losangeles
Latest
E3 to be reborn as GamePro Expo
While E3 may be long gone, and E3Expo may have been on the horizon for a brief time, it appears that GamePro Expo will now be taking its place as the king of the American gaming shows. IDG, the company that publishes GamePro magazine (and Macworld mag and Expo), will now run this latest show to take over the Los Angeles Convention Center come October 2007. Although GamePro is only slated for 30,000 people (half the size of E3), it should still rock, given that it'll bring live competitions among other goodies. And if you're looking for us while at the show, we'll be the ones hanging our heads in shame after getting totally pwned by the smarmy editors over at Joystiq.[Via DSFanboy]
Los Angeles-area Boy Scouts can earn "activity patch" in copyright
Los Angeles-area Boy Scouts (this author used to be among them) will now be able to receive an "activity patch" in respecting copyrights. Different from a merit badge, The Associated Press reports that "an activity patch is not required to advance in the Scouts. Instead, they are awarded for various recreational and educational activities, such as conservation or volunteering at a food bank." Scouts will get a primer in copyright law, will have to identify five types of copyright, and will get to visit a movie studio to learn about "how many people can be harmed by film piracy," as defined by the MPAA. Boing Boing also adds that a movement is underway to educate the Los Angeles Area Council about their concerns of potentially pushing the MPAA's agenda. Jay Neely, an Eagle Scout (as is this author), writes on Boing Boing: "If it's as one-sided or erroneous as your post worries it will be, I'd like to get other current or former scouts to take part in a concerted effort to write the Los Angeles Area Council with our concerns." So basically, this ain't over yet, Hollywood.[Thanks, Rollins]Read - The Associated PressRead - Boing Boing
ePoker Room, a way to play virtual poker in a real casino
Well, they don't call it "Lalaland" for nothing: a Los Angeles casino has just opened up a live ePoker table, appropriately called the "ePoker Room." Meaning you can go to a live casino (specifically, the Hollywood Park Casino) to play computerized poker. While none of us here at Engadget are big poker players, we still love the idea that you can go to a physical location to do something that you can easily do at any hour from the internet -- kind of like that bar Remote in New York. And according to a firsthand account in Poker News, the system even still takes all the human interaction out of the whole equation: "The electronic tables require no dealers, as the players select all their actions via the touch screen in front of them. The system even takes away from a floorperson's job, as there is a kiosk where you can put yourself on a waiting list for a table." But you'll still have to do slightly more work than if you stayed home, as your ID, cash and chips are contained electronically on a magnetic stripe card. In other words, you've still got to swipe the card to play, which does require a modicum of physical exertion, but certainly nothing that might risk burning more than a tenth of a calorie, you poker stud, you.[Via The Raw Feed]
Eriksson rejects plea offer, goes on trial for multiple counts of shadiness
Notorious mobster, party animal, exotic automobile enthusiast, and failed gaming executive Bo Stefan Eriksson is finally being exposed to the harsh lights of a Los Angeles courtroom today, after rejecting a plea bargain on Monday due to the fact that "I cannot agree that I stole the car because I didn't." The car that Eriksson was referring to is the famous million dollar Ferrari Enzo that he drunkenly crashed along a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway earlier this year, which authorities later learned was among several leased vehicles that the former Gizmondo director had exported from Europe and stopped paying for in late 2005. Eriksson also faces a charge of illegal weapons possession, and if convicted on all counts, could spend the next eleven years in prison -- a familiar setting for the thug-turned-businessman. Prosecutors are still hoping that Eriksson's imaginary friend Dietrich will return to the States to testify, but sources close to the matter say that the German playboy has reportedly taken permanent asylum on the island of Atlantis, where he's been managing a unicorn farm co-owned by Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Culver City to install filters on its municipal WiFi network
They call Los Angeles the City of Angels. We didn't find it to be that exactly -- particularly when much like anywhere else, folks are accustomed to downloading pr0n and tons of illicit materials on BitTorrent. Fortunately for us, upright citizens of Culver City, an LA suburb, will be installing Net filters (Audible Magic's CopySense Network Appliance, to be specific) on its free WiFi municipal network, which covers 10 square blocks in its downtown area. Sadly funnier still are the hacks at the MPAA who praised the move (but of course), saying that this new filter will "help safeguard system users from being subject to illegal files" -- as if somehow all of these "illegal files" just come raining down out of the sky on innocent folks wanting to read, say, Engadget. [Via TechDirt]
E3 cancelled for next year and beyond [update 4]
[Update 4: The ESA has issued a press release addressing the situation. Read more here.]Next-Gen has the scoop: Doug Lowenstein, the president of the Entertainment Software Association is expected to announce within the next 48 hours that E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the definitive video games show, has been cancelled. Industry sources have told Next-Gen that the reasoning behind this move is primarily one of cost versus return. Publishers aren't getting the media attention that they expect from the large amounts of cash that they're putting down to exhibit at the show. Apparently publishers believe that the multi-million dollar budgets allocated to E3 would be better used on smaller, specific shows where publishers get all the limelight. There's the possibility of a smaller show taking place in May next year, but as Next-Gen puts it, "it's clear that the days of an industry event attended by all the major publishers, spending big money, are gone."Check out our commentary on the cancellation at the continued link below.
Major League Baseball not a fan of placeshifting
After alienating fans with long strikes and doped-up players, you'd think that Major League Baseball would be wise to make moves towards recapturing its lost fan base; instead, recent comments by an executive from MLB's media division indicate that baseball may be intending to further sour relations with its customers by cracking down on the placeshifting of televised games. Speaking at this year's Digital Media Summit in LA, MLB Advanced Media executive VP George Kliavkoff went toe-to-toe with fellow panel member and Sling Media marketing VP Rich Buchanan, arguing that Slingbox customers are "violating the scope of their [cable and satellite] user agreements" when they rebroadcast content out of their home market. The whole issue seems rather silly to us, as baseball is essentially complaining that you're somehow screwing a local affiliate by watching an out-of-market game when you're traveling to its city, even though the sport as a whole is still benefiting from your viewership and the vast number of placeshifters probably ensure that no net eyeballs are actually lost. Note to MLB: Cricket is starting to look more and more attractive every day.
Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode
In case you missed it on Friday, IGN posted a pre-E3 hands-on preview of Guitar Hero II's new co-op mode. It's a departure from the first game's multiplayer mode in that the two players have to depend on each other a lot more to pass each song and thereby make beautiful music together.While the old multiplayer option will still be around in the sequel, the new mode mixes distinct lead guitar and bass or rhythm parts where each player affects the other in various ways, whether by failing if either performance slips (as in DDR), sharing the same Rock Meter (with mistakes from either player resetting the score multiplier), and needing to both go vertical at the same time to activate the shared Star Power. Thankfully, different difficulty levels can be assigned to each player.The Joystiq team out in L.A. will probably find something to do until they get their sweaty paws on a guitar controller or two on the E3 show floor (maybe one of those wacky press conferences will help pass the time), but we're sure the wait to try the latest build of this rockin' series will be worth it. The seven songs available at E3 are listed below.[Thanks, murph]
Capcom reveals playable E3 lineup
Capcom announced its lineup of titles that will be playable at E3: GBA Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar, Cybeast Falzar Nintendo DS Mega Man ZX PS2 God Hand Okami Street Fighter Alpha Anthology PSP Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins Monster Hunter Freedom Xbox 360 Dead Rising Lost Planet In addition, Capcom will unmask several new games for as of yet announced platforms. PlayStation 3? Nintendo Revolution? C'mon, Capcom has to have at least one ace up its sleeve...
iPod giveaways at Beverly Center Apple Store
ifoAppleStore is reporting on a month-long contest that is going on at the Beverly Center Apple Store in Los Angeles, CA. Several Mac owners living in southern California have recently received a contest notification via email, which states, "...Every night in March we’ll give away an iPod [30 Gb], iPod nano [2 Gb], or iPod shuffle [512 Mb]." You can see the full invitation after the jump.Good luck, LA! Let us know if you win.
Local Channels in MPEG-4 HD on DirecTV starting today for New York and LA
It seems DirecTV is getting the MPEG-4 AVC party started a little early. We knew New York and LA were going to get local channels in high definition, but we thought it would take until January, we were wrong. Starting today, both cities can enjoy their local programming via satellite as long as you have the right equipment.Subscribers who already get their local channels in HD via MPEG-2 equipment don't worry, nothing has changed (yet) for you.New York channels: WABC/Channel 7 WNBC/ Channel 4 WCBS/Channel 2 WNYW (FOX)/Channel 5 LA Channels: KABC/Channel 7 KTTV (Fox)/Channel 11 KCBS/Channel 2 KNBC/ Channel 4
