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EVE Online contest asks how CCP could make the game more appealing to female gamers
In co-operation with CCP Games, our friends at CrazyKinux's Musing are running an interesting contest. In the latest edition of CrazyKinux's monthly EVE Blog Banter, he's asking players to write blog posts on ideas to make EVE Online more appealing to female gamers. The best ideas will win EVE store credit, with a total of $200 up for grabs. First place will receive $75 worth of store credit to spend on EVE merchandise and second place wins $50 of credit. The next three runner-up entries will win $25 of credit each, giving everyone a total of five chances to win. Entrants have until Monday April 26th to make their thoughts on the issue known. EVE Online is something of an oddity in the MMO scene, with an almost entirely male playerbase. While some MMOs have a roughly 40% female playerbase and others are closer to 16%, less than 5% of EVE Online players are female. With Incarna set to introduce more avenues for social gaming, now might be a good time to start finding out what barriers prevent girls from signing up to EVE. Whatever the reason for EVE's 95% male-dominated playerbase, CCP seem interested in balancing that figure by drawing in more female gamers. If you have an idea that you think would help, enter it in the EVE Blog Banter for a chance to win some EVE swag.
Square Enix members: claim your rewards now
Have you been registering your Square Enix games like a good, devoted fan? If so, you may have earned a reward, ranging from postcards to an iPod Touch. Depending on your rewards status, you'll be able to access a special survey that will give you access to your prizes. You should hurry if you want to receive your prize, though. The redemption period lasts for little over a week, ending on April 14th. The Square Enix Members site warns that "you will be ineligible to receive the reward" if you miss this deadline, so we'd advise you to check the site now before it's too late. But what if you didn't register your games yet? Unfortunately, while you've missed the window for 2009 prizes, you'll still be able to acquire points for the 2010 period. It took nearly a dozen registered games to reach Ultimate status this year, so there's still a long way to go before you can earn next year's primo prize.
iPhone SMS database hacked in 20 seconds, news at 11
It's a story tailor-made for the fear-mongering subset of news media. This week, a pair of gentlemen lured an unsuspecting virgin iPhone to a malicious website and -- with no other input from the user -- stole the phone's entire database of sent, received and even deleted text messages in under 20 seconds, boasting that they could easily lift personal contacts, emails and your naughty, naughty photos as well. Thankfully for us level-headed souls, those gentlemen were Vincenzo Iozzo and Ralf-Philipp Weinmann, security researchers performing for the 2010 Pwn2Own hacking contest, and their $15,000 first prize ensures that the winning formula will go to Apple (and only Apple) for further study. Last year, smartphones emerged from Pwn2Own unscathed even as their desktop counterparts took a beating, but this makes the third year in a row that Safari's gotten its host machines pwned. That said, there's no need for fear -- just a healthy reminder that the Apple logo doesn't give you free license to click links in those oh-so-tempting "beta-test the new iPad!" emails.
Find creepy cats in Fallen Earth screenshot caption contest
What in the world is a double-cat? Well, Fallen Earth is currently holding a special kind of caption contest where players will find out, shortly followed by the rest of the world. It remains to be seen whether we shriek in horror or laugh in a fit of terror-filled glee. Either way, your caption will probably help a lot. Oh wait, here's a double-cat right now. So, players are to search the sandbox MMO world for this hair-curling (or straightening, for some) double-cat, screenshot it and then put a caption on top of the image. It sounds tough, but we believe in random strangers all the time -- especially when they're our readers. So if you happen across the mythical creature and feel up to the challenge, send your submission in to fecontest AT fallenearth DOT com and perhaps you could win a super special Fallen Earth poster signed by the dev team!
Apple C&Ds Gawker over bounty on tablet info
Yesterday, as you might have heard, the blog Valleywag offered up a total of $100,000 in prize money for information on the rumored Apple tablet. They posted on their site that they were offering bounties for pictures, information, or eventually a full $100,000 for a hands on of the currently unannounced device. As expected, Apple has brought the legal hammer down on Gawker (who runs both Valleywag and Gizmodo), ordering them to cease and desist the bounty hunt for tablet information, and even threatening under California law that it is illegal to (paraphrasing) acquire, use, or disclose Apple trade secrets while knowing that the person who gave them to you was under a confidentiality agreement. Valleywag hasn't updated their original post (and presumably, their lawyers will have confirmed with them that there was some legal course for what they were doing -- they do say to would-be leakers that they shouldn't do anything illegal to get their information), but Apple threatens legal action if any secrets are leaked or published. Very exciting, no? Gizmodo's headline claims that this is confirmation of the tablet's existence, but we're not so sure -- while obviously there have been lots of rumors about the tablet (some of them possibly even leaked from Apple itself), soliciting trade secrets for a payoff is against the law, and we're sure Apple would pursue legal action whether or not there was a tablet device. Just the fact that they sent a C&D hardly means "confirmed." But it will be interesting to see what happens, either if Valleywag doesn't call off the hunt, or if they do find something worth paying for. Most likely, they'll end up hearing about it when we do: at the rumored event later this month.
Holiday giveaways: NBA apps and prize pack
The crowds in the stores and the recuperation from holiday over-indulgence got you down? We've got the prescription: more cowbell holiday giveaways galore! There's several on tap for this weekend, and a couple of them will be App Hub exclusives, so you'll have to check there later today to see what pops up in the freebie cornucopia. The first giveaway du jour is a valuable prize pack for any NBA basketball fan, so fire up those commenting fingers and get ready for gametime. You can enter the giveaway just by leaving a comment with the name of your favorite basketball team. One lucky reader will be going home with these items: Two NBA iPhone apps, the audio game tracker NBA Game Time Mobile [$9.99, iTunes link] and the live streaming video app NBA League Pass [$39.99, iTunes link] to keep you up to speed on all the action through the rest of the 2009-2010 season A NBA-branded gift pack including an Adidas league sweatshirt, handy backpack and other assorted b-ball swag Our thanks to Patrick W. and the NBA for providing today's giveaway prizes. There's more to come! Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post letting us know your favorite basketball team. The comment must be left before Monday, 12/28 at 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Prizes: One copy each of NBA League Pass for iPhone and NBA Game Time for iPhone; NBA branded merchandise pack (total ARV $150.00) Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Let loose The Swag Dogs of war
If the quest for bigger and better loot leaves you craving still more, maybe you need a guild that takes things to the next level: a shot at WoW loot you can wear in real life, too. Enter The Swag Dogs, a brand new guild created by our friends at SwagDog. The Blizzard-approved apparel specialists have created a family-friendly guild where players can make new friends, get in on raiding groups on the ground floor -- oh, and get a shot at free WoW swag and BlizzCon tickets. You'll recognize SwagDog as the folks behind those sweet guild tabard-style T-shirts you've seen on recent posts here at WoW.com, including our recent WoW 5th anniversary T-shirt giveaway. The SwagDog crew are pretty good people. They sponsor our WoW.com Guild of the Month contest, giving out a $100 SwagDog gift certificate to the winning guild every month. When we heard SwagDog was forming an in-game guild, we smelled a marketing rat -- but as it turns out, there's no pressure to buy. Instead, The Swag Dogs have created the guild as a conduit between players and the SwagDog design team, to encourage players to bring their ideas for new products and designs directly to the source. Those who participate actively will gain a shot at special giveaways ... And of course, the pleasure of getting into a friendly, casual guild from the get-go.
wowTwitter is a Twitter just for your characters
I'm not sure how well this will scale, but it's an interesting idea: while it's certainly possible to just create a Twitter account for your World of Warcraft characters (so anyone interested can always see what you're up to), the folks behind a new site called wowTwitter have gone a step further, and recreated Twitter's functionality specifically for Azeroth's virtual denizens. It's very barebones right now, but basically, after you register, you can punch in any of your characters, "verify" them by changing something about them in the Armory (like unequipping the piece of gear on your wrist), and then you can send and receive messages on that character, with special channels created for the guild, your realm, and so on. I thought it used Twitter somehow, but it seems completely separate: they're running their own database and servers, so while the two work the same way (there are "@" replies and hashtags), they don't interact at all.Which means they'll also have all of the problems that Twitter has had -- when only a few people are using your database, it runs fine, but if it starts to scale up at all, then you run into lots of "Fail Whale" downtime. And I'm not sure we need a whole other system just for WoW characters (though this one does have the nice bonus of "claiming" your character so it can't get impersonated). At any rate, they're in beta right now, and actually hosting a cash money prize contest for the most characters verified and tweets posted, so a link from us will probably show them how ready their system is. If it's your thing, go forth and wowTweet!
TUAW Retro Giveaway Part 1: Newtonian artifacts and the web in '96
In the spirit of today's April Fool's/Apple birthday blasts from the past, we've got a giveaway prize pack that will remind us all of days gone by. [Yes, this is an actual giveaway, not a joke. -Ed.]Long before there was the iPhone, there was the little PDA that could: the Newton. While it may have sparked mockery and marketplace neglect in its original release, there are still thousands of loyal Newt users (our own Steve Sande among them) who crave the green glow of the touchscreen and the cold, firm feeling of the stylus in their hands.If you want to join the chorus of Newton owners, here's a unique opportunity: win a mostly-functional (delivered as-is) MessagePad 130 that has been sitting in a box in Mike Rose's office for years now. The left side of the screen is wonky, but other than that it seems to be in working condition. Along with the MP130, you'll get a leather Newton case, a Fodor's 1994 Travel Guide card, a copy of the MessagePad 2000 manual, and a bonus: a copy of the 1996 World Wide Web Yellow Pages. This, friends, is what winning feels like.See abbreviated rules below, and leave us a comment telling us your favorite Newton memory to enter! Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment telling us your favorite Newton memory. The comment must be left before April 5, 11:59PM Eastern Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: One copy of the MessagePad 2000 Manual, one copy of the 1996 World Wide Web Yellow Pages, one Newton MessagePad 130 with leather case & custom stylus (note: screen is not fully functional, prize delivered as-is), one Fodor's 1994 Travel Guide card for Newton (total value estimated at $100 -- no warranty included). Click Here for complete Official Rules.
All Things Azeroth wants your audio
Our good friend Medros over at the All Things Azeroth podcast has posted a contest over on the site asking for some Warcraft-related audio content. He's looking for the best bit of audio drama, podcast promo, or simply audio comments that you can come up with, and he'll choose the best one by December 20th. Not only will he play the winners on the show, but the grand prize gets a Papa Hummel's Old Fashioned Pet Biscuit (handmade by Papa Hummel himself, as I always say), and two second prizes will pick up what is surely a spectacular Wrath poster and bookmark.I love hearing great audio production -- would be awesome to see some really good audio drama come out of this. If you've got an idea, get started on it now: Medros is asking for emailed entries no later than December 20th. Can't wait to hear the results.
Exclusive in-game outfit offered for LotRO players
As if you haven't been overwhelmed with enough prize-giveaway goodness in the last few days from us at Massively, we thought we'd point you in the direction of a new exclusive in-game outfit being offered by MMORPG.com for you Lord of the Rings Online players.This new Hauberk of the Mithril Guard is given away free to all who simply log into their MMORPG.com accounts and click on the button at the bottom of this page. There's no mention of a limited number of keys, but please keep in mind that since this is a Turbine promotion in conjunction with MMORPG.com, it's for American servers only.
WoW TCG hosts World Champs in Paris this weekend
The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game World Championships have started up this weekend in Paris, France -- there's some excellent coverage on the official site about all of the CCG gaming going on over there. They've got everything from a roundup of the swag bag to play-by-play on the featured matches and some good commentary on what kinds of decks players are bringing to the tables. All told, the players are fighting for a prize pool of $250,000 -- some serious cash for playing cards.They're in the middle of Day 2 right now, so there's lots more tournament coverage to come from Paris. If you're a fan of the TCG, this weekend's your chance to check out what some of the top players are up to as they battle for the big prize.
M-25 portable fuel cell takes home $1 million Pentagon prize
Unfortunately for you budding energy stars out there, the Pentagon's latest contest is over, so you've no choice here but to grit your teeth and applaud both DuPont and Germany's Smart Fuel Cell. Out of the 170 teams vying for the $1 million prize, these two managed to impress the most; the winning gizmo was the M-25 portable power system, which is already being sold to the US Army for "limited use in the field." Contestants were tasked with creating a new wearable power solution to juice up energy-hungry military gear (GPS units, night-vision goggles, head-mounted PMPs, etc.) without weighing soldiers down, and the winning device combined "DuPont's direct-methanol fuel cell technology with SFC's fuel cell and battery system." Yeah, we're totally expecting a PSP / DS compatible version of this before the holidays.[Via FuelCellWorks, thanks Adam]
Virtually Free: Mega Man 9
What is this? Could we be doing what you think we're doing? Oh yeah, baby, we totally are. We're giving one lucky Wii Fanboy reader a free copy of Capcom's retro-revival, Mega Man 9 ($10). It's too good of a game to keep to ourselves, so we reached deep down into the Wii Fanboy coffers (it's just a coffee can under our bed, but you get the idea) and sprung for enough points to gift the game out. How do you enter for your chance at the game?To enter, just leave a comment here (with a valid e-mail address!) and tell us what your favorite Mega Man boxart is (hit up the gallery below if you missed this). There's a catch, though. You must be a current and legal resident of the United States with an American Wii (sorry, Canadians, we have to leave you out of this one; blame the gifting system and not us!) and 18 years of age or older. You may enter once per day between now and Sunday, September 28th at 11:59pm ET. The contest comes to a close that night and we'll select a winner via random drawing the next day. Questions? Check out the official rules.%Gallery-32143%
Violently networking as APB comes to Facebook
Social networking and virtual worlds are related technologies; they're both digital spaces where people can form and maintain relationships with one another. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are commonly used to market products and services. MMOs are both products and services, so putting them on Facebook makes sense.Realtime Worlds thinks so, anyway, as it has opened an official APB Facebook page where it can hold contests, and post news and media, and where fans can converse about the game. While pages are often used as half-hearted attempts to keep brands visible, Realtime Worlds is swinging for the fences by making its APB page an integral part of its public relations strategy.WarCry talked to Realtime Worlds community manager Chris "Ulric" Dye about that decision, and he described in detail what the company is trying to do and why it's trying to do it. It's an interesting read, and there are a couple more general game-related questions slipped in. Most of them are artfully dodged, though! Nevertheless, Dye announced a fan art contest. Go to the Facebook page and submit your "best APB-themed graffiti/artwork" to win an as-yet-unannounced prize!
Attention homebrewers! Grab free money here!
Homebrew development has always been a pursuit with few tangible rewards -- personal satisfaction, a love for the hobby, and/or an eventual desire to enter the industry professionally is what drives most to brew home.So three cheers for GBATemp.net, which has announced the creation of a Monthly Homebrew Bounty. This is precisely what it sounds like: a monthly prize pool of cash that will be rewarded to the best new (or "significantly updated") DS homebrew game or application. For the opening month of the contest, the prize pot is currently over $600, including donations from readers (who can donate $10 towards the monthly prize for a right to vote), and sites such as NDSS.nl, Dev-fr.org, and Nentindo. Hey, $600 is better than a kick in the teeth. Quite a bit better, actually!You've still got time to enter for the first month, but we'd advise you hurry -- the deadline is the end of August! Head here to learn more.%Gallery-22811%[Thanks, Archagon!] Wacky Japanese games, emulation, DS Fanboy's recommendations, naughty homebrew: our recent week of homebrew coverage had it all. Don't be put off if you're a beginner, either -- we have guides and a glossary for the newest of newbs.
Watch MLG action on GotFrag
The best of the best will be going head to head next weekend, June 14 and 15 in Major League Gaming's $22,500 tournament. Members of the winning team will each receive a Blackbird gaming PC in addition to a $4,000 cash prize. The arena action will be live in San Diego, but for those of us who can't be in "'s Finest City," the events will be broadcast on GotFrag TV. Broadcast coverage begins at 9AM (Pacific) each day and will be hosted by Rob "voice" Simpson and Jared "vhell" Coulston. This event, inaugurating MLG's PC Circuit, promises to be action packed. Registered participants include: fnatic Frag Dominant Frag Dominant (Duelists going for Glad) MoB TurtleForce MoB TurtlePowerPandemic SK Gaming If you've never viewed any of GotFrags web-based programs, you will need to prepare your computer. Viewing the tournament will require installing GotFrag's Octoshape Plug-in which operates in the Java runtime on a PC. You can also use an external Octoshape player. Mac and Linux users are not excluded from the broadcast. It'll be almost as much fun as watching the Wings win the Stanley Cup.
CGS announces WoW 3v3 Arena Tournament
The Championship Gaming Series is set to kick off its second annual World of Warcraft Arena championship. The top 1,000 Arena teams from North America and Europe will compete June 9 to 22, on an independent ladder with the fierce competition taking place on the CGS tournament realm sanctioned by Blizzard. The two teams remaining at the top in each region will be flown to Los Angeles, California where the final matches will take place on the CGS League set and broadcast live on thecgs website. First place nets a cool $25,000, second place walks away with $12,500, and the last two teams will each net $6,250. This blogger can't stand the Rogue, Mage, Priest comps that kill my more casual random pickup team so I'll be watching from the sidelines. Good luck to all the pro qualifiers and hopefully you weren't banned for win trading before qualifying.
Championship Gaming Series announces Arena Tourney with a $25k prize
The Championship Gaming Series has announced its second World of Warcraft Arena championship, to be held in June and July later this year. It'll be a 3v3 tourney, and CGS is taking its cues from Blizzard -- they've got their own Arena realm to hold it on, and all the options on the official tournament realm will be available on theirs, too.In fact, it sounds like the tournament is actually starting on the live realms themselves -- CGS says that they're going to invite the top 1,000 Arena teams from North America and Europe, so if you're one of those, you can probably expect an email with an invite. The actual tournament takes place in June, with the finals in Los Angeles on July 19th, and the winner netting a $25,000 purse. The second place team gets half of that ($12,500), and the 3rd and 4th place teams will each take home $6,250.Nice work if you can get it. Good luck to everyone out there.
Upper Deck giving $100,000 to winner of WoW TCG World Championship
Upper Deck has announced that their final WoW TCG tournament this year, the World Championship, will offer a whopping $100,000 prize. Yes, you read that right-- the top winner will take home a hundred grand. There's already a long list of people invited to the tournament, mostly from previous Nationals and qualifying tournaments, but there is still one chance left to get into the tournament, which starts on November 29th at the San Diego Convention Center. If you can come up with an Honor Ranking of 4 by then, you could enter the Honor Grind tournament on November 29th, and the top four winners of that will be invited to compete in the World Championships. So if you really want that $100,000 prize, and have never played the TCG in your life, better get playing.But even if you don't plan on winning, the World Championship sounds like a lot of fun-- TCG artists (including Blizzard's Samwise Didier) will be there to sign cards and meet players, and there will be lots of other events and tournaments. The Crafting Redemption metagame will also be happening for the first time-- players will be able to turn in "extra" material cards to "make" special exclusive item cards for the game. And this "Thunderfury" card is an exclusive participation card for the tournament, too. Very nice.And Upper Deck also reminds us that November is release month for the upcoming March of the Legion expansion, and they're going to hold a sneak preview of all the new cards on November 17th at a store near you. Supposedly there's a list of stores hosting the events over on their site, but I don't see it yet, so hopefully it'll be up soon. And keep your eyes open-- we've already been told the new set will have three brand new loot cards, and we've got our ears to the tracks on just what they might be.
