Dead Space 3 Release Date Announced

EA has announced that Dead Space 3 will come out for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Europe on February 8th and in the US on February 5th.Visceral also took to the stage at EA's press conference to reveal that weapons crafting, one of the most requested features, will appear in the franchise's third installment. Isaac will scavenge for materials and be able to make new instruments of death at workbenches. Imagine a rivet chain-gun combined with a grenade launcher or a plasma gun combined with a scope. All the better to kill necromorphs with.

Visceral is even asking fans of the series to get creative, and enter their own combinations in its 'Tools of Terror' competition at www.deadspace.com. The winner will not only see their weapon in the final game but also their likeness as a non-playable character. EA has also announced that the Dead Space 3: Limited Edition will give players access to two bundles. Each contains an "advanced suit" and a "devastating new weapon". The "First Contact" Bundle contains EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity), which was built by SCAF as they began to make contact with 'foreign entities'. According to the press release, "it sports a flamboyant golden finish to provide protection from long-term space exposure and thick armour for… unspecified reasons." The bundle will also contain the Negotiator weapon; originally a scientific the Negotiator boats a Tesla Beam "capable of bursting a man-sized organism into several pieces with a single shot." The "Witness the Truth" Bundle includes the eponymous Witness suit, designed for the SCAF deep dig team stationed on the ice planet. It will also include the Evangeliser weapon, which "sports a souped-up AL-2g assault rifle on the top with an Emerson 2100 "Big Boy" tactical shotgun on the bottom". Both the suit and weapon are covered in same strange markings which adorned the SCAF deep dig when they emerged from the icy depths of Tau Volantis. Both of these weapons will serve as "initial blueprints for the millions of permutations" possible in Dead Space 3.

Game Details

Dead Space 3

Published by: Electronic Arts

Developed by: Visceral Games

Genre: Third-Person Action

Release Date:

United States: February 5, 2013

Australia: February 15, 2013

UK: February 8, 2013

RP-M+ for Rating Pending, Targeting a Rating of Mature or Above

Also Available On: PS3, Xbox 360

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Facebook rules out share sale to cover tax bill

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc promised not to sell stock to cover a nearly $2 billion tax bill and said it will allow employees to cash in their stock weeks ahead of schedule, moving to soothe nervous investors and its own staff as its share price spirals downward.

The world's largest online social network company, which has lost more than 50 percent of its market value since going public in May, said on Tuesday its total shares outstanding will be reduced by roughly 101 million shares as a result of the move.

Shares of Facebook rose 1.8 percent in after hours trading to $18.05.

Facebook will cover the stock compensation tax bill with existing cash and with borrowing from its credit facilities, the company said in a regulatory filing.

"The fact that they are using cash is a good thing. It feels like a mini buyback in a way because you're in essence reducing your share count by 101 million shares," said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Herman Leung.

Facebook has suffered a painful debut on the public markets, as investors have fretted about its slowing revenue growth and a large pool of additional shares set to hit the market as "lock-up" restrictions on employees selling shares expire.

"Coming out and showing that they're being a little more active in supporting the stock is good for investors," said Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian.

"These are the kinds of things they can do until the figure out how to better monetize the sites, to help alleviate some of the pressure on the stock," he said.

While Facebook, with 955 million users, is challenging entrenched Web companies such as Google Inc for consumers' online time, Wall Street has become increasingly skeptical about its long-term money-making potential.

Earlier on Tuesday, analyst Scott Devitt of Morgan Stanley, which acted as the lead underwriter for Facebook's IPO, cut his price target for Facebook to $32 a share from the IPO price of $38. JP Morgan, which also underwrote the IPO, cut its price target to $30 from $45 on Tuesday.

Shares of Facebook set a new low of $17.55 Tuesday, before closing at $17.73 on Nasdaq.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg will not sell any shares in Facebook for at least 12 months, while directors Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham will sell some shares to cover their tax obligations, according to the filing. Other than the tax-related sales, Facebook said Andreessen and Graham have no plans to sell any shares held by them personally.

Facebook said it has waived a "market stand-off provision" that prohibited employees from selling shares until November 14. As a result, employees will now be able to sell their vested shares on October 29 - four trading days after it reports third-quarter financial results on October 23.

About 234 million shares held by employees will be eligible for sale in the public market on October 29, it added.

Allowing employees to sell sooner could win Facebook some points from staff who have been unable to cash out any equity as the stock has steadily declined even as other insiders and early investors have sold, said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.

And the move could help make the massive share lock-up expirations less disruptive to the stock, by breaking up some of the big portions of shares set to become available for trading, he said.

"That helps with the digestion of these shares," said Wieser.

More than 1 billion Facebook shares held by employees, insiders and early investors are set to become available for trading by year's end.

Facebook estimated in the filing that it will owe roughly $1.9 billion in tax obligations as a result of the vested restricted stock units that its employees have been compensated with, assuming a 45 percent tax rate and based on Thursday's closing price of $19.09.

"We currently do not expect to conduct any offering of our equity securities near the initial RSU settlement date to fund this obligation," Facebook wrote in the 8-K filing on Tuesday. Facebook also said it did not expect to conduct any offering in connection with the expiration of the lock-up restrictions in the fourth quarter.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Richard Chang)


read original article here

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Counter-Strike Global Offensive review (PSN): Striking the right chord

Release Date: August 22
Platforms available on: 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Hidden Path
Publisher: Valve
Genre: First-person shooter

Valve's Counter-Strike has ruled the roost in the tactical shooter field since the concept was derived from Half-Life more than a decade ago, but it's never translated particularly well to home consoles. Much has changed since the days of the original Xbox, and the studio has applied what it has learned in that time to make the Counter-Strike title console gamers always dreamed of.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive marks the biggest leap forward for the series since Counter-Strike: Source overhauled the formula in 2004. It will feel like a change of pace to many PlayStation 3 owners, particularly those who popped their first-person shooter cherry with the likes of Call of Duty.

There are no kill streaks, respawns, or regenerative health bars to be found here. In some ways, the game feels heavily streamlined, but true depth lies in the rich, strategic gameplay and delicate balance at its core.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive peddles the same basic concept as the original, pitting a team of terrorists against counter-terrorists in hostage or bomb disposal situations. Teams secure victory by either eliminating the opposition, or satisfying mission objectives, such as detonating a bomb for the terrorists, or liberating the hostages if you are one of the good guys.

Matches take place over a series of rounds, and once a player perishes, they must wait until the next round before they can play again. Completing objectives and racking up kills earns you money, which can be spent on weapons and armour ahead of each round. All players start out on an equal footing, packing only a handgun and knife at the start of a game.

Having said that, first timers certainly won't feel like things are equal. The Counter-Strike series is backed by one of the most dedicated communities around, so newbies are in for a rough ride. A handy weapons tutorial is available to bring players up to speed on the basics, but plenty of practise in the offline bots mode is recommended before jumping into a game.

Counter-Strike Global Offensive has been built from the ground up, but the underlying principles haven't changed since day one, handing series veterans a greater advantage than usual. Two new modes of play - Arms Race and Demolition - bend the rules slightly by rewarding players with new weapons for meeting certain conditions. These come loaded with some new maps, but players are limited the same ones as before in the core modes. Perhaps Valve is withholding them for future DLC? It's a game built with the fanbase firmly in mind. Anyone familiar with Counter-Strike will know that it's all about strategy. Every bullet you fire must be carefully measured, as landing that headshot could be the difference between felling your opponent and being nailed to the wall by a volley of return fire.

Teamwork is equally imperative, whether covering one of your advancing squadmates as they diffuse a bomb or deriving strength from numbers. It's a game that rewards time invested in a more meaningful way than dishing out bigger weapons and stat enhancements. The more you play, the more you'll become accustomed to the kind of tactical manoeuvres that are effective, making for a more gratifying experience. Naturally, Valve and developer Hidden Path have given the game a facelift befitting of the current generation. It's Counter-Strike at its most polished, but the new aesthetics don't impact on the mechanics at its heart. This is still the game players fell in love with all those years ago, even if the layout of some of the classic maps has been tweaked somewhat. The developers haven't attempted to reinvent the wheel here, but some of the subtle refinements improve the experience dramatically. The matchmaking system has been finetuned in a way that's mutually beneficial to veterans and and newcomers alike, and the way the game has been optimised for home consoles without dilution will surely please the diehards.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive plays perfectly well with the PlayStation controller. PS Move is supported, and while it works well, its adoption only makes an already unforgiving game all the more challenging. For those raised on the PC iterations, the thought of playing with anything other than keyboard and mouse is nothing short of blasphemy, so it's a good job these inputs are available to PS3 players. It's a swings and roundabouts situation in the sense that the definitive control method very much depends on how you are used to tackling first-person shooters. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive neither deviates from or significantly alters the principles the series is built upon, making it a fan-pleasing edition to the fold. Valve and Hidden Path have optimised the formula for the console generation without alienating its core fanbase, and that is an achievement for which they should be applauded.

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Cruxskunk Keyboard Case Turns Your iPad Into a Laptop

Cruxcase has debuted a new keyboard case that turns your iPad into a laptop.
For $155, the Cruxskunk has a full-sized QWERTY keyboard with raised keys, Bluetooth connectivity to hook up to your iPad and a patent-pending hinge that allows for 360 degrees of rotation, according to the company’s Kickstarter page. It is compatible with the newest iPad and the iPad 2.
Put together, the keyboard case and iPad combination is 19 mm tall — slightly more than a Macbook Air at 17 mm. The Cruxskunk alone is 6 mm tall.
The three main parts of the case are made from “a single piece of aircraft grade aluminum in the exact same process that Apple machines its Macbooks and iPads,” the creators say. They claim that those who have seen the Cruxskunk have mistaken it for a Macbook Pro.
Cruxcase, which creates products that integrate with Apple devices, has made similar cases over the last two years. Last year, it launched Crux Loaded for the iPad 2.
As of Monday, the company has raised more than $135,000 with 30 days remaining in its Kickstarter campaign. It surpassed its original goal of $90,000 last week. Those who pledge will receive a leather sleeve for carrying the Cruxskunk and a USB cord for charging its battery.
Cruxskunk says it plans to produce its first samples in mid-October, and begin full production in late October. The parts will be manufactured and assembled in China. The company adds that it hopes to start shipping in December.

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Saturn: Colorful Colossus Changes Colors

NASA's Cassini orbiter watches as winter comes to southern hemisphere.

more pictures here -abcnews

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