Reboot
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Report: King of Kong director bringing back WarGames
Guys, we're just gonna be honest -- we kinda really love the MGM hacking classic, WarGames. Alongside Sneakers, it's right up there at the top of our list of best films about computers. And apparently it's getting a reboot from King of Kong director Seth Gordon. Gordon took a break from documentaries since his 2010 adaptation of NYT bestseller Freakonomics, most recently directing a handful of NBC sitcoms (The Office, Community) and a feature film, Horrible Bosses. He's currently working on two other films, and his IMDB page has yet to even note the supposed reboot in his list of work. Deadline claims to have gotten exclusive news about said reboot, though unfortunately few details are provided beyond the director and production studio. Lacking details aside, we're taking a wild guess that there'll be at least one joke referencing thermonuclear war.
HTC Thunderbolt issues abound, but a fix is on the way
As if the one-call-wonder's battery life wasn't enough, the update pushed out to HTC Thunderbolt owners a couple weeks back has some devices randomly rebooting. Verizon and HTC have said they're working on the issue, but that's of little comfort to customers whose phones are spontaneously restarting several times a day. If you were hoping to solve the issue by installing the leaked version of Gingerbread, we've got bad news -- there have been a number of reports at the XDA Developers Forums that the Sensed-up version of Android 2.3 is bricking phones and sending them into an endless bootloop. But don't despair, a fix could be arriving soon. A source at Verizon told Droid Life that Thunderbolt-owning employees "may be entitled" to a software update before it gets rolled out to the general public -- presumably a final test run for that reboot repressing patch. If you're too impatient to wait for yet another firmware update, you can apparently stroll down to your local VZW store and simply trade in your troublesome T-Bolt for a new one. Just make sure it's running the older software before you take it home.
LG prepares to update Optimus 2X, banishes unexpected reboots to Never Never Land
LG is delivering good news for those affected by random reboots and shutdowns on the Optimus 2X. Today, the company reached out to Engadget and acknowledged the plight of its early adopters. Even better, the manufacturer wants everyone to know it will begin delivering updates in Europe this week, and expects North America to be close behind. In most situations, users will receive the firmware update over-the-air, but this will depend on your carrier and region. After all the hoopla, LG determined these troubles occur when the device is charging, the power button is pressed, or the phone is in standby -- which basically means whenever you reach for it. Let's hope this update filters down to G2x handsets as well. It would seem rather unkind to leave them in the cold, don't you think?
Dell Venue Pro getting a tune-up on May 18th? A chatty support rep thinks so, anyway.
Dell's Venue Pro recently arrived at AT&T for $99 with a two-year commitment, and while this troubled QWERTY slider has already embraced NoDo, a new OS simply wasn't enough to patch these cracks -- random crashes and WiFi woes continue to haunt users on a daily basis. Recently, a member of xda-developers shared their experience with Dell support, proclaiming the company is targeting May 18th for this much-needed firmware update. While follow-up communication with Round Rock have proven less fruitful (perhaps suggesting a rogue tech support agent), it has confirmed the update is a high priority and will be delivered following a successful rollout of the 7392 security update from Microsoft. Sure, you could just take the plunge and hope Dell's new firmware brings the cure, but given its track record here, you're probably wise to do a background check before hiring this as your next assistant. [Thanks, Dennis and Rob]
Acer changes its logo, hopes to start afresh
Over in Acer HQ, it's out with the old and in with the new. Having bid ciao to former CEO Gianfranco Lanci, the Taiwanese company is now slapping a fresh coat of paint and a softer typeface upon its corporate identity. The new Acer green is lighter and brighter and the more rounded new shape looks a lot safer for kids to play around with, should the occasion ever arise. We doubt this will make a big difference in the company's push to be "more like Apple," but hey, at least we now have a visual marker to distinguish the products that came before this shift in strategy from those that come after.
Just Add Water reveals screenshot of abandoned Paradroid remake
The Oddworld franchise isn't the only series developer Just Add Water had its sights on for a reboot -- the company recently tweeted a concept image of an abandoned remake of the Commodore 64 classic Paradroid. (That's Spanish for "for Droid," you know.)
King's Quest reboot coming courtesy of Telltale
Telltale has plans to take us back to the kingdom of Daventry, confirming its King's Quest reboot is currently underway. "We have agreed to a multi-title, multiplatform deal to reboot the King's Quest franchise," Telltale SVP of marketing, Steve Allison, announced during a press event last night. "Much like we did with Tales of Monkey Island, we're rebooting King's Quest with all new episodic games and multiple series." He provided no details beyond that, but promised more would be revealed at E3 this June. King's Quest is one of the most influential and highly-lauded adventure series of all time, spanning eight canonical games (and a trivia game) throughout the '80s and '90s. The series is the brainchild of Roberta Williams, co-founder and former co-owner of Sierra Entertainment. Currently, the rights to the franchise are owned by Activision.
Champions Online gains profits and players as a free-to-play [Updated]
Since Champions Online's relaunch as a free-to-play title a little less than a month ago, any player who has logged into the game has undoubtedly noticed the sheer number of folks running around Millennium City and environs. There are spandex-clad super-people everywhere you look, and groups are significantly easier to get. These are all good things for MMO players! Today we're also treated to the first official word on the success of the relaunch from Cryptic Studios and Atari, which both declare that the move to free-to-play has been -- as we suspected -- a huge success. To celebrate, they're offering all players, both subscribed and free-to-play, a thank-you gift for helping to make the game's reboot so great! The present offered is a free experience-boosting item that can be picked up from the Champions Online C-Store for at least the next little while. While the companies have not released any specific subscriber or traffic numbers, they have noted that unique logins, concurrent users, and revenue totals have increased by "over 1,000 percent" since Champions Online went free-to-play. As John Needham, CEO of Cryptic Studios, stated in the release: "We're extremely proud of what the Champions team has accomplished with the Free for All launch. It's a pleasure to thank our fans and welcome new ones with this gift." As for how long the gift will be around and whether it is one per account or one per character is currently anyone's guess as the item does not appear to be in the C-Store as of this writing. The gift appears to be a one-hour, 20% experience boost that you can acquire once per account. They also appear to be tradable! [Update: We've updated this post as the gift is now available in the C-Store, and we've also added the most recent trailer behind the cut. Enjoy! And guys... remember to keep the comments clean and on track with our CoC!]
Nexus S reboot bug could be fixed within 'one to two weeks,' sez Google
Some percentage of Nexus S units in the field are afflicted with random reboots; there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when it happens, how often it happens, or what causes it -- but needless to say, a phone that could restart itself at any moment is not the best situation. After a few weeks of angry threads in the official Nexus S support forums, Google employee Ry Guy has chimed in with this encouraging tidbit: "The initial results of our tests look very promising. At this rate we will most likely be rolling out an OTA to resolve this issue within one to two weeks. We really appreciate your patience as we do our final verifications on this fix before sending it out." So that's a good thing -- and in the meantime, we just hope you enjoy occasionally seeing the awesome Nexus boot animation by surprise.
Mythos inches closer to closed beta
It's been a few months since we've heard a peep about Mythos, and even longer since we've heard any type of news about a potential beta or release date. Many of us who played it during Flagship's original beta have been patiently waiting for some kind of sign as to when we could get back to all the dungeon-running goodness we'd enjoyed. Well, word is out that beta signups are now live for the EU version of the game, and players can expect things to get rolling soon. For those who have never seen the game before, or perhaps would like a refresher, we've tucked a short teaser trailer behind the break for you to check out. With the ability to switch between ground-level and isometric views, Mythos was a game with great potential that was gone too soon. So if you ever liked Diablo or other isometric fantasy hack-and-slashers, be sure to head over to the Mythos site and get signed up for closed beta!
Tomb Raider details emerge, features open world and brutal deaths
Survival is the name of the game for Lara Croft's next virtual excursion -- well, the name of the game is actually Tomb Raider, but, you know -- and a few details from the January issue of Game Informer (which already found its way onto the info-hungry internets) have revealed exactly how said survival story will unfold. As hinted by yesterday's startling cover reveal, the game will not only be a reboot of the franchise, but a reboot of the Tomb Raider brand. Rather than being a heavily scripted third-person action game, the new title will allow for open-world exploration, giving a fresh-faced, 21-year-old Lara new areas to traverse as she upgrades her own exploratory abilities and finds (or crafts) new equipment and survival tools. Crystal Dynamics didn't give any specifics on these tools, but we're pretty sure Knife plus Stick is going to equal a thing with which you can kill things. As one might expect, the game's survivalist objective sets a grim tone -- Lara will have to forage for food and water to stay alive. She'll also have to avoid the traps and violent inhabitants strewn across the game's island setting, which, according to the article, are capable of dispatching Lara in extremely brutal ways. Like, ways that make the Tomb Raider 2 "Blow Lara Up" code seem like a minor papercut. Keep an eye out for the January issue of Game Informer for even more details about this interesting adventure.
Myspace gets a reboot, Billo's profile still hopelessly under-designed (video)
That's right, it's spelled Myspace now (no longer with the capital "s"). And if you want to do the logo any justice, you have to take the "space" literally, so it comes out something like: my[____]. Get it? We don't, but that isn't stopping the News Corp-owned social networking site and haunt for all things tweenaged and tweemo (as well as the world's foremost Blingee! repository) from re-launching with a new design, a new homepage, and a new focus as an entertainment portal. Makes sense to us, although we really just wish they'd get around to production on that Myspace Media Player already. Get a preview for yourself after the break.
Earth Eternal showing signs of life
We'd heard about Sparkplay Media's issues with raising further funding to continue its independent anthropomorphic MMO, Earth Eternal. When the game and overall site dropped offline a few weeks ago without any further official statement, we figured that time had run out, and it was simply the sunsetting of another MMO. That's why we were surprised to see both the Earth Eternal Facebook and Twitter accounts light back up, if only to let us know someone's still there -- and that there's still hope. The message on Facebook notes, "...our ISP pulled the plug for non-payment, which was expected. I wasn't able to give you any warning, unfortunately, because I was at Burning Man and completely out of reach for the week that it went down. Full backups of all the data exist and the company that is in the process of buying Earth Eternal will be starting it back up again in the nearish future." As to what company is seeking to purchase the game and how fast this process will be moving, we have no idea. However, we're certain that this nugget of reboot hope is welcome news to those who were enjoying this kitschy, yet fun, title. With any luck we'll be hearing something from a representative of Sparkplay before too long.
Ragnarok Online II scrapped, new Ragnarok Online II takes its place
It's always a difficult decision to take a game that you've put a ton of work into already and scrap it. Sometimes, no matter what developers dream up, it just turns out to be nowhere nearly as fun as originally intended. While we don't know the specifics on what precisely made Gravity Interactive change directions on Ragnarok Online II, news has come down the wire that they have nonetheless decided to heavily alter the direction they were headed in and instead deliver a true sequel to Ragnarok Online. The new version of Ragnarok Online II, now subtitled "Legend of the Second" will offer players familiar systems from the first game, only this time in an updated, immersive 3D world. Gone are the chibi graphics of the initial design in favor of more mature-looking characters. Gone too is the character-based weapon leveling system, the new leveling system, and unfamiliar races. Back in the mix are all the things that players enjoyed about the original Ragnarok Online: pets, cards, familiar classes, and more. This new version will launch into closed beta in Asia on August 31, 2010, with no specific date for the Western crossover at this time. Still, it warms our hearts when a gaming company is willing to make the hard choice and change direction -- making a game enjoyable, rather than sticking to the original plan and sacrificing fun. [Via iRo Wiki forums] [Thanks Coldbrand!]
Medal of Honor rebooting on Oct. 12, 2010
EA's Medal of Honor franchise reboot will launch in North America on October 12th and in Europe on October 15th, the publisher has announced. Developed by EA Los Angeles, the single-player campaign thrusts a band of fictional soldiers into Afghanistan (quite a realistic upgrade from the usual Desertikistan), where they'll co-operate with the Tier 1 Operator as they tear the enemy a new one. The multiplayer component of Medal of Honor is being developed by DICE, the studio behind Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Check back later today to catch another glimpse of the game in a new trailer entitled, "Leave a Message." (Duty just hates talking to a machine.) Update: If you have an EA account, you can already view the new trailer on the official Medal of Honor website. If you don't, it's also on YouTube.
HTC Incredible suffering random reboots for Tar Heel fans and Duke devotees?
Well now this is a bit of an odd story, but we've seen enough reports to think that it is fully legit. HTC Incredible owners in and around the great state of North Carolina, particularly those in north-central portion (the Triad) are reporting that their phones are rebooting all on their own with alarming regularity. Many have tried new phones, combinations of wireless settings, and other remediations only to find the problem still occurring just as frequently as before. Verizon Wireless is said to be aware of the issue and there has been talk that tower-switching in areas of low signal is to blame, but at this point it certainly sounds like anyone's guess. Have you been affected? Drop us a note in comments -- but try to keep the intra-college banter clean, yeah? Update: We're being told there are far more Duke and Tar Heel fans per capita in the Triangle area of NC than in the Triad, which is where this issue seems to be centered, meaning it's really the Demon Deacons who should be concerned. [Thanks, Ben]
Windows XP patch fiasco gets even crazier, Microsoft now scrambling for solutions
If you ever needed a reason to go Linux, here you go. The noise surrounding this patently obscure Windows XP bug / patch fiasco has just reached a fever pitch, and now we've got engineers within Redmond scratching their heads, too. As the story goes, Microsoft recently patched a security hole that took care of an antediluvian DOS vulnerability, and in doing so, some users began to see BSODs and endless reboots. Today, we've learned that the patch has been yanked, and Microsoft is suggesting that malware is to blame. But here's the skinny -- the patch simply disturbed the malware, which called a specific kernel code that directs your PC to keel over; in other words, any application that calls that same code could theoretically leave your machine in dire straits. And that, friends, probably explains the software giant's following quote: "In our continuing investigation in to the restart issues related to MS10-015 that a limited number of customers are experiencing, we have determined that malware on the system can cause the behavior. We are not yet ruling out other potential causes at this time and are still investigating." Rock, meet hard place.
Large Hadron Collider reboots, makes first protonic bang!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that most epic triumph of human engineering and physics research has finally taken place, and strangely enough our planet's still in one piece too. The search for the Higgs boson particle resumed yesterday, somewhere under the Franco-Swiss border, with the CERN research team successfully executing what the LHC was built to do -- accelerating proton beams to nearly the speed of light, then filming the wreckage as they crash into each other. Having encountered a number of bumps in the road, the researchers have had to significantly scale down the energy at which their early collisions will take place, with the very first ones said to have happened at 900 billion electron volts. Still, plans are afoot for an imminent shift up to 1.2 trillion electron volts (TeV), which would be the highest energy level any particle accelerator has achieved yet, before a ramp up to 7 TeV over the coming year if all goes well.
Square reboot Thexder NEO revealed by ESRB listing
Square Enix has its finger in a whole lot of pies right now -- but if a recent ESRB listing is any indication, the developer might be preparing to sully its digits in yet another pastry. Said listing is for a PS3 and PSP title called Thexder NEO -- a new entry in a classic Square-developed franchise, which first appeared on the prehistoric NEC PC-8801 platform before making its way to PC and NES. Considering Square held the reins of this IP back in 1985, we're assuming the company will develop this new title -- but until we get more details, there's no way to be sure.According to the ESRB listing, Thexder NEO is "a side-scrolling action game in which players control a transforming robot through a series of maze-like levels." Stop right there, ESRB listing. You had us at "robot."
Rumor: Leaked photos tease Tomb Raider reboot (Update)
Update: We were contacted by Nielsen Entertainment to remove the leaked image, and we obliged (though at this point, a good Google search will help you find what you're looking for). They also asked us to remove the story, adding just a little bit more credence to the rumor. Considering the source, we're guessing the images were part of a Nielsen poll to see how people would react to Lara's new look, and to see what they thought of the few gameplay details which were revealed. For what it's worth, we think it sounds awesome! Original story is below.We're usually pretty hesitant when it comes to accepting the testimony of moles at face value, but this story's got a bit of credibility -- some underground agent, working in conjunction with Four Player Co-Op, snagged some supposed screengrabs of concept art and details for a new Tomb Raider game. According to the text accompanying the art, Lara's new adventure will be open-world, will feature a reworked combat system and -- most importantly -- will serve as an origin story for the young heiress.Anonymity breeds contempt in the gaming news world -- however, this report is supported by four pieces of news that have dropped in the past two months: Eidos' president said the next Tomb Raider game will "reinvigorate the franchise." Crystal Dynamics is hiring folks to work on an installment in a "AAA franchise." Toby Gard, the series' creator, is leading a design group for an "unannounced project." Eidos is terrible at keeping its secret games under wraps.
