Friday Night Fights: the 90s were scary edition
August 15, 2008
I apologize in advance for putting you through this, but Tazar sent me this gem earlier today and I couldn’t get it out of my head. You know those "the following content is for mature audiences only" warnings? This video is the reason they exist.
Now I don’t normally sway too far away from videogame-related topics for these Friday Night Fights posts, but this video was too frightening for me not to share with the rest of you.
Should you not feel queasy immediately after watching Brian Austin Green do whatever it is he’s doing in the clip, why not join us for some gaming?
Feel free to drop me a line by way of email, comment, or private message if you’d like to be a host tonight.
[Thanks, AgentMOO, EuroFNF, insomnia, Professor Pew, ScottyG, wilbo, and Y0j1mb0!]
Gen Con 2008 in Pictures
August 15, 2008
The last few days have been an awesome adventure for me. I am currently attending Gen Con 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The show is being promoted as the “best four days of gaming,” with the focus being on boardgames and cardgames. Despite those two things being a little out of Destructoid’s style, I am happy to report that several prolific videogame publishers and developers have shown up at the event to demo their product and educate me. Some of the offerings that I got my hands on today include Sacred 2, Champions Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online (Mod 8), Warhammer Online, and King’s Bounty.
Several other games are being shown and expect to see much more information coming in the next few hours and days ahead. As a precursor to my coverage, I thought I would show all of you what happens when I get a showroom all to myself in the wee hours of the morning. Check out the gallery below to see some awesome poster ball-punching, cosplayers, and a preview of some of the booths present at the event.
EA Showcase 08: Hands-on with NERF N-Strike for the Wii
August 15, 2008
NERF N-Strike is easily going to have the best peripheral ever made for a game. You will actually get a real working NERF gun that also doubles as the gun cradle for the Wiimote. There will be a removable one-shot NERF launcher where the Wiimote fits, and the NERF gun is even designed to accept the MotionPlus and allows for the Nunchuk to plug in for easy access.
There will be a story for the single-player mode, designed in a Saturday morning cartoon fashion, where the main character joins an elite NERF group and fights with NERF guns against robots. This is a kids’ game after all, so there won’t be any humans that are yelling out horrible one-liners to shoot at.
The game will support up to four players with around 24 events to play. I played a game with Emily from Ripten where we had to shoot as many balls as we could. Each time we hit a ball, a machine hanging above the stage would paint the ball your team’s colors until all the balls were destroyed. 
Players will have access to 25 guns, 12 of which are real NERF guns and 13 of which are brand new NERF guns designed for N-Strike. I played with a handgun, an automatic rifle and a sniper rifle during my playtime.
The game basically feels like Time Crisis, but with NERF guns. The main downside to all of this is that the gun and game package will cost .99, and the gun by itself will go for .99. That’s a great price point for the gun, but no arcade-style on-rails shooter is worth more than . Both the gun and game will be out in your local videogame section and toy section this November 4 for the Wii.
Guitar Hero On Tour Decades screenshots for uh, decades
August 15, 2008
Without much fanfare, Nintendo went ahead and announced Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades at their E3 2008 press conference. Later Activision confirmed it, simply saying — more or less — "Yup, it’s a follow up to Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS." 
Now we have some new screens, and from what we can tell, it’s going to be Guitar Hero: On Tour with some new songs. Tracks confirmed so far: 
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Can’t Stop"
- Paramore - "crushcrushcrush"
- All-American Rejects - "Dirty Little Secret"
- The Darkness - "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"
- Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
- Linkin Park - "One Step Closer"
- Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"
- Seether - "Remedy"
- Smashing Pumpkins - "Tarantula"
- Fall Out Boy - "The Take Over, The Break’s Over"
Users of the original On Tour will be able to share songs with those that have the Decades cart as well, though we’re not entirely sure how that’ll work. Our first guess is usually black magic, but that was wrong when we guessed it would be used to facilitate Xbox/Xbox 360 backwards compatibility.
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades will be available this fall and your fingers will fall off trying to play it.
Attention span
August 15, 2008
By Marc Settle
Reporter, BBC iPM
As the age at which children start to get familiar with computers and the net gets ever lower, questions are starting to be asked about what that exposure is doing to our children’s brains and their ability to concentrate.
These questions are ones which eminent neuroscientist Baroness Greenfield says needs to be confronted. The director of the Royal Institution says the “sensory-laden environment” of computers could result in people “staying in the world of the small child”.
Professor Greenfield has spent a lifetime researching the physiology of the brain, and now thinks that there could be a link between the attention span of children and the growing use of computers.
In an interview for Radio 4’s iPM she said: “The last 10 years have seen a three-fold increase in the prescription of the drug Ritalin, a drug used for Attention Deficit Disorder. One asks why
“Why suddenly is there greater demand for a drug for attentional problems” she asked. “This might, and I stress might, be something to do with the increased exposure of young children to unsupervised and lengthy hours in front of a screen.”
"The technology is creating an environment that is answer rich, but we’re question poor"Susan Greenfield
iPM: Listen to the interview with Baroness Greenfield
Baroness Greenfield wondered if the cause was growing computer use.
“Could it be, and this is just a suggestion which I think we should look into, could it be if a small child is sitting in front of a screen pressing buttons and getting reactions quickly for many hours, they get used to and their brains get used to rapid responses” she said.
If children do not have stories read to them and have little practice of concentrating for long periods this could effect how they handle the sedate pace of school life, said Baroness Greenfield.
She asked: “Could it be that they then have to sit still for half an hour and of course they’re not used to that because they’re used to the rapid interaction with the screen, and could it - again a question - be that they are fidgety and hyperactive and then diagnosed as having a disorder”
The brain, says the distinguished neuroscientist, changes all the time - but it is very sensitive to the environment its in, and so it might be affected by the continual use of computers.
“What we need to question is this: are we putting people into the optimum environment How can we create an environment which will pre-dispose the brain to react in ways we consider ideal” she said.
“The technology is creating an environment that is answer rich, but we’re question poor.”
She contrasts the life of modern-day children with the generation which grew up without computers, who had to work to find answers by going to a library to look things up.
Baroness Greenfield also claims that the distinction has been lost between information and knowledge - with the facts provided by easy-accessed information losing the context necessary for knowledge.
Her views are echoed by the writer Nicholas Carr in his recent essay “Is Google making us stupid” that was published in Atlantic Monthly. In the article Mr Carr claims that his mind is changing as a result of greater computer use. “Deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle,” he said.
But a contrasting view comes from the philosopher Julian Baggini, who has written that the fear of change and of children becoming “degenerate aliens” is as old as parenthood, an “age-old anxiety” which he accused Baroness Greenfield of dignifying.
In response, the professor told iPM that she would rather not be complacent and “end up with a world that we don’t want”.
Baroness Greenfield can be heard on BBC Radio 4 at 17.30 on Friday 15 August 2008.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation
Motorola intros the ZN200 W396 and W388 mobile handsets
August 15, 2008
Three new low-end mobile phones are being pushed out by Motorola, and all three of differing form factors; the Motorola ZN200, Motorola W396 and Motorola W388.
First up is the Motorola ZN200, a slider mobile with quad-band GSM, EDGE and GPRS connectivity, 2 megapixel camera fixed-focus, 1.9 inch colour display, Bluetooth, USB, FM radio, CrystalTalk technology, and 2GB capacity microSD card slot.
Next the Motorola W396, a clamshell design mobile and has two dual-band GSM versions. The W396 sports a 1.8 TFT colour display, Motorola’s proprietary CrystalTalk technology, GPRS data transfers only, FM radio, USB, and 2GB capacity microSD card slot. The W396 measures 95 x 45 x 17mm with a weight of 88-94grams.
Last but not least we have the Motorola W388 candy-bar and has doen the rounds on the web for quite some time, so the officiall announcement on it isn’t that much of a surprise. Probably the cheapest of them all the W388 packs a1.8 inch colour display, FM radio with RDS, USB, microSD, and twin dual-band GSM versions with only GPRS.
The Motorola ZN200, W396 and W388 become available sometime the end of Q3 and as yet carry no pricing.
Source – GSMarena
Gateway P-7811FX
August 15, 2008
<-125x125 Button - right->
Finally we have the pleasure to tell you about a new notebook from Gateway, while there has been a long time since we haven’t heard news from this company regarding new portable computer additions. The latest laptop is optimized for video gaming and entertainment on the go as well, included in the P-Series FX Edition line of Gateway laptop computers, and being powered by the Intel Centrino 2 processing technology.
Besides the strong high-end capabilities, Gateway P-7811FX is also an affordable model and the company’s first powered by the newest Intel technology with faster multi-tasking support at lower power consumption.
“The Gateway P-7811FX is a great choice for customers such as students and professionals who want a notebook that can handle all of their computing needs - from creating videos and playing games to tackling work, school and home projects,” said Todd Titera, senior manager, notebook product management. “And while the new notebook is ideal for demanding gamers and enthusiasts who want the latest technology, its affordable price also makes it perfect for digital media hobbyists and casual PC game players.”
Coming at a retail price of 1,399.99, Gateway P-7811FX has other cool components such as the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS video card with 512MB DDR3 dedicated graphics memory for real-time 3D imaging, 2.26GHz processing speeds, 4GB memory, 200GB HDD storage capacity, second drive bay, all working to display the best results on a 17-inch large wide screen with a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels.
Additional elements include HDMI connectivity, cool illuminated multimedia keys for direct access to audio and video controls, built-in 1.3MP web camera for char conferences, VoIP support, wireless 802.11 Draft-N support, a 5-in-1 media card reader, 3 USB ports, Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW w/DVD-RAM with LabelFlash, and the Microsoft Windows Home Premium 64-bit Edition operating system pre-installed.
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