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Extending the weather and seasons of Azeroth
We had two similiar comments drop in on the tipline in the past few days that both are pretty interesting ideas that WoW does all right with, but could probably do a lot better. Foxtir dropped us a note the other day voicing an opinion about the night and day cycle of World of Warcraft. As you may have noticed, WoW does have a night/day cycle already-- when it's midday, the light looks very different from the middle of the night (and my favorite zone in the whole world is Hinterlands in the evening). But Foxtir wants an even more obvious cycle-- during the day, Stormwind should be bustling, while at night, the weirdos could come out, and maybe even some Defias could be found in the city. It would be cool to see the day and night cycles have a gameplay effect as well-- in Warcraft III, they definitely did, but in WoW, I don't know that the day/night timing has any effect but the lighting.And Jasperwind sent another note saying basically the same thing about the weather-- we've got the occasional rain and snow, but what if weather affected gameplay somehow? Or even more extreme forms of weather, he suggests-- what if earthquakes scared mobs away for a matter of time?Let's give Blizzard credit where credit is due-- most games don't have a night/day cycle (much less a realtime cycle), and many games have no weather at all, or implement it badly (and anyone who's ever experienced a freak storm in Tirisfal will agree that Blizzard didn't do that). So WoW is already ahead of the curve in both cases. But in an MMORPG where we pay monthly, we can always expect more. And it would definitely be cool (and add a little more strategy to the game) to have these cosmetic changes affect the lives and actions of the characters we play.
Michigan Tech students craft 20,000 watt snow horn
While we've seen water-based, cement cast, and speaker-shaped speakers make their respective debuts lately, this Michigan Tech project might just take the proverbial cake. Seeking to becoming kings of university's annual snow statue building contest, a few zany students crafted a monstrous snow horn, fully equipped with tweeters, mid-range drivers, and subwoofers. The horn was unfortunately disqualified from the competition due to using "materials other than snow," but how can you not hand over a gold medal to a team that braved the freezing cold in order to craft a 20,000-watt megaphone? You heard right, powering this immense array of drivers were nine Behringer EP2500s and a Crown XLS602, and while we've no way of confirming, we have every reason to believe that folks have "called to complain from miles away." So if you've ever wondered what (is probably) the loudest speaker to ever be constructed primarily from snow looks like, be sure to hit the read link for a bevy of in-progress and finalized snapshots.[Via Audio Junkies, thanks Lukas G]
Yuki-taro chrews through snow, chunks out ice cubes
The Japanese are well known for crafting useful robots to do the dirty work for humans who'd rather park it at home, and the Yuki-taro autonomous snowplow is just another example of machines taking care of the business people can't (or won't). In a collaborative effort between five Niigata-based organizations, the snowbot was created to go off by itself and chew through massive sections of snow to make areas passable once more. The nearly 900-pound machine rocks a yellow and black shell, scoots about on tracks, and features a wide mouth to gobble up the fallen snow, compress it into small blocks, and then expel them from the device's rear. Internally, it boasts a GPS module and a pair of video cameras integrated into the eyes, and while we're not certain what type of energy this thing utilizes, its inventors did manage to receive a design award for its snow-crunching abilities. So if you're tired of shoveling for hours on end in a seemingly futile attempt to uncover your driveway, keep an eye out for a commercial version of the Yuki-taro, as plans are to bring it to market for around $8,300 within five years.[Via Pink Tentacle]
Plantronics and Quicksilver team up for Bluetooth / iPod-enabled winter gear lineup
Seeing newly-unveiled outerwear touting iPod / Bluetooth connectivity is becoming a winter tradition it seems, as these blustery days bring about visions of new coats, helmets, lift tickets, and never letting go of your dear DAP / cellphone. This time around Quicksilver is seeking the technological know-how from Plantronics as it offers up a "limited edition" lineup of snow-ready gear that plays nice with your iPod and BT-equipped handset. The Double Daffy Snow Jacket sports Plantronics "stereo sound and voice technology" via Bluetooth, and should hit retail stores for $370 soon, while the presumably corresponding Pulse Helmet rocks a lightweight, ABS-infused design, side vents, and a black camo motif for $249.95. For the ladies in the house, the Teen Angel Snow Jacket caters to the female agenda for $340, and the partnering Shiver Helmet will run you $249.95. While no hard availability dates were mentioned, all the new kit will be on display at the SIA conference in Las Vegas through the end of the week, and we assume it'll hit your favorite ski shop shortly thereafter.
Snjr
First it was Snowfall, then LotsaSnow came to my attention, and now Snjór is the current snow related OS X app that has my eye (thanks to Sveinn). Snjór creates little snow like globes that float down your Mac's screen while you are using it (that is to say that this is not a screensaver, but rather an application that draws these little guys on your screen). You can set how many snowflakes fall, how fast they fall, and if you want them to accumulate on top of the active window (seen above).Snjór is free and Universal, and the developer (the awesomely named Ninja Kitten) promises that the source will be available on December 24th.
Today's hottest game video: Wii forecast channel
What's the Wii weather forecast? Chili today, hot tamale! HO HO HO! Sorry, that's stuck in our head from some really flimsy joke book we read during our childhood. Apparently the joke doesn't really hold up, but it's about the only weather-related joke we've got at the moment. Today's hottest video covers the newly released Wii Forecast channel now gracing screens everywhere. If Nintendo would just release a Murder, She Wrote and a Matlock channel, they could really market this thing to seniors everywhere.Check out the video after the jump, and then look up the Wii-nter weather on a console near you.
Today's coldest game video: WoW AV snowball
Tis the season for snowball fights in Alterac Valley! There's nothing like pelting a passing dwarf with a chunk of tightly packed snow, is there? In fact, we're surprised no one has released a snowball fight game for one of the consoles. We'll continue to hope and dream for that one day, but in the meantime this World of Warcraft video will tide us over.Check it out after the jump, and be sure to watch your back out there.
O'Neill's multimedia-ready H3 Campack
Forget purchasing an iPod-ready coat, Bluetooth-equipped helmet, and head-mountable webcam for your daredevil adventures on the slopes, as O'Neill has all three areas covered in one snazzy backpack. The H3 Campack sports all the weatherproof compartments and slick designs we expect to see on a rider's pack, but also rocks built-in sleeve controls for your DV cam, iPod, and Bluetooth phone. A proprietary module becomes a bantam liaison for your trio of gizmos, giving the integrated joystick full control over your camcorder's lens and / or playlist directions. The bag also touts the ability to keep your precious gadgetry safe and secure within the bag, while giving you full control over the functionality of each. If you're looking for an all-in-one method to record that Winter X-Games submission vid, and your control isn't hampered by juggling three gizmos while busting a backside tail grab, you can snag the H3 Campack now for £240 ($449). [Via AVING]
Lucky LEM writer finds a $25 iMac at a thrift store
Some people have all the luck. In this case, it's Adam Robert Guha over at LowEndMac who found a $25 Snow iMac at a thrift store. The store (obviously) didn't know much about it, so when he got the machine home he found that it had a 500 MHz PPC CPU, 30GB hard drive and 384 MB of RAM.Adam went for the gold and found that it ran Mac OS X 10.4.7 surprisingly well, and he was able to get online with Safari. So what's a guy to do with a $25 iMac that can live and play in this modern Mac OS X world? Why, give it to his grandparents, of course! He installed Firefox, a couple of games and AOL in the hopes that this 'no cables needed' machine would inspire his grandparents to toss the Performa 630 and start blazing up the interwebs. Not a bad move for such a lucky find. Time for me to go see if my local thrift store mis-priced a PowerMac G5 as a broken air conditioner.
