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Shooter classic 'Descent' gets a second crowdfunded revival
Apparently, there are a lot of gamers (and game developers) who are still fond of Descent's mind-breaking, 6-degrees-of-freedom shooting action. Just months after the success of Descent: Underground, the aptly-named Revival Productions is crowdfunding its own take on the formula, Overload. It doesn't have the same name as the zero-G combat classic, but there's arguably a stronger pedigree -- co-founders Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog were instrumental to making the earliest Descent games, and other higher-ups built Descent 3. They remember the mechanics and level design that made the original a cult hit, and they're hoping to preserve that vibe while introducing modern technology.
The Daily Grind: What games go overboard with effects?
It's not that I don't love City of Heroes, don't get me wrong. And it's not that I don't love the flashy and unique animations that every powerset gets to show off. But when you get in a full group of people exploding with various powers, the whole screen turns into a sustained burst of white light grouped around a red box that's probably your target. It's kind of overkill at best, and it makes it near impossible to see what's going on at worst. Maybe you don't mind the effects in the game. Maybe you find Final Fantasy XIV's dramatic spotlight for weaponskills or the constant beams crossing in Star Trek Online more obnoxious. Whatever the context, there are doubtlessly games in which you feel there's a bit too much going on in the midst of a battle. So what game do you feel goes overboard with effects when you want something just a bit more straightforward? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
QIK admits Evo 4G launch problems after 20x increase on server load
While record sales are generally a desirable thing, that one-time spike in demand can leave service providers scrambling to cope on launch day. Evo 4G owners are well aware of this after noticing one of the handset's flagship features -- Qik video calling -- was unavailable in the Android Market on Friday. After correcting the issue, Qik then had to pull the app after users experienced intermittent service failures resulting from what Qik calls "an unprecedented 20x" workload increase on its servers. The Qik team is scrambling to provision more capacity and expects to have things under control "shortly."
Inauguration Day overloads cellular networks, but not tremendously so
We can't see how this is shocking to anyone who has tried to make or receive a phone call on New Year's Eve (right around midnight, in particular), but cellular networks in the Metro DC area were pretty much bombarded yesterday. The inauguration of America's 44th president brought most networks to their knees, though most carriers reported that interruptions were relatively minimal. AT&T made sure to bump its 3G capacity by 80 percent and its 2G capacity by 69 percent along the parade route, and while a spokesperson did admit that it experienced "some congestion" during the events, customers were generally able to get through. In all honesty, we expected reports to be much more negative than this given the incredible amount of people shoved into one place, so we suppose a round of golf claps is in order for the carriers responsible for anticipating the surge.[Image courtesy of Zimbio]
Where to begin? (Poll)
Do you remember the night that Burning Crusade came out? I waited in the cold outside Game Stop with about 30 other people. We boasted about our accomplishments and I nearly came to blows with a decidedly orcish young woman who played a Gnome Warrior (with pink pig tails). I rushed home to install the expansion and couldn't wait to get in. First, I ran my character into Orgrimar to get the PvP version of the Hawkstrider. I was disappointed that it didn't exist so I bought a Skeletal Warhorse and trotted on to the Dark Portal. There was a raging PvP battle in Blasted Lands. The ground was covered in skeletons. I ran the gauntlet as quickly as I could, grabbed the quest and zoned in. Through the portal I found the worst monster I've ever encountered in WoW: lag. With everyone starting in Hellfire Peninsula it was like my character was swimming to sand. While there was an uneasy, unspoken truce between the factions quest mobs were hard to come by. It was reminded of Black Friday at Fry's. I still stayed up until seven the next morning.
Estonia networks slammed by possible Russian cyber attacks
We certainly hope you dig the flavor of Russia and Estonia blended together in the morning, as your News Brews is probably cranking the mixture out en masse after reports that Russia has been waging a "cyber war" on Estonia for the past few weeks. Reportedly, Estonia's well-regarded networks have been "under heavy attack," saying that Russians are behind the mass outages of its state and commercial websites. Currently, Nato and EU officials are attempting to track down the culprits, and while Moscow has reportedly "denied any involvement in the internet attacks on its neighbor," relations between the two haven't exactly been rosy of late. Don't fret Estonia, if things get too bad, there's always Sealand.[Via Guardian]
EU's intelligent cameras could nix the infamous 'bag drop'
One of the oldest and most successful tricks in the book could be finally meeting its match, as the infamous "bag drop" seen in countless silver screen suspense flicks is now the focal point of the European Union's latest investment in intelligent cameras. The EU has partnered with ten other companies and research institutes to fund the $3.11 million ISCAPS (Integrated Surveillance of Crowded Areas for Public Security) project, which does a fair job in and of itself explaining the duties. While the Brits are wading through gobs of surveillance issues in their own land, this attempt to utilize smart camera systems to pick up "abandoned bags, erratic movements, loitering, or suspicious vehicle movements" could cause quite a bit of fuss right next door. The crew has purportedly done extensive interviewing with security experts to program in what could be classified as dodgy behavior in a bustling locale, but the ultimate decision to approach someone of their motives would still be left up to a human (at least for the time being). Looks like your plans to pull off a Thomas Crown Affair of your own just got spoiled, eh?
