It's National Toilet Day today, and Justin isn't here to celebrate. Fortunately, we more than make it up with dozens upon dozens of fecal jokes. Mark Licea of The Green Show joins the show today to talk tech and...lingerie?
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CBS Interactive/Wilson G. Tang)
Admittedly, we here at The 404 celebrate National Toilet Day at least three times a day, but we're glad to see that people across the planet are starting to recognize the importance of the porcelain throne. It may sound a bit unusual for us to be so beholden to the toilet, but most New Yorkers can sympathize. After all, most of us here have to deal with a mixed bag of ethnic food and $20 dollar fees to use a public restroom.
In nonpoop news, we talk about a Warner Bros. program to let DVD owners upgrade their discs to Blu-ray versions. The program is called DVD2Blu. This only applies to Warner Bros. films, and viewers must pay a fee of $8 to $10 per disc. We think this is a great idea. Wilson is especially keen on not having to pay $30 for each disc in his "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" collections.
Also, Jeff has a follow up to our video game censorship series. He interviewed Major Nelson of Microsoft to talk about racism, misogyny, and homophobia in online gaming. Check it out. A keen chat room listener though points out the irony of talking about derogatory words when players are shooting people in the head.
If you're worried about your cheating wife or girlfriend, a Brazilian line of lingerie from LindeLucy that comes with a built-in GPS tracking device. Now, the device is not exactly subtle, but for the paranoid ones out there, this might be the trick to keep your lady in line--or get her mad at you, again. Trust, after all, is the bond that holds all relationships together.
Finally, we get to some voice mails and viewer feedback about cool moms that play video games before their children do and an early review of "2012." Wilson is disappointed with the fact that the film won't be available in IMAX. He just wants to watch the world burn. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew remember the movie magic of the first "Jurassic Park" movie. The t. rex at the end: Priceless.
Send in your feedback and callbacks to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Or call us! We are after all an audio podcast too! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Thanks again!
EPISODE 471
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There's no denying that the online multiplayer experience is a major selling point for video games like the just-released Modern Warfare 2. The ability to play with (and against) other players from around the world adds an expanded dimension and a social component that single-player titles lack.
But while the bulk of the mainstream media criticism of these games tends to focus on the violence, gore, and questionable ethics in such combat-centric titles, little is spoken about a growing issue that can affect online gamers playing any title: instances of racism, misogyny, and homophobia (see below for a Current TV video on the latter subject).
Increasingly sophisticated gaming networks such as Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network allow players to communicate with one another before, during, and after gaming sessions via text and voice. Having participated in online gaming for more than a decade, I've heard every last profane muttering and expletive known to man.
But when my attention to online gaming shifted from the PC to the home console, I began to notice a comparatively more hostile environment. For whatever reason, this hostility usually came in the form of racial insensitivity and homophobic behavior.
Fast-forward to the current generation of games, and hearing racial epithets like the "n word" or homophobic slang like the "f word" shouted online is more commonplace than you might want to believe. Meanwhile, women who play in the male-dominated world of online gaming sometimes find themselves the victims of sexually suggestive comments and gender-based taunting.
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Nexus404)
While this type of behavior and language is actively discouraged in polite society, that mindset is totally disregarded by some in the online gaming world. Odds are that if you play enough online, you'll experience it firsthand.
A quick survey in the CNET office of gamers who play online using voicechat told us that all had had at least one negative experience. And unfortunately, it only takes a single unpleasant match online to really slam you back down to reality.
Perhaps the cloak of anonymity that playing a video game online provides increases the prevalence of these instances. Or maybe the brutal reality is that social issues like racism are more of a problem than we'd like to admit. The fact remains that there are some seriously deranged and troubled people out there, and they are speaking into my headset.
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Dong Ngo/CNET)
If you are a college student, you should know you now have a much higher chance of ending up with student loans, than if you graduated 15 years ago. And even if you are one of the lucky few who don't, every American is carrying a burden of about $184,000 in government debt and unfunded obligations.
In short, it's important to learn how to be financially responsible. This is the message that mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, wants you get via an online flash game called "DebtSki". The game is is part of mtvU's and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's Indebted campaign, an ongoing effort to encourage students to help stop the fiscal crisis in the United States.
It's a very simple Mario-like kind of game, where you maneuver the game character Piggy Banks through a series of obstacles, while trying to collect coins and then making decisions to spend those coins on items.
There are things you need to collect to win the game; other items are discretionary, which could bring you happiness but could potentially put you in debt. You are challenged to create a balance among happiness, debt, and responsibilities.
... Read moreThe number of iPhone users downloading mobile games to their devices jumped 14 percent in November, putting them in the lead of all mobile-phone game downloaders in the U.S. that month, according to a ComScore report released Friday.
The figures, based on a year-over-year comparison of three-month averages, showed that game downloads in November rose 17 percent overall to 8.5 million.
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ComScore)
Although mobile subscribers users are increasingly putting their phones to work to download games, only 3.8 percent of all U.S. mobile phone users took the time to download a game in November, according to ComScore.
However, a significantly higher percentage of all iPhone users, 32.4 percent, downloaded a game that month, according to the report.
Mark Donovan, a ComScore senior analyst, said in a statement:
The rapid growth in smartphone adoption in the United States has provided a boost for mobile gaming, as 34 percent of those downloading a game in November did so using a smartphone.
Last year, not one smartphone appeared in the top 10 devices used for mobile downloads. This year, six out of 10 are smartphones, excluding devices with smartphone-like functionality, such as the Instinct and Voyager, which also make appearances.
In RoboKill, you play a mech warrior that has to shoot its way through action-packed levels. Click on the image above for more free Flash games.
(Credit: Crave UK)Our sister site Crave UK has handpicked five free Flash games that will delight and even amaze. These aren't any old Flash games: in writer Andrew Lim's view, they're some of the best available online, and they'll appeal to almost everyone. From old-school classics to interactive monsters, these games will keep you thoroughly entertained in the quiet moments over the holidays.
See any favorite games Crave missed? Be sure to let us know in the Talkback section below.
The inside of the 'Wrath of the Lich King' retail box teases players with a challenge. The expansion to the hugely popular 'World of Warcraft' goes on sale tonight at midnight.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)For World of Warcraft players who over the years have grown accustomed to seeing busy in-world auction houses, the last few weeks may have seemed odd.
Normally bustling with players eager to buy or sell weapons, clothing, armor, or other goods, business at the auction houses has recently slowed to a crawl. But it's not because of the global economic crisis.
Rather, say WoW aficionados, players have been hoarding their gold in anticipation of the release Thursday of the game's latest expansion, , and holding off on buying items that would soon be obsolete.
This is just one example of players of the hugely popular massively multiplayer online game behaving differently as Lich King's release approaches.
The game will go on sale nationwide after midnight (12 a.m.) Thursday, and retail stores expect lines across the country.
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Sanrio Digital)
If your kids start to show serious signs of loving New York and you don't know why, this might be the reason.
Sanrio Digital, maker of the Hello Kitty Online 3D virtual world that's currently in beta, announced Friday the game's largest in-game event: the building of New York City. Players of the Hello Kitty Online Founders' Beta can take part in a series of quests to collect and organize materials for the building of a new New York area that will appear in the next phase of the game--and will undoubtedly be far more pink than the real Big Apple.
Players who successfully complete all the required quests will have the names of their character permanently recorded on virtual commemorative plaques located throughout the virtual New York (the plaques will appear in future versions of the game's North American edition).
These permanent rewards and status, as well as the character's progress, will be carried into the final version of Hello Kitty Online. The game is free to play and can be downloaded here. Currently it's unclear when the game will be finalized.
For those who are no longer kids and already heart New York (like my college Joseph Kaminski and his co-hosts of the Digital City podcast), this is also very exciting news.
I've been having a lot of fun playing checkers with my distant friend via MSN Messenger lately, and thought it would be cool if we could do that during the commute.
Well, wouldn't you know it? Spb Software, a maker of Windows Mobile applications, announced on Wednesday the release of its Spb Online Games, a separate suite consisting of four online games.
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Spb Software)
These games include two versions of checkers (yes!), plus Hexagon, and Reversi. They allow you to play against real people from anywhere in the world, in real time.
The games, of course, require a Windows Mobile phone, such as the ATT Tilt, with an Internet connection, via cellular data, Wi-Fi, or ActiveSync. All these games are designed to launch fast (within 30 seconds or less) and players can continue from the spot were they left off.
Apparently, according to Spb, each of the games has been available separately, and each is getting more and more popular. The Wednesday release marks the company's effort to offer thousands of its online mobile game players a suite so that they can meet all of their gaming needs in one place. This also includes better management of game profiles: avatar, name, type of handset, and so on. Just like gaming via MSN Messenger, you can also further taunt your opponent through real-time chatting via typing or using preselected messages.
If this is new to you, like it is to me, you can just download the software, and try it free for 15 days. After that, the games cost $14.95 each. Existing registered users of Spb Online can get the games through an automatic "push" update to Spb Online version 1.1.
Spb Online Games is compatible with Windows Mobile 5 and later, and supports qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions, which basically covers almost all of current Windows Mobile smart phones. I do have one problem though--I sold out and bought myself an iPhone 3G a while ago.
Batman fans can find the superhero, along with other famous DC characters, in the new MMO DC Universe Online.
(Credit: Sony Online Entertainment)If hoards of Batman and Joker fans have their way, one booth may be getting some extra attention at Comic-Con, the annual comic book conference that kicks off in San Diego today.
Players will develop their own avatars to fight characters like Green Lantern.
(Credit: Sony Online Entertainment)Following the success of the newest Batman flick and Sony's E3 announcement of a new massively multiplayer online game (MMO), DC Universe Online, DC, Warner Brothers, and Sony Online Entertainment are treating some of their biggest fans to a sneak peek of the virtual world that will be offered on PlayStation 3 or online.
But for those who can't attend the everything-comic conference, DC Universe Online's MySpace page offers some select screenshots and artwork.
According to Reuters, the game features 150 characters from the DC comics, designed with the help of DC comic book artist and executive creative director Jim Lee, as well as other DC writers.
Players can become villains and meet up with Harley Quinn and the Joker.
(Credit: Sony Online Entertainment)However, the focus isn't solely on the famous comic book characters, who remain unplayable by users. The MMO will instead let users create their own superhero or villain when they join the universe. They can then engage with other characters, good and bad, to duke it out.
SOE has set no official release date, instead waiting for feedback on the current state of the virtual super-universe. The game will be featured in six kiosks on the floor of Comic-Con from July 24 to July 27.
Just like it's taken us a while to reckon with the fact that texting or yakking on the phone while driving can be seriously unsafe, it is taking a while to figure out what to make of our sometimes heedless obsession with all things online.
At least one psychiatrist says that, for some of us, online fixation can be serious a problem--a compulsive-impulsive disorder whose sufferers endure gadget cravings, broadband-deprivation withdrawal, increasing tolerance for spending extraordinary amounts of time online, and no apparent embarrassment when they wake up in the morning with a keyboard imprint on their face.
An article in The Ottawa Citizen cites an editorial on the subject in the March issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry by Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health and Science University.
Another set of symptoms typically accompanying online addiction, Block writes, includes argumentative behavior, lying, social isolation, and fatigue. He also notes that Internet addiction typically accompanies other types of mental illness, argues that it should be included in psychiatry's official dictionary of mental illnesses, and points out that it already is considered a serious public health issue in South Korea and China.
Look around you. You probably see at least a few people in need of Net-addiction therapy. Assuming you're not holed up at home, staring for hours at your computer screen.
