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Elite: Dangerous scores a HUD color mod and grats from Chris Roberts
The stage was set for a truly epic battle of words with the launch of Elite: Dangerous. In one corner, David Braben and Elite, a project that's launched and offers a space sandbox experience with the controversy of a removed offline mode. In the other corner, Chris Roberts and Star Citizen, another space sandbox that hasn't actually launched but hasn't managed to irritate its fans yet. The intense rivalry between these two developers is... well... it's nonexistent, actually, as Roberts recently released a letter congratulating Braben and his team on the launch and wishing them the best of luck. Roberts states in the letter that he's happy to see more games like Elite: Dangerous on the market; he says everyone benefits from having the game on the market, especially since his game and Braben's game both feeling distinct from one another. He also states that he's looking forward to playing the game himself during his time over the holidays. And thus the battle of words never happened because the rivalry doesn't actually exist. Hint, hint. In other Elite: Dangerous news, an intrepid modder has released a tool to help players change their UI HUD colors. How cool is that? [Thanks to Oliver, Cardboard, and Carson for the tips!]
Sennheiser launches the Momentum retro-cans and CX890i earbuds
Sennheiser is busting out a pair of personal audio products worth boasting about at this year's IFA. First up is the very fashionable Momentum, a pair of chrome and leather cans that take cues from the Amperior reference design, with a 3.5mm stereo lead and optional smart remote. However, if you're in the market for something a little less visible, the company's CX 890i earphones are coated in a "glass-like" finish that offers "outstanding" passive noise attenuation -- sparing you jacking up the volume to avoid your co-workers bickering. Both sets are available in the UK from September, with the Momentum costing £260 and the CX 890i (pictured after the break) a more modest £120. Update: The Momentum will be available in the US later this fall, setting you back $350.
The Soapbox: The unfairer sex
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Talking about the representation of women in video games is usually an exercise in depression. You don't have to search very hard for negative examples; consider The Witcher, in which sleeping with women is treated essentially as some sort of ersatz Pokémon variant. Or take a look at Grand Theft Auto III, hailed as a groundbreaking game, which featured a grand total of three female characters in the story, all of whom were painted as some combination of promiscuous, stupid, or untrustworthy. Comparatively speaking, MMOs deserve a medal for being remarkably open to both players and characters of both genders. And yet that's damning with faint praise in the worst way. MMOs still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to how they handle women, in ways both subtle and searingly obvious. Female characters are generally expected to be in a state of perpetual undress, more often than not without a significant role in the storyline -- and precisely because the genre is so far ahead of its contemporaries, complaints are often met with eye-rolling and derision.
In Sweden, laptop thieves return your data on a USB stick
Thieves, as it turns out, can be very considerate people indeed. A Swedish professor, who has understandably asked to remain anonymous, informed his local newspaper recently of a tale informing his laptop bag, a trip to the laundry room, and one very gentlemanly law breaker. As the story goes, the scholar in question hid his backpack under a stairwell while taking care of some chores, only to find it vanished a few minutes later. After reporting the incident to the police, however, our professor returned to the scene of the crime to find his goods had returned, sans his laptop. Content with at least having his precious calendar and papers back, he carried on with his undoubtedly thrilling academic life, but there was one more twist to his tale -- the thief mailed him a USB memory stick with all his data on it. Ironically enough, the USB key was one the prof had lying around inside his bag already, and the thief did what the owner never bothered to: back up all data on a separate drive. It's a surreal (and potentially fictitious) tale, but it made us smile to read it all the same.
Global Agenda offering friends with benefits
Itching to get your frag on with someone you love (or at least, lust after?) Hi-Rez Studios has a deal for you in the form of its Friends with Benefits discount promotion for Global Agenda. If you've purchased the massively multiplayer third-person shooter, you now have a set of coupon codes that can be gifted to a friend, granting him or her 30% off the initial client cost. Your benefits accrue in the form of an in-game referral achievement score, which in turn grants reward items at specific levels (including a mini-warlord pet that resembles an angry Laurence Fishburne bobblehead doll). Todd Harris, Global Agenda's executive producer, outlines the new program on the game's official forums. "Referral achievements and new prestige items will be introduced and visible before the end of October in the 1.38 update. But we invite you to start recruiting now -- you'll earn credit for all referrals going forward as well as any referrals done prior to this campaign launch," he writes.
Updated Archos 13 laptop to roll out next month
This one looks to have largely gotten lost among the hubbub of CeBIT earlier this month, but it seems like Archos quietly announced a followup to its Archos 13 laptop, which is now set to debut sometime next month. Complete details are still a bit light unfortunately, but the revised model will sport that always desirably "classy look," along with an Atom D510, Windows 7 Home Premium for an OS and, presumably, a 13.3-inch display. No word on pricing just yet, but the original Archos 13 came in at an even $800.
