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Times Reader Beta now available
A few days ago I mentioned that the Time Reader Beta would soon be open for Mac users, but I had no idea how soon it would actually appear.Today the New York Times has released the Mac beta of their Times Reader. For those that don't know, the Times Reader is a stand alone app that tries to marry to best aspects of reading the Times on the web with the high quality typography and readability one finds in the physical paper.As many Mac users have bemoaned, the Times Reader is built upon Microsoft's Silverlight technology allowing them to develop the app for both Windows and OS X.While the Times Reader for Mac is in beta it is free, though once it leaves beta it will only be available via subscription. Check out the Frequently Asked Questions for more answers, and our gallery showing screenshots of the install process and of the app itself.%Gallery-23524%
Niko's voice earned about $100,000 from GTA IV
The New York Times has an interesting piece this morning about how actor Michael Hollick earned about $100,000 for playing GTA IV protagonist Niko Bellic. Had the actor done the role for almost any other medium than video games, he would have received very generous residuals and royalties off the title, which made $500 million in its first week. The piece basically explores how all the actors in GTA IV would be rolling in dough had the work not been in video games.Of course, if the actor gets residuals, does the artist who "made" Niko get a cut? Although the actors provided voices, and apparently motion-capture, what about all the other people that worked on the creation of these characters? People aren't buying these games because of the actors, they're getting it because of the title and its associated gameplay. In time, this issue will probably come to a head (especially as the industry grows), but for now it comes off like actors whining while everyone else is getting a similarly bum deal. Maybe it's time the video game writers, artists and developers started complaining too? Union, union, union!
All the World's a Stage: Background story
All the World's a Stage is a source for roleplaying ideas, commentary, and discussions. It is published every Sunday evening.Your character is like an arrow. He was launched from the birthplace of your imagination with the aim of creating spontaneous stories with other creative people. Your character's personality is the particular direction he travels in, and his background story is the bow which set him on his way.The bow-string tension that gives a good backstory its momentum is its lack of resolution. The desire to find resolution propels your character forward into the game, but it doesn't predict with certainty where your he or she will end up. Realizing this can free you of a great burden: your story doesn't have to make the New York Times Bestseller List. In fact, the whole idea here is to purposely leave your backstory unfinished, ready to be resolved through roleplaying. Too much emphasis on a dramatic background leaves you with not enough room for an interesting foreground, and little else to contribute other than the saga of your epic past. Obviously, people aren't logging into WoW to read your miniature novel. They generally won't want to hear your backstory unless they specifically ask you about it (which they might!), but even then they'll care less for its narrative value and more for its ultimate impact on your character as a person. It's best to think of it less as a story in itself (e.g. "How I got to be this way"), and more as a prologue to the story you want to roleplay (e.g. "How do I get out of this mess?"). Its purpose is to set up challenges for your character to overcome with other people, and it should establish a direct line to your character's desires and aspirations.
Masters HDTV broadcast sets records on ESPN, stumbles on CBS?
We've been getting in our fair share of greens watching the last few days, with the 2008 Masters Tournament spread our over four days on two networks, it might be one of the best sports events in HD. TVBytheNumbers called it a reason to get high definition (like we need a reason), before suffering through some SD-only hiccups yesterday -- a check of AVS Forum's thread reveals there may have been breakdown in some areas, but it looks great now. The New York Times keeps it old school, insisting the Augusta National can only be truly appreciated in real life, but with the most viewers of a golf telecast on cable ever, we're sure quite a few you took a look on ESPN-HD.Read - TVbytheNumbersRead - New York TimesRead - AVS ForumRead - Multichannel News
Philips handing over North American TV operations to Funai
We've had a feeling Philips wasn't really in love with the TV market lately, and now word comes from the New York Times that it will no longer manufacture displays for North America. The name -- and apparently the high concept Ambilight designs -- will still be on shelves, courtesy of a five year deal branding Funai-built televisions (already the name behind Emerson, Sylania, Symphonic and others.) Seeking -- like every other manufacturer lately -- to reduce risk and focus on its patents Philips will still design and manufacture TVs outside N.A., as well as oversee U.S. marketing, while Funai takes over all other operations Stateside beginning September 1.Update: Philips let us know Ambilight remains dead and buried, but its 2008 models will continue as planned.
NY Times oopsies over Nintendo's Holocaust game remark
In a recent article about Imagination is the Only Escape, an under-development edutainment title about the Holocaust, the New York Times' headline writer apparently didn't read the story before slapping at the top: No Game About Nazis for Nintendo.Turns out the actual quote from Nintendo was something far more inert: "At this time, there are no plans for this game to be released for any Nintendo platforms in North America." Which in industry speak simply means "wait and see."GI.biz's follow up with Imagination's publisher, Alten8, reveals the game is in its "early stages" and wasn't blocked by Nintendo. A spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League even said the group welcomed the use of new technology to educate. Although this isn't our favorite NYT error about gaming in recent memory, not channeling FOX News when writing headlines is always a good start.[Via GamePolitics]Read -- NY Times: No game about Nazis for NintendoRead -- Alten8 disputes reports of Nintendo blocking DS release
Video game industry seeks political clout
The strange relationship between the video game industry and politics just got more complicated. Mike Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, spoke with the New York Times today about his intentions to start a political action committee (PAC) for making campaign contributions. The PAC -- which represents major publishers like Disney, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony -- was approved by the board last fall and will reportedly be ready to go in March.Gallagher estimated the PAC would donate $50,000 to $100,000 to national candidates this year, a number which he labels as small, but a good start. He also talked about combining contribution efforts with the ESA initiative Video Game Voters Network. "If I can walk into the office of a member of Congress and tell them we have 20,000 voters in their state who are already signed up to write letters and act based on game-related issues that concern them, that's powerful," he said. You know what also helps? Money; good thing that's covered too. We're interested in seeing how game rhetoric on Capitol Hill changes, if at all, following the PAC initiative.[Via Game Politics]
Apple stock help drive mutual fund returns
I'm not Wall Street wunderkind but it doesn't take Warren Buffet to know that Apple's stock has been performing well. It would seem that, at least according to the New York Times, Apple's performance coupled with Google and RIM has lead to many mutual funds seeing extraordinary growth this year. Many funds are glad they didn't sell all their Apple stock when it seems that it just couldn't go any higher (how high can it go? I have no idea, but since I don't own any Apple stock it really matters little to me).
NYTimes names Mass Effect game of the year
A little lesbianism goes a long way as the New York Times names Mass Effect its game of the year for 2007. The NYT bestowed Mass Effect with the honor for its "focus on character development, personal growth and moral tension, all fueled by a graphics system created to evoke emotional empathy." Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was honored for being the shining star on the PS3 and BioShock was named the "best newcomer." There's also digs at Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy for being "unambitious representations of the state of the art."Speaking of unambitious, for the second time in less than a month the New York Times copyeditors took a nap (albeit a minor one) on a video game-related story, which is slowly becoming inappropriate in covering an $18 billion-plus industry. There's no telling when reporter Seth Schiesel submitted his copy for this piece, but E3 2008 was already confirmed for the Los Angeles Convention Center last Tuesday, so the article's suggestion that "the solution for [E3] next year can be summed up in one word (or is that two?): Las Vegas" is just about 1,000 New York minutes behind the times.
Forbes guesses wildly at Macworld
Forbes is playing it safe with the Macworld predictions this year. Everything you've ever heard rumored about Apple in the last five years? Yeah, it's all here in their Macworld speculation guide. From the sub-notebook, to the iTablet, all the way to the Beatles, an Apple car, and even the old Apple gaming device, they cover pretty much all the bases.In a way, it's good, because at least it means that Forbes has exactly no idea what's coming at the big event. Don't get me wrong-- I'm sure we'll still see it leaked a few days ahead of time by the Washington Post or the New York Times. But at least now, before the holidays, they're as clueless as everybody else.So what is coming to Macworld? At this point, I would be surprised not to see the sub-notebook, and as we said in last week's Talkcast, it would be nice to see an update to the mini and/or the Apple TV. But let's face it: we won't know what Steve is going to talk about until he actually stands on stage and talks about it.
NYTimes: PS3 is $299, GT5 'best seller,' and Xbox uses Cell chip
Talk about all the news that's fit to copyedit. The New York Times has a hat-trick of errors in a recent technology piece discussing video game options. They manage to make it through the Wii spot on -- but then the real fun comes. First the Old Gray Lady says Gran Turismo 5 is "a hyper-realistic, high-speed journey, [and] is one of the best sellers for [the] Sony console." One little problem, the game isn't out yet. Next up they say the PlayStation 3 is $299, which would be awesome and perhaps the Times has some incredibly privileged info about Sony's holiday strategy, but we're pretty sure the system is going to be starting at $399 for a while. Oh, but they're not done yet. Did you realize the PS3 and Xbox 360 are both powered by the Cell processor? This is being reported by the venerable New York-freakin'-Times, so it must be true, right?[Thanks, Murph]
The New York Times finds EVE Online intriguing
The New York Times published an article on EVE Online this morning. NYT writer Seth Schiesel focused on EVE's growth and emphasis on player freedom.Hilmar Petursson (CCP's CEO) told Schiesel in a phone interview that there are "basically two schools of thought for operating an online community. There is the theme-park approach and the sandbox approach. Most games are like Disneyland, for instance, which is a carefully constructed experience where you stand in line to be entertained." He said that CCP takes the sandbox approach, creating a world where players are free to define their own experiences.The article also describes the current political climate in EVE Online's worth, including the Band of Brothers blueprints scandal and other things. If you're already an EVE player, you won't find anything new in the article, but if you're not, it's bound to be an eyebrow-raising read.
Halo: Contact Harvest lands #3 on NY Times list
See, mom? Video games do encourage reading. The novel Halo: Contact Harvest, which was released October 30, has this week landed on The New York Times' Best Sellers list for Paperback Trade Fiction, just behind Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera and Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants. Contact Harvest was written by Bungie's Joseph Staten and tells of the human race's first encounter with the Covenant. Next week's bestseller list has already been tabulated it seems, as the Paperback Trade Fiction list for November 25 places Contact Harvest in the number four slot, swapping places with Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
NYT on unlocking phones
Here's a quick link over to today's New York Times article on phone unlocking, which raises a couple of interesting (not to say off-base) points. First, Nokia claims that the current "Open to Anything" ad campaign is not directly aimed at the iPhone... right.Second, writer Cyrus Farivar characterizes the 1.11 bricking situation thusly:Apple has tried to thwart the practice [of unlocking] by updating the operating system software, which rendered any updated and unlocked phone useless. But rogue programmers were quickly back at it, and they say they have created software that makes it possible to break the newly updated software lock on the iPhone...This has been discussed in various venues, but in my humble opinion the 1.11 update was in all likelihood not a deliberate attempt to disable phones; rather, the brickage was an unfortunate side effect. Farivar's phrasing implies an intent on Apple's part to "render phones useless" that may not have been there.
New York Times does 'Manhunt 2 for Dummies' recap
Need to explain to grandma why this whole Manhunt 2 kerfuffle is ridiculous? Then go pick up (or send her the link if she's all modern) to today's New York Times article which gives a simple version of the Manhunt 2 saga for mass consumption. If you've been keeping up with all the Manhunt 2 coverage then you pretty much already know everything the New York Times article has to say. Wait, you haven't been keeping up with the controversy ... seriously? OK, ok, we'll make an even simpler version of the NYT piece. Here we go: Although violence in games is focused on more, movie and television violence is worse. Child sodomy is fine in movies, testicles being ripped off with pliers is bad for video games. Manhunt 2 still retains 99% of its AO content -- a pesky 1% change makes it M. The controversy showed the ESRB has teeth and also helped market a game that probably would not have gotten attention otherwise. NYT basically says the game "will probably prove as luridly, fleetingly diverting as any slasher flick." Fin.
Jobs: Mac has 'momentum,' nearly-annual OS updates will continue
As of Friday, Apple will have released five major updates to Mac OS X since its introduction in 2001 (unless you want to count the public beta. Nit-pickers). In Monday's interview with The New York Times, Steve Jobs said this pace will continue:"'I'm quite pleased with the pace of new operating systems every 12 to 18 months for the foreseeable future,' he said. 'We've put out major releases on the average of one a year, and it's given us the ability to polish and polish and improve and improve.'"That's a lot of innovation in a short amount of time. Considering the changes between 10.0 and 10.5, can you even imagine what 10.9 will look like? Steve also says that the Mac platform appears to have gained momentum with buyers, which should come as no surprise to our readers. Is the Mac reaching a tipping point with switchers and new customers? Maybe the upcoming earnings report will offer some clues.
NYT on iPods for language learning
The school district in Union City, NJ doesn't have the resources of more affluent suburban districts, according to an article in Monday's NYT (free registration req.). What it does have is a large population of students who speak Spanish at home and who need a new approach to bilingual education. The solution? iPod to the rescue. Kids in ESL classes get pop songs and lyrics (in English) on the iPods to kick-start the language learning process. The program has been so successful that parents are requesting the iPod-enabled classes and more iPods are on the budget for next year; meanwhile, the kids in the iPod language classes are described as "Pod People" by fellow students.Interestingly, the school has an extremely strict ban on student-owned iPods on the premises, confiscating several each week (to prevent distraction and cheating). Clearly the iPods wield a double-edged set of white headphones. Got your own iPods in education story? Let us know below.
NY Times combines Halo 3 and RROD in volatile mix
As the Xbox 360 gets ready to fulfill the purpose of its existence as a Halo delivery device to the masses, the New York Times takes the two most prominent things about the Xbox 360 and mixes it into one brew: Halo 3 and the Red Ring of Death. The NYT essentially gets a bunch of fanboys to talk about how the system fails on them, but all will be fine if they just get Halo 3. Speaking of fanboys, did we mention Richard Mitchell at sister-site Xbox 360 Fanboy (X3F) is chronicling his repair experience following his visit by the RROD? Like we said before, we're not going to tell you about every RROD we have within a degree of separation from us because we'd be writing one every couple weeks -- but anecodtally, the number has gone up quickly recently. Despite the wait in the turnaround, at least the repairs are free now.The NYT piece basically gives a mainstream audience the condensed version of the last few months. They still couldn't get an answer from Microsoft to what's actually wrong with the system. One of the more interesting parts of the piece is they speak with Richard Doherty, an analyst for Envisionneering Group, a technology assessment and market research firm who says consumers (not fanboys) are getting frustrated with the system's reliability and their waning patience and stories is turning off potential Xbox 360 buyers. He also says the situation "is going to get worse before it gets better."
NYT covers WSVG's CBS broadcast tomorrow
The New York Times does a quick profile of the WSVG on the eve of their CBS broadcast tomorrow afternoon. I don't know if you guys knew this, but apparently gaming has been an "odd, insular subculture," and only now are gamers stepping outside into the harsh sunlight, rays blinding their sunken-in eyes as they blink at the real world around them.Idiotic gamer stereotypes aside, the article does mention a few interesting things about how the network and the WSVG have worked together to make complicated games more accessible to an audience that may not understand them. We heard a few of the ideas, including the health bars and the "Iceblock" graphic, yesterday in our exclusive interview with WSVG President Matt Ringel (that's right, the Gray Lady is picking up WoW Insider's news scraps), but there is mention of a Guitar Hero mechanic that I hadn't heard-- at tournaments, instead of just the scoreboard, there's also a "showmanship judge" that can give points for an enthusiastic performance.Are you planning on watching the show tomorrow? I am, but not necessarily because I expect it to be amazing. Just like I sat through the terrible comic book movie of Spawn all those years ago just so we could have a great comic book movie like Batman Begins, I'm going to give them my eyeballs tomorrow so we can hopefully have some great spectator eSports in the future.
NYT reports on first announced iPhone vulnerability
Happy Monday, everyone; are you done reading Potter yet? Here's a somewhat less magical story for you. Today's New York Times includes an article with the utterly un-sensational headline "IPhone Flaw Lets Hackers Take Over, Security Firm Says" (yes, Times-style requires that even the 'i' in iPhone be capitalized in a headline), discussing the discovery of a buffer overflow exploit in Mobile Safari. The exploit, which can be triggered by browsing to a malicious page in Safari from the phone, claims to allow the execution of arbitrary code, and could expose personal information to an attacker. The exploit is not in the wild and has been reported to Apple; full details are at the Independent Security Evaluators site.Is this a very bad thing? Not necessarily; it's not a zero-day vulnerability, the research team is communicating with Apple, and there is no released exploit code out there in the big bad Internet that can currently zombify your iPhone. Unlike many smartphones, which may not have a frequent firmware update mechanism, the iPhone is syncing to iTunes constantly and can be updated at any point, so one would hope this gets patched rapidly. If you use some basic precautions (don't click mystery links, don' t use unfamiliar wireless access) you should be covered if something like this ever sees general distribution.Is this, on the other hand, an top-notch opportunity for some iPhone and Mac OS X security FUD from the Grey Lady? You betcha. Let's take a look at some of the assertions in the article, and compare them with both the claims of the vulnerability discoverers and the reality on the ground.
