StuffWeLike

AllofMP3.com taken down, springs back up

AllofMP3.com, a popular haven for buggers who prefer to download instead of buy music has been taken down by the Russian Government. The move came as a result of plenty of international pressure, and more importantly, it was a condition laid before Russia for WTO membership. Is this a sad day for pirates worldwide? It isn’t. Keep reading to know why.

Even though AllofMP3 has diappeared, an almost identical site has popped up under the name MP3Sparks.com. This new site claims to be completely legal and paying royalties to the Russian royalty collection agencies, like its predecessor AllofMP3. Plus, if you had an account with AllofMP3, you can seemingly use it with MP3Sparks as well. Talk about coincidence.

So this means that even though AllofMP3.com has been destroyed and the WTO’s condition met, the site hasn’t really disappeared. This poses the questions: Is the WTO going to force Russia to shut down MP3Sparks for the much-coveted entry? Is MP3Sparks really legal under Russia’s new AllofMP3-busting laws? Tune into the next episode to find out.

[Via ars technica]

CryENGINE 2 Licenced by Indie Developer

Mobster

The guys from Paleo Entertainment, based in San Diego have announced that their new, shiny FPS, Merchants of Brooklyn will be using the CryENGINE 2. Never heard of it? Remember the upcoming game with awesome tropical graphics that made you cream your pants, called Crysis? Yep, it uses CryENGINE 2.

The game in question, Merchants of Brooklyn, is set in 3100 A.D. where you see the main character, Matteo Savio make his way from a young boy to “Dr. Savio, PHD – Director of Genetics on Planet Paleo”, through an adventure featuring “MOB life, Scientific Education and Galactic adventures.” Definitely original stuff there. Especially considering that most of the characters are going to be Neanderthals. In a mob. How cool is that?

To quote Troy Latimer, president of Paleo (heh, alliteration):

Before licensing the CryENGINE 2 for our new project we looked carefully at all our options, and concluded no other engine could produce the kind of AAA quality game we were aiming to develop, nor were any other toolsets as advanced or user friendly as the ones delivered with the CryENGINE 2.

Sounds as good a reason as any. A second worthy reason being that this makes the upstart developer very famous indeed.

Paleo Entertainment was born out of a modding group that created Paleolithic Revolution, a Half-Life 2 mod based on Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon domination of caves and stacked rocks. Personally, I like the originality of these buggers.

Right now, we know nothing more than what I have presented already, though there is a bunch of concept art (more like doodles) out there.

[Via Gamasutra, Kotaku]

Harold and Kumar go to Gitmo

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was a seriously underrated “get-high-and-be-stupid” comedy. Neil Patrick Harris stole their car, so they rode a wild cheetah! Amazing!

If, like me, you can’t wait and you’re hurting to know the entire plot of Harold and Kumar 2, I think I’ve got you covered. Here you go, hit the jump for one grande-sized SPOILER with extra onions, courtesy of Ain’t It Cool News patron Dr_Moe.

[Via If It’s Movies]

Continue reading “Harold and Kumar go to Gitmo”

Rob Zombie making EXTRA sure he ruins “Halloween”

It looks like Rob Zombie is putting in some overtime in his effort to undoubtedly ruin the second greatest modern cinema monster (non shall surpass Leatherface!), according to the gore hounds over at Bloody-Disgusting.

“…Rob Zombie has been hard at work filming new material for his remake of HALLOWEEN, which is slated for release on August 31. Today ended seven straight days of grueling filming around the Los Angeles area, which included the addition of six, count ‘em, six new death sequences! The film has been given a serious boost in violence, gore and bloodshed… but that’s not the big news – we received word that an entire new finale has been shot. Details are mum on what is different, but we’re told the new ending is quite gruesome!!”

Any iota of respect I had left for Rob Zombie was based strictly on the fact that he is largely responsible for Astro-Creep 2000, which I think is one of the greatest albums ever, but adding unnecessary rape scenes, ridiculous gore, and a gruesome ending to a remake of the movie that did horror BEST without all those things is really testing my patience. As a director, I’ll hand it to Rob, he’s got vision. As a writer, he’s a talentless hack that needs to keep from stomping on sacred ground.

/rant

New T. Hawk sprite for SSF2T HD Remix

Another week, another trickle of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (just when you thought the qualifiers had ended) sprites. This week Brian Dunn brings us a single sprite of T. Hawk, everyone’s least favorite SF II character ever. Poor stereotyped guy. Maybe his totally radical revamp will change some of that, though. It certainly makes me want to give him another shot. Maybe it’s his super-trendy belt buckle.

Dunn’s blog over at Capcom USA also gives us a little more insight into the rendering process for the new game. If you’ve scoured Stuff We Like from top to bottom and still have time to kill, you should head over there and check it out. It’s a pretty cool read. Otherwise, just click on the thumbnail, and fall in love with this game all over again.

[Feldman is the MAN!]

New ‘groundbreaking’ PS3 Exclusive to be made by Indigo Prophecy devs

Indigo Prophecy

You might have heard of a game developer called Quantic Dream, if you’ve ever heard of a highly-acclaimed game known as Indigo Prophecy (or Fahrenheit). If you haven’t, Indigo Prophecy is a fairly recent adventure game that won accolades for its breathtaking storyline, freshness and the semi-cinematic experience it delivered. You can tell just by looking at those adjectives that this was one hell of a game.

Quantic Dream has signed a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios to make a PS3 exclusive title, which will “set a new benchmark in delivering emotionally compelling experiences to gamers.” Considering Quantic Dream’s record, they may not be bluffing. The game will reportedly be using the Cell Broadband Engine™, but no other important details have been announced.

You can find the whole press release at the source, but the interesting parts of the same are as follows:

Michael Denny, Vice President, SCE Worldwide Studios, said: “We’re really excited to be working with Quantic Dream for the first time and to have this opportunity to once again push the gaming experience to realise a new level of interactivity and, in particular, to engage players at an emotional level never experienced before. We’re looking forward to revealing more news on this special title later this year.”

I’d be really glad if I get to play a game that actually touches me. No game has come close to doing that since LucasArts’ masterpiece Grim Fandango.

David Cage, Founder, President and CEO of Quantic Dream, said, “We always believed that “next generation” meant more meaningful content based on players’ emotional involvement. To us, PS3 is the only platform that can truly deliver on this promise, and SCE WWS is a group that is both inspiring and pleasant to work with.”

Finally, somebody realizes that next-gen doesn’t necessarily mean bigger and better graphics and sound.

This is one project I am really looking forward to. More details are expected to be released “soon”. Hit the source for the full press release.

[Via Kotaku]