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EVE Fanfest 2008 dates and travel packages announced
EVE Online fans, rejoice! CCP Games has announced details about Fanfest, as well as the travel packages they've arranged. For those who've never heard of the EVE Fanfest, for the past four years CCP has put out this call to all pilots: Join us at the top of the world for the ultimate party: the EVE Fanfest, held in our hometown of Reykjavik, Iceland. This is the best experience of EVE Online: your chance to meet the people behind the avatars in person, including friends and foes alike from the battlefield, plus the CCP Devs. Catch an inside glimpse of what's in store for EVE; participate in live PVP and CCG tournaments versus other pilots; and, if you dare, venture out into the world-renowned Reykjavik nightlife afterwards!If there's one thing CCP knows how to do right, beyond that whole 'internet spaceships thing', it's throwing a party. EVE Fanfest 2008 will be on November 6-8 at Laugardalur in the heart of Reykjavik, and will be the fifth annual event hosted by CCP. Fanfest is clearly a big deal to the Icelandic game developers, as they've made arrangements for airfare and hotel travel packages for fans wishing to make the journey north. At present, they've announced three 'early bird' travel packages through Icelandair for Germany, Holland, and the U.S.; more packages for other countries are in the works and will be announced at the official EVE Online site as details become available. Note that the offer for Germany ends on June 15. Read on for the full details about the U.S.-Iceland travel package.
Green House USB table fan totally blows
Sorry folks, it looks like Green House's USB table fan is strictly Japanese for the time being, so you'll have to settle for something a little smaller. Not that we're terribly confident a 500mA current is really all that capable of moving a lot of air in a table fan anyway.
Solid-state, microchip-sized fan promises to cool laptops
While solid-state hard drives are still only just beginning to catch on, if a group of researchers from Thorrn Micro Technologies have their way, there could soon be another solid-state laptop component headed your way. That component in question is a microchip-sized fan, which boasts no moving parts but is apparently capable of keeping a laptop or other electronic devices cool. To do that, the fan reportedly makes use of the same technology found in household air purifiers, which results in a flow rate three times greater than typical small mechanical fan, not to mention lower power consumption and completely silent operation. Of course, the fan is still in the early testing stages, but the researchers see virtually no end to its potential, with them boasting that it's "one of the most significant advancements in electronics cooling since heat pipes," and adding that it could "change the cooling paradigm for mobile electronics."
A shinier WoW
WoW is a fairly good-looking game, especially when compared to some other MMOs, but let's face it: it hasn't had much of a change to its graphics quality since its release in 2004, and you can tell. To give you an idea of how pretty it could be, Youtube user qelss has rendered several models from WoW with more light and some additional filters; you can see one above, and more on his profile page. As MMO-Champion notes, these are fan-made and not previews of anything, but it's still fun to look at the gleaming swords and armor.[via MMO-Champion]
Fans show a public display of affection for PS3
SCEA recently held a short film contest, where people were asked to submit videos showcasing their love of PS3 on the internet through "public displays of affection" for publishing on YouTube. SCEA has just unveiled the three winners, all of whom we're proud to showcase here. They each won a PS3 system and five games. Check out the winners, and tell us which one is your favorite.
66-fan case mod exemplifies overkill
We've seen some pretty questionable case mods involving additional fans, but this one will likely hold top honors until something even more extravagant comes around. The "Super Cooler" straps a grand total of 66 fans around the tower, which probably doesn't do a whole lot of good when all's said and done. Truth be told, we've all ideas that this thing was created more so for people to gawk at than to actually enable users to run uber-overclocked CPUs and graphics cards without the use of water, but whatever the case, it's an interesting (if not cacophonic) take on cooling. Hit the read link for lots more images, and keep those fingers a safe distance away, k?[Via Uber-Review]
Poll: Do you prefer your sports live or in HD?
Considering that we've seen not one, but two surveys in recent months suggesting that individuals tend to prefer watching sports in the comfort of their own HDTV-equipped homes versus showing up in person, we're quite curious to see how this crowd feels. The question's pretty simple: given the choice, would you show up (face paint and all) on gameday, or would you kick back with a fresh bag of Cheetos and utilize that HD service you've spent your hard earned cash on? We know this may vary by sport / team, but we're lumping all sports together to get a general consensus. Feel free to give your input below, and sound off on your choice in comments. P.S. - For whatever it's worth, this particular editor would take a seat in Carter-Finley any day over an HD broadcast.%Poll-5767%
PS3 v2.00 released
Sony's full-version firmware bump to 2.00 is now out and available for your downloading fix. So go ahead and get to downloading and feel that underwhelming surge of decorative features overwhelm your console. As to the remote start feature, once enabled, prepare to have the PS3's cooling fan spinning 24 x 7 in preparation for remote access even when the console is turned off. Fortunately, it's nearly silent so no worries -- just as long you're not concerned with the wails of the baby Gore. That, according to Engadget Japan's translation and confirmed by their testing. Wha?[Via Engadget Japan, thanks to everyone who sent this in]]Read -- Firmware 2.0Read -- Remote Wake
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Today's no-greenlight video: Contra movie trailer
This fan-made, Contra trailer for a movie that has only been made in our hearts keeps us watching as closely as in a one-hit-one-death game. The jokes sometimes miss, but the moments with quick editing and game footage look great. It's made by the same guys who brought you the Punch Out movie trailer, so expect similar shenanigans.See the video after the break.
Today's most Tron-in-reverse video: The Gamer trailer
What do you get when you mix video game junkies and a video camera? Well, in most cases you get a lot of unwatchable junk. However, these guys have put together a fan-made retro gaming film trailer that ain't half bad. Sure, the acting isn't going to win them any Academy Awards or spots on the People's Choice list, but hey ... when you can stick some retro-gaming action in with live-action footage, we're all over it.Check out the video above and imagine what you'd do if Donkey Kong showed up in your world. We'd be running the other direction, phoning every Italian plumber we knew.
Nintendo shuts down official forums "indefinitely"
Pop quiz time: You're a video game manufacturer with an insanely loyal fan base that has joined together to turn your official online forums into a vibrant, thriving Internet community. What do you do? Answer: If you're Nintendo, you shut down those forums and leave their future up in the air during a site redesign.A cryptic message on the NSider Forums main page today announced that the message boards have been disabled "indefinitely" pending a complete overhaul of the entire Nintendo.com site. Nintendo says that the future of the forums past that redesign is "uncertain" and that the existing posts will be taken down after a week of availability in read-only format.In the meantime, Nintendo suggests users who want to continue talking about the company should consider "starting their own Nintendo discussion sites." Sounds good to us. After all, why should a big company like Nintendo have to incur the cost of hosting, promoting and moderating a community of fans devoted to talking about their products when the fans can do it themselves?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Tint your Wii with a translucent case
Adding color to your console no longer means you'll have to void your warranty by breaking it open. While more complicated mods have you pulling off panels to replace the Wii's shell, GT Coupe's "crystal clear cases" -- available in blue, pink, green, white, and black -- allow you to just slip the system into the plastic housing for the desired hue. Each case come with a blue-LED-lined, cooling-fan-equipped stand to accommodate your refitted console.DealExtreme lists the Dazzle Colorful and Luxury Kit at about $30, but only has the pink case in stock. You can find the other colors for much cheaper ($22) if you're willing to make your purchase through eBay. Head past the break for a couple more photos of the kit.
Blizzard fan art page redesigned
I was looking through the Blizzard fan art pages recently, with the thought in my mind that I could do a "Best of Blizzard Fan Art" feature for our dear WoW Insider readers, when I found that selecting the "best" was extremely difficult. I kept copying so many pictures into my own "best of" folder that I began to feel like I might as well just link you all to the entire fan art site and call it a day. Most of it is really very fun to look at many many times.So today I went back determined to try again and found that they had redesigned the entire site. It loads much faster, and presents the art to you in a much smoother interface. You can see many more thumbnails per page, and change the size of the thumnails depending on how many you want to see. Once you click on a picture, you can then easily scroll through from one to another very quickly, without having to wait for the entire page to reload again and again. Also, they managed to provide a nice fade effect, so that the transition between pictures is smooth. The only downside is that you can no longer link to a single piece of art.Oh -- and also, you can no longer just click and download each picture to your own computer. I'm sure there must be a way (short of taking a screenshot), but it's beyond me. I'll take it as a sign from heaven, since I can no longer conveniently build my "Best of" folder, that the "Best of Blizzard Fan Art" site is the whole Blizzard fan art site itself. Now, with the tediousness of complicated page-loading removed, you may find browsing through the artwork gives you a whole new experience.
Vintage Sanyo fan sparks fire, leads to two deaths
This past Monday, an old electric fan (circa 1970) that was produced by Sanyo reportedly "caused a fire" which led to the death of two people in Tokyo. Apparently, a fire broke out "due to decay in the motor and other parts" of the fan, but the firm has denied that there were design flaws "or any other defects" to blame. Interestingly, the company has purportedly received "23 similar reports since 2000, including two involving people who suffered burns," but recalling a device made nearly four decades ago isn't exactly high up on the feasibility list.
A WoW iPhone theme
It's been a good few weeks since we've had an iPhone-related post here at the Insider, so it's probably time for another one. While this may not be any form of playing WoW on the iPhone, it's definitely pretty cool: this is a WoW theme that can be applied to the iPhone, changing all its menu icons and background image. And in my opinion, it's pretty sweet. If I had an iPhone I'd definitely take this for a spin.This is the work of Dimos (Darkspear-H), and if you want to Blizz up your own phone, the files to do so are at ModMyiPhone.com. I particularly enjoy the Phone icon being a hearthstone. A common conception on RP servers is that the hearthstone is what enables us to communicate in chat channels, serving as some sort of radio-like device. I don't know if this is what Dimos was going for, but it pleases me either way. The Safari icon is also an uncanny match -- does anyone know what that icon is used for in-game?
USB necktie with built-in fan keeps you cool, single
Ain't nothing classier than a clip-on tie...except one with a built-in USB-powered fan in the knot. We're not certain how this thing keep you cool, or why you wouldn't just use any of the million other USB-powered fans that don't increase your dork factor by 1000, but the people in the photos look so blissfully content we're actually a little curious.[Via The Raw Feed]
Yet another cooling solution for your Wii
For anyone who has neglected their introverted tendencies lately and stepped foot outside, you'd realize that much of the US is unbearably warm, and while we haven't seen any outbreaks of overheating Wiis, this here fan is aiming to ensure it stays that way. Of course, it won't go down as the first of its kind, but this USB-powered wind pusher provides two extra USB ports for the ones it covers, should match your Wii in color fairly well, and is reportedly ultra quiet when squashing heat. No word just yet on pricing or availability, but if you've got a wonderful invention known as "air conditioning," you needn't worry anyway.
Today's best re-created video: Smash Bros. Retro
The Smash Bros. Brawl fan-made videos keep getting better, like this trailer made by Carlos Maulén and posted by YouTube user spiderfalcox. The segment follows the style and soundtrack of the original Smash Bros. trailer but replaces the video track with retro sprites. The result is a cool mash-up of the characters, generally from the games in which they first appeared.While this was posted about two months ago, it's new to us and certainly worth a look if you missed it then. It's just like mid-Summer TV.[Thanks, Kye]
Super Mario Bros. ceiling fan on eBay until noon tomorrow!
Are you a fanatical collector of all things Nintendo? Do you need something prismatic to circulate air in your newborn's nursery? Or are you as much a Nintendo fanboy as we are, and just think something like this is TOTALLY SWEET? According to the auction, the fan was produced in 1988 and is still in good working condition. The sale ends at 11:57 AM tomorrow morning, so be on the lookout for auction snipers. Currently sitting at $51.00 USD, it's a steal even by ordinary ceiling fan standards. And you can rest assured, with this colorful relic of Nintendo's bygone hegemony wafting cool air down upon you, no one will doubt your allegiance to the boys in Kyoto.
Touching is good at Safeco Field
The Seattle Mariners baseball team is trying a new pilot program at Safeco Field that lets fans watch replays and live feeds of the game, answer trivia questions, and even order food from the relative comfort of their sticky bleachers. Sound interesting? Oh, we forgot one detail: all of this uses the DS.For a $5 fee ($30 for 10 games), access to the Nintendo Fan Network software is granted. Two download points in the stadium broadcast the software wirelessly. We're glad to see Nintendo getting some mileage out of that baseball team they bought. They've certainly got our interest with this context-sensitive non-game. We want to go to a baseball game now.[Thanks, Dave and Matt!]
