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Brawl disc problems: patience to the rescue?
Looks like we've got our own less-severe version of the Xbox 360 "towel trick" -- an unconvential, illogical-sounding way to get games to run when the system is uncooperative. 1up's Videogames Editor-in-Chief James Mielke has offered a possible solution to the disc-reading errors that have broken so many would-be Brawlers' hearts. It's somewhat less interactive, unfortunately, than the iconic towel maneuver.According to Mielke, if you listen to the Wii's disc drive and make sure it stops spinning before "spamming the A button," the game will more often than not load correctly. You have to put the disc in, then wait, then press A on the Disc Channel, and wait for the noise to die down again. This makes it sound like the issue is that the dual-layered disc takes longer to read than most discs, and the system accidentally allows you to stop the reading when you press A and start the game.Soon after the Japanese release of the game, a company called A-Class released a series of Wii lens cleaners specifically marketed at Brawl owners. We're sure we'll see something similar over here, and we have no idea if it will work.
Digital realignment in Ohio could wreak havoc on TWC DVRs
Although Time Warner has been handing out heaps of HD channels in the state of Ohio here lately, some subscribers could face a few headaches in the coming days. As of this week, the carrier is realigning its digital channels in order to "create a uniform lineup across all of its systems, including those it acquired from Adelphia." Unfortunately for customers, this means that they'll have to reprogram their DVR to record shows / series after the changes occur, and worse, it could affect some of the content already on there. When asked if the change would erase stored programs, a TWC spokesman (unsurprisingly) replied: "We're not sure." Weirder still, the company has actually gone so far as to post a how-to guide of transferring saved television shows from your DVR onto another medium (VHS, DVD, etc.), and it's encouraging subscribers to do so to ensure they don't lose any content. Um, thanks? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Shark Shield experiences epic fail, gets chomped by great white in test
As we're certain you know by now, there are fails, and then there are epic fails. This case most definitely falls into the latter category, as Sea Change's shark-deterrent system (affectionately dubbed Shark Shield) was actually bit into by a great white when tested off the coast of South Africa. Reportedly, the device sends out electronic fields that are meant to deter sharks from coming near surfers, but according to the company's CEO, the botched trial was "due to a problem with the electrode's configuration." Furthermore, he noted that the thing is only "guaranteed to work when it's stationary, not when it's surfing in the wave or paddling." Needless to say, the effectiveness of these type devices have now been called into question, and regardless of whether this thing actually works as advertised, the lack of total protection -- you know, while actually surfing -- is enough to make us steer clear.[Via UberReview]
GoDaddy invades WoW Armory
In one of the most bizarre things I've seen happen to the World of Warcraft in my three years playing, the WoW Armory site today is pointing to a generic GoDaddy.com domain parking page. The screenshot above was taken at 1:08 p.m. CST on March 2nd, 2008. WoW Insider has received numerous reports of this. It seems to be a DNS related issue. The domain name wowarmory.com expires today, and it appears as if a registrant has grabbed the wowarmory.com domain name as soon as it expired.DNS entries for blizzard.com and worldofwarcraft.com point to cerf.net, while the DNS servers for wowarmory.com are currently pointing to domaincontrol.com. While some of you might be seeing wowarmory.com work correctly, others are not. The ISPs of people who are seeing it work have not had their DNS records updated yet, however within the next 48 hours they will see wowarmoy.com go down as well; unless Blizzard fixes this before then (I am sure they are already aware, or becoming aware of it).Stay tuned to WoW Insider for the latest on this story.Thanks to Matthew Rossi and his wife for contributing to the technical sleuthing in this post.Updated 2:34 p.m. EST: You can access the armory using a sub-domain of worldofwarcraft.com by going to http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/Updated 3:03 p.m. EST: http://www.wowarmory.com/ is now working again. It looks like Blizzard really jumped on the issue and fixed it.
Panasonic issues firmware update for DMP-BD30
By our count, Panasonic's DMP-BD30 wasn't a half bad Blu-ray player from day one, but apparently, it just got a whole lot better. Effectively immediately, owners can surf on over to the firm's website and grab hold of the v1.6 firmware, which promises to fix the LFE audio issue that some were experiencing. Additionally, Panny informs us that BD-V (PiP) playability and HDMI compatibility are also improved upon, but no further details are given. Anxious to update? Head on down to the read link to get your download on, and stop on by the via to see how others have fared.[Via AVSForum, thanks Brian L.]
Trucker blindly follows GPS, gets wedged in farm lane
At first glance, we seriously assumed that we had mentioned this exact same story before. Turns out, one particular Maxi Haulage driver doesn't tune into Engadget, as he pulled the exact same trick in (almost) the same circumstances. Reportedly, this timber haul was cut short as the driver followed his personal GPS system down a "farm lane" suitable only for (presumably small) tractors, and needless to say, the 45-foot vehicle has been wedged ever since. Additionally, the owner of the property is quite irate, as the mishap is forcing her to drive an extra two miles until rescue arrives. Still, the motorist did cruise right by a sign noting that the upcoming road was unfit for heavy goods vehicles, so at least the sat nav can't take all of the blame this go 'round.[Thanks, Carl H.]
Microsoft gets RRoD at GDC
Just days ago, we heard that Microsoft's Xbox 360 failure rate was at a staggering 16-percent. Not helping Redmond's cause in making you believe otherwise, one of the hand-picked machines used at the 2008 Game Developers Conference was actually suffering from the infamous Red Ring of Death. Comedic gold? Yes, indeed. Check the video after the jump!
Activision cranks up Wii Guitar Hero III disc replacement program
Select owners of Guitar Hero III for Wii have been moshing uncontrollably as best they can in mono for months on end, but it seems as if Activision has finally got its interconnects sorted and will start issuing replacement discs. According to direct end-user reports and the (admittedly blurry) shots in the gallery below, the firm is now dishing out pre-paid envelopes in which customers have to ship back their faulty GH III disc and wait "3 to 4 weeks" before getting a new, stereo-enabled one free of charge. Live sans your favorite game for a month, or keep rockin' in the monaural world? Tough call, indeed.[Thanks, Sam K. and Michael S.] %Gallery-16203%
Bright House CableCARD customers lose four HD channels, offered an HD DVR instead
Hey, Bright House CableCARD customers -- remember those eight HD channels that popped online back in September? Turns out, you were only supposed to receive half of 'em, and reportedly, four have actually been pulled after five newcomers were added in late January. According to Arthur Orduna, the senior vice president of product for BHN, it had decided to "not to deliver those channels [HGTV HD, TBS HD, The History Channel HD and Food Network HD] to CableCard customers" as it prepared for switched digital video, and apparently, the cable company is now allowing these very subscribers to trade their beloved CableCARD in for a ho hum HD DVR. Supposedly, this stopgap will enable customers to view the entire HD lineup while they wait for an "external adapter" to be rolled out which will allow CableCARD-ready TiVos to play nice with SDV. Sounds like a pretty complicated mess from here -- anyone down in the Sunshine state dealing with this here dilemma?[Thanks, Celly and David]
News recycling: Brain Age doesn't like your accent
Bringing an old story back to the forefront with a new angle, BBC show Watchdog reports that Michelle Livesey of Manchester can't get Brain Training (Brain Age in the States) to recognize her saying "yellow" -- she's apparently not saying it "posh" enough. Although Watchdog added a new dimension with Brain Training's inability to recognize yellow, the original problem color blue is also in the mix. The issue is all in the accents.According to Nintendo, on page 47 of the Brain Training manual it gives hints on how to use the voice recognition properly. Suggestion number four is: "Pronounce each word as clearly as possible, and try to avoid using strong dialects or accents." Just check out Nicole Kidman saying scissors in a Nintendo ad to see how things could go wrong with accents. Nintendo claims it has been continually monitoring the voice recognition efficiency in its software since the game launched in June '06. We believe them, just as long as we don't have to say the color blue, or yellow if we're from Manchester.
Canon brewing yet another autofocus fix for EOS-1D Mark III?
Unfortunately, details are extraordinarily scant at the moment, but it appears that Canon is readying one more fix for the EOS-1D Mark III, which has been plagued with an autofocus issue for what seems like ages. Apparently, the forthcoming fix -- which could involve hardware and / or firmware alterations -- will make improvements even over last year's tweak. Reportedly, the firm's AF engineers are confident that they have now realized the "root cause" of the problem, hinting that this solution may in fact be the last. Per usual, there's been no clues handed out as to when users will actually be notified that a fix is available, but we're sure official word will stream out soon enough if there's anything to this.
Firmware 3.90 fixes mysterious Store errors
Earlier, we reported that some users of the PLAYSTATION Store were unable to transfer content from their computers to their PSP systems. Looks like that's finally been fixed in firmware 3.90. Many users are reporting on the PlayStation forums that their once defunct systems can now play with the rest of 'em. Games like Beats and Syphon Filter: Combat Ops eagerly await those systems.Supposedly, the fix only affects PSP-2000 systems, but it's clear that each firmware update Sony releases fixes a few more issues that users are experiencing. Hopefully, PSP Fanboy readers afflicted with this mysterious glitch have found their woes alleviated.[Thanks, Hashbrown_Hunter!]
Amazon's Blu-ray Paramount listings posted erroneously
As has become quite the norm for Amazon, it seems that the trio of flicks it proudly listed as Blu-ray titles just two days back were in fact listed erroneously. A new report over at Heise -- and a quick click back over to the exact same Amazon links -- shows that the films are indeed HD DVDs. So yeah, we wouldn't take any of Amazon's listings from here on out as a sign of the format war getting even crazier, but who knows, try clicking back tomorrow and see if they're scheduled to debut on HD VMD.[Via FormatWarCentral, thanks Blake]
Users plagued with mysterious PSP Store errors
A number of people are having trouble using the PSP Store. A thread on the PlayStation Forums shows the growing frustrations of those that have met error 80048516. They rightfully purchased content from the Store, and simply cannot transfer the data over to their systems. Some users complain they've purchased over $30 worth of content that they're no longer able to access.Calls to PlayStation support lines have left the users frustrated at the seeming lack of a solution. Constant days of "research" on their part seems to suggest only one solution: returning the system for a new one. We haven't encountered issues with the Store on our end, but we also don't manage more than one license at a time per system. A word of warning: don't deactive your PSP systems unless you really mean it! And don't try having multiple licenses (from different territories, for example) on your system.We wish the best of luck to those affected, and hope to have an update regarding their situation in the near future.[Thanks, Hashbrown_Hunter!]
Sprint halts sales of LG Rumor?
We're not planning on seeing any sort of confirmation from Sprint on this, but word on the street has it that the carrier has actually halted shipments of the LG Rumor to its retail outlets. Apparently, the handset has a "known issue where certain sets of key presses during startup can trigger a complete erasure of the phone's firmware." Purportedly, the device cannot be restored once triggered save for at the factory, but LG is hard at work creating an updated firmware that "removes the code from being accessible." Once that's completed and approved, existing users can expect an over-the-air download to be made available, and users to-be can expect the mobiles to start showing back up with the update already loaded on. [Via PhoneScoop]
Xbox Live, Zune Marketplace down: what gives, Microsoft?
We're nearly nauseous from all the spinning on the Xbox Live carousel. One minute we're in, the next we're out. Now, Microsoft is confirming that the issues are back via Xbox.com, and as if that weren't enough in and of itself, the outfit is also informing Zune owners that they "may experience intermittent issues logging onto Zune Marketplace." From what we can tell, there's no definitive ETA on a resolution that will actually stick for more than ten minutes, but if we were you, we'd lock down that Hotmail account, pronto.[Thanks, Robert S. and everyone who sent this in]Read - Xbox.com SupportRead - Zune.net Support
Girl unwraps iPod, finds heavy-handed social commentary instead
As the unfortunate trend continues, yet another kiddo has found their Christmas PMP replaced with something that's, well, not a PMP. In today's episode, we find a Washington, D.C. girl that unwrapped an iPod earlier this week and discovered that the only Apple product tucked within was the inner packaging. Instead, a clever note was stashed inside (presumably with a paperweight of some sort) that read: "Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple store." Oh, and just in case you really needed more than one guess as to where this thing came from, here's a hint: it was sold by the same retailer who passed on Wii demo units due to "safety" concerns.[Via TUAW]
German receives prototype Pleo, hacked up box
After waiting for what seems like ages, we can imagine just how excited one would be to finally receive that beautiful brown shipping container with their very own Pleo tucked within. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on perspective) for one particular German, an unspecified retailer sent out what appears to be a prototype dino, complete with a pieced together box that once held a fax machine. Interestingly, it seems the lucky recipient is rather perturbed by the incident, but being the optimistic crew that we are, we'd actually hang on to this thing for bragging rights or discover its true value courtesy of eBay. Hit the read link for a few more shots.[Thanks, Jared C.]
Buy two HD DVDs, get a Blu-ray flick free?
There's not many instances where a picture truly is worth a thousand words. This may very well be one of those times. Oh, and just so you know, the image was snapped in a Sydney, Australia Myer store just this week, and no, we haven't been able to confirm which camp was more embarrassed.[Thanks, Derek]
Returned DAP gets resold with loads of porn
We've seen returned / resold DAPs (among other things) ruin celebrations before, but we're inclined to say that this episode is a tad more disheartening than receiving a couple of rock-filled iPod boxes. Reportedly, an unspecified MP3 player purchased in a Tennessee Wal-Mart was wrapped and given as a Christmas present to a 10-year old daughter, but upon connecting said player to a computer, heaps of pornographic material and explicit songs were discovered. According to a Wally World spokesperson, stores aren't supposed to "return opened packages to the sales floor," but given that it already happened, the matter will purportedly be "investigated."[Via TGDaily]
