THQ developing downloadable games based on ‘core’ brands
Mar/100
“Very aggressive” is the phrase THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson used to describe his company’s plans for downloadable titles across the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC platforms during a GDC 2010 interview with Joystiq. With two studios dedicated to the downloadable space — THQ Digital Studios Phoenix (formerly Rainbow Studios) and THQ Digital Studios UK (formerly Juice Games) — Bilson told us THQ plans to release “up to six” downloadable titles within the next year, some based on the company’s biggest brands.
“We’re going to be building stuff on some of our core brands,” Bilson said, noting the plan is to create downloadable titles within the same universe as THQ’s major franchises in order to improve brand awareness. Surprisingly, Bilson’s plans include “giving away” some of the upcoming downloadable games, although he did not specify how this idea would be executed.
Bilson’s theory is that by getting players “involved” in its franchises via downloadable titles, THQ can help drive pre-orders and awareness for their big-budget (in relation) retail counterparts. While he would not specify which THQ franchises would get downloadable titles, we were told the plan is to roll out this strategy on “two or three” of THQ’s biggest franchises (? la Square Enix’s upcoming Lara Croft game from developer Crystal Dynamics).
But the plan doesn’t end there: Similar to the approach taken by Microsoft’s Fable II: Pub Games experiment, downloadable releases based on THQ’s major brands will unlock content within the retail releases, teasing players with potential advantages to purchasing retail releases; retail games will also unlock content in downloadable titles, to help drive players to explore more content within that franchise’s universe. “You’re going to see some of our core brands built out in different kinds of gameplay to get people involved in the brands and drive awareness towards a launch.”
THQ developing downloadable games based on ‘core’ brands originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Green Day: Rock Band releases June 8 worldwide
Mar/100
That’s right, folks — Harmonix has just revealed that Green Day: Rock Band will be available for all come June 8 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Up to 6 players (3 mics; 3 instruments) will progress through the career of the trio, unlocking collectible images (more than 100, apparently) and some 40 minutes of “rare and unreleased” footage from interviews, outtakes and performances along the way.
As alluded to above, GD:RB will also sport the same vocal harmonizing feature that made The Beatles: Rock Band such a delight for mic hogs and comes loaded with 47 Green Day tracks, including “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
Oh, and if you’re looking to export these tunes, worry not: all 47 tracks are fully exportable to a console hard drive and playable in Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the recently announced Rock Band 3. The export fee is $9.99 via Xbox Live or PSN. The export features is not available for the Wii system. Additionally, if you’ve picked up the six Green Day tunes already available as DLC, you can play them in the new game with added harmonies, “unique” visuals and more “exclusive archival material.”
Green Day: Rock Band will be available as a standalone game for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99, while Wii owners will get a bit of a price break at $49.99. A special edition Green Day: Rock Band Plus will also come to Xbox 360 and PS3 for $69.99 and includes fancy packaging, an “export” feature (we assume, a voucher to export the disc tracks to a hard drive) and the six previously released Green Day DLC tracks.
Update: The GameStop pre-order bonus for the standalone game is an export voucher (for Xbox 360 or PS3). Essentially, pre-order GD:RB from GameStop, and you can export all 47 tracks to your console hard drive for free.
Green Day: Rock Band releases June 8 worldwide originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Restore Files from Backups in Windows Home Server
Mar/100
If you use Windows Home Server to backup the machines on your network, your in luck if you accidentally delete important files or they become corrupted. Today we take a look at getting your data back from backups on your home server.
Open Windows Home Server Console and click select the Computers and Backup tab. Right-click on the computer you need to restore files for and select View Backups.
This will open a list of your recent backups. Highlight the one you want to open, then click the Open button in the Restore or View Files section.
If this is the first time you’re restoring a file, you’ll be asked to verify installation of the device software. Check the box next to Always trust software from Microsoft Corporation and click Install.
Now wait while the backup data is retrieved.
After the backup data has been retrieved, an explorer windows opens up to drive (Z:) which is the backup data. It’s just like if you were opening a drive on your local machine. Now you can browse through the backup and find the files your missing. You can open the files directly, or drag them onto your machine to the location you want to restore them.
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Restoring your data is actually a very easy process with Windows Home Server. Of course you’ll want to make sure the computers on your network are being backed up to WHS. if you need help with that, check out our article on how to configure your computer to backup to WHS. If you want to backup your home server shares, check out our article on how to backup WHS folder to an external drive.
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Restore Files from Backups in Windows Home Server
Add keyboard languages to XP, Vista, and Windows 7
Mar/100
Do you regularly need to type in multiple languages in Windows?? Here we’ll show you the easy way to add and change input languages to your keyboard in XP, Vista, and Windows 7.
Windows Vista and 7 come preinstalled with support for viewing a wide variety of languages, so adding an input language is fairly simply.? Adding an input language is slightly more difficult in XP, and even requires installing additional files if you need an Asian or Complex script language.? First we show how to add an input language in Windows Vista and 7; it’s basically is the same in both versions.? Then, we show how to add a language to XP, and also how to add Complex Script support.?
Please note that this is only for adding an input language, which will allow you to type in the language you select.? This does not change your user interface language.
Change keyboard language in Windows 7 and Vista
It is fairly simple to add or change a keyboard language in Windows 7 or Vista.? In Windows 7, enter “keyboard language” in the Start menu search box, and select “Change keyboards or other input methods”.
![sshot-2010-03-08-[18-50-10]](http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/98bcc370e7185010.png.png "sshot-2010-03-08-[18-50-10]")
In Windows Vista, open Control Panel and enter “input language” in the search box and select “Change keyboards or other input methods”.? This also works in Windows 7.
Now, click Change Keyboards to add another keyboard language or change your default one.
Our default input language is US English, and our default keyboard is the US keyboard layout.? Click Add to insert another input language while still leaving your default input language installed.
Here we selected the standard Thai keyboard language (Thai Kedmanee), but you can select any language you want.? Windows offers almost any language you can imagine, so just look for the language you want, select it, and click Ok.
Alternately, if you want, you can click Preview to see your layout choice before accepting it.? This is only the default characters, not ones that will be activated with Shift or other keys (many Asian languages use many more characters than English, and require the use of Shift and other keys to access them all).? Once your finished previewing, click close and then press Ok on the previous dialog.
Now you will see both of your keyboard languages in the Installed services box.? You can click Add to go back and get more, or move your selected language up or down (to change its priority), or simply click Apply to add the new language.
Also, you can now change the default input language from the top menu.? This is the language that your keyboard will start with when you boot your computer.? So, if you mainly use English but also use another language, usually it is best to leave English as your default input language.
Once you’ve pressed Apply or Ok, you will see a new icon beside your system tray with the initials of your default input language.
If you click it, you can switch between input languages.? Alternately you can switch input languages by pressing Alt+Shift on your keyboard.
Some complex languages, such as Chinese, may have extra buttons to change input modes to accommodate their large alphabet.
If you would like to change the keyboard shortcut for changing languages, go back to the Input Languages dialog, and select the “Advanced Key Settings” tab.? Here you can change settings for Caps Lock and change or add key sequences to change between languages.
Also, the On-Screen keyboard will display the correct keyboard language (here the keyboard is displaying Thai), which can be a helpful reference if your physical keyboard doesn’t have your preferred input language printed on it.? To open this, simply enter “On-Screen keyboard” in the start menu search, or click All Programs>Accessories>On-Screen keyboard.
Change keyboard language in Windows XP
The process for changing the keyboard language in Windows XP is slightly different.? Open Control Panel, and select “Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options”.
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Select “Add other languages”.
Now, click Details to add another language.? XP does not include support for Asian and complex languages by default, so if you need to add one of those languages we have details for that below.
Click Add to add an input language.
Select your desired language from the list, and choose your desired keyboard layout if your language offers multiple layouts.? Here we selected Canadian French with the default layout.
Now you will see both of your keyboard languages in the Installed services box.? You can click Add to go back and add more, or move your selected language up or down (to change its priority), or simply click Apply to add the new language.
Once you’ve pressed Apply or Ok, you will see a new icon beside your system tray with the initials of your default input language.
If you click it, you can switch between input languages.? Alternately you can switch input languages by pressing Alt+Shift on your keyboard.
If you would like to change the keyboard shortcut for changing languages, go back to the Input Languages dialog, and click the “Key Settings” button on the bottom of the dialog.? Here you can change settings for Caps Lock and change or add key sequences to change between languages.
Add support to XP for Asian and Complex script languages
Windows XP does not include support for Asian and Complex script languages by default, but you can easily add them to your computer.? This is useful if you wish to type in one of these languages, or simply want to read text written in these languages, since XP will not display these languages correctly if they are not installed.? If you wish to install Chinese, Japanese, and/or Korean, check the “Install files for East Asian languages” box.? Or, if you need to install a complex script language (including Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, the Indic languages, Thai, and Vietnamese), check the “Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages” box.
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Choosing either of these options will open a prompt reminding you that this option will take up more disk space.? Support for complex languages will require around 10Mb of hard drive space, but East Asian language support may require 230 Mb or more free disk space.? Click Ok, and click apply to install your language files.
You may have to insert your XP CD into your CD drive to install these files.? Insert the disk, and then click Ok.
Windows will automatically copy the files, including fonts for these languages…
…and then will ask you to reboot your computer to finalize the settings.? Click Yes, and then reopen the “Add other languages” dialog when your computer is rebooted, and add a language as before.
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? Now you can add Complex and/or Asian languages to XP, just as above.? Here is the XP taskbar language selector with Thai installed.
Conclusion
Unfortunately we haven’t found a way to add Asian and complex languages in XP without having an XP disc. If you know of a way, let us know in the comments. (No downloading the XP disc from torrent site answers please)
Adding an input language is very important for bilingual individuals, and can also be useful if you simply need to occasionally view Asian or Complex languages in XP.? And by following the correct instructions for your version of Windows, it should be very easy to add, change, and remove input languages.
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Add keyboard languages to XP, Vista, and Windows 7
Final Fantasy XIII launch party equips +10 awkwardness
Mar/100
What do Cerny Games’ Mark Cerny, Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor, Microsoft’s Corrinne Yu, and Obsidian’s Feargus Urquhart have in common, besides being game developers? Absolutely nothing. Yet, Square Enix managed to sit them down for an hour long roundtable discussion to talk about one thing: how awesome Final Fantasy (and Final Fantasy VII, in particular) is. To say it was awkward is a tremendous understatement.
Certainly, there’s much cause for celebration. With the game first announced nearly four years ago, the impending release of Final Fantasy XIII feels like a much needed breath of relief. It was Square Enix’s night to celebrate its work, and with a red carpet entrance for key producers and voice actors it carried an aura appropriate for the return of the long-awaited flagship franchise. With some glowing reviews, this launch party could have rested solely on the game’s merits.
A cheerful (and perhaps slightly mistranslated) speech from Square Enix president Yoichi Wada set the right tone for the evening, with Wada wearing a Fal’cie tattoo on his hand calling the audience to join him in a quest to save the world; however, the evening took a quick turn for the bizarre. A visually breathtaking 3D trailer for Final Fantasy XIII was marred by the host’s obnoxious desire to watch it a second time in quick succession. The roundtable discussion that followed highlighted the franchise’s accomplishments, twisting them into an overview of these developers’ shortcomings. There was an almost defeated attitude with the panel, many admitting their inability to match the sheer production values of a Square Enix joint.
The evening escalated to quite possibly one of the most awkward toasts we’ve ever encountered. A Microsoft spokesperson took the stage, congratulating Square Enix on bringing Final Fantasy XIII to Xbox 360. Shortly thereafter, a Sony spokesperson also took the stage, emphasizing how Final Fantasy is a PlayStation franchise, and how XIII is best on PS3, on a single Blu-ray disc — the way it was meant to be played. The audience was abuzz like a Joystiq comments thread, and champagne was had by all. Congratulations on releasing Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix!
Final Fantasy XIII launch party equips +10 awkwardness originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Could Phobos be hollow ?
Mar/100
Scientists have long believed that the Martian moon Phobos could be porous and filled with vast caverns. In an effort to shed new light on the nature …
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‘Guardian of Light’ a co-op Tomb Raider action game
Mar/100
Boy, when Crystal Dynamics said it would be creating “something completely new and very different” for Lara Croft, it wasn’t kidding around. GameSpot has posted a first look at Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and we don’t know where to begin. It’s downloadable, it’s isometric-view and it’s arcade-y action with just a hint of the old platforming ways. There’s a heavy co-op element, too (both local and online), with Lara and her companion, Totec (a “Mayan tribesman” wielding a spear) fighting off evil spirits and the undead, as well as combining their various skills to traverse through jungles and temples.
Actually, it looks … good. While the pace seems likely to be a little faster than the standard tomb raiding Lara does, this might be just the thing to spice up the still-aging franchise. We’ll check the game out for you at GDC next week, and let you know if this left-turn in genre is the right one for Lara to take.
‘Guardian of Light’ a co-op Tomb Raider action game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Windows Phone 7 Series Apps Based on XNA/Silverlight, No Backward Compatibility – Techie Buzz
Mar/100
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Windows Phone 7 Series Apps Based on XNA/Silverlight, No Backward Compatibility
Techie Buzz With Zune HD and Zune Apps Microsoft was facing a challenge of which app store to pitch to developers and how to make developers code apps for both Windows … Microsoft's ground-breaking Windows Phone 7 Series – a clean break from the past! A Detailed Look at Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series Microsoft Reveals XNA, Silverlight Support for Windows Phone 7 Series |
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Windows Phone 7 Series Apps Based on XNA/Silverlight, No Backward Compatibility – Techie Buzz
Scientists develop hangover-free booze
Mar/100
Scientists in Korea have come up with a way to allow drinkers to avoid a hangover by increasing the oxygen content. Increasing the amount of oxygen in…
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Scientists develop hangover-free booze
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Your Eyes Are Really Seeing This [Image Cache]
Mar/100
Vote in the comments: Who do you think wins this fight, lightsaber-wielding Batman or giant angry shark? Pick your answer carefully; there are more variables than you think. [Nerdcore via io9] More »
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