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Is the video game industry losing the PR battle?

Last week, an ad from the Change4Life Campaign was placed all over the U.K. depicting a young boy holding a video game controller with large text over his head reading: "Risk an early death. Just do nothing." Nowhere in that ad did it explicitly say video games could cause children to die early, but the message was there, and a handful of video game developers took offense.

Codemasters' CEO Rod Cousens said, "Governments have a unique ability to get it wrong." Sega Europe President and COO Mike Hayes said in an interview that he and the rest of the employees at his company were "very disappointed" with the ad. He went on to say that "it remains a deep frustration that video gaming is selected to present a negative image of the U.K.'s children, youth, consumer at large and the industry."

Atari issued a statement saying "at best, the campaign is misleading and at worst, damaging to the industry, its reputation and its potential." It followed that up by registering a formal complaint with the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority.

For its part, the U.K. Department of Health said in a statement that the ads are "not saying that children shouldn't play computer games or eat treats, but parents and children need to be aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle."

This wasn't the government's first attack on the video game industry. The U.K. government, through this Change4Life campaign, earlier this year released a commercial showing a child playing a video game and then used the camera to zoom in to his body to show fat building up. He's later shown as an effigy of himself in the video game, with the phrase "Game Over" displayed on-screen.

Once again, the U.K. Department of Health said in a statement that it wasn't attacking video games, but it wanted to remind parents that an "unhealthy lifestyle, including poor diet or being inactive, can lead to health problems in later life."

Where's the outcry? Where are the major developers, like EA and Activision, speaking out against this? Why isn't the video game industry doing more to battle this Change4Life campaign? Sega and Atari, with their cryptic messages, won't do anything to change how video games are treated. More needs to be done.… Read more

RuckJack goes from jacket to backpack

Talk about an identity crisis--though there is something about the RuckJack's dual personality that appeals to the geek in us with its 2-in-1 ability to morph into a jacket or backpack. And it's all simply done with just one zip and two clips.

Fortunately, too, this doesn't follow the path of many hybrid offerings that end up being a Jack of all trades, master of none. The patent-pending RuckJack not only looks tough enough to brave the elements with its lightweight, all-weather material, it comes in a multitude of stylish colors. Of course, if you're using … Read more

Flexicord cables take rattlesnake approach

Kiss your blistered fingers and headaches goodbye--tangled cords are a problem of the past as long as you use Flexicords. If you're someone who sets up and breaks down your television, home theater kit, laptop, or desktop computer, Flexicords' coiled design eliminates the need to measure exactly how much cable you'll need to hook up your gear.

The cables come curly and extend out up to 10 feet, ensuring that you have just enough slack without any excess clutter.

Flexicord offers cables for just about any application, including USB, phono jacks, S-video, networking cables, and HDMI. Once extended, the coils retain their shape thanks to a thick pipe cleaner that bends alongside the cable itself.

Finally, each wire comes with its own "recoiling tool," aka an inanimate plastic rod that helps you coil it back up. Prices vary depending on size and maximum length, but they all generally cost around $20, with the exception of the 10-foot HDMI cable that goes for $34.

More pictures after the jump!… Read more

The 404 Yuletide Mini-sode Three: Where one or two movies came out this year

Installment Three of 404 Holiday Mini-sodes invites you to take a look at this year in cinema. Join us as Wilson puts on his critic hat and picks his top three movies of the year. Jeff joins the fun and chooses his favorite films but manages to find plenty of time to hate many, many others.

As for the Mantern, he adds one crucial but often overlooked observation to the discussion. Listen at the end of the podcast for his suggestion for most poignant film of the year...

Yuletide Mini-sode Three Download today's podcast … Read more

The 404 218: Where Wilson's Halloween costume totally sucks

On today's Halloween episode, Jeff and I don our spookiest masks and berate Wilson for his awful costume. Tune in to find out the travesty that is Halloween at the Tang's. We also talk about our love/hate relationship with Chipotle and discuss Superman and other weak-sauce superheroes. And on the second half of the show, we welcome Alex Armour from Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) to talk about some of its most popular video game titles.

Be sure to check out the second half of the show, Alex Armour, a rep from Sony Computer Entertainment of America comes on and answers our pressing SCEA video game questions. If you like smashing things with cars, we recommend checking out Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, an off-road racing game that takes place on a tropical island. We also get Alex's take on the whole LittleBigPlanet soundtrack fiasco and I break some unfortunate news about Jeff's recently inflated paychecks. Finally, we also get a sneak peak about the upcoming Resistance 2, a sequel to the popular first-person shooter Resistance: Fall of Man. Even more exciting is Alex's Halloween costume for this year; it's Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China! It's one of my favorite movies and I can't wait to see what he looks like in that mullet wig and tank top, don't forget to send us pictures tomorrow Alex! Also, check out the video below for Jeff's countdown of the top 7 scariest video games of all time! Have a very happy and safe Halloween everyone!

Episode 218 Download today's podcast … Read more

The 404 216: Where no one can hear you scream

Today, Dead Space producer Rich Briggs joins us for the second half of the show to talk about one of the scariest games we've played in recent memory.

But first, we dish out the dirt on video gamer enemy No. 1, Jack Thompson. It seems old Jacky has finally been disbarred from practicing law in the great state of Florida; good riddance. Next, Wilson enlightens us as to why the Internet may be killing our brains and how he knows the guy who can help.

The second half of the show features an interview with Dead Space producer Rich Briggs. We ask Rich all about his terrifyingly good game and what went into making one of the creepiest games of all time. We take live questions from that chat room and see what horror movies influenced Rich and the rest of the Dead Space team.

Finally, our Dan Ackerman contest winner is announced and Zen from Arizona has taken first prize. Check one of his winning submission (Ackerman/Palin), along with some other entries below.

EPISODE 216 Download today's podcast … Read more

AT&T debuts Samsung Epix smartphone

On Tuesday, AT&T announced the newest addition to its smartphone family, the Samsung Epix, and if you think it's simply a minor upgrade to the Samsung BlackJack II, think again.

True, on the surface, the Epix looks pretty much like the BlackJack II, save for a couple of different buttons, but Samsung stepped it up and equipped the smartphone with a touch screen and optical mouse. That's right. You can now interact with your device through the 2.5-inch screen (with your finger or built-in stylus) and navigate with the traditional controls or with the optical … Read more

TCP flaws puts Web sites at risk

Two researchers in Sweden have found multiple flaws in the TCP stack that could lead to massive denial-of-service attacks if exploited. At present there is no workaround and there are no patches available.

The TCP stack defines a set of rules by which a computer can communicate over any network. Robert E. Lee, chief security officer for Outpost24, told CNET News, "the vendors we are in talks with seem to be taking the threat seriously."

The discovery follows a test using a port scanner called UnicornScan, which Lee and senior security researcher Jack Louis created. The tool is … Read more

The 404 197: Where nobody wants a new DSi

We hope you're thirsty because Jeff is back on the show today and everyone is soaking wet with haterade. He hates on the new Nintendo DSi and the Wii, he hates on the upcoming Robin TV show, he hates on Jack Black, he even hates on his poor, innocent co-hosts. How ironic that the chat room had an unusually large crowd today.

Dan the Mantern here. Also on today's show, Wilson gushes about his love for Google. Perhaps he has "employment envy," but Wilson is really into the Goog. With Google's new plan to save the world by eliminating fossil fuels, the search engine goliath has reached a new level of ballsiness. Don't get me wrong, we all love our ubiquitous search box. I mean, what would the world be like without the power to know anything in less than .00001 seconds? But isn't anyone else afraid of an organization that stores mountains of data about people's Internet habits, purchasing habits, emails, personal calendars and, soon, telephone conversations? It's not what they do with the information, it's what they could do with it that makes me paranoid, like telling everyone how many times Justin watched the Mini-me sex tape. Look, I'm not going to cancel gmail or stop using Google, I'm just sounding off. Besides, as long as the search term "The 404" brings you to this blog, I think I can live.

EPISODE 197 Download today's podcast … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 818: The Zipless Squirt

It's an "in the wild" sort of show today: love on the bus, Zune-style; a Tesla in the wild; an anecdotal Netbook in the wild; and wild assumptions and paranoia about Internet tracking ensue as Rafe Needleman returns to BOL. Also, the birdman flies over the Channel. Awesome. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 818

Jack Thompson Disbarred http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/25/1822207 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10051241-52.html

AT& T, Verizon to refrain from tracking users online http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092504135.html… Read more