E3, Woo!?

From DCTVpedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
E3, Woo!?
Number 2784
Broadcast Date JUNE 14, 2016
Episode Length 43:16
Hosts Tom Merritt
Guests Patrick Beja, Paul Spain

The things that mattered at E3, among the avalanche of games and smattering of hardware. Patrick Beja, Paul Spain and Tom Merritt discuss.

Guest

Top Stories

Uber's borrowing $2 billion in loans and apparently Twitter sunk $70 million in soundcloud. But here are the rest of the top stories.
Judges of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against overturning the FCC’s open Internet guidelines and reclassification of ISP’s as common carriers. The plaintiffs argued the FCC lacked statutory authority to reclassify broadband providers, and that it violated the first amendment. The judges ruled against these claims and also upheld the FCC’s right to review interconnection agreements. Judge Stephen Williams dissented in part calling the FCC’s justification for common carrier classification “watery and thin.” AT&T said its group intends to appeal the ruling to the supreme court. The other plaintiffs are USTelecom, the CTIA, the Wireless Association, the NCTA, the American Cable Association, CenturyLink and Alamo Broadband.
Submitted by spsheridan
Google announced Google Springboard in their Work Blog on Monday. Similar to Google Now, Springboard serves as a digital assistant across Google apps, "proactively providing useful and actionable information and recommendations." Google Springboard is currently invite only through the Google Springboard early adopter program. Google Sites also got a major redesign with a new interface and new features like collaboration and drag and drop for moving elements around.
Snaps, Canonicals package format for installing apps on Ubuntu, is now available for multiple Linux distress across desktop, server, cloud and other devices thanks to a cross-platform port of snapd. Snaps is supported by Dell, Samsung’s ARTIK for IoT, the Linux Foundation Arch, Debian, Gentoo, OpenWRT and more. Mozilla said Snaps will allow them to provide more up-to-date features to all Linux users. Javascript programs like Telegram and the Atom editor work well on Snaps.
The US FAA proposed a $350,000 fine Monday against Amazon for violating hazardous materials regulations. The FAA alleged that on Oct. 15, 2014, Amazon sent a UPS package with a one-gallon container of "Amazing! LIQUID FIRE," a corrosive drain cleaner-- from Louisville, Kentucky, to Boulder, Colorado by air. Nine UPS employees who came into contact with the box reported burns and were treated with chemical wash. The FAA says the shipment was not properly packaged or labeled. The FAA says it found Amazon in violation of hazardous materials regulations 24 other times between February 2013 and September 2015.
Submitted by CaliforniaKarl
Facebook has reached partnerships with point-of-sale systems like Square and Market to link purchases to viewers of Facebook ads. Facebook also can now match GPS, beacons, WiFi, radio signals, and cell towers with real-world locations to show when you visit a store. Facebook aggregates and anonymizes the data, but there is no way to opt out of it, without turning off location services entirely for the Facebook app. Data from the new system will show up in the Store Visits metric in Facebook’s ad performance dashboard.
Nokia announced the Intelligent Management Platform for All Connected Things-- or IMPACT for short — which brings together several Internet of Things management platforms. Nokia hopes governments and enterprises will use it for secure IoT management and data handling. It can be used as a managed service in the cloud or deployed on company infrastructure. Nokia also announced a Smart Home Gateway which combines a fiber "modem" with a router, dual-band gigabit Wi-Fi -- and Zigbee and Z-Wave radios for home automation. It's meant for distribution by network operators.
At their E3 press conference, Sony announced the Playstation VR headset will be available October 13, 2016. As previously announced, Playstation VR will cost $399 for the base headset until, or $499 for a buncle including the required camera and Move controllers. Sony also committed to having 50 titles available for Playstation VR by the end of the year.

Discussion

Patrick's summary of the things that mattered at E3

  • EA
"Underwhelming"
Titanfall 2
Mass Effect Andromeda
EA Originals (indie label)
Sports
Unfortunately, very few presentations featured gameplay.
  • Bethesda
"The woo lady" Skyrim special edition
Prey
Dishonored 2 gameplay
  • Microsoft
"Exciting things I'm moderately excited about"
Xbox One S and Scorpio
Gears of War
ReCore
Taken 7
Scalebound
  • PC Gaming
"Victory: it was less of a snooze fest than last year!"
Tons of niche games, unfortunately not really worth mentioning
  • Ubisoft
"Swear words are so fun!"
The Fractured But Whole
For Honor
Watch Dogs 2
Steep
  • Sony
"The Majestic Orchestra"
No Playstation Neo
No Playstation Vita
God of War
Days Gone
Detroit - Being Human
Resident Evil VII
Death Stranding
  • Nintendo
"Watch some Pokemon before you get your Zelda"
Pokemon Sun and Moon
The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild

Further reading

Pick of the Day

Hi Tom & Co,

My pick of the day is the movie Sleep Dealer, which is a film in that rare genre of Oaxacan dystopian sci fi. Apparently it was released in 2008 but I just ran across it, and it seems like a perfect fit for 2016 with its take on both VR and US/Mexico border politics in the current presidential election. In the movie the border is now closed, so Mexican laborers must jack in to a network in Tijuana to perform virtual labor by controlling robots in the US. Meanwhile, the US performs VR drone strikes on any potential threat, and people can make a living by selling their memories (if they are compelling enough).

I found it to be a great commentary on tech, globalization, border politics, and more, and while there were some moments of cheesy graphics it was overall a visually appealing film. Maybe I'm woefully behind in learning about this film but was pleasantly surprised and highly recommend it.

Love the show!
Submitted by Dave in lovely Asheville, NC

Messages

Tom & Gang,

While watching Disney Pixar's "Cars" this morning, I had a thought:

Could driverless (AI enhanced) car racing the next logical step in driverless cars? The AI could make them competitive, and it wouldn't matter (in terms of human life or limb) how fast they went or how hard they crashed. In fact, the better the crash might come to be part of the appeal.
Sent by Jeromy in unusually mild Norfolk, VA

YouTube

Links



Preceded by:
"WWDC and Xbox E3"
E3, Woo!?
Followed by:
"Rhapster"