The new single-player add-on for BioWare's hit sci-fi threequel hits tomorrow and this video shows off new female Turian character Nyreen and some of the new enemies you'll be facing down. It'll be nice giving Aria some orders that she'll have to follow for once.
Who's ready for a game based on a five-year-old joke about a Saturday Night Live skit from twelve years ago? Thanks to the magic of the iPhone and iPad, Cowbell Hero becomes a real thing next month.
I would be incredibly disappointed with Digital Hero Games (via PocketGamer) for making Cowbell Hero if they hadn't put so much effort into it, packing 16 licensed tracks into this Guitar Hero parody game, including the all-important "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult. They've got some Creedence in there, Santana, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and more. It's a damn impressive track list for the punch line to the joke that's been showing up on t-shirts and in YouTube videos for ages.
Check it out:
• "Down on the Corner" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• "Hair of the Dog" by Nazareth
• "Little Willy" as made famous by Sweet
• "Cowbell Blues"
• "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock
• "Evil Ways" as made famous by Santana
• "Time Has Come Today" as made famous by The Chambers Brothers
• "Give and Take"
• "Annabelle"
• "Got to Give it Up" by Marvin Gaye
• "Better by the Pound" by Funkadelic
• "Funkify"
• "Rock Me" by Steppenwolf
• "Good to Your Earhole" by Funkadelic
• "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult
• "More Cowbell"
All I know is I've got a fever and the only cure is the death of this gag. Perhaps Cowbell Hero will get it out of everyone's system and we can move on.
Way back when the Wii U first came out, lo in the day of the 18th of November in the year 2012, Nintendo's console included the most curious thing: a virtual instruction manual that included within it an option called "product specifications."
By pressing the Wii U controller's home button and then clicking on "manual", the average citizen could access this "product specifications" listing. In it they would find the specifications of the Wii U product. What was the frequency for the Wii U's GamePad? 5.2/5.8 GHz. What was/is a safe operating temperature for the Wii U? 50-104 degrees Fahrenheit. How much did the Wii U's stylus weigh? Approximately .07 ounces, just as you suspected. What was the operating humidity range for the Wii U Pro Controller? 20-80%. Raise the humidity to 81% at your own risk.
All of these stats and more were accessible to any Wii U owner.
None of these stats indicated the thing that people who worry about Wii U specs want to know: how powerful is this thing?
Watch the video we captured of the Wii U's "product specifications" page and see this odd list of specs for yourself. Watch the video, because, if you have a Wii U, you might not be able to see those specs on your own console. The console's day-one patch added a ton of online functionality to Nintendo's new console. It also revised the system's built-in instruction manual. A casualty of that revision? The Wii U's "product specifications" page. Nintendo either hid it somewhere we can't find or has removed it altogether.
Alright, fine. So we got a new trailer not even two weeks ago. And then that trailer was recreated in GTA IV, but that doesn't count!
Basically I won't be satisfied until Rockstar releases the next GTA title, so creations like this one by Patrick Brown hold me over until then.
Grand Theft Auto V [deviantART]
Smell that? That's the fragrant odor of rotting vegtetation, courtesy of the nearly five million players that didn't bother tending their virtual crops in FarmVille 2 last week.
While some 50 million folks did log in last week to click on crops like there was no tomorrow, 4.6 million is a substantial chunk of players putting their pastures out to pasture. Is it the allure of CityVille, Zynga's most recent city-builder, or are folks just getting bored?
My farm is rotting, but that's mainly due to the fact that I have absolutely no time to click anymore. There are too many good social games out there to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak.
Let's see how everybody else did this week.
| Rank | Application | MAU | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  CityVille 2 |
21,900,000 | +14,520,157 |
| 2. |  Pet Rescue Saga King.com |
5,600,000 | +2,290,027 |
| 3. |  Ruby Blast Adventures Zynga |
18,800,000 | +2,161,899 |
| 4. |  Candy Crush Saga King.com |
18,300,000 | +970,567 |
| 5. |  Texas HoldEm Poker Zynga |
34,500,000 | +782,835 |
| 6. |  Dragon City Social Point |
15,200,000 | +650,110 |
| 7. |  Bubble Island Wooga |
8,100,000 | +518,901 |
| 8. |  Stormfall: Age of War Plarium |
1,100,000 | +367,379 |
| 9. |  Subway Surfers Kiloo Games |
4,300,000 | +357,063 |
| 10. |  Phrases 4 Fun |
1,600,000 | +321,807 |
Want to keep track of these on your own? Visit AppStats, where they obsessively stare at Facebook statistics all day long.
| Rank | Application | MAU | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  FarmVille 2 Zynga Inc. |
50,200,000 | -4,628,422 |
| 2. |  The Ville Zynga |
9,800,000 | -1,110,040 |
| 3. |  Zynga Slingo Zynga |
17,600,000 | -932,990 |
| 4. |  CityVille Zynga |
14,000,000 | -856,320 |
| 5. |  FarmVille Zynga |
16,400,000 | -604,031 |
| 6. |  CastleVille Zynga |
10,900,000 | -602,847 |
| 7. |  Zynga Bingo Zynga |
3,300,000 | -427,853 |
| 8. |  SongPop Freshplanet |
13,900,000 | -419,787 |
| 9. |  Bubble Safari Zynga |
23,900,000 | -308,681 |
| 10. |  Angrie Bird Rio |
190,000 | -243,700 |
Lots of players—including Kotaku's own Tina Amini—think that Halo 4 needs more maps. 343 Industries has said that additional multiplayer environments are coming but hasn't clued anyone in as to the exact arrival times. But the screenshot above from a German Xbox 360 dashboard appears to reveal dates for the next three sets of maps for the sci-fi FPS.
The news surfaced over on Halo Council,where the Crimson, Majestic and Castle DLCs get attached to December 10th, February 25th and April 1st. The dashboard screen advertises a War Games Map Pass, which goes for 2,000 MS points or $25 in the U.S. Kotaku has reached out to Microsoft for confirmation and will update if they respond.
Over last week and the weekend, over 10,000 PC gamers from Europe and across the world gathered in Sweden for Dreamhack Winter, the world's biggest LAN party.
As you can probably understand, the place was packed, as the thousands of attendees gamed, ate, partied and sometimes even slept their way through the four-day event.
Since most of you weren't able to make it, here's a gallery of photos from the event. I'm sure you can imagine the sounds and smells on your own.
Dreamhack Winter 2012 [Official Site]
DreamHack Winter 2012 [Flickr]
As we all know, one of the oldest traditions in America, going back to the time of the Pilgrims, is Cyber Monday. It takes the madness of taking a day off of work to buy crap on Black Friday, strips out the 3 a.m. line-ups, the tramplings, the beatings, and replaces it with buying stuff online while pretending to work.
Video games are a natural fit for Cyber Monday; we feature online-only deals every weekend on The Moneysaver. Our friends at Dealzon have found—wait for it—more than 200 Cyber Monday deals here in North America, spanning software and hardware, digital download and physical shipment. If you're looking for something for a friend, or if that friend is yourself, take a look below, there's a good shot you'll find a discount, bonus or incentive for it there.
Gamefly has the best prices on several PC downloads, including Dishonored at $24, beating out all other stores today.
• Dishonored (PC Download) is $23.99
• Guild Wars 2 Digital Deluxe Edition (PC Download) is $63.99
• Guild Wars 2 Digital Edition (PC Download) is $47.99
• Mass Effect Trilogy (PC Download) is $23.99
• FIFA Soccer 13 (PC Download) is $15.20
• Darksiders 2 (PC Download) is $13.59
• Torchlight 2 (PC Download) is $11.99
• Spec Ops: The Line (PC Download) is $5.99
GameStop has a Cyber Monday sale with best prices from Max Payne 3 and Skyrim on consoles to a couple decent $9.99 downloads. Don't forget to use coupon code SAVER to get free shipping on orders over $25.
• PlayStation 3 250GB Bundle with 3 bonus games: Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and Little Big Planet Karting is $299.99
• Nintendo 3DS with 2 Free Games is $169.99
• Sleeping Dogs (PS3, Xbox 360) is $29.99
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360, PS3) is $29.99
• Max Payne 3 (Xbox 360, PS3) is $19.99
• Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, Xbox 360) is $19.99
• Saints Row The Third (PS3, Xbox 360) is $19.99
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells (PS3) is $19.99
• inFAMOUS Collection (PS3) is $19.99
• TekNmotion Yapster Blaster Gaming Headset for Xbox 360/PC is $19.99
• Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition 3D (Xbox 360) is $14.99
• Mortal Kombat (PS Vita) is $14.99
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (PC) is $19.99
• London 2012 (PC Download) is $15.29
• Saints Row The Third (PC Download) is $9.99
• Dragon Age Pack (PC Download) is $9.99
Green Man Gaming enters the home stretch of their Winter Wonderland Sale with a ton of great prices still available. Deals end today at 7PM EST.
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC Download) is $22.50
• Hitman: Absolution - Professional Edition (PC Download) is $32.50
• XCOM Enemy Unknown (PC Download) is $28.12
• Borderlands 2 Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage (PC DLC) is $7.50
• Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC Download) is $37.50
• Tomb Raider (PC Download) is $33.75
• WRC 3 (PC Download) is $30
• Dead Island Riptide (PC Download) is $30
• Iron Sky Invasion (PC Download) is $30
• Football Manager 2013 (PC Download) is $30
• Spellforce: Complete Collection (PC Download) is $30
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition (PC) is $15.07
• Red Faction Armageddon (PC Download) is $15
• Men of War: Vietnam Special Edition (PC Download) is $15
• Chivalry: Medieval Warfare (PC Download) is $15
• Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad (PC Download) is $15
• Men of War: Assault Squad (PC Download) is $13.12
• Men of War: Vietnam (PC Download) is $13.12
• Stronghold 3 Gold Edition (PC Download) is $12.48
• Men of War: Condemned Heroes (PC Download) is $11.26
• Doom 3: BFG Edition (PC Download) is $11.25
• Secret Files 3 (PC Download) is $11.25
• Postal 3 (PC Download) is $11.25
• The Darkness 2 (PC Download) is $11.25
• Quantum Conundrum (PC Download) is $11.25
• Worms Revolution (PC Download) is $10.12
• Max Payne 3: Hostage Negotiation Pack (PC DLC) is $7.50
• Awesomenauts (PC Download) is $7.50
• Death Rally (PC Download) is $7.50
• Fallout: New Vegas (PC Download) is $7.50
• Men of War: Red Tide (PC Download) is $7.50
• NecroVisioN: Lost Company (PC Download) is $7.50
• Nexuiz (PC Download) is $7.50
• Port Royale 3 (PC Download) is $7.50
• Scarygirl (PC Download) is $7.50
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PC Download) is $7.50
• Sine Mora (PC Download) is $7.50
• Sonic Adventure 2 (PC Download) is $6.72
• Men of War (PC Download) is $5.62
• Tropico 4 (PC Download) is $5.62
• Bastion (PC Download) is $5.62
• Hitman: Blood Money (PC Download) is $4.50
• Drip Drip (PC Download) is $3.75
• Hard Reset (PC Download) is $3.75
• Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD (PC Download) is $3.75
• Anna (PC Download) is $3.75
• Sleeping Dogs: Nightmare in North Point (PC DLC) is $3.75
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Elite Soldier Pack (PC DLC) is $3.75
• Hitman: Codename 47 (PC Download) is $3
• The Journey Down: Chapter One (PC Download) is $2.97
• Death Road (PC Download) is $2.81
• Cargo Commander (PC Download) is $2.55
• Bang Bang Racing (PC Download) is $1.87
• Skydrift (PC Download) is $1.87
• Gear Grinder (PC Download) is $1.50
• Port Royale 3: Harbour Master (PC DLC) is $1.12
• Naval War Arctic Circle: Operation Tarnhelm is $3.75
Origin has many best-of-the-web prices across multiple platforms. Also free shipping on orders over $39.99. Otherwise it's $2.50.
• Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012 Limited Edition (Xbox 360) is $29.99
• Battlefield 3 Premium Edition (Xbox 360, PS3, PC Download) is $29.99. Shipping is $2.50 for the 360 and PS3 version.
• Madden NFL 13 (Xbox 360, PS3) is $29.99
• Madden NFL 13 (Wii) is $24.99
• Madden NFL 13 (Vita) is $19.99
• FIFA Soccer 13 (Xbox 360, PS3) is $29.99
• FIFA Soccer 13 (PS Vita) is $19.99
• Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC Download) is $19.99
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Xbox 360, PS3, PC Download) is $19.99
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2012 (PS Vita) is $19.99
• Syndicate (Xbox 360, PS3, PC Download) is $14.99
• Dead Space 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) is $9.99
• Medal of Honor (Xbox 360, PS3, PC Download) is $9.99
• Alice: Madness Returns (Xbox 360, PS3, PC Download) is $9.99
• The Sims 3 Pets (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Army of Two: The 40th Day (Xbox 360) is $9.99
Origin PC downloads are surprisingly beating more popular digital distributors. Someone in their marketing department deserves a thanks for this aggressive Cyber Monday pricing. Medal of Honor Warfighter hit a new low by $15 and The Sims 3: Supernatural is cheapest ever by $10.
• Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition (PC Download) is $29.99
• Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012 (PC Download) is $24.99
• Command & Conquer The Ultimate Edition (PC Download) is $24.99
• Sniper Elite V2 (PC Download) is $24.99
• Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PC Download) is $24.99
• The Sims 3 Pets (PC Download) is $19.99
• The Sims 3 Seasons (PC Download) is $19.99
• The Sims 3: Supernatural (PC Download) is $19.99
• FIFA Manager 13 (PC Download) is $19.99
• Deep Black Reloaded (PC Download) is $14.99
• Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (PC Download) is $14.99
• The Walking Dead Game (PC Download) is $12.49
• Ravaged (PC Download) is $12.49
• Bulletstorm (PC Download) is $9.99
• Darksiders (PC Download) is $9.99
• Afterfall: InSanity (PC Download) is $9.99
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC Download) is $9.99
• Battlefield 2 Complete Collection (PC Download) is $9.99
• F.E.A.R. 3 (PC Download) is $9.99
• Mirror's Edge (PC Download) is $9.99
• Dead Space (PC Download) is $9.99
• Dead Island Game of the Year Edition (PC Download) is $9.99
• Battlefield 2142 Deluxe Edition (PC Download) is $7.49
• To The Moon (PC Download) is $5.99
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC Download) is $4.99
• Shank (PC Download) is $4.99
• Symphony (PC Download) is $4.99
• Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise (PC Download) is $4.99
• Hoodwink (PC Download) is $4.99
• All Zombies Must Die (PC Download) is $4.99
• Choplifter HD (PC Download) is $4.99
• Warp (PC Download) is $4.99
• Gatling Gears (PC Download) is $4.99
• Bust-N-Rush: Double Bust Bundle (PC Download) is $3.99
• Squids (PC Download) is $3.49
• Bunch Of Heroes (PC Download) is $2.49
Best Buy sold through most of their best console game deals this weekend, like usual. . A few remaining gems listed below, including Medal of Honor: Warfighter inching another dollar lower after already beating Dell's Friday $40 "doorbuster deal" by $10.
• Nintendo 3DS XL Red/Black is $179.99
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) is $29.99
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Limited Edition (Xbox 360, PS3) is $28.99
• Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PS3) is $19.99
• Kid Icarus: Uprising (Nintendo 3DS) is $19.99
• Star Fox 64 3D (Nintendo 3DS) is $19.99
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo 3DS) is $19.99
• uDraw GameTablet with uDraw Studio (Xbox 360, Wii) is $12.99
Walmart has lots of gaming deals in their Cyber sale, and they offer free shipping to your local Fedex in addition to free store pickup. And a pretty solid deal on the Xbox 360 4GB bundle with Skylanders Starter Kit.
• Xbox 360 4GB Console w/ Skylanders Starter Kit & Exclusive Gill Grunt Character is $159
• Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360) is $30
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3) is $15
• Ratchet and Clank HD Collection (PS3) is $15
• L.A. Noire (Xbox 360, PS3) is $10
• Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition (PS3) is $10
• PS3 Slim 250GB Console with Uncharted 1 & 2 and Infamous 1 & 2 + FREE bonus game and dreamGEAR 2-in-1 Charge 'n Chat Pack is $219
GamersGate has four notable deals, with two popular downloads dropping to $5 and $7.50.
• War Of The Roses (PC Download) is $15
• Victoria Collection (PC Download) is $14.99
• Total War Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai (PC Download) is $7.49
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC Download) is $4.99
Microsoft Store shifted hard into the $10 and $15 gear after their big Black Friday sale on new titles for $25 sold out quickly. Now you can grab Gears of War 3 for $10 and they have a couple decent 360 + Kinect bundles still available.
• Forza Horizon (Xbox 360) is $14.99
• Fable: The Journey (Xbox 360) is $14.99
• Kinect Sports Ultimate Collection (Xbox 360) is $14.99
• Binary Domain (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Rage (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Inversion (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• MotionSports: Adrenaline (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Gears of War Triple Pack (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• MLB 2K12 (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Operation Flashpoint: Red River (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Big League Sports (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Quake 4 (Xbox 360) is $9.99
• Portal 2 (PC) is $9.99
• The Secret World (PC) is $9.99
• Batman: Arkham City (PC) is $9.99
• Assassin's Creed Revelations (PC) is $9.99
• Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition (PC) is $9.99
• Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC) is $9.99
• Rift (PC) is $9.99
• Xbox 360 4GB Console and Kinect Bundle with Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride and 320GB Media Drive is $349.99
• Xbox 360 4GB Console and Kinect Bundle with Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride is $249.99
NewEgg isn't exactly leading the pack in gaming deals this Cyber Monday, but they do have the best price on Dishonored.
• Dishonored (PS3, Xbox 360) is $24.99
• Shadows of the Damned (PS3) is $9.99
• Warhammer 40k: Space Marine (PC) is $7.99
TigerDirect has a great deal on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Xbox 360, PC) for $39.99 if you don't mind dealing with mail in rebates.
Target
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360, PS3) is $25
Steam Autumn Sale ends today. Notable titles: Dishonored/em> $29.99, Torchlight II $9.99, Borderlands 2 $29.99, and Orc's Must Die $3.74.
Amazon had some great 360/PS3 deals over the Cyber weekend but they sold out of many titles. A few price drops remain but their strongest sales are the ridiculously cheap PC Download bundles.
• XCOM Enemy Unknown (PS3) is $25
• Record of Agarest War 2 Limited Edition (PS3) is $29.99
• NBA 2K13 (PC Download) is $22.49
• Civilization V Game of The Year Edition + Civilization V: Gods and Kings (PC Download) is $19.99
• Sleeping Dogs (PC Download) is $19.99
• Max Payne 3 + Season Pass (PC Download) is $19.99
• Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete + La Noire Complete + GTA San Andreas (PC Download) is $14.99
• Majesty Bundle (PC Download) is $9.99
• Plentiful Paradox Package (PC Download) is $9.99
• Batman: Arkham City + $5 Amazon Credit (PC Download) is $7.50
• Total War: Shogun 2 (PC Download) is $7.49
• Paradox War Chest (PC Download) is $7.49
• Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition + $5 Amazon Gaming Credit (PC Download) is $5
• Bioshock Dual Pack - Steam Version (PC Download) is $4.99
• Dungeon Siege 3 (PC Download) is $4.99
• Worms Reloaded: Game of the Year Edition + $5 Amazon Gaming Credit (PC Download) is $4.99
Toys 'R' Us didn't have any stand-out offers on individual games, but they do have four "Buy One, Get Something" deals worthy of mention. These sales will run the entire week and end Saturday, December 1st.
• Buy 1 Skylanders Giants Figure & Accessories, Get One 40% Off
• Buy 2 Skylanders Spyro Adventures Singles Get 1 Free
• Buy 1 Select Video Game, Get 50% Off a Second Game for the same console
• 3-for-$35 on most games priced $14.99-$19.99 each
• Alienware M17x r4 17-inch with Ivy Bridge Core i7-3630QM, 6GB RAM, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M is $1,349
• Dell Inspiron 17R 17-inch with Ivy Bridge Core i7-3632QM, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, GeForce GT 630M is $799.99
• Lenovo 15.6-inch IdeaPad Y500 95412SU with Ivy Bridge Core i7-3632QM, 8GB RAM, GeForce GT650M, and swappable optical bay for second GPU is $799
• Dell XPS 8500 desktop, Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770 3rd Gen, Radeon HD 7570, 12GB, Blu-ray is $729.99
• Dre Beats Solo HD ControlTalk headphones is $179.99
For those who don't want their fragging and questing confined to puny 24-inch computer monitors, keep your mouse at the ready for the monster 82-inch Mitsubishi WD-82C12 DLP HDTV going for $1,299 after coupon as a Dell Cyber Monday doorbuster. Lowest price we've seen on this model by $200. The deal goes live at 9AM Eastern and is sure to sell out fast.
More modestly, you can pick up the 50-inch LG 50PA5500 Plasma HDTV for $549.99 from Dell today or the 42-inch Panasonic TC-L42ET5 3D LED HDTV for $599 at Amazon. Both feature gaming modes to disable additional video processing and minimize input lag.
As always, smart gamers can find values any day of the week, so if you've run across a deal, share it with us in the comments.
Despite it having a mini-Final Fantasy story all its own, Agni's Philosophy's true purpose is to show off all the different things this engine is capable of doing. The tech demo opens to a truck driving past two hairy animals. This is nothing special until you realize that not only is every individual hair on their bodies being rendered in real-time but also the hairs are moving in accordance with the wind and movement of the animal. More than that, you can see the animal's refection in a pool of water—an image that is a real-time copy of what the animal is doing—that is distorted due to the depth and clarity as well as the movement of the water. But what's truly amazing about this is not only that it is being rendered in this way but also that it can be changed drastically with a click of the mouse.
Let's take the old man in the next scene for example. Nearly everything about him can be changed on-the-fly by moving any of a set of slider bars: his skin color, the amount he is sweating, the brightness of the sun upon him. But his hair—specifically his beard—is astonishing in and of itself. Its thickness, the way it clumps, its length, its stiffness, its color, its elasticity, even how curly it is can all be changed on-the-fly. The hair is also capable of interacting with other objects automatically as well. At one point, this scene was paused and we were shown a floating white ball moving through the beard with the hair reacting realistically with no extra input needed.
In the next scene inside the temple, particles are the name of the game. From the start of the scene there are thousands of red and yellow glowing insects flying around. Soon they are joined by blood particles and chunks of flesh as the summoned dragon begins to form. Every single one of these particles—insects, blood, flesh, and even smoke particles from the numerous candles—is individually rendered. Their size, color, opacity, thickness, and even their individual movements can all be changed again with a simple set of slider bars. Like the hair, these particles also respond automatically to the objects they interact with—both solid objects and other particles.
Later, as Agni is attempting to escape with the crystal, we see her grab a glass bottle, make it glow with magic, and dump it on her arm to heal her wounds. Believe it or not, the most amazing thing in this scene is the glass bottle. The magic light passes through the bottle exactly as a bottle of that size and thickness would in the real world—they even showed us the calculus formula to prove it. Again, nearly everything about the bottle can be changed on the fly: its thickness, the dirtiness of the glass, even odd textures in the glass. But this is not the only time light comes into play.
Realistic lighting is one of the key players in the aptly named Luminous Engine. Great care has been put into having it affect all the objects you see in the tech demo, from water, to glass, to human skin and hair. But perhaps the most interesting lighting effect has to do with the eyes of the characters. The eyes themselves in Agni's Philosophy are all structured like real human eyes, complete with a lens. From that, the engine is able to automatically (and correctly) put the reflection of what the character is seeing onto its eye. Of course, reflections don't appear only on eyes, but rather on all even slightly reflective surfaces in the demo.
The Luminous Engine is simply an amazing piece of technology. The way it handles light, particles, skin, and hair is nothing short of astounding. Frankly, when you get down to the details, it looks better than any other real-time engine I have ever seen.
Simply put, the Luminous Engine is Square Enix's attempt to show that they can not only make a world that looks and acts exactly like the real world, but that they can also do it in real time. But more than that, it's Square Enix showing that they are already prepared for the next generation of consoles—that they have already worked through and conquered all the problems that other developers will face over the next coming years. And that's the reason this conference was open to the public and streamed online: they want you, the common gamer, to know that they are ready.
But while Square Enix spent a lot of time at the conference detailing how to work with the engine for the best results, it remains to be seen if making a game with the level of detail present in Agni's Philosophy is even practical. Regardless, one thing is for sure: the next generation of games will have the potential to look far better than anything we have seen yet.
For decades, no, centuries, Japanese parents were happy giving their kids regular Japanese names. Sure, there have been trends, but the latest one is producing some kids with peculiar names—and even worries about bullying.
Japanese names are slightly different from English ones. Traditionally, first names were selected based on the number of brush strokes in the child's last name and based on the meaning of the kanji characters used in the first name. Some kanji are viewed as more favorable based on their meaning. Girls were often given simple names as their last names would change if they married, and the parents worried that a complex name with many brush strokes might not go with their new last name.
Now, many young parents are selecting "sparkly names" (kirakira neemu or キラキラネーム) for their children. These names are based only on how they sound, and the kanji characters don't have much, if any, meaning. Sometimes, people are naming their kids after manga or video game characters—something that would have been unheard of a generation ago in Japan. For example, last fall a magazine model named her son "Ace" after the One Piece character, shoehorning in kanji characters for the kid's name.
There have been newspaper columns in which bullying has been discussed, with kids bearing unusual names being teased. The appeal of these names, however, is to stand out. Parents don't want their kids to have the same first name as other kids. Many last names are fairly common in Japan, so the desire to be different is understandable.
For the upcoming election in Japan, the country's Liberal Democratic Party is even taking this up as a political cause, talking about educating parents better. "Children are not pets," said LDP front runner Shinzo Abe. "Parents need the necessary guidance." One of the sparkly name examples cited was naming a kid "Pikachu", which would use the kanji 光宙, which literally means "light" and "space".
There have been naming trends over the years, and these "sparkly names" are just the most recent trend. During the decades following the war, more and more girls were given the kanji for "ko" (子), leading to many women with names like "Yoko", "Kyoko", or "Yuko". One of the reasons why "ko" spread so during these years was the Empress Michiko. She was the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial Family, causing the number of girls with the then regal sounding "ko" skyrocketed. Now, "ko" sounds old fashioned to some younger Japanese. After the "ko" boom, more girls started getting names with "mi" (美), which means "beautiful", among other trends.
The sparkly name trend is actually closer to how many Americans name their kids—they pick a name they think sounds good. Sure, some folks give family names or check the meaning of the name, but many don't. People should pick names they think are good names that the kids can be proud of. That being said, parents, Japanese or elsewhere, don't name your kid Pikachu. Just don't. Now, Light or Space on the other hand...
安倍総裁「キラキラネーム、いじめられる」 北海道新聞「いじめ、いさめるのが教育」 [J-Cast]
