tongue-in-cheek
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Infographic offers noobs a summary of the US MMO industry
What is an MMO? If you are reading this, chances are you can already answer that! But there are still poor souls out there who can't, folks who scratch their heads and look at you quizzically when you discuss your latest pwnage. So in an effort to enlighten the uninitiated, PoetCode, the creator of Dynasty of the Magi (an app combining a MMO with an ongoing eBook series), has put together an interesting infographic to help explain MMOs at a glance. With a mini lexicon, a code of conduct, and even a list of ingredients for making your own MMO mingled among statistics, the partly tongue-in-cheek collection offers gamers and non-gamers alike a look at the industry in the US. What percentage of gamers is male vs. female? And what age group dominates the playerbase? Both of these questions and more can be answered in the full infographic after the break. Check it out, then tell us in the comments below what you think of the various points. Do you agree? [Source PoetCode infographic]
The iPad rent-a-date
You can go tickle an iPad for free at any Apple Store. You can caress, stroke, and otherwise test out the "magical" touch-based interface. However, if you want to go further, second base for example, be prepared to pony up $50. TUAW has realized that for that low, low price, you can bring that baby home with you and enjoy her in the privacy of your own home for up to two weeks. Return her back to the store, none the worse for wear (don't forget to use "protection"), and you'll be assessed a mere 10% of the purchase price as an, ahem, "restocking fee." Of course, your mileage may vary, so buy at your own risk -- this is just an idea we're throwing out there, in case anyone wants to catch and run with it. But then again, why deny yourself the temporary love of an iPad while you're waiting for the 3G of your dreams? There's no need to deny your basic desires until the "keeper" comes along. If you want to try and get a little creative with Apple's return policy, we won't be the ones to stop you.
A postmortem on Accordion Hero (with a little info on Guitar Hero, too)
Just in case you missed the Guitar Hero parody Accordion Hero reported here on Joystiq a week or two back, Gamasutra has now posted a tongue-in-cheek postmortem on the squeezebox simulator. It's cheeky.You'll learn not only "that accordion players get all the girls" (with female players, of course, getting all the guys), but you'll also get a handle on some detailed developer data such as the number of accordions broken during development (none) and the number set on fire during the same period of time (twenty-three).
