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Wasteland Diaries: Choose your weapon
The new Fallen Earth combat system is sweet. I really don't have much to complain about. But there is a serious lack of balance between the weapon types (I almost said classes). I like the fact that when I shoot someone in the head with a shotgun, I see results -- not the kind you'd expect to see in an ultra-realistic tactical FPS, but very tangible results for an RPG. The focus on weapon damage (aka white damage) has made the combat system more intuitive and user-friendly. But it has also (despite a decent increase in everyone's health) made combat much more decisive. Making a shooter with firearms and melee weapons is a daunting balancing act. If you make the firearms too powerful, nobody will use the melee weapons. There will always be those who use the under-powered weapons, but in the competitive world of PvP, most PvPers will opt with the most powerful ones. The pendulum of balance has been swinging since Fallen Earth launched in September 2009, but more often than not, one weapon type has come out on top every time. In fact, one weapon is very popular and has been since launch. Oddly enough, that weapon isn't even a 180 weapon; it's a 164. That's right, you can be dual-wielding the most deadly weapons in the game at level 45. Most of you seasoned vets know what weapon I'm talking about, and after the cut I'll confirm your suspicions. If you are a new player, you should also read on.
Striker integrated display helmet has something to tell you about that old saying 'if looks could kill'...
We've been told in the past that our mean, hate-filled looks could kill, but we never took that literally. Now, if Britain's BAE Systems has its way, that phrase could seriously have a whole new meaning. The company has developed an RAF helmet that will allow pilots to deploy and steer their weapons by turning their heads. It all sounds incredibly horrifying and futuristic, of course, but the technology which enables the new gadget is pretty intense, as well. The helmet is fitted with an optical head tracker, with targets popping up in the visor, which provides a supposedly highly accurate missile fire with low latency, at any altitude. The system has been extensively tested on the Eurofighter Typhoon, but is modular in styling so that it can be fitted to many systems. There's no word on when this tech will see actual action, but we have our reservations about it, so we hope they take their time.
Northrop Grumman's 100 kilowatt laser fired for six hours (update: ten minutes straight)
100 kilowatts of piercing light isn't something to sneeze at, even fired for just a few seconds, but Northrup Grumman's long-awaited weapons-grade laser recently ran for a full six hours. That milestone is the feather in the company's cap as it prepares to ship the hulking machine to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where it will presumably begin doing what it does best -- turning things into crispier, more exploded versions of themselves in no time flat. PR after the break. Update: Though we originally read this to mean that the potent ray fired for six hours straight, Northrup Grumman has since informed us that's not quite the case. "The correct info is that the 100kw solid-state laser has operated for a total of 60 minutes over a period of months as we continued refining it and preparing it for relocation to White Sands Missile Range," said a company rep, who promised to explain the nuances of military-grade lasing on Monday. We'll let you know what we hear. Update 2: Okay, we recently finished speaking to Northrup Grumman, and here's the final word: the longest period the laser ever ran without stopping was ten minutes straight. Six hours is the total amount of time the laser has operated at 100 kilowatts, period, since the first time the firm turned it on in March of last year, and "60 minutes" is the made-up amount of time that inadvertently skipped into Northrup Grumman's email to us when it was originally trying to correct our mistake.
Navy's prototype rail gun projectile hits mach 7 at 33 megajoules, our hearts skip a beat (video)
Rail guns play a major part in nearly every fanciful battle of the future, whether it be giant robots fighting for control of the Inner Sphere or the last remaining member of Noble Team holding off the Covenant invasion for as long as possible. They're the stuff of geeky dreams, and thanks to the US Navy they're closer to deployment than ever. Three years ago our sea-borne force managed an 8 megajoule blast, now its researchers have more than quadrupled that: 33 megajoules accelerating a projectile using magnets. That power means speeds of Mach 7 for the slug and a current range of 100 miles, though the hope is for at least double that by the time these things start finding themselves mounted on the decks of battleships in 2025. At that point they'll reduce the need for rooms full of powder charges and the associated dangers that come along with explosive shells, but will instead need to make way for what looks to be a warehouse full of capacitors. There's a video of the thing in action below, and you'll be sorry if you miss it. [Thanks, Jacob L.]
Portal gun to be auctioned off for Child's Play charity
The Portal gun. If you've been alive over the past year and change, you know exactly what we're talking about. We can safely say our lives were changed after spending a few good minutes with Harrison Krix's handmade replica in 2009, and soon you'll have the golden opportunity to know exactly what we mean. Krix has constructed a new Portal gun, one that's arguably more bodacious than ever, and there's only one way to get it: outbid the Bro Montana next to you on December 7th. A Child's Play Charity event auction will be held on that fateful day in Seattle, and it'll be the one and only opportunity to have the pink slip transferred to you. Of course, monies received from the auction will benefit Child's Play (a gaming industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in a network of over 60 hospitals worldwide), and the bragging rights afforded to the winner will be fairly epic in scope. Head on past the break for a video of what's up for grabs.
Mega Hurtz gun-wielding robot has a menacing look, unfortunate name
Sure, we know how this works: cities need to justify their budgets for continued funding from state and national governments, so they buy expensive -- and often unnecessary -- high-tech toys for their police. And when your town's ready to make that transition from Barney Fife to SWAT, why not call Inspector Bots? The paramilitary nature of its Mega Hurtz Tactical Robot isn't softened by the delicious pun in its name, and if you don't believe us ask any nogoodnik who's had to face down its turret-mounted 20RPS Modified Mil-Sim Paintball Gun / Assault Rifle, capable of firing off twenty non-lethal (but extremely painful) pepperball rounds per second. The beast is billed as a "heavy duty 280 lb two-man-portable monster" that can record audio and video, be controlled by a remote operator, and has night vision capability. But that ain't all! Not only does it feature a welded steel chassis designed to demolish doors and concrete walls, it also looks really awesome in the video... even if it doesn't make the streets safer. See for yourself after the break.
Northrop Grumman's CaMEL 'bot features one .50 caliber gun, loads of class
When the dream factory that is Northrop Grumman needed to up the "wow factor" at its Association of the U.S. Army's Washington conference booth, it did what plenty of CES exhibitors wished they could do: it weaponized. Hence, the deadliest CaMEL yet. The acronym stands for Carry-all Mechanized Equipment Landrover -- think of the BigDog robot, but with treads instead of legs. The motorized platform will hump up to 1,200 pounds of gear at seven miles per hour, and as Spencer Ackerman at Wired points out, over sixty of them have been sold to the Israeli military. But the above pictured CaMEL is the only one floating around with armaments: in this case, a .50-caliber M2 machine gun. The gun is fired remotely, via touchscreen controls, and the platform itself could support any number of weapons including the M249, the MK19 grenade launcher, or 30mm cannon. Which kind of proves a pet theory of ours: if you build it, eventually someone will mount a gun on it.
The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (V)
Day five! This is the last day in our Road to 50 series, and we're going to look at the final segment of the Hall of Monuments: the Monument to Valor. This is where you'll dedicate all of your most prestigious weapons, and there has been a lot of discussion among players regarding what they think should be included. In the end, though, you have three choices: Tormented, Oppressor's, and Destroyer weapons. You need to have a total of 15 weapons displayed in any combination, but you have to have at least one of each type for full points. The process of getting them isn't as bad as you might think, particularly if you take your time. It's just a matter of knowing where to look, so follow along after the jump and we'll go through them!
The Daily Grind: What's your preferred weapon type?
Until the day that we can conquer our virtual enemies with hugging and snuggling, it will always be necessary to arm ourselves for battle with the gruesome tools of the trade. MMOs typically start you out on your career with rusty butter knives and wiffle bats, but before long you have the choice of thousands of types and varieties of weapons. So what's your preferred weapon to kill those 10 rats? Do you like doing your damage up close with dual daggers? Perhaps it's a hefty sword that commands respect as you lop off heads. Or do you spend your time turning living objects into pincushions with your lightning-fast bow and arrow? Maybe your tastes run to the more exotic? Myself, I'm partial to either quarterstaffs (level softly and carry a big stick, is what I say) and any fully automatic assault rifle that I can get my hands on. I know some players who just can't stand to play any class that can't use a big honking two-handed sword. What about you?
Introducing the iPod ninja
We here at TUAW fortunately passed on reporting the obviously fake story of Steve Jobs being denied access to Japan because of ninja stars he was reportedly carrying in his luggage. But we did like this fake Apple page from the folks at Scoopertino, featuring the iPod ninja, a brand new throwing star-shaped iPod. If Steve was carrying around ninja stars (and he wasn't), maybe he was just testing a more weaponized iPod prototype. For more yuks, be sure to read on about the "death grip" issue ("If you hold iPod ninja in a certain way, you may require immediate medical care."), and I like the fact that sharing music with the ninja is easy -- just wing it across the room at whoever you want to listen in. For just $149 for the 8GB model, Jobs may have something here with this new ninja model -- his fake Japanese dismissal was not in vain! [via Cult of Mac]
Mass Effect's M8 Avenger rifle brought to exquisitely detailed life
Harrison Krix understands if you don't remember his name. After all, your mind can't be expected to retain information when you've just seen the spectacular Portal gun and Daft Punk helmet the man has already authored. Latest on his hitlist is an homage to the awesomeness that is Mass Effect. Employing mostly leftover bits from previous projects and $28's worth of new materials, Harrison set about the task of recreating Commander Shepard's trusty assault rifle. The source will delight your eyeballs with a litany of pictures and build details, though our major question remains unanswered -- does it use armor-piercing, incendiary, or shredder rounds?
Homemade Fallout 3 plasma rifle makes our post-apocalyptic future seem less bleak
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Homemade_Fallout_3_Plasma_Rifle'; The A3-21 Plasma Rifle is quite the little devastator in Fallout 3 and it doesn't look half bad in the so-called real world either. Lovingly pieced together by one Ryan Palser, this homebrewed replica (the lower of the two in the image above) took five months to complete and involved the enrollment of his wife's painting skills for the weathering job. The final result is enough to convince us that Fallout would be well served by a movie adaptation, if only so we can see more of these retro-futuristic rifles get their shot at corporeality. You can scope out one more image showing off the lights inside the rifle after the break, but only if you promise to hit up Ryan's Flickr account for the full set.
GarE Maxton's amazing Intimidator puzzle would make Scaramanga proud (video)
We have Make to thank for bringing this wonderful hunk of metal to our attention, a 40lb puzzle created by GarE Maxton and shown to the world at large about a month ago. It's called the Intimidator Puzzle Pistol and it starts out as 125 pieces hand-machined that fit together in only one way (shown disassembled after the break). Once assembled you need a special magnetic key to take it apart again and, probably, few hours. Inside is something of a special prize... something a lot cooler than anybody ever found in the bottom of a Cracker Jack box: a pistol. Well, the pieces of a pieces, anyway, a .45 caliber handgun with your choice of iron or laser sights (both included). The resulting weapon bears more than a passing resemblance to Scaramanga's piece in The Man with the Golden Gun. Unlike that model this one does not break down into a lighter and cufflinks, but we prefer puzzles to jewelry anyway. You can see it all demonstrated after the break, but sadly there is only a single such puzzle in existence at the moment: GarE's one indisputable masterpiece.
Iron Man fanatic crafts his own repulsor, shows you how to do likewise (video)
It's certainly not the first homegrown Iron Man repulsor to surface, but it's definitely one of the best. And frankly, we're fond of any mod where the modder details the build process to the rest of the peons in attendance (us included). Granted, this still pales in comparison to the one on Tony's own arm, and never mind that the LEDs won't actually level anyone on command. Truth is, you're still going to have a peek at the video just below, and you're going to love it.
Raytheon's pain gun finally gets deployed in Afghanistan (update: recalled)
It's been six long years since we first got wind of the Pentagon's Active Denial System, and four since it was slated to control riots in Iraq, but though we've seen reporters zapped by the device once or twice, it seems the Air Force-approved pain gun is only now entering service in Afghanistan. The BBC reports the device -- which generates a targeted burning sensation in humans -- is now deployed with US troops, though a military spokesman is assuring publications that it "has not been used operationally," and that the armed forces have yet to decide whether to actually use it. Wired reports the unit was plagued by technical and safety issues for years, not to mention political concerns, but as to that last we have to imagine even a semi-damaging heat ray beats the pants off lead-based alternatives. Update: Sorry folks, false alarm -- a Air Force spokesperson just informed us that though the pain gun was indeed sent to Afghanistan, it's now being returned to the US without ever seeing use.
Students accelerate cubicle arms race with PlayStation Eye-tracked, iPhone-guided coilgun (video)
DIY weaponry gets more lethal with each passing year; where once we were content with a simple foam missile launcher, technology has progressed such that our automated turrets now spew screwdriver bits, airsoft and paintballs. As progress forges ahead, two engineering students at the University of Arkansas have added injury to insult with this four-stage DIY coilgun. Using an Arduino microcontroller to actuate the firing mechanism and steer the monstrous wooden frame, they nimbly control the badass kit with an iDevice over WiFi, and line up targets using a repurposed PlayStation Eye webcam. While we'd of course prefer to have our phone SSH into the gun over 3G, we're not going to argue with success. We'd like to keep our lungs un-perforated, thank you very much. See it in action after the break.
A look at the big changes in Global Agenda's 1.3 patch
The team over at Hi-Rez Studios may have bitten off just a touch more than they could chew with the 1.3 patch for Global Agenda. It's not that the patch is bad, just that they turned out to not quite be able to push some of the originally promised features through at the same time as the main patch. Of course, considering all of the stuff that is in the newest patch, that almost seems less like a drawback and more like an act of mercy. The advertised open zones and 64-person PvP Warzone will be slightly delayed, which only leaves... ...well, it leaves a whole lot of changes, starting with the massive overhauls to weapons and armor that bring the game closer in line with common genre conventions. The previous system has entirely been discarded, and replaced with four grades of quality for weapons and armor: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic. All grades can be obtained from vendors in exchange for credits (for common weapons), Mercenary tokens (for rare and epic weapons), or Conquest tokens (for epic special weapons). The weapons also have a chance to drop during PvE missions, with the weapons getting correspondingly stronger as the mission gets more difficult.
Lost Planet 2 demo contains exclusive weapon usable in retail version
While previewing the competitive multiplayer mode of Lost Planet 2 yesterday, we confirmed with Capcom that the game's multiplayer demo (available now to some) will feature an exclusive weapon, the "MG SP," which will carry over to the final retail version of the game on Xbox 360 and PS3, provided there's a save file from the demo on the system. Playing the demo will be the only way to unlock the gun. A Capcom representative said the MG SP could stagger opponents with a single shot and prevent them from squeezing off shots of their own with subsequent hits -- sounds useful. As if you needed any more incentive to try the free demo.
How the Terminator's .45 Longslide with laser sighting came to be (video)
While Arnie's one-handed reloads on his Winchester 1887 may make that shotgun the most iconic weapon of Terminator 2, his laser-sighted .45 Longslide was definitely king in the first. Laser sights are something you can buy in any gun shop today, but back in 1984 they were extremely rare -- and expensive. The one for the movie was custom made by SureFire, a company that specializes in tactical flashlights. Lasers at the time were helium neon, requiring a whopping 10,000 volts to power on and a constant 1,000 volts to stay bright. To manage this on a shoestring budget in the '80s the weapon had a wire running up Arnie's sleeve to a battery inside his jacket and a switch he had to activate with his other hand. (A non-functional prop was used for close-ups.) Crude, but effective, and, most importantly, cheap -- SureFire representatives received only a T-shirt and some other assorted movie swag. Now, what kind of weapon could we get for a box of Engadget shirts...
Ghostbusters Wii mod sets a new bar, proves that dreams do come true
The Wii has seen its fair share of related modifications, and while our favorite Nintendo mod still has Pixar written all over it, this one just might take the cake for the Big N's freshest console. Created by an obviously obsessed (and über-talented) Ghostbusters fan, the Nintendo Wii Proton Pack is a fully functional device that beautifully complements the Wii version of the Ghostbusters video game. For those doubting the thought that went into this, take a listen: the Blue Power Cell accurately reflects how much power you have left, and the Thrower has been designed to covertly hold both the Wiimote and the Nunchuk. Better still, the Wiimote's internal speaker enables the pack to make true-to-film noises. Hit the source link to get a better look, but we'd recommend suiting up in your best 80s era, ghoul-busting garb before diving in. Update: In-action video is now after the break!
