Hasta La Gadget!

In today’s installment of The Wacky World of Gaming, it appears that the once-beloved Black Isle Studios is back. We haven’t heard from the studio since 2003, when parent company Interplay shut it down, but now it seems that Interplay has decided to revive it. Details are still very scarce, with the newly launched website only announcing that the studio has returned and inviting visitors to sign up for a mailing list.

Likewise, the new Facebook and Twitter pages for Black Isle are lacking any kind of substantial information. It seems that those in the industry are just as confused as everyone else, with Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo saying in a tweet that he doesn’t have enough information on this reemergence to make a comment yet. Chris Avellone, who served as one of Black Isle’s main men before joining Obsidian, said via Twitter that he doesn’t know anything about the Black Isle announcement, and that no one at Obsidian is involved with the apparent re-opening of the studio. A lot of the people who worked at Black Isle are now with Obsidian, so it makes sense that some would suspect Obsidian had a hand in this.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Truth be told, almost nothing has been revealed about the new Black Isle – we’re just being told to wait for more news. If Black Isle truly is back, then whoever ends up working there will have some big shoes to fill. Black Isle was responsible for some classic computer RPGs, including the first two Fallout titles, the Icewind Dale series, and Planescape: Torment. All of those games are still loved today, so whatever this new Black Isle will be doing, players will be expecting a lot.

So, how’s that for a strange gaming story? It’s been a long time since we last heard from Black Isle, and this announcement has apparently blindsided everyone in the industry. It’s definitely exciting to see that Black Isle has returned, but now the question is: can this new studio deliver the same great RPG experiences that Black Isle is remembered for? Keep it tuned to SlashGear, because this could turn out to be big.

Black Isle apparently rises from the dead, everyone is confused is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today an investigation into the proposed purchase of the photo sharing app Instagram by the social network Facebook has been ended as silently as it was started. The acquisition of Instagram was made famous earlier this year as Facebook payed a reported $1 billion dollar sum to take over the brand in its entirety. The FTC’s Bureau of Competition worked with the Bureau of Economics to investigate the deal to make sure no anticompetitive business practices were taking place – they found nothing to write home about.

Now that the FTC has approved of the deal here in the United States, Facebook and Instagram may move forward – of course there’s always your international regulatory groups snooping around the deal, but once the FTC has had their say, generally a deal such as this pretty much hits the afterburners. The Commission this week voted to close the investigation of the deal with a vote of 5-0 to complete – to a degree.

April J Tabor, Acting Secretary for the Federal Trade Commission’s letter to Councel for Instagram read in part as follows:

“Upon further review of this matter, it now appears that no further action is warranted by the Commission at this time. Accordingly, the investigation has been closed. This action is not to be construed as a determination that a violation may not have occurred, just as the pendency of an investigation should not be construed as a determination that a violation has occurred. The Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”

The same letter was sent to Councel for Facebook, citing in both cases a possible violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act or Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Have a peek at our timeline below to track this deal back to its roots, and let the Instagram flow through you, you Facebook-loving socialite!

BONUS: the image you see at the head of this post comes from a conceptual design rendering of a Facebook phone designed by Tolga Tuncer – complete with an Instagram button!

[via FTC]

FTC Facebook Instagram investigation ends silently is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Catchy title, right? Well, it actually describes exactly what President Obama and hopeful Mitt Romney are doing in this new video game by Chair Entertainment, powered by the Epic Unreal Engine (yes, that’s the Infinity Blade engine). The free app is called “VOTE!!!” and it has been designed at the right time. Now that the gloves are off on the political stage, voters of both party can actually take action instead of hearing a bunch of non-information on both sides.

Behind the game, this is a way to attract the attention of young voters to the upcoming elections. Yes, you probably wish that there was another way, like talking about the issues or trying to find concrete solutions to the country’s problems, but VOTE!!!” seems more like “the plan” than the “backup plan” to get additional votes.

In any case, this time, the (fictional) election is truly in your hands. What do you think? Is this a good way to call young voters to action, or is it one more step towards idiocracy? [download link] – video in the full page (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Scytl announces online voting platform on Android and iOS devices, Samsung advert pokes apple customers,

While the financials for Mark Zuckerberg and his minions hasn’t been the best of late, Facebook got some good news today when the FTC closed its investigation of the social network’s acquisition of Instagram. That means that the merger now has the green light to be completed, and filtered photographs will be joining all those pokes, likes and Spotify songs in Timelines sooner rather than later. You can get the good news straight from the government’s mouth at the source below.

FTC closes investigation into Facebook’s buyout of Instagram, filtered photo fans rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

I love movies and books about ghosts and aliens, especially the older ones from an era when technology didn’t allow too many special effects. For me, it’s what you don’t see that freaks me out.

Continue reading This is the Modem World: So where are all the ghosts and aliens?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

This is the Modem World: So where are all the ghosts and aliens? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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