Tech Culture

The rumor was right. Konami today confirmed Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection, slating the comprehensive PlayStation 3-exclusive bundle to arrive this June. The company did not specify a price.

Game designer Hideo Kojima teased the project last week, revealing an image of the game's box art. In addition, the Korean Game Ratings board had published an entry for the bundle.

Read more of "Metal Gear Solid: Legacy Collection confirmed" at GameSpot.

If you happen to meet a BlabDroid in public, the smiling cardboard-headed robot may roll up to you and ask a question like, "Who do you love most in the world?" or "What's the worst thing you've ever done to someone?" These bots are making a documentary about human-robot relationships, but you may be able get a BlabDroid of your very own.

BlabDroid is the creation of artist and roboticist Alexander Reben. Filmmaker Brent Hoff is using them for a documentary about how humans interact with robots. Versions of the little bots with a camera and speaker onboard are traveling around to international film festivals, where they ask preset questions and film the results. That footage will be edited into a movie. A new Kickstarter project is offering them to the world. The robot can connect to your phone via Bluetooth, so it will be able to work with apps and features like Siri.… Read more

Amazon's pilot programs launched last week, and already they're making an impact on the e-retailer's streaming video service.

Amazon said today that over this past weekend, eight of the 10 most-streamed episodes on its Instant Video service came from the new TV pilots it launched last week.

Amazon claims that it combed through more than 4,000 submissions for its Amazon Studios division, which will produce original series for its streaming service. Out of that, it chose to make 14 pilots. The shows range in type from comedies -- including one starring John Goodman, named "Alpha … Read more

Apple, Samsung, and other tech firms have raised more than $32 million to aid China as it tries to recover from Saturday's devastating earthquake.

The quake, which occurred Saturday morning local time in China's Sichuan province, has so far left 200 people dead or missing, 11,800 people injured, and more than 100,000 homeless.

Among technology companies sending money to aid in relief efforts, Samsung China has pledged around $9.7 million. China Samsung President Zhang Yuanji took to the company's official Sina Weibo page to express his condolences saying that "China Samsung always with … Read more

If you rob a bank and get away in a driverless Prius, will the owner be indicted as the driver? Or will Toyota? Or maybe Google?

If your driverless car decides -- as so many machines do in movies -- that it has a mind of its own, will you be responsible when it decides to mount the curb and plow straight into your favorite donut store? And what if someone hacks into your driverless car and you suddenly end up in Alaska, with an instruction to mow down moose?

You'll tell me this will never happen. I will point you to the fine profits regularly earned by the world's insurance companies.

I suspect that not everyone has the answers yet for all the ramifications of ceding your steering wheel to Google's machines.

Thankfully, though, all those who have the deepest knowledge of the self-driving future will be meeting in June to have a freewheeling exchange.… Read more

Netflix has launched its third original series with Friday's debut of "Hemlock Grove."

Following its usual strategy, the video rental service has made all 13 episodes of "Hemlock Grove" available in one shot, so people can watch them at their own pace.

Based on a 2012 novel written by Brian McGreevy, "Hemlock Grove" is a supernatural thriller that takes place in a small Pennsylvania town where a teenage girl is murdered, and the town casts an eye at many of its more eccentric residents as potential suspects.… Read more

Another month, another victory for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Research firm NPD released its monthly game industry sales figures yesterday, revealing that, for the 27th consecutive month, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in March, beating out Nintendo's Wii U and Sony's PlayStation 3. According to Microsoft, it sold 261,000 units Xbox 360 units in the U.S. in March. Total consumer spending on all Xbox-related hardware, software, and accessories hit $402 million.

Once again, though, the game industry overall had a down month in March, generating just $992.5 million in physical sales. During the … Read more

Hang onto your fur -- there's going to be a new "Star Wars" film in cinemas every summer. "Episode VII" will arrive in 2015, with "VIII" and "IX" following in two-year intervals.

The years in between (2016, 2018, and maybe 2020) will see spin-off movies, Disney boss Alan Horn told cinema owners at CinemaCon. These could focus on key characters such as Han Solo, Boba Fett, and Yoda.

Having paid $4 billion for its new set of action figures, Disney is desperate to start playing with them. This new release strategy … Read more

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime was more than willing to talk about his company's mobile device, the 3DS, in a recent interview. But when it came to the Wii U, he was reportedly awfully quiet.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview published Wednesday, Fils-Aime said that 3DS game sales in the U.S. have "surpass[ed] 20 million units" since the portable's launch in 2011. He was even more excited to point out that digital sales for the platform have accounted for 11 percent of all 3DS software sales.

"So far in 2013 … Read more