Girls Creating Games

Check this out:
http://programservices.etr.org/gcgweb/mymain1.swf

iPod "FairPlay System" has been Hacked

That's right readers, the "lovable" Fairplay system has been hacked. Now the hacker who hacked the code, Jon Lech Johansen, says that instead of publishing the hack on the net, he will be selling the crack to MP3 companies through his company called, DoubleTwist. This crack will allow MP3 companies to allow their users to buy songs from iTunes and then put it on other "non-iPod" players. For those of you are are unaware, here is a brief run down of what FairPlay is...

FairPlay is a digital rights management (DRM) technology created by Apple Computer, built in to the QuickTime multimedia technology and used by the iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Store. Every file bought from the iTunes Store with iTunes is encoded with FairPlay. It digitally encrypts AAC audio files and prevents users from playing these files on "unauthorized" computers.

FairPlay will allow a protected track to be used in the following ways:

* The protected track may be copied to any number of iPod portable music players.
* The protected track may be played on up to five (originally three) authorized computers simultaneously.
* The protected track may be copied to a standard Audio CD any number of times.
o The resulting CD has no DRM and may be ripped, encoded and played back like any other CD. However, CD's created by users do not attain first sale rights and cannot be legally leased, lent, sold or distributed to others by the creator.
o The CD audio still bears the artifacts of compression, so converting it back into a loss format such as MP3 may aggravate the sound artifacts of encoding (see transitions).
* A particular playlist within iTunes containing a protected track can be copied to a CD only up to seven times (originally ten times) before the playlist must be changed.

(wikipedia)

Produce of Final Fantasy XII Walk Through

On GameTrailers.com, there is a producer walk through that goes into discussing one of the most anticipated game of the year.

Southpark Meets WOW

If you missed the WOW episode of Southpark, watch it on YouTube:
Southpark Season 10 Episode 8 Part 1
Southpark Season 10 Episode 8 Part 2
Southpark Season 10 Episode 8 Part 3

By the way, you should have heard it by now that Google is snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a deal that catapults the Internet search leader to a starring role in the online video revolution.

With YouTube, Google adds the largest video-sharing site on the Web and an audience that watches more than 100 million clips a day.

These days, games waste processor and GPU time simulating HDR. It looks pretty cool too, right? Take a look at this article, and you may change your mind.

HDR Monitors

Ubisoft: Our Goal is to Beat EA

Ubisoft is feeling feisty lately, as the French publisher of Splinter Cell, the upcoming Assasssin's Creed and more has said that it is trying to beat leading publisher Electronic Arts, according to Ubi North America head Laurent Detoc. The company believes its strong support for the Wii will give it a push in the right direction.
Read more ...

Wowaholic

When does a game hobby become an addiction? When will the parents step in? Here is an interesting video from the UK that shows how games can affect and effect players.

Pixel Art for GB/DS/Mobile Game Programmers

Pixel art is a form of digital art, created on the computer through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level. Graphics in most old (or relatively limited) computer and video games, Game Boy games, graphing calculator games, and many mobile phone games are mostly pixel art.

Here are great Pixel art site, which blow your mind:

• Love Pixel (note how wide and how long the page is as it loads, tile by tile)
• Pixel Moon (note how wide and how long the page is as it loads, tile by tile)
• Supper Toto
• The Joint (make sure to check the submitted apartments)
• Pixels

Watch this amazing video.

And, check out PixelDam and PixelMoon as a couple mindblowing examples of user-created art projects/communities built around pixel art.

Microsoft + King Kong + Lord of the Rings = a New Game Studio

Microsoft announced that it will be creating a new video game studio in collaboration with "Lord of the Rings" and "King Kong" director Peter Jackson.

The studio, which will be called Wingnut Interactive, will be a joint partnership between Microsoft Game Studios and its subsidiary studio, Bungie. It will work on the creation of a new title in the hit "Halo" series of games.

Read more...

Could Apple Become Games Console King?

If you haven’t thought about Apple’s ability to compete with Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft in the living room convergence market, and ESPECIALLY if you haven’t heard of the iTV yet ( yes, that’s like iPod for your TV), then you really want to read this.