Gamer's Outpost Press (Archived)

by Lateshia Beachum via The Washington Post

Daniel Zeitz listed his PlayStation 4 for $280 on Craigslist.

He had three names of potential buyers to choose from, and he chose one. The avid gamer who was part of a professional gaming team would meet his potential buyer in the parking lot of his Roswell, Ga., apartment building to complete the deal.

On a September evening in 2014, he approached a car with a young man in the front seat, his teenage girlfriend in the passenger’s seat and a 16-month old baby in the backseat.

When Zeitz showed the gaming console to the young man, he tried to yank the machine into the car. Zeitz struggled to hold on to the PlayStation. That fight against being robbed in front of his own home led the teenage girl to reach between her legs to grab a .25 caliber handgun. She fired a shot, and the bullet pierced through her boyfriend’s hand before finding a mortal spot in the side of Zeitz’s chest.

That night is the reason why Daniel Zeitz is dead. It’s also the reason why that girl, Kayla Dixon, 18, was sentenced to 40 years in prison as part of a plea deal on Monday.

Monday was supposed to be the first day of her trial for her role in the murder of Zeitz, according to WSB-TV. Just as jury selection was about to begin, she accepted a plea and gave a prepared apology to Zeitz’s family.

“I would trade anything, almost anything, to bring Daniel back. But I know I can’t,” Dixon said with a crackling voice, but no visible tears. “I know he had plans. I wish I could tell him I’m so, so sorry that this happened, but I can’t.”

She said she sits in her cell every day thinking about that night.

The night she shot Zeitz, she and her boyfriend, Nathaniel Vivian, went to a local hospital initially claiming that he had been a victim of a crime as an excuse for the wound in his hand. Vivian later admitted to authorities at the hospital what he and Dixon had done, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

It was later revealed that the pair had researched how to rob someone. David Lapides, a detective in the case, testified that Dixon and Vivian used their cell phones to plan the robbery and their computers to scheme how to execute one, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

“There were numerous text messages between Dixon and Vivian discussing plans to rob someone,” he said. “They discussed getting the address. How they wanted to do it — come at him with the gun (or) surprise him and catch him when he came outside. Go inside the apartment. These messages went back and forth for a while.”

Dixon’s baby was taken away and given to relatives, and Dixon was eventually tried as an adult.

On Monday, her lawyer, Leah Abbasi, shared with the judge that Dixon had a troubled childhood that consisted of rape and relationships with men who were involved in illegal dealings. Abbasi said that her client’s past doesn’t excuse what’s happened, but that it might provide an explanation for why Dixon is where she is now.

Zeitz’s mother, Patty, told WSB-TV reporter Mike Petchenik that she has accepted Dixon’s apology.

“At first I didn’t want to accept her apology. I thought her apology today was very heartfelt and I feel like she is truly sorry for what happened,” she told Petchenik.  “It’s just a crime that young people can get caught in these situations because of the examples they’d had in their lives.”

Zeitz’s father told the same reporter that he hopes the tragedy stays with Dixon so that she can become a better person once she’s released.

Vivian will face trial later this summer. According to WSB-TV, Dixon is willing to testify against him if she’s asked.

Zeitz’s life inspired a short documentary called “Level Up,” which was part of the 2014 Fusion Doc Challenge, a film-making competition where creators make four to seven minute documentaries with a five-day limit. The documentary placed in the top 20 and ranked in first place internationally. The film documented what was left in the wake of his murder for his family and his friends in the gaming community.

Zeitz would have celebrated his 30^th birthday next month.

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As many as 10 million PS3 console owners will be eligible for payment.

by David Kravets via Ars Technica

After six years of litigation, Sony is now agreeing to pay the price for its 2010 firmware update that removed support for the Linux operating system in the PlayStation 3.

Sony and lawyers representing as many as 10 million console owners reached the deal on Friday. Under the terms of the accord, (PDF) which has not been approved by a California federal judge yet, gamers are eligible to receive $55 if they used Linux on the console. The proposed settlement, which will be vetted by a judge next month, also provides $9 to each console owner that bought a PS3 based on Sony’s claims about “Other OS” functionality.

The deal also provides up to $2.25 million in attorneys’ fees for the lawyers who brought suit. Under the plan, gamers eligible for a cash payment are “all persons in the United States who purchased a Fat PS3 model in the United States between November 1, 2006, and April 1, 2010.” The accord did not say how much it would cost Sony, but the entertainment company is expected to pay out millions.

The troubles began with the PS3 software update 3.21. On March 28, 2010, Sony announced that the update would “disable the ‘Install Other OS’ feature that was available on the PS3 systems prior to the current slimmer models.” This feature, Sony claimed, would be removed “due to security concerns.”

Sony did not detail those “concerns,” but the litigation alleged piracy was behind the decision. “Sony’s concerned that the Other OS feature might be used by hackers to copy and/or steal gaming and other content, the suit said.” Making matters worse, Sony said the update was voluntary. However, without updating, console owners couldn’t connect to the PlayStation Network, play any games online, play any games or Blu-ray movies that required the new firmware, play any files kept on a media server, or download any future updates.

Before the settlement, Sony argued that its terms of service allowed it to remove the Other OS feature and that the functionality wasn’t that big of a deal for most console owners.

While the deal still needs a judge’s signature, here’s what the settlement says about how gamers can get their cash:

To get the $55, a gamer “must attest under oath to their purchase of the product and installation of Linux, provide proof of their purchase or serial number and PlayStation Network Sign-in ID, and submit some proof of their use of the Other OS functionality.” To get the $9, PS3 owners must submit a claim that, at the time they bought their console, they “knew about the Other OS, relied upon the Other OS functionality, and intended to use the Other OS functionality.”

Alternatively, according to the deal, to get $9, a gamer “may attest that he or she lost value and/or desired functionality or was otherwise injured as a consequence of Firmware Update 3.21 issued on April 1, 2010.”

Sony is agreeing to employ the PlayStation network’s e-mail database to notify its customers about the settlement. “Additionally, the Notice Program provides for Internet notice via banner ads and search-related advertising on CNET, IGN, GameSpot.com and other websites intended to reach the targeted audience based on market research from GfK Mediamark Research, Inc. and comScore,” according to the deal, which also spells out the use of social media to alert class members about the settlement.

A hearing on the proposed deal was scheduled for 2pm, July 19, before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, in Oakland, California.

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by Dave Thier via Forbes

We all knew that Microsoft was working on a more powerful Xbox codenamed “Scorpio,” but a lot of us didn’t expect to hear about it this year. The machine isn’t coming out until holiday 2017, and a year and a half is a very long way off to announce a brand new machine, especially when you’ve got a console you’re trying to sell in the meantime. I wasn’t the only one surprised by the move. PlayStation Head Andrew House told The Guardian that he didn’t see it coming:

“I was surprised by the step of announcing something over a year ahead of time,” he told The Guardian. “The dynamics of the tech industry are such that there’s a much heavier emphasis on immediate gratification than there was. A lot of that is to do with how Apple has very cleverly and elegantly managed the ‘available now’ approach. So yes, that was a slight surprise to me. We experienced this ourselves, when, in 2013, very much in line with our previous strategies, we announced a concept and a name for PlayStation 4, and everyone said ‘where’s the box? How dare you?!’ That was the point we realised, well, we hadn’t changed but the world around us had.”

It’s interesting to hear House reference the original PS4 reveal in that statement, especially because we all know how that story ends: well.

According to Phil Spencer, the team decided to go ahead and let the world know about Scorpio so far in advance so that developers would have plenty of time to get things ready for launch (and, one supposes, because we had all found out about it anyway). It’s still a major risk: without more information, it’s hard to know if a new customer should wait for a more powerful machine or stick with what’s on offer now. This is theoretically mitigated by the fact that the games will work on both machines, but questions remain regardless.

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Xbox Mini? Xbox Slim? Xbox VR? Anonymous sources say we can expect all of them from Microsoft.

by Sean Hollister via CNET

It used to work like this:

1. Buy a game console.

2. Spend the next five, six, seven, eight years enjoying it, until Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo introduce the next console generation.

Soon, that concept of a “console generation” may be no more. A flurry of rumors suggest that both Sony and Microsoft will introduce new and improved versions of their existing game consoles as soon as this year, and announce them this very month. Sony may introduce the so-called “PlayStation Neo” at E3 in Los Angeles, and as for Microsoft…well, if these rumors are to be believed, Microsoft may have as many as four different Xbox devices to offer.

Here’s what the rumor mill tells us about each one.

Xbox One Slim

The current Xbox One is huge. It makes the rival PS4 look tiny by comparison. But imagine if Microsoft shrunk it down to become the smallest Xbox ever.

According to sources who spoke to Kotaku, Polygon and The Verge, that’s exactly what’s happening: the Xbox One Slim (not a real name) will be 40% smaller than the current model. It will allegedly be cheaper, too, and yet offer 2TB of storage space — double the capacity of the highest-end Xbox One available now.

Rumor says it’ll come with a slightly redesigned Xbox One gamepad, and may natively support 4K televisions as well. We don’t have any leaked pictures of the new Xbox yet, but sources believe it’s slated to ship in August.

While it’s normal for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo to release slimmer versions of their consoles during their long lifespans, such as the PS3 Super Slim and Xbox 360 Slim, the next rumor you’re about to read is for something much different.

Xbox One VR

If you wait until late 2017, say some of the same anonymous sources, there could be a much more powerful Xbox One on tap — one that supports virtual reality. The Xbox One VR (also not a real name), codename “Scorpio,” is allegedly a beefed-up Xbox One with a new graphics chip that gives the console four times the horsepower. That’s enough graphical oomph, reportedly, to power an Oculus Rift VR headset.

Microsoft doesn’t have a VR headset of its own, and it denies interest in making one anytime soon. (The Microsoft HoloLens is not a VR headset, and is likely years away). So it’s initially surprising to hear that Microsoft might have an Xbox designed to support virtual reality.

But anonymous sources aren’t the only ones who are suggesting that Microsoft might have suddenly taken an advanced interest in VR. A game developer at a “well-known European studio” let slip to Ars Technica that his company was working on an Xbox One VR title for 2017, and the official E3 exhibitor list now has a category for Xbox One Virtual Reality developers.

Xbox One Mini and Stick

If you believe the sources of veteran Microsoft reporter Tom Warren, Microsoft has been working on a pair of Xbox One media streaming devices for years: one a small set-top box to compete with the Apple TV, and the other a HDMI stick more like a Google Chromecast.

And if you believe Brad Sams, another Microsoft reporter who correctly predicted the Xbox One Elite Controller, Microsoft will actually announce both those streaming devices at E3 this year for roughly $150 (approximately £104 or AU$208) and $100 (approximately £69, AU$138) respectively.

The Xbox One Mini (not a real name) is believed to be a tiny stripped down Xbox that would be able to play lightweight games and apps, taking advantage of the fact that Microsoft is unifying its Windows and Xbox app stores to make some Windows programs available on Xbox and vice versa. Though no rumor has yet corroborated this, it would presumably ditch the Xbox’s optical drive.

Meanwhile, the Xbox Stick (yet another made-up name) is allegedly pegged as a way to stream games from an Xbox in one room of your house to a TV in another room using wireless technology. That wouldn’t be too much of a stretch, given you can already stream Xbox One games to a Windows 10 PC.

Overarching Xbox vision

Why four devices? We don’t know for sure — but they appear to revolve around a new Microsoft initiative, codename Project Helix, to bring the worlds of Windows and Xbox much closer together.

This March, we learned that Microsoft intends to release every new game it creates for Windows and Xbox simultaneously. One month later, Microsoft announced that it would fulfill its long-standing promise to let the Xbox One run Windows apps — not just games.

Both announcements rely on developers building so-called “universal” apps set of tools and practices dubbed the “Universal Windows Architecture” (UWA).

But Microsoft needs new hardware to get developers excited enough to build those apps in the first place. If Microsoft can tell developers that their UWA apps will run on a host of new devices that consumers are likely to have in their homes, including ones as cheap and portable as HDMI sticks, that could be some serious incentive to build for Microsoft’s platform — where Microsoft gets a cut of every sale.

If it works, it could be pretty nice for gamers too: In March, Xbox boss Phil Spencer imagined a future where your game library would never go out of date. Traditionally, each new generation of game consoles isn’t “backwards-compatible” with games from previous generations. They typically don’t work due to differences in the architecture of the processors inside.

But if Microsoft can get developers to build universal apps that work across different types of hardware, console gamers could enjoy the same benefit as today’s PC gamers — whose games just keep looking better, instead of going obsolete, as they upgrade to more powerful processors and graphics cards.

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by William Usher via CinemaBlend

The one thing most people probably don’t think about when going into a GameStop is having to fend for their lives against armed robbers, almost taken right out of some of the action games they play. Well, that’s exactly what happened with one seven-year-old who was attending a GameStop with his family.

As you can see in the video above, posted on YouTube by mcpdmedia, the child is walking around in the GameStop when two masked, armed robbers waltz through the front door. The child is then grabbed by one of the robbers, but takes a stuffed Yoshi doll and proceeds to beat and punch on the armed robber while being dragged over to his parents. The boy and his parents were there shopping for a Yoshi doll from Nintendo’s popular Super Mario series.

According to Geek.com, the robbery took place on Friday, May 20th. The article further explains that after the two men entered into the store, they ordered everyone to get down on the floor. One of them then proceeded to ask the seven-year-old boy to move over near the register and get on the floor alongside his parents; the boy refused.

The robber then decided to reach out and grab the boy, at which point the boy began fighting back, all the way to the register where the robber had him lay down where the clerks and his parents were.

The robbery took place at a GameStop store in Silver Spring, Maryland. After the robbers had everyone get down and face the wall behind the counter, they proceeded to steal some personal belongings and all the cash out of the register.

The two perpetrators managed to escape the scene, and are still at large as of the publishing of this article.

The parents of the boy who fought back against the robber note that their son was likely just reacting instinctively. According to WJLA News, the father of the seven-year-old explained to them…

He’s a brave little boy, and he recognized he was in a dangerous situation, […] And there was a stranger and he was trying to defend himself.

Most times when the “fight or flight” instinct kicks in, it results in standing absolutely still, frightened beyond belief, and possibly wetting one’s pants. Other times people flee in terror. It’s rarely ever a response to fight back, unless clear-headed (or reckless) intentions are outlined in the mind of a potential victim. In this case, the kid wasn’t going to go down without a fight, so he gave the perpetrators all he could before being forced to the ground.

Strangely enough, the robbers did not take any of the actual video games in the store. One of the officers mentioned to WJLA that video games can be expensive so there’s a lot of cash traded around in GameStop stores, but it kind of seems odd that the thieves didn’t at least grab a PlayStation 4 or two for trading purposes. In fact, they left the Xbox One, Wii U, and other expensive gaming gear completely alone. They must not have had much of an interest in the actual games.

As for the seven-year-old, he’ll go down in history as a kid who fought off robbers while trying to protect video games.

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