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Google patent application could give Project Glass one true ring controller to rule them all
Let's face it: right now, the head nods and other rudimentary controls of Google's Project Glass are mostly useful for looking good, sharing photos and not much else. A US patent application submitted last September and just now published, however, raises the possibility of more sophisticated control coming from your hands. A ring, a bracelet or a even a fake fingernail with an infrared-reflective layer would serve as a gesture control marker for a receiver on heads-up display glasses. Having this extra control would give the glasses-mounted computing room to grow by learning gestures, and it could even depend on multiple ornaments for more sophisticated commands -- at least, if you don't mind looking like a very nerdy Liberace. We can imagine the headaches a hand-based method might cause for very enthusiastic talkers, among other possible hiccups, so don't be surprised if Project Glass goes without any kind of ring input. That said, we suspect that Sauron would approve.
Caption Contest: you shall not interrupt Gandalf's 3D viewing session
Nobody likes being bothered while they're really getting into a movie, and as we all know you can't really get into a movie unless it's in 3D. Right? Sir Ian McKellen took things a step further, not only watching a screening of The Hobbit in the third dimension but doing it in character, and looking ever so slightly perturbed at having his viewing session interrupted by a rogue photographer. The guy in the back doesn't seem to mind, though. Thomas: "Galadriel, is that new shampoo?" Tim: "These glasses may be passive but I you may find me getting very aggressive if you use that flash one more time." Brian: "I'll tell you what, you're making me Gandalf the Red right now." Joe: "Would 'one standard to rule them all' be asking too much?" Michael: "ZZ Top called, they want their roadie back" Terrence: "Even Gandalf the Grey is powerless against the magic of these glasses which make any man look like a 90-year-old blind woman." Richard Lai: "Ha, no 3D for that flaming cyclops in Mordor." Darren: "One ring. Two Towers. 3Ds." Christopher: "Sir Ian McKellen: the latest victim of Rick Rubin's Ambush Makeover." Sean Buckley: "Confound it all, Samwise Gamgee. What have I told you about interrupting me during my stories?" Josh Fruhlinger: "You know how they say 3D is bad for children? This dude is 14." Myriam: "Yes, wizards get hangovers too. Are you happy now?"
Peter Jackson shooting The Hobbit at 48FPS, should speed up those long walking scenes
Say goodbye to blurry Orcs, because The Hobbit is going 48 frames per second. King of Kong Peter Jackson announced via Facebook that the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel will be shot at an increased frame rate, double the 24FPS that has been the industry standard for the better part of a century. Halo's non-director preemptively addressed critics of the technology, comparing it to the transition from vinyl to CDs -- which, let's face it, some folks still aren't all that psyched about. The technology, when combined with a 48FPS projector, should cut down on blur and strobe. Jackson and Warner Bros. have their fingers crossed that a sufficient number of theaters will be capable of projecting at that speed when the film opens in December 2012. We're eagerly awaiting James Cameron's reaction -- and George Lucas's inevitable Star Wars re-re-re-re-release at the new speed.
The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray set officially announced, arrives June 28th (video)
Warner has finally released the details on its upcoming 15-disc (six on Blu-ray, plus nine DVDs) Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition Blu-ray package, setting a release date of June 28th. If the extra few hours of footage isn't enough for you to preorder the $120 MSRP / $84 Amazon set, there's more than 26 hours of special features included although most of them are restricted to the DVDs. Each movie is spread across two Blu-ray discs and has a 6.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, while Fellowship of the Ring has been treated to a remastering from the original 2K digital files. It's a little disappointing there aren't more HD extras mentioned but each Blu-ray is BD-Live enabled, we wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of teaser hit before The Hobbit arrives in theaters. Check out the full press release and trailer after the break.
The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray discs are up for preorder on Amazon
It's taken a couple of years but the release of the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray discs is finally drawing near, and now the set is available for preorder on Amazon. Adding a couple of hours of footage to the epic trilogy of films, they sport an MSRP of $120 (currently selling for $83.99) and there's a video trailer on Amazon too. According to TheHDRoom, it doesn't reveal any of the extra footage on the EEs, but if you've been waiting all this time for the proper discs we figure a quick taste of what's to come can't hurt. [Thanks, Mitchell]
Codemasters unveils Lord of the Rings Online hacked account program
With great playerbase numbers comes great security responsibility. Wait, no. That's not the movie metaphor we're looking for. How about keep it secret, keep it safe! That's more like it, but unfortunately for some Lord of the Rings Online fans, the secret (and the safe) parts are being compromised as the free-to-play title sees a rise in hacked accounts to go along with its expanding user numbers. All hope is not lost, however, as Codemasters (LotRO's European publisher) has introduced a new Hacked Account Restart Program designed to assist victims and speed them back onto the road to Mordor. The program has a few prerequisites, among them player support eligibility and GM verification of the actual account owner. Claims must also be filed within seven days of the security breach, and reimbursement methods will vary at Codemasters' discretion. You can read the official announcement on the Codemasters website, and you'll also want to check out Customer Service Manager Sincilbanks' blog entry on the subject.
Engadget HD Giveaway: Win the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-ray!
In celebration of the Lord of the Rings movies being available individually on Blu-ray today (we still always skip to RotK, the Sam/Frodo bromance makes the series), what makes more sense than to offer you chance to win all three at the same time? How about if there were some bonuses thrown in, like bookmarks, a New Zealand Jade Necklace, ornament, deck of LotR playing cards candle and poster, would that be something you were interested in? (Okay, they're not the Extended Editions, but work with us here.) We're not sure if TNT is still airing them in stretch-o-vision or not, but you have no excuse to watch with commercial interruption any longer, drop a comment in after the break to enter and block out nine hours on your schedule next week -- you have plans. Special Thanks to Warner for providing the discs!
Waging WAR: RvR packs, the "wait and see" edition
This week Waging WAR rides the double rainbow of gameplay customization via downloadable content and takes a cursory glance at the RvR packs being teased by the folks behind the development of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Let's follow along and see what Greg can unleash this time. It is difficult to talk about the future of WAR right now. Not because it doesn't have a future, but because the availability of information regarding it is not exactly easy to find. Actually, information on the future of WAR is all but non-existent, surrounded by controversy on all sides, and steeped in rumor, speculation, assumption and misinformation. The best I can put together is that we, as players, can look forward to some sort of set of three different "RvR Packs" allowing us to "customize" our gameplay experience moving forward. The packs have been called "Power," "Progression," and "Personality." What exactly each contains is a mystery, although the few talking points I was able to find regarding these RvR packs are speculatively disappointing at best. Although Carrie, Andy, and anyone else involved with the Mythic development team have said time and time again that they are not discussing moving toward the free-to-play business model, what they're proposing with these customization packs looks suspiciously like the item shop established by Turbine, implemented in Dungeons & Dragons Online and soon in Lord of the Rings Online as well. V.I.P. membership, anyone? Although concrete information is scarce and difficult to find, let's take a look at the most commonly referenced points of interest after the break.
Newest LotRO dev diary explains instance scaling
The skirmish system in Lord of the Rings Online brought a lot to the table, but one of the most popular new features was scaling. It was a big hit, and the developers are now adding it to the rest of the game in the form of instance scaling. If you're curious about how it will work, Content Designer Joe "jwbarry" Barry has written out a developer diary explaining the system. One concern was making these instances available to the widest possible number of players, while still maintaining quality, challenging content. Joining instances like you would join a skirmish was another detail to be worked out, as was the overall method of scaling. The full developer diary provides some great insight on how instance scaling will work, as well as the thought process behind the design -- it's a must-read for anyone interested in trying instance scaling.
Lord of the Rings movies break out of the box set, hit Blu-ray individually 9/14
Yes, there's new Lord of the Rings Blu-ray news and no, it isn't the Extended Editions of the movies. If the pressure of buying the boxed set is just too much to bear don't worry, this fall you'll finally be able to buy each movie individually (we prefer to skip to RoTK, we're impatient like that.) September 14 is the date they go on sale with $24.98 MSRPs and identical features to their boxed counterparts, minus a digital copy, can we start the countdown to the release of the EE yet?
Blu-ray releases for April 6th 2010
Assuming you aren't in love with the extended version, the wait is finally over and The Lord of the Rings can finally be enjoyed in all its HD glory -- oh, and you don't think that DNR is the cousin of the devil. On the same note this week there are more than a few classics like The Natural, Poseidon and Cocoon. Finally the selection of documentaries is pretty good this week too. The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (New Line) Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (First Look) Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 (Universal) Cocoon (Fox) Dolan's Cadillac (National) Flight of the Intruder (Lionsgate) Jade (Lionsgate) The Relic (Lionsgate) The Lord of the Rings - Animated (Warner) Poseidon (Warner) The Natural (Sony) The Thomas Crown Affair (MGM) Sharpe's Challenge (BBC) Sharpe's Peril (BBC) Canyonlands (National Geographic) Yosemite National Park (Image) Dreamscape (Image)
Top Terminal easter eggs
Yeah, the headline makes it sound like the eggs are on their deathbed. But no, easter eggs (in software jargon) are little presents or surprises that developers have slipped into an application or operating system. One excellent place to find easter eggs in Mac OS X is in the Terminal. Now technically, these easter eggs aren't part of Mac OS X. The Terminal app is a portal into the UNIX underpinnings of Mac OS X. You can find the Terminal app in the Applications > Utilities folder. Here are four of my favorites: 1. Important dates in history -- Lord of the Rings style At the Terminal prompt paste the following: cat /usr/share/calendar/calendar.history and press return. You'll get a list of famous dates throughout the centuries -- including some that take place in Middle Earth. 2. Snake Game At the Terminal prompt type in emacs, then press enter. You'll see a bunch of text come up. Once it does hold down the ESC key and press X. If you timed your presses right, you'll notice the cursor has moved to the bottom of the page next to the letters M-x. Now type in snake and enjoy! 3. Tetris Follow the same steps as for the Snake game. At the Terminal prompt type in emacs, then press enter. You'll see a bunch of text come up. Once it does hold down the ESC key and press X. If you timed your presses right, you'll notice the cursor has moved to the bottom of the page next to the letters M-x. This time, type in tetris. Use the arrow keys to move and rotate the blocks, and press the space to make the blocks fall. 4. Emacs psychoanalysis Like the previous two, this last easter egg is an extension of the emacs UNIX command. At the Terminal prompt type in emacs, then press enter. You'll see a bunch of text come up. Once it does hold down the ESC key and press X. If you timed your presses right, you'll notice the cursor has moved to the bottom of the page next to the letters M-x. This time, type in psychoanalyze-pinhead. You'll get a speedy conversation between two doctors. Press Ctrl-G to stop the conversation and then read the transcript. All these easter egg tips were taken from The Easter Egg Archive which lists Easter eggs found in movies, TV, books, art, music, and software. Check out the site for many more Mac easter eggs and please post any that you know of in the comments! [Binary egg photo by Rakka]
Lord of the Rings and Blu-ray to meet in April of 2010
We've been talking about Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray for as long as we've been talking about Blu-ray, so we're happy to finally see these two come together. The bad news is that if you're a big fan of the extended versions -- as if the originals weren't long enough -- you'll have to keep waiting as this $99 box set won't include 'em. What it will include is three discs of extras as well as digital copies of all three movies. If you aren't into buying movies on shiny discs anymore though, also on the 16th April, the trilogy will also be available at all the new sources like iTunes, Amazon VOD and Xbox/Zune Marketplace.
Turbine reveals DDO and LotRO YouTube channels
Turbine announced today that they have set up dedicated Youtube channels for Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online. They added something special for fans on the Lord of the Rings Online channel and uploaded the videos from LotRO's "Beyond the Shadows: Making of the Game" in HQ.This is a treat for LotRO fans, as the Beyond the Shadows DVD was only available by purchasing the special edition of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar in 2007. The video series begins with Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel giving an overview of the game's intro cinematic, and continues with five more videos discussing creation and design of everything from monsters to weapons and armor.The Dungeons and Dragons Online channel doesn't disappoint either, offering up community videos and information on some available adventure packs. Both channels look to be off to a great start, and with Turbine taking the time to split them from the official Turbine channel, it should be worth clicking the subscribe button.
Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray officially pushed back to 2010
Our friend Bill at the Digital Bits continues to deliver on some of the best and worst Blu-ray movie news -- although we really wish he'd make his site linkable already -- and this time it is the sad news that one of the most anticipated Blu-ray releases ever will be pushed to 2010. No word on exactly when The Lord of the Rings will make it to Blu-ray, but it seems pretty certain that it won't be in the next four months. If it were up to us, we'd have a hard time shying away from 10/10/10, but that's just us.
Lord of the Rings trilogy Blu-ray set shows up on Amazon, but where's the extras?
Can you believe it? We're still waiting for the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-ray, but news that the set has shown up for pre-order on Amazon.com. The only hook, as noted by TheHDRoom, is that the $99.98 MSRP / $69.99 priced package is listed as the theatrical editions, leaving room for the idea Warner plans to double dip with the extended versions later. Still, with on official announcement, no one knows quite what the deal is, so just peep the box art and hope for the best.[Thanks, Vipul]
TurpsterVision - Weapon of Choice
TurpsterVision is back with vengeance now with four episodes every month focusing on one MMO at a time. This month, along with the rest of the Massively team, we are venturing deep into Middle Earth and exploring the depths of the Mines of Moria.Hey folks, it's good to be back; MMOs just wouldn't be the same without TurpsterVision! Today we are taking a look at Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria's new Legendary Weapons. I've often wanted to have a sword glow blue and warn me when danger is near. To be honest I'd settle for an iPhone app that would do the same thing. But fortunately for me I don't have to settle for anything less than the real deal, albeit a virtual-real deal.Moria not only granted us two new classes, which I'll be exploring one at a time over the next two weeks, but it also granted players the ability to gain Legendary weapons of old which they can level up alongside their character. But enough reading about it, this is TurpsterVision! Watch on after the break...
Lord of the Rings, SOCOM vet launches Caffeinated Games
Greg Chudecke, an industry vet who's left his fingerprints on such franchises and games as SOCOM and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has launched his own indie studio called Caffeinated Games. Besides giving players a rapid heartbeat and the jitters, Caffeinated Games aims to not only create games, but also act as a social network for developers and gamers in general to interact as well. Comments the former Zipper and Black Label Games dev, "Our approach...is to make the games we want to play and then pitch those games directly to the gamers." The first such pitch is expected next week, with a timer on the site currently ticking down towards next Wednesday.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy headed to Blu-ray?
Now that we've already got one particular trilogy on our BD radar, it's only fitting that yet another blockbuster trio hit the screen. According to PSU, Peter Jackson has stated outrightly that he is "working on a Blu-ray version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy with Warner Bros. at the moment," and although he confessed that a release date wasn't available, we are told not to expect it anytime this year. Reportedly, the comments were divulged while chatting about the forthcoming Hobbit, and while we're undoubtedly stoked to hear the news, we can't help but feel somewhat crushed that Profile 4.0 may very well be out and about before this collection ever lands. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Image courtesy of Britannica, thanks Justin]
Turbine secures $40 million investment
MMO developer Turbine found its purse a bit heavier this week after securing a $40 million round of financing from a group of investors led by Granite Global Ventures, filling the Lord of the Rings Online creator's total venture capital money bin to around $90 million mark. According to a report by Private Equity Hub, the investment also saw Granite Global's managing partner Hani Nada take a seat on Turbine's board, presumably in order to make sure the money was put to good use and not slipped into the underwear of Elvish hookers after a night on the town. While we remain in the dark as to what exactly the studio will do with its newfound wealth, Turbine is expected to make an announcement regarding its future plans in the next two weeks. [Via GI.biz]
