Jetsetter: FIFA players vie for Scottish soccer team manager’s job

In Jetsetter for the week ending Oct. 27, FIFA players jockey to become replace the Dunbarton Sons football team manager spot in Scotland, Italy's first video game museum opens in Rome, and Indiagames loses its chief after Disney acquisition.

One would think that thanks to the Internet, memes, trends, and brands would be global experiences all the time. We assume that because “Gangam Style” got huge in Korea, then huge in the United States, that it’s also huge in Estonia. The World Wide Web may extend its tendrils into every inch of the world, but culture is still regional. Video games demonstrate it nicely. Sailor Moon hasn’t been big in Japan or the US since the 1990s, but Italy’s so enamored with the evil fighting schoolgirls that it released a Sailor Moon DS game just last year. That’s why there’s Jetsetter.

Welcome back to Jetsetter, Digital Trends’ weekly column looking at the international world of video games. People in the US like their Madden NFL and Call of Duty. You already know that. But do you know about the German development house still making Neo-Geo games? We’ve got your back.

* 75% of applications for Scottish soccer team manager job are from FIFA players.

It’s kind of like The Last Starfighter, but with hooliganism and football instead of aliens! The Dumbarton Sons, a Scottish soccer team, recently fired its manager Alan Adamson. Sons chief exectuive Gilbert Lawrie told The Daily Mail that many people have already applied for the job, but the majority of them only have management experience in EA’s hugely popular FIFA games. “I can tell you I’ve had dozens and dozens of applications and it takes a while to sift through the CVs of people who have won the Champions League on FIFA 12. Probably 75 percent of the applications so far are from people who taken a team from a low ebb to great heights on a computer screen, which is a great achievement for them but perhaps not what we are looking for at this time.” Back to Xbox Live with the lot of you!

* Video game museum opens in Italy.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do and celebrate video game history by visiting Vigamus, Italy’s newest gaming museum. The museum opened for business just one week ago on Oct. 20. “We have problems here recognizing the cultural and artistic value of games,” Vigamus director Marco Accordi Rackards told Edge, “In Italy we don’t have a very solid industry, as developers; we have a strong market, but that doesn’t help very much because people think of video games just as toys—something you buy, sell, promote, not a cultural industry where you create. We want to push the cultural value of video games, to educate those familiar with games and those who aren’t.”

 

* Managing Director of Disney India’s interactive division resigns.

Disney’s been bulking up its video game development in India, acquiring Indiagames and its shareholder UTV back in March. While Disney brought many of the developers and executives at those companies into the newly formed Disney UTV Digital, an exodus of employees are is starting within the company. Medianama reported this week that Disney UTV managing director Samir Bangara, one of the chief architects of Indiagames, has resigned. More are expected to follow his lead. For anyone in the west unfamiliar, Indiagames is that nation’s equivalent of Ubisoft subsidiary Gameloft, pumping out a number of popular iPhone and iPad titles like its series Cricket Fever.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Borderlands 2 glitch erases Badass Rank, locks out completed challenges

A number of players are reporting a Borderlands 2 glitch that wipes out their hard earned Badass Rank. Gearbox says its investigating.

One of the many marvelously user-friendly features in Gearbox’s Borderlands 2 is the Badass Rank. Slowly unlocked perks separate from your character’s level and skillset, the Badass Rank is an elegant version of the New Game+. Borderlands 2 is a lengthy, involved game, but you’re going to want to start new characters depending on who you’re playing with, and the Badass Rank ties to any character you create, giving you a base level of improving stats that make revisiting the game from different angles accessible without making it too easy and boring. Smart stuff. Too bad there’s a bug in the game that will wipe out your Badass Rank.

A number of users in Gearbox’s official forums have reported a problem where their Badass Rank is set back to zero and all the associated bonuses, including the stat boosts and unlocked character customization options, are wiped away. Compounding the problem is the fact that the challenges that raise the Badass Rank (e.g. shoot this many enemies, collect this many guns, etc.) aren’t reset alongside the rank itself so affected players can’t simply rebuild what’s been lost.

While the initial report about the problem was from a player on the Xbox 360 version, others playing the PC and PlayStation 3 versions of the game have also reported the same problem.

Gearbox community manager Chris Faylor said that the studio is working fast to fix the problem. “Our engineers are looking into this, and the information you’ve provided has proven to be a great resource while we investigate,” said Faylor, “At the moment, it seems to be a fairly rare issue and we’ll keep you updated on when we resolve it.”

The original Borderlands was no stranger to glitches like this when it released in 2009. At least the Borderlands 2 glitch only erases the Badass Rank and its associated perks. The Borderlands glitch erased everything. When players would leave a multiplayer game on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC they would lose all their weapons proficiencies and skill points, and though the proficiencies could be rebuilt, the skill points were erased forever meaning that they needed to restart the entire game.

Gearbox fixed that problem eventually though, and this new glitch will definitely be addressed. Players affected by the Borderlands 2 glitch should take comfort in the fact that their lost Badass Rank might even be salvageable since the challenges that earn the rank aren’t reset.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Netgear goes next-gen with NeoTV streaming video players

NETGEAR's affordable and well-featured NeoTV streaming video players put the squish on the likes of Roku.

Netgear has announced a family of next-gen streaming video players that includes the NeoTV (NTV300), NeoTV PRO (NTV300S) and NeoTV MAX (NTV300SL). The players are among the first wave of products to offer HTML 5 functionality, a streaming method that’s fast replacing Adobe’s Flash plug-in as the industry standard. The new line will utilize digital rights management options like Microsoft’s PlayReady to put hundreds of streaming HD channels, on-demand, right at your itchy fingertips.

Netgear’s new players can edify a traditional TV and upgrade a smart TV, broadening access to apps and providing additional content, all at accessible price points. And if you’re sick of losing the remote in the crannies of your couch, NeoTV’s afford you the ability to use your smartphone to control the on-screen action.

The models deliver Netflix, Vudu, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Best Buy CinemaNow, Pandora, and Rhapsody, all in 1080p and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound when available. All three devices also offer Intel Wireless Display (WiDi), a service that allows you to wirelessly display compatible devices on your TV screen.

Headlining the new family on the block is the NeoTV MAX (NTV300SL) which – in addition to the aforementioned features – comes with QWERTY remote control and external hard disk drive support.

The NeoTV lineup hits U.S. stores starting September 20, 2012. The NeoTV Streaming Player (NTV300) will retail for $50, The NeoTV PRO Streaming Player (NTV300S) for $60, and the NeoTV MAX Streaming Player (NTV300SL) tops the list at $70.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Blu suede shoes: OPPO’s new players have some formidable footwear to fill

Can OPPO's new blu-ray players measure up to their popular predecessors?"

 OPPO Digital – known for their high end universal disc players – will be debuting two new blu-ray players, the BDP-103 and BDP-105. The company has yet to nail down release dates for the models, but expects the BDP-103 to ship in October, while the BDP-105 will wait until the tail end of 2012.

The new blu-bloods are successors to the  oft laureled BDP-93 and BDP-95 models and will hope to continue in the same vein, by providing superior video quality, audio quality and a movie theater feel. These iterations use a Marvell’s Qdeo video processor, which provides for 4K up-scaling, 2D-to-3D conversion, and 1080p24Hz output. They also come equipped with three USB ports, wired and wireless networking capability, and support for Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD (SACD), HDCD, and CD formats.

Outfitted with dual HDMI inputs, the players can connect to different audio and video systems, or even fuel two separate displays simultaneously. Each also supports virtually every high-end audio format known to man. Though both models are considered state-of-the-art, the The BDP-105 is a steep step up from the BDP-103, offering a beefed up audio system and an asynchronous USB, allowing users to stream without worrying about the quality of their computer’s master clock.

The suggested retail prices are $500, for Oppo  BDP-103, and $1200, for the BDP-105.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Is Resident Evil 6′s DLC a timed exclusive on Xbox 360?

Is Capcom giving Xbox 360 owners a taste of Resident Evil 6 DLC ealier than PS3 and PC players?

Capcom wants Resident Evil 6 to be Call of Duty. It’ll tell you up front that it just wants to make a game that’s all things to all people—a patient horror game, a tactical shooter, and a balls to the wall action spectacle—but we all know the truth. Look at Resident Evil.net. Look at all those exploding helicopters. You’re not fooling anyone, Capcom.

There’s another way in which Resident Evil 6 is following Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’s lead: Downloadable content for the game is coming to Xbox 360 before any other platform.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Japan Twitter feed (via Kotaku) made the announcement on Friday morning.

Now Capcom hasn’t weighed in on this just yet. We’ve reached out to Capcom’s American office to see if this is true for all territories, just Japan, or whether it was just a poorly phrased Tweet. We’ll update this when we hear from them.

It isn’t, however, unlikely especially if the downloadable content in question is for the game’s competitive Mercenaries mode. Timed exclusive DLC is the closest thing to a console exclusive publishers are willing to make in this day and age. Capcom is after all already offering a plethora of exclusive DLC bonuses through retailers GameStop, Best Buy, and Amazon. 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Samsung, Nokia, and Apple dominate phone sales in spring 2012

Wondering who shipped the most handsets in the second quarter of 2012? ABI research reveals the top 11 players.

There aren’t many surprises when it comes to analyzing the top 11 manufacturers in the worldwide mobile handset industry in the second quarter of 2012. All the top brands you would expect to see are present and correct. The top three will surprise no one – Samsung, Nokia, and Apple (in that order). Of course, this analysis from ABI Research analyst, Michael Morgan, covers every handset shipped, not just smartphones.

Samsung accounted for 26 percent, Nokia shipped 23.1 percent, Apple 7.2 percent, ZTE 5.4 percent, and LG 3.6 percent. You can see the full run down on Fierce Wireless, which has detailed sales figures. Keep in mind, these are shipments rather than sales, but it still gives you a good idea of the top players.

Morgan runs through an analysis for each manufacturer on the list. We’ll give you the condensed highlights. Samsung is doing very well, with over 50 million smartphones shipped. Nokia shipped a roughly even split of Symbian and Windows Phone devices, but WP8 is liable to have a detrimental impact on sales of those WP7 devices. Apple’s iPhone sales slowed, but with the iPhone 5 just around the corner, we can expect a major spike for them soon.

ZTE made it into the top five for the first time ever. Huawei is another rising star from China, along with TCL (Alcatel). Things don’t look so great for LG, RIM, or Motorola, as they all showed a decline from the first quarter of 2012. Sony Mobile and HTC showed a slight improvement over their first quarter results.

With plenty of new releases on the horizon, we can expect the rest of the year to be an interesting battle. Can Apple catch Samsung? Probably not. Can Motorola turn things around with a new line-up? Maybe. Will Nokia’s new WP8 line make up for the WP7 smartphones already shipped? We’ll have to wait and see.

(Image via Fierce Wireless)

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

The Battle for Bandwidth [Infographic]

The prevalence of smartphones, tablets, and digital media players, has resulted in a battle for bandwidth on college campuses. Have a look at who’s hogging the bandwidth and why, in addition to the highlights I picked out for you below.

• 68% of institutions allow students unlimited internet connectivity.
• 77% of institutions report increased bandwidth usage as significant issue for their network.
• 41% of students have 3 or more devices connected to the internet at any given time.
• The three largest bandwidth consumers are tablets, smartphones, and digital media devices.
• 50% of IT departments claim they do not recover costs of bandwidth supplied to students.

Take a look at the infographic below

Presented By: OnlineColleges.net

Source : techtalkafrica[dot]com

DayZ hits 1 million players, evolves from mod to standalone game

Brian Hall's ArmA II mod DayZ has shambled its way into 1 million players hearts. Now it will be developed as a standalone game.

DayZ is what they call in the arts a phenomenon. Over the past 6 months, Dean Hall’s zombie apocalypse simulator has gathered itself 1 million players, a feat that many commercially released PC and console games can’t pull off. DayZ isn’t even its own game. It is a mod for Bohemia Interactive’s stringent military sim ArmA II, and an incomplete mod still in testing at that.

Like Minecraft in 2010, DayZ’s phenomenon status is propelling it to new heights even before it’s finished. Where the Minecraft beta put Mojang and Notch Pearson in the games industry spotlight, bringing them opportunities on platforms like Xbox Live that would have otherwise been inaccessible, DayZ is seeing Dean Hall becoming an integral part of Bohemia. The latest: DayZ will be a properly developed standalone game.

“That’s right, this is actually happening—DayZ will be developed as a standalone game, with me as project lead, by Bohemia Interactive,” reads the announcement on the official DayZ website, “This is the fairy-tale outcome for a mod that many would have said impossible four months ago.”

With 1 million players exploring the zombie-filled coast of Hall’s ArmA II mod, there’s no doubt some concern that this full version will halt the existing, evolving community. Development won’t interrupt the mod Hall assures. “Development and updates of the mod will continue in parallel with the development of the game, anyone who is playing the mod now will be able to continue to do so. The project will follow the Minecraft development model; fast iterations with the community alpha available for a heavily discounted price.”

DayZ’s success is another prominent sign of the PC game development industry’s health today. A game can, by merit of its good ideas alone, find an audience and become a success. The adoption of the mod by Bohemia for full development is more than just a sign of the business times in video games. This game, like Minecraft, represents a sea change in people’s tastes for massively multiplayer online games. MMOs like Star Wars: The Old Republic that mimic the model set by early MMO successes like Everquest and World of Warcraft gather together a strong following of players at the start but its difficult to retain their interests. The era of the quest-based MMO is coming to a close and games like DayZ are ushering in the future. Environments with clear cut rules where large groups of people—albeit not the thousands that populate MMORPG servers—create much of the “game” themselves through choice and behavior.

Cheers to Hall and Bohemia. May their game find all the success—and receive all the development time—it deserves.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com