july-4th
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Celebrate freedom from DRM with Humble Bundle July 4 sale
The Humble Store is currently hosting a particularly patriotic event, dubbed the DRM Freedom Sale, to celebrate the Fourth of July. The sale features games like Broforce, Surgeon Simulator 2013 and Retro City Rampage, discounted by up to 85 percent. Not only can you feel free to use the money you'll save on some sweet explosion-rockets, but you can feel good about yourself too, as 10 percent of the proceeds go to charity. You might want to hurry though; like a red, white and blue firework in the night sky - this deal will only exist for a short while. At the time of writing, there are just more than three hours left. [Image: Humble Store]
World of Tanks celebrates July 4th via a big tank tournament
Tomorrow is the fourth of July, and if you're not aware, in the United States that date is kind of a big deal. So the staff behind World of Tanks decided that the best way to celebrate America's independence day is by having a bunch of armored vehicles take potshots at one another for big prizes. A tournament is running through the weekend for Tier III through Tier X tanks, with a big package of microtransaction cash going to the winning teams. All teams will be paired up into groups, fight other teams in the same group, and be scored according to victory or loss. Battles will be limited to 10 minutes maximum. The big winners will be the teams with the highest score after the dust settles. If this sounds like it's your sort of celebration, there's still time to gather your team and register; if you'd rather just play the game, there are also plenty of promotions running over the holiday weekend just the same. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
Alt-week 7.8.2012: Solar flares, trapping dark matter, and life-sized Lego trees
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. This week we swing by some superhero news, look at how solar panels might shape up in the future, explore a Lego forest and see how to grab dark matter just using some household gold and strands of DNA. Not only that, we discover how the sun likes to celebrate the fourth of July with its own firework display. This is alt-week
Faxion Online celebrating independence with wings
If you're not American, the fourth of July might not mean a lot to you -- but if you are a resident of the United States, it's a holiday of some significance. Of course, it's also significant if you're an angel or a demon in Faxion Online, as it turns out even the celestial realm will be celebrating the event. After all, every time a pyrotechnic display goes off in honor of a country's culture, an angel (or fallen angel) gets its wings, which should account for just about all of the festive appendages being dispensed for the holiday. Throughout July 4th, players who log in to Faxion Online will receive the special wings for the holiday. If you're a little too busy with cookouts and parades to get online, however, there's still hope -- the wings will be available for players through July 6th. It's not a full-fledged holiday event, but it's a chance to get a little extra something out of the long weekend, and who could say no to that?
More app sales for Mac and iOS over the Independence Day weekend
July 4th is the weekend for fireworks, BBQs, and good times in the United States of America -- not to mention some excellent app sales. Here's a few more: MacGameStore has a big Independence Day sales weekend going on, featuring Mac versions of Civ IV for $14.95, Spore for $9.99, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for $39.95. MacPhun's dropped four apps down to the low price of free for the weekend: Silent Film Director, Cartoonatic, Doodle Cam, and ArtCamera. G5 Entertainment is dropping Romance of Rome, Virtual City, and Supermarket Management down to $.99 on the iPhone, and $2.99 on the iPad. Supermarket Mania 2 is also on sale, for $2.99 on iPhone and $4.99 on the tablet. Flickr HD, one of our Daily Apps, has a dramatic sale this weekend: $0.99 (regularly $4.99). Rockin Ted is another free app to check out. Finally, Steam is having a huge Summer Camp sale this weekend, with dozens of rotating titles going on sale every day. There are a lot of games in there, and a lot of great deals -- keep an eye out for the "SteamPlay" icon, as all of those games work on both Mac and PC. I'm pretty sure most of the sales going up this weekend are out at this point, but we'll keep an eye out for any more going on. We also occasionally tweet out app sales and updates on our Twitter account, so follow us over there if you want up-to-the-minute deals on Mac and iOS software!
Xi3 modular PC reborn as Chrome OS desktop, promises independence from local storage
Chromebooks a tad too mobile for you? Sensing the market is at last ready for Google's web-based OS, Xi3 decided to ship the ChromiumPC, an updated version of the modular, Chrome OS-based desktop it trotted out as a concept last year. The computer (also known as the 5 Series) has a processor module and two I/O ones -- a design whose promise is that installing a different operating system should be as easy as swapping out that first board. And, cheekily, the company expects it to go on sale July 4th, a day when Chromium OS owners can "declare their independence from the built-in obsolescence of other computers." Got that, folks? Your mature operating system and local storage are useless. No word yet on pricing, so here's hoping Chrome OS isn't a moot point or anything by the time we find out. Full PR after the break.
The Daily Grind: How do you like your in-game holidays?
While the Yanks in the audience are busy recovering from their Independence Day beer-and-BBQ binges, the rest of you might well be wondering what all the fuss is about regarding that most American of holidays. Well, I'd love to wax on about it, but since we're not a history blog, let's look instead at the myriad MMORPG holiday celebrations that happen throughout the year. Whether it's something like the fireworks shenanigans going on in Mabinogi this weekend, or the double XP happening in EverQuest II, every title normally does a little something extra for the major holidays including Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and of course, July 4th. Does your favorite game celebrate real-world holidays? If so, does it make any attempt at dressing it up to fit the game world, or is it just an excuse to indulge in some free items or unusual quests? What are your favorite holiday gaming events?
Mabinogi rolls out Independence Day events
Get ready to say Happy Birthday America with Mabinogi's 4th of July Fireworks Event. The free-to-play fantasy MMORPG from Nexon is celebrating the holiday weekend with an Independence Day promotion that begins July 1st and runs through July 6th. Players can grab fireworks from general shops in the game, shoot them off as high as possible to win in-game prizes, and check out the special messages that will appear when the fireworks are launched. Also new for the holiday weekend is the Ice Capture the Flag event, in which players attempt to steal watermelons from the opposing team while freezing enemies in place with a special event weapon. Finally, players can also take part in the Premium Treasure Chest event, in which treasure boxes will drop from mobs all over the world of Erinn. Check out the official website for all the details.
Global Agenda mo-caps U.S. soldier before he deploys for tour of duty
We hope our U.S. readers have been enjoying their Independence Day celebrations. Clearly most everyone working in the MMO industry has been chowing down on BBQ as there hasn't been much in the way of major gaming news stories breaking during the holiday. However, we did come across a Global Agenda story that we think is fitting for the 4th of July weekend. Hi-Rez Studios VP of game operations Stew Chisam writes that the Global Agenda team received this from the wife of U.S. Army Captain Chris Ficquette: "My husband is in the United States Army and will be re-deployed for his second tour of duty this summer. To date, I have not yet found a bigger fan of video games than him. Is there any way that I could have my husband involved in motion capturing so that he could be immortalized in your video game?" It turns out Hi-Rez Studios was willing to oblige.
Gnomes or Dwarves: Which would be better to attach to a bottle rocket?
I don't know if it's just the kid in me that likes to blow things up, but I always find myself aiming to make a few explosions happen around this time of year. As I've grown older and understood more about physics, chemistry, etc., I've come to make the explosions even larger. For instance, putting a bunch of fireworks in a barrel, lightening them all on fire at the same time, and then funneling the explosion towards the ground usually has a humorous result. Humorous might be a few missing fingers, but they can be reattached. And really, who needs their middle finger for anything good? This year I'm going to try to attach things to bottle rockets, perhaps 10 to 20 all tied together in a bundle. My goal is to see how high I can make things go up in the air. It's going to be a grand ol' time. And after all, what better way to celebrate the birth of America than to blow your own little part of it up? All this talk about blowing things up has got me thinking though, which race would fit better on a rocket, and which would fly farther? Gnomes or Dwarves? Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of both. %Poll-16438%
Rumor: Wrath of the Lich King closed beta to start on July 3rd
July 3rd, 2008. This will either be a blessed day for a lot of us WoW addicted folk, or one of some major disappointment. According to the German site allvatar, they spoke with Blizzard's German assistant community manager Gnorog. He reportedly said that the community managers now had permission to announce the Wrath of the Lich King closed beta as starting on July 3rd.Now before you go and tell your friends and family what really is important to you (because lets be honest, WotLK beta > 4th of July, right?) you need to consider that this is nothing more than a big ol' rumor.This information came from Gnorog when he was at the World Wide Invitational in Paris this past weekend. I know that Gnorog exists and is a German community manager, but I can't confirm that he was at the WWI (although I'm sure he would have been). We get a good amount of beta and release rumors every day here at WoW Insider, and half the time they refer to people that aren't even real. So this rumor gets +10 for referring to a real person.
Vanguard's Gnomes of MEST to celebrate the fourth of July
The folks at SOE wanted to be sure we knew about Vanguard's upcoming 4th of July event. The Gnomes of Mekalia have a mad on for science, and they're going to show us what they can do with their mad science in the sky. In honor of the holiday, the gnomes are holding the Mekalian Extravaganza of Science and Technology (known to most as MEST). The event was originally slated to begin on June 24th, but has now been delayed until later in the week. Just the same the explosions should begin on the live servers sometime thiscoming week.To participate, you're going to want to head to New Targonor, Khal, Ahgram, or Tanvu to catch up with one of the Heralds of Telon. They've got a special goodies. It's an event everyone from soloers up to raiders can enjoy, because the quests are geared for every playstyle. They even reward Ancient Platinum Coins, which will help people working towards their racial mounts! For the full monty head to the outskirts of Mekalia to check out the Gnomish festival. The Pyrotechnics Experts, Arcane Investigators, Size Analysts, and the Flight Researchers all have quests that will get you into the spirit of the holiday. Enjoy the show!%Gallery-25813%
Pyro Spectaculars to use HD-friendly fireworks
There's nothing like oversleeping on a Wednesday, only to realize that all is well thanks to a day we Americans get to celebrate our independence and utter obsession with pyrotechnics. This year, however, you may be better off watching the action from the comfort of your own sofa, particularly if you can tune in to a high-definition broadcast of a Pyro Spectaculars show. The firm will be utilizing a specially formed "HD shell" that's designed to "perform at a lower altitude" and react more cooperatively with cameras. Moreover, the fireworks emit "fuller bursts with more density and deeper colors," which purportedly perform quite admirably when captured in HD. The firm's wares will be used tonight at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and also at Dodger Stadium, and those not in Schwarzenegger's state can catch them at the Macy's New York show as well as in Boston, Seattle, and Houston.
Boom, boom! Happy Fourth of July everyone!
Today's the day Americans celebrate their independence, blow things up, eat lots of grilled food and hang out with friends and family. Some even, believe it or not, ritually drink a little too much this July 4th and get themselves in heaps of trouble. But that's a story for another time. Make today all about sharing time with those around you and if you have nothing planned then hop onto Xbox Live, play some games with friends or just Boom Boom Rocket the day away. It'd be like your own personal fireworks show on your TV without risking second degree burns. From everyone here at Xbox 360 Fanboy, we raise our sparklers to our fellow readers, freedom and those who fight for it. Have a wonderful and event filled July 4th!
