our readers done so, and were the the lower pricing and other perks worth going through Steam in your opinion?
The Parker Steam Synthesizer runs on steam, sounds like a theramin, Bjork wants
If synth rock was meant to go hand-in-hand with fantastic steampunk universes (and we really can't see why it wasn't), instruments would look something like the thing you see here. This is the Parker Steam Synthesizer, a steam-powered music synth that runs on water and some coal. Designer Lorin Edwin Parker controls steam pressure with a ball valve which activates a dynamo. The dynamo is a magnet motor attached to a flywheel that creates an alternating magnetic field which is then turned into electricity by an inductive pickup. That pickup is finally plugged into an amp and you have some trippy electro from a device that could have been around years ago. He says it will run for about 20 minutes on one tank of water, which, in our estimation, is just long enough for Bjork to hear it and add to her band's already-insane inventory. By the way, the Read link includes a .mov file so you can see this thing in action.[Via MusicRadar]
EVE Online sale on Steam, this weekend only
Steam is having a weekend sale which includes the sci-fi MMO EVE Online, now offered for $9.99. The Steam sale pricing ends on Monday, June 9th. If you're interested in giving EVE Online a go, then grab it on Steam now. That's not a bad way to burn $10 and 6 gigs of hard disk space, take it from a convert to the game. And of course you'll get the free Empyrean Age expansion that CCP Games is rolling out on June 11th. Check out Steam's EVE page -- where they're also offering a free 21-day trial -- and who knows, maybe we'll see you in the galaxy of New Eden soon. Just don't get too attached to that ship... Via Gaming Today
The steam powered internet machine
Ok, so we're not exactly certain how Apple will incorporate this feat into their next batch of "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" ads, but running an internet connected iMac off a steam engine is impressive, for lack of better words. Two Brits struggling for an artistic concept to connect the "industrial revolution to the digital revolution" somehow settled on this contraption, and have garnered a good bit of attention. The demand for the spectacle has become so large that the creators, Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, are touring through Kent and Margate over the next month to show off their machine; it can also be seen at the Turner Contemporary. Be sure to stop by if you can, because who knows when you'll next get to see a steam engine facilitate Engadget access.[Via Guardian]
RC Rover runs on steam, human fear
Mad scientist Steam-powered RC enthusiast I-Wei Huang, has posted yet another impressive creation over at his website, Crabfu. The six-wheeled RC Steam Rover was born of a decidedly retro-looking Cheddar Puffin engine and two Tamiya 4x4 chassis, using a mixture of butane and propane as fuel. The videos on his site suggest that it won't be breaking any land speed records, but we're still hoping it'll eventually play a part in protecting us from these little steam-powered robots, should they go all Skynet on us.[Via Makezine]
