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First Tesla Model S teaser shot silently sneaks onto the scene
Tesla just dropped word yesterday that a drivable prototype of its Model S sedan would be unveiled on March 26th, but the automaker has now gone one step further and let loose the first official teaser image of what we can only assume is said prototype. In true teaser fashion, there isn't a whole lot to see, but as AutoblogGreen points out, it is fairly evident that the Model S is at least shorter than the rival Fisker Karma, and it seems to boast a larger passenger compartment to boot. Hit up the link below to check out a higher res shot, and don't be surprised if Tesla continues to tease this one out right up until that March 26th launch date.
Tesla tidbits: new retail stores, Model S prototype, extended warranty
Last we heard, Tesla was reevaluating some business decisions as it sought to become a thriving, profitable enterprise in 2009. In a lengthy newsletter sent out to over 60,000 subscribers today, CEO Elon Musk has laid out a torrent of news. Most notable are the imminent openings of retail locations in Chicago and London's Knightsbridge district, with four other locations slated to open before the year's end. Additionally, a street-drivable prototype of the Model S four door sedan will be unveiled on March 26th, with production scheduled for 2011. We're also informed of updates on the Smart car / Daimler partnership, a few new interior options for the Roadster, a battery replacement program and the new extended warranty. Chances are, Tesla owners have already digested all of this, but those looking in from the outside should certainly have a peek at the full letter just after the break.
Developer Monte Cristo talks low-price subscription models
As MMO gamers, we're fairly used to paying a certain amount of cash for our subscriptions -- the figure rarely wanders very far from the USD$15 a month mark. Usually you'll have either the $15-a-month setup, or a free-to-play game with costs to buy items or upgrade to a premium account. Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, Parisian development studio Monte Cristo put forward a different game-plan: budget subscription prices. Their upcoming city-building title Cities XL will feature both single player and MMO modes. Those that get into the MMO aspect of the game will pay just GBP£10 (or roughly USD$15) for a 3-month subscription.The hope is that players will not only be more willing to try the MMO version of Cities XL at that price, but that they would also be more likely to pay for the cheap plug-ins that Monte Cristo is developing and can be added to the game. The studio's head Jerome Gastaldi commented that he and his company did not really believe in the microtransaction-only model, and hence, the mixed business model came about. With money coming back to them from box sales, subscriptions, and add-ons, Gastaldi hopes that their decisions will make Cities XL less risky than launching a purely single-player game.
EVE Radio ushers in 2009 with holiday contest
One of the more unique aspects of the EVE Online experience since its beta days is the player-run EVE Radio, an internet radio station which broadcasts 24/7. Over the past few years EVE Radio has catered to a dedicated fan base numbering in the thousands, streaming to between 150 and 500 simultaneous users at any given time. Although they've been steadily growing, there are still a number of EVE Online players who aren't aware of EVE Radio. To that end, the people over at EVE Radio are working to increase their visibility in preparation for a busy 2009. They're making a big push to reach out to new listeners through a contest running from December 15-21, announced on the EVE Online forums. What are they giving away? For starters -- 20 x 500 million ISK instant prizes, 10 x 60-day EVE Time Codes, and 1 Complete Faction Battleship Model set (that's a $500 value!).
Better Place's $1 billion electric vehicle grid headed to Bay Area
Need another reason to live in America's other bastion of social liberalism and homelessness? How about a $1 billion electric vehicle re-charging infrastructure in the Bay Area? Palo Alto's Better Place is finally bringing its ambitious, city-wide electrical grid and battery exchange service home after staking plans to do the same in Israel, Denmark, and Australia. The plan just endorsed by the San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco Mayors (without coughing up any money), is expected to result in 250,000 charging ports (for topping off charges), 200 battery-swap stations (for trips over 100 miles), and a driver service center by 2012 -- network planing and permitting will begin in 2009 with infrastructure deployment set to kickoff in 2010. Here's how it works, customers will receive a discounted price on electric vehicles when they subscribe to drive a certain number of miles -- Better Place will own the batteries. Besides clearing the way of government bureaucracy, the mayors have agreed to offer incentives for companies that install the plug-in stations. Now get this, Better Place expects to lure electric vehicles from the usual suspects like Toyota, Renault-Nissan, and GM in addition to, get this, Tesla Motors. Oh yes. Almost makes us want to hug an Upper Haight, teenage, poser hippie. Almost.Update: Coincidentally, Tesla is considering a small, swappable battery for its Model S sport sedan that, according to Elon Musk, could be changed "faster than you can fill a car with gasoline." Ah, synergy.[Via San Jose Mercury News, Thanks KKH]
Yes, that 2H mace makes you look fat
Important news for all 20 of you playing female Tauren out there (of whom Robin Torres and I are two, so I guess it's for the other 18); beware the port to Lake Wintergrasp from Dalaran when your faction controls the fortress. Our reader Amalline wrote in to let us know that an unfortunate bug from the beta concerning the room you're ported to has made its way to the live realms. And by "unfortunate bug," I mean "hilarious joke for all those of you not playing female Tauren" -- you can't get out the door.Those who have played female Tauren since World of Warcraft classic will recognize this as the latest iteration of the old and equally annoying "I can't get into Molten Core!" bug. Now, while I personally have no intention whatsoever of entering Wintergrasp (which, given my previous track record on such resolutions, means that one of my more sadistic friends will make sure I get stuck there within 2 weeks), I realize that there may be people among the remaining 18 worldwide players with an itch to go an ungainly killin' spree. If I were you, I would plan on being solidly part of the defense for the time being.
Shifting Perspectives: Let my kitties go!
Every Tuesday/Wednesday/some sort of day occurring midweek, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week Allison Robert yanks John Patricelli's column again, hoping to make good on a threat previously made concerning her "dissatisfaction" with Tauren cat form. And by dissatisfaction she might mean something else.I'll level with you; we have a huge Druid post in the pipeline that's going to round up the changes to the class in Wrath, new talents, new skills, new everything, and frankly I'm sick to death about reading or writing anything having to do with the expansion. So, just to buck the overwhelming trend that threatens to drive us all to the nuthouse, I'm going to turn to a topic that's plagued Druids for a while.By this I mean the perennial form issue, something that my Druid colleagues on the blog have previously termed the Same Old Animal Posterior, or SOAP. But it's one that we've been given reason to believe will change in...Wrath. Well, that didn't last long. You'll note that David's article was written in October 2007, more than a year ago, but the same thing could have been posted in 2006 as well. Druid forms haven't changed since launch*, and while they were never really at the cutting edge of Blizzard's art direction as a result**, they look more and more shabby in relation to the higher-polygon models and landscapes. As everything around you gets better and better -- more evocative lighting, more intricate details, fantastic animation -- it's hard not to feel a strange sense of displacement as you shift into a 2004 form within a 2008 game.But at long last we may see Druid form customization, an overhaul to the default forms themselves, or possibly (hopefully?) both.
Animated models now on Wowhead
Just when I think Wowhead is feature-complete, they go and add something that never even occurred to me. This time around it's animated models in their 3D model viewer (high-quality Java version only). So if you can't manage to bag that elusive Squashling, at least you can see what it looks like, in full motion (be sure to click Java, if it isn't selected already). So far, animations are available for pets, mounts, player models, and NPCs, but items are coming soon (Terestrian's Stranglestaff, anyone?). Not only that, but they're already working on expansions for what sorts of animations are shown. Currently it just shows "idling" behavior; in the future, you should see a lot more, up to and including "/dance" (for player models) and casting animations.I'm really excited about this (especially with my main computer in the shop, leaving me unable to play WoW at the moment). It lets me gaze at all sorts of interesting things: Raid bosses I'm never going to see Strange new mounts Awesome small pets Character models in any gear you want (using the compare tool) And the Flying Carpet. It will be mine, oh yes. What are some of your favorite models?
Tesla's 4-door, all-electric Model S sports sedan gets pictured
We knew good and well it was on the way, but now we're bubbling over with excitement. The forthcoming Model S -- an all-electric, five passenger sports sedan that will ride on a platform developed entirely by Tesla -- has apparently been revealed. Of course, there's still a real possibility that the image you're drooling on above isn't a finalized look, but Road & Track has a pretty good record to fall back on. We're also hearing that the 2010-bound whip will get around 240 miles per charge while still doing the zero to sixty in under six ticks, and the $60,000 base price just makes it all the more appealing. For those with a thing for rear bumpers, check out Autoblog's link below for a sneak peek of the fanny.Read - Road & Track writeupRead - Sneak peek of the rear
Line 6 launches POD Studio USB interfaces, POD Farm plug-ins
Nearly a month after Line 6 treated bedroom guitarists everywhere with the brilliant BackTrack, along comes a few new tools for the more serious musicians. Or, at least the ones that think they're serious. The newly announced POD Studio family of USB recording interfaces feature the POD Farm plug-in and 44.1/48kHz, 16-/24-bit recording. The no-frills GX unit boasts a single 1/4-inch guitar input, while the UX1 adds a balanced XLR input with preamp and two 1/4-inch analog outputs; the top-end UX2 (pictured) offers two 1/4-inch inputs (one normal, one pad), two balanced XLR inputs with preamps and phantom power, S/PDIF digital output and a pair of assignable VU meters. Each box comes packed with Ableton recording software, though Line 6 doesn't bother to share the costs for these.[Via Electronista]Read - POD Studio familyRead - POD Farm plug-ins
Model changes for Varimathras and Alexstrasza
We certainly enjoyed the model changes to Varian Wrynn and Sylvanas Windrunner, and now Blizzard's finished the unique models for Alexstrasza (human form, that is; you can see her dragon model update here) and Varimathras, as befits their key roles in the storyline for Wrath. I'm a tiny bit disappointed with Alexstrasza's model; her armor is mostly a red copy of Sylvanas' new threads, which are admittedly all sorts of awesome but makes me wonder if there's some kind of Armor Barn in Azeroth for hipster bosses. Alexstrasza does, however, show even more skin than Sylvanas does, so from some peoples' perspectives this might be a feature rather than a bug.Varimathras is a nice update although he retains his old animations and emotes (you can't really see it from the perspective of the screenshot above, but I think his legs and hooves are a significant improvement on the shaky anatomy of the current dreadlord model). Both he and Alexstrasza's changes are somewhat less shocking than the complete overhaul to Wrynn and Sylvanas, but we're still pleased to see Blizzard taking an interest in the visual badassery of major faction leaders and NPC's. I would tend to agree with Zach Yonzon's contention that it would be amazing to see an update to all the faction leaders if Blizzard could swing it at some point, although I have the sneaking suspicion, judging from what CM's have said about the difficulty of programming in new Druid forms, that this is a fairly lengthy process. However, after seeing the model changes in the beta, I don't think anyone's going to argue it's not worth it, and a number of people have argued for player model changes as well. The extraordinary design work in Northrend will probably add fuel to that fire.%Gallery-33165%
New facial models in latest beta build aren't quite done
Banana Shoulders has a pretty in-depth look at a graphical update we weren't expecting at all: Blizzard has, in the latest beta build, decided to update the facial textures of some player models, including Gnomes, Human females, and Tauren. And unfortunately, the updates aren't necessarily for the better -- while the models do look a little clearer and more well-defined, they definitely aren't done yet, as the eyes are eerily in the wrong place inside the head, and some of the models are just plain uglier than they used to be.More realism and detail is always a good thing, and it's important to remember that we're still in beta -- there's no way those Gnome eyes will go live. Blizzard may even be updating the way the heads are put together as well, in order to make sure the new hairstyles all work the way they're meant to. The real challenge, however, will be making sure that the characters come out of this process looking the same way they did before -- if the textures look extremely different, you may end up logging into Wrath with a character you don't recognize.Update: Don't panic -- Tigole says the facial model texture changes were "a development experiment," and these funny faces will never make the live realms.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Tesla starts delivering Roadsters as production ramps up, hires hotshot engineering exec
Move over, Elon Musk -- the Tesla owners club is about to get bigger. The upstart electric-car company announced the delivery of the first nine production Roadsters to customers in California earlier this week, with several more to follow at the rate of four per week, and the plan is to start building 100 a month by December, when that new transmission is ready. That's pretty ambitious, but Tesla's brought in some big guns to help make it happen -- the company just hired Mike Donoughe as EVP of Vehicle Engineering and Manufacturing. Donoughe is fresh off a 24-year stint at Chrysler, where he was most recently in charge of revamping all of the company's mid-size sedans. Word on the street is that Donoughe could have written his own ticket at any major carmaker, so it's interesting that he landed at Tesla, where he'll be working on the Model S as well as the Roadster. Oh, and there's a new Tesla store in Menlo Park, in case you were looking to blow a quick $100K in Silicon Valley -- aren't we all?
New Illidan wallpaper from Blizzard
Vaneras is apparently clearing house on cool Burning Crusade artwork before we get to the next expansion -- he's posted a new wallpaper up on the Blizzard site, and it pretty much rocks. Our good friend Illy D is still hanging out with that dusty old skull, literally dripping with demonic power, while a bunch of slimy Naga stand threateningly behind him. Very nice.The second poster in the thread wishes Illidan actually looked like this in game, and to a certain extent, he's right -- Blizzard has always made games as easy on the CPU as possible, so ingame models, while usually textured very well, aren't quite as detailed as their concept art. But the concept art (and the cinematics) is what, I think, allows these characters to have so much of a life outside of the game. Most of us have never been told that we weren't prepared by Illidan ingame, but we surely remember him telling us the same thing before the last expansion.
Tesla's Elon Musk promises sub-$30k all-electric car in less than four years
Yes -- more breaking electric car news! Just after Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori announced Telsa's plans to build the Model S, Elon Musk began discussing its development of electric car tech to get the price of future cars to (and below) $30,000. When asked when that technology would be commercially available, Musk said that it shouldn't be any more than four years from now. Granted, a $60,000 car is affordable but still quite steep for most buyers -- but a vehicle mass-produced at half the price is essentially mainstream, which could have a substantial impact on the automotive world.[Image courtesy of Edmunds]
New tier gear video
Fresh from the alpha leaks that have been coming our way is a new video posted on Vimeo that shows new Wrath of the Lich King gear for Hunters, Mages, Priests, Rogues, and Warlocks. We don't know what tier level (ie: 7.5, 8, 9) this gear is for, but we do know that it fits the overall model of previous tier gear. When you watch the video you'll notice that not everything is done yet. Obviously, this is because the game is still in alpha. And remember that these models could be completely thrown out and replaced with something different. My personal favorite is the rogue gear.Give it a watch and get yourself some of these juicy alpha leaks!
Bring back the Warlord's Battlegear model
This is absolute bias on my part, and one of the few times I'll cop to preferring Horde over Alliance or favoring them. 99% of the time, I love both equally and play both equally, but I have to state this honestly and let the chips fall where they may: the Horde PvP gear at level 60 (with one exception) looked much better than the Alliance gear, and it deserves a return in some fashion or another.It's true for just about every set, too, but I'll focus on the plate armor because that's what I was going for. I had just gotten my tauren to 60 before Burning Crusade was about to launch, the PvP system changed and honor became a currency instead of a ladder system. As a result, I really only had the time and interest to get the epic 2h sword, as you can see in the picture accompanying my first post here at WoWinsider. I was happy with that sword because it was the first really good weapon I'd ever PvP'd for. Well, the pig on a stick doesn't really count. I just got that to tide me over until I could get the sword. I did love it, though, you kind of had to, it was a big spiky pig head on a stick.
Wowhead to add character models
A couple of months back, we relayed that Wowhead gained 3D models. Now, they're set to become better. We mentioned in the previous post that player models were in the works, and I'm here to bring you an exclusive preview. Users will be able to see items on any race and gender character model, so if you're trying to figure out how those boots look on a female Tauren, you're in luck (although it's a good bet that they'll look odd). Wowhead sister site Thottbot will be receiving this improvement as well.Competitor WOWDB has had the ability to preview items on a character model since they launched a bit over a month ago, tying into their profile system. However, they seem to lack Wowhead's impressive high-quality mode.In fact, the quality of Wowhead's 3D renders will be increased in the upcoming update, especially in the high-quality Java version. See the gallery below for some examples and comparison shots; the image above is also a Wowhead render (not a screenshot). This has got to be the most accurate preview I've seen on any database site. %Gallery-19306%
A shinier WoW
WoW is a fairly good-looking game, especially when compared to some other MMOs, but let's face it: it hasn't had much of a change to its graphics quality since its release in 2004, and you can tell. To give you an idea of how pretty it could be, Youtube user qelss has rendered several models from WoW with more light and some additional filters; you can see one above, and more on his profile page. As MMO-Champion notes, these are fan-made and not previews of anything, but it's still fun to look at the gleaming swords and armor.[via MMO-Champion]
Rolling the same toon
When I'm being completely honest with myself, I'm forced to admit that one of the things holding my alts back is that I get dissatisfied with their appearance. Whether it's the limited number of options you get at the character selection screen, or just an overwhelming and completely inexplicable preference for a single character model, I always find myself thinking at some point in an alt's 20's or 30's that I'd take them back to the drawing board if I could. I deleted a level 30 Night Elf Druid in no small part because she bore an uncanny resemblance to Cher, and I am very uncomfortable both with the idea of playing Cher and Cher being able to kill people with Moonfire spam. I'm pretty close to deleting a level 30 Draenei Mage for the same reason. Well, not because she looks like Cher, but something about her appearance just....bugs me.My main is the only character for whom I've never had that impulse, and I don't know why. Female Tauren don't have particularly interesting animations, jokes, or special attacks. They're less plausible (how on earth do they run like that?), less dramatic, and less impressive-looking in endgame armor than their male counterparts. Maybe it's just their distinctively awkward gait -- you can tell it's them from a mile away -- or just that so few people play a Hordeside female who's not a Blood Elf, but I find them hopelessly endearing.So I keep rolling moo-cows. Or, to be accurate, a particular model. Call me boring, but no toon from my growing herd will ever be mistaken for Cher.
