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'The Emoji Movie' confirms it's the nightmare we all feared
The Emoji Movie has looked like a potential stain on humanity ever since it was first revealed. We're talking about a Pixels-level disaster, totally lacking in charm and humor and blowing what theoretically could have been an amusing premise for an animated movie. And now, after seeing a particularly insipid tweet from its official account, I'm ready to give the film as many middle-finger emoji as I can fit in my response.
Capcom behind 'No Hope Left' viral ads (or widespread graffiti, depending on your perspective)
The "No Hope Left" ad campaign spotted in a variety of locations across Europe has been pinned to Capcom. At least that's according to The Sixth Axis, whose intrepid reporter schlepped down to the Vauxhall station in London after seeing an image pop up on the viral ad campaign's website. He spotted an ad company (Primesight) credited for the faux graffiti and emailed them to confirm who had bought said ad. He was told, "Panel number is 2375 03 Parry Street. The company advertising on it is CAPCOM." This makes a lot of sense, given the "O" in "No" looks like a stylized biohazard symbol (the name of the Resident Evil series in Japan). It would also not be surprising at all for a video-game company to post adverts marauding as graffiti, though we doubt this will draw as much ire as previous attempts. Either way, it looks like we'll find out more tomorrow, as the ads all point to a reveal on January 19, 2012. Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't accidentally coincide with the real zombie apocalypse. Boy would that be a lot of egg on Capcom's face, eh? [Image credit: NoHopeLeft.com]
When two chatbots have a conversation, everyone wins (video)
What did one chatbot say to the other chatbot? Quite a lot, actually -- but good luck making any sense out of it. That's what researchers from Cornell's Creative Machines Lab recently discovered, after pitting two bots against one another for a good ol' fashioned talk-off. It's all part of the lab's submission to this year's Loebner Prize Competition in Artificial Intelligence -- an event that awards $100,000 to the team whose computer programs can conduct the most human-like conversations. Unfortunately for Cornell's squad, their chatbots still have a long way to go before achieving conversational coherence, though they could easily get hired as anchors on most cable news networks. Throughout the course of their frenetic (and often snippy) discussion, one bot raised heady questions about God and existence, while the other boldly claimed to be a unicorn. Basically, they had the exact same conversation we used to have in our dorm rooms every night, at around 4 am. Watch it for yourself after the break. It's nothing short of sublime.
Innpu's 'wired phone' has retractable headphones, intractable sense of self-worth
This is news to us, but apparently there have been "few noteworthy advancements" in smartphone hardware since the iPhone and BlackBerry came out. Out to fix this stale, plateaued industry is Innpu, with its revolutionarily new "wired phone" (it's bad news when even the manufacturer puts the product name in quotation marks, right?). Setting the new high watermark in cellphone engineering, it comes with built-in headphones and mic, which retract automatically when you complete your call. And hey, we've seen earphones like that selling by themselves for $2, maybe $4 a pop -- luxurious stuff. Lest you think Innpu unambitious, the company's also promising to bring this life-saving functionality to the iPad and netbooks, while noting that its sophisticated technology "can hardly be copied." Probably because no one will ever care to try.
The Daily Grind: What still doesn't make sense to you?
We've got a pretty complicated hobby here, even by the frequently vexing standards of general gaming enthusiasts. There are more than a few elements that we have to wrap our heads around in order to play effectively, much less be on the forward edge. So it's kind of inevitable that we each find our own breaking point for where we stop understanding why we need to do some things. The whole series of explanations eventually turns into an endless rant that looks similar to English but just doesn't make sense. You might have read all of the math for the defense cap in City of Heroes or the diminishing returns mechanic in Star Trek Online, but you might not have understood the numbers being flung around. Or perhaps it's something even simpler, like the very concept of the soft cap for Hit in World of Warcraft. Not for lack of trying, your brain just won't process it. So what still doesn't make sense to you despite your best efforts? Is it a small aspect of gameplay or something you urgently feel the need to get right? Has it made a major impact on your playstyle?
PTR Download is up, even though you probably don't realize it
For those looking to get on the 3.0.8 PTR you'll notice that the download links for the client at https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/charcopy/downloads.html point to a 3.0.1 version of WoW. This version is several months old.However once you download the version above, run the installer, and then run the game you'll be presented with the requirement to download another patch. This patch will bring you up to the latest 3.0.8 version of PTR client.To put it another way: the version you get from the official download page will be updated upon installation. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's wrong.This took Alex Ziebart and I a bit to realize, and we wanted to be sure that we shared this with you right away. Enjoy your PTRing!We should note that the server names are a bit odd right now, but Alex is on the 3.0.8 PTR with his character he copied over earlier.Edit: Pukka clears up the situation a bit more for us nicely: "Unless you were in the beta, you will not be able to access any WotLK content (or characters above 70 for that matter). Also, on the copy page, PvE lands you on a Spanish PvP server, and PvP lands you on a US English PvE server."
European PS3 slogan: "This is Living"
Unveiled at the Leipzig Games Convention and seemingly ignored by most, the official PS3 slogan for Europe has Sony proudly declaring, "This is living." Reeking of hyperbole and only tenuously linked to gaming, it's the sort of marketing that fits in quite snugly with an industry asking us to "jump in" (with your credit card details) and assuring us that playing is the equivalent of believing (the praise or the criticism?). Of course, as with the other snappy lines, it's only a matter of time before witty internet personalities pervert Sony's message into something scathing and occasionally amusing. "This is living. So, it's true. The cost of living really has gone up." "This is living ... in abject poverty!" "This is living -- it really does have four dimensions!" "The PS3 is living? Well, at least that's a few steps up from the thinking Dreamcast." "This is living (now attack its weakpoint for massive damage)." Nyuk nyuk. Be sure to make your own as you watch Kikizo's embedded video, marveling at consoles floating in a void and imagining how much more effective "You need this to play Metal Gear Solid 4" would have been.[Thanks Neil!]
