Microsoft Continues Assault On PS3 Gamers

Kotaku: "No longer content to advertise in places trolled by 360 gamers, Microsoft, it seems, has taken out a back page ad in the latest PS3 magazine for the Xbox 360's Gears of War.

I suppose that's not as gutsy as occupying the borders of the Gamespot Playstation 3 pages. Brian Crecente"

INSANE! Biggest LAN-PARTY ever - 7752 people

Biggest LAN-PARTY ever - 7752 people: "At Dreamhack Winter 2006 the organization tried and succeeded in beating the existing world record for the biggest LAN party. Their goal was to get 10,000 people there. As of October 15, 2006, tickets for 10,000 people had already been sold.On the first of December, a representative from Guinness Book of Records officially announced that the record had indeed been broken. The new record is 7752 attendants and 7788 computers connected to the network, although the calculated attendance of DreamHack 2006 was 10,638."

Concern at rush to study for degrees in computer games | Higher Education

The Australian: "AMAZED at the rush of enrolments for new degrees in computer games, Queensland academics are 'terrified' that some students believe they will spend three years finessing their PlayStation skills.
The Queensland University of Technology's Bachelor of Games and Interactive Entertainment has been so popular with school leavers that the head of the campus's IT faculty fears students have been misled by a catchy course title.

'One of our terrible fears is that we're going to have this cohort of students who imagine that they're going to be allowed to play games 50 hours a week for three years and then be handed a degree,' the dean of information technology, Simon Kaplan, said.

'This is something that terrifies us because computer games at university is no more about playing computer games than aeronautics is about flying fighter jets.'

Although students will learn the technical and creative aspects of design, animation and software development, QUT's decision to market the course via computing magazines and FM radio has resulted in a flood of interest, with some of the state's top students applying. School leaver Douglas Cook passed up a chance to study law and medicine to sign up for the games degree. 'I could have possibly been a doctor or lawyer (but) I just wanted"

Sweden to set up embassy in Second Life

The Local: "Sweden is to become the first country to establish diplomatic representation in the virtual reality world of Second Life, officials said on Friday.

'We are planning to establish a Swedish embassy in Second Life primarily as an information portal for Sweden,' Swedish Institute (SI) director Olle Wästberg told AFP.
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The embassy would not provide passports or visas but would instruct visitors how to obtain such documents in the real world and act as a link to web-based information about the Scandinavian country.

'Second Life allows us to inform people about Sweden and broaden the opportunity for contact with Sweden easily and cheaply,' Wästberg said."

Halo 3 spike grenade specs

Better get those Crackdown pre-orders in soon, Halo 3 is looking better each week. True to their style, Bungie has decided to drop another Halo 3 crumb from their mighty table. We’ve already seen the Mongoose, and the new Assualt Rifle

and this week they’re showing us the new spike grenade.

In the UNSC’s limited encounters with the spike grenade, we have learned much of its tactical applications both through contact with the Brutes and field tests of our own using discarded equipment. The quills of the spike grenade seem to be able to grip almost any surface upon which it’s been tested. This includes rock, glass and even some Covenant shield systems, unlike the plasma grenades which we have encountered before. The other feature unique to this grenade is its directional blast. Our researchers have discovered that the directional blast of the grenade is not designed to come out of one end or the other, but instead is relative to the surface against which it rests. If thrown against a perfectly flat wall, the grenade’s blast will disperse perpendicular to the wall.

So for anyone that’s ever wanted to throw a claymore, now you’ll have the chance. This will undoubtedly add an interesting tactical element to multiplayer, as chasing a player through tunnels and around corners becomes an even more risky affair. Bungie also states that the grenades will be particularly effective on Snowbound, as the spike grenades stick to the shield doors on the map. The kill radius on the grenade is about 10ft., and the damage radius extends to 36ft. We leave you with a few of the anecdotes that Bungie had about the Type-2 Antipersonnel Fragmentation Grenade.

It’s like a table leg with machetes bolted to it. Who the hell makes a weapon like that? Did those guys actually get up into space on their own?

Those things ain’t made to wound anyone – to make you use up time and resources treating casualties. They were designed to make you die screaming.

I’ve heard guys say that there’s nothing as scary as seeing one of these slam into a wall – or a man – you’re standing next to. Well, those guys have never seen a whole squad of baby kongs huckin’ ‘em in their direction at the same time – ‘cause that is some scary ****.

Xboxic

Final Fantasy XIII confirmed for 2008

PlayStation Universe (PSU): "For those who hoped to play Final Fantasy XIII this year, this is bad news.

In a recent interview, Nomura confirmed to the Famitsu gaming magazine that Final Fantasy XIII won't be coming out in 2007, and that the new release date is set for 2008. The most simple explanation is that they still have some other projects to finish before being able to fully focus on Final Fantasy XIII.

Final Fantasy XIII is part of the Final Fantasy: Fabula Nova Crystallis trilogy, which also includes Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII (for cellphones).

Although the game is set to be released in 2008, we can expect a demo to be available late this year. If the demo doesn't make it to the online stores this year, we will at least have the first in-game footage from TGS or some other events.

Keep checking PSU.com for the latest news on Final Fantasy news."