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(11/01/16 7:59pm)
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the views of Byte or Ball State University.
by Gunner Masters
Comcast is adding to the list of states with a 1 terabyte internet data limit for customers today. Its ‘XFINITY Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan’ may not seem like a big deal to most, with the Internet service provider claiming that 99 percent of customers use less than 1TB of data per month, however it may have unforeseen consequences for gamers, streamers and cord-cutters.
To back-up why the company made the data limit, their website says: their “typical customer uses only about 60 gigabytes of data in a month...” – less than six percent of a terabyte – and that the median usage is 75GB. However, those numbers may only represent account holders, not including others in a household that use the internet.
For customers that Comcast calls “super users”, individuals who use more than the 1TB limit a month, they offer unlimited data for an additional $50 per month. If a customer without unlimited data does go over the 1TB limit in a month, the company automatically charges them $10 for an extra 50GB up to a $200 limit per month. However, there is a grace period for the first two months in a 12-month period where a customer won’t receive overage charges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE9OuNK-QWg
This may not seem bad, but consider that the very nature of the internet is for everyone to access it freely. Data limits from ISP’s could make it more difficult for families to afford Comcast’s price on top of other bills and the cost of living. As for gamers, streamers and cord-cutters who rely on internet access to enjoy their games, movies, and self-produced content, this could shoehorn them into limiting or quitting their usage and content creation because they simply cannot afford it now.
Living in a house with four people total with each having a multitude of tech that connects online, you can see where this would grow to be a problem. The very nature of these pieces of tech almost always requires internet access to use the majority of their functions, and each one has updates from their respective creators. To understand how much data we actually use, we checked our data usage at the end of the month. We were sitting at 999.8 GB before midnight, only one Netflix stream away from tipping over 1TB.
In response to this, I would recommend customers who need or want unlimited data to upgrade or search for a more affordable ISP. However, this seems to be a bitter compromise to me, and I would rather see legal action taken by the FCC. For those who are concerned or outraged by this decision I recommend writing to your congressional representatives and starting petitions for Comcast and the FCC to change the prices or eliminate data limits.
(10/21/16 7:39pm)
by Gunner Masters
Voice actors with the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union are on strike against many large game development companies because of stalled negotiations.
The union’s strike focuses against Electronic Arts, Activision Publishing, Warner Bros. Games and Disney. Character Voices also targeted are Insomniac Games, VoiceWorks Productions, BlindLight and Interactive Associates.
SAG-AFTRA declared on their website that the strike began at 12:01 p.m. PT with the actors refusing to work on any game that began production after February 17, 2015. A picket line will form at 10:30 a.m. Monday October 24, outside of EA’s offices in Playa Vista, California.
“SAG-AFTRA has gone to the negotiations table with serious concerns affecting our voiceover and stunt performers,” said SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez in an official PDF. “It’s time for video game employers to take our concerns seriously and negotiate a modern contract based on actor safety, industry precedent and best practices.”
The strike was caused by growing tension between the union and game developer’s inability to come to an agreement after more than 19 months on a contract that would give actors more compensation, information about projects and safety.
On October 18, Barnes & Thornburg, the legal firm representing the game companies accused SAG-AFTRA of violating a “mutually agreed upon” news black-out and proclaimed the strike would only hurt the union’s membership.
Scott J. Witlin, a representative of Barnes & Thornburg, published a statement in response to SAG-AFTRA’s then proposed strike saying, “We have negotiated in good faith for the past 18 months with SAG-AFTRA union leaders, and are making progress toward a new contract.” He also wrote that the strike would be harmful to the union’s members because they provide their services to “less than 25%” of games and a strike would deny them work.
Source: SAG-AFTRA
Image: SAG-AFTRA
(10/07/16 2:18pm)
by Gunner Masters
Bethesda announced on its website that mods for Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition are coming to PlayStation 4. Additionally both games will be supported on the PlayStation 4 Pro when it releases.
“We are excited to finally get modding to our PlayStation fans who have supported us for so long,” the announcement said. “Modding has been an important part of our games for over 10 years, and we hope to do even more in the coming year for all our players, regardless of platform.”
Mods on PS4 will allow players to create custom content by using Bethesda’s Creation Kit available at their site, however they won’t be able to use external assets with the mods. But players will be able to use any assets that come with the game.
Skyrim Special Edition will receive mods and will run native 4K rendering on the PS4 Pro upon its release on October 28. Bethesda said that they will update Fallout 4 with mods and PS4 pro after work on Skyrim is completed.
“We and Sony have worked hard to make this possible,” the announcement said.
This announcement comes after disappointment in September when Bethesda told fans that mods would not be coming to the PS4 due to restrictions from Sony.
Sources: Bethesda, Polygon, Engadget
Images: Gamerant, Bethesda, Kotaku
(09/30/16 8:32pm)
by Gunner Masters
Many people carry dreams and ideas they hope will change the world. Once in a while by ingenuity or destiny, someone will achieve them. In 2014, a science fair project would propel one boy into the spotlight. Shubham Banerjee saw a flier asking for donations to the blind and asked his parents, "How do they read?"
They simply told him, “Google it”, so he did and found that the blind read using Braille. This reading system uses dots arranged in a rectangular cell, three dots high and two across, to form letters that the blind can read by touching them. Shubham continued his research and learned that Braille printers cost at least $2,000 or more. He decided that this was a problem he could solve.
“I wanted to create something that was a lot less costly and that was my motivation to build this,” Banerjee said.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qivrRNRfl3k[/embed]
With his inspiration and research, and the help of his father, Niloy; who is an engineer for Intel Corp., Shubham created a Braille printer using a Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit.
“I’ve been playing with Legos since I was two or three. I thought Legos because they were pretty easy to use and they were really affordable and you can find them anywhere,” he said.
Following the success of his printer, Shubham and his family launched Braigo Labs Inc. with an initial investment of $35,000 from his father. Shubham used the money to create the Braigo 2.0, a more advanced version of his original printer that uses a desktop printer and an Intel computer chip. It can translate electronic text into Braille before actually printing off a page.
In November 2014, Intel executives were impressed by Banerjee’s product and invested an undisclosed amount in his company. Braigo used the money to hire engineers and various advisors to develop Banerjee’s printers and expand the company.
“Right now we’re looking for the final design so we can release the product, but in the future we want to reduce the number of people who are illiterate in Braille an increase the amount of people who are blind or vision impaired to have a Braille printer,” he said. The printer Braigo is developing could cost about $350.
Currently Banerjee’s mother, Malini Banerjee, is serving as President of the company with his father, Niloy, serving as a mentor and coach to his son and sits on the Board of Directors.
“They make the decisions for me, but they’re really positive and know what’s best for me and what I should do,” he said to student media at Ball State before he spoke at the Letterman event.
Currently, Shubham is a freshman at Champion School in Santa Clara, California living a relatively normal life of a high school student playing sports and spending time with friends. “I don’t really talk about it at school at all. I play football in high school… but they didn’t know until one person found out randomly and then they told my friends and they all just went crazy. We just keep it real,” he explained.
Banerjee gave his closing thoughts for anyone striving to achieve a goal or dream. “My advice is to never give up and always ask questions. You need your parents for everything, definitely ask them for advice or criticism, but don’t be afraid to ask questions,” he said.
(04/25/16 9:30pm)
Many people carry dreams and ideas they hope will change the world. Once in a while by ingenuity or destiny, someone will achieve them. In 2014, a science fair project would propel one boy into the spotlight. Shubham Banerjee saw a flier asking for donations to the blind and asked his parents, "How do they read?"
(03/28/16 7:21pm)
The gaming community was buzzing with news of a supposed leak of Nintendo’s NX controller last week. The photos originated in a post by Reddit user “Idriss2Dev” and spread across forums, message boards and news sites.
(02/22/16 9:27pm)
Yesterday, Apple released a customer letter on its website explaining why it has refused to assist the FBI in unlocking the smart-phone of Syed Rizwan Farook. Farook was one of the shooters in the San Bernardino massacre that occurred on December 2, 2015.
(02/18/16 10:52pm)
The main villain of the new
Ghostbusters movie has been revealed at the Toy Fair in New York today. An Instagram user named Pixel Dan uploaded an image that shows the upcoming film’s antagonist, Rowan.
(02/02/16 10:35pm)
He announced that the game’s development was cancelled because his friends and co-founders, Tyler Monce and Devon Staley, had misused the game’s Kickstarter and investment funds.
(01/14/16 10:30pm)
Famous YouTube creator Felix Kjellberg, Disney’s Maker Studios and several other popular YouTubers are currently working to create Revelmode, a new online entertainment network.The network will feature video content, game development, charity, commercial partnerships and merchandise on the web, YouTube, Facebook and more. The first program will be an animated series about PewDiePie and his fellow YouTubers included in the initial group.
(12/02/15 4:28am)
A Black Friday study conducted by InfoScout, a firm that tracks purchases made by a network of 300,000 users over three mobile apps, determined that Sony’s PS4 outperformed Microsoft’s Xbox One among Millennials (ages 18-35) and had a slight increase in the middle-aged audience (ages 36-55). These changes were weighted against purchases made on average days versus those made on Black Friday, which carries enormous amounts of deals, discounts and bundles.
Last year, the Xbox One was declared the victor by InfoScout in terms of total percentage of sales on Black Friday.
The statistics declared by InfoScout had the PS4 taking seven percent of the market directly from Xbox, boosting its Black Friday sales to 48 percent among Millennials. Sales to middle-aged consumers increased slightly for both PS4 and Xbox One, 33 percent and 37 percent, respectively. This came at the expense of Nintendo which saw a decline from 34 percent to 30 percent on Black Friday.
However, Nintendo held onto Millennials at 19 percent of Black Friday purchases, compared to 20 percent on normal days. InfoScout says that Nintendo has greater nostalgic appeal among 90s kids than those belonging to Generation X and Millennials.
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Source: Polygon
Image: Push Square, Examiner
(11/19/15 3:27pm)
As reported on Attack of the Fanboy, Chart Track announced that 85 percent of gamers in the UK purchased Rise of the Tomb Raider for the Xbox One and 15 percent bought the Xbox 360 version.Rise of the Tomb Raider faced serious competition this week, with Fallout 4 claiming the number one spot, while Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and FIFA 16 took second and third place, respectively. With all of the support it received, Tomb Raider managed to hold fourth place in UK charts.When looking at individual platforms, the Xbox One version received fifth place, while Fallout 4 dominated both PS4 and Xbox. However, on the Xbox 360, Tomb Raider came in at 23rd.Attack of the Fanboy also noted that a NeoGAF user reported Rise of the Tomb Raider sold 63,000 copies and its predecessor sold 183,000 copies upon its release. The game is also reported to be coming to PC and Ps4 versions next year, and sales are expected to be higher.
(11/19/15 3:12pm)
Sony recently responded to claims that its PS4 is popular among terrorist groups because it is harder for security agencies to monitor communications. The Belgian deputy prime minister and minister of Security and Home Affairs, Jan Jambon, claimed communications on the PS4 are harder to decrypt than those on WhatsApp.
Politico had organized a debate three days before the terrorist attacks in Paris where Jambon made these claims. He is reported as saying, “The thing that keeps me awake at night is the guy behind his computer, looking for messages from IS and other hate preachers.”
Jambon also appears in a video posted by politico making more comments about the PS4. See it here:
(11/12/15 4:26pm)
This review is based off of the PS4 version.The eighth installment in the long running Assassins Creed series has arrived and it proves that there may be hope left for Ubisoft’s historical franchise. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate takes us back to Victorian Era London to take on a massive Templar oligarchy that has its hands in virtually every industry, from medicine to narcotics, and from steel to transportation and beyond.The twins Jacob and Evie Frye are born into the Assassins and take different approaches to their missions based on their personalities; Jacob is the likeable rogue who does whatever he damn well pleases while Evie is the calm, collected type who plans every movement and strike with brutal efficiency. Both of them set out for London to release its people from a century of Templar control and find a fabled Piece of Eden said to have been worn by Jesus Christ himself.
(11/10/15 6:30pm)
Life is Strange, the popular story-based game created by DONTNOD Entertainment is getting a second season. According to PC Gamer, this information was confirmed by its co-founder, Alain Damasio, during an interview. The French interview was translated on Reddit with Damasio stating, “I worked as a script doctor on Life is Strange developed by the studio DONTNOD and I will participate on Life is Strange 2 later.” It has been known for some time that DONTNOD wanted to create a sequel since the co-Game Director and Art Director Michael Koch said they would probably create new characters if a second game were made.-----Source: PC GamerImage: Engadget
(11/09/15 8:41pm)
The Witcher series is getting Hollywood attention and a film is in the works. Studio Platige Films and the Sean Daniel Company have joined forces to bring The Witcher to the big screen.It was reported by Polygon that the film is slated for a 2017 release and that it will be based on the original books written by Andrzej Sapkowski instead of the video game franchise, which acts as a spin-off. Sapkowski has also stated that he does not consider the video game adaptations of his book series to be canon.The press release given to Polygon also states that the film has been in pre-production since August and it is planned to be the first in a series of movies. However, CD Projekt Red has not been reported to be involved in the development of the movies. As of now, there is no official release date.-----Sources: PolygonImages: VG 24/7
(11/05/15 4:39pm)
Kojima Studios Los Angeles has been closed by Konami. This was confirmed in an e-mail that was sent to Polygon yesterday. In that e-mail, Konami said, “Konami has made the decision to close its Los Angeles Studio, effective immediately, due to the product development resources being restructured into a more centralized unit.” Kojima has been credited with work on the Metal Gear Solid series. Konami itself said that it will continue support for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and its online multiplayer Metal Gear Online.Hideo Kojima reportedly left Konami last month. Ever since, rumors about the future of Kojima Studios and Kojima’s role in gaming have been circulating around Internet and gaming communities. Tweets about the closure were posted and sources reportedly told Polygon that several staff members had left the studio in advance of the closure after the conflict between Konami and Kojima went public.