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Silk Road 2 founder sentenced five years after the site was shut down
It's been nearly five years since the feds shut down Silk Road 2. But its founder is only now being sentenced to prison. According to Motherboard, Thomas White, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts 2 (DPR2) plead guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and making indecent images of children. Now he faces five years and four months in prison.
A fifth of startup founders think sexism reports are 'overblown'
Despite the pervasive issue of sexism and harassment in Silicon Valley gaining prominence in recent times, it seems the industry still has a long way to go in acknowledging the problem. A survey by venture firm First Round Capital polled 800 startup founders and found that 19 percent of respondents (that's nearly a fifth) believe sexual harassment in tech has been "overblown" by the media, while 40 percent say the issue is "more significant than the media is reporting". Meanwhile, 53 percent say they, or someone they know, has personally experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Blizzard has begun selling Heroes of the Storm Founder's Packs
If there's any company in the world that could launch a new MOBA title without needing to sell founder's packs, it would probably be Blizzard. But we'll never know beyond the dark realms of speculation, of course, because sales have already started on the founder's packs for Heroes of the Storm. And yes, that pack includes access to the current closed beta, if its $39.99 price tag didn't already create that implication in your mind. Aside from beta access, the pack includes three heroes: Tyrande, Diablo, and Raynor, each with an alternate skin. Diablo gets to look fishy, Tyrande gets to look like a Blood Elf, and Raynor takes all of that high-powered armor off (which seems like a bad idea on a battlefield, but I guess that's why I'm not a space marine). You also get a mechanical golden wolf mount to ride around on the battlefield and 2500 gold for the game, which is more than enough money to buy anything that costs less than 2500 gold. Check out the pack trailer just past the break. [Thanks to Siphaed, deathandtexas, and Vincynt for the tip!]
Path of Exile unveils more of the Hall of the Grandmasters
Is your character in Path of Exile the greatest of all time? Do throngs of people spontaneously assemble around her to sing Eye of the Tiger when she's just walking down the hall to the kitchen? More specifically, did you purchase the Grandmaster Founder Pack for the game? Then you can be immortalized in the Hall of the Grandmasters, a unique map canonizing player characters whilst pitting everyone against these champions. The development team has recently posted screenshots of the map still under development in addition to some planning details. Players will be able to challenge specific hallways within the Hall of the Grandmasters, which pit players against several random grandmasters who must be beaten to continue onward. This allows the developers to continue expanding as more grandmasters are added in the future. Check out the full thread for more details and preview shots of the map under development. The team has also posted two new skill effect microtransactions; the videos showing them in action are below.
New studio emerges from MotorStorm, Driveclub creator
Evolution Studios founder Martin Kenwright, the creator of MotorStorm, announced his new studio this week, Starship. The studio's plan is to "use games to disrupt other marketplaces," Kenwright told IGN, and that Starship already began work on "several" next-gen games. The news follows layoffs that his the Driveclub developer this week, including the reported departure of game director Col Rodgers. "Historically we'd always make software for formats that didn't exist yet. What I'm trying to do is start up a new venture now, with a five or ten year roadmap," Kenwright said of Starship. "There's no point competing in the current marketplace; it's already established. It's important to set your stall out for the next generation of tech." Starship is said to be led by industry veterans from both Evolution Studios and Sony Liverpool, which Kenwright plans to leverage by "formulating memorable IPs with genuine use and need. The idea was to take some of the best gaming talent in the world and then move it slightly outside games." He wouldn't commit to any genre for the studio's future, though a racing game seems to be the obvious choice, given the former Evolution founder's history. Kenwright did add that the studio "had meetings in the automotive sector with companies and they say that some of the visions we have blow their minds. We're really out to change the game." Its first project is slated to be revealed at E3. [Image: Evolution Studios]
The Soapbox: Stop hurting the people who love you
Over the last few years, we have been witness to dramatic shifts in the way the video game business does its...erm...business. Crowdfunding appeared out of nowhere and turned people like Chris Roberts into money tornadoes. Digital distribution created an environment in which anyone with an internet connection and a laptop can create and release a game. Here in the MMO niche, early access, paid betas, founders packages, and extended soft launches became the norm. My opinion on soft launching and paid betas has been well established on this site. I dislike the idea that players must jump in to aid a flailing development team while it buys time on a project the team clearly should have reigned in. I also hate the environment soft launching creates in which studios are not accountable for their mistakes; a game like Firefall can have its entire PvP system wiped while its developers say, "Oops, our bad, beta! But thanks for all the money." However, there is another enormous problem with the prevalence of the soft launch system. Namely, it kills fans.
Infinite Crisis announces the new Founders program
Some people aren't necessarily instantly on board with the idea of a MOBA featuring DC Comics characters. But if Infinite Crisis had you hooked right from the premise, you can go ahead and put your money where your mouth is as of today. The game has just launched its Founders program, a chance for future players to buy now and enjoy the benefits later... like many other free-to-play titles have done recently. Three packages are available for purchase now, with all three unlocking immediate beta access, early access to Coast City, and an exclusive icon for use in-game and on the forums. The $20 package also includes 800 Crisis Coins (in-game microtransaction money) and 3 Champion unlocks. $50 gets you 3200 Crisis Coins, 6 unlocks, and an exclusive Gaslight Batman costume. And $100 gets you 8600 Crisis Coins, 12 unlocks, an exclusive costume for both Gaslight Batman and regular Batman, and early access to the next map addition. To help up the hype, the game has also released a trailer detailing the Coast City map, which is embedded just past the break.
Marvel Heroes compensates for early access delay
Gazillion is looking to make amends with early adopters of Marvel Heroes who possibly experienced severe connection issues this past week. The studio laid out a plan to compensate those who had purchased a founders pack and expected to get in on the action prior to the game's official launch. Ultimate pack purchasers will receive 2,000 Gs of store currency and a cosmetic pet, while premium pack purchasers will get 1,000 Gs and a pet. The currency will be delivered to those players starting on June 7th, although the pet may be a little later in coming, as the team hasn't decided on what it is just yet. "As you may know, we had issues that delayed our initial launch of Marvel Heroes," CEO David Brevik wrote. "We take our commitment to you very seriously, and that's why we had our team working around the clock to bring the game to you as fast as possible. However, a promise is a promise, and we were late -- so we're going to compensate those of you who were affected by that delay."
Neverwinter reveals pre-order packs, beta weekend dates
Neverwinter's closed beta is closer than you might think, as Cryptic has just posted the dates of the three weekend events coming up. The beta weekends begin on February 8th, with successive ones starting March 8th and March 22nd, and will be available to residents of North America and Europe to those lucky enough to be accepted. To tempt people into shedding some cash up front, Cryptic is prepared to dangle guaranteed beta invites to those who purchase a $60 or $200 pre-order Founder's Pack. In addition to the closed beta access, the $60 version contains a head-start to the open beta, a title, an armored horse mount, a mask, and a direwolf companion. The $200 pack has an even longer open beta head start, an exclusive Menzoberranzan Renegade playable race, a closed beta code for a friend, a spider mount, a panther companion, and priority access to the game. Alternatively, Cryptic's offering a $20 basic pack that will not contain a closed beta key, but will give players a few in-game items and 12 additional inventory slots. [Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
Woz discusses what he'd change about Apple
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently did a Q&A over on Slashdot, and Gizmodo has boiled down his answers into five things he'd change about Apple today. There's a little bit of putting thoughts in Wozniak's head here, as he wasn't specifically talking about what he would change. Still, he does have some good insight, and in a few interesting ways, his ideas about what Apple is doing lately do seem to differ from what the company thinks. For example, Woz believes iTunes should be ported to Android; he says bringing iTunes to Windows created a huge market for Apple, and porting iTunes and its various stores to other mobile OSes would grow that market as well. Woz also believes Apple should back off of the lawsuits a bit, especially when (or if) it impedes Apple's own innovations. Woz also suggests that Apple aim for a big influx of younger talent right now, when the company's future is so important. As for Woz himself re-joining Apple in any official capacity, even he agrees that he and the company have grown apart. "Apple is very complex," he says, adding that "I like personal simplicity. I like to do what I'm good at, which is enjoying technology." Woz says he would go to Apple to help out if ever called upon, but honestly, we'd agree that he's happier just enjoying what's out there at this point.
Best Buy founder / chairman steps down after investigation
Yet more fallout in the case of Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn's sudden resignation last month. Some more light has been shed on those aforementioned "certain issues" we heard about, and now an internal investigation has led to the exit of the big box retailer's founder Richard Schulze as chairman of the board. Schulze will be replaced by Hatim Tyabji, who has served as the CEO of Bytemobile and as chairman of the Best Buy's audit committee. The transfer will occur after the company's annual meeting on June 21, 2012. Tyabji had the following to say about Schulze's tenure with the company, Dick's leadership and vision changed the landscape of American retail, and he will forever be remembered as an iconic entrepreneur. We join Best Buy's 167,000 employees in thanking him. More details on Schulze's exit can be found in an official Best Buy statement after the break.
SWTOR unsubscribe option goes missing for some [Updated]
Call it the Case of the Canceled Sub: Many players have written in to us to report that the "cancel subscription" button on their Star Wars: The Old Republic account pages has mysteriously gone missing. Considering that tomorrow is the one-month mark where accounts are set to be billed following the free month of gameplay for those who started on launch day, we think this is particularly troublesome. Some players have found a workaround link but have received a warning and seen their threads shut down by moderators as violating the Rules of Conduct. BioWare is investigating the situation and has alluded to an issue with certain types of browsers. In the meantime, the CS team has asked those affected customers to contact the company by phone for help cancelling their subscriptions. BioWare is awarding those players who pay for an additional month of game time by March 19th with a special "Founder" title. [Thanks to the many, many people who sent us this tip!] [Update: In a correspondence with us, BioWare has confirmed that it is aware of the website issue and is working to resolve it that the issue is now fixed.]
Yahoo's Jerry Yang quits the company he co-founded, walks away from Alibaba as well
The long, drawn-out, oftentimes melodramatic saga revolving around Yahoo itself and co-founder Jerry Yang is well-documented. Perhaps too well. Thankfully for us all, that ends today. As of January 17th, he has resigned from Yahoo's Board of Directors and all other positions with the company, and moreover, has resigned from the Boards of Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding Limited. We most recently heard from Yang during his interview at AsiaD, where he sounded none too pleased about the going-ons there. We aren't about to draw links of Yang's exit to the hiring of Scott Thompson as CEO (in fact, Yang praises him in his exit blurb), but we are drawing links to his sudden purchase of a yacht, a new sauna and a round-the-round journey courtesy of Abercrombie & Kent. Kidding. In all seriousness, it's no surprise to see Yahoo's stock rallying, as many felt that Yang was the major roadblock holding up an outright sale or other significant shake-up within its ranks. As for Jerry? He's off to "pursue other interests" -- but we didn't need to tell you that, now did we?
Mike Lazaridis apologizes for BlackBerry outage: 'We've let many of you down' (video) (Update: full services restored)
Now that BlackBerry services are returning to full functionality, RIM founder Mike Lazaridis has decided to issue a public apology for this week's mysterious global outage. In a video address published today, Lazaridis acknowledged that RIM dropped the ball this week, but assured that his company is working hard to remedy the situation. "I apologize for the service outages this week," Lazaridis said. "We've let many of you down." The executive went on to say that services are approaching normal levels across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, but could not give an estimate as to when RIM may see full global recovery. "It's too soon to say that this issue is fully resolved," Lazaridis explained, adding that there may be some instability as the system returns to normalcy. He reiterated, however, that his company is "working tirelessly" to restore services and, perhaps more important, consumer trust. Skip past the break to see the full video for yourself. Update: RIM is holding a conference call now and Mike just said "we have restored full services." That's said to be the status globally, so go ahead, spend a few minutes and get that BBM backlog out of your system. You deserve it. If you're still not receiving messages, RIM suggests pulling your battery and rebooting the phone. And those RIM folks probably need some sleep... "nobody's gone home since Monday," following "the largest outage we've ever experienced."
RIFT founders receive free game client for friends
RIFT founders, check your emails. Trion Worlds has sent out a new offer tied to its Ascend-a-Friend promotion. The program is geared toward early (and multi-month) adopters and their RIFT-less buddies, and aims to bring people together in the world of Telara for hours of adventure and progression. The founder email features a code that grants your friend a free copy of the game client, and as long as your pal signs up under the Ascend-a-Friend program, he'll count towards your reward total. If you manage to convert three friends, you'll receive an Ember Steed which matches the speed of your fastest mount, and probably looks a lot nicer to boot. Your friend isn't left out in the cold, of course. In addition to a free copy of RIFT, Ascend-a-Friend participants will get a unique in-game title ("The Chosen") as well as the ability to summon (or be summoned) to their referring buddy once every half hour.
RIFT's offers limited-time subscription discounts
Getting into the RIFT groove and certain you'll be sticking it out for a while to come? Then there's a way you could be saving some money as well by signing up for one of Trion Worlds' new subscription plans during the "Summer of Savings" period that began this month. By committing to three, six or 12-month subscriptions, players can enjoy RIFT for a substantially lower monthly cost than the standard $14.99 fee. The three-month option comes out to be $12.29 per month, the six-month is $10.29, and the annual option is $8.99. It's interesting to note that these prices are close to those set by Trion for pre-order founders. A player using founder's pricing can pay $59.94 for a six-month subscription while a Summer of Savings customer will shell out $61.74 for the same service. As with founder's pricing, players can lock in these discounted rates -- as long as they stay subscribed to the game. The small print informs us that if a promotional subscriber discontinues service and then re-ups later on, he or she will have to revert to standard pricing.
Larry Page takes over as Google CEO today, ready to show Tim Cook how it's done
The Page-machine, the Larry-meister, the chief of all Google execs. As announced in late January, Google's top decision-making position is today changing hands from the trusty grip of Eric Schmidt to the slightly less proven hold of co-founder Larry Page. Monsieur Page should be familiar with the role, having performed it until Schmidt was hired back in 2001, but the Google of a decade ago was quite a different beast from the multi-tentacled, omnipresent one it is today. It's probably a good thing, then, that Schmidt is remaining on Google's board in the role of Executive Chairman, with a focus on outward-facing deals and partnerships, while Page takes care of strategic and product development decisions. The other original Google gangster, Sergey Brin, is still a big part of the company's triumvirate at the top, but his attention will be dedicated to developing new projects -- things like that gigabit broadband network Google's just started building in Kansas City, Kansas. As to us, our undivided focus will be placed on coming up with fresh "do no evil" jokes.
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Acer founder characterizes Apple as a mutant virus
Wow, a mutant virus? This analogy may sound like a ringing bell for another cat fight on the playground, but Acer founder and retired chairman Stan Shih is actually semi-praising Apple here. Speaking at the launch of an Acer touch-themed design competition, Shih said that while Apple's taking the "revolution" highway to tackle the PC market, Acer's success has always depended on its time-consuming but more pragmatic "evolution" strategy, and it'll keep doing so to lay the ground for the next 30 years or so. Here's how China Times paraphrased Shih: "Apple is like a mutant virus, escaping from the traditional structure of the PC industry, but the industry will still eventually build up immunity, thus further blocking this trend, and we believe the size of the non-Apple camp will exceed Apple's, because this is how the industry normally evolves." Assuming the second half of Shih's quote refers to the tablet market share, this certainly echoes the words of his good friend JT Wang. That said, this is also the man who's boldly predicted that all American PC brands will be gone within 20 years, but there's no promise that Apple won't be kicking out a few more revolutions in the coming years. Anyway, doesn't Acer have more to worry about for the mean time?
Michael Dell given an unsubtle hint by displeased shareholders
It's looking very much like that SEC investigation into Dell and Intel's overly intimate relationship has aggrieved investors in the former company. In a recent shareholder vote on the subject of Michael Dell's continued presence on his eponymous company's board, an almost unprecedented 25 percent expressed their desire that he leaves. We can't say we blame them, considering Michael had to spend $4 million of his own cash to square things with the SEC. He never admitted any personal guilt for the company's misreported earnings, but then innocent people don't tend to pay multimillion-dollar personal fines either. As it stands, he still has the backing of the majority of investors, but Mike might still do best to hand over the CEO reins to someone who hasn't been dragged through the mud of impropriety quite so thoroughly. We hear Mark Hurd might be on the market soon.
360iDev: Interview with keynote speaker David Whatley of Critical Thought Games
David Whatley gave the keynote yesterday at the opening of 360iDev here in San Jose, CA. (a conference for iPhone and iPad developers that is taking place in the first half of this week). He's a developer himself (his company, Critical Thought Games, has released two games (Update: Three -- we forgot geoSpark) in the App Store so far, and he's got plans for more), but he's also become a sort of guru for iPhone devs, giving guidance in terms of how to get noticed and sell apps in the App Store, and on the tactical and motivational fronts as well. Here at 360iDev, he gave a rousing speech about how self-made developers need to put together vision, a commitment, and lots and lots of persistence in order to get their apps just right, and out on Apple's platform. After the talk (which included anecdotes about Coca Cola founder John Pemberton's original vision to mix wine and cocaine, and how Whatley's own experiences with a pickup artist taught him that it's OK to fail), we got a chance to sit down with Whatley and talk about who iPhone developers are, his plans for the iPad, and his first reaction to last week's iPhone 4.0 announcements.
