Breakdown
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Watch the most impressive 'Game of Thrones' VFX reel yet
Warning: Spoilers ahoy. This week's Game of Thrones episode wasn't dampened by hacking or leaks, mainly because the "Loot Train" battle was so spectacular. The producers have posted a new YouTube breakdown (below) showing how the VFX and stunt team used everything they've learned so far to pull it off. On top of the CGI, there are acrobatic horse stunts, multiple people on fire, and most of all, those fire-breathing dragon scenes. "It's like a time travel movie -- what if somebody had an F-16 that they brought to a medieval battle?" said executive producer D.B. Weiss.
Final Fantasy XIV breaks down Desynthesis
In most MMOs, you want your efforts with crafting to produce more items by the time you're done, not fewer. But the upcoming Desynthesis system in Final Fantasy XIV is meant to destroy items rather than make new ones, although you can end up making new ones after you break them down. It's a chance to take your crafting skills and apply them to break down items that you have no use for, making something better from the resultant materials. Desynthesis will allow the breakdown of items by crafting classes above level 30, who will recovering some of the items used in its construction. Skill level affects the odds of a successful desynth; there is a maximum skill level shared across all crafting classes, which will prevent players from being equally skilled in all crafts. More to the point, breaking down an item can unlock materials that can't be acquired through other means, allowing players to make even more powerful items than would otherwise be available.
State of Decay's first expansion coming Black Friday
The zombie-riffic survival game State of Decay, just recently available to PC players in the Steam library, is getting its first ever DLC expansion in time for a Black Friday shopping spree. Undead Labs has announced that Breakdown will go on sale November 29th for $6.99 on both Steam and XBLA. Players who purchase the expansion can expect more difficulty along with new achievements and new weapons as they dive into new playable survivors. This expansion also promises less story and more survival; sounds a little bit like Black Friday, no? Check out the action in the new Breakdown trailer below.
State of Decay comes to the PC courtesy of Steam
PC gamers feeling left out while watching their Xbox comrades playing State of Decay can wipe those tears away; the zombie survival title has arrived on Steam. State of Decay is available through the digital distribution platform for a straight-up $19.99. If you're curious about Undead Labs' maiden game, then check out our hands-on coverage. The game was a huge hit on the Xbox and hopefully will be followed by an MMO set in the same world. Undead is also preparing the first DLC for State of Decay called Breakdown that will come to both the PC and Xbox. [Thanks to Soren for the tip!]
Wolfram Alpha lets you stalk yourself on Facebook, reminds you how noisy you are
You know Facebook's got dirt on you, it's one of modern life's unavoidable trade offs. Now though, thanks to Wolfram Alpha, you can data-mine yourself -- something its creator has been doing for years -- and get a true sense of exactly what the social network knows about you. You'll first have to head over to the computational knowledge engine, then search "Facebook report." Follow the prompts to give the app permission etc, and you'll be rewarded with a detailed breakdown. The data shows information about your interactions, friends, most popular photos, most common demographics and more. For example, you might discover that you know someone in the Philippines, have a clutch of non-connected friends weirdly in the same location, or that you mom is your top post commenter. Though you probably knew that last part already. Paranoid or curious? Jump on the source link to get started.
Breaking down the Black Ops 2 reveal trailer
Now that Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is officially out there, we can examine the game's reveal trailer and offer some further insight beyond the bombast.We've compiled a handful of screen grabs from the trailer after the break, with notes about the game's locale, features, and more. For even more, make sure to read our detailed campaign preview and details on the game's new, story-altering 'Strike Force' missions.
Consumer Reports' Fisker Karma gets fixed, testing resumes, for now
Remember Consumer Reports' bought a Fisker Karma that broke down while on the test track? Well after it had made the 200-mile round-trip to the dealership, it turned out the inverter cable and battery were both faulty and replaced them, before fully recharging the vehicle. The car has now been returned to the test track where a full review can begin -- give it a week, and we'll start taking bets on if it actually gets that "recommended" rating.
Fisker Karma breaks down in CR test, risks that 'recommended' rating (video)
Consumer Reports splashed out $107,850 to buy its own Fisker Karma, but before the car had traveled 200 miles, it had broken down. Partway through calibration testing on the CR Track, the car's dashboard began issuing warnings, but when tester Tom Mutchler pulled over to identify the issue, it wouldn't get going again. Mutchler was forced to call the dealership, located 100 miles away, to collect it on a flatbed for repair. It's the first time in memory that the testing organization can recall a vehicle breaking down partway through testing, but when it comes to the Karma, you can only be sure that nothing's too calamitous.
The 10 best Xbox exclusives (no spartans allowed)
We're happy to remark on the tenth anniversary of the original Xbox, but it gets a little weird when Microsoft barges into our solemn vigil with a birthday cake. This is the company that couldn't pull the plug on its muscular and costly console fast enough -- and not just because the cord was about to incinerate your house. Microsoft's rapid prudence allowed it to rein in the hardware for its next system, and to successfully transplant Xbox Live into a body now recognized for its sustainability, if not its fragility. It worked out for the business, but didn't leave much time for less popular system-exclusive games to flourish or to be found. Ironically, the Xbox commercial that drew the most ire, after it crudely launched a baby through a window and into a cemetery, proved that there can be some truth in advertising after all. "Life is short," it said, "play more." We wrongly figured it was talking about us. After the break: A list of our favorite, often overlooked Xbox games.
Analysis determines why Angry Birds is so popular
Here, finally, must certainly be the last word on Angry Birds. Certified Human Factors Engineering Professional Charles L. Mauro has done an exhaustive report called "A Cognitive Teardown of Angry Birds," in which he breaks down, piece by ever-lovin' piece, the throw-birds-at-pigs game and just what it does to users and their experiences. The whole thing is quite interesting if you're into user experience design, but the gist is that Angry Birds fits extremely well within our brains' "mental model" of what the game should be. Not only is that bird-tossing physics engine easily calculated into our cranium, but the game's bite-sized levels (which you can scroll across to re-check at any time) also play into our short-term memory programming as well. And finally, Angry Birds nails down the visual experience by being both simple enough for almost anyone to understand, but just complicated enough to remember in an iconic way (so much so that the characters in the game have been turned into cakes, costumes, and even, um, bras. What Angry Birds did is no secret (and lots of other games have aped its look and aesthetics since -- that "star rating on tons of levels" feature is now an iOS staple), but Mauro has done an excellent job really breaking down point by point why this game is so astoundingly successful on a cognitive level. [via Slashdot]
Mythos Europe attracts 250,000 players in two weeks, throws double XP weekend
It's only been 15 days since Mythos Europe launched, but the resurrected action MMO is already seeing impressive results. According to Frogster, over 250,000 players have jumped into the game for some hectic hack-n-slash fun. The company also provided some revealing statistics as it monitored its quarter-million playerbase. Apparently, the most popular class is the Bloodletter (40% of players), followed by the Pyromancer (32%) and Gadgeteer (28%). A full third of the playerbase chose the human race, with 28% going over to the Gremlins, 27% to the Satyrs, and 15% to the Cyclops. Finally, 66% of the characters created are male. So if you want to be a rarity, rolling a female Cyclops Gadgeteer is the way to go! To celebrate this auspicious milestone, Frogster is rewarding its enthusiastic players with double XP for quests and monster kills this weekend. You can catch all of Mythos' double XP action from now until Monday at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Kinect teardown: two cameras, four microphones, 12 watts of power, no controller
So what exactly goes into making a controller-free experience with Kinect? A lot of technology, apparently. The folks at iFixit have broken down a Kinect unit, revealing a bevy of chips and parts inside the new peripheral. Kinect features not one, but two cameras to capture various information about the user. One camera, combined with an infrared emitter (the third "pinhole" on the front), provide the 3D information necessary to create the "depth map," while an additional camera captures the standard visible spectrum at 640x480 resolution. With the proper lighting and space, the combination of these cameras allows Kinect to see you in 3D. Perhaps more surprising than the number of cameras hidden in the sensor is the number of microphones. In addition to three cameras, the device features four downward-facing microphones, three on the right side and one on the left side, integral to the Kinect's voice recognition capabilities. Considering the sheer quantity of power-hungry parts hidden inside the Kinect, it's no surprise that its power demand (12 watts) is so much greater than what a standard USB port can offer (5 watts) -- that's why you'll need a separate power adapter for using it with original Xbox 360 consoles.
The iPhone app showdown
This was an intriguing experiment undertaken over at Minimal Mac: Patrick decided to play a little Homescreen Survivor with his iPhone app icons -- he cleared everything off his homescreen, and then only let those apps back on which he used more than once throughout the course of a week. The result? You can see here which ones made it back on. Contacts, Calendar, Camera all showed up, not surprisingly. Photos did as well -- I don't use that one much, but I can see why. Everything else seems to be his own personal use: Tumblr's app, two different Twitter apps (Birdhouse and Tweetie), and then Simplenote and so on. But the real point here isn't what apps he used, it's just how different his homescreen looked when he only put what he used on there. I'll admit it: my iPhone is a mess -- I've got icons all over the place, and they don't seem to stay organized even when I try to organize them. But organizing according to actual usage is a great idea, and undertaking the same experiment on your iPhone might actually clear some things up for you. It's also worth pointing out all of that empty space on his homescreen: he has four more slots there that aren't used at all. Apple, are you listening? I'd guess Patrick's usage is more common than Apple may think -- there's plenty of room on the homescreen for other functions and information.
Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails
Boy, do we have a nice slab of data for you to sink your teeth into today. The 3-year service history of more than 30,000 laptops has been pored over, analyzed, and reduced to gorgeous comparative charts, which you know you're dying to know more about. We should note, however, that the service was provided by SquareTrade, whose primary business is selling extended warranties, but that shouldn't completely prejudice us against reaching conclusions on the basis of the presented facts. Firstly, netbooks have shown themselves to be on average 20 percent less reliable than entry-level laptops, which in turn are 10 percent more likely to break down than premium machines. In other words, you get what you pay for -- shocking, right? The big talking point, though, will inevitably be the manufacturer comparison chart above: here ASUS and Toshiba (rather appropriately) share the winners' spoils, while HP languishes in the ignominious last place, with more than a quarter of all laptops expected to suffer a hardware fault of some kind within three years. So, does your experience corroborate / refute this info? Keep it gentlemanly, okay?
Modern Warfare 2 trailer analysis hints at perks, locations, teddy bears
If you've been straining your eyes and ears over the recently released "soundwave trailer" for Modern Warfare 2, you may want to give your weary senses a rest, and turn your attention to one of two comprehensive breakdowns of the trailer that recently appeared in our inbox. The first is a video analysis from YouTuber d4v1dm0rt, which is embedded after the break. The second, a compilation of zoomed in screengrabs from the trailer (broken down by Binge Gamer's Mike Murakami), can be viewed here.They probably spotted a few items you might have missed out on -- such as the brief image depicting five perk icons, four of which appear to be entirely new. Maybe you didn't catch the flash frame of O Cristo Redentor, which could be hinting at Rio de Janeiro as a possible in-game locale. Perhaps your keen gaze overlooked the momentarily visible teddy bear, which could symbolize ... cuddlier enemies? Yeah, we're still not too sure about that one.[Thanks, David and Mika!]
GameDaily estimates Halo 3 sold 2.48 mil units day one
And now a reading from the book of GameDaily, who presents their breakdown of the Halo 3 sales. Using the knowledge of $170 million made figure by Microsoft and checking with retail sources, they used some fancy arithmetics to get themselves statistics. According to their source for "every four standard copies sold, two limited edition copies and one legendary edition is sold." Meaning the percentages are 14% Legendary, 29% Limited (or Scratched edition) and 57% Standard. They figure the breakdown is: Standard edition: 1,600,000 Limited edition: 694,000 Legendary edition: 187,000 GameDaily concludes that 2.48 million units sold on day one. Hopefully we'll get the full numbers from Microsoft in the near future for those who love themselves some statistics. So, who wants to start poking holes in the estimates first?[Thanks NJkid1]
Orta, Mercenaries, JSRF join 360 compatability list
Microsoft has supplied 33 more compelling reasons to finally stuff your old friend the Xbox in the closet with their new backwards compatibility update for the 360. How compelling, you ask? How about Jet Set Radio Future and Mercenaries? How's that grab you? No, still not enough? How about Panzer Dragoon Orta? The BC update doesn't seem to be working just yet, but we hope that'll be rectified soon. The full list is available here with all the new additions, like Return To Castle Wolfenstein and Breakdown. When asked to comment on the update, a Microsoft spokesperson wrote "We're continuing to work hard to certify as many original Xbox games to work on Xbox 360 as possible," and don't think we don't appreciate it. In fact, we're so grateful, we're not going to wonder aloud how NFL Fever 2004 snuck on to the list. We're rising above. Still conspicuously absent from the updates: Your Favorite Game that No One Else Liked. But chin up, we hear it's a lock for the next update. You can see a full list after the break. [via Snackbar Games]
The Wiimote as a Power Glove
From the hey, that's a great idea department comes a conceptual rendering of what it would be like to throw caution and embarrassment to the wind and strap a pair of wiimotes to your arms. The full ad depicts a guy with a Wii controller on each punch-capable limb next to some screenshots of the Xbox titles, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Breakdown and Fight Night Round 3. The connection between dual wiielding action and Super Punch-Out should be obvious in your mind, though we recommend you swiftly move on to the conclusion we reached:Namco Bandai should port Breakdown to the Wii. Immediately. The game (which had a really fun story) was critically undone by unwieldy controls and unfair combat, problems that could very well disappear when given the opportunity to beat up those pesky T'lan warriors (or hallucinated cats) by flailing your own, more reliable fists. Oh, and let's not forget the joys associated with consuming magically restorative soda and protein bars. [Via 4cr. Kudos to zaiten.]
