Crysis 2 returns to Steam, EA silent on other absences

Crysis 2 returns to Steam, EA silent on other absences:
Publisher says Crysis 2: Maximum Edition complies with Steam's terms of service; says it has nothing to announce regarding other EA titles missing from Valve's digital store.

The EA-published, Crytek-developed Crysis 2 has become available on Steam again after EA originally pulled the title from Valve's online storefront in June 2011.

Crysis 2 is back on Steam.

At the time, EA's head of global e-commerce David DeMartini said that the reason for the removal of Crysis 2 from Steam was due to Valve not allowing EA to "establish an ongoing relationship" with customers by contacting them to inform them of new patches and available content.

"We take direct responsibility for providing patches, updates, additional content, and other services to our players," DeMartini said at the time. "Unfortunately, if we're not allowed to manage this experience directly, and establish a relationship with you, it disrupts our ability to provide the support you expect and deserve. At present, there is only one download service that will not allow this relationship. This is not our choice, and unfortunately it is their customer base that is most impacted by this decision. We are working diligently to find a mutually agreeable solution."

Crysis 2 has reappeared on Steam as Crysis 2: Maximum Edition, complete with an offer for existing Crysis 2 owners who bought the game on Steam before EA removed it. According to Steam, those eligible can now purchase the Maximum Edition for a 50 percent discount. The offer is available until June 12 at 10am Pacific Time.

The Maximum Edition includes four limited edition unlocks: bonus XP with access to preset classes, plus a custom class; scar assault rifle; day-one access to scar hologram decoy; and a unique platinum dog tag that allows players to display their multiplayer rank and stats.

The edition also includes Retaliation and Decimation packs with nine additional multiplayer maps supporting all game modes and two new weapons (FY71 assault rifle and M18 smoke grenade).

According to EA, the game's reappearance on Steam was due to changes made to the Maximum Edition by developer Crytek.

"Changes made by Crytek to Crysis 2: Maximum Edition have brought the game in compliance with Steam's terms of service," an EA spokesperson said in a statement to GameSpot.

When asked whether EA plans to reinstate some of its other missing titles to Steam, the publisher replied: "We have nothing to announce at this time."

Following the removal of EA titles, such as Battlefield 3, Dragon Age II, and Mass Effect 3 from Steam last year, Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell expressed disappointment at the dispute with EA, saying that it is up to Valve to prove to EA that it is worth selling its games through Steam.

GameSpot has reached out to Valve for comment and will continue to update this story.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

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"Crysis 2 returns to Steam, EA silent on other absences" was posted by Laura Parker on Tue, 29 May 2012 17:48:24 -0700

LG Optimus LTE, Vu, and LTE Tag scheduled to receive ICS in June

LG Optimus LTE, Vu, and LTE Tag scheduled to receive ICS in June:






When LG announced the Optimus Vu it promised that the phone would receive Ice Cream Sandwich within three months of its March launch. True to its word, the company has now announced that the Vu, as well as the Optimus LTE and Optimus LTE Tag, will all be receiving Android 4.0 this June. Along with the latest flavor of Google's mobile operating system, all three phones will also be bumped up to Optimus UI 3.0. The new skin had quite a few nice touches when we took a look at it with the Optimus LTE 2 earlier this month, including a new lock screen and a voice-activated camera shutter. However, it's not clear how many of the new software features demonstrated on that phone will make it to the three upgraded devices.
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Sony E3 press conference to be open to the public (the first 200 of them)

Sony E3 press conference to be open to the public (the first 200 of them):
For the first time ever, people who are not part of the video game industry will be able to literally walk up to the event venue where Sony’s pre-E3 media extravaganza is taking place and get their own spot for the presentation. That is, if they happen to be one of the first 200 people to show up to said venue. Sony wants to ensure it has a cheering section.


Details of the unconventional move have been posted on the PlayStation Blog. It calls for PlayStation fans to be at the LA Sports Arena no later than 3:30. Sony says that those gaining entry will “be helping us out with our pre-show festivities” but did not elaborate on exactly what that means. Sony plans on having free food and drinks for the media before the press conference begins.
In the past, non-media personnel have been able to get into the E3 press conferences, but historically this required such attendees to be affiliated with a corporate business partner or have won a contest of some sort. The LA Sports Arena is a huge place, though, and there is ample room for all members of the press and plenty more guests. So, is it true to say the more the merrier?
[via PlayStation Blog]


Sony E3 press conference to be open to the public (the first 200 of them) is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple CEO talks sharing: “In this area I want people to copy us”

Apple CEO talks sharing: “In this area I want people to copy us”:
When Tim Cook talks sharing, he’s not speaking about moving images from one phone to another, he means the opposite of greed, speaking this week at D10 on how Apple will expand its chairity work in the future. “To whom much is given, much is expected” noted Cook, expanding on an employee chairity donation matching program Apple has in place. Cook let it be known that by using a system such as this, Apple can do good without having to form lots of committees and commit undue time where it isn’t needed. Cook spoke: “I think we can do even more so we are looking at some things – maybe that is a change.”


Cook had just moved from speaking specifically about the late Steve Jobs, saying that the former CEO of Apple had told him to “do what’s right” in all things. This was instead of simply doing what Jobs would have done. Cook noted this week that he was following this maxim as best he could:

“I’m doing that. Does that mean something would be different Of course. But he was the best person at doing that.” – Cook

Cook went on to say that if Apple employees had cash to spare, they should spare it: “we’ve got a little bit left over and we should share it.” The current CEO of Apple noted that Jobs “was for” the employee charity donation matching program and certainly knew that it would be in place before he died. When asked if sharing also meant that Apple would be less secret in the future, Cook was quite clear in his reply.

““We’re going to double down on secrecy on products. But in other things Apple will be the most transparent company. Supplier responsibility, environmental issues … In this area I want people to copy us.” – Cook

Check the timeline below to see all the D10 gold left by Tim Cook in the wake of this opening interview. Siri, Steve Jobs, Foxconn, and more on the way!

Story Timeline

• Apple CEO Tim Cook to make opening speech at D10


• Tim Cook trashes convergence as "not pleasing to the user"


• Apple's Tim Cook top-paid CEO in 2011 by a long shot


• Tim Cook turns down $75m dividend


• Apple CEO Tim Cook faces D10, talks Siri flaws


• Tim Cook talks Steve Jobs at D10

[via All Things D]


Apple CEO talks sharing: “In this area I want people to copy us” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Tim Cook: 'I'm not interested in being in the console business'

Tim Cook: 'I'm not interested in being in the console business':






Despite Apple's emergence as a dominant force in the handheld gaming market, CEO Tim Cook has no interest in taking on Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft in the console business. During a Q&A session at the D10 conference, Cook responded to a question asked by The Verge's own Joshua Topolsky about the company's future in gaming, as reported by AllThingsD:

Gaming has kind of evolved a bit. More people play on portable devices. Where we might go in the future, we'll see. Customers love games. I'm not interested in being in the console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming. But Apple is a big player today and things in the future will only make that bigger.

Although Cook dispelled any notion of Apple building a gaming console,...
Continue reading…

Apple CEO Tim Cook faces D10, talks Siri flaws

Apple CEO Tim Cook faces D10, talks Siri flaws:
Tim Cook took the stage at the D10 conference this evening, and as you might expect when he’s facing questions from no-nonsense business types, he was asked to defend the iPhone 4S’s personal voice assistant Siri, which has gone from a cool novelty to one of Apple’s biggest marketing campaigns of the decade, even though some suggest Siri doesn’t have the chops to back it up.


“Customers love it. But, there’s more that it can do, and we have a lot of people working on this. I think you’ll be really pleased with what you see in the coming months on this. We’ve got some cool ideas about what Siri can do,” he was quoted by Engadget as saying. That’s quite a different tone than previous company head Steve Jobs.
Jobs had an attitude that if Apple launched something, it was perfect. And if customers had a problem with it, that was only because the customer wasn’t using it properly. But from Cook, we’re seeing that he empathizes with the customer. Addressing the hot-button issue of Siri without saying dissatisfied users are wrong, and instead promising that brighter futures are ahead, makes Cook look like more of the traditional customer-centric CEO.
From the outset, people have questioned whether Tim Cook could usher in the same kind of enthusiasm as Steve Jobs, or at least manage to hold the fort down while everyone reels in the loss of the legend. And when we say people, we mean Apple fans, Windows fans, Google fans, Apple employees, and pretty much anyone else who doesn’t know the word “apple” as simply a kind of fruit.
And for good reason – Jobs was Apple in a way that no other CEO had ever been identified with a Fortune 500 company. Although Cook took the helm a while ago now, he still feels very mysterious to a lot of outsiders. Exposure at events like this can only be a good thing as long as there are no major flare-ups.
[via Engadget]


Apple CEO Tim Cook faces D10, talks Siri flaws is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Tim Cook joined Apple because even 'when customers got mad at Apple, they'd continue to buy'

Tim Cook joined Apple because even 'when customers got mad at Apple, they'd continue to buy':

It's epic storytelling time at AllThingsD 10 as audience Q&A has begun, with Apple CEO Tim Cook opening up on why he came to join the company in the first place in response to a question from Lance Ulanoff of Mashable. To hear him tell it, an executive search firm came calling and he wasn't pressed -- until five minutes into his meeting with Steve Jobs. We'll let him tell it:

It was a very interesting meeting. Steve had hired an executive search firm to find someone to run operations. They kept calling, and eventually I said 'Okay, I'll talk.' I flew out Friday on a redeye for a Saturday morning meeting with Steve. The honest-to-God truth, five minutes into the conversation I wanted to join Apple. I was shocked. Why did I want to do it? He painted a story and a strategy that he was taking Apple deep into consumer when I knew others were doing the exact opposite. I never thought following the herd was brilliant. He told me a bit about what would late be named the iMac, and I saw brilliance in that. I saw someone unaffected with money, and that has always impressed me when people do indeed have it. Those three things to me to throw caution to the wind and do it. I went back, and resigned immediately.
Did I see the iPad and iPhone? No. What I saw was this: Apple was the only technology company that I knew of, including the one I was currently at, that when a customer got mad at a company, they'd continue to buy. If people got mad at Compaq, they'd buy Dell. If you were mad at Dell, you'd buy IBM. But an Apple customer was a unique breed; there's this emotion that you just don't see in technology in general. You could see it and feel it at Apple. When I looked at the balance sheet of the company, I thought I could do something in turning around a great American company.

Whether you call it the reality distortion field or simply a strong brand attachment, it was enough, along with Steve Jobs' vision, to lure Tim Cook to work at Apple even when things weren't going so well back in 1998. Can he keep the shield generators running as CEO? Time will tell.

Tim Cook joined Apple because even 'when customers got mad at Apple, they'd continue to buy' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 22:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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