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Can VR help to reduce police shootings?
VR is already used to help juries understand crime scenes, so it's no surprise it could also be used to better educate police officers. That's the idea behind BEST, a VR police training simulator that's been built to try and reduce police-related violence. The company's Jed Merrill explained that on average, in 2016, close to 2.6 people are shot by officers every single day. His hope is that, with more immersive training, those incidents can be avoided.
The best of Massively's MMO Family column
While young children aren't Massively's target demographic, we frequently encounter MMOs that appeal to kids as well as MMO gamers with kids. That's why we ran the MMO Family column for over four years. Helmed first by Lisa Poisso and then Karen Bryan, the column reviewed kid-friendly games and offered advice and insight on how to survive as the parent of budding MMO gamers. Enjoy our picks for the very best of their collected work in MMO Family.
The year in reviews: 2013's best and worst gadgets scored and scrutinized
Fun fact: Engadget reviewed 176 products in 2013, and that's not even counting the umpteen times we got hands-on with stuff at tradeshows and press events. In general, we try to review just the top-tier gadgets, but even then, some of it ends up being forgettable. (Can you name-check everything we tested from memory? We can't.) So, as the year draws to a close, we're taking a look back at the last 12 months of reviews, and this time, we're including only the products you'd have no trouble remembering. Across every category, we've noted the flagships everyone coveted -- along with the duds that could've been so much better. Oh, and you might notice that we included some numbered scores throughout. That's right; Engadget is bringing back numerical ratings, and they'll follow the same format as the critic score gdgt has already been using for years. Which is to say, each rating takes into account various criteria for a given product category -- things like battery life and portability. Wanna see how your favorite gadgets did? Meet us after the break for a walk down memory lane.
Massively's top 10 MMO blogs of 2010
Believe it or not, Massively isn't the only MMO blog out there. I know, you're as surprised as we are, right? While we do spend most of our day obsessing about our own site, we also spend a great deal of time reading the writings of others. I often find myself turned off by straight journalism that seems dry or fabricated for the sake of traffic numbers, and attracted to the more personal and opinionated style of blogging. As far as I know, these are all volunteer, unpaid writing positions, which means they do it for the love of the subject matter. I certainly respect that. Many of the writers I've hired here on Massively are bloggers I've read for months or years. So what better way to spotlight our favorites than by making a Top 10 list about them? Follow along after the jump, where we'll tell you to leave this site to go look at a bunch of other sites. Just don't tell our ad department!
CNet review of the Panasonic TC-P65VT25, "it's the best 2D TV we've ever tested"
When it comes to TV reviews, we have to give a nod to CNet and its David Katzmaier for being one of the best around; so when he says it is the best TV he's ever tested, we officially want one. The new Panasonic VT25 line didn't rule every category though, and of course there are concerns that the black levels will prematurely degrade like last year's -- CNet intends to continuously test the VT25 to keep Panasonic honest. Now we know you're wondering about how it compares to the legendary Kuro and while it lit up the light meeter at a crazy low .004 ftl, the PRO-111FD Kuro is still the winner at .001 ftl -- interestingly the similarly speced G20 line only managed .007 ftl. Whether this difference is noticeable at home is up for debate, but Kuro still reigns king as far as the light black meter is concerned. Also of note is the fact that while LED backlit LCDs can also get down real far on the meter, the inconsistency across the screen pretty much makes it a moot point. While we're comparing to LCDs; according to CNet, the 55-inch Samsung C8000 costs about $35 less a year to operate than the 50-inch VT25, and while the anti-glare screen on the Panny is more effective at reducing reflections than the Samsung LCDs, it didn't preserve the black levels as well. It was also discovered that the 96hz mode, unique to the VT25 line, produced flicker free motion with 24p content, which is a must have for movie buffs. And what about 3D? Well just like Consumer reports and many others, CNet agrees that the VT25 is the best 3DTV yet, and although it does show some signs of ghosting on 3D content, it is noticeably less than Samsung 3DTVs.
Massively's Best of E3 2010
E3 2010 has wrapped up and we're still recovering a bit from the shiny overload that's bombarded us for the event's long three days. While many MMO development studios and publishers weren't in attendance (NCsoft, Funcom, CCP, Mythic, etc), there was still a significant presence for MMOs this year. Whether through demos or hands-on play, we spent time with each and every MMO on the show floor this year. So we wanted to honor the best of the best in our annual E3 awards which focus on MMO-related topics only. Follow along after the jump to see what tickled our fancy.
The Daily Grind: What are the highs and lows of your MMO history?
For all the hubbub that people like to make about MMORPGs being stale, predictable affairs where little changes from day to day, history tends to judge that as a lie. The truth is that the growing nature of the game worlds, coupled with our varying perspectives and our developing online social relationships means that our experiences in MMOs change with time. We have good days and bad, highs and lows, excitement and drudgery -- much like real life, as a matter of fact. Today we're all about balance -- we want to hear what was your greatest MMO experience as well as the worst. What MMO accomplishment, session or even first impressions made you hug your computer with glee? On the flip side, what caused you to throw your keyboard across the room in frustration, scream into Vent or /ragequit? What was your thrill of victory and your agony of defeat?
How to make $150 million in a day
Seth Godin has a great post up that serves as a good capper on what may have been Apple's best product launch ever. He puts the money made by Apple last Saturday morning at around $150 million, and even if that's not exactly right, I have to say that having been through a few Apple launches now, I think the iPad's launch was the smoothest and easiest opening I've seen -- for all of the complaints and problems people who haven't bought an iPad seem to have, those who did buy one on Saturday seemed happy to me. So how did Apple pull it all off? As Godin says, they started years ago. Apple is one of the only companies in the world with not only the power to set up limits on access on a device this big, but also keep a rabid fanbase hyped and waiting. Apple has created an image designed exactly for releasing products like this, with the secrecy and speculation and announcement events, and so on. And the company has backed up that image with pristine engineering and design -- as Godin says, rather than be everything to everyone, it promised a few things to a certain group of people (the iPad can't do Flash or multitask or take pictures), and then delivered (but it can do the things it does really, really well). And perhaps most importantly, when launch time came around, Apple's management didn't focus on "launching," they focused on simply getting the product into customers' hands. The iPhone had all kinds of issues with setup and purchasing and activating and so on, but Apple went out of its way during the iPad launch to make sure customers had the iPad when they were supposed to --waived shipping fees, plenty of inventory in stores, and a push for delivery at exactly the right time. That's how you make $150 million in a day: Promise what you'll deliver, and deliver what you'll promise.
The Daily Grind: What game has the best /dances?
There are tons of MMOs out there with /dance moves in them. Don't believe us? Search "mmo dance" on YouTube and you'll get an idea of all the various different ones out there. Sometimes they're easy to source, like all of the ones in World of Warcraft. Other times, they seem to have gone off and done their own thing, as perhaps with the video above from Aion. With that said, some games do /dancing better than others - at least according to players. This morning we thought we'd ask you - which game do you think has the absolute best /dance emotes? Which has the absolute worst? If there are several different dances your character can do like City of Heroes and even Fallen Earth, which one is your absolute favorite? Alternately, if you can't decide, feel free to list all your favorites in the comments below!
Breakfast Topic: Your best instance run ever
I love instances. They're far and above my favorite part of the game -- I'm definitely a co-op PvE kind of player, and PvE instances are, to me, what's really great about MMOs: a group of players can sit down, and in an hour or a few hours, take down dragons, kill some monsters, and nab some epic loot.And of course I've had lots of bad instance runs. But today we're not talking about good or bad -- we're talking about the best. What's the best instance run you've ever done? If "best" can be described by how much loot you get, then a recent Naxx run probably meets the criteria for me, as by the time we'd toppled Kel'thuzad as a raid, my Hunter had picked up at least four epic upgrades (and gained probably a good thousand DPS along with those). If "best" means most fun, I can think of some old UBRS runs back in the day in which every single one of us knew the instance and each other so well that we weren't so much fighting bad guys as just hanging out and telling jokes while picking up loot.If "best" means most exciting, then I have to think back to BlizzCon a few years ago, where we got our first hands-on of Wrath of the Lich King. I went into Utgarde Keep for the first time ever with a few guys from the press room, and though we only made it to the first boss (and I don't think we even beat him), I was just so fascinated by all of the new stuff we were seeing, my first look at the Vykrul and the huge Forge in the entryway there. So "best" can mean anything -- what's your best instance run?
Ask Engadget HD: What's the best large LCD (42-inches and up) for the buck?
It looks like the time is right to pick up some the best HDTVs 2008 had to offer on the cheap and Louis has the same question as most of us, which one to pick? "My old CRT is on its last legs and I've decided my next HDTV is an LCD for my TV watching and Blu-ray needs, but with all the options I'm having trouble telling the difference. I'm not worried about any extra features unless they affect picture quality, and I want to go bigger than my last (40-inch) TV. Samsung, Sharp, Sony or ?????? -- which one should I be checking the sales pages for?" We've done this on the plasma side recently, but surely some of you are among the many rocking brand new LCD sets. Let us know which of the outgoing models made your eyes happiest in the last year.Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
Apple makes Fortune's list of bonehead moves (twice), still a best place to work
With the end of the year comes the cavalcade of best and worst lists, just in case you didn't know what was best and what was worst over the course of the year. Apple made glassdoor.com's list of "50 Best Places to Work," placing 19th. It scored a 3.8 out of five, and 90 percent of employees approved of the job that CEO Steve Jobs was doing. 303 employees completed reviews at the site, contributing to its score. (The reviews themselves are interesting to read, incidentally, if you have a few minutes to kill.) On the other hand, Apple made Fortune magazine's list of 21 Dumbest Moments in Business for the year, twice -- but the second time really wasn't its fault. The first head-smacker, at number six, was for the approval (and subsequent removal) of the "I Am Rich" iPhone application. "The real losers?" Fortune asks: "The eight suckers who bought it." The second blooper, number 19, actually goes to CNN and Bloomberg for two false stories about Steve Jobs' health. Bloomberg accidentally released an obituary on August 28, and retracted it the same day. In a similar gaffe, a post on CNN's iReport site falsely claimed that Jobs had suffered a heart attack. CNN took down the post -- but not after Apple's stock dipped 10 percent in 10 minutes. Ouch. [Via Macsimum News and MacNN.]
DS Daily: No one does it better
The DS has been good for gaming -- it's helped to revitalize some older genres, it's brought new people into the gaming fold, and it's given a lot of RPGs a home, to name a few things. But what do you think the DS really does better than any other current system? What makes it stand out from the pack, in your opinion?
Ask Engadget HD: What's the best plasma to pick up?
With plasma sets apparently gaining back some of that ground it has been losing to LCD for, like, ever now, this question from Raul seemed like the perfect fit for this week's edition of Ask Engadget HD. "I've got my heart set on getting a new plasma on Black Friday or as the holiday sales get going, but I'm running into too many options that I think will work. Obviously, I want deep blacks and the ability to hang it on my wall, but I'm trying to keep the cost down. Are these Vizio PDPs even worth looking at? Is the KURO really the end-all answer? Help!" Surely more than a few of you out there have plasmas -- KURO or otherwise -- and are willing to throw this guy a bone. No size was mentioned, but we're guessing he's looking in the 42- to 50-inch range. Have at it in comments below!Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
Acer's G24 gaming monitor with world's best contrast
Clearly, Acer's G24 monitor is the only monitor capable of matching your high-performance Predator gaming rig. It's orange... or "metallic copper" if you work in Acer's arts and charts department. Bounced around trade shows for the last month, the 24-inch LCD is now officially featuring a proclaimed 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio which, according to a Acer, is a world's first for monitors. Now the specs: 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 2-ms response, 400-nit brightness, and a host of Acer image tweaking and color management tech meant to brighten images and avoid ambient light reflection. Around back you'll find PC-friendly DVI and game-console/Blu-ray friendly HDMI too. Unfortunately, it's dateless and priceless just like Britney's little sister.
Ask Engadget: Which are the best full-size headphones?
Late last year, you dear readers chimed in with your opinions for best earbuds in the land. Now, however, Ask Engadget is comin' atcha from a slightly different angle. Take it away, Jose: "I'm looking for some good headphones for around $150. I hate earbuds (so uncomfortable and the audio quality seems to depend on the angle that they're stuck in there,) so now I'm looking for full-on cans. I've been told both positive and negative things about Bose cans, but I'm looking for a few more opinions here. Help me and my ears!" Just as a note, we got the impression that Jose would be willing to stretch that budget a bit if a real winner was available just north of two bills, so feel free to pass out suggestions even if they're a touch pricier than what was mentioned. If you're looking to have your question heard loud and clear, shoot it over to ask at engadget dawt com and wish upon your lucky star(s), alright?
DS Daily: Desensitized to greatness
As DS gamers, we're often exposed to the best and brightest gaming content around. Sometimes it's just so much, though, that we find it hard to get excited for a game that we know we should be ecstatic over. It's pretty tiring when you're enthusiastic about a game system that just receives amazing title after amazing title.What about you all? Is there a game or games, upcoming or already released, that you felt this way about? A game that you knew tickled your fancy and met all of the criteria for being "good" in your eyes, yet you couldn't really muster up the appropriate levels of excitement about?
Engadget HD definitively answers: does cable, satellite, or fiber provide more HD?
You want to know -- nay, you deserve to know -- which service provides the most HD content. Engadget HD's got the answer, see how your HD provider stacks up.
A year of Promotional Consideration
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.The titling of this post is a bit of a misnomer, as we didn't start this column until early July, so it's more of a "half-year of" piece. No, you jerks, the humor in us beginning our Promotional Consideration retrospective on a disappointing note isn't lost on us.Still, with 26 articles now behind us, one every week since this feature's inception, we've written enough of these to develop a few that are actually worth reading. We've picked out our five favorite Promotional Consideration posts of 2007, carefully hiding them after the post break, that magical realm where anything seems possible.
The best and worst (that we've reviewed)
2007 is almost over, and the end of the year brings joyous tidings of List Season. It's the time for taking stock of the last 12 months of gaming, and trying to make sense of it by putting things in numerical order. Join DS Fanboy for our best-ofs, worst-ofs, and other categories-ofs.We cranked up our review quotient in 2007 (and hope to do even more in 2008!), but we still can't review everything that comes out, to our chagrin. We wouldn't have time for anything else! However, we did try to hit a wide variety of titles this year, from the biggies like Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and Phantom Hourglass, to some smaller titles, like WordJong and Duck Amuck. We even worked to review some more off-the-wall things, like the Nintendo Fan Network at Safeco Field -- you know, in case you happened to find yourself in the Northwest with a hankering for a day of DS and baseball.
