The final installment of the online game track gave four (pardon me, three) case studies of companies that have brought out games with online components. Represented were FASA Studios for MechAssault, Zipper Interactive for SOCOM: Navy Seals, and Mythic for Dark Ages of Camelot. Rudely not showing up was Digital …

There are at least three different interpretations of the current licensing frenzy among the top titles at E3. I'll discuss each of them a little here. There are three basic attitudes towards licensing in the game market. I characterize them as: the valuable partner scenario, the juggernaut scenario, and the …

A good session with folks from Ubisoft, Insomniac Games, Ion Storm, and Double Fine each giving their input on what makes games successful. Continuing a trend for this show, there was much discussion about whether garage gamers could emerge once again on the scene. The general consensus is "no, but …

Perhaps not the end of E3, but it is the end for me, as I am returning on Friday. The final day involved a few sessions and a very good lunch presentation followed by one more swing through the booths and out. Here are some pictures of my trip as …

It seems that when John isn't busy making products for ID Software, he is working at Armadillo Aerospace on a project aimed at the X-Prize.

As an odd follow-up to this morning's story about too much salt in children's food comes this story from the BBC News. A woman is accused of attempting to kill an eight-year-old by giving the child solutions laden with large amounts of salt.

As previously reported here, there was a bug in Apple's Safari browser. It has now been remedied (according to Apple) and should be replaced with the new version available at Apple's site.This is a strongly recommended update for anyone running Safari.

An article appearing on the New York Times web site, originating from the International Herald Tribune gives some insight into Microsoft's continuing tactics to try and beat out rivals that use the Linux operating system. Basically, the article states that internal memos from Microsoft executives have authorized discounting the operating …

A letter on the FTC website, which is also being sent to a number of operators of open relays, details the dangers of open relays as a mechanism for propagating spam and the potential results to an organization. An article from CNET details that the letter has been sent by …

The judge in San Francisco who is mulling over the 321 Studios case against the movie industry over their DVD copying software appeared to be trying to see both sides of the argument today. On some issues, such as whether the software is in violation of the DMCA, she seemed …

In the quarter just reported, Yahoo! is stating that 19% of their earnings came from their deal with Overture to provide paid-for search results. An article on CNET provides some further analysis from industry experts.

SCO claims that SuSE isn't immune from prosecution on copyright violations. SuSE claims their existing license agreements with SCO make them immune. However, SCO has yet to make any moves against the German manufacturer of Linux variants. An article from CNET provides some further detail and quotes from both sides …

Technology review site ExtremeTech has an article in which they basically accuse nVidia of inflating their benchmark scores by cheating on the well-known benchmarks.

If you're a Mac person who wants to use AutoCAD, read this article from MacCentral. It tells you how to state your opinion to the folks looking in to the AutoCAD release.

A commentary from CNET looks at two provisions of the new PROTECT act that may raise first amendment challenges. The sections are the "Misleading domain names on the internet" and a section once again attempting to redefine child pornography to include images created virtually that "appear" to be children. Although …

An article from BBC News states that the British Food Standards Agency is suggesting that the salt intake of youngsters be curtailed.

Here are some links to other announcements and stories coming out of E3 about the gaming world. Doom 3 trailer debuts on Gamespot IDSA claims parents actually pay attention to their kids video games and may even play with them. See the press release. Blizzard announces Worlds of Warcraft for …

A good article in The Washington Post about blacklists and their implications. As I've stated before, II think that they're fine, but that the users need to pay attention to who is making them and what their motives are. The alternative is not (as the spammers how) having no blacklists …

An article on MacCentral reports that programmers have "developed a way to let people copy" songs over the internet using iTunes. For those who have used the server inside of iTunes, you probably already know that this can only be used to serve up songs for which your computer already …

The Carmack interview started out well. I've never seen him speak before, so I wasn't about to let the opportunity go by without attending this session. There was a nice demo reel from Doom 3 running and then our interviewer (N'gai Croal from Newsweek) started in with the questions. Thankfully …