Geek Interview: Xorth - Creator of HaloTracker

If you didn't already know about it, HaloTracker is one of the best Halo community sites on the internet. The mission of the site is simple: to provide the most in-depth Halo stats anywhere online. The site doesn't stop there, however. HaloTracker also hosts a great community forum, streaming Halo broadcasts, tournaments, montages, custom Halo challenges and social groups. Xorth, the founder and owner of HaloTracker, was recently kind enough to answer some of my questions about himself and the site. Here is the full text of the interview.

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'Live Park' is World's First 4D Avatar Playground

You can go ahead and file this one in the "cool shit other countires have that we don't" folder. A new Kinect powered theme park has opened in South Korea, and it looks awesome. Claiming to be the world's first 4D avatar theme park, Live Park 4D offers 65 attractions that utilize 3D video, holograms and augmented reality tech to tell a cohesive story. Microsoft Kinect sesors track the movements of participants, while RFID wristbands identify who is where. This allows for a realistic video game experience, taking place in an interactive projection square spanning over 150m. I don't fully understand how it all works, or what the end result is, but I do know that I want it. This is the closest thing to the holodeck I've ever seen.

(via Joystiq)

Parody Trailer Explores Special Relationships in Uncharted 3

YouTube user TouchBone Pictures shared a hilarious parody trailer of Uncharted 3 on their channel. Using various clips from Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Spoiler Warning!), Drake's Devotion explores Nathan's more sensetive side. Sometimes the most precious treasure chest is the one that holds your heart.

(via GameOn!)

Halo Reach Tips: What is Bloom?

If you're a beginner trying to get into playing Halo: Reach multiplayer, you'll probably find most online forums very confusing and disorienting. These days, people are constantly discussing topics that fly right over the heads of the uninformed Halo fan base. One of these topics is bloom (and no, they're not talking about flowers). Here's what bloom is, how it's changing, and how to use it to your advantage in Halo: Reach matchmaking.

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Netflix Replacing Chief Marketing Officer

Netflix has announced that they are searching for a new Chief Marketing Officer, after Leslie Kilgore vacated the position. Netflix was involved in some of the worst marketing mistakes in recent memory last year. The DVD by mail and online streaming company outraged customers with drastic price increases, and showed it had no idea what it was doing when it decided to spin-off part of their business into a new company called Qwikster, before swiftly abandoning the entire idea. For these reasons, Netflix is actually nominated for "Fail of the Year" at next week's Hex19 Awards.

Some aspects of the marketing strategy at Netflix have been very positive. The company has been a front runner in sponsoring new media projects, like podcasts and web series. I hope that whoever inherits the CMO position continues to place an emphasis on internet based advertising.

(via Engadget)

Hyrulecraft: Ocarina of Time Recreated in Minecraft

I'm not what you'd call a Legend of Zelda fanatic, but even I found this project to be very impressive. The creator behind Hyrulecraft, Benny Girard, has spent the last 9 months recreating a 1:1 scale replica of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time within everybody's favorite block based building game, Minecraft. The alpha version of the map has been created, and the team of volunteers has switched their efforts to building a unique MMO experience, complete with quests, NPCs, dungeons and guilds. In the meantime, you can find details on their website of how to download the map, or log onto their public Minecraft server.

Nine months is a long time to work on a single project. You can even make a human baby in that amount of time, start to finish! Being the parent to a scale model of Hyrule does have its benefits, however. No diaper changes! It will still keep you up all night, but in a completely different way.

(via GenGame.net)