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  • Razer gives away custom Star Wars-themed Blade, may turn friends Imperial Guard red with envy

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    10.18.2012

    Razer has been big on Star Wars gaming gear, but never quite like this. Enter a free contest and there's a chance to win a completely unique Star Wars: The Old Republic version of Razer's Blade gaming laptop. The winner sees the system's normally black shell replaced with a matte, laser-etched aluminum gray and the green backlighting dropped in favor of a subtler yellow matched to the MMORPG logo. Anyone who brings out this portable at a bring-your-own-computer gaming party is inevitably going to be the center of attention, although we have a feeling some would almost prefer the second-place bundle of peripherals -- at an estimated worth of $15,000, the Star Wars Blade might be too precious to carry for all but the most well-heeled of fans.

  • PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can't (video)

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    10.05.2012

    The indie game world has undergone a metamorphosis over the past few years, transforming from an often overlooked niche into as much a staple of the game industry as once-every-year blockbusters like the Call of Duty series. It's that fast-rising side of gaming that PBS' Off Book has explored in a succinct documentary. As both developers and game journalists explain, the small and more flexible nature of indie teams lets them delve into game concepts, art and sound that major developers typically avoid -- you probably wouldn't get Bastion, Fez or Super Meat Boy out of a company focused mostly on hitting its quarterly revenue targets. Crowdfunding and internet distribution methods like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade have similarly removed many of the barriers that either kept these games from commercial success or forced uncomfortable deals with large publishers in the past. Accordingly, the indie sphere that PBS sees in 2012 is less about trying to become the next Activision or EA and more about experimentation and personal expression. If you've ever wanted an elegant summary of what makes Spelunky feel so special, the whole Off Book episode awaits after the break.

  • Valve launches Steam Greenlight to pick cream of indie game crop

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    08.31.2012

    Steam has developed a reputation as a haven for indie games like Super Meat Boy, so it's only fitting that store owner Valve has just launched a section to welcome more of those games into its tent. Greenlight lets small developers submit titles and have gamers vote as to whether or not the candidates should get space on Steam's virtual shelf. Pickier players don't have to see every game in contention; they can filter the list down to specific game types and platforms, and collections can narrow the selection to categories hand-picked by fans or publishers. No games have cleared Greenlight just yet, but it won't be long before the logjam becomes a flood -- between this and general apps, Steam is about to get a lot more crowded.

  • Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 now working on Linux through Google Chrome, more or less

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    08.25.2012

    A Holy Grail of Linux gaming has been an Unreal Engine 3 port. Getting one for the OS would unlock a world of games that has been the province of, well, just about any other mainstream platform. Thanks to Google preserving Flash on Linux through Chrome, that dream is alive in at least a rudimentary form. Experimenters at the Phoronix forums have found that Chrome 21 has support for the Stage 3D hardware acceleration needed to drive Epic Games' Flash conversion of UE3. Tell Chrome to enable support as well as ignore a graphics chip blacklist, and suddenly you're running Epic Citadel from your Linux install. When we say "running," however, we're taking a slight amount of poetic license. Performance isn't that hot, and certain configurations might not show the medieval architecture in all its glory. We've confirmed with Epic that it works, but it's still firm on the stance that there's no plans for official UE3 support on Linux "at this time." It's still promising enough that maybe, just maybe, gamers can embrace an open-source platform without having to give up the games they love.

  • "Dmitri" and the anonymous source

    by 
    Alexander Sliwinski
    Alexander Sliwinski
    10.07.2006

    After numerous incidents of trolling "Dmitri" was banned from Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies. During an in-game commitment ceremony of lesbian avatars "Dmitri" called them "anti-Patriotic," "scum of society," and "bunch of liberal, hippie, homo lovin' scum." In 2004 he also wrote, "No negros can walk this street by order of the furher [sic]" and "We're dedicated to sending jedi to the gas chamber! Send a tell!" There is a laundry list of other incidents but "Dmitri" blames his banning on SOE having, "No room for individuals to have more conservative, traditional leanings ... that's unacceptable."Interestingly enough, for a man that believes so strongly in his conservative ideals, "Dmitri" requested to stay anonymous in a story regarding political protesting within video games for the November issue of Computer Games magazine. Computer Games magazine obliged him and Lara Crigger wrote the article A Tale of Two Protests. The piece examines the right-leaning "Dmitri" and the liberal Joseph DeLappe, who writes the names of dead soldiers within America's Army as part of his "Dead in Iraq" project.Anonymous sources hold a role in journalism, but that role is still debated in journalism schools across the country. Ideally they should never be quoted and only used to connect the dots of a story until the journalist can find a source willing to go on the record. Features Editor of Computer Games magazine Cindy Yans says, "Sometimes they have a good point, but don't want to give their name. I'm still kinda on the fence about it."Should "Dmitri" have ever been quoted in the first place? When journalists publish political ideas without a name to stand behind them, does this add fuel to the reasons games journalism is bogus?