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University of Texas and Blizzard COO Paul Sams launch game design academy
If you're looking to go pro in game design, Blizzard COO Paul Sams has teamed up with the University of Texas at Austin to create the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy. The academy will be led and taught by gaming industry executives and the curriculum will be guided by industry veteran Warren Spector. The 12-month, post-baccalaureate program will guide students through creating a game from start to finish, giving them the experience they need to join the gaming industry when they graduate. "The University of Texas at Austin has a tremendous track record of building nationally recognized programs that generate the leaders and critical thinkers the gaming industry needs," Sams said. "The program will focus on building the skills required for students to lead teams and develop games from concept to completion, while growing talent for the gaming industry." The program starts in 2014, but with only 20 spots available, you probably have a better chance of getting into a competitive raid guild.
Distro Issue 34 takes a 'Shot in the Dark' with Canon's 5D Mark III
If you were lucky enough to grab a 5D Mark III when they hit shelves last week, you know how well the slick shooter performs with the lights down low. If you're still pondering plunking down $3,500 for the DSLR, on the other hand, you can check out the camera's night moves in this issue of Distro. And if you're looking for even more of our expert opinions, we have reviews of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7 for Verizon, a 14-inch Series 5 Ultrabook, a pre-production Galaxy Note 10.1 and SYNC by 50 Wireless Headphones. We'll also grill Mutemath's Darren King and give you an Angry Bird's-eye view of the smartphone market in this week's Switched On. So grab your device of choice and hit the appropriate download link below.Distro Issue 34 PDFDistro on the iTunes App StoreDistro in the Android MarketDistro APK (for sideloading)Like Distro on FacebookFollow Distro on Twitter
Samsung's Wave gets the preview treatment
What, our hands-on with video wasn't good enough for you? Fine, Eldar at Mobile-Review.com has a rather lengthy preview of Sammy's 1GHz Bada phone, the Wave, including so many macro photos you could probably make yourself a compelling reproduction of Mr. Murtazin's thumbprint. Impressions of this pre-production phone were very positive, coming to the conclusion that it will "definitely become one of the milestones not only for Samsung, but also the whole industry." Yeah, it's looking that good, but we do have to wonder just how warmly the buying community is going to welcome yet another mobile OS. We'll find out soon enough, as the phone is set for release in April.
Paul Sams owns part of the Steelers
Ok, admittedly, this is about as far away from the World of Warcraft as we go on this site, but stick with me here, it'll be worth it for the jokes: Blizzplanet has discovered that Blizzard COO Paul Sams and his family are now major shareholders in the Pittsburgh Steelers, of all things. The connection seems a little hard to find, until you check the rest of the list: Thomas Tull is also a shareholder, and he happens to be CEO of Legendary Pictures, the same company that has made a deal with Sams and Blizzard to make the Warcraft movie. I can't say I know that many CEOs personally, but I have to imagine that the conversation went something like, "Hey, wanna own part of a football team with me?" And who would pass up an opportunity like that?Fortunately for Sams and his team, they're supposed to do pretty well this year (and of course they're coming off of a Super Bowl win last year), so the investment is likely a good one. But, more importantly, we can now point out that if the Steelers make their way to the conference championships and half of Blizzard travels to Pittsburgh to see the game, we'll know why the patch isn't coming out that week.
Working at Blizzard: Sunshine, rainbows, claymores, backrubs
I know what you're thinking! "If anyone could write up a scandalous exposé of what working at Blizzard is really like, it'd be our old pal Mike. I bet he's got the inside scoop of what goes on at Big Blue behind closed doors. I paid for the whole seat but I'll only need the edge."Yeah, well. I'm going to disappoint you here and instead link you to an article from the OC Register, longtime reporter of all news Blizzard given the company's stature in the SoCal business world. They interviewed Blizzard COO Paul Sams about the studio's recent award of "One of the best places to work in Orange County" and why that award was deserved.
Sam's Club taunts shopper with Wii
What's the worst thing that could ever happen to you? Okay, scratch that, try not to think about that. What's the worst thing involving video games that could ever happen to you? Well, our worst fear has been realized, thanks to a Sam's Club employee.You see, Sam's Club shopper Shawn recently found himself inside one of the huge warehouses, shopping for that 82-pack of tube socks we assume, when he stumbled upon a Wii, sitting there for sale. What happened when he tried to buy it? Well, he was denied his console, because it was being set aside for a "Grand Re-Opening" for the store. Horrible, right? We think so.Seriously, we would've been screaming at the store manager. But, in the end, it's not like it would've mattered. We would have fought to give the jerk retailer money, so maybe losing that sale was a good thing. Not for Shawn, though. Sorry, buddy.See also: Best Buy purposely holding their stock?
Put a Mario Kart in your shopping cart at Sam's
Check Out, the official Wal-Mart blog (!) has announced that, as they did with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sam's Club will hold a launch party for Mario Kart Wii. The event will take place at midnight on Sunday, April 27th. If you're still Wii-less but desperate for Kart, we suggest you get there late Saturday night, because each Sam's Club will have at least 15 Wii systems available.The blog also promises a "GREAT price" on Mario Kart Wii, which is probably the MSRP minus eight cents. Of course, you also have to be a member of Sam's to get that "GREAT price."%Gallery-4772%[Thanks, Bobby!]
Get Brawl and a gallon of soy sauce
Sam's Club, the members-only warehouse store owned by Wal-Mart, is going to start taking preorders of upcoming games. The first game to be tested with this program is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which will be the reason for a midnight launch party at every store. What a great opportunity to pick up the game immediately and celebrate with ... other Sam's shoppers! Stores will even have a stock of twenty Wiis each.The awesome part of this (assuming you don't find the prospect of hanging out at Sam's at midnight awesome) is that Sam's will be selling the game for only $44. The other awesome part is that you can get, like, these huge jars of red licorice while you're there.
Vodafone UK serving up secure SMS
Vodafone's British arm has partnered with Broca Communications to offer its Secure Advanced Message Service -- cleverly named "SAMS" for short -- to business customers. Sitting atop SMS, SAMS offers encrypted messaging for those times when you simply must know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the "meet 4 dnr?" you just received is authentic. Of course, security has its price; the service will be billed on a per-message basis, which pretty much explains why it's being pitched to Voda's enterprise user base.[Via texutally.org]
iPods spotted at Sam's Club
I don't know how long this has been going on, but Sam's Club apparently carries the iPod. I spotted it at my neighborhood Club this weekend at the lowest price I've seen so far: $289.98 for a 5G 30 GB black model. Maybe they didn't want to let Cosco have all the fun in selling iMacs?No word on whether Apple Stores will match this price, nor when the 24 iPod bulk pack will be available.
