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Western Union debuts WUPay digital platform, misses the point of convenience entirely
Modernization's not for everyone -- just take a look at Western Union. That 19th century institution's finally getting its virtual act together, introducing a new digital payments platform today, dubbed WU Pay, that sadly does not involve laundering dough through the late, great ODB's hip hop clan. No, this forward-facing system, built upon its eBillme acquisition, takes a backwards approach, eschewing direct payment options for something more circuitous. Customers that opt-in for the service at checkout from any number of partnered merchants, like Kmart or Sears, won't have to link to their credit card accounts or even offer up any financial info. Instead, once the item is purchased, they'll receive a bill via email that can then be paid online or at one of the company's brick-and-mortar sites. Sound unnecessary to you? We sure agree. Now if only this innovation involved Marty McFly and Jason Alexander personally delivering those funds -- that's a service overhaul we can get behind. Check out the PR after the break.
Mattel's hoverboard keeps McFly planted on terra firma, away from water
There's no need to worry: your eyes aren't deceiving you, and the year most certainly isn't 2015. Still, that isn't stopping Mattel from teasing the iconic hoverboard at the New York Toy Fair. First made famous by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II, the product became something of Hollywood lore when the movie's director, Robert Zemeckis, insisted the contraption was real. While the claim later proved to be a prank, the desire for a genuine hoverboard has lived on. Now, following in the footsteps of McFly's MAG shoes from Nike, Mattel suggests it'll begin accepting preorders for the hoverboard replica next month. While the toy doesn't actually fly (but rather glides), it's said to emit a whooshing sound so that riders can pretend they're surfing through the air. Should Mattel solicit enough interest, the product will ship by year's end -- otherwise the company will merely scrap the idea and return to churning out Barbies.
Back to the Future Ep. 1 free on iPad, other episodes on sale for a limited time
Life could always use more adventure, more wacky scientist sidekicks, dogs with awesome names and reluctant yet plucky heroes. And life could definitely use more time travel. If you feel the same way, a new Telltale promotion may interest you.Back to the Future Episode 1 on the iPad is available for download right now, free of charge. Back in October, the iPad versions of Back to the Future received substantial updates addressing graphics and bug issues. All subsequent episodes have also had their price reduced in light of this new promotion, dropping episode 2 through 5 to $2.99 each for a limited time.
PSN's best selling games of 2011 list dominated by games not from 2011
We're practically knee deep in 2012 at this point, and yet 2011 still refuses to give up the limelight, dropping financial data and sales reports on its way out the door in a desperate final attempt at relevance. So here we are, with a list of 2011's top sellers on the PlayStation Network ... and we've got two lists dominated by one game from 1985, and one from 2010.Speaking only in terms of full games, not "paid downloads" (like DLC packs for Black Ops) and PS Minis, the list is a hodgepodge of nostalgia-fueled favorites from yesteryear (like Tetris in its curiously lofty number one spot), and digitally distributed future-classics like Castle Crashers and Limbo, which ranked in at six and seven respectively. There's on important thread tying those together: none of those games launched in 2011.When all digital sales are taken into account, however, the list becomes an entirely different beast, and the only actual game present within the top 10 is Angry Birds, of all things (a PS Mini). In fact, the three best-selling anythings on the PlayStation Network in 2011 were Black Ops DLC packs, followed closely by a cavalcade of FIFA Soccer 12 and MLB 11 sundries. At least the DLC came out in 2011! Hop past the break for the full breakdown of both lists, care of Game Informer.
DeLorean DMC-12 EV eyes-on at CES (update: video of its show floor exit)
This isn't the first time that the DMC-12 DeLorean EV has graced Engadget's pages, and we feel certain it won't be the last. However, we know how much you love Doc Brown's ride, and when we saw it on the show floor we had to snap some pics for your viewing pleasure. So head on down to the gallery below to see the electrified version of Hill Valley's most famous whip inside and out.Dante Cesa contributed to this report.Update: And now we've got a video of the DeLorean leaving the show floor. Check it out after the break. Thanks, Angel.
PSN Tuesday: NFL Blitz, TNT Racers and Darksiders
As we inch closer to the biggest commercial showcase NFL game of the year, fans of pigskin ovals can whet their appetites for the big day with NFL Blitz, which brings nostalgic arcade goodness to PSN. Last year's cartoonish, over-the-top XBLA racer TNT Racers also makes its PlayStation debut today, just 11 months after the port was originally announced for the first quarter of 2011. Speaking of games from a long time ago, Darksiders is now available as well, as are DLC packs for Resistance 3 and Apples to Apples. If you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, this month's free swag includes the complete Back to the Future series as well as the first three Syphon Filter games. Hit the source link for a complete list of everything happening this week.
Steam Autumn Sale: Deus Ex, Dead Island half off
Investing in ostentatious sword-arms is a lot easier today, with Steam chopping 50 percent off the price of Deus Ex: Human Revolution in its Autumn Sale. That lowers it to $24.99, alongside The Missing Link DLC -- also discounted to $7.49. Dead Island receives its own dramatic reversal in price ($24.99), as does Telltale's Back to the Future series ($9.99). The Serious Sam HD double pack is quite the temptation at $2.99, but we've vowed to do something more constructive this weekend. Why not administer intravenous therapy to an ailing patrician for $6.79?
Electric DeLorean DMC-12 prototype goes round and round (and round) in test drive video
It's already clear that you're selling everything you own in an effort to purchase a 2013 DeLorean DMC-12 EV (and in turn, apply for a home tax deduction when you begin to live out of it), but what hasn't been clear is exactly how it'd perform on the wide open road. Truthfully, we still aren't entirely certain of that, but thanks to a raucous new video of a prototype on the track, we do know that it looks like the most (PG) fun you can have while sitting atop four wheels. We aren't going to hold you here any longer -- hop on past the break and mash play. 60mph in 4.9. 88mph in however long you want.
Great Scott! Back to the Future for $10 on Steam
It appears our timeline has been skewed, as Steam is currently offering the first season of Back to the Future for only $10. It's not clear what caused this temporal shift, though Steam plans to correct it (i.e. the sale will end) this Thursday at 4pm specific. We assume lightning will be involved.
DeLorean DMC-12 EV announced for 2013 production, Doc Brown's whip gets real... electric
An electric-powered, production DeLorean? Believe it. It's in part thanks to the eponymously dubbed DeLorean Motor Company of Texas (not to be confused with long defunct DMC), which is known for its modernized restorations of the famed auto -- using original parts with slight modifications incorporating newer accoutrement. The automaker took to its blog this weekend announcing a partnership with Epic EV to make this "all-electric" DMC-12 a reality. Your Houston News reports that it's rated for 260 horsepower with a maximum speed of 125MPH -- although, we all know there's no need to go past 88MPH. It's expected to cost about six-figures, which sadly won't include a Flux Capacitor, but you could always run the app for that with its in-console iPhone holster. The DMC-12 EV is set to be released in 2013, and should be an excellent match for anyone who secured some of those Marty McFly-approved Nike Air Mags a few weeks ago. You'll find full details in the links below.
The Perfect Ten: Excuses for ditching a dungeon run (from least to most insane)
I never knew I suffered from narcolepsy before I started playing MMOs, but it only took a few late-night dungeon-runs before I started to experience extremely rapid transitions between being an active member of my team and snoring somewhere in the vicinity of the WASD keys. I'm not saying that all dungeons are boring or anything, but rather that when you start one, you've kind of committed to seeing it through (unless you're the jerk who always teams up with me through the LFG tool). Unfortunately, that means you're locked into an unknowable span of time during which narcolepsy, hunger, and brilliant flashes of insight about how to cure Chronic Giggling Syndrome (CGS) can strike. What can you do? Usually, nothing other than to suffer through the slow plodding of your four other ball-and-chains and start burning small sacrifices to your deity of choice in hopes that this run will end soon. Or you can pull out an excuse and get out of Dodge. I'm not saying you should use these every night -- you will build up a very negative reputation, quickly, if you do so -- but sometimes you just need an escape hatch so you can go sleep, eat or call the CGS laboratories in Albuquerque. That's what I'm here to help you with today by providing 10 tested excuses to ditching that disastrous dungeon run and getting on with your life.
Prototype magic carpet uses electrified threads to 'fly,' Aladdin pre-orders (video)
If you spent your childhood longing to fly, you're not alone -- and one Princeton grad may have come one step closer to making it a reality with a prototype magic carpet. Ok, it's not actually a rug of the magical variety, but a 4-inch piece of plastic electrified by tiny conducting threads. It works as such: by applying a current to the sheet, tiny air pockets form underneath, propelling it forward one centimeter a second. Since it requires air pockets to move forward, the carpet must stay close to the ground -- making it more like Marty McFly's hoverboard than Aladdin's preferred mode of transportation. Better yet, the inventor has plans for a solar powered version, which would free the carpet from heavy battery constraints and allow it to travel freely over larger distances. Check out the video and source after the break for more deets.
All Back to the Future episodes updated on iPad, on sale
It's time to go back, Marty: Back to the Back to the Future. That is to say, if you were unsatisfied with how the time-traveling trilogy's adventure game adaptation performed on your iPad, it's time to give them a second shot. An update has launched for all five episodes of the game, improving performance, graphics and squashing a few bugs. Which is fortunate, because when traveling through time in a 30-year-old automobile, you want the experience to be as bug-free as possible. Also, each episode of the series has been marked down to $2.99 until September 30, if, by chance, you'd like to dip your toes into the game's recently updated waters. Of course, all the diehard fans will lord over you their war stories from the pre-patch days, when Doc Brown had three arms, and Marty spoke in backwards Esperanto.
Here's what you get in Back to the Future: Deluxe Edition
So, you want to buy us a pair of Back to the Future Nikes but can't afford them. While we appreciate the sentiment, our love, frankly, won't buy itself. Luckily, we'd also accept the Back to the Future Deluxe Edition that Telltale's showing off in the video above. This time. This time.
Nike unveils the 2011 MAG shoe, to auction off 1500 pairs of the coolest kicks in Hill Valley for charity
You remember the first time you saw Back to the Future II, don't you? We all dreamed of a world filled with hoverboards and self-lacing shoes, and now Nike's made the latter a reality... sort of. Marty McFly's favorite high tops are now called the 2011 Nike MAGs and look just like the kicks in the movie, though it appears that you'll have to lace 'em up the old-fashioned way. They'll only be on sale during a ten-day period starting tonight at 8:30PM Pacific Standard Time, and no amount of flux-capacitation can score you a pair if you miss that window. 150 sets of shoes will be auctioned on eBay's Fashion Vault each day (sorry, US bidders only), and all the net proceeds will go to The Michael J. Fox Foundation to further Parkinson's research. Not only that, all the money made will be doubled through matching contributions. Nice job, Nike, now about those hoverboards...
Nike teases Back to the Future shoes, creepily leaks the contents of Marty McFly's closet (video)
What's this? Nike is rounding up shoe-nerds (and Back to the Future fans) to taunt them with futuristic metal shield glasses, 1980s candy, and a personal messages from Doc Brown? Could this shoe-filled YouTube tease (uploaded by DocEmmettBrown88) mean that Nike is bringing nerdom's coolest kicks back from the future? Probably. After all, you don't patent power-laces just to make a normal shoe, do you? [Thanks, Rob]
First Back to the Future episode free for a limited time on PSN
If your PC or Macintosh gaming rig isn't beefy enough to handle the raw, hardware-hogging power of the Back to the Future adventure games, you haven't been able to indulge in the free first episode Telltale's been offering for some time. As of today, however, you can: We bought you a new computer! Just look at its whirring engines and e-chips, all waiting for you to fill them with all the terabytes of gaming software you can get your hands on. Punk'd! You were totally Punk'd, just then. We didn't buy you a computer. But you can download the entire first episode for free on your PS3 from now until September 27. Go grab it from the PlayStation Store before it disappears -- much like Punk'd has disappeared from the cultural hearts and minds of America. God, we miss Punk'd.
Back to the Future goes retail as Telltale becomes PS3, Wii publisher
Taking a cue from the subject matter of Back to the Future: The Game, Telltale and Sony are going to begin selling the episodic adventure game in an old-fashioned manner: boxed copies in stores. Telltale has 'expanded' its publishing agreement with Sony to include retail games, the first of which will be Back to the Future. The disc version will be released this October, at the same $19.99 price point as the digital version. The agreement isn't exclusive to Back to the Future; Telltale now has the option to publish retail versions of any of its PSN games. To date, that includes Puzzle Agent, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Tales of Monkey Island, and Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse. GamePro reports that Telltale has also signed on as a Wii retail publisher, also planning a retail version of Back to the Future this October for the same price. Previous Wii retail games from the developer, including Sam & Max seasons one and two, were published by other companies.
PSN Summer Sale drops prices on Scott Pilgrim, Pac-Man CE DX, and more next week
If your PlayStation Plus membership is still active next week, you'll be privy to some deep, deep discounts between July 12 and July 19 thanks to Sony's PSN Summer Sale. If your membership has lapsed, you'll still get discounts, but only one "deep" worth. Sony announced the 11 games that will form the basis of the sale, including Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shank, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, Chime Super Deluxe, the Move-enhanced port of Dead Space: Extraction, and more. Plus members will save 50% off the normal price, while everyone else will grab a nice 30% discount. Check out the full list after the break. If you see anything you like, we suggest going and purchasing a PSN card to pay for it, on account of ... recent events.
Michael J. Fox comes back to Back to the Future for finale
For the final episode of the Back to the Future game series, Telltale Games has brought in an even better Michael J. Fox impersonator than series star A.J. LoCascio: Michael J. Fox himself. GameTrailers TV posted a brief clip of Episode 5: OUTATIME, in which Fox plays one of Marty McFly's ancestors. Here's what we know about the character so far: he has a truck. To see the clip for yourself, skip time travel to about 5:40 in the latest episode of GTTV, which we've embedded after the break for your convenience. According to the show, OUTATIME will be out (on time) on June 23.
