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Conspiracies, kittens, applesauce, and AT&T SIMs
Yesterday, Steve Sande posted about his experiences testing iPhone 3GS signal attenuation. In his post, he showed a picture I had snapped during our morning experimentation showing my 3GS and my 4 competing head to head with the same carrier. My 3GS appeared to have better signal strength than my 4 throughout our testing. I used a Best Buy O2 SIM for that test. It's basically a re-branded AT&T SIM. Because of that it works in any 3G or later iPhone, just by dropping it into the unit. (Unfortunately, no such luck for 1st generation iPhones, which must be jailbroken and hacktivated to take advantage of the SIM.)
DRAM cartel settles with European Commission, will pay €331 million fine
When the U.S. Department of Justice brought an antitrust suit against PC memory manufacturers in 2002, the RAM you see above wasn't even a twinkle in an engineer's eye... but seven years after Micron revealed the existence of a price fixing cartel and four years after Samsung sent three executives to jail and paid a $300 million penalty, the European Commission has slapped DRAM manufacturers with yet another fine. Those who 'fessed up early were partially let off the hook, but Infineon and Hynix will shoulder €57 million and €51 million respectively, while Samsung owes Europe a cool €145 million for its role in the scandal. Of course, for a company that counts a quarterly $459 million in profit during an off year, we're talking about another slap on the wrist.
Dell joins dog pile, sues five LCD makers over price-fixing allegations
Looks like Dell is getting itself a membership in a club of which AT&T, Nokia, and the US Department of Justice are none too pleased to say they're members. The company has filed suit in a San Francisco court today against four Japanese LCD makers - Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Seiko Epson - and Taiwan-based HannStar. The crime at hand? None other than the much-chronicled LCD price fixing cartel. At least two of the aforementioned companies (Sharp and Hitachi) have already come forth to admit involvement and pay fines elsewhere, and now it looks like the troubles are still coming for them and others. If only there was some way the companies could band together to increase profits and help pay for these suits... oh, wait.
All hail the Kingsmouth Horror: The Secret World pays homage to Lovecraft
For a while now, the community over at The Secret World has noticed things in the game that are distinctly influenced by the writings of horror master H.P. Lovecraft. From the original poster that revealed a beast that reminded many of Cthulhu to the whole idea of secret societies and monsters that exist beyond time and space. So when The Secret World community members stumbled upon a website for the fictional town of Kingsmouth, many weren't surprised. Kingsmouth, a mash-up of Lovecraft's Kingsport and Innsmouth (and, to an unnamed extent, Arkham), is the typical New England town that Lovecraft so loved to talk about. It's sleepy, it's quiet, it's community is entrenched, and there are probably more monsters than people. Lovecraftian references are abound from the aptly named Miskatonic River (see Miskatonic University) to the town's presence as a port on the coastline. Of course, with the addition of a brand new website, new puzzles are bound to pop up. The Secret World community is already pouring over the website, so jump into the discussion if you think you found something. Of course, for those of you who aren't into the whole conspiracy angle, we got the screenshots of Kingsmouth for you below. Beware though, the originals are small, as apparently the Kingsmouth locals don't know how to upload quality pictures. %Gallery-72395%
Sony's secret kill switch: myth, rumor or hearsay?
Could there be something lurking deep inside your Sony laptop or TV programmed to break the device as soon as the warranty expires? That may sound like a crazy conspiracy theory not far off those involving the mysterious deaths of engineers, but it's a theory that continues to persist to some degree in Japan, and even seems to have grown in recent years. As Telegraph.co.uk reports, the belief in a secret timer or "kill switch" has been around for the past twenty years or so, but it apparently took on some newfound momentum amid the rash of Sony laptop battery failures, which even prompted some Sony execs to publicly deny that such a switch exists. The kill switch apparently isn't completely pervasive though, as the PlayStation 3 is supposedly "exempt," thereby explaining its considerable success in Japan -- although there's some talk that's because it's a Trojan horse for Sony's next big scheme: mind control disguised as 3D glasses.
LCD price fixing investigation reaches $860 million in total fines, Chi Mei latest to 'fess up
It's not every day we get to cite an official US Department of Justice news release, so it's with a certain glee that we can announce the US taxpayer was last week enriched by another $220 million courtesy of the not-so-fine folks who swindled him out of that money in the first place. Joining the ignominious ranks of LG, Sharp, Hitachi and Chungwa Picture Tube, Taiwanese manufacturer Chi Mei is refunding the US state for the pecuniary impact of its collusive practices, which were primarily related to keeping prices artificially high and profits proportionately inflated. US companies directly affected by these ignoble activities include HP, Dell and Apple, but don't you worry, AT&T has already started the inter-corporation scuffle, with Nokia piling on for good measure. Man, it almost seems like crime doesn't pay.
Pandaren in the World of Warcraft
In among all of the "omg fake pets for real money" drama from this week's announcement, we may have missed something big: the Pandaren are now live in the World of Warcraft. The Pandaren are my favorite Azerothian race, even though they're essentially a joke -- Samwise Didier just loves pandas, and he made art for an April Fool's joke that Chris Metzen loved so much they decided to include the bears as real characters in Warcraft III. Since then, they've become fan favorites (not least of all, especially for me, because alcohol and ale are a big part of their culture), but we've only seen hints of them in World of Warcraft. There was a rumor going around a while back that they would never appear in the game because China didn't allow depictions of violence against the bears, but that was just a rumor. Still, the Pandaren have existed in WoW only as a Blizzard in-joke. We assume they're out there somewhere, but until now, no one has ever seen one. Of course we say "until now" because there are now little Pandaren monk noncombat pets running around, bowing, and doing magical kung-fu. Does this mean that the future Emerald Dream expansion will have us all playing as Brewmasters? While yes that would be awesome, not so fast again: Diablo and the Zergling from Starcraft are both in the game as noncombat pets, and they don't mean anything at all (although they were both included in the game before the announcements of Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 -- maybe Blizzard is working on a Pandaren-based puzzle game? Conspiracy theorists, assemble!). And just because we all have Grunty doesn't mean murlocs are suddenly going to take to spaceships with battle rifles in the official lore. But it's cool to see Pandaren actually in the game, even in pet form, and who knows, maybe we will one day find the legendary realm of Pandaria in our own version of Azeroth.
More Halloween masks uncovered, mayhem ensues
In what may be an attempt to throw everyone off the recent speculation that Goblins and Worgen just might be the next playable races in the World of Warcraft, new Halloween masks with both male and female versions were found in the latest PTR build. The discovery sent players into a frenzy, and got everyone speculating about the next expansion and what it holds. During last weekend's WoW.com radio show, Turpster said he wished that the whole Halloween mask thing were planted by Blizzard to confuse the player base, and it turns out that they just might be... except that it might be the other way around and the devs are trying to cover up the Goblins and Worgen discovery.MMO Champion, the data-mining heaven, has the full image of all the "new" Halloween masks, which include Murlocs, Vrykul, Naga, and Ogres, including a never-before-seen-in-game female ogre! However, astute readers point out that the female ogre is actually a "direct copy-paste of an old drawing from one of the RPG books." Closer inspection of the female ogre mask will reveal some rendering inconsistencies compared to the other skins, which were lifted from in-game models. Clever Blizzard - could these new masks be a red herring? Or could the red herring actually be the Goblin and Worgen masks, and this is just one elaborate ploy to obscure the big announcement at BlizzCon? Let the mayhem commence!Oops, forgot this earlier... thanks to Malfural of But Wait, There's Lore for the tip! EDIT: Whoops again! Malfural has nothing to do with BWTL, but says he's a great fan. Thanks for the tip, anyway, BWTL reader!
Fall into the conspiracy of The Secret World, again
Last time The Secret World was announced, a conspiracy swept through the alternate reality gaming community. One telling of secrets and sanctuaries, of dark days and demons. The conspiracy was quelled after a period, and the puzzles fell into depths of time.But now, with the latest unveiling, the conspiracy returns. "A Friend" is back to stalking The Secret World forums, removing answers and doing his best to "protect" the community while odd videos and websites are beginning to come up.While the MMORPG may not be done, the viral marketing "conspiracy" is beginning to start up again for all of the new people intrigued by the story behind TSW. What lies as a reward for those who crack the puzzles and get to the depths of the sanctuary? Well, we're not at liberty to say. Too many eyes are on us already, and we already risk our lives getting you this information. We've embedded the video after the break, but that's all we can do! They're watching us!
The Conduit to use Wii Speak, new trailer sizzles with 'conspiracy'
It's been a while since we've seen anything out of High Voltage's little-shooter-that-could, The Conduit -- a problem that was expediently rectified on last night's episode of GameTrailers TV. In addition to the revelation that the game won't support Wii MotionPlus but will allow users to chat via Wii Speak, the latest trailer for the shooter, titled "Conspiracy," was aired.In addition to showing a sizable chunk of gameplay, the trailer (which we've posted after the jump) gives further hints regarding the game's plot. Here's what we've pieced together: There's a conspiracy (Aliens? Illuminati? Grassy Knoll?), which appears to be causing protagonist Michael Ford to have a very bad day. Don your tinfoil hat, crank up the Alex Jones, and check out the trailer after the break.
LG, Chunghwa Picture Tubes execs to serve jail time for LCD price fixing conspiracy
LG and Chunghwa Picture Tubes already confessed to being involved in a scandalous LCD price fixing conspiracy, and now the US Department of Justice is laying down the hammer on four of the dirty-handed executives. Chang Suk Chung (LG), Chieng-Hon "Frank" Lin (Chunghwa), Chih-Chun "C.C." Liu (Chunghwa) and Hsueh-Lung "Brian" Lee (Chunghwa) have all entered plea agreements which will see them serving a "term of imprisonment" as well as paying a criminal fine and assisting the US government in its ongoing TFT-LCD investigation. 'Course, those pleas must all be approved by the court, but it's pretty safe to say these fellows will be spending a least a moment or two behind steel bars. Fun, fun.[Via DigitalTrends]
Norway Post's new logo: Pokball or Marathon symbol variation?
This is what makes us smile. Reader Olav sent us word this morning that the Norwegian post office switched its old logo (which we've placed after the break for reference) to something, he said, that "unmistakably looks like a pokéball." After checking it out, we believe Posten Norge's new symbol looks like the love child of a pokéball and the symbol from Bungie's Marathon.Coincidence, or conspiracy by some gamer in the art department?Source - Article about new post symbol (it's in Norwegian)Source - Norway Post in English[Thanks Olav]
The bigger picture behind SOE's Living Legacy strategy
The Ancient Gaming Noob is stirring up the crack pots in this excellent post questioning whether or not a New World Order is taking shape over at Sony Online Entertainment. Why would he think that? Well all the ballyhoo surrounding the Living Legacy promotion of course. In an unprecedented move SOE reactivated and marked over a million EQ/EQ2 accounts for free play until July 25th. Oh yea, that's freakin' insane, not to mention the deal only gets sweeter because it comes with a ton of perks and incentives for those that resub to either EverQuest or EverQuestII. While some disgruntled players who were already active EQ/EQ2 subscribers at the time of the announcement lament, as felt in various drama bombs around the blogosphere; the case he presents and the reasons listed are very intriguing. We would go into greater detail into the theory, but we don't want to spoil it. Go read it and come back here and tell us what you think about Living Legacy and the speculative truth behind it. Is he onto something?
Mario Kart won't be the only kart racing game for the Wii
And no, we're not even talking about Deca Sports, which features kart racing as one of its ten activities. Rather, Conspiracy Entertainment is making another Wii game in their Cocoto series, called Cocoto Kart Racer (which is already out for the DS, GameCube, PC and PS2). The title should be coming out soon (the press release said Q2 2008), and will probably break the hearts of children everywhere. We're not saying it will necessarily be a bad game (even though the other versions got poor reviews, so let's be realistic), but the point is, it's not Mario Kart. Imagine a child asking his or her parents for Mario Kart, only to be sorely disappointed when they come home with Cocoto Kart Racer instead because they don't know the difference or want to go with the cheaper option. We can definitely see that happening.[Via press release]
Cocoto Magic Circus ships for Wii, no one notices
We know PR people are supposed to write press releases that make video games sound good, but simply writing down that a game is "highly anticipated" doesn't make it so.Unless we're mistaken, and you're the one person in the world who's been drooling all over yourself while waiting for Cocoto Magic Circus to come out on the Wii. Considering that we've never even heard of the game and it's our job to write about all things Wii, though, we somehow doubt it.So, what is Cocoto Magic Circus, then? Apparently, it's a compilation of forty minigames. We originally assumed from the title that these minigames would involve acrobatics, riding unicycles, and other things of that sort. The press release, however, only mentions something about freeing a magical fairy, so we really can't be sure.The game actually shipped to the U.S. last week, but we're sure you already knew that, considering how "highly anticipated" it is.[Via GoNintendo]
Conspiracy to publish Wii budget titles in the U.S.
Data Design Interactive and U.S. Developer Conspiracy have announced a distribution agreement that will bring nine new Wii-exclusive titles to the U.S. this year. Most of the games seem to be knock-offs of more popular titles such as Mario Kart or the Harry Potter series, but this Ninjabread Man game has our attention. No release date or prices have been set, but the games have been marketed at budget prices in the UK, so we can likely expect the same in the States. Mini Desktop Racing - A "minature racer" Monster Trux Offroad - a "rugged racer" Ninjabread Man - 3D platformer Action Girlz Racing - "fairy-tale racer" Anubis II - 3D platformer Billy Wizard - a "magic/action game" banking on the popularity of Harry Potter Myth Makers - SuperKart GP - a racing game, of course Rock N Roll Adventures - musical action/platformer Earache - Extreme Metal Racing - yet another offroad racer
Billy the Wizard and others spotted on ESRB
Good news! You can sell that imported European Wii you bought! Conspiracy Entertainment is bringing Data Design's lineup of European budget Wii games to the US, according to the ESRB listings. These are budget Wii ports of Metro3D's budget PS2 games. Let us say it again: budget.So far, four Conspiracy games have been rated for US release: Billy the Wizard (original name: Barry Hatter), Anubis II, Mythmakers: Super Kart GP, and Counter Force. No word on Ninjabread Man yet, and we don't know when any of these will be released. In any case, we recommend preordering now so you won't be stuck in line at 5AM on release day.[Via GoNintendo]
Samsung coughs up $90 million more for DRAM price-fixing
If you (or Samsung) thought this whole "DRAM price-fixing disaster" was finished, apparently that's just not the case anymore, as it looks like the semiconductor giant will be coughing up an additional $90 million "to settle litigation brought by 41 US states pertaining to Samsung's alleged participation in a global DRAM price-fixing conspiracy." Yes, the company has already been hit with a $300 million fine and watched a trio of its own execs hit the big house, but this $90 million is supposed to "benefit victims that paid artificially high prices for personal computers and other high-tech equipment that contained the chips." Additionally, it was stated that $10 million was reserved for the states and localities to "recover their losses," while the other chunk would be split amongst the throngs of "consumers and other victims." No other details about the payout were mentioned, and while it wasn't stated for certain, we can assume that this final penalty will indeed be the last, but all this grief that Samsung has received most likely has all those other potential price fixers squirming.
The fix is in: Another Samsung exec falls in DRAM conspiracy
The fifth Samsung executive has agreed to a 10-month prison sentence, pleading guilty to conspiring with other companies to fix DRAM prices. Since 2003, the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation has charged four vendors in the scandal. While Samsung already pleaded guilty and was fined $300 million a year ago, this latest plea relates to OEM price-fixing over 2001 and 2002; if you bought a computer from Dell, HP, Gateway, or Apple, those companies likely passed the extra costs on to you.Once a product becomes a commodity -- like RAM -- the pressure for collusion seems to rise because price is the main product difference; all vendors lose in a price war. We don't think that video cards and GPUs are interchangeable like RAM, but is the graphic industry using similar tricks?See also:Uh-oh! Sony part of DoJ's inquiry into SRAM salesFeds tracking AMD/ATI, Nvidia in antitrust probe
