Ubisoft, Sony, EA and Disney settle voice recognition lawsuit

04/29/2010 Ubisoft, Sony, EA and Disney settle voice recognition lawsuit

One year after a being sued for allegedly infringing on a voice recognition technology patent, publishers Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment, and Disney Interactive Studios have decided to settle the matter out of court, according to Gamasutra.

On November 10, 2009 , Bareis Technologies, LLC filed a lawsuit claiming titles such as SOCOM, Tom Clancy's EndWar and NASCAR and Phonics Quest, infringed on a 1996 patent that outlined a process of speech recognition templates to be present on optical disks in order to access specific information and issue commands for control purposes. Originally, Bareis Technologies' patent was largely targeted towards accessing specific music tracks on audio CDs, making no mention of the concept being used to control game functions.

According to the report, the U.S. District Court 's Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division approved the motion applied to all defendants in the statement with a request for mutual dismissal on April 21, 2010. This, in turn, dismissed the counterclaims made in this process. Terms of the settlement are not revealed, although the court documents obtained by Gamasutra state all parties will pay their own legal fees.

Ubisoft, Sony, EA and Disney settle voice recognition lawsuit originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New GoldenEye 007 trailer rekindles the love

07/17/2010 New GoldenEye 007 trailer rekindles the love

GoldenEye 64 will go down as one of my all time favorite games for the Nintendo 64. Sure, the game doesn't stand up to the test of time at all (like most Nintendo 64 and PlayStation games), but it's still kind of playable. Almost.

Anyway, Activision's little revival of the game for the Wii is looking just awesome. I still don't know how I feel about Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan as Bond though. I'm curious to see if Xenia Onatopp will still be based on Famke Janssen too.

In addition, Slappers only. Bring it on, b * tches.

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Shaun White Skateboarding Hands-On

08/11/2010 Shaun White Skateboarding Hands-On

We get a feel for the skating controls in Ubisoft's latest Shaun White title and take a peek at how it looks in 3D.

Shaun White Skateboarding is Ubisoft 's upcoming spiritual successor to him with the same title snowboarding game since 2008 . The move from winter sports signals the departure of obvious things like snow, heavy jackets, and the all-consuming fear of being chased down by a Yeti. But Ubisoft hasn't settled on merely swapping in skateboards and calling it a day. In an effort to distinguish itself from other games in the skating genre--both stylistically and story-wise--Ubisoft has created a backdrop where the player has to bring life back to a dismal world run by an Orwellian government ministry sapping all the fun from day-to-day life. After having our first glimpseabout how this concept turns out in May, Ubisoft has recently suggested that we get our first practice with the game and get a quick try, as he plays in 3D.

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Shaun White Skateboarding spans a roughly 15-hour story that begins in a gray, colorless city. Without going into too much detail on the plot itself--it seems like the game will do plenty of that for you--your job is to inspire the city's denizens through the power of skateboarding. Doing tricks on objects will cause the immediate area around you to become infused with color, while people can also be transformed from blue sad sacks into vibrant, smiling faces. There's a system in place that measures how well you're doing in the form of a level-based meter at the bottom of the screen. Skate well with style and you'll move up the levels, but tumble or simply repeat the same moves over and over and you'll drop back down to nothing. The takeaway? Certain areas can only be colored when you're at a high level, and in order to get to those higher momentum levels you have to pull off a string of original moves. Simply spamming the same awesome boardslide won't cut it.

The basic control scheme takes its cues from the recent trend of mapping board controls to the right analog stick. If you've played Skate, you'll have a good idea of how simple ollies, kick flips, and other flip tricks work. Simply pull back, and push or sweep the right stick in a given direction to do the move of your choice. Grinds don't require any special button presses, and you can get off the board at any time with the triangle button (we played the PlayStation 3 version, but the game is also coming out on Xbox 360). Where the game seems to tread new ground is with the inclusion of a fool-proof auto-trick button for beginners. Simply tap the X button and you'll pull off a move in tune with your current momentum level. If you're at the bottom, you'll do a plain old ollie, but if you've worked your way up to a second or third momentum level, you'll likely do something more along the lines of a 360 flip. Think of it as a random trick button with some logic behind the randomness. There's also a neat system that lets you jump on special handrails and guide them into free space, which comes in handy for reaching far-off hidden ledges.

Shaun White Skateboarding is slated for release later this year on multiple consoles. For a look at the Wii version, which is quite a bit different, check out our preview from last week.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

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\\ "Shaun White Skateboarding Hands-On " was posted by Shaun McInnis on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:23:44 -0700

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Review: Alan Wake

05/05/2010 Review: Alan Wake

Alan Wakebegins with a quote

It sa 'big system, but, like any author knows, it' s follow-through that's important. Without something to keep the reader engaged (or player, in this case), a story is doomed. As someone who has eagerly anticipated Alan Wake since its announcement nearly five years ago, I can say -- with some relief, if I'm being honest -- that Alan Wake will hook you to the end.

Gallery: Alan Wake

Continue reading Review: Alan Wake

Review: Alan Wake originally appeared on JoystiqWed, May 5, 2010 2:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

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Hunting Game Adventuring : Duck Hunting - If you're looking to find the best games that are fun yet challenging, then this may be the most important letter you'll ever read!...

[[[Hunting Game Adventuring : Duck Hunting - If you're looking to find the best games that are fun yet challenging, then this may be the most important letter you'll ever read!...]]]

Description: Play beyond Duck Hunt for Fun Filled & Experience : If you're looking to find the best games that are fun yet challenging, then this may be the most important letter you'll ever read!...

\\ "In the next 10 minutes, you 're about to discover best game hunting, where to buy them, and what makes them better than the rest, so that you and your family the most enjoyable leisure time Forever!'

It doesn't matter if you are just started to play hunting games, this guide will get you on the right track to a fun filled experience.


More review coming soon.









Buy Here (for discount) Hunting Game Adventuring : Duck Hunting - If you're looking to find the best games that are fun yet challenging, then this may be the most important letter you'll ever read!...

Kevin Butler commercial cloned in New Zealand

07/21/2010 Kevin Butler commercial cloned in New Zealand

Whether you call it homage or plagiarism, the announcement of the production of New Zealand 's TV3 bears a striking resemblance to one of Sony' s U.S. PlayStation 3 ad starring Faux executive Kevin Butler . As noted Buttonmasher , the two commercials include nearly the same dialogue, setting, reaction shots and ... well, everything except the same actors.

When ad agency Deutsch won the $150 million Sony account back in 2007, it had an uphill battle to change Sony's image following its, err, avant-garde advertisements under TBWA. The new agency was to Butler, who went on to become a sensation - and that ", where it receives a copy of unique.

"It's rare to see a carbon copy of a U.S. commercial or campaign created by smaller players overseas," explains Tim Nudd, editor of AdFreak.com. "I think there's a healthy fear of getting caught and sued by the big guys. More common is the reverse -- a big U.S. marketer/agency ripping off unknown work from smaller players."

Potential examples of the reverse situation, include companies such as Apple , 3M and, funny enough, Sony itself with its Japanese "Gameface" ad. See for yourself how similar the two ads are, right after the break.

Continue reading Kevin Butler commercial cloned in New Zealand

Kevin Butler commercial cloned in New Zealand originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday Night Fights: Castlevania HD

08/07/2010 Friday Night Fights: Castlevania HD

Yeah, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is deeply flawed -- and yet, I cannot stop playing it. Conrad, and a good chunk of people on my friends list, would probably say the exact same thing.

Six-person runs are clearly where the fun is at, so hopefully everyone can experience the magic that is kicking absurd amounts of ass only to have your team turn into skeletons at the boss fight. PROTIP: dying as a skeleton does actually have a negative side effect; your timer runs down with each death.

I can't blame you for not realizing that bit of crucial information, though -- Castlevania HD isn't particularly interested in telling you what the hell is going on. Also, have you guys heard about the secret items yet?

New to FNF? Read this: Each week, a bunch of Destructoid readers and usually an editor or two get together to play some videogames online. Basically, this is what Friday Night Fights are all about.

The planning for FNF takes place in the forums, where community members volunteer to host by posting their information (gamertag, time to meet up, game, etc.) in the forum post corresponding to the system they're interested in playing on.

Then, every Friday, reminder posts for those who don't read the forums regularly go up in the community blogs section all thanks to a dedicated group of cool individuals. And for everyone who wants their info all in one place, they have got my weekly recap posts to look forward to between 4:30 - 5:30 PM EST.

Now that you're here, just scan the list below and find a game you want to play. All that's left to do after that is to join the match by contacting the host below using any means necessary. For Wii, you might have to be a little creative, but for 360/PS3 a simple "invite me" message will be fine.

The names on the left are our Destructoid handles, while the ones on the right are our online handles (PSN IDs, for example). Don't see a game you want to play? Feel free to post a comment offering to take up hosting duties yourself.

Tonight's Hosts (more info from Subenu):

• Platform: PC / Mac, Steam.
  Game: Team Fortress 2
  Join the Steam group chat to find us!
  Time: Time: 20.00 CEST | 19.00 BST | 18.00 GMT | 13.00 EST

• Platform: Xbox 360
  Game: Borderlands
  People: Neo Subenu, Tarvu
  Time: 21,00 CEST | 20,00 BST | 19,00 GMT | 14,00 EST

• Platform: PlayStation 3
  Game: Uncharted 2
  Funcharters: JJMccallum , Kris_S (PSN: Kris_S_273)
  Time: A time that is in the evening.

• Platform: PlayStation 3
  Game: MAG
  DILF: SexualChocolate (PSN: Foolishbean69)
  Time: All the time, baby. (Eveningtime sometime I guess)

Tonight's Hosts (more info from InfraredChimera):
• Char Aznable - ShinigamiBV (Marvel vs Capcom 2/ Street Fighter IV/ Castle Crashers/TMNT Arcade/ Gears 1 or 2 @ 8:00 EDT)

Paging Dr. Y0j1mb0.

Dr. Y0j1mb0, please come to the front desk

Tonight's Games (For more information on SPNKr ):

• The Ship
  IP: 72.233.56.10:27017
  Gametype: Elimination

• Team Fortress 2
  IP: 63.209.35.100:27015
  Map rotation: Stock only rotation with customs in Rock The Vote.

• IP (Europe): 85.234.148.9:27055
  Map Rotation: Stock Rotation.
  Admins: Dtoid | watermanx, Dtoid | Awesomeist

• Counter-Strike: Source
  IP: 64.69.39.176:27015
  Map rotation: de_dust2 and cs_office
  (Thanks to TewDee for the server)

• Bad Company 2 Server 32 Slot
  SAFL Bad Compay 2 -Hardcore and Ranked-
  -In the server browser on the right hand side, where it says server name, put SAFL and it will find the server for you, then add to favs!

• If you want to find people to play with, get your ass to mars Steam chat

Beyond FNF:
• StarCraft II Battle.net IDs
• The Steam group
• The WoW guild

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