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IRS Official Recommends Policy on Virtual World Transactions
The IRS’ taxpayer advocate has suggested the agency take a proactive posture toward real money transactions (RMT) in virtual worlds. “Proactive posture,” in IRS speak, means “tax it.” In her annual report, Nina Olson, whose job is to recommend to the IRS “how to improve the average consumer’s tax-paying process,” noted that more than $1…
By Owen Good -
Second-Life Hooker Bares All
“We have street prostitution here in Italy, and I have always wanted to be one of them,” says “Palela Anderson,” who is a high priced escort in Second Life. “As a teenager I would watch these sexy women walking the streets, waiting for the cars to stop, teasing the guys, and then hopping in and…
By Owen Good -
Baltimore Pol Indicted Over PS2 Controller
In part. One of 12 counts against Charm City’s Mayor accuses her of soliciting donations of gift cards for the needy over the holidays, then using them to buy a PSP and a PS2 controller. Sheila Dixon’s facing a 12-count indictment handed down by a Baltimore grand jury, alleging perjury, official misconduct, fraud and theft,…
By Owen Good -
A Case for Indie Development on Mac and Linux
MacOS and Linux’s install base is dwarfed by Windows, so in terms of which platform to develop for, that ends the argument right there. Right? Wrong, says Wolfire Games‘ Jeff Rosen. His case is largely for the indie community, and anyone seeking growth — so it’s not a challenge to the top publishers to take…
By Owen Good -
Here’s a Baseball Bat. Oh, by the Way, You Won
We’ve gotten more than one note that Grand Theft Auto IV bats are arriving as prizes for a contest no one was ever told they’d won. At least, that’s what we think this is. Maybe it’s a message? Way back in the 1980s I saw this episode of Philip Marlowe: Private Eye on HBO and…
By Owen Good -
Amazon’s Dealing Games All Day Monday
Frugal gamers, keep an eye on Amazon Monday. The mega-retailer is offering a day full of Gold Box video game deals – probably to clear holiday stock, but there might be something you want. Cheap. You know the Gold Box drill – it begins at 6 a.m. PST (9 a.m. Eastern) with one deal that’ll…
By Owen Good -
Stop Motion Street Fighter
What do you get with one borked SNES and two bored geeks? Stop-motion Street Fighter action figure battles. Fight! Jacob Karsemeyer of Pushing Play sent this along. He and classmate Sam Klass filmed it in a college multimedia course. “Turns out stop motion is one of the most painstakingly laborious mediums to work with,” he…
By Owen Good -
Donkey Kong Wins Quilting Bee
I’d like to think of a sewing circle of eight platinum-haired, bifocaled grannies, each working on a corner of this awesome quilt and gossiping about getting to the Donkey Kong kill screen without the hammer. In fact, it’s a commercially-available quilt done by Carolina Patchworks, yours for a mere $450. It’s roughly 5 feet square,…
By Owen Good -
Fable II Bug Fix Patch Finally Live
Lionhead’s announced that a patch finally fixing a slew of bugs – including the infamous unresponsive abbott in Monk’s Quest – has gone live today. And good news! No one will assassinate your child anymore! Here’s the full list of what’s fixed: • The Ritual/Monk’s Quest – Fixed the issue with the Abbott becoming unresponsive…
By Owen Good -
[Updated] Bob’s Protest — and Bob’s Game — is Over
Bob Pelloni’s 100-day protest over Nintendo’s refusal to give sell him its SDK is ending short of its goal. Update: Bob’s site now says: “SORRY, EVERYONE! IM ALIVE!!! ITS JUST A JOKE!!! SORRY EVERYONE!!” While the “joke” might mean he has no intention of harming himself, Bob’s still extraordinarily discouraged at how this all turned…
By Owen Good -
Ben Heck’s New Mod: The “Atari 3600” Stick
Everyone’s first big complaint with this — a 360 controller stuffed into a 2600’s casing — is the lack of a second analog joystick. So it’s not your new Halo stick. But Braid? Sure. Heck also admits he cheated a little on this, gutting a Guitar Hero III guitar for the stick’s circuitry. Other fun…
By Owen Good -
MLG Gets More Moolah
Major League Gaming got another $7.5 million from one of its venture capital firms, which called the pro video gaming league “a cultural phenomenon.” I don’t know MLG’s financials but, usually, you don’t get another round of funding because you’re insanely profitable. At least it’s from one of MLG’s original partners, Oak Investment Partners, which…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku Originals: Frankly Mint
Every time I see the Goatie coin I imagine Montel Williams on my TV at 2 a.m. hawking a set of collector’s edition 50 State quarters with Fahey and Crecente painted on them. Kotaku’s annual awards were one highlight in a week that also featured McWhertor operating el lobo solo at CES. Nintendo came up…
By Owen Good -
Gamestop Not Accepting Xboxes Feb. 9
We got tipped by an anonymous Gamestop employee that the chain won’t accept original Xbox games, consoles and accessories as of Feb. 9. Looks like this is officially it for the console. Says our tipster: “The Marketing kit for this coming Sunday has a sign that says Gamestop will no longer be accepting Xbox games,…
By Owen Good -
The Hunt Begins
To: Luke From: Owen Re: Rain Delay Well the search for full-time work will be officially under way this week, now that we’re past the holidays and into the first quarter of the new year. Pretty much everyone I asked said no one would be looking to make moves until after January. So that justified…
By Owen Good -
Week in Games: Gone to the Dogs
The first multiplatform drop of 2009 goes out Tuesday, but man, I’d walk around it like it was a swamp. Hotel for Dogs, based on a movie of the same name, smells a smidge shovel-y. Also this week, PC gamers get Saint’s Row 2. The rest of the haul? Not our kind, dear. All told,…
By Owen Good -
Modder Building a Better D-Pad
The limitations of the 360’s D-pad are well known (and well trolled). This modder’s building a D-pad with eight individual switches so that when he hits a diagonal, dammit, he hits a diagonal. John, the modder, wrote us directly about this. While he acknowledges that sanding down the casing that surrounds the circular pad may…
By Owen Good -
Theremin Hero Nails “Still Alive”
This gentleman goes after Portal’s “Still Alive” in Rock Band 2 using a rather novel approach: a theremin. How’d he do? Much better than you might expect. “Theremin Hero” doesn’t look like a mod per se, he just outputs the instrument to a set of headphones and rests the RB2 mike in the cups. So…
By Owen Good -
Mixing Music in a Video Game for the Blind
Video, of course, takes its root from the Latin word for “see.” So a “video game” for those who have lost their sight might look like a paradox, but it doesn’t sound like one. Gambit Game Lab, a collaboration of developers at MIT and Singapore, have developed AudiOdyssey as a proof-of-concept that games can be…
By Owen Good -
Gamer Kid Gets Hedgehog Legalized in Kansas
Judson King 11, looooooves him some Sonic. He asked his mom for a real hedgehog. Unfortunately, Mom said, they were banzored under city code. So he worked for three years to get it changed. It’s a heartwarming tale of a child’s love and determination, and learning about things like government and how to lobby it…
By Owen Good
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