Filed under: Videos and Screenshots

Square Enix has a habit of showing trailers of their latest masterpieces in closed theaters at events most of us will never get to attend. So what’s a fan like you to do? Why, you can send a spy to the event! User ryaris over at Photobucket has a recorded version of the Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer from Jump Festa 2007. The video quality of this PlayStation 3 exclusive clip isn’t bad at all, and it is definitely worth a look. We won’t spoil anything else for you, so take a look for yourself — trailer after the jump!

[Via FinalFantasyXIII.net — thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continue reading Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer from Jump Festa leaked

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Filed under: Cell Phones, Cameras, Advice

We’ve noticed that when people take our photos on their camera phones, the results are usually kinda unflattering. Somehow the phones always seem to make us (and our friends) look squirrelly and high. Then these unfortunate pictures appear time and time again every time we or said friends call.

In the interest of being servicey, we scoured the Internets for advice on how to improve camera phone photography. Here are some of the best tips from the Digital Photography School.

1. Get A Little Bit Closer Now

Far off shots are one of the biggest faux pas in the camera phone world. Get as close to your subject as you possibly can without getting all up in their face, then take the picture. Avoid using the zoom at all costs. Most camera phones are still pretty low-res, so zooming in after the fact to crop your photos will reduce quality even more.

2. Lighting is Everything

Make sure there’s enough light. Shooting outside in daylight is ideal. Indoors, try turning a bunch of lights on, but be aware that they might eff up your color balance.

3. Play with White Balance

Many phones have adjustable white balance (a feature that allows you to mess around with color balance in accord with the shooting conditions). Experimenting with white balance can provide your shots with richer hues, improved contrast, etc. More will be revealed in your instruction manual, if you can be bothered to read it.

4. Clean Your Lens, Son!

From spending time in purses, bags, and pockets, camera phones’ lenses can get nasty. Sand, lipstick, lint, and fingerprints blight the lens from time to time. DPS suggests cleaning the lens with a sunglass cloth or something similar. We hear Oxypads are good for getting sand out of the phone and lens.

5. Go High-Res

Many phones allow you to change the resolution settings, much like a digital camera. If you can opt for better quality, your shots will be clearer, obvi. They will, however, take up more space on your phone and take longer to send.

6. Don’t Perv on Your Neighbors

DPS reminds us that camera phones should be used responsibly. Secret crotch shots are frowned upon. If you’re in high school it’s probably a bad idea to take compromising pictures of yourself, or let your boyfriend take them. They could easily end up forwarded to everyone on the phone book. But then, you already knew that… [Source: DPS]

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Here’s a handset that has a totally hilarious advertising pitch - in the specifications list, “Amazing Keyboard” is listed down. I wonder what’s less amazing about keyboards found on other smartphones, but if you’re interested to know what else the GF-W168 holds, read on below.

• 2.2″ TFT LCD display


• 2 megapixel camera


• 3D sound


• Multimedia playback

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Filed under: Cell Phones, MySpace, Back to School Guide 2008

You might think that teachers and students on MySpace would be like oil and water; two things that aren’t too likely to mix. It’s odd to think that a student would really want to ‘friend’ their teacher, but there is a big enough fear of that happening in Southern Mississippi that a school district there has gone ahead and banned all friending or texting between students and teachers.

The district hasn’t said exactly what the penalty would be should a student and teacher be caught exchanging digital missives, or exactly what they’re trying to prevent beyond limiting “personal communication between teachers and students.” Supposedly, there was no specific incident that resulted in this new policy and they’re just being pro-active, so we’re left thinking perhaps they’ve been listening to the Police too much. [Source: CBS News]

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Filed under: News

Our friends over at Massively got a chance to talk to SOE’s Director of Development, Matt Wilson, about the latest developments concerning The Agency. Wilson reveals the following:

• They are currently in “full alpha” and the plan is for a beta in the fall. They are also working towards a demo.
• They haven’t decided between a subscription based financial model or a microtransaction one. However, Wilson noted that the PS3 is a console, and “console players don’t generally do subscriptions.”
• The penalty for death will be “as lightweight as possible to begin with” since the player will die “frequently.” Penalty will mostly be in the form of lost gameplay time, but Wilson cites an example of after dying ten times, you’ll need to get fixed up at a field office, presumably losing extra time.
• World events are planned, and SOE is hoping for content that “is easily playable for everyone” and accessible to players who do not invest as much time into the game.
• Vehicle combat will take place. No other specific details are given.

With SOE coming out with two MMOs in the near future, do you think the PS3 will dominate as a console for that genre? Read the entire interview over at Massively.

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Oh, gross! This story sounds like it came from The Onion, but be afraid: The UK Guardian’s Observer newspaper said it, and so it must be true. Turns out a devastating virus, or “Tape Mould” as the Brits are calling it, is ravaging VHS tapes from the ’80s and ’90s all over the United Kingdom. (’Girls Just Wanna Have Fun‘! ‘Desperately Seeking Susan‘! ‘Degrassi Jr. High‘! — all gone!)

More troublesome than the destruction of our fave ’80s hits, which are mostly available on DVD anyway, is the mold’s desecration of families’ precious memories and historical footage. Families with infected tapes may sit down with their popcorn to watch a recording of little Stevie’s bar mitzvah or the funny one where Fluffy falls in the bathtub, only to find them unwatchable.

Unusually high humidity has meant that the mold has already scourged thousands of miles of AV tape throughout the UK, not counting tons of tape that are probably rotting in storage. And it’s spreading, says the Observer,”at an alarming rate.”

If you have the mold, which looks like ” a fine white dust,” then quarantine the infected tape ASAP. Spores will spread like the bubonic plague, and one moldy tape can ruin your whole archive.

So far, the problem doesn’t seem to be too epidemic here in the States, but in case you’re worried, you should take a look at this bit of advice from the British Library Sound Archive, which advises that tapes should be kept in the dark, away from heat sources. Moisture is also an enemy of tapes and breeds mold, so keeping tapes in a dry place is advised. [Source: The Guardian]

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Ok, we know that solar and wind power can be converted to electricity, but research team led by professor Tomiki Ikeda at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has managed to come up with the world’s first plastic motor that uses a different process. It takes a different route compared to solar(electric)-powered motors, as it will convert light straight to mechanical energy courtesy of a belt constructed from a special elastomer that expands or contracts on a molecular level when illuminated, and this change depends on the wavelength of light. Of course, the prototype is still in its infancy so I’m pretty sure further research will yield something useful and practical for society in due time.

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Filed under: e-Distribution Games

Any graphic novel nerd will hold a special place for Alan Moore’s Watchmen. In addition to the upcoming movie (trailer, above), there will be a coinciding licensed game. Watchmen will be released as a two-part episodic title on XBLA, PSN and PC. The first part will release in tandem with the theatrical release, while the second will release in time for the DVD/Blu-ray release. This should, hopefully, give developers more time to work on a quality title.

“We don’t want a low-quality console game that will get lost at retail,” said WBIE senior veep of production and development Samantha Ryan. “A downloadable game allows us to deliver the experience that fans expect.” The Watchmen games are expected to be rated M.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Action, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Images, ComicCon, Posters

Walking around Preview Night here at San Diego Comic Con and, well, we kinda stumbled upon this poster (click image to enlarge) for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The film wasn’t supposed to have a major presence here at Con, so it’s nice to at least see a poster for the flick, which hits theaters on May 1, 2009. We’ll have a whole bunch of photos for you from Preview Night here at Con in just a little bit — in the meantime, what do you think about this poster? Does it get you excited for the film? Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber and Danny Huston, X-Men Origins: Wolverine will claw its way into theaters next summer.

For complete coverage of the 2008 San Diego International Comic Con, check out the official Cinematical Comic Con Hub.

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers

Say it ain’t so! America’s most loyal advocate for Microsoft’s Zune is apparently throwing in the towel. Of course, we should warn you that this could very well be a simple ploy for attention, but if the man keeps his word, he will soon be covering his Zune tattoos with… something else.

Curiously, he didn’t say whether or not he would be playing the traitor card and picking up some sort of iPod, but considering that more people have seen this guy’s body art in the wild than actual Zunes, the general public should know soon enough. You fought a good fight, Zune Guy, but consider yourself expelled from The Social. [Source: zunescene]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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