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MapleStory celebrates the magic of marriage and subsequent divorce
Valentine's Day is nearly here, and the best way to celebrate it is to have your pixelated avatar pretend to marry someone else's pixelated avatar. MapleStory allows you to do just that, and the game has thus far had around 28,000 couples tie the knot in-game. It's also seen 15,000 of those couples subsequently divorce, which seems like a staggering number when you realize that the game does not offer any systems to model the crumbling of your emotional bonds and the slow desertion of your childhood dreams. As it turns out, the staff at Nexon keeps track of a lot of interesting little tidbits about the marriage system. The longest marriage in the game is at 1,100 days; the shortest one clocks in at just three seconds. The average isn't too bad at 518 days, but couples that both married and divorced in 2012 wound up with an average run of 107 days. And some poor soul is already on marriage number 13, which implies Larry King-like devotions to remarriage. If you're looking at all of those stats and thinking that you can't say no, check out the wedding trailer past the break. [Source: Nexon press release] %Gallery-16709%
The Elder Scrolls Online gets some myths dispelled
Are you looking forward to seeing what happens when the developers at Bethesda finish working on The Elder Scrolls Online? Are you unsure how the game's Skyrim-based combat will work when accounting for lag in your aim? Do you have a fear of having everyone grouped on a single server? If you answered yes to any of those questions, it's probably a good idea for you to take a gander at the video below the cut, because all of those questions are based on misconceptions that the video aims to correct. The fansite Tamriel Foundry has put together a short video hitting several of the most common misconceptions about The Elder Scrolls Online, explaining both the inaccurate belief and the truth of the matter. This covers everything from the actual developers (Zenimax Online) to the changes to the combat system (you won't be actively aiming, with the game instead establishing a soft target lock on your selected target). Even if you think you know all there is to know about the game already, it couldn't hurt to sit and watch -- and maybe have a few mistaken ideas cleared out.
Around the world with Geo Walk
Geo Walk is a clever little iPhone app from Vito Technology, the developers who produced the breathtaking Star Walk astronomy app for the iPad and iPhone. Geo Walk doesn't explore deep space; it explores our own varied planet. You start with a 3D globe and spin it to any part of the world you want to explore. Little bubbles appear, and you can click on them to get interesting info on places, historical figures, flora, and fauna. Think of Geo Walk as a world fact book at your fingertips. There are 300 entries in the app, each with photos and text. You can filter the objects displayed, so if you are only interested in visiting places, you can do that. %Gallery-96405%
Android Market gets 9,000 new apps in March, world domination can't be far behind
Wanna know what exponential growth looks like? Try following Android's progress over the past few months and you'll be treated to plenty of rapidly ascending charts. This latest one from AndroLib is no different, illustrating as it does the ever-increasing influx of new games and applications for Google's mobile platform. Developers must clearly believe Android's growing market share is only going to keep expanding, as last month saw their most productive output yet, with a sweet 9,308 new additions to the Market. Naturally, the same proviso applies as with Apple's inflated App Store numbers -- quantity does not guarantee quality -- but what we're witnessing is surely the solidification of Android as a legitimate and fully fledged member of the smartphone OS upper echelon. And that can only be a good thing.
Ken Levine goes behind the scenes on System Shock 2
Irrational Games continues to empty out its vault of memories and secrets over on its newly commissioned blog -- Ken Levine and the crew are revealing so much old insider information over there you have to wonder how long they'll keep it up. Today, it's "what might have been" on System Shock 2, as Levine relates what they would have liked to do with the SHODAN showdown game, given more time and resources. The game was originally designed as an Apocalypse Now-style assassination in space, and it included some zero-G gameplay ideas (that sound pretty similar to what Dead Space pulled off years later). The ending also had to be rewritten, as the cinematic that Levine got back didn't have much to do with the script that he had originally put together. And perhaps the most disturbing factoid is that the entire game was created in just 900 square feet of office space, full of overworked (and smelly) game developers. Wandering around the Von Braun was scary and all, but spending 11 months in a tiny room full of developers on crunch? No wonder Levine sounds ecstatic he survived.
Ten off-the-wall facts about high-definition
Think you're an HD aficionado? Insulted that we'd even begin to think otherwise? For what it's worth, we'd wager that even the hardest of hardcore HD junkies could learn a thing or two from CD Freak's top ten list of things you might not know in relation to high-def. For starters, high-definition (as a term) emerged nearly four score ago, the first HDTV was sold in 1998 here in the United States and the first "high-resolution television system" was actually created by the Soviets in 1958. Eager to take a peek at the other seven? Head on down to the read link and stock up on potential trivia knowledge.[Image courtesy of Philips]
Chuck Norris doesn't sleep... he waits
I can't believe it hasn't been done before (and I'm not sure how old the pic is), but there you go-- Cordell Walker as a WoW character.. My favorite: The chief export of Chuck Norris is Pain. More here, or just visit a local Barrens chat near you.Chuck Norris is no stranger to gaming, but my hunch is that as funny as this is, it's actually photoshopped. In all my Azerothian travels, I've never seen a sleeveless, unbuttoned denim shirt. But you never know-- if Col. James Braddock called up Blizzard and told them he was going to be in the game, they'd have no choice but to comply.[ via Digg ]
More Raving Rabbids scientific facts
Those silly rabbids! Baths are for kids! These quarky scientific facts about rabbids always make us smile. Yet, with this video and the next, we find ourselves missing the old music. One of the main reasons we loved watching these 30 seconds of joy had a lot to do with the crazy rabbid screaming. Now, you can't really hear it all that well. It is drained out by rather annoying music. Annoying music doesn't mean we are done watching them. In fact, we have another Raving Rabbid scientific fact for you!
