Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant
Austin-developed ‘Zynga Bingo,’ still in closed beta, is already controversial
“Zynga Bingo,” the first game to be released by the social gaming powerhouse’s Austin studio, has a lot riding on it. It will join the company’s long running “Zynga Poker” as part of a new franchise called “Zynga Casino.”
Members of the Austin team traveled to California to be at the company’s San Francisco’s headquarters for the launch of the game last week, when the game was released in closed beta to invitees for testing before it goes wide to the rest of the gaming world.
Like most of Zynga’s game, this Facebook title will allow players to interact with their online friends, boost up the game with power-ups and kill time in an easy-to-play, tough-to-master format.
But before the game has even gone into public release, it’s already attracting attention in ways Zynga can’t be enjoying. It has been accused by a company called Buffalo Studios of plagiarizing the design of a game called “Bingo Blitz.”
It’s the second time the company has been accused of aping someone else’s game design recently; another company called NimbleBit said that Zynga’s game “Tower Heights” bears quite a resemblance to that company’s “Tiny Tower.”
On Venturebeat today, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus fired back about the copycat accusations, saying that gaming companies like his typically build upon the successes of existing games, improving the formula to make better gaming experiences. Venturebeat also printed an email Pincus sent to Zynga employees about the controversy.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Videogames
‘Soul Calibur V’ fights back in new sequel
New video games this week:
“Soul Calibur V.” — Taking place 17 years after the events of “Soul Calibur IV” (we don’t remember what happened either, don’t worry), this fighting game continues the long-running series, which is known for its beautiful visuals, crazy characters and outsized weaponry. The new version includes more ways to personalize your own fighters, more online fighting features and a variety of fighting styles to master. Rated T for Teen. $60-$80 for Standard and Collector’s Edition, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Also out this week: “Final Fantasy XIII-2” (PS3), “Puddle” (downloadable for PS3), NeverDead (PS3, Xbox 360), “Bookworm Wordy Wonder Bundle” (PC), “Pro Evolution Soccer 2012” (Nintendo 3DS), “House of 1,000 Doors: Family Secrets” (PC), “BioShock 2” (Mac), “Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle” (downloadable for PC, PS3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS), “Rhythm Party” (downloadable for Xbox 360.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Shopping, Videogames
Declutter to digital
Illustration by Don Tate II / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
In case you missed it on Saturday, the American-Statesman ran a story I wrote about people who have made The Great Digital Transition from physical media (books, CDs, DVDs) to digital.
It can be a painful process, fraught with copyright issues and very little money you’ll get back, say, selling your precious, dust-attracting CD collection. Personally, I am way behind on this (my overstuffed home office shelves are a testament to that) and I plan to spend more time decluttering, purging and converting, especially in books and DVDs.
How are you managing the transition? Let us know in the comments.
Also in the American-Statesman, this week’s Digital Savant column was about differences between two hot social networks, Google+ and Pinterest, which also ran here in the blog last week.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Computers, Gadgets, Internet, Movies & DVDs, Shopping
The Linkdown for Friday, Jan. 27
The Linkdown was amused, but mostly disturbed, by the “Simpsons” episode where everybody crashed their cars because they were posting on SpringFace, a social network created by Lisa Simpsons (with help from Nelson and some computer geeks).
Watch that and then check out these important events, links and SXSW Interactive news:
Events:
- Data Privacy Day is tomorrow, but you’d know that if you had hacked into my computer earlier.
- Accessibility Internet Rally, a web design competition, is open for registration. Deadline for submitting a URL is Feb. 15.
- Geek Bowl trivia is coming on Saturday.
- SXSW Interactive ATX meetup is on Monday.
- Dad 2.0 Summit (which happens in March), is having a meetup on Wednesday at Cedar Door.
- The next BASHH Austin is on Thursday.
- Austin Codeathon planning meeting on Feb. 4.
- Upcoming GeekAustin class: Introduction to SQL using MYSQL (starts Feb. 6).
- Austin Photowalk happens on Feb. 9.
- Next Juegos Rancheros meetup: Feb. 12.
- Girlstart has announced info for its 2012 summer camps.
Internet goodness:
- Lisa creates a “D’OH-cial Network” on “The Simpsons.” (Embedded above.)
- Disturbing report from The New York Times about working conditions in China in the manufacture of products made for Apple and other tech companies.
- “Ultima”: most important video game series ever?
- First official trailer for Austin-developed “God of Blades” iOS game.
- Addie Broyles on “Cash-mobbing.” Is it the new Kickstarting?
- Will Twitter be censoring Tweets in other countries?
- Gamers! Valve releases a Steam beta app for iOS and Android. Unfortunately, beta means that you may not be able to use it yet.
- 10-year celebration for Austin’s Latinitas magazine.
- Nintendo’s tablet-like Wii U controller will include near-field communication (NFC) technology. There will also be (finally) a Nintendo Network.
- Google’s privacy policy update. More of your data spread across more of Google’s services.
- Ways to protect a cellphone against hackers.
- Is Amazon going to spin off its video-streaming service?
- The Earth, in HD, via NASA.
- Netflix says it’s nixing the idea of offering videogame rentals.
SXSW-related
- SXSW Interactive Award Finalists have been announced. One of them, Life Sushi, is Austin-based.
- Dewey Community Service Award honorees have been announced.
- Details on the SXSW Tech Career Expo.
- Marvel is expected to make an announcement during the fest at ScreenBurn Arcade.
- SXSocial is live.
- Sliderocket is offering free tools to SXSW presenters.
- Volunteers sought.
Got a Linkdown item we should include in a future update? E-mail it to us with “LINKDOWN:” in the subject line.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Computers, Internet, SXSW, SXSW 2012, Videogames
Google+ and Pinterest: two very different, fast-growing social networks
Google+
When you think of online social networks, the names that tend to come up are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and, perhaps, Tumblr.
Two fast-growing social networks are poised to join that list. Google+, a network launched by search behemoth Google last summer, already has 90 million users and, some estimates suggest, could reach 400 milllion by the end of 2012.
Pinterest, a much more niche network where people can post images of things they like (clothes, products, hairstyles), has had a scorching run the last two months, with about 17 million page views in January as of this writing. The company won’t say publicly how many subscribers it has, but some estimates put it at about 4 million users.
Launched in mid-2010, Pinterest is still invitation-only and had a pretty low profile before exploding in popularity last year.
At first glance, Google+ and Pinterest couldn’t seem more different. Google+ comes at you from a gigantic tech company that seems like it’s trying to catch up to Facebook’s success. It throws a lot at you, from the ability to video chat (a feature called “Hangouts”) to its most significant innovation, “Circles,” which help you put your contacts into groups, making it easier for you to decide who sees the things you share.
Pinterest, on the other hand, puts a strong emphasis on beauty and design through the images that users share on categorized “Pinboards.” It feels focused and already has an identity. According to Google ad data, 80 percent of its users are women; the most popular postings tend to be gorgeously photographed food, stylish outfits and lusted-after items. Much of Pinterest is hopeful; the looks users aspire to replicate, things they’d like to buy someday, recipes they plan to try.
Guess which of the two social networks people have fallen in love with?
Despite the growth of Google+, I have yet to hear a single person say she loves it. The people I see posting more often there are marketers, photographers, social media experts and a handful of media people like me sharing the same kinds of links and jokes they also post to Twitter and Facebook.
Google+ otherwise feels like a weirdly active ghost town to me, a gigantic party that you show up to only to find that you don’t know anyone there and can’t quite follow the conversations going on around you. It may be that the people who have me in circles (more than 1,500) and the people I have in my circles (about 500) simply aren’t sharing their best posts with me and are targeting what they post to other circles. Is there a whole other alternate Google+ universe that I’m not privy too? Conversations with other Google+ users I know lead me to believe I’m not alone.
Google has put tremendous effort into making Google+ flexible, easy to customize and connected to its popular servies like Gmail and Picasa photos. It gives subscribers a lot of freedom to decide how they want a social network to operate (as opposed to Facebook, which makes big changes that regularly upset its users and still succeeds). But freedom may be working against Google+. I find myself flummoxed by what I’m supposed to do with it, and the killer feature — setting up groups to target my postings — feels like a lot of work. It all feels a little soulless to me, a social network without a clear sense of purpose that is leaving to its users to find interesting ways to use it. For the first few months of Google+’s existence, the major topic of discussion seemed to be Google+ itself, taking social media insularity and navel gazing into previously uncharted territory.
Some people are thriving on it, especially people who are using it for business. Dave Gray, a senior vice president at Austin’s Dachis Group, said (in a Google+ post, of course), said he understands some people are confused by Google+, but, “my confusion pales in comparison to my excitement at exploring this experiment in design for online social interaction.”
Gray said, “Circles solved one of the frustrations I have had with social networks. Some friends and family are not into everything I post on (Facebook) and to them it’s spam. Other friends would like more of some things and less of others. So the initial buzz for me was that I finally had a way to start sorting this stuff out.”
He concludes, “What has fascinated me about G+ is the way that deeply engaged conversations evolve naturally around shared interests, giving me the opportunity to engage with people I know well but that also include people I have never met. Where else do you see conversations like this happening on the web?”
Honestly, I wish I was seeing some of these deep conversations; the comment threads on Google+ don’t feel much different to me than those on Facebook, but perhaps that’s because I have more friends and family I know in “real-life” there. I haven’t seen many people on Google+ who are having the kinds of experience that Gray is having. (The post was written a while back, but Gray said today that his opinions on Google+ still hold.)
Pinterest, in the other hand, seems to have many more users who are incredibly passionate. Austin social media expert Lani Rosales recently posted a great list of 30 suggestions for improving Pinterest (including the ability to post private items and more easily rearrange posts) on the blog AGBeat.com. Some of the people I follow on Pinterest are using it to share their favorite books, solicit ideas for decorating their home or plan weddings.
Much has been made about how its user base is primarily women, prompting a post on the website ReadWriteWeb called “A Guy’s Guide to Pinterest” for mystified men. Two men I know who are heavy social media users and who recently joined Pinterest told me they didn’t get it and weren’t sure what they’d use it for.
Is it the site’s aesthetic, which is neat, bordered by a subtle shade of pink, or the site’s “Pinners” who’ve created a visual language for a beautiful, well-designed life on Pinterest and inspired newer members to follow suit?
I’m not really sure, but I know that the walled Utopia that is Pinterest will probably evolve into something else if its fast growth continues. It’ll change even more quickly if it’s acquired. Earlier this month, the website TechCrunch reported on a persistent Silicon Valley rumor that Google has an interest in acquiring Pinterest, perhaps incorporating it into Google+.
It certainly would make Google+ more interesting, but would Pinterest — a great idea that’s breaking the mold of social networks — survive the culture clash?
Edited to add, Monday, Jan. 30: a shorter version of this piece appeared as a Digital Savant column in today’s American-Statesman.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Internet
Sims get sexy in ‘Master Suite’ update
New video games this week:
“The Sims 3: Master Suite Stuff.” — Most add-on packs for the long-running “Sims” franchise involve vacationing, pets, outdoor living and other seemingly trivial items. But EA Games is apparently bringing sexy back with this collection of romantic relaxation aids like virtual candles, a canopy bed and sets of lingerie and sleepwear for both female and male Sims. For those who use “The Sims” games as little more than excuses to plot out elaborate soap operas using digital dolls, this is the update for you. Rated T for Teen. $20 for Windows PCs and Mac (also available as a digital download).
“SOL: Exodus.” — This game, developed in Austin by Seamless Entertainment, is a space shooter powered by the Unreal game engine. The year is 2500 and humans are on the search for a homeland on the edge of the solar system. It’s focused on 3-D space combat in the tradition of “Wing Commander.” $10, downloadable for Windows PC (at steampowered.com starting Wednesday).
Also out this week: “Tropico 3: Gold Edition” (Mac), “Tropico Trilogy” (PC), “Victoria II: A House Divided” (downloadable for PC), “My Pet Puppy” (Nintendo 3DS), “National Geographic Challenge” (PlayStation 3 Move), “Fairway Fever” (PC), “Dark Tales 3: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Premature Burial” (PC), “OilRush” (PC, Mac and Linux), “Killzone” (downloadable for PS3), “Quarrel” (downloadable for Xbox 360), “Puddle” (downloadable for Xbox 360).
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Shopping, Videogames
Keeping your info secure in the wake of the Zappos.com breach
This week’s Digital Savant column in the Austin American-Statesman is about protecting your identity and knowing your options if your personal data is ever breached on a website or service you with which you do business. (And, in all likelihood, it’ll happen sooner or later.)
A recent hacking attack on Zappos.com brought the topic up again after a large number of attacks last year on a variety of entertainment, banking and government websites.
Austin has quite a few Internet security and ID theft-related companies and we spoke to two of them for the column.
You can read the full column, which ran in Monday’s newspaper, here.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Internet
SOPA officially shelved… but what comes next?
So, this happened and in large part caused this to happen today. There’s nothing like a chorus of all the people with the loudest megaphones telling you you’re wrong to change your mind about something (or at least cause you to see the writing on the wall and retreat).
But, while technologists have flexed their muscle in proving they can block political change they find repugnant, the underlying issues haven’t been fixed. Media companies still are at their wits’ end over piracy, there are those in the government who want more control over the unruly Internet (they can’t imagine something more horrifying than a homegrown Wikileaks) and apart from the protests, which were more organized than is typical in the tech industry, no one has really set forth a reasonable solution that’s going to fix anything long-term.
The last thing I want is a more restrictive Internet, but let’s not pretend that piracy doesn’t exist and that many copyright holders (small content companies and independent artists, not just the major labels and studios) aren’t being robbed blind by those who feel entitled enough to take what they want, when they want, from the generous Internet. I wonder how many protesters this week looked around at scorched-earth hackers and other allies who appear to be in favor of no piracy restrictions (or copyright enforcement for that matter) and wondered, “Wait, do I really want those people on my side?”
Too often this week, I saw people fighting against SOPA without really understanding what SOPA and PIPA were about and refusing to acknowledge that perhaps, in some small way, there’s a problem that needs to be addressed somehow.
Being against the anti-piracy bills doesn’t mean you can’t acknowledge that things aren’t quite right the way they are now and that a victory today won’t prevent more measures to come down the pike (perhaps in more subtle, harder to fight legislation).
The failure of SOPA, I think, has more to do with the almost cartoonish overreaching of organizations like the RIAA and of certain lawmakers than the underlying principles. SOPA and PIPA were very easy to paint as villainous because the MPAA and RIAA, as crusaders, have been historically tone-deaf as to the realities of the way people consume media in the digital age.
But it doesn’t mean they’re completely wrong or that they won’t gain some ground on these issues in the end. For the tech companies and pundits who preached so loudly in the fight this week, it’s not enough to win today. You’re going to have to help fix the problem, too.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Internet
Richard Garriott space documentary opens in Austin today
Image credit: TMS
The documentary about Austin game developer and space traveler Richard Garriott is finally touching down. “Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars” opens today at the Alamo South and there’ll be a special screening at 7 p.m. tonight with Garriott, director Mike Woolf and producer Brady DIal. (They’ll stick around for more screenings after that since the 7 p.m. show is sold out.)
The film will also play at Alamo Village starting Feb. 1 and Alamo Lake Creek starting Feb. 9.
The documentary follows Garriott’s $30 million guest to be a commercial space traveler.
Our film writer Matthew Odam has written an excellent piece for today’s American-Statesman about the film. You can check it out here.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Movies & DVDs, Videogames
The Linkdown for Thursday, Jan. 19
The Linkdown is enjoying the unseasonably warm weather by staying inside and keeping the air conditioner company. If you’re indoors, too, you should know about these events and web things:
Events:
- CapMac Austin’s iPhone SIG meeting is tonight (Thursday).
- Accessibility Internet Rally, a web design competition, is open for registration. Deadline for submitting a URL is Feb. 15.
- MomCom Austin is on Saturday.
- Volunteers are being sought for Saturday’s LEGO League Invitational tourney.
- Austin Startup Olympics happen on Saturday. It’s a private event, but there’s a public afterparty at Club DeVille that night.
- Clockwork Con steampunk convention is in town this weekend.
- America’s Future Scientist fundraiser/event happens Sunday.
- A Future of Videogames in Austin panel will be held on Wednesday at the Texas Advanced Computing Center.
- The first Transmedia Austin meetup happens next Thursday. The topic is Transmedia in Music.
- Geek Bowl trivia is coming on Jan. 28.
- SXSW Interactive ATX meetup is on Jan. 30.
- Girlstart has announced info for its 2012 summer camps.
- Upcoming GeekAustin class: Introduction to SQL using MYSQL (starts Feb. 6).
- Next Juegos Rancheros meetup: Feb. 12.
Internet goodness:
- AT&T is changing data rate plans (guess in which direction) and data limits.
- Intriguing new wearable gadget: Nike+ FuelBand.
- Doodle 4 Google contest is now open for students.
- Austin’s DadLabs wins an International Academy of Web Television Award for Best Educational Series.
- Austin-developed “Starhawk” for PlayStation 3 will be released on May 8. The public beta has already started.
- Apple’s big education/e-textbooks announcement from Thursday.
- Two former Dell employees implicated in insider trading scheme.
- Samsung apparently still doing some big expanding in its Austin operations.
- Why I won’t be calling new PC laptop “Ultrabooks” anymore. Sorry, Intel.
- Megaupload busted.
SXSW-related
- The official Interactive schedule is up on the SXSW website.
- Interactive Award finalists will be announced on Monday.
- Rainn Wilson will be doing a Saturday Interactive panel about his website SoulPancake.com.
- TechKaraoke has been announced for March 10. You can already register.
- Thomas Dolby is bringing his steampunky Time Capsule Tour to SXSW.
- Volunteers sought.
Got a Linkdown item we should include in a future update? E-mail it to us with “LINKDOWN:” in the subject line.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Internet, SXSW 2012
Parts of the web go dark in protest of SOPA / Protect IP Act
Wikipedia’s pages are being blacked out today to protest two pieces of anti-piracy legislation.
As is being reported on other pages of our site and, of course, in many tech news outlets, parts of the web have been blacked out today in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, two pieces of legislation that have the backing of some large media companies trying to stop copyright violation of their wares. SOPA last week stalled in the House of Representatives. PIPA appears to still be in play in the Senate.
The online protest includes an all-day blackout at Wikipedia, a half-day blockout at Reddit and even the participation of Google, which has put a link to information about the bills on its home page and which features a blacked-out Google logo on its pages.
Everyone’s favorite blackout page appears to be the hilarious one posted as an animated GIF by The Oatmeal. (Possibly not safe for work, so be careful viewing it.)
I wish I had some insight to share with you beyond the news that’s out there, but to be honest, I’m struggling to even keep up with all the news being generated about this protest, the Texas backlash and any real-world protesting that may be brewing right now, especially in Austin.
Got thoughts? I’d love to hear them. Post in the comments.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Internet
A glossary for non-techies
Illustration by Don Tate II / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
In case you missed it in Monday’s Austin American-Statesman, this week’s Digital Savant column was a glossary of tech terms for the not-so-tech-inclined.
In our rush to breathlessly bring you the latest about the smart phones, HDTVs and video games that’ll be in your living room someday, we tech writers often forget to speak in plain English and flood our readers with acronyms and gibberish. We may do another column like this in the future with another set of terms. (One excellent suggestion we already received from a reader: “The Cloud.”)
Got other impenetrable words you’d like me to break down? Just let us know in the comments.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Applications, Computers, Gadgets, Phones, TV
Latest comments
All zynga games are shady. Never pay money for chips or credits. Total scam the way these games are coded.
... read the full comment by SGupta | Comment on Austin-developed 'Zynga Bingo,' still in closed beta, is already controversial Read Austin-developed 'Zynga Bingo,' still in closed beta, is already controversial
What did Zynga do in 'Zynga Bingo' to actually improve upon 'Bingo Blitz'? Same question goes for how they improved 'Dream Heights' over 'Tiny Tower'. Besides bringing superior marketing to a game, did Zynga actually make a better game as they claim? Serious
... read the full comment by Henry | Comment on Austin-developed 'Zynga Bingo,' still in closed beta, is already controversial Read Austin-developed 'Zynga Bingo,' still in closed beta, is already controversial
See more recent comments