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Japan tells netizens to stop confusing the olds with internet slang
Sure, internet-speak can be confusing, so older folks oftentimes can't understand WTH younger users are trying to say. The problem is apparently much worse in Japan than it is here, however, because the government itself has decided to weigh in. Much to the amusement of many netizens, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has issued a report asking people, in effect, to knock off the crazy emojis and slang.
Facebook wants to detect slang before it's popular
It's tricky to catch slang while it's still cutting edge. Unless you're in the right social circles, you'll probably hear that lingo when it hits the mainstream... in other words, when it's already passé. Facebook might have a way to catch those words while they're still hip, though. It received a patent for social glossary technology that would detect slang, acronyms and other neologisms. The conceptual software would look for terms that don't have a known meaning (including familiar words out of context) and add them to the glossary if appropriate. It'd even pull terms out of the glossary if they fall out of favor -- say, describing something as "totally tubular" when you're not an '80s-era surfer.
4SRS: the FBI built a list of Twitter slang to keep up with the kids
Forget passwords: the FBI wants to crack your internet slang. Thanks to a FOI (freedom of information) request published over at Muckrock, we now know that the Bureau is TCOB (taking care of business) when monitoring the nation's social media use. Bypassing UrbanDictionary or the odd Wikipedia definition, the FBI compiled its own 83-page list of over 2,800 acronyms that range from the well-known, like LMAO, TMI, YOLO and SMH, to the outright ridiculous, including EOTWAWKI (end of the world as we know it) and IITYWTMWYBMAD (if I tell you what this means will you buy me a drink?) The agency says the list will help agents "keep up with your children and/or grandchildren," and also invites them to add their own. Perhaps that's why AMOG (alpha male of group) and DTP (disturbing the peace) have made it in, but we secretly hope it was an Engadget reader who added KIRF (keeping it real fake).
The Daily Grind: What MMO slang are you sick of hearing?
Wrath babies. I hate the term. I hate everything it stands for. I hate the way it's used by old-school World of Warcraft players to dismiss the opinions of those who started playing later. It doesn't even make sense -- in pretty much every genre, there's always someone more old-school than you. You started in Vanilla? Someone else started in beta. And someone else started in alpha. And someone else before that. And a whole bunch of people started in games long before WoW showed up; all WoW players are "babies" by comparison. It's a pointless pissing contest that shuts down real debate about the quality of a game's content in any era. I'd rather never hear the terms "fail," "pay-to-win," "TORtanic," "frothies," and "dumbing down" again, either, and "such-and-such-game's NGE" can jump off a nice tall cliff. They're overused to the point that they are meaningless. But those are just my pet peeves. What MMO slang would you love to see nuked from orbit? 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!
ESA members asked individually about SOPA, some respond
Rock, Paper, Shotgun collaborated in obtaining responses. The Entertainment Software Association's support of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" has led us to ask every member of the video game industry's lobbying and political group to publicly declare its stance on the bill. The ESA's continued support means every member, by proxy, is a supporter of the bill. Some companies have pulled their logos from supporting SOPA documentation to dodge ire, while others are hiding behind rhetoric, as you'll see below. Joystiq contacted every member of the ESA and requested a declarative statement on SOPA. After the break we've listed the responses we've received, along with others we found. We continue to seek clarity on this issue from every member of the ESA. This will become the page we update as we receive responses and clear declarative statements, so feel free to bookmark. (Joystiq does not support SOPA, nor does our parent company.)
The Anvil of Crom: Hives of scum and villainy
Once, a long time ago, I stood on the summit of a sandy cliff with my MMO mentor. His sage-like eyes took in the desert around us, surveying the burgeoning multiplayer landscape. On one side of us were MMOs; on the other, FPS titles and social networking games. Surrounding us from all directions I saw a writhing, rioting mass of digital humanity, overlapping chat bubbles floating toward the horizon for miles around. Some of these bubbles were legible, though many featured bizarre butcherings of the king's English as well as certain phrases that I couldn't even begin to decipher. Almost all of them sported excessive punctuation and some variation on LOL. Squinting his eyes against the glare and covering his ears with both hands, my mentor inclined his head down the slope. "Global chat," he said, a weary sign escaping his chapped lips. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes del Ring review: Suicide dive
Wrestling fans are a forgiving bunch. We excuse the industry's numerous problems -- the high mortality rate, intelligence-insulting storylines, John Cena -- whenever two guys do a really good job of not actually hurting each other. As long as a match is exciting, with consistent psychology, believable near-falls and a well-told story, nothing else matters. It's the same with wrestling video games; they're only as good as the matches they let you experience, which means Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes del Ring translates to "no bueno." %Gallery-90096%
Wii version of Lucha Libre AAA delayed
Publisher Slang has put the Wii release of its wrestling game Lucha Libre AAA in a sleeper hold. Formerly set to be released on October 12 (a date that already represented a delay) alongside the PS3, Xbox 360 and DSiWare games, the Wii version has been pushed "into the November 2010 timeframe." Slang CEO Abraham Bautista said, "The slight delay will help to ensure that the game will provide fans with the best possible experience mixing the sport's rich tradition and over-the-top action with a fantastic arcade combat style." More disappointing is the fact that the pre-order bonus for all versions, a real luchador mask, will no longer be offered due to safety certification concerns. Slang is working to figure out a replacement bonus, but it's not a wrestling mask -- so it's guaranteed to be disappointing.
Lucha Libre: AAA Heroes del Ring wrestler roster revealed
Oh, man. We'll be the first to admit that we know less than nothing about the apparently radical world of professional Mexican wrestling, but after reading the recently revealed list of of fighters in Lucha Libre: AAA Heroes del Ring, it would be irresponsible for us not to get involved. Por ejemplo, included on this 31-strong line-up are three different wrestlers by the names of Killer Clown, Psycho Clown and Zombie Clown. That is bananacakes, and we are so, so down with it. Check out the rosters for the 360, PS3 and Wii versions of the wrestling title posted after the jump, and try to decide which of the Clown triplets you're going to throw your support behind.
Lucha Libre delayed, new release date pinned down in October
Originally set for release on August 9, Slang's Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes of the Ring has been delayed until October 12, 2010 on PS3, Xbox, Wii and DSiWare, with the PSP version launching at an unspecified later date. While additional development time was cited as one reason for the delay, the announcement primarily frames the release bump as a marketing strategy. "Based on the positive feedback we received at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo we decided to push the launch of Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes del Ring closer to the upcoming holiday shopping season," Slang president Abraham Batista said. "The additional time provides us with several key benefits, including the ability to market to a larger audience, build greater street buzz with consumers and continue the development cycle." Of course, given the October release date, we believe the "holiday shopping season" to which Batista refers is Halloween. What better time for a game about masked men? %Gallery-90096%
And the winner of the Lucha Libre AAA boxart battle is ...
... Dr. Wagner! Take note, budding luchadores: you have to engage the crowd. The doc bested three other masked men this afternoon in a wrestling ring plunked down on the E3 show floor to "achieve immortality" on the Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes of the Ring game cover. Check out the highlights from the four-man free-for-all in the gallery below. %Gallery-95583%
So, opening a sentence with 'so' started with programmers and engineers
So, here's a great piece by Anand Giridharadas in the New York Times on using "so" to start sentences -- a practice that apparently started with engineers and programmers in Silicon Valley in the 90s, and something Microsoft employees also claim started with them. Obviously we use it a ton at Engadget -- at this point we're all riffing on each other, but I know I picked it up from San Francisco-based Ryan Block when I first started. Interesting to see how small parts of tech culture like this are influenced by so many variables -- Giridharadas says "so" makes it easier for people of different backgrounds and languages to communicate, because it's a catch-all transition that almost always works, implying a understanding of what's come before. I rather like that.
Breakfast Topic: Rerolling our roots
The question arose in the WoW official forums "Why do they call it 'rolling?'" This is of course in reference to creating new characters. The original poster pointed out that there really is no rolling involved just selection. I'm sure its obvious to most of us that the terms comes from pen and paper role playing games where we roll dice to determine character statistics and sometimes other attributes. But it got me thinking of terms that we use for WoW that came from other games: The battleground Zerg comes from Starcraft's Zerg race which was kind of a fast, battle driven faction. DKP is short for Dragon Kill Points, a term that dates back to EverQuest when the main bosses were dragons. Nerf means to make things less powerful, and refers to the Nerf brand of spongy toys. For some reason we refer to instances as dungeons, despite the fact that Stockades is the only actual dungeon that comes to mind. Though I have to admit, even in D&D dungeon crawls were typically done in caves or castles. It's surprising how terms seem to stick with us even when they're obsolete. Speaking of rolling, when was the last time you actually rolled down a window in a car? It's good to go back and remember out gaming roots. I'm sure there are many more crossover terms, and terms from the World of Warcraft lexicon like Leroy Jenkins, will out live Azeroth. For the life of me I can't find the etiology of the term "twink." What else am I missing?
