columns
Latest
LGJ: Blizzard, Cheating and Copyright Infringement
Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games: Everyone else is talking about the Supreme Court, but I'm going to hold off on any further commentary until we have an actual decision to analyze. Instead, I want to bring your attention back to a suit filed by Blizzard in California, Blizzard v. VanKuipers, Simpson, and John Does 1-10 (aka the GameThreat.net case). This case seems to be the sequel of sorts to the "Glider" case from the not too distant past (Blizzard v. MDY Industries). In short, that case was about a World of WarCraft "autopilot" program called Glider. Glider circumvented Warden (the WoW cheat protection software). The short version of the result from that case is that MDY Industries, the maker of Glider, was held liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement for putting out Glider, which violated WoW's End User License Agreement and Terms of Service. The opinion also upheld Blizzard's right to sue over issues that diminished the player experience. That brings us to the GameThreat.net case. Some of this should sound pretty familiar. GameThreat.net put out a series of StarCraft 2 hacks and cheats, which worked in multiplayer. These programs were available very shortly after the launch of StarCraft 2, and that, of course, irritated Blizzard, which sent a cease and desist of some sort. While it may have initially appeared the two were in compliance, Blizzard discovered they have re-distributed their source code to others, who have continued to make it available. As a result, Blizzard is suing on basically the same premise as Glider. As is often the case, the ideas here present a bit of a double-edged sword.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Question chilled
We've had a fairly calm month since our last session, and really, I'm kind of relieved. I spent most of October expecting that City of Heroes was going to drop some sort of bomb along the lines of "game shutting down in December, releasing huge new game in January, have a pony." And I'm kind of glad that didn't happen, because I have nowhere to keep a pony in my home. With that awkward preamble out of the way, on with the questions! Jeromai asked: But think, the enemy code [developed for Going Rogue] might later be used for smarter AI for enemies that Incarnates face. A higher-level challenge. Gee, doesn't that sound like endgame content? Well, yes and no. Yes, it certainly sounds like a higher-level challenge, and if you ask a certain segment of the endgame population in any MMO, that's exactly what they want. But endgame content is frequently kept challenging solely through artificial barriers, and as bizarre as it sounds, we kind of want it that way, because the alternative is really, really annoying.
Three years of Massively: A few of our favorite things
Three years ago today, Massively cartwheeled into the MMO blogosphere, providing fresh fields on which its writers could ruminate (and a credible reason for its editors to go prematurely grey). If you don't remember those earliest days, it's probably because you were too busy "actually gaming" to "read about gaming." But if you're here reading this now, then you understand the unavoidable, irresistible lure of the gaming meta and why we writers do what we do (protip: it's really, really not for the money). To commemorate the occasion of our having existed three whole years without being thanklessly defenestrated, dethroned, or otherwise decommissioned, we asked the Massively staff members to reminisce about their past articles and offer up their favorite posts from the site for your amusement. Join us after the break for a retrospective of our very best work -- funny, sad, ranty, weird. Then hit the comments and let us know which of our posts really made a splash for you this year. Happy birthday, Massively! Let's eat internet cake!
Switched On: A Looxcie into lifecasting's future
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Remember those early wireless headsets, the ones that made people look like they had been assimilated by The Borg? Few would seek to return to those days for the benefit of bridging a handset and one's ears. But what if one could also bridge a handset and one's eyes? That's essentially the promise of Looxcie, a Bluetoooth headset that integrates a video camera to enable passive video capture. Looxcie's creators note that using the device requires less encumbrance than even a Flip camcorder. Still, there's no getting around it -- the Looxcie is no spy gadget. Accepting the state of the technology for what it is, the designers chose to embrace its size rather than try to minimize it. The protuberance that houses the boom mike and lens of the product swells toward an end that includes a red recording light. The extension in a glossy white, perhaps an homage to massive telephoto zoom lenses like those from Canon.
Switched On: Getting real about a phone that's not (part 2)
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Last week's Switched On looked at some of the reasons that a Verizon iPhone might not bring seismic shifts to the cell phone market or the balance of power between the two largest carriers in the U.S., focusing more on the AT&T incentive. This column discusses the carrier's current CDMA network and its multi-year transition to LTE, which could lower some obstacles to a Verizon iPhone. While reports have asserted that a Verizon iPhone may ship as early as January and that a CDMA version of the phone will go into production in September, there are reasons to doubt that Apple will create a CDMA iPhone for Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless is a large carrier, but it's subscriber base is relatively small compared to the one that is served by having a single GSM device that Apple can sell around the globe. That massive audience creates certain scale advantages for Apple.
Storyboard: Winner's circle
It's time for another rant here on Storyboard, or at least an animal that's in the same general family as the dreaded rant-beast. Considering that both this column and WoW Insider's resident RP columnist Michael Gray have been covering similar ground over the past few weeks, it seems only appropriate to dip back into the well of the tools that roleplayers need, deserve, and want. And while I had considered a different column, it occurred to me that I wanted to take a very different tack this week. The past couple ranty columns have both focused on what games are getting wrong and what we deserve that we're not getting. But generally speaking, I prefer to be positive instead of negative, and amidst all of my justifiable complaints, that was getting lost. So this week, we're going to look at five games that are doing pretty well at supporting roleplayers. My list is far from exhaustive, and it doesn't include every game I'm personally involved with at the moment -- Final Fantasy XIV isn't on there, for instance -- but it is a good snapshot of who's on Team RP.
LGJ: Are game resales at risk?
Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games: A new decision out of the 9th Circuit court of appeals is potentially bad news for GameStop, eBay, gamers and pretty much anyone who buys software. The full decision in Vernor v. Autodesk is available here [PDF], but this column should provide a pretty good summary and analysis of the case, which deals primarily with a legal concept called the "first-sale doctrine." The doctrine, which falls under copyright law, is what allows libraries to lend books, DVDs, CDs, etc., and what allows for the concept of resale. The first-sale doctrine was added to the Copyright Act of 1976 after being introduced in case law in 1908. In short, the doctrine lets you, as the purchaser of a legal copy of a book, movie, game, or other copyrighted work, resell or give away that legal copy to subsequent owners without permission from the copyright holder. It doesn't give you any rights to the work protected by the copyright, or the ability to otherwise violate the copyright by making copies of the work; it only removes the copyright holder's control over legal, physical copies of the work after they are first sold to a consumer. In other words, GameStop's business owes everything to this doctrine.
Sega Genesis Classics 2 bundle available on Steam for $15
Folks who look to use Steam to take a trip into their formative years (but don't feel like dipping back into all those old adventure games) now have another nostalgia-inducing option. A second, 10-game Genesis collection has arrived on the platform for $14.99. Find full details after the jump.
Entelligence: Will carriers destroy the Android vision?
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. It's an unfortunately familiar phenomena -- PC vendors suffering from razor thin margins load their devices with more stickers than a stock car and install gigabytes of useless applications that serve only to take up space and use system resources. Sony was perhaps the most egregious in 2008, offering to remove the offending bloatware for a $50 fee. It's as if Tony Soprano went into tech -- "Pay us and we won't mess up your computer." It's deja vu all over again for mobile phones. More and more devices I look at are coming installed with applications I don't want, often popping up messages to try and upsell me on services I have no interest in. Even worse, unlike PCs where offensive applications can be removed or the OS reinstalled cleanly, there's often nothing that can be done to get rid of unwanted mobile software without arduous work. It's not limited to Android devices, but it seems that increasingly Android more than other platforms is shipping with the worst mobile bloatware. It's a bad trend that's going to lead to consumer backlash and it's destroying the credibility of Google's Android vision.
Switched On: Why the digital hub died
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. A decade ago at Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs provided a rare look into the vision guiding Apple. Breaking with naysayers foretelling the demise of the PC, Jobs said that the PC was now entering a third golden age of "Digital Lifestyle," following those of productivity and the Internet. In this era, the PC would serve as a digital hub. The presentation was rife with references that are amusing with a decade of hindsight, one in which Apple has received more attention for its work in advancing popular digital spokes. For example, in pointing out some peripheral devices that will connect to the digital hub, Jobs showed the Rio flash-based MP3 player as well as the Palm V, both of which would succumb to Apple' own iPod and iPhone.
Entelligence: A tale of two TVs
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. This week at what's become Apple's fall music event the company unveiled a revised Apple TV. The small $99 device delivers a new rental model and support for Netflix, but there are no apps, contrary to much of the speculation leading up the event. That's in stark contrast to the Google TV project announced at I/O last spring. Unlike Apple, Google is looking to provide DVR functionality, search, and an app marketplace. Some say Apple isn't being bold enough, but I think Apple might be right. Google wants input one on your TV. Apple wants input two. The difference? Input one is where your cable box goes. Input two was where your VCR or DVD player used to live. It's a port that's up for grabs.
Switched On: FaceTime prepares for prime time
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Perhaps the most-predicted announcement from Apple's September 1 press event is the addition of two cameras to the iPod touch. Long before Apple revealed its FaceTime videoconferencing software with the iPhone 4, various disassemblers noticed that there seemed to be a place left open for a camera in the last iPod touch, despite Apple's claim that the product didn't "need more stuff." Nonetheless, few could deny the usefulness of such an add-on, particularly when paired with the touch's relatively generous internal memory capacity. Now, though, adding image and video capture to the touch makes even more sense. Apple's FaceTime video chat software is Wi-Fi-only, and while 3G support would certainly make It more useful on the go, imbuing the iPod touch with the ability to make video calls greatly expands Apple's addressable market with FaceTime, brings the touch into a whole new category and possibly makes it the first affordable, carrier-independent mass market videophone.
LGJ: Where's my refund?
Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games: There's a bit of a rash of games breaking other games or DLC breaking games these days, especially when it comes to Achievements. Issues like these often leave a lot of people asking, "Where's my refund?" but, as my colleague Alexander pointed out, no one really knows where to direct that question, if anywhere. Downloadable content isn't something you can simply take back to GameStop or sell on eBay. And even if you know where to ask, can you get a refund for broken content? That's the issue we'll set out to resolve in this LGJ. To examine this, let's imagine a hypothetical: You buy "Fabled Halos" from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and at a later date, you buy the "Broken Code" expansion DLC. Broken Code not only causes Fabled Halos Achievements to stop working, but it also causes save game glitches with another title, Fallin: New Scottsdale, and somehow gives you access to the full version of yet another game Fortress Fighters. You're mad. The developer of Fortress Fighters is mad. Whose fault is this and who has obligations to fix what?
Switched On: ZuneForSure
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The moon has only four major phases, but as the Zune -- that satellite around Microsoft's gravitational pull -- enters a familiar fifth phase, what some consider a pale reflection of the iPod has made few waves despite inspiring its share of romantics. Zune began as a new salvo against the iPod as Microsoft grew frustrated in its attempts to make inroads versus Apple's soaring digital media device with its abysmally named and convoluted PlaysForSure rights management scheme. PlaysForSure had actually achieved some level of acceptance on digital music players and even handsets, but as Steve Ballmer has explained, devices that sell in the tens of millions of units per year -- as opposed to hundreds of millions like PCs and handsets (Kin notwithstanding) -- can be a good opportunity for vertical integration of hardware and software. And so was born Zune, welcoming us to the social with its chunky profile, brown color option, "double shot" facade and the quirky and later abandoned WiFi-based song-squirting sharing feature. Its next major iteration introduced the "squircle" -- a rounded square clickable trackpad that surpassed the click wheel just as Apple was gearing up for the game-changing iPod touch: strike two.
Entelligence: 3D TV falls flat for me
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. It's generally a bad idea to extrapolate larger consumer behavior from personal experience and say "if I like it, surely everyone else will as well." It's a mistake that happens all the time, but there's is one case where I will use my personal behavior to at least start the foundation for analysis -- when I don't want a new gadget or technology. Granted, sometimes I'm just not the target audience, but even then I'm usually able to remove myself from the process and say it might not be for me but others will love this. In the case of 3D TV, however, I think my lack of interest doesn't bode well for the market. I'm surprised by figures, forecasts, predictions and prophecies all showing a rosy outlook for 3D TV beginning as early as this year, because I've seen most of the 3D offerings available and I have no plans to buy -- not now and not anytime soon. I should be a part of the core demographic for 3D: I like TV, movies and video games. I'm am early adopter. I have reasonable disposable income. I'm not afraid of betting on the wrong standard. And yet, I'm not buying. Here's why.
Switched On: Of guiltlessness and giveaways
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Beyond an opportunity for a lucky few to visit the surreal and sophisticated wireless testing labs buried deep within the Apple campus, the Steve Jobs "Antennagate" press conference had few surprises in terms of using a tool at Apple's disposal -- its own Bumpers (augmented by those of third parties) -- to address a vulnerability of the iPhone 4 antenna design. The difference between the iPhone 4 and other devices is the clear marking of the spot at which physical contact causes the signal to degrade. Optimists could consider this a visual reminder to avoid contact while pessimists could see a constant reminder of imperfection. Regardless, at its press conference, Apple added – and continues to add -- visual verification of its assertion that multiple handsets (or at least smartphones) can fall victim to a strategic grasp. Beyond that, the only muted revelation of the day was that AT&T is reporting that the iPhone 4 is monitoring dropped calls on the iPhone 4 at a rate ever so slightly above that of the 3GS. However, the 3GS did not have a reputation for being particularly tenacious at holding on to a call. Indeed, were it not for all the heat the previous iPhone took at AT&T, perhaps Apple would not have had to push for so radical an antenna redesign. Therefore, it would have been interesting to know how the iPhone 4 compared to the AT&T smartphone average (skewed as it is to iPhones anyway), especially given the earlier Apple demonstration of how other smartphones can suffer from attenuation.
Switched On: Photography is dead, long live photos
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Portraying the digital still camera as an endangered species has been a popular pastime for years in the cellphone industry, and with the high-resolution stills and high-definition video capabilities of the latest round of smartphones, the argument is more convincing than ever when applied to the casual snapshot. But this week at the World Expo in Shanghai, Canon -- a name synonymous with high-quality photography -- offered a vision of a device that not only supersedes the digital still camera, but will likely eliminate photography as we know it. With an estimated arrival date two decades in the future, the Canon Wonder Camera concept device has an incredible focal length from macro to 500mm with a single, integrated lens. It boasts massive (unspecified) storage, ultra-high (also unspecified) resolution, multiple facial recognition capabilities beyond that available today, and the ability to keep everything viewable in focus at the same time. But perhaps the most radical thing about this camera is that it's really a camcorder. Rather than take individual stills, Wonder Camera owners would simply have their pick of perfectly crisp photos as frames grabbed from video.
Entelligence: The evolution of the TV
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. > In a world of connected screens, the venerable TV continues to wait in isolation while the personal computer and the cell phone have become ubiquitously connected. Sure, there have been experiments in interactive TV -- gadgets like WebTV and modern game consoles are connected devices, and set-top boxes like the Roku and TiVo add connected components -- but most TVs in the US remain blissfully ignorant of the internet. There's arguably more TV content viewed on PCs than there is web content consumed on TVs. Here's why the TV remains disconnected and how that might change. First, the PC and TV don't get along well. It's been a match that's been tried for more than a decade. It would seem like a no brainer: take a device with great connectivity and pair it with the TV. In the 90s Gateway introduced a line of Destination PCs that were designed for living room use, Microsoft later built some of the best TV and PC integration with their Media Center efforts, and even Apple has added a ten foot user experience to Mac OS with its Front Row UI. None of these efforts ever went mainstream. Why? Simple: PCs are designed for smaller screens, mice and keyboards, and TVs aren't. No matter what shell you layer on top, you're still stuck with a PC OS underneath that's not optimized for the TV experience.
Entelligence: The aftermath of E3
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. Last week's E3 show was pretty wild. All the major players upped their game quite a bit -- pun intended. Here's my breakdown of the show. Microsoft: The folks in Redmond led the way with an intro launch party featuring a custom performance from Cirque de Soleil. That was just to warm things up -- when it came to actual announcements, Microsoft took a two-tiered approach. On one hand it's building on the success of long established titles like Gears of War, Fable and of course, Halo. On the other it's taking the time to re-boot the Xbox 360 with Kinect, which brings controller-free gaming to the platform, as well as adding voice and gesture controls. I think Kinect is a major leap forward in the gaming experience that will appeal to both mainstream and casual gamers. With a streamlined new Xbox 360 and an impressive set of launch titles debuting alongside, Kinect is more akin to a console launch than a peripheral. Overall, I'd say Microsoft is in the lead post-E3 and very well positioned for holiday.
Entelligence: Wired or tired?
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. In the mid 90s, a friend of mine was involved in a project to recreate magazines like Time on CD-ROM for the multimedia PCs of the era. The results were pretty cool, but the CD-ROM versions of the publications hardly replaced their print counterparts. Content has since moved from optical disk to the web, and now the allure of tablet devices has created a market for specific newspaper and magazine apps -- the number one paid app for iPad is a digital version of Wired, which sold about 1,000 copies an hour the first day it was launched. While it's a much better effort than some of the other efforts, more than anything Wired for iPad shows the weaknesses of media apps and demonstrates how the tablet remains a still-imperfect medium to deliver this type of content. Wired's efforts, like the CD-ROM efforts of the past, by has some cool features. A video clip of Toy Story 3 graces the cover and there are various interactive features, but more than anything else, it feels like a scanned in copy of the paper mag. Although navigation is better than most iPad magazines, it's still never clear when a screen should be scrolled down or just swiped horizontally.
