Apple still isn't offering much of a hint about an iOS 4.3 release date -- other than a busier than usual beta schedule -- but it looks like we could now be one step closer to a general roll out. What appears to be the first app that takes advantage of some iOS 4.3-specific features has now garnered Apple's approval and turned up in the App Store, which would seem to suggest that there's no more major changes or bugs that need to be ironed out (though that can certainly always change). The app itself is Matthew Gallagher's StreamToMe, which runs $2.99 and now incorporates the AirPlay video support that has come to apps in the a latest revision of the OS -- hit up the source link below to check it out for yourself.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/25/i...the-app-store/ ...

Apple still isn't offering much of a hint about an iOS 4.3 release date -- other than a busier than usual beta schedule -- but it looks like we could now be one step closer to a general roll out. What appears to be the first app that takes advantage of some iOS 4.3-specific features has now garnered Apple's approval and turned up in the App Store, which would seem to suggest that there's no more major changes or bugs that need to be ironed out (though that can certainly always change). The app itself is Matthew Gallagher's StreamToMe, which runs $2.99 and now incorporates the AirPlay video support that has come to apps in the a latest revision of the OS -- hit up the source link below to check it out for yourself.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/25/i...the-app-store/ ...

Last week Google took a page from Apple's book and pulled the Arcade by Kongregate app from the Android Market for violating its terms of service. In particular, the part that forbids distributing 'any Product whose primary purpose is to facilitate the distribution of Products outside of the Market.' As Kongregate's Jim Greer explained to Joystiq, the app is essentially a custom web browser that loads in a Flash game from the mobile version of Kongregate. Plus, it will cache the game so you can play offline. And this may be the feature that got it yanked, speculates Ryan Kim at GigaOm.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...Android-Market ...

The 3DS remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be out "when it's ready" and, in any case, there are more than enough launch games to satisfy the needs of core gamers picking up Nintendo's new handheld on day one, according to the platform holder.

In an interview with MTV, Nintendo US chief Reggie Fils-Aime explained, "Mario, Zelda - all of those titles are coming. From our perspective, we like to launch titles when they're ready. And so they'll be ready, they'll be ready soon. Just not in that initial time period of late March to early June."

Reggie added that the launch line-up is robust enough to satisfy the needs of serious gamers without the presence of Link and co.

"I would say 'Super Street Fighter 4,' I would say 'Dead or Alive,' I would say 'Madden' and I would say, yes, the three first-party launch games that we have, as well," he listed-off, highlighting a third party slate which he believes "is the best we've ever had for the launch of a new system."

Regarding those three first party titles, he added, "Between 'Nintendogs + Cats' and 'Pilotwings,' those two franchises, either on the original DS or on other legacy systems like the NES or Super NES, have sold tens of millions of copies. Those two franchises have a lot of strength all by themselves."

Then, in an impressive display of nonsense-speak, he singled out in-house curio Steel Diver for special mention.

"'Steel Diver' is a brand new experience, and from a compelling standpoint, we think it's awfully compelling."

As one of the first new IPs to emerge from Nintendo's EAD genius factory in aeons, the submarine sim certainly isn't to be sniffed at, even if it remains something of an unknown quantity at present. Take a look at the screens below to get better acquainted.

The Nintendo 3DS launches on 25th March, though the much-ballyhooed Ocarina of Time revamp doesn't have a release date as of yet. Johnny Minkley's hands-on impressions should help you with the wait.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ree-3ds-launch ...

Modern Warfare 2's infamous No Russian stage could have influenced the terrorists behind this week's suicide bombing at a Moscow airport, Russian state media has claimed.

A report on a Russia Today news program picked up by the New York Times cited similarities between yesterday's suicide bombing of Moscow's Domdedovo International Airport and a level in Infinity Ward's 2009 shooter in which you play as an undercover operative asked to gun down civilians in an airport.

After studying a YouTube clip of the No Russian stage, the RT reporter asked, "With so many people seemingly downloading, playing or watching this game, you have to consider whether anyone ever thought this game could so closely mirror reality."

Walid Phares, a Fox News terrorism analyst, then went on to speculate that the perpetrators of the Domdedovo attack might have trained using the game, or others like it.

"The issue is we need to know if terrorists or extremists are using these videos or DVDs or games to basically apply the model," he pondered.

"I think those who have been radicalised already – that is supposed in this case jihadists, Al-Qaeda or other kind – they look at the games and say these games will serve them to train."

Militants from the North Caucasus region of Russia are expected of carrying out the suicide bombing, which killed 35 people and injured 110 more.

This isn't the first time Modern Warfare 2's No Russian segment has attracted controversy. Publisher Activision decided to cut the level from the Russian release of the game "after seeking the advice of local counsel."

The most recent entry in the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops, caught plenty of flak too. Following its release in November last year, Cuban state media attacked the game for glorifying "the illegal assassination attempts the United States government planned against the Cuban leader," claiming the title "stimulates sociopathic attitudes in North American children and adolescents."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...rport-massacre ...

At £9.99 a month on top of the cost of the game, PC and PlayStation 3 MMO DC Universe Online is too expensive for some gamers. For creator Sony, however, the superhero RPG offers great value because gamers regularly receive free content updates.

"Certainly we want people to feel they are getting the value to that subscription," Sony Online Entertainment spokesperson Ryan Peters told Eurogamer.

"We understand we're asking a lot and the equation I always give to people is that it's similar to DLC - if you were getting DLC from Red Dead Redemption every month, I'd probably sign up for that because I buy every piece of DLC they throw at me.

"We're trying to keep it on par with that kind of experience where it's compelling and you feel like you're getting good value.

Sony revealed to Eurogamer that "a really cool iconic character" will hit the game in February, "Something that casual and hardcore followers of the DC brand are going to have a strong familiarity with - who knows, it may even be relevant to the time of year right?" Who could it be?

"People on the console are a little more hesitant because this is a different scenario for them, whereas an established MMO person would say, 'OK, I play an MMO' Peters added. "I would say two thirds of them are subscription-based and there's certainly a free-to-play marketplace out there.

"It's not so much a re-education process as saying, whatever price you're paying in your country, $15 in the States is a ticket to the movies and I guarantee you're going to get much more time and enjoyment out of this - especially the movie I saw last night which was The American with George Clooney which was awful. It was absolutely awful. 16 Euros to watch it in my hotel was the worst investment.

"I thought, there was a month's subscription to DCUO right there, and I thought that was a better investment."

DCUO launched last week and entered the UK all-formats chart in tenth spot. It is the fastest-selling SOE game ever.

"The players feel they're getting exceptional value for the money they're putting in," Peters continued. "I'm not going to say, 'Hey, sign up for a lifetime subscription' and then drizzle some content in there. I want you to feel there's something constantly for you to access, something that draws you back into the game.

"Our goal is to constantly give you something to do when you log in."

Peters dismissed talk of DCUO eventually going free-to-play, as so many MMOs have done in recent years.

"To be frank, I don't think there's any internal thought about why we would change our model - we're talking about a game that's a week old," he said. "We haven't had an opportunity to prove ourselves to the players on that content delivery.

"Internally, we have some awesome content planned and once people get over that hump of, 'Oh my gosh, we're paying for a game, it's not DLC, it's packaged as something else,' it'll be fine.

"In the PC landscape, sure free-to-play has become more and more popular, it's more competitive from an MMO standpoint. We did something kind of different with EverQuest 2 where we actually have a free-to-play server running in parallel with a paid-for service. It brought a lot of new people into the game and there's a different mentality and gameplay on that server - that works for us and is a different approach in terms of free-to-play across the board."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...e-subscription ...

The solicitor behind one of the companies responsible for sending threatening letters to illegal file-sharers has ceased his work following death threats.

ACS: Law has sent thousands of letters to alleged file-sharers, including gamers.

In a statement read to the patent court in London, reported by the BBC, solicitor Andrew Crossley said he had ceased all such work.

"I have been subject to criminal attack. My e-mails have been hacked. I have had death threats and bomb threats," he said in the statement.

"It has caused immense hassle to me and my family," he added.

The patent court is looking at 26 cases brought by ACS: Law on behalf of its client, MediaCAT.

Normally, law firms specialising in cracking down on illegal downloaders approach torrent sites and ask for the names of Internet Service Providers used by people who download cracked games.

They then write to the ISPs threatening legal action if they refuse to spill the account details of users.

From that, real names are drilled down, and letters are sent out. Last November the maker of upcoming PC exclusive The Witcher 2 told Eurogamer those who download it illegally could receive a letter demanding they pay a fine or face legal action.

But the process has come under scrutiny in recent months for a perceived lack of efficiency and questions around security.

Responsibility lies with the person paying the ISP bill, but the person who downloaded the game illegally could have been someone else. Thousands of people reckon they've been wrongly accused of illegally downloading and sharing copyright protected material via the internet, according to Which?.

UK consumers "cannot be held legally responsible for any illicit online file sharing activity which occurs without their knowledge, or consent, on their unsecured wireless networks", Roger Wyand QC, a barrister specialising in intellectual property law and joint head of Hogarth Chambers, reckons.

ACS: Law and MediaCAT has signed deals with various copyright holders allowing it to pursue copyright infringement cases on their behalf.

Apparently copyright owners receive a 30 per cent share of any recouped revenue while ACS: Law takes a 65 per cent share.

Letters gave members of the public a simple choice: pay a fine of around £500 or go to court.

Crossley denied the accusation he was seeking to make money with no intention of taking any cases to court.

"It has always been my intention to litigate and, but for the fact that I have ceased this work, my intention was to litigate forcefully in these 26 cases," he said.

Mr Crossley is subject to an ongoing investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Judge Birss said he was considering banning MediaCAT from sending any more such letters until the issues raised by the cases had been resolved.

Rival letter sending firm GCB Ltd is also said to have ceased sending letters. Judge Birss is expected to deliver his judgement on the case later in the week.

Have you received a letter from ACS: Law?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-death-threats

Good riddance to him, basically hes just some asshole making money off people who may or may not have downloaded pirated software, best to let ISPs hand out punisment than let money hungry lawyers. ...

For every one game sold at retail four are pirated, the UK's game publisher organisation claims.

The estimate is based on information received from "a number of publishers", UK Interactive Entertainment told Eurogamer sister site GamesIndustry.biz.

It was attempting to clarify a BBC report which claimed people who play illegal copies of videogames on chipped or modified consoles cost at least £1.45 billion in lost sales in 2010.

UKIE failed to reveal which console formats were included in its estimates, or whether PC games were included.

"We took a conservative position of saying if this is only 1:1 across all titles it would have a retail equivalent value of £1.45 billion. We did not say this was the loss to industry," Rawlinson said.

"What is clear is people who 'share' games via P2P networks or buy illegal copies are not buying the real product, and this reduces retailer sales. It can provide the consumer with a sub-standard product and money paid to illegal traders does not flow back to the creative.

"In turn, investors see higher risks/lower returns, and this in turn will undermine confidence in the sector and lower the amount of money invested, reducing the developer's chance to create new products." UKIE plans to commission research to look at issues involved in game piracy in an attempt to better calculate the damage.

Last year The Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt told Eurogamer digital rights management treats gamers like "criminals".

It "doesn't work", CEO and co-founder Marcin Iwiński said.

"Let's look at Call of Duty. We are frequently checking the torrent sites before making our decisions. The game is out a few days and you have 100,000 people downloading it simultaneously. So it doesn't work.

Piracy is clearly a big issue for CD Projekt – it's looking to get law firms to send letters threatening fines to those who pirate the game.

"Of course we're not happy when people are pirating our games, so we are signing with legal firms and torrent sneaking companies," added Iwiński.

"In quite a few big countries, when people are downloading it illegally they can expect a letter from a legal firm saying, 'Hey, you downloaded it illegally and right now you have to pay a fine.'

"We are totally fair, but if you decide you will not buy it legally there is a chance you'll get a letter.

"We are talking about it right now."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...gitimate-sales ...

News via http://www.romhacking.net/forum/inde...pic,12084.html

Lazy Shell v3.4 has been released. *This is now 64-bit and 32-bit supported and vastly superior to older versions*

INTRODUCTION

Lazy Shell is a third party .NET application written in the C# programming language which is capable of editing a wide range of elements within the Super Mario RPG (US) ROM image file.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

*Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 or higher must be installed on the system for the application to run at all.

*Minimal system requirements: 1GB of RAM, 10MB of hard drive space.

Lazy Shell was first released 2 years ago, and has been a project for nearly 4 years. It has made huge improvements since its first release due to strenuous debugging sessions, positive (and negative) community feedback, numerous bug reports by users, and in-depth experimentation through full, partial, and demo hacks. I imagine there are still probably some more bugs to sort out, but this is as good as it’ll get unless users decide to report any bugs they encounter in this thread. Also, I highly recommend checking out the palette editor’s effect features, which is capable of doing many neat things that might ease the creation of new palettes and “palette swaps” of levels and sprites. Another mention is that you can mirror/invert an entire battlefield simply by selecting it, right-clicking and clicking “Mirror” or “Invert”. It somewhat gives the battle system a new feel/appearance. ...