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Behind the names of our favorite companies and consoles

Gamers speak the names of companies and systems on a daily basis, but many of us don’t know what these words actually mean nor their origin. And so here is a list of many of the biggest companies and consoles and what information is openly known about their names. I speak absolutely no Japanese and have no new information to add to this planet, but I have not seen all this info neatly compiled in one spot before. Thanks to Japanmanship and others who had already done much research on the topic.

Companies

Microsoft - Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems created the microcomputer Altair 8800 and Bill Gates offered to implement BASIC on their system. Micro is either from the Micro in the MITS company name or the micro in microcomputer, or both. Either way, it’s not terribly exciting.

SONY - Despite ads that say otherwise, SONY does not stand for So New York. The name actually derives from the proud language of South America - Latin. Sonus, meaning “sound” in Latin, was mixed with the Japanese slang Sonny-boys, which means “whiz kids”, to create the SONY we know today.

Nintendo - A liberal translation of the term often quoted is “Leave luck to Heaven,” but it has long been debated. Some contest that the way Heaven is used makes it a place, not an overall concept like we have of Heaven. Because of this, it would be like saying “Leave luck to laundromat.” Ultimately, we may never know as its founder has been dead for over six decades. Maybe he’s in Heaven giving Nintendo good luck. Or burning in hell for making trading cards that drew kids’ attention away from Jesus.

Sega - You should know this by now. A merger between Rosen Enterprises and Service Games of Japan created SEGA in 1965. Service Games, SEGA, Service Games, SEGA…get it?

Namco - Namco used a strategy similar to Sega’s when changing Nakamura Manufacturing to Namco. The “co” is reported to stand for coin-op, but according to some sources the name change took place before Namco even made coin op games, which indicates the “co” may just stand for “company”. Or perhaps “Communism”.

More here.....

Wolfmother challenges you to a race off

Xbox 360 Fanboy: "Our fellow Guitar Hero II rockers Wolfmother will be playing some Forza 2 this Saturday as part of Xbox.com's Game With Fame. The band will be online playing Forza 2 sometime on June 23rd and to get a chance to race with them simply send gamertag WolfmotherGWF a friend request. That's it, sit back, rinse, repeat (minus the repeat part). We're also nearly certain that they'd be more comfortable rocking out to some Guitar Hero II online if they could, but you know ... a certain developer didn't include such feature in the 360 version. Oh well, Forza 2 will work just fine."

Todd McFarlane talks Halo toys

Xbox 360 Fanboy: "Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn and self-named McFarlane Toys, recently sat down with the boys at Bungie to discuss the creation of the new line of Halo toys. While we don't get any new pictures of the upcoming toys (we want a shot of the light-up Cortana ... now), we do get to hear Todd's impressions of Bungie, as well as the philosophy behind creating great toys. Thankfully, McFarlane notes that the most important aspect of toy creation is authenticity. With the Halo toys, the goal is to strike a balance between detail and cost. Obviously, they want the toys to appeal to die-hard Halo fans, but they don't want to price them outside the range of the mass market (which is one of the reasons the figures are relatively small). Finally, McFarlane says that the Halo universe presents McFarlane Toys with a chance to 'do all of the things we're good at,' namely aliens and badass superheroes. Hit the 'read' link for the full interview."

COD4 Lighting and Effects Interview

We learn all about the new lighting and particle effects made possible by the advances in technology.

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150 bucks off 360 premium

150 bucks off 360 premium - Xbox 360 Fanboy: "If you're still on the fence about actually purchasing an Xbox 360, then we have a new reason for you. Actually, we have 150 of them. Head over to OverStock Dealz and you can pick up an Xbox 360 premium system for only $249.99. Yup, that's 150 smackers off the normal retail price. Now, it should be noted that the condition is listed as 'Like New, in Original Packaging,' and we've never shopped at OverStock Dealz before, so buy at your own risk. Still, at a $250 price, it's likely to be the best deal you'll find on an Xbox 360 for quite a while."

Images of Sega Rally - Xboxyde

Sega released these images of Sega Rally, from both the PS3 and X360 versions. The game uses a new technique, making it possible for the wheels to create patterns in the ground - which makes it harder for the cars behind to pick the right track to go in. More info inside, plus some images of this effect.

Quoting the press release:
As well as learning the race tracks to gain split-second advantages, players will start to see, hear and feel nuances in taking one racing line or another. For example, players might see a contour made by another car through some gravel, which if they follow will help them gain speed, whereas if they take a fresh route through the gravel it could potentially slow them down. It's these gameplay elements that give extra depth, is what players expect from a next-gen console and is something no game has done before.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Most games use a 1 metre polygon grid to drive upon, but that was never going to work for the level of details aimed for in SEGA Rally. Because of this, the entire drivable surface of every track within SEGA Rally is modelled at the massively high detail of 6 centimetres for every single polygon - that's 17 times more detail and means that each tyre of each Rally car interacts with up to 12 polygons at any time. Importantly, the physics engine powering SEGA Rally also runs the detail at a high frame-rate, reacting to every bump in the highly detailed scenery. For every surface, there are a number of characteristics - in addition to the normal static and dynamic slip components SEGA Racing Studio has modelled wear rate and how ruts form for every polygon, how the friction changes as players dig down into the surface, and the profile of the debris which tyres leave as they churn each surface up. SEGA Racing Studio are even able to model the higher grip levels expected on tarmac as traffic lays down rubber - and that means real live racing lines forming that can and must be reacted to as in a real race.

Images of Sega Rally - Xboxyde

Surf''s Up demo up on the XBLM

"Today's demo fun features surfing, penguins, and an occasional belly laugh. That's right, the Surf's Up demo hit the XBLM this morning and is the official game of the movie by the same name. We have yet to get our mitts on this surfing adventure, but we hear Matthew McConaughey gives it a thumbs up. Even though he'd give a thumbs up to anything that involves surfing, but we digress. Anyway, it's available for download in the US, Canada, and Mexico and (cross your fingers) should be better than that green ogre's pitiful game ... yeh, we called you out Shrek."

Call of Duty 4 gameplay video

"Activision and Infinity Ward released this first 100% gameplay video of Call of Duty 4. And it looks quite good!
Update: 60 fps version available."