LG DVD Drive: 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-ROM 16X CD-R 16X CD-RW 32X CD-ROM CD, DVD: 2MB BD, HD: 4MB Cache SATA Super Multi Blue BD Burner and HD DVD Reader

Really! Thats the name of the LG Model GGW-H10NI DVD Burner.

What an absolute joke. Not the LG Product, (it’s a nice drive although a little pricey) but this whole Optical Media standards war that has been ongoing for the last ten years or so.
Which technology can use this alphabet soup idiocy to actually win [...]

Finnish court rules CSS protection used in DVDs “ineffective”

Via Oikeuden edessä and slashdot:

Finnish court rules CSS protection used in DVDs “ineffective”
In an unanimous decision released today, Helsinki District Court ruled that Content Scrambling System (CSS) used in DVD movies is “ineffective”. The decision is the first in Europe to interpret new copyright law amendments that ban the circumvention of “effective technological measures”. [...]

Exposed: HD DVD and Blu-ray Processiong Keys for All HD Titles

I was following this discussion on Doom9 yesterday, where arnezami claims to have found the “processing key” used to decrypt the DRM on all HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc films.
It looks like this is the real McCoy and the news is starting to get around…
arnezami claims to have found it by simply watching his [...]

Vista Not Playing Nice With FPS Games

Via SlashDot

Vista not playing nice with gamers

Some XP favorites crashing or crawling; fix wait could be lengthy

Windows Vista’s powerful new graphics engine may be one of its hallmark features, but it’s engendering complaints from a key segment of potential early adopters: hardcore gamers.

A small but significant number of games written for Windows XP either crash [...]

Wii hacked to play backups

Already! Here is a link to the Inquirer article…
If this isn’t a fake I will keep posting updates here, instead of a bunch of separate posts. (Not a fake Wiinja ModChip is now available).
UPDATE:
WiinJa ModChip website
USA Preorder here
Details:
Wiinja Drivechip Mod
$55.00
Features:
Non Swap / Direct Boot
Boots Own Region WII Backups Directly
Boots Own Region WII Backups [...]

AACS Confirms HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Cracked

AACS hack blamed on bad player implementation

A month after the first signs appeared online that AACS—the content protection scheme shared by HD DVD and Blu-ray—had been circumvented, the AACS Licensing Authority has verified the hack. According to a statement from the AACS LA, AACS has not been seriously compromised. Instead, the statement said, the attack [...]

“Think Big” How would you fix Xbox live?

1up has some interesting news regarding XBox Live…

How Would You Fix XBL?
Microsoft soliciting ideas, feedback for future updates.

You don’t often hear corporations asking their consumers for suggestions, but Microsoft’s done it once before with Xbox Live and they’re doing it again. Andre Vrignaud of the Xbox Live Platform Strategy team is asking Xbox users to [...]

Older gamer dissects the “Next-Gen” videogame offerings versus PC gaming

PS3 day! Read this great rant…

Screw you guys, I’m going home…

…or at least, I’m going home to my roots as a gamer. My first real gaming machine was a PC, and this whole “next-gen” console war is pushing me back that way, even though I have loved (and still do love) my original Xbox.

Downloadable Content? [...]

Are Laser HDTVs on the Horizon?

From ExtremeTech:

High-definition laser televisions have been popping up at various trade shows and industry events for more than a year. Now, on the heels of yet another prototype appearance — this time at an event for Arasor International, an Australian company that produces a key component for the semiconductor lasers.
Of course all of this means [...]

Good question: why doesn’t the Xbox 360 have its own browser?

joystiq answers a darned good question:

Good question: why doesn’t the Xbox 360 have its own browser?

We don’t want a complicated solution that requires an operating system (though, at any given time, we’ve got all kinds of computers on around the house). We just want to turn on the dang console and be able to browse [...]

NES Games on Your Browser

Virtual NES…

Here, you can play NES Games in your browser.

Using Java Applet Technology. All you need is Java 1.5.0 or higher.

Before you begin, please make sure you understand the controls. The controller at top will always remain there, for reference. We are not affiliated with Nintendo in any way. This is an emulator. It was [...]

Study: 64% of Online Gamers are Women

And more than half of nation’s total gamers play online.

You wouldn’t realize it while playing with most of the jerks that play Halo 2, but 64% of the nation’s 117 million online gamers are actually women, according to Nielsen Entertainment’s third annual Active Gamer Benchmark Study, released this morning.

The study’s announcement release doesn’t break down [...]

Fight DRM: Ten things you can do today

“If consumers even know there’s a DRM, what it is, and how it works, we’ve already failed” - Disney Executive.

Defeating DRM is all about awareness.

The direct actions that we have taken are all about this. Today we are asking you to let the people around you know that DRM is bad for our society. [...]

DefectiveByDesign.org Takes Another Bite at the Apple

Taking another bite at the Apple

With 100,000 DRM warning labels now distributed, it’s time to start the action. Join one. Start one.

Join us in New York and London.

On Saturday, September 30th, hazmat suited DefectiveByDesign members will gather at the flagship Apple stores in New York and London, These high profile events will kick-off awareness for [...]

New technology could nip High Def DVD format war in the bud

If the Optical Drive manufacturers won’t (or can’t because of DRM) ship multi-format readers, the media manufacturers seem to have come up with a solution.

New technology could nip DVD format war in the bud

The format war around next generation DVDs may be over before it has begun, thanks to a breakthrough from a British media [...]

By Next Year You Could be Playing Games on a Microsoft PlayStation 360.

Sony … between exploding laptop batteries (that must now be replaced), the way late - way expensive - Blu-ray drive, the T.V and Monitor business in steady decline, Sony spyware and rootkits intentionally loaded on their music CDs, and a Sony Computer Entertainment president (Ken Kutaragi) who said about the PS3 that it’s a premium [...]

XBox360 HD-DVD: Stupid DRM tricks

One of the PoliTech Extropians just emailed me and is somewhat upset with the latest press releases regarding XBox 360 and the HD-DVD drive…

HD DVD will be 1080p only via VGA cable. Component cable limited to 1080i due to Effing DRM/copy protection!

Games will be 1080p, but why limit HD DVD especially since the Xbox does [...]

Microsoft offering free repairs for all 2005 Xbox 360s - Engadget

Engadget has even more good XBox 360 news.

Microsoft offering free repairs for all 2005 Xbox 360s

Those Redmond folks are sure on a good news streak.

After announcing 1080p upscaling and a delightfully low-priced HD DVD drive for their 360, they’re offering a helping hand to early adopters who haven’t had quite as much fun with the [...]

This Guy is Seriously Talented

This is the best game console mod that I have ever seen … period.
From start…

To Finish…

Scroll passed the video ad (after you watch it of course…it’s an odd ad) to get to the story, there are five pages of mod progress pictures and commentary. Well worth the visit!
Oooohhh! There is video!

Hat Tip to BaaPundit
Update: [...]

October 3rd Declared “Day Against DRM”

Sign up here

Radius 320 monitor: Three screens in one

I was looking at this (50-inch (diagonal) screen with a massive resolution of 4,800 x 1,200 pixels that you can use with any machine) on the scifi.com Blog. I really need one of these units for usability testing. Yea! that’s it! Testing!

Finally True HDTV: 1080p!

UPDATE January 9, 2007: Not so fast!!!

Westinghouse shows off a 2160p HDTV

1080p is really what you should be looking for in a new high-definition HDTV, but the next generation is just around the corner: Westinghouse showcases a 2160p - commonly referred to as a Quad HDTV.
The manufacturers have committed to the technology; and [...]

More Video Game Health Benefits

Video games taken as serious medicine
Video games are being treated as serious medicine in the battle against health woes ranging from obesity to cancer and dementia.
Several hundred US game developers, medical workers and government policy makers were set to collaborate in Maryland in September at the Games for Health Project devoted to putting video [...]

Microsoft To Enable User-Created Xbox 360 Games!

Talking on the eve of its Gamefest event in Seattle, Microsoft has revealed XNA Game Studio Express, a new product which will allow indie developers and students to develop simultaneously on Xbox 360 and PC, and share their games to others in a new Xbox 360 ‘Creators Club’.
read more | digg story

Games and puzzles help minds stay sharp

Playing for keeps: Games, puzzles help tired minds stay sharp

Getting your body into good physical shape is hardly fun and games, thanks to dieting, exercise and the difficulty in changing bad habits.
But fun and games may be a key in getting your brain into shape. There is growing evidence that people who engage in puzzles, [...]

Dance Dance!

Are video games healthy? Watch this Young DDR Player and you tell me!

This is great excercise for any age. A workout for the mind and body.
Previous: Video Game Health: Dance Dance! and More Video Game Brain Health Benefits and What is your Brain Age? and even More Video Game Brain Health Benefits

Video Game Health: Dance Dance!

Video game fans dance off extra pounds

Forget the image of paunchy video gamers holed up in a dark room, surrounded by sticky Twinkie wrappers and empty soda cans.
Dance Dance Revolution is as challenging and vigorous as a high impact aerobics class.

Surfing The Web With Nothing But Brainwaves

Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves
Kiss your keyboard goodbye: Soon we’ll jack our brains directly into the Net. Controlling devices with the mind is just the beginning. Next is what is called “network-enabled telepathy” - instant thought transfer. In other words, your thoughts will flow from your brain over the network. The only issue [...]

Brain-Implanted Chip Uses Thought to Operate Devices

Brain-Implanted Chip Uses Thought to Operate Devices
With a tiny, electronic chip implanted in the motor cortex of his brain, a 25-year-old man paralyzed from the neck down for five years has learned to use his thoughts to operate a computer, turn on a TV set, open e-mail, play a video game and manipulate a robotic [...]

AMD Sour Grapes

Microarchitecture now expected at the end of this month, early tests from Tom’s Hardware Guide are lending credence to Intel’s claim that it has regained the advantage in the race for best CPU performance per watt of energy. In advance of Intel’s release announcement, AMD has mounted what press managers for a political campaign would [...]