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Google provides 911 call centers with more accurate location data
Google is providing 911 operators with more accurate location information from callers using Android phones. The company has partnered with T-Mobile and emergency technology companies RapidSOS and West to send location data from its Emergency Location Service to 911 call centers when an Android user places an emergency call. For T-Mobile customers, that information will be sent via the carrier and when call centers use RapidSOS, Google's location data will be sent through the emergency technology company. In the US Virgin Islands, Google has integrated this technology in partnership with West.
Facebook, Box and Pinterest want to mentor young women in tech
You won't see as many women as there are men when you walk down the halls of tech company HQs -- not even eBay's, which has one of the most diverse workplaces in the industry. In an effort to change that and promote gender diversity, Facebook, Box and Pinterest have launched a mentorship program called Women Entering and Staying in Tech or WEST, for short. It puts interns and up-and-coming professionals in several one-on-one and group meetings with women holding technical roles in the three companies over the course of a year. These meet-ups will happen both in person and online, but for now, the program will focus on engineering, operations, product, design and web development roles, in particular.
Dragon Quest 4 confirmed for Western mobiles
Square Enix unveiled Dragon Quest 4 as part of its line-up for the upcoming Gamescom conference, confirming the mobile port for a Western release. The Enix RPG, which first came to North America as Dragon Warrior 4 back in 1992, will be the series' second entry to reach international mobiles after Dragon Quest 8 back in May. No surprises but the mobile port is based on the 2008 DS version rather than the NES original. As for the other upcoming games in Square Enix's line-up, Gamescom attendees can try out Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Kindgom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix, and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call. The publisher will also be showing Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, Nosgoth and Dragon Quest 8 - again, no surprises, but no sign of Kingdom Hearts 3 or Final Fantasy 15 in the line-up. This year's Gamescom conference begins on August 13, and we'll be there in Germany to cover all the major goings-on, including all the latest Kölsch stats. [Image: Square Enix]
Free for All: The West: The most realistic fantasy MMO yet
There's something distinctly unfair about being an American fantasy fan. If you enjoy all of the movies or run around in all of the wonderful fantasy landscapes you'll quickly notice how un-American the inhabitants are. Sure, monsters or knights in a fantasy MMO don't really belong to any one nationality or time, but they are more likely to sound like they're from England rather than Long Island. It's not fair. What do Americans have in their past that is anything as cool as knights and swords? Actually, we've had some pretty cool stuff over here as well. And, if you think about it, a lot of it is pretty much like a more recent middle ages... sort of. The thought sunk in as I was looking at Salem, a hardcore free-for-all PvP MMO by Paradox Interactive. Then the thought really sunk in when I recently fell in love with The West by Innogames, a German publisher. America has a very primitive, and recent, past that had to feel a lot like a time of magic and wonder to those who were in it. Why aren't we seeing more Western MMOs or games set in the time of the founding of our country?
The Soapbox: Meeting the 'Asian gamer' stereotype on common ground
I originally thought I would craft this Soapbox to discuss the differences between Western and Eastern gamers. But in my research, I ended up noticing the differences and the similarities between the two gaming cultures -- in fact, the similarities were more prominent. Yes, there are gamers who game in stereotypical ways; there are gamers from China, Korea, and Japan who are stereotypically "Asian." But Westerners can behave as stereotypes as well. The good news is that we're all blending together.
Phantasy Star Online 2 coming to NA and EU early next year [update: it's official!]
Looking forward to getting your grubby mitts on some hot Phantasy Star Online 2 action? Those in the west may have to be patient, but there's now a finish line in sight: Sega announced that PSO2 will hit North America and Europe in early 2013. According to the PR, producer Satoshi Sakai says that the wait will be worth it: "The number one thing we want to provide players in Phantasy Star Online 2 is an adventure that changes every time they log in. Just as great table-top RPG experiences revolve around imaginative and unexpected encounters, we want players to consistently be surprised as they explore dungeons and undertake quests." Phantasy Star Online 2 launched in Japan this past week. [Thanks to Tom for the tip!]
TERA's Korean version influenced by Western feedback
While we're still impatiently drumming our fingers waiting for TERA to release in the West, it turns out that our feedback is causing real change in the game's live Korean edition. According to a forum post by Producer Chris Hager, Bluehole Studio has taken several suggestions passed along by En Masse and is incorporating them into the live version of the game. Hager says that this is "just a taste" of how the two developers are interacting and collaborating. On November 24th, the next big Korean update will hit the servers, and with it come the implemented suggestions from En Masse's fans. This update will include a dungeon finder system, rest XP, group XP bonuses, modified PvP rules, a guild battle system, and "more skill diversity through new master Glyphs." Oh, and there will be the ability to sit because roleplayers would be lost otherwise. "This is a very exciting time for us as we are starting to see what true collaboration looks like," Hager writes, "and it also shows that you guys do carry a voice with us. The best part is that there is more to come."
Free for All: The difference between East and West
Like many gamers, I find myself going through stages of obsession. Once in a while, I'll get on a PvP kick, followed by having a thing for immersion, then I'll be consumed by running dungeons or grinding. Lately I have been investigating older Western MMOs, games like Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, and EverQuest. While I have already played all of these titles at one time or another, they can become different games between visits. This recent kick of mine started me thinking about the first free-to-play MMOs I enjoyed, as well. The first one was either Flyff or Rose Online, around six or so years ago. I've chatted with a developer who used to work on Flyff, and she claimed that those were some of the very first free-to-plays to see success in North America. What are the differences between the two, Western and Eastern? Is there a difference? If there were, are there still differences between Eastern free-to-play games and Western games? Click past the cut and we'll take a look.
Optical illusion lets you safely run over fake children
Traffic: it's one of our least favorite things in the universe, especially when it's caused by rubbernecking. A Canadian organization called Preventable has taken a bizarrely proactive twist on the motorist's compulsion to stare at accidents by putting the "accident" in front of the car. Drivers on 22nd Street in West Vancouver approach a large decal on the road that takes on the image of a little girl chasing a ball -- it becomes realistic-looking about 100 feet out -- hopefully causing them to be so weirded out that they slow down and think about it for a second. Of course, it's hard to tell whether this will do more good than harm in practice (also see: Road SMS), so the decal is just in place for one week as officials observe changes in driver behavior around the little lady. Check out a test drive after the break.
Apple shifts focus from sales to quality in China
There was quite a bit of discussion from Apple yesterday about their sales in China (you can see that in our liveblog from yesterday afternoon), and AppleInsider points out that Apple is changing priorities over there, from straight up sales to brand quality. Tim Cook said yesterday that Apple has activated more than 200,000 iPhones since the release in China last year, and only in relation to the iPhone can anyone think that number could have been better. Apple is behind the pack in China -- there are a significant number of competitors over there, and unlike the market in the West, multifunctional smartphones have been popular for a long time already. But Apple recognizes the potential overseas, and Cook says the company does "...realize we must do well in these markets to continue to grow." What changes can they make? Price for one -- Apple says that as a premium brand, they're going to have to tweak a little bit to fit into the lower-income middle class in China while still competing on user experience. Apple didn't say that they weren't happy with what's happening in China, but compared to other countries in Asia (Japan came out of last quarter with a 400% year-over-year growth), Apple has a little more work to do there.
NCsoft aims to bridge the East-West divide with Aion
Stereotypes and ingrained perceptions can be frustrating to deal with, but let's face it -- some stereotypes do exist for a reason, and this can certainly apply to games as much as to anything else. There have been no small amount of Asian import MMOs that have been localized poorly for the western market, and this has certainly left a bad taste in gamers' mouths. Localization is a major challenge for any developer, and there's a rather wide chasm between what makes a game popular in an Asian market like Korea and what players embrace in the west. The westward-bound MMO that many people are focusing on right now is Aion, from NCsoft. The westernization of Aion is the subject of another solid interview at The MMO Gamer by Steven Crews, who sat down with Aion producer Brian "Xaen" Knox, the person largely responsible for NC West's localization of this title. Knox talks about what he sees as being the best aspects of both East and West in terms of game development, and how some western influences on Aion's design have actually proven to be successful in Korea. It's a fairly in-depth interview and hits on a number of Knox's ideas about how a game can begin to bridge the game culture divide between East and West, seen in the context of Aion. Check it out over at The MMO Gamer.
Koei-Tecmo focusing on the West, not Japan
Swine Flu may be keeping Koei-Tecmo (well, really just the Koei side) from heading to E3 next month, but it won't keep the company away from North America forever. In fact, Koei-Tecmo plans to have a stronger presence in the West, shifting its focus onto more original, Western-aimed IP. "Our expansion into the Western market is the most important part of our mid-term plan," Koei CEO Kenji Matsubara told MCVUK, citing the yearly decline of the Japanese market as a major factor.Koei's Canadian studio in Toronto will receive the bulk of the workload on these new IPs -- which means the strictly-Japanese work ethics currently at the studio will probably have to go. Hopefully though, it won't get rid of all its ethics.
Rockstar goes west with Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar San Diego is kicking the dirt off its boots and returning to the American west with Red Dead Redemption. Developed using Rockstar's proprietary RAGE engine, the sequel to 2004's Red Dead Revolver promises an open-world complete with "strong plotlines in a massive vibrant, rural environment" when it pulls into town this fall for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Few gameplay details have been revealed regarding the upcoming title, which looks to cast players not in the role of Revolver's bounty hunter lead Red Halow, but instead a former outlaw named John Marston during the turn of the 20th century. Open world. A bad guy turned good. Just throw in Miss Kitty and her band of hookers and we're all set for GTA in the Wild West. Yee haw!%Gallery-43816%
Western MMO fan plays Eastern MMO, gets disoriented
There's an article over at The Escapist that tells the story of a hardcore Western-style MMO player who tries out an Eastern-style MMO and experiences a bit of culture shock. The article is written by WarCry Senior Editor John Funk.The game he tries to play is Mabinogi (of which we've published our own first impressions), and he dedicates himself to playing it for one week. During that week, he plays it for a total of 30 hours. That means he played the same game four and a half hours a day for seven days straight. We're not sure there are many games Western, Eastern, or otherwise that can stand up in that kind of intensity but he weathers through it! Comedy occurs as he struggles to understand random owl visits and perplexing user-interface functionality.At first it seems like the article is asking if the game mechanics of an Eastern MMO are destined to be completely lost in translation for Western players, but in the end Funk cops out into another direction. Still, it's humorous and occasionally almost insightful, so check it out if the topic interests you.
First WWDC 2007 pictures
RoughlyDrafted has posted the first pictures of posters up at WWDC 2007-- the event of course doesn't start until Monday, but Apple is already starting to plaster the Moscone Center West with tasty morsels of what we might see there next week. As you can see, it looks like Leopard is not surprisingly going to take center stage-- the long banner in the pic above specifically references Time Machine (there's even a little logo just left of the star).Unfortunately, there's no reference to any of the "secret features"-- MacOSXHints rounded up a good poll of what we might see there. Since I wasn't around to make predictions the other day, I'll drop one right now: like Gruber, I think Leopard will be beautifully resolution independent. Yeah, I know, not too far out on the limb, but I just got here, so I'm playing it safe.Update: Commenter iwit helpfully points out a flickr page with even more shots.%Gallery-3780%
Majesco to release The Wild West
"This town isn't big enough for two screens ..." No, that doesn't work. We'll have to find another Old West cliche. Oh, oh, we got it: "There's a new stylus in town." Yes, that one works nicely.Majesco announced today that they're releasing Happy Happening's The Wild West this summer at the budget price of $19.99. We don't have any screens, but the press release describes shootouts using the touch screen, two animal characters with separate storylines, and, of course, a spate of minigames.We quite like the idea of DS quick-drawing, but we aren't sure about the animal characters. We're just going to assume that by "animal" they mean "unbelievably rugged Wild West dude."[Via GoNintendo]
K.K. Slider featured on new Pet Shop Boys single?
UK Dance guys Pet Shop Boys apparently have a great appreciation for Animal Crossing's musical K-9 K.K. Slider. See, one of our fine readers recently noticed a bit of similarity in a song sung by the Boys and one performed on Saturday night by K.K. Slider. In his online blog, mrdiscopop posts segments comparing the two, which honestly do sound somewhat similar. If the band's name is unfamiliar, you've probably heard their hit West End Girls.[Thanks Mark!]
