Didnt Iwata promise no drought for the wii u in early 2014?

Netflix Inc. NFLX -0.63% has agreed to pay Comcast Corp. CMCSA -1.37% to ensure Netflix movies and TV shows stream smoothly to Comcast customers, a landmark agreement that could set a precedent for Netflix's dealings with other broadband providers, people familiar with the situation said.

 

In exchange for payment, Netflix will get direct access to Comcast's broadband network, the people said. The multiyear deal comes just 10 days after Comcast agreed to buy Time Warner Cable Inc., TWC -0.79% which if approved would establish Comcast as by far the dominant provider of broadband in the U.S., serving 30 million households.

 

For months Netflix and Comcast have been in a standoff over Netflix's request that Comcast connect to Netflix's video distribution network free of charge. But Comcast wanted to be paid for connecting to Netflix's specialized servers due to the heavy load of traffic Netflix would send into the cable operator's network. Under the deal, Netflix won't be able to place its servers inside Comcast's data centers, which Netflix had wanted. Instead, Comcast will connect to Netflix's servers at data centers operated by other companies.

 

Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings decided to strike the deal after Netflix saw a deterioration in streaming speeds for Comcast subscribers. According to Netflix data published in January, the average speeds of Netflix's prime-time streams to Comcast subscribers had dropped 27% since October. Mr. Hastings didn't want streaming speeds to deteriorate further and become a bigger issue for customers, the people said.

 

During this period, Netflix was using Internet middlemen Cogent Communications CCOI -0.10% as a "primary" route into Comcast, a person familiar with the matter has said. That connection was starting to become overwhelmed with Netflix traffic, congesting traffic and leading to slower Netflix streams for Comcast Internet users, people familiar with the matter said.

 

At the same time, Comcast presented Netflix with more attractive deal terms than the operator had been offering, the people said. The deal spans several years. Netflix was aiming for a long-term deal to make sure its projected traffic growth wouldn't put it at a disadvantage, one of the people said. The connection is a so-called "paid peering" deal, which connects Netflix's network to Comcast's directly. Netflix was previously using several middlemen to access Comcast's network.

 

Mr. Hastings and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts have met on-and-off in recent months to discuss a possible deal and the two came to a framework for an agreement at a meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Final details were worked out over the past two days, one of the people said.

 

The deal could force Netflix's hand in its standoff with other major U.S. broadband providers, including AT&T Inc., T -1.15% Verizon Communications Inc. VZ -1.77% and Time Warner Cable Inc.—all of whom have also refused to connect with Netflix's servers without compensation. Netflix's streams with Verizon in particular have gotten worse in recent months.

 

Netflix has little room to pay more to transmit its TV shows and movies. In a February regulatory filing, Netflix said that if providers don't interconnect with its servers, its ability to deliver streaming video, its business and operating results could be "adversely affected" due to increased costs.

 

The deal is the latest sign that broadband providers are gaining leverage in their dealings with content companies. Over the past several years, technology companies like Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.61% , Facebook Inc. FB -1.49% and Google Inc. GOOG -0.03% have also started paying major broadband providers for direct connections to their networks that would provide faster and smoother access.

 

This is extortion. 

To gamers, the battle of SEGA and Nintendo is something of legend. The video game giant Nintendo being taken on by the underdog SEGA. It’s almost like something out of a movie. So it only makes sense that the publishing industry and Hollywood would jump at the chance to make a book and film about the console wars. It was announced this week that Atlantic Books has acquired the UK rights to the book CONSOLE WARS, written by Blake Harris. The book is described as “a riveting behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how SEGA, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry”. So basically The Social Network meets Rocky, and SEGA is the good guy. Atlantic plans to publish CONSOLE WARS: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation in August 2014, meanwhile American’s can expect the book to release this May from It Books.

Sony Pictures and Scott Rudin, of Moneyball and The Social Network, are developing a film version of the book, which is to be written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg of Knocked Up and Superbad fame. The book’s writer Blake Harris is serving as Executive Producer and has his own version of the story, a documentary, in the works. The news of the film is nothing new, however this is the first time in a while that we’ve heard anything about it. Back in 2012, IGN came across Sony Pictures registering the domain for Console wars the Movie. So in a few years time we may very well see SEGA vs. Nintendo the Movie! Hey, if Facebook gets a movie, SEGA easily deserves one.

Update: Interestingly, this isn’t the first mention of Rogan and Goldberg being attached to a film version of the book. Back in late 2012 their involvement was mentioned in a Facebook post made by Trident Media Group. Despite this, it appears that the news was never picked up and reported elsewhere. That same day, Rogan and Goldberg tweeted about it.

 

Please no more Galaxy games.

 

Some new information has surfaced due to some in-depth research conducted by various engineers regarding the Wii U's handling of memory: it may be more powerful and faster than we thought. 

Unlike the PS4 and the Xbox One, the Wii U is the only new generation console that has a lot of secrecy surrounding its hardware capabilities. While early kits and impressions from developers indicated that the Wii U was weak and slow and a “crap” system, further digging from die-hard members of the gaming community have summed up a possible cap for Nintendo's eighth gen system capabilities. 

Some individuals have pointed to the fact that Renesas Electronics, who merged with NEC – the semiconductor company who was recently picked up by Sony, as reported by DualShockers – is responsible for the Wii U's semiconductor in the same way that they were responsible for the Xbox 360's semiconductor. The natural logic that follows is that newer tech made in 2012 would obviously be faster than whatever they produced in 2004 for the Xbox 360's release in 2005. 

Keep in mind that the Xbox 360's bit bus per macro was 1024 nearly a decade ago, and according to information provided by Bob Peterson – regarding NEC Electronic's eDRAM for the 360 – the system was capable of expanding its bandwidth thanks to the external buffering from the eDRAM, writing... 

“Using external memory, the GPU would be limited to a 32- or 64-bit interface. The NEC Electronics eDRAM expands the on-chip memory interface past 1000 bits in width to support the GPU’s 256-Gbytes/second bandwidth between the graphics pipelines and memory.”

It's been speculated that this would translate into the 360 capable of through-putting up to 256GB per second. You can see how it all comes together in the diagram below. 

 

 

The general gist is that if Nintendo's GameCube had eDRAM at 32 macros on a 16bit bus width, as noted by EE Times, and NEC already designed Xbox 360's eDRAM die more than a half-decade before prepping for the Wii U's tech, then quite naturally – according to Moore's Law – the Wii U's eDRAM should faster as part of the natural state of technological evolution. I mean, no one makes newer chips slower or bigger than previous chips, right? 

It's been speculated that taking the information above into consideration, the Wii U's total bandwidth of gigabytes per second, including the possible 1024 bits per macro and GPU – which, according to TechPowerUp clocks in at 550mhz – would come out to around 563.2GB per second. Keep in mind that the Xbox One runs about 170GB per second of bandwidth between the DDR3 and eSRAM, as outlined by Xbit Labs. 

This could explain the Wii U's ease of hitting 1080p at 60fps with nary many complaints from those who actually enjoy working with Nintendo's hardware. 

This also points to possible scaling with the GPGPU and graphical output that hasn't been discussed before with the Wii U. 

 

http://www.cinemable...ught-62437.html

 

 

About an hour ago popular “insider” Crazy Buttocks on a Train (AKA CBoaT) started a rather controversial rumor, stating in his usual broken English that Titanfall‘s resolution would be dropped at launch from 792p of the beta to 720p, also saying that he’s “sticking to his guns” about the information he previously mentioned, alleging that texture resolution at launch would be the same of the alpha testing of the game.

In order to bring some clarity to the issue, DualShockers reached out to Respawn Entertainment for a statement, and Community Manager Abbie Heppe firmly denied the rumor:

We’re not dropping the resolution for launch. Nothing has changed from what we’ve said in recent interviews.

If Respawn’s statement isn’t enough to seal the deal for you, another insider with a solid track record, Pete “Famousmortimer” Dodd, also agreed on Twitter that CBoaT is probably wrong on this one:

For the record, I don’t believe either of CBoaT’s claims based on talking to people who know more than I do.

I think today may end up being the end of CBoaT. He wasn’t always right (no one is…), but he was always fun.

Seems like account suicide. That’s the only thing that makes any sense to me. Or he is on drugs now.

792p at minimum from a very solid source. CBoaT is just off on this one.

This isn’t the first time that CBoaT is proven wrong on Titanfall, as the textures in the beta version of the game for Xbox One already shown a visible improvement from those included in the Alpha.

This is just further evidence of the fact that, while insiders are a great resource to gain more insight on the ins and outs of the industry that are normally kept away from our eyes, we should always take what they say with a sizable pinch of salt.

One thing is for sure: Titanfall‘s release can’t come soon enough. On March 11th many of us will hopefully be too busy having fun to count pixels.

 

http://www.dualshock...0p-on-xbox-one/

Glad to hear this. 

Titanfall is going to be a great game. 

 

Sony introduces Xperia™ Z2, its new premium flagship waterproof smartphone with best ever display, 4K recording and Digital Noise Cancelling technology

Key features

• • The world’s best camera and camcorder in a waterproof
  smartphone1 with Sony’s proven camera technologies:
  Award-winning “G Lens”, 20.7 MP “Exmor RS for mobile” CMOS
  image sensor and “BIONZ for mobile” image processing engine
  • Capture video in 4K resolution with SteadyShot™, complemented
  by new Xperia camera apps such as Timeshift video and new AR
  effect
  • Our brightest and most vivid viewing experience ever on 5.2” Full
  HD TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile with Live Colour LED powered
  by X-Reality™ for mobile
  • The world’s first Digital Noise Cancelling Technology2 in a
  smartphone for an immersive audio experience
  • The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2.3 GHz
  quad-core Krait CPUs and 4G LTE for fast performance, 3GB RAM
  and high capacity 3200 mAh battery in an 8.2mm slim smartphone

A little more details...

• Dimensions: 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2mm
  Weight: 158 grams
  
  2.3GHz Quadcore Qualcomm MSM8974AB
  Android 4.4
  
  20.7 MP Camera
  2.2 MP front cam
  IP58 ( IPX5 + IPX8 + IP5X ) water proof 
  
  Display
  5.2” Full HD TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile with X-Reality for mobile picture engine
  16,777,216 colours Full HD 1920x1080 pixels
  
  Battery: 3000 mAh minimum
  
  Waterproof & OmniBalance design language
  3GB RAM
  16GB ROM
  4K recording, 120fps @720p option for slowmotion...
  Built-in Digital Noise Cancelling with special headphones ( bundled )
  20.7 Camera sensor ( same as Z1 )
  
  Worldwide availability in March

Detailed specification

Camera and video

• 20.7 MP Exmor RS™ for mobile image sensor, 4K video capture
  Burst mode
  HDR for both picture/film
  8x digital zoom
  Front-facing camera (2.2 MP 1080p)
  Geotagging
  HD video recording (1080p)
  Image stabiliser
  Object tracking
  Red-eye reduction
  Scene recognition
  Send to web
  Smile Shutter™
  Sony Exmor RS for mobile image sensor
  Superior Auto
  Sweep Panorama
  Touch focus
  Touch capture
  White balance
  Image capture, supported format: JPEG
  Image playback supported formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP
  Video recording, supported formats: 3GPP, MP4
  Video playback supported formats: 3GPP, MP4, M4V, MKV, AVI, XVID, WEBM
  Face detection

Design and display

• 5.2”, 16,777,216 colours, Full HD 1920x1080 pixels
  TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile
  X-Reality™ for mobile picture engine
  Face Unlock
  Gesture input
  STAMINA mode
  Touch gesture – multi-touch, up to 10 fingers supported
  Screenshot capturing
  Throw
  Pan & zoom

Memory

• RAM: 3 GB
  Flash memory: Up to 16 GB*****
  Expansion slot: microSD™ card, up to 64 GB (SDXC supported)

Pre-loaded applications

• Google Maps for Mobile with Street view**
  Google Hangouts**
  Sony Select
  Web browser (WebKit)
  Google Chrome**
  Google Play**
  Goolge Voice Search**
  Google Search**

Connectivity and communication

• 3.5 mm audio jack (CTIA)
  aGPS
  ANT+ wireless technology
  Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
  DLNA Certified
  MHL support
  Native USB tethering
  NFC
  Screen mirroring
  Smart Connect
  Synchronisation via Exchange ActiveSync®, Facebook™, Google™ and SyncML™*
  USB charging
  USB High speed 2.0 and Micro USB support
  Xperia Link
  Wi-Fi and WiFi Hotspot functionality
  Noise suppression
  Voice enhancement
  Xperia Socialife**
  Miracast™

Entertainment

• 3D and motion gaming
  PlayStation Certified
  FM Radio with RDS
  SensMe and SensMe slideshow
  Sony Entertainment Network (selected markets only)
  TV launcher
  “WALKMAN” application
  3D surround sound
  Bluetooth stereo (aptX®, A2DP)
  Clear Audio+, Clear Bass, Clear Phase™ and Clear stereo
  xLoud Experience – audio filter technology from Sony
  Audio recording, supported formats: 3GPP, MP4, AMR
  Audio playback supported formats: AAC, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, PCM, Vorbis, WMA
  YouTube**
  Facebook application**
  Twitter**
  TrackID music recognition**

Networks

• UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1700 (Band IV), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) MHz
  GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
  LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20)
•  

 

http://www.engadget....p-4k-recording/

Phone of the forever. 

 

Comedy legend Harold Ramis, best known for his role in the hit “Ghostbusters” films, has died. He was 69. 

Ramis suffered from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a disease that causes swelling in the blood vessels, and died from complications of the illness surrounded by his family.

"His creativity, compassion, intelligence, humor and spirit will be missed by all who knew and loved him," his agent said in a written statement.

"Ghostbusters co-star Dan Aykroyd went on Facebook to give his condolences.

 

 

http://www.foxnews.c...-6-report-says/

Dude was talented, RIP. At least he died with his family by his side. 

Probably sold at least 250,000 in North America alone.  

Still haven't played it yet, getting it soon. 

Did they make reference to the original? 

http://www.theoaklan...ty-deputies-say

 

A 36-year-old Independence Township man is dead after he shot himself in the head while demonstrating the gun, deputies reported. The Oakland County Medical Examiner has ruled his death a suicide. The man’s girlfriend was performing CPR on the victim when deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the residence on Pinedale — off of Sashabaw Road south of Maybee Road - at 9 p.m. on Sunday. The girlfriend, who also lived at the Independence Township residence, told deputies the victim had been drinking most of the day. She told authorities that he had begun showing her how to use his three handguns and demonstrating how safe they were when they were empty, which he did by placing the gun to his head and pulling the trigger, officials said. 

 

After doing this twice, he demonstrated the third handgun and the gun fired, striking him in the head. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Undersheriff Michael McCabe said: “(The situation) is pretty unique, as I have never heard of anyone testing out the safety of a gun by pointing at their head and pulling the trigger.” Three children, ages 7, 10 and 12, were present at the time of the shooting, but they did not witness it, police said. The children are not the biological children of the victim. The victim’s name is being withheld, pending notification of his family. The medical examiner said they do not know the victim’s blood-alcohol level at this time.

 

Fable creator reflects on disappointments with RPG series, including the Fable III ‘trainwreck’

 

Peter Molyneux believes that no matter how hard he tries, the perfect games he imagines will never quite come to fruition.

 

Speaking to Develop at this month’s Casual Connect, the Fable and Populous creator said that any creative process is subject to “empirical decay” from inception to final product, which prevents him from creating the masterpiece he has been striving for.

 

Looking back on the Fable series, Molyneux admitted he was disappointed the finished games didn’t live up to his vision and some people’s expectations – particularly the 2010 Fable III.

 

“In my mind, as a designer, whenever I’m making a game I have this perfect jewel in mind,” he told Develop. “Fable for me was this beautiful, incredible, amusing, funny, artistic, wonderful gem of a game that anyone could play, that tugged on the heartstrings and that was instantly engaging.

 

“The gem that was in my mind has never come to be, it’s always flawed in some way. I thought Fable 1 – when you consider that it was the first game I ever did of that type – wasn’t bad. It was hugely flawed in some senses, and there were technical issues like the animation didn’t work but it wasn’t bad.

 

“I think Fable II was a step in the right direction. I think Fable III was a trainwreck. It was built to be much bigger than what it was constrained to be and eventually ended up as. If I had my time again, I’d take the advances we made from Fable 1 to Fable II, I’d make the same advances from Fable II to Fable III and spend another entire year working on Fable III. But would it be that perfect gem that’s in my mind? No.”

 

Molyneux also addressed the now infamous original premise of Fable – including the acorn that players could plant and watch grow into an oak over time – explaining that his claims are never misdirection, just unbridled passion.

 

“The trouble with me is I do this stupid thing, and I always do it, where I start talking in an excited way about what I’m working on before I’m finished,” he said. “And what people are actually seeing is me as a designer being excited about what I am doing. You’re not seeing someone who’s a brilliant PR person who’s selling ice cubes to the arctic. Last time I was talking about a game feature, I got really excited and said it would be ‘the utopia of game design’, but that’s just me talking with no filter. When I was at Microsoft, there were these PR policemen in the room trying to pour buckets of cold water over me when I got too excited.

 

“I just shouldn’t get so excited in front of the press. There’s an empirical decay between what the idea is in your mind and what you end up with, no matter what creative field you’re working in. I talk to a lot of creative people and they’re often disappointed in their own work.

 

“Saying that, of course, Godus exceeds that gem,” he laughs.

 

http://www.develop-o...ct-game/0189622

INB4  MELTDOWNS. 

 

http://www.videogame..._price_cut.html

Microsoft has said that it's "hugely appreciative" of those who picked up an Xbox One at launch, but clarified that it "can't offer a retroactive refund" to those upset about this week's price cut.

Speaking to OXM about the price drop, Xbox UK marketing director Harvey Eagle said that the company is "hugely appreciative of people that have supported us since launch. What I would say is that mainly the consoles that were bought in the run-up to launch did come with a game included, and this offer is timed to celebrate the launch of Titanfall.

"Unfortunately we can't offer a retroactive refund to people, but we thank them very much and we're hugely appreciative of them being on board since the beginning."

Microsoft announced earlier this week that Xbox One would be receiving a permanent price cut this Friday, dropping the price from £429.99 to £399.99. For a limited time, the console will also include a free digital copy of Titanfall or FIFA 14.

 

Good deal for new adapters, early adapters have themselves to blame. 

When are we getting a new banner?

no

Welcome to the forums! :0

The classic Capcom series "Dino Crisis" is going to come back in the near future, according to a rumor that has started circulating today.

According to the Official Xbox Magazine UK Capcom will announce a "Dino Crisis" reboot later this year. This is surprising, considering that Capcom is currently more interested in developing new IPs rather than bringing back older ones, as confirmed by "Resident Evil: Revelations" producer Masachika Kawata some time ago.

 

Probably true since Capcom has been favoring Microsoft lately.

http://www.kdramasta...isis-reboot.htm

The Wii U has a tablet you do nothing with .

What's innovative about the Wii U?

I assume as soon as someone makes one... I suppose a DKC:TF one would be in order... If only Keanu would come back and make one...

Make one then.

McDonalds has made a new golden arch enemy -- a California man is suing the company for $1.5 MILLION ... because he says he only got ONE NAPKIN with his meal.

Webster Lucas claims he was stiffed on napkins at the Mickey D's in Pacoima, CA on January 29th -- after ordering a Quarter Pounder Deluxe -- and when he went up to the counter to ask for more, he was rudely rebuffed by the manager ... who insisted he already got some.

According to his lawsuit, Lucas -- who is black -- then retorted, "I should have went to eat at the Jack-in-the-Box because I didn't come here to argue over napkins. I came here to eat."

That's when Lucas says things got racist -- claiming the manager (a Mexican-American) mumbled something about "you people."

Lucas subsequently emailed the general manager to complain -- insisting he couldn't work because of the "undue mental anguish" he was suffering as a result of the napkin debacle -- and says he was insultingly offered free burgers in return.

Lucas wants to super size instead -- $1.5 million.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2.../#ixzz2uZV8lYBV

 

What a loser. Hope his case gets thrown out of court.

Pic of the day. Once again, Waluigi's Assist Trophy joins the collection!! …Which also means he's not a playable character. Just because you try hard doesn't mean you'll make it into the battle.

https://miiverse.nin...CAAAYUKlLqsgn_Q

WAHOO!

 

Frak him. He sucks. Where is Klonoa?

who