Earlier today, the PAX organizers have announced a first confirmed case of the H1N1 virus amongst the attendees.

If you were at PAX this weekend and feel symptoms of the swine flu, go to the doctor and do not forget to mention that you were at an event where a case was confirmed.

If any additional attendees are diagnosed with the swine flu, PAX would appreciate that you notify them by sending an e-mail to rkhoo@penny-arcade.com with your flight info.

 To learn more about the swine flu, visit this link: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/key_facts.htm

MTV GAMES, HARMONIX and EA HEAD TO NASHVILLE WITH
ROCK BAND™ COUNTRY TRACK PACK™

Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain and More Join the Rock Band Platform July 21, 2009

Cambridge, MA – May 12, 2009 — Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced plans for a July 21, 2009 North American release of Rock Band™ Country Track Pack™ for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, and Wii™ system from Nintendo.

“Rock Band loves country music too, and these tracks are among the most fun to play of any we’ve released to date,” said Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games & Music for MTV Networks Music Group. “We’ve received a ton of requests from fans to bring more country to the game, and our artist partners responded. We’re very excited to be able to offer this set, featuring some of the greatest songs ever recorded.”

Rock Band Country Track Pack is a standalone software product that allows owners of Rock Band® and Rock Band®2 to keep the party going with 21 songs from an outstanding mix of country artists, including Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Rascal Flatts and the legendary Kenny Rogers. Many of the tracks will be exclusive to the Rock Band Country Track Pack disc for a limited time before joining the Rock Band® Music Store as downloadable content. Additional artists and songs from the track list will be announced in the coming months.

In addition, Rock Band Country Track Pack, like all Rock Band software, is compatible with all Rock Band instrument controllers, as well as most Guitar Hero® and other current third party video game instrument controllers.

Fans who buy the Rock Band Country Track Pack for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system can play directly from the disc or download the songs onto their consoles’ hard drives through a free offer with Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network or the PlayStation®Network. Once downloaded, the songs will automatically appear in the player’s custom Rock Band library and can be integrated into setlists and played in all game modes. With more than 660 tracks available in the Rock Band music catalogue and regular releases of downloadable content every week, Rock Band Country Track Pack is yet another way music-lovers can continue to expand and customize their music libraries.

First Confirmed Songs for ROCK BAND COUNTRY TRACK PACK:

Price: $29.99 MSRP

The Rock Band franchise is the ultimate platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune – all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Featuring the most master recordings of any music game ever by the world’s biggest rock artists, the Rock Band music catalogue includes tracks that span every genre of rock, ranging from alternative and classic rock, to heavy metal and punk.

Rock Band™ Country Track Pack™ is rated “E10+” for Everyone 10+ with a descriptor of Lyrics by the ESRB. Rock Band and Rock Band 2 are currently available for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PlayStation 2 systems and Wii.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

New York – May 5, 2009 – Harmonix Music Systems, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that replica Rickenbacker 325 and Gretsch Duo Jet™ guitars will be made available as standalone music peripheral controllers for The Beatles: Rock Band. In addition, The Beatles: Rock Band Pre-Order Club also goes live today in the U.S. and Canada giving fans exclusive news and access to exclusive game elements from the eagerly awaited game set for release worldwide on 9/9/09.

For more info, go past the break.

(more…)

The UK’s Information Commissioner has ruled that Google’s Street View technology carries a small risk of privacy invasion but should not be stopped. Google has come under fire as complaints flooded in that it’s Street View technology which adds photos of locations to maps it breaches the Data Protection Act. The Street View cars have been targeted by angry mobs of village dwellers staging the protest, accusing Google of invading their privacy and “facilitating crime”, however the Privacy Watchdog has stated that removing the service would be ”disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment”. Google has always ridden the line that it’s service observed UK law with photos only taken from public areas and that it’s anonymizing tech would blur out faces and number plates and any images that received takedown requests from members of the public would be removed asap.

David Evans, from the Information Commission’s compared Street View to passers-by filmed on TV news camera. He said, ”It would not be in the public interest to ‘turn the digital clock back’,”

“In the same way, there is no law against anyone taking pictures of people in the street as long as the person using the camera is not harassing people,” he said.

But  he added: “In a world where many people Tweet, Facebook and blog, it is important to take a commonsense approach towards Street View and the relatively limited privacy intrusion it may cause.”
Google should continue to routinely blur images of people’s faces and car number plates and the Information Commissioner’s Office will be watching.

View from Westminster Bridge, where's the rain?

So far privacy concerns have mainly been related to minor embarrasements such as being caught leaving a sex shop or vomiting in public, both of which are embarrassing to the involved parties but aren’t in the same league as say ‘being unfairly divorced because an innocent image could be interpreted wrongly’ as Dr Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute put it. Maybe Google should have done a public consultation and informed the Information Commissioner to what they were doing in detail, but I for one consider the service a real boon. I do understand that people feel their privacy invaded, especially if they’ve been caught on camera, but for those of us who live in a big city where people are passing by all the time, the fact that our places and cars are on camera isn’t really a big deal. Now if I had a really expensive car or I didn’t live in an apartment high off street level I might feel different but you can never please everyone in anything you do and if a criminal really wanted to target you, then surveillance really isn’t that big a deal.

[Via BBC]

Will they sail free?

The Local is reporting that one of the Pirate Bay’s lawyers has called for a retrial after reports that the judge Tomas Norström, is a member of the same copyright protection organisations as several of the main entertainment industry representatives. I’m not sure of the legal ramifications this could have on the verdict and sentancing handed down to the four PB operators but it is known that one of the jurers selected for the trial had to be dismissed as they were found to be a member of said copyright protection organisation.

Peter Althin, Sunde’s laywer is quoted as having said,

‘In the autumn I received information that a lay judge could have similar connections. I sent these to the court and the judge was excluded in order to prevent a conflict of interest. It would have been reasonable to then review this situation as well.’

This means that the boys behind TPB are more likely to get an appeal and this accusation could have a significant impact on the power of the prosecutors case. Whatever this means, it can only be good for the convicted outspoken anti-copyright TPB. It’s crucial to the recording industry bodies globally that this case remains in their favour as a dismissal or a let off could infer that it’s ok to pirate digital media even though it’s against international copyright law. Whatever the outcome this certainly complicates things for both parties.

[Via The Local]

If you missed Night Zero as our guest on PixelatedLIVE, you missed this breaking news they gave us:

If you don’t want to listen to the MP3 above, then just know that on NightZero.com, this Friday, will be a 2nd photo set from their already famous Left 5 dead photoshoot. Also, supposedly, Valve tipped off the Night Zero crew with information that a sequel of L4D is coming out called Left 5 Dead.  The extra character will be a pirate.  Not sure if they were bullshitting me or actually telling some truth.  You decide.

Below is an archive of last nights show.

Right after logging out of Ustream, then logging back in, I’m greeted with a totally new Ustream.  Totally caught me by surprise. A couple of buggy things, but nothing I don’t think a company of that size can handle.  Great look Ustream, keep it up!

A man from the East Price Hill area in Cincinnati, Ohio, physically beat his six-year-old son for not playing a video game well.

Terry Taulbee, 50, was charged with domestic violence. He hit his son on his lower back and buttocks – it left a large red hand mark and the area is swollen.

The boy is currently with his mother. Brian Gregg, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Job and Family Services forbids contact between the father and son.

“We are investigating these allegations and looking into it, whether everyone is safe and healthy,” he said. “It is going to take some time to investigate and see what kinds of services are needed for the family.”

[Source]

You snooze you lose, people.  If you didn’t get your passes yet, all you have to choose from is Thursday and Sunday single-day passes.  If you are still hoping for a Friday or Saturday single-day pass, what you CAN do is — oh wait, that’s closed, too.  I was about to tell you that you could volunteer, but volunteer registration is also closed. I guess the only thing you can do is wait for Comic-Con 2010. Not sure what else to tell ya, bud.

Although Nintendo has denied rumors that a Wii price drop is coming soon, it seems as though the company may have to start reconsidering their stance on the subject.

While the Wii still appears to be the number 1 sought after console on the market, according to the US sales figures from this past March, sales have dropped by 17% compared to sales from the past year. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 sales are on the rise, showing a 26% sales increase during the same time period, though still trailing behind the Wii in overall sales. Along with a 19% drop in DS sales, news of the 17% drop has apparently upset investors as well, Nintendo shares falling 6.6%, the biggest drop the company has seen in a few months. While Nintendo appears to be confident that the newly released Nintendo DSi may boost numbers, if this sales trend continues, it might be time for Nintendo to start considering a price drop for their little white box.

[Source]