Yee-ouch. According to GamePro.com, when it comes to PC games, “piracy rates for the U.S. market alone are hovering around 80%!” These figures come courtesy of Michael Fitch, Director of Creative Management at game company THQ. His original post on the subject can be found here in the Quarter to Three forums. Here’s an excerpt […]

Yee-ouch. According to GamePro.com, when it comes to PC games, “piracy rates for the U.S. market alone are hovering around 80%!”

These figures come courtesy of Michael Fitch, Director of Creative Management at game company THQ. His original post on the subject can be found here in the Quarter to Three forums.

Here’s an excerpt from Fitch’s post.

“I didn’t believe [the data] at first. It seemed way too high. Then I saw that Bioshock was selling 5 to 1 on console vs. PC. And Call of Duty 4 was selling 10 to 1. These are hardcore games, shooters, classic PC audience stuff. Given the difference in install base, I can’t believe that there’s that big of a difference in who played these games, but I guess there can be in who actually payed for them.”

Whether that adds up to 80% or not could probably be argued but the fact remains that it’s a pretty gaping disparity and game developers are finding that console gaming seems to be quite a bit more financially fulfilling, as evidenced by Epic Games’ (makers of Gears of War) announcement that they’ll be going console-only from here on out citing that the PC gaming market is “in disarray.”

PC game piracy in US estimated at 75-80% [GamePro.com]

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Via [crunchgear]

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This is pure speculation, but I can’t help liking this laptop mockup with an Optimus-Maximus-style OLED keyboard. Sure, it’d be a $1000+ option that wouldn’t do much substantive good in the long run, but hey, people are paying the same amount for SSDs, so you know this would sell. Heck, you could even combine the two for the most ridiculously overpriced laptop ever. [Laptop News Daily via GeekAlerts]

Via [Gizmodo]

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This seemed like a no-brainer, I’m not sure why it hasn’t been implemented before. TomTom’s new models, the 730 and 930, estimate trip time using collected data on how fast people actually go on the streets it advocates, rather than the posted speed limits. I guess the question is, where did they get this data? […]

This seemed like a no-brainer, I’m not sure why it hasn’t been implemented before. TomTom’s new models, the 730 and 930, estimate trip time using collected data on how fast people actually go on the streets it suggests, rather than the posted speed limits. I guess the question is, where did they get this data? Is there a “send anonymous usage stats to TomTom” toggle somewhere on their GPS units that people don’t know about?

The system also takes into account “speed bumps and rotaries,” by which I think it means traffic circles. Not only that, but if you live in LA and drive on 12-lane surface streets all day, it’s got a detailed lane view thing now that tells you which you should be in. Cool features, but they also feature a $500 price tag. Not exactly a killer app.

New TomTom Models - 730 and 930 [GPSReview]

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Via [crunchgear]

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We seemed to have missed this in the current unlimited call plan-gasm, but Sprint is apparently offering a call plan that rings in at $89.99/month and includes unlimited voice, messaging and push to talk. The plan is cheaper because it does not include any data usage in the price. Still, it is $10 less than Verizon and AT&T offerings, both of which will only give you unlimited voice for $99/month. If you don’t need data access via your handset, checkout our awesome cheat sheet to see why this really is exceptional value for money. [Mobileburn]

Via [Gizmodo]

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This image from a Circuit City advertisement seems to show the iPod nano dressed up in yet another sickening color—this time deep purple. The advertisement was spotted in a circular today, but we have not seen it for ourselves. Has anyone glimpsed a shot of the picture in question? And do we really need purple to add to the list of nauseating colors the iPod nano already comes in? Sentences ending in questions aside, we have seen the iPod shuffle gain a similar purple treatment, so it does not seem imposible. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear any official word on the potential update. [Connection Podcast]

Via [Gizmodo]

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I recently missed a connecting flight from Vegas to Dallas to Boston, so I had some time to kill at DFW. My flight was leaving out of the D terminal and let me tell you, there are some strange and wonderful things there. From weird vending machines to large structures right in the middle […]

I recently missed a connecting flight from Vegas to Dallas to Boston, so I had some time to kill at DFW. My flight was leaving out of the D terminal and let me tell you, there are some strange and wonderful things there. From weird vending machines to massive structures right in the middle of everything, here’s some cool stuff I found.

iPod Vending Machine

The iPod vending machine isn’t anything new but I thought I’d toss it up here to get it out of the way and to possibly introduce it to people who haven’t seen or heard of one yet. Some of these pics are blurry, sorry. I took them with my phone.

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The chaps over at Hot Hardware have put the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 processor, which belongs to the (45nm) Wolfdale line, through its paces, and they sure were impressed. From their extensive testing, the processor, intended for desktop machines and ideal for gaming especially, did not seem to make any massive changes on an architectural level, however, small adjustments had a great overall effect on performance. The 6MB of L2 cache brought an impressive speed boost, while the power consumption and heat production levels both fell.

Indeed, the Core 2 Duo E8500 was comparable in performance to lower clocked quad-core chips, proving the viability of the Wolfdale architecture. The chip is apt to retail at the +$300 mark and that seems to be the only drawback—it is a tiny on the steep side. Regardless, the Hot Hardware fellows were still willing to give the Core 2 Duo E8500 the highly coveted “Recommended” badge, and if their test results ring true, we would not disagree. Hit the link to check out the extensive testing [Hot Hardware]

Via [Gizmodo]

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Oklahoma Christian University joins the list of colleges across the country to “give away” Apple products to incoming freshman. New students will receive a MacBook and their choice of an iPhone or iPod Touch. Of course we all know that the costs of such giveaways are built into the ever-rising tuition at schools everywhere but […]

Oklahoma Christian University joins the list of colleges across the country to “give away” Apple products to incoming freshman. New students will receive a MacBook and their choice of an iPhone or iPod Touch. Of course we all know that the costs of such giveaways are built into the ever-rising tuition at schools everywhere but it’s a nice way for kids to get some new gadgets as they start the school year.

From the school’s website…

This summer, all faculty and all new students attending New Student Orientations will be issued a new Apple MacBook. Current students also will be given the opportunity to trade in their PC laptop for an Apple MacBook. This MacBook mobile learning initiative and the reliable campus-wide wireless infrastructure will allow OC to continue to provide opportunities for anytime, anywhere access to media-rich distributed course content.

In addition to the MacBook, the University will be able to offer students an option of either an Apple iPhone or iPod touch. The University is providing this option with the understanding that some students will not want to activate the iPhone with the associated service contract and costs, while others will prefer the iPhone and the added capabilities. The student will be responsible for the activation of the iPhone with the service provider.

Man, you kids have it easy. Back in my collegiate days (1997 - 2001) we didn’t have ubiquitous wireless internet or fancy iPods. I had to hook my 6 pound Toshiba laptop up to any open ethernet port I could find. And we didn’t get “free” computers. My first college computer was a $3700 Sony VAIO desktop with a Pentium 166MHz processor with MMX extensions. I played Quake all the live-long day. Quake!

And bringing your laptop to class? Unheard of. I bought a PDA-type device with a QWERTY keyboard that I would hold up to a payphone where it would then dial up a number with an old school modem and e-mail my notes to me. People thought I was crazy. I’d just yell at them, “You’ll see! Someday I’ll work for a blog!” And they’d yell back, “What’s a blog?!” and then punch me in my nerdly stomach. Ah, good times.

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