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Bell to air upcoming UFC 83 in HD, French
Although the Ultimate Fighting Championship made its HD PPV debut way back on UFC 67, Canadians not attending UFC 83 live at the Bell Centre in Montreal will have the option of viewing it in the comfort (and safety) of their own home in gorgeous high-definition. The event will be available via select Vu! pay-per-view channels, and if you're looking to catch it in French, you'll be able to do that also -- albeit in SD, sadly. Get set, the action kicks off with live pre-fight coverage at 4:00PM on April 18th.
Rappelz reaches 50,000 European users in under a month
Warcry brings us the news that Rappelz, made by the fine folks at Gala Networks (who also made Flyff), has attracted over 50,000 active users in the less-than-one month since the game has debuted French and German versions. Two new servers have opened to accommodate the influx of new accounts: the French Kentauros, and the German Bastet, both named after in-game creatures.To further celebrate the success of the launch, Gala has increased the experience gain to 1.5 until March 18th. Rappelz's gameplay features a system by which you may capture and tame creatures to fight alongside you in combat. Hmm. Do we also gotta catch 'em all? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I choose you!
France's Numericable rolls DOCSIS 3.0 network to five new cities
While the likes of Comcast (among others) won't have DOCSIS 3.0 ready to roll out until sometime next year, France's Numericable is already dishing out the high-speed goodness. Reportedly, the French cable operator has stretched its all-fiber network to Angers, Martigues, Marseille, Lille and Metz over the past month or so, bringing the total homes touched by said network to over two million. For the lucky residents of the aforementioned cities, they are now able to receive blazing fast internet (up to 100Mbps), HDTV, VOD and lots more. If your locale wasn't mentioned, take heart, as the company is purportedly aiming to reach some 70 cities by mid-year.
Je suis un mage
Jean-Claude Van Damme's French "What's Your Game" commercial, promised a few days ago, has gone live, and I rather like it. He is, apparently, a troll mage; he's put his physical combat days behind him. My French is a bit rusty, but I can catch most of it, and for the rest, Blizzard has kindly provided an English translation:
Massively's Pirates of the Burning Sea character creation videos
Random Appearance and Clothing Coloring System Video When creating a new character in Pirates of the Burning Sea you pick from three nationalities, British, Spanish or French. Or you can choose to be allied with no country but yourself as a Pirate. From there you can customize the look of your seafaring avatar.Overall, the character customization is what we've come to expect from new MMOs: detailed, rich and varied. I'm particularly impressed with the embroidered trim on the clothes and the opportunity to use two color on every option, including hair.I also like that there are Asian faces and African skin tones available. Even though the national options are limited to Western European countries, the races represented visually still span the globe.More videos of each and every character creation option for Male avatars after the jump!
French Taser chief hints at flying shockbot
According to a recent report, the French head of stun-gun maker Taser has plans to create a "mini-flying saucer like drone which could also fire Taser stun rounds on criminal suspects or rioting crowds." Antoine di Zazzo, fervent proselytizer of the electroshock weapon, is cutting through the is / isn't torture noise of recent UN reports with the news that the non-lethal device is about to make a serious splash in France, with president Nicolas Sarkozy promising to hand one to every policeman and gendarme. Of course, once di Zazzo's army of tiny, hovering stun machines take to the air -- sometime next year -- the police probably won't have to worry about brandishing their weapons.[Thanks, Craig B.]
SGW builder describes the challenges of making an MMO
French Stargate SG-1/Atlantis fan site Stargate Fusion landed an interview with Stargate Worlds world builder Josh Kurtz. The interview understandably represents a Stargate SG-1 fan's interests more than it does those of a gamer, but presumably if you're interested in SGW at this early point in development you're already a fan of the franchise to begin with.Kurtz talked about the relationship the SGW team has with the producers of the TV series and about the rules the team follows to make sure they stay faithful to the source material. He also described the challenges of making an MMO, saying "the MMO market is a dangerous place because to be honest the exploration of how to build one and what will make a good one has only just begun."He's confident (of course) that the team at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is going to be able to rise up to the occasion and produce a top tier game.[Via WarCry]
Lead designer of Pirates of the Burning Sea Q & A interview
The Warcry Network recently had a chance to ask Pirates of the Burning Sea lead designer Kevin Maginn a round of questions about the upcoming Jack-Sparrow-simulator. The interviewer poses queries about launching with both land and ship aspects already in-game (as opposed to a game like EVE which is only now looking to add land-based play), system requirements for the masses, the beta and stress test processes, population balancing and the user interface.Of most interest is the question on populations, regarding the different factions in the game. Players can choose to be English, Spanish, French, or the swashbucklin' Pirate. Maginn notes that, during various phases of the beta, the numbers have remained roughly the same -- 35% choose Pirates, nearly as many choose the English, and then the French and Spanish each take 15%. On this he says, "we are working on some population balancing tools, with two goals: make the game more fair if your nation is underpopulated, and make underpopulated nations more appealing, particularly to large PvP guilds". If the incentives for one race are good enough, it might swing the population the other way entirely. We'll have to wait and see what countermeasures will be employed before the game releases, as the difference in numbers so far sounds fairly staggering.
Une semaine avec My French Coach: Day Seven
Notre semaine avec Ubisoft's My French Coach est arrivée, malheureusement, à la fin. That is to say, in properly worded and conjugated English (because I'm sure the French was terrible ... or it was before commenter Rodac helpfully corrected it!), our week with the recently released French language trainer has, unfortunately, come to an end. After seven days of working with the title, it's time to not only recap today's lessons, but speak on the worth of the title as a whole.If I were someone else, I would probably include a clip of Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" here, but instead you'll have to suffice with the shedding of one lone, tragic tear. It has been a very interesting sort of "review," and one that is well suited for a training game. I can even speak as to why, after lessons each day, that first sentence was so likely to be terrible.
Une semaine avec My French Coach: Day Six
All week long, we've been taking on Ubisoft's My French Coach in an effort to find out whether or not it's possible to learn (or at least supplement) a language with a DS game. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day six of our language training.With only one more day to go in this diary after today's entry, I must say that I will be sad to see this wind down. However, the time with the training title has been so useful that I think I'll continue it, though perhaps a little less publically; after all, I really do struggle with French, though I find it a fascinating language. It's nice to find a resource that isn't based solely on spoken language, but is rather a blend of different styles. I know a lot of people who benefit from audio-based language training via CDs, and I am not one of them, alas. Being able to see and interact with things in My French Coach, however, has been dead useful.
Une semaine avec My French Coach: Day Five
The week is more than half gone, and that means our time with Ubisoft's My French Coach is winding down... at least, for the purposes of this diary. All week long, we've been taking on the training title in an effort to find out whether or not it's possible to learn (or at least supplement) a language with a DS game. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day five of our language training.Today, I dropped back down to two lessons, though I had initially planned to do three. What happened? Directions happened. After continually confusing droite and droit (and really, who could blame me?), I thought it best to take a break instead of going for the gold. I did learn some new and interesting ways to maximize my learning with the game, however, which I will happily share.
Une semaine avec My French Coach: Day Four
The week rolls on here at DS Fanboy (and, uh, everywhere, really), and that means more quality time with Ubisoft's My French Coach. All week long, we're on a mission -- French language mastery! Or at least a valiant attempt to get through as many lessons as possible in seven full days. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day four of our language training.As promised, today I attempted -- and passed! -- three lessons instead of two, and I do not recommend it. Maybe very early in the game, when it's just vocabulary, but by the time I was getting close to finishing, everything was starting to run together, and it took me longer to get through the lessons. I also made the mistake of trying to a) watch a little television during the first lesson, as well as b) carry on a conversation. The result? Brain overload. DS Fanboy's official advice while training on a language game is to focus ... or at least do something mindless while working through your lessons.
Une semaine avec My French Coach: Day Three
It's another day at DS Fanboy, and this week, that means more quality time with Ubisoft's My French Coach. All week long, we're on a mission -- French language mastery! Or at least a valiant attempt to get through as many lessons as possible in seven full days. If you missed the overview on day one, you might want to back up a little. If not, then let's get moving with day three of our language training.Since I did two lessons yesterday, it only seemed proper to keep that up. Even at this rate, I won't make it halfway through the lessons by Sunday! I may have to step it up to three tomorrow, but that's a lot of French, and my brain is weak and poor, and my mushy Southern accent may get in the way of mastering all that pronunciation. But that's no reason not to try, eh? Today's lessons weren't as complex as yesterday's ... or maybe I'm just getting better!
Olibith sits down to talk with Blizzard EU
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've undoubtedly seen one of Olibith's many marvelous machinima features. We've highlighted a few of them here in our Moviewatch feature, and will undoubtedly do so as he continues to make films. However, it was left to followers of his blog to know anything more about the man behind the gnome. At least, until Blizzard EU sat down with him for a truly fantastic interview. Some of the highlights of their community spotlight include how Olibith got his start in the field of machinima, how he feels the French (and international) machinima community is evolving, right down to how he manages to balance just the right amount of funny without going into overkill. For all of you budding machinimators and fans alike, this is one interview not to be missed.
DS releases for the week of November 5th
Holy snaps, look at all the games this week! We're not even sure where to begin! Why, is that our surprise title of the year, Hannah Montana: Music Jam, finally hitting shelves? Maybe, maybe ... but let's see what else we've got. Rhythm games, check. All the war you could want, check. Language and word trainers, check. Action, check. We even have one for all the people who just have to have virtual pets. Basically, if you like games at all, there may be something you're interested in this week. Bratz 4 Real Build-A-Bear Workshop Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker Enchanted Hannah Montana: Music Jam Horse Life Hot Wheels: Beat That LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga My French Coach My Spanish Coach My Word Coach Ontamarama Panzer Tactics Puzzle de Harvest Moon Shrek: Ogres and Dronkeys Spectrobes (Collector's Edition) World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets Check out the lists after the break for releases in other major regions.
Orange gets French iPhone in November
It's official: Orange has the iPhone in France.France Telecom, Orange's parent company, says they won't subsidize the iPhone, but also didn't say anything about price, according to CNN Money. They also didn't give a release date other than November-- the UK and Germany are getting it on 9th November, so it should be close to that point.Reader Samuel, who sent us this French article (all I know is "sacrebleu," sorry), also notes that Apple seems to be signing with the national operators in each country, so the prediction for Italy is TIM, Belgium is predicted Belgacom (although reader Jelle says he saw the iPhone on Base's website, so who knows), KPN in the Netherlands, and so on.I'm clueless about French wireless providers-- is Orange good? Does this deal have you Francophiles saying oui or no?Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
French newspaper goes electronic
It's not like this is the first e-newspaper we've seen, but France's Les Echos is now offering up an electronic flavor of its product to those with an iRex iLiad or STAReBook. Oh, and the Amazon Kindle, too as you'll recall from that little inadvertently mentioned tidbit from their press release. Reportedly, the e-paper edition "will include whole articles just like in the printed" version, but unlike the traditional medium, those with e-readers will receive constant updates of the day's hottest stories and will actually be able to read the 6:00AM print edition at 9:00PM the night prior. Notably, the newfangled Les Echos edition will cost a stiff €365 ($506) per year if you provide your own reader, and for those of us far, far away from the Eiffel Tower, check out a video demonstration after the jump.[Via MobileRead]Read - Press Release [PDF]Read - Photos of Les Echos e-newspaperRead - Videos of Les Echos e-newspaper
Blizzard's forum policy against foreign languages
This post on the official forums, like many others in languages that aren't English, got closed down. Why? Because it's a policy of Blizzard that they do not "offer foreign language support" on the forums (although, in looking through the Forums Guidelines, I can't see anything that officially says that). At any rate, the rule is no language but English on the official forums, and Timbal is sticking by that policy.And it's not just Spanish-- I've seen this come up on the EU forums as well, when someone posts in French or German. Why is Blizzard so opposed to players posting in their native language? Of course, as Timbal says, not everyone can know every language, but Timbal knew enough Spanish to realize the original thread (called "server latino") was asking for new realms. And this is 2007-- is it too much to ask for one Blizzard forums employee that speaks Spanish, or in the EU, French or German? They may not know enough to actually answer the questions in that language, but they should know enough to police players who are speaking in that language, maybe in a special foreign language section of the forum.Now, also according to forums policy (but also not listed in the "guidelines"), you're also not supposed to request new realms, so even if the thread was in English, it would have been closed anyway. And if someone speaking a foreign language is somehow being obscene, that doesn't belong on the forums either. But it's unfair for people who have legitimate questions or requests and want to posit them in their native language to be shut down by Blizzard automatically. Nine million people play this game, and it's very likely a large number of them don't speak English as their native language-- for Blizzard to completely ignore them on the forums is a poor decision.Update: Our terrific commenters point out that there are French, Spanish, and German forums for the EU servers. But the fact remains that Blizzard closes, without second thought, any thread started in a foreign language on the US servers.
Quebec working on deal for more games in French
A joint initiative between the French-speaking province of Quebec in Canada and the video game industry is looking to have more games in French. A spokesperson for the Quebec government said a deal is in the works for all games entering the province to be translated into French. Video-game distributors will allegedly pick up the tab and the full details will be made public in a few weeks. Currently less than 40% of the "most popular" games in Quebec are available in French.As long as it doesn't slow down the release of games outside of Quebec, we're totally for it. Actually, it has been nice to play the Heavenly Sword demo in many different languages with English subtitles. Sure, the voice work isn't as good in some of the languages, but it's still nice to have options. Why shouldn't people be able to have their games in their own languages as long as they're willing to foot the bill?[Via Game|Life]
France planning to 'triple' CCTV surveillance capacity
At least those residing in the UK can breathe a momentary sigh of relief, as it's not the only locale where the amount of surveillance drones is quickly approaching the number of citizens. Reportedly, French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie recently announced that the government is planning to "triple" the existing CCTV surveillance capacities across the country, "with a view to curb the risks of terrorism and acts of violence." Beyond just bumping the amount of eyes scanning for troublemakers, she also suggested that the network of systems be more tightly connected in order to effectively "protect the French people and enable them to move freely without fearing for their lives or property." Of course, we're sure there's quite a few citizens who'd have beef with the whole "moving freely sans fear" tidbit, no?[Via The Raw Feed]
