grid
Latest
Codemasters' go-to driving dev departs
Gavin Raeburn, the guy who may be most responsible for beloved Codies-brand racers like DiRT 2 and GRID, has resigned from the company, VG247 reports. After a stint lasting more than 20 years, the former executive producer has "moved on to pastures new," said Gavin Cheshire, VP of Codemasters Development. Cheshire added, "it's positive for any individual to move when they feel they're at the top." "[Raeburn] leaves having built an incredibly talented team that's led by key players who will drive our racing portfolio forward." There's no word on where Raeburn is headed, but there's a good chance it's Disney World.
Google working to make electric vehicles charge more efficiently
The idea to make plug-in electric vehicles charge more efficiently and reduce strain on the grid is hardly a new one, but it looks like none other than Google thinks it can do things better, and it's now reportedly doing some "preliminary work" in the area. As you might expect with all things "Google" and "preliminary," however, there's virtually a complete lack of details at the moment, with the company's director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, Dan Reicher, only going so far as to say that it has "done a little bit of work on the software side looking at how you would write a computer code to manage this sort of charging infrastructure." As Reuters notes, however, this isn't the first time Google has dabbled in the electric vehicle waters, with it previously forming a partnership with Toyota and Ford back in 2007 to test some gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles converted into plug-ins that run mostly on electricity, which Google says it has been testing "pretty intensely" over the last few years.
Steam weekend sale offers half-price GRID
If you love driving, but have been unable to do so since the man stripped you of your license following your vehicular collision with that nursing home (it came out of nowhere!), you may be able to satiate that desire by picking up GRID on Steam this weekend for the discounted price of $14.99. We're no mathematicians, but we're fairly certain that's about a 50 percent decrease from the usual price of $29.99. If you've got an appropriately beefy computer, we suggest picking it up. It's really fun, terribly addictive and -- best of all -- doesn't feature any pesky ambulatory architecture.
Anti-Aliased: The reason why you hate Second Life and a few ways to fix that
Second Life gets a really bad rap from the MMO community that's largely undeserved. I get to hear all of these slams like it's a usless waste of data, there's nothing to do, it's a bunch of sex sims, and how I should work on my "first life" before my Second Life. Har, har, har.But, like I said at the opening of this column, Second Life doesn't deserve those punches to the gut. The world of SL is pretty vast and has much to offer any gamer, regardless of what they like. It's important to remember that this system is not a game. It has no objectives and no overt goals, but it does have an unlimited supply of imagination and creative possibilities. It's not a place of "serious business," because something that's fun shouldn't be taken quite that harshly. Sure, you can make money, but you guys want to have fun, right?So let's talk about Second Life, the reason the masses hate the system, and how you can find something enjoyable inside of "the grid" even if you've tried it before and got some negative first impressions.
How to configure Grid
If you're a raiding healer, chances are you use or at least have heard of Grid, the popular raid frame mod. It makes the essential task of staring at health bars significantly easier. However, Grid is a darn complicated mod. So complicated, in fact, that Llyra over at Healing Way has written a blog post all about how to configure it. I've been using Grid for years, ever since Molten Core (in fact, one of my first posts on WoW Insider was about Grid), and I still learned things from this article. The way Grid composites information onto its little squares is not intuitively obvious, so it's probably worth taking a look just for that. There is also a video on how to configure the mod, which might give you a hint just how complex it can get. The post ends with a list of some useful plug-ins for Grid; I fully agree with the author that GridStatusThreat, which shows which raid members have aggro, is a must-have (although I can't find a working link to it at the moment – is it included with Grid these days?).
The Queue: Mercenaries
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Today's edition of The Queue is nice and lengthy again, after a spree of shorty-shorts. See, good things happen when people actually ask questions! Although since it's being posted so late in the day, I bet Adam will have trouble again tomorrow. Do him (and yourselves) a favor: Ask Adam a bunch of completely absurd questions so he has something to write for all of you tomorrow!Airleagan asked... "In the Ulduar Cinematic, the Horde and the Alliance both reject the idea of going into Ulduar, yet the players go into Ulduar and are on the Factions of the Horde and the Alliance, Why do we not Listen to our leaders or do they even matter because it seams the Horde just does whatever they want no matter what Thrall says?"
Shifting Perspectives: An Ulduar class preview, part 2
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week, we watch the Ulduar trailer again and ask ourselves over and over why Jaina Proudmoore couldn't have been a Druid. The obvious answer is that she just wasn't cool enough, but this is the source of much cognitive dissonance at the moment. I'm going to take a quick moment from the rest of the column and just write, in case any of the people who made it are reading this, that the Ulduar trailer was so stuffed with win that pieces of win are dribbling out of it into little win puddles and spilling over into the Sewer of Awesome. And, as NaitFury on the MMO Champion thread points out, "Those of you who say it is boring should probably go back to watching another Undead Rogue 1-shot people with Linkin Park in the background." Amen!We're one week into Ulduar (and by "we" I mean "other people," because the game has become virtually unplayable for me post-patch, and having the game crash my computer every 5 minutes is forcing the Sewer of Awesome to run to the Vast Delta of Self-Pity), so let's pick up where we left off and tackle the Deconstructor, the Iron Council, and Kologarn.
A video guide to Grid
When The Queue discussed healing mods a couple of months ago, one of the fairly widespread opinions is that things like Grid had a far too complicated configuration process. Personally, I just use Grid out-of-the-box and it works pretty well for me, but a lot of raiders like customizing those things thoroughly. While the process might be long and complicated, it's totally worth it.A member from the guild Inevitable of Feathermoon sent us a link to this video made by a member of their guild, made to make the complicated process much, much more simple and easy to understand. It shows how to configure the mod and tinker with all of the cool little things that it can do for a Healer. It's a long video, nearly 10 minutes, but that's a testament to how robust the mod can be. The creator of the video goes through a lot of steps to customize Grid's UI, and I think it will turn out to be a great resource for those who've never used Grid previously.
AT&T inks deal to provide smart appliances equal time on the grid
Up until now, if you had dreams of managing your household energy consumption with some sort of smart appliance, you had to either live in an area where a utility built its own network (Corpus Christi or Burbank, for example) or rely on some proprietary method of getting data from your site to the electric co. It looks like this is about to change, however. AT&T has announced a deal with smart meter manufacturer SmartSynch that will see the carrier provide two-way communications between the your home and the grid, a "first of its kind" agreement that will allow you to get the most out of those Energy Management Enabled Appliances GE has been feverishly developing. Sure, refrigerators that wait until midnight to defrost aren't as exciting as, say, robotic monster trucks -- but this is progress, man. Show a little enthusiasm.
Healers know you're dying. Don't yell.
Ambrosyne wrote an interesting post in her blog the other day, making a nice point about not yelling at healers. She addresses the point essentially to DPS classes who yell over vent that they need healing. She explains -- with the illustration above -- that she sees everyone's health bars and that "99% of the time, we know when you're dying." So don't yell. She's actually polite enough not to tell her fellow raid members not to ask for heals. And nice enough not to reveal that if you really put off a healer, you won't get healed at all. I remember back in the days of Molten Core where we had this inept Hunter who refused to Feign Death because it "dropped his DPS". That same Hunter always asked for heals even though he wasn't supposed to be taking much damage sitting in the back of the raid, firing from afar. It got to the point where, on the healers' chat channel, we all agreed not to heal him. Sure enough, in the next pull, he steals aggro, refused to Feign Death, and dies. With a little help -- or lack of it.That's the truth about healing, for the most part. Healers are already on their toes watching everybody's lives. That's their role. You don't often hear yelling at DPS to, well, DPS, do you? They're expected to DPS. Even when they fall below a certain DPS threshold, you won't hear the raid leader chew them out. Most of the time, at least. Ambrosyne points out that pretty much all she sees are feet. That's right, feet. Because healers play a little mini-game watching Grid and often miss out on the action. If you're dying, they know it. So as a public service announcement, we're reminding all of you not to yell at your healers. It just might mean you'll get healed.
GameTap Thursday: On the GRID
GameTap drives in its first update of the new year with the addition of GRID. Fans of Codemaster's DiRT might find it worth their time to check out the high-speed arcade style races found in GRID. GRID (Windows) - There's something magical about playing this game while sitting in a cardboard box with the top open. We also recommend turning off the TV sound and making your own car noises. Magic Academy (Windows) - It's a hidden object game. The digital version of a Where's Waldo book. This week, GameTap adds Just Cause to the free games list. Why? You know, just 'cause. Ouch! We sprained a finger forcing that joke through. Check out the full gratis list after the break.
The Queue: Greatfather Winter is coming to town
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.Welcome back! Before we start, I'd like to take a moment to remind all of you that Winter Veil starts tomorrow at 6 AM! Are you excited? I'm excited. After the next couple of days, keep an eye on WoW Insider for some great holiday guides and features. Now, let's get to the Q&A shall we?Flint asked...Is it possible for a level 80 hunter to solo any of the lowest level Outland instances, or will the boss fights be way too much for one person to handle by himself?
Force Unleashed, Vigilante 8, GRID get new DLC
Now that the rush of video game releases has receded, you can finally focus on putting your money where it really belongs: On smaller pieces of video games. New downloadable content is now available on the 360 for Force Unleashed, GRID and Vigilante 8: Arcade.We're far too broke to even think about picking some of these up, but what about you, team? By the way, we'd expect to see at least some of this on PSN today. We'll let you know.[Via X3F] The Force Unleashed Character Pack 2 - 400 The Force Unleashed Jedi Temple Mission Pack - 800 GRID 8-Ball Pack - 800 Vigilante 8: Arcade High Octane Pack - 320
New DLC Roundup: Force Unleashed, V8 and GRID
Brand spanking new downloadable content for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, GRID and Vigilante 8: Arcade is now available via the Xbox Live Marketplace and is patiently awaiting your purchasing download. That is, if DLC was actually capable of patiently waiting ... The new DLC includes seven additional characters for The Force Unleashed as well as a new single player mission, eight additional cars for GRID and a few extra rides / maps for Vigilante 8. Click the links below to get today's DLC deets. The Force Unleashed Character Pack 2 - 400 The Force Unleashed Jedi Temple Mission Pack - 800 GRID 8-Ball Pack - 800 Vigilante 8: Arcade High Octane Pack - 320
The Queue: Easy heroics and reverse DPS
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.Another day, another Q&A! Now, without delay, let's get to the questions.Ven asked... In looking at badge rewards, a couple guildies and I noticed that there are more rewards and item types available for 25-man badges than for 10-man badges. Is this intended? Are the heroic and 10-man level badges relegated to stacking endlessly once you have the two or three pieces of gear you need from them? Or is Blizz planning on adding more gear soon? Compared to BC badge gear, there is very little available.
GRID getting new cars, events later this year
Codemasters has dropped word that new racing machines will be pulling up to GRID's starting line later this year. The game will be getting a new DLC pack, dubbed "8-Ball," this Fall, which will add two new multiplayer events and eight new cars, including the McLaren F1 GTR, Honda S2000 and 1971 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM. Additionally, while 8-Ball's new cars and events will be released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3, the former will gain the added benefit of four new Achievements and 100 new Gamerpoints to earn. PS3 owners will have to fill their time dusting off vacant Trophy cases. Another release, adding a V8 Supercars category and the Australian Bathurst circuit, is expected in the coming months. At this time, the Codies are tight-lipped regarding both price and an exact release date for any DLC, saying only that the first batch will drop this Fall for consoles, while PC players can expect information relevant to them to arrive "shortly."
TUAW Hands On: iTunes 8
Released today, iTunes 8 is the most recent and advanced iteration of Apple's media management and playback software. iTunes 8 includes a new Genius recommendation engine, new visualizers, a new grid view, and new terms and conditions. The Genius engine recommends other songs you might enjoy, based on a song you've selected in iTunes. If you have a diverse range of music, iTunes does a pretty good job of finding the "mood" of your selected song, and generating a playlist of songs that fit with that mood. Plus, it kicks off the playlist with the song you selected. When you first use the Genius system, you must agree to its terms and conditions, and then it gathers information about the songs in your iTunes library. This took about three minutes on my 2.8GHz Intel iMac and my 2,100-song library. It then sends that information to Apple and builds a profile based on your likes and dislikes. You can then use the Genius Sidebar, which appears to the right of your playlist.
Deal of the Day: GRID for $40
The critically-acclaimed racing game GRID is currently on sale for $39.99 for today only. With a respectable score of 88 over at Metacritic, the game is a must-have if you are a driving-sim fan. With the full version of Gran Turismo 5 supposedly not due till 2010, this game should help tie you over for the time being. Take advantage of this deal here. [Via Slickdeals]
DS Fanboy releases for the week of August 4th
Another week, another bunch of sequels and franchise continuations ... at least, among this week's Japanese releases. The rest of the world is looking at pretty average fare, with a few exceptions. Those Japanese releases are just giving us more and more reasons to import! The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom GRID Little League World Series 2008 Quick Yoga Training Rock Blast
Hell's Kitchen trailer is a total donkey, plus other Nintendo Channel vids
Another Monday means more videos on the Nintendo Channel, and is there anything worth watching? Well, not really. We did appreciate the Hell's Kitchen Info Video, though, if only so that we could mock it. Who knows how the game will actually play, as a Cooking Mama with actual recipes might be kind of fun. (Even if this video doesn't make it look fun.) But what's the point of using the Hell's Kitchen license if Chef Ramsey isn't going to be his total cad self?They definitely toned down Ramsey's personality for the game, or at least it appears that way from this trailer. Spouting lines like, "Not good so far," and, "I need you to really -- seriously -- up your game," are laughable coming from the chef's mouth. "Don't even touch another thing in this kitchen" is the worst it gets, apparently. Wow, color us scared.To see the entire list of videos on the Nintendo Channel this week, just click past the break.
