Dune
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New 'Dune' games are on their way after almost 20 years
It's a good time to be a Dune fan. Not only is the classic sci-fi novel getting a movie remake in 2020 courtesy of Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve, but it looks like there's a series of new games on the way, too.
Work starts on a massive underground neutrino experiment
Neutrinos are notoriously difficult to understand, but work is underway to know them a little better. Researchers have officially broken ground on the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, the home to the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. When it's finished 10 years from now, the South Dakota project will be the largest-ever US experiment built to study the subatomic particle -- teams will remove 870,000 tons of rock to create the caverns needed for the facility's centerpiece liquid argon detector. All that excavation should pay off, though, as it promises to shed light on some of the mysteries of the universe.
Pee-powered socks generate emergency electricity
A team of researchers from University of the West of England in Bristol, UK want you to pee in your socks. You know, in case of an emergency. They've developed a novel power system that leverages your own liquid waste to generate electricity in an emergency. It's essentially the same process as the still suits from Dune, just with electricity instead of water filtration.
Leaderboard: Which of these IPs would make the best MMO?
Let's talk about IP-based MMOs. There are a few currently available. There are a couple that are no longer available. There are probably some that I'm forgetting. The point I'm getting to, though, is that there are some fairly well-known IPs that haven't crossed over to the land of kill-10-rats, faction grinds, and endless character progression. Maybe your favorite IP has already been made into an MMO. Maybe it hasn't. Maybe you hate the idea of IPs or IP-based MMOs in general. Regardless, you should click past the cut and participate in this week's poll. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2
This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that MOOs, the end. No safety or aggro radius, the end. Man, listening to The Doors early in the morning does not put you in a happy state of writing, let me tell you! In any case, we've extended our MUD/MU* month here on the Game Archaeologist Channel to include a few more first-hand testimonies of Massively readers' favorite text-based MMOs. As much as anything else we've talked about in this column, it's vital that we not forget the roots from which our current MMOs were born nor neglect to take the opportunity to expose a whole new generation to a graphically simpler but textually richer experience. So let's kick the tires and light the fires of nostalgia as we talk with five of the baddest MUDders you'll ever know!
Trion partners with Petroglyph on MMORTS
Trion World Network's latest move is partnering with Petroglyph on an as-yet untitled massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game. While we've yet to see Trion actually produce anything -- aside from the spectacle of firing its president and chief creative officer last week -- Petroglyph has been working on RTS titles for years. The studio was responsible for Universe at War and Star Wars: Empire at War. At this point, we have no official word on what game the two companies are collaborating on, but we do know that the games must flow from Trion soon. Hopefully, the publisher will finally show off something it gained from that $100 million deal at E3.
Infringers of Dune: Dune role-players shut down by Herbert Estate. Spice keeps flowing
Among the various business, educational and social uses to which Second Life is put, Role-Playing gamers have quite a number of thriving communities. If you want to role-play in the world of Joss Whedon's Firefly, or Straczynski's Babylon 5, Lucas' Star Wars universe(s), Tolkien's Middle Earth, John Norman's Gor, Frank Herbert's Dune, Roddenberry's Star Trek, or the settings of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Harry Potter, Final Fantasy VII or CCP/White Wolf's World of Darkness, Second Life is home to all of these and more. Well, until this week anyway. According to Wagner James Au, Trident Media Group, a literary agent "designed for the twenty first century",which maintains the Herbert Estate sent cease-and-desist notices via Linden Lab requiring one non-profit role-playing community to remove Dune-related names and objects from the virtual environment within two days.
HDI Dune BD Prime: world's first hybrid Blu-ray player / HD streamer
Unbeknownst to many (us included), HDI's Dune BD Prime has been making the rounds for a little while now. The deck, which is primarily marketed and sold outside of North America, claims to be the first bona fide multimedia player that's also a Blu-ray deck. The unit is available in four variations: the vanilla package, one with 802.11n WiFi, one that adds Ethernet and another that packs twin eSATA ports. The unit essentially plays dual roles by sucking down HD content from network-accessible drives / PCs while spinning up the latest Blu-ray Disc in its spare time. File format support doesn't look to be an issue, though a critical review over at MPCClub definitely found a few faults. Those with Euros to burn can find the player for around €449 ($638), though we don't get the feeling this is heading stateside anytime soon.Read - AnnouncementRead - Review
Grimwell gives one reason fantasy pwns sci-fi, we go "Huh?"
Watch your head, you don't want it hit by return fire in the ever-present MMO blogosphere discussion of fantasy vs sci-fi. The most recent discussion started up with Massively's own Michael Zenke and his "Five Reasons Sci-Fi Pwns Fantasy" which prompted the return fire in question from Grimwell. Both of the posts are certainly worth reading, especially if you have any kind of lingering interest in the subject matter. As far as we can see, there's truth to be had on both sides of the fence. However, we do have one point of contention to make with Grimwelll's argument. He states that the reason fantasy "pwns" sci-fi is that it's accessible, which is a constant argument on the matter. While we think he may have a point in that less people are inherently familiar with sci-fi, we very much disagree with his assessment that you need to be a math nerd to enjoy good sci-fi -- his example in this case being Star Trek and its now-infamous technobabble.
