Monthly Archives: June 2011

Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop Available for Pre-order

by Noemi Twigg
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Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop Available for Pre-order

Richard “Doc” Nagy is no stranger to those who are into the steampunk scene. Around five years ago, he created a splash by making his first steampunk laptop that ran on Windows XP. He’s also made some Victorian-era keyboards in the ensuing years. But his creations were pretty much not available to the general steampunk-loving public. There’s always bound to be good news at one point or another, and it’s time for steampunk enthusiasts to get their hands on Nagy’s handiwork. In his web site, the self-proclaimed “steampunk contraptor, technical artist, and jackass-of-all-trades” has announced that he is taking pre-orders for steampunk laptops. The image shown above is the original Read more »

Real Life Iron Man Goes to Work

by Noemi Twigg
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Real Life Iron Man Goes to Work

If being Iron Man can be based on looks alone, then this guy could very well be the real Iron Man. Geek and DIY cred goes to Wang XiaoKang, a 15-year-old employee of ZTE. If you have a USB broadband dongle, then you might be familiar with this Chinese company as they are the second largest China-based telecommunications equipment manufacturer. Employee of a technology company or not, Wang XiaoKang deserves two thumbs up for his work. Heck, I’d give him three thumbs if I had three! He built this armor within 3 months and spent 3,000 yuan – that’s about USD460. When he started his project – for the sheer Read more »

Can I Get A Golden Ring With That?

by Darren Burr
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Can I Get A Golden Ring With That?

With all the discussion around the revamping of the DC universe, the relaunch of Valiant and the most excellent launch of the Jack Kirby stock of characters by Dynamite (does everything they touch turn to gold?), there is one major reboot occurring this month that could easily slip under the radar. I’m talking of course, about Sonic The Hedgehog. Not my usual genre of course, after all, where are the people in skin-tight costumes beating each other up? Well, they are still beating each other up at least! Now, I have criticised titles based on video games before, but then I’m hardly a game player either. But Sonic is different, the Read more »

A Look at Gotham City Impostors

by Robin Parrish
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A Look at Gotham City Impostors

Warner Bros. took the wraps off Gotham City Impostors at E3 last week, showing off its unique blend of PvP gunplay and Batman lore. The downloadable title, coming to Xbox Live, PSN, and PC, is being produced by Monolith, the makers of No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R. The premise behind the game finds ordinary people all over Gotham posing as either Batman or Joker and engaging in a shoot ‘em up against Gotham citizens on the opposing side. Since Batman never uses guns and Joker generally prefers his goofy clown gadgets, this idea was Monolith’s way of playing with guns in the DC Comics universe without breaking the rules. Read more »

Guys you gotta try Spiral Knights. It’s free on Steam

by Jayvee Fernandez
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Guys you gotta try Spiral Knights. It’s free on Steam

Steam has recently released Spiral Knights, a free to play MMO that runs on their network. Developed by SEGA, the game is available on both Mac and PC. It’s a quick download for 300MB. Spiral Knights looks like a typical dungeon crawl game. It’s not pretentious and it’s loads of fun. And yes I have to reiterate it’s free! Read more »

First Look at the Avengers!

by Robin Parrish
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First Look at the Avengers!

Straight out of the Licensing International Expo happening right now in Las Vegas, and courtesy of an eagle-eyed Twitterer, comes this first look at Marvel and Joss Whedon’s big-screen Avengers. The poster is a stylized digital creation, not an actual photo. It’s not even an actual movie poster. It’s an image being used by Marvel to introduce licensees to the property; it’s like the artwork you might see on the cardboard cards that accompany toys based on the movie. But it does reflect what the characters will look like in the finished film. Jumping out first at this viewer from the (slightly blurry) image: a modern update to Captain America’s Read more »

Bungie Says Goodbye Halo, Hello What’s Next

by Robin Parrish
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Bungie Says Goodbye Halo, Hello What’s Next

Mark your calendar for June 23 – July 7, Halo fans. For those two weeks, Bungie is pulling out all the stops for a spectacular “farewell to Halo” extravaganza on the 20th anniversary of the company’s inception. Halo isn’t going anywhere, of course. Microsoft just announced two new Halo releases at E3 last week. But series creator Bungie is leaving its baby in the hands of others as it sets off to create a mysterious new franchise. The two weeks of Halo goodness will (finally!) include a detailed explanation of “Bungie Aerospace,” a trademark filed by the game maker that scuttlebutt says is a code name connected to their next Read more »

More Game Companies Hacked

by Robin Parrish
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More Game Companies Hacked

First, there was the PSN über-meltdown. Either an extremely evil person tried to get their hands on all those users’ credit card information, or some smart aleck thought it would be a good idea to teach Sony a lesson about security measures by obliterating their entire network. Afterwards, another arm of the company, Sony Online Entertainment, was also hacked, compromising the personal information of SOE’s 24.6 million users. (SOE was never taken down the way the PlayStation Network was, so it’s services never suffered an outage.) But that was only the beginning. Around mid-May, the website for Eidos Interactive (publisher of Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, and others) was hacked, compromising Read more »

Has Comic-Con Become Poison to Blockbuster Movies?

by Robin Parrish
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Has Comic-Con Become Poison to Blockbuster Movies?

Ah, Comic-Con. Where else in the world can you find 125,000 sweaty, smelly geeks crammed together in a massive convention center to dress up in elaborate costumes and celebrate their favorites comic books, TV shows, movies, and video games? The New York Times today is reporting that all of the major movie studios are reassessing their strategies for San Diego Comic-Con. Generally the biggest genre films get big representation at Comic-Con, with star-studded panels, exclusive footage, big booths with giveaways, and viral marketing campaigns. This stuff can cost studios millions of dollars to produce. There was a time when “Comic-Con hit” equated to “box office gold,” but the last few Read more »