From now until Tuesday, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama will take over Washington D.C., cable news, and much of the Web. Here are all the live streaming video feeds, hashtags, Twitter users, Facebook pages, and apps you need to know to get your Inauguration on.

The 2013 Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama is a confusing one. Obama will be sworn in this year not once, but twice (and no it’s not because Chief Justice John Roberts is going to screw up again – not that we know of anyway). He’s being sworn in twice because the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the Inauguration must take place on January 20. But this year, that date falls on a Sunday. And that means Obama will be officially sworn in during a private shindig at noon on Sunday, and then take a public oath of office during the Inauguration ceremony at noon on Monday in front of a crowd of around 700,000 people.

In addition to the public swearing-in ceremony, there’s a whole bunch of other Inauguration festivities, which start on Saturday and run until Tuesday. So prepare yourself for a weekend of non-stop Inauguration – because that’s what your’e going to get.

With all that out of the way, here is a quick, not-confusing guide to how to watch, tweet, and follow the 2013 Presidential Inauguration online.

Watch on the Web

Unlike the Olympics, broadcast of the Inauguration will not be locked down by television networks. In fact, it’s going to be available all over the place. Here are a variety of places you can watch the Inauguration online. Pick your poison:

• C-SPAN: The best option if you don’t want to listen to a bunch of talking heads, C-SPAN will start streaming the Barack Obama Inauguration pagentry starting on Saturday and provide an Inauguration stream all the way through Tuesday. C-SPAN’s broadcast of the ceremony and parade will start at 7am ET on Monday.
• Hulu/Fox: Broadcast will run from 12 to 2pm ET, using the Fox News feed. You can also watch a rerun of the ceremony after it concludes.
• ABC News/YouTube: Broadcast starts at 9am ET, and will run until 11pm ET. ABC will also feature Obama’s signing in on its website from 11:30am to 1:30pm ET.
• Fox News: Not so happy about Obama’s second term? Then Fox New’s live stream is the way to go. Broadcast will start at 8am ET on Monday.
• NBC News: Video stream will begin at 10am ET, and run all day. NBC pundits will be providing “full analysis” of the ceremony, so get excited for that.
• CNN: We assume CNN is going to be all over this Inauguration (it already is), but there are few details about it’s broadcast schedule. If you’re a diehard CNN fan (anybody, anybody?), just check out this page. And we’re sure the stream will pop up on CNN’s live feed sometime Monday morning.
• CBS News: Live broadcast starts for CBS News at 10am ET. The channel will also cover it again in its 6:30pm CBS Evening News broadcast, which will be followed by an hour-long Katie Couric special.
• Livestation: If you’re looking for an outside perspective, Livestation will provide coverage of the Inauguration on Monday from a variety of foreign news outlets, like BBC and Sky News.

Twitter

Twitter is going to be an Inauguration clusterfudge on Monday. But if you want to dive in to the 140-character madness, here are the hashtags and some accounts to follow:

Hashtags

• #inaug2013: Official Twitter hashtag for the Inauguration.
• #inauguration: Another popular hashtag for the Inauguration. Other probable variations include #innauguration #inageration #innaugeration and #ernageracion.
• #iserve: For tweets centered around the National Day of Service (Saturday)
• #tcot: Conservative commentators are apparently tweeting under this hashtag.
• #p2: Liberals are using this one.

Note: You can pretty much assume something strange, hilarious, slightly off, or completely wild will happen during Monday’s ceremony, which will immediately trigger some “viral” hashtag that will suck up all the action. Be on the lookout for that – or, better yet, create one yourself.

Who to follow

There are a ton of Twitter accounts to follow, but here are the main ones.

• @obamainaugural: Official Presidential Inauguration Committee twitter account.
• @PRZInauguration: Unofficial Inauguration account that has been around since 2009, and is back up and running this year.
• @jccic2013: The account of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which is putting on this year’s bash.
• @BarackObama: President Obama’s account – though we doubt he’ll be taking time to tweet himself.
• @MichelleObama: The First Lady’s official account.
• @WhiteHouse: Official White House Twitter account.
• @PeteSouza: Official White House photographer, Souza has shot some of the best pictures of President Obama in existence.
• @marineband: The Twitter account of the National Marine Corps Band, which performs at the Inauguration every year.
• @SecretService: The official account of the Secret Service; where to watch if things go haywire.

For news networks, don’t follow every one individually. Just subscribe to this comprehensive list by Reuters Social Media Editor Anthony De Rosa, which includes “every news organization in the world.” And here are lists for every news blog, “great” news editors, and every political reporter on Twitter. (Thanks, Anthony, for saving us all a bunch of legwork!)

Facebook

Of course, there will be a whole lot about the Inauguration going on over at Facebook. Here are some of the Facebook pages to “Like” before Monday (if you’re into that kind of thing). Keep in mind that a lot of the news organizations will be hosting Inauguration-related chats on their Facebook pages, just in case you want to throw even more on top of this pile.

• 2013 Obama Inaugural
• CNN
• Fox News
• CBS News
• ABC News
• NBC News
• C-SPAN

Instagram

On Instagram, the best bet is to follow the same hashtags listed under the Twitter section. But for some possible behind-the-scenes shots, check out the (currently underused) official Barack Obama Instagram feed.

Apps

If you want to enjoy the 2013 Inauguration on the go, your best bet is to download one of the many related apps. They are as follows:

• Inaugural 2013 app: The official app of the Inauguration will carry a live stream of the ceremony. But be warned: Some say that this app, released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, will collect data on users, and possibly sign them up for left-leaning emails and other literature.
• NBC Politics app for iOS (iTunes): You’ll be able to watch a live stream of the Inauguration from this app, as well.
• CBS News app
• Fox News app
• CNN app
• ABC News app

And that about does it. Have some other account, hashtag, live stream, or website you think should be on here? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll add it to the mix.

Looking to protect your new Samsung Galaxy S3 without the bulk of a full-fledged case? Here are top picks for some of the best screen protectors money can buy.

Smartphone cases can be a hassle to say the least – they are expensive, bulky and often unnecessary. A case that can stand the test of time may be great in the long run, but what if you’re looking to simply protect your smartphone’s screen and nothing more?  Those found below in our best Samsung Galaxy S3 screen protectors list do just that. They protect your phone from the stress of everyday life – from your standard key nick to a little excess heat from the sun – and leave your phone looking just as fresh as the day you bought it.

We cannot guarantee it will save your phone from certain death on all occasions, but it may help.

If you’re looking for complete protection, check out our guide to the best Samsung Galaxy S3 cases.

What do you think of our picks for the best Samsung Galaxy S3 screen protectors? Is there one you find to be the top dog for both protection and clarity? Let us know in the comments below.

Dean “Rocket” Hall created the hit zombie survival game DayZ in his spare time. Is it any surprise then that he’s upset at Hammerpoint Interactive for swiping the same concept for its exceedingly similar title, The War Z?

It’s pretty easy to draw comparisons between DayZ and The War Z. The former started life as a mod for military simulator ArmA II before becoming a big hit and encouraging its creators to develop a standalone retail release of the game. The War Z came along a bit later, and attracted an audience by using the same “survivors trapped in the zombie apocalypse” gameplay premise that DayZ popularized. Hammerpoint Interactive, the developer of The War Z, was quick to rush the game to retail but it was pulled from Steam a mere two days after its debut when fans realized that Hammerpoint had greatly exaggerated the game’s feature set. At that time The War Z was an unfinished game, akin to a beta test, fans claimed, and it took intervention by Steam creator Valve Software to force Hammerpoint to start offering up refunds to anyone dissatisfied with the game.

Amidst all of this controversy, Dean “Rocket” Hall, creator of DayZ remained relatively quiet. You’d expect him to be furious at Hammerpoint for so blatantly swiping his clever video game idea, and it wouldn’t have been shocking had Hall written a lengthy, angry screed against Hammerpoint for what the company had done. Yet that never came. Until now, anyway.

In response to a Reddit post, Hall has now opted to clarify his feelings on The War Z, and as you’d expect he is not pleased.

“I am angry about the WarZ. I’m very angry,” Hall writes. “I’m quite hurt personally because anyone can see how similar the words are, and while the average gamer knows the difference individual people don’t. I’ve had family members/close friends mistake the difference and confront me about what they believed was unethical behavior they thought I was making. I really don’t think anyone can understand just quite how exasperated that can make you feel when you’ve gambled everything on something, put your whole self and reputation on the line. So it hasn’t made my life very pleasant and I disagree entirely with the conduct and how consumers have been treated.”

“I think the word “scam” is such a loaded word that isn’t really relevant in the discussion, much like the word “terrorist” is a very loaded word and very much dependent on point of view,” Hall adds.

In an unexpected twist though, Hall explains that blame for this debacle doesn’t fall entirely on Hammerpoint as you might expect. Instead, Hall claims that games journalists are at fault here. Previews hyping The War Z prior to its release were far too positive and made no mention of the game’s objectively incomplete state, Hall believes. “The people I would lob criticism at would be some in the gaming media who take fairly dubious claims from a developer at face value without saying ‘is that really correct?’ and asking for backup claims,” Hall writes. “There are many media who were saying how great the game was they ‘played’ in pre-alpha, only to say something completely different a few months later about how terrible the game was. I think that’s the absolute worst.”

Obviously we’re a bit biased on this topic, but Hall has a legitimate claim. The games media did hype The War Z prior to its release only to realize it had been taken after the game was available to the general public. Sadly for Hall (and games developers as a whole), this is not the first time something like this happened nor will it likely be the last. We’ll continue to do our best to never lead our readers astray, but it’s always important to keep the phrase “caveat emptor” in the back of your head when reading anything about video games.

The Final Fantasy series is beloved by the masses, but has lost its footing over the last few installments. After a couple ports of classic parts of the franchise to mobile devices, Square Enix has given Final Fantasy a true mobile makeover with Final Fantasy: All the Bravest. Too bad you’ll have to pay console game prices for all its content.

Square Enix started out with plenty of positives when it decided to put together Final Fantasy: All The Bravest. One of the most popular video game franchises was going to get a title tailor made for one of the most accessible gaming platforms around. Best yet, the game consists specifically of the most memorable moments and epic battles in Final Fantasy history. It’s even got gorgeous pixel art that feels right at home on iOS and captures the nostalgic feeling of plugging a SNES cartridge in and firing up a game. All the Bravest carries a $4 price tag, a pretty accessible entry price into a series that usually sells for $60 on it traditional console home. Don’t worry, though, because this game will give you the chance to pay almost every penny of that console price for absolutely none of the fun.

Fans of Final Fantasy found themselves drawn to the game thanks to an innovative combat system and party management options. Wanting to give All the Bravest a distinct feel that would make it right at home on iOS, Square Enix stripped out the standard means of operation and simplified everything in a way that is way more tap heavy. That would be fine, except it essentially removes anything one would consider “game-like” from the game. It also strips the series of the formula that made it popular in the first place, which seems like a bad call this far into its existence.

Your party can consist of an upwards of 40 characters. You will have no control over who they are, the formation they take or attacks they perform. You simply tap on them and they perform a default action. Once you tap to attack, the character will take a few second to recharge before you can use them again. No problem, as you’ll have plenty of other characters to tap in the meantime. That’s how you’ll have to occupy yourself in battle, because that is literally the only thing you have control over. Sometimes you will reach a Fever mode, available only once every three hours. This takes the recharge time out of the picture completely, so you can tap totally at will. It vaguely resembles something that is fun, but don’t be fooled by it. It’s really not.

Sometimes, over the course of your battles, you will face an enemy who is too powerful to be defeated by your current party. Fear not, as Square has a solution for you. Use the handy party renewal hourglass in the upper right and you’ll get a refresh of your original group. You’ll get a couple free to start the game, though the tutorial forces you to use one and you will stumble into a battle that will essentially be too hard to overcome without a renewal in under an hour of gameplay. If things are too challenging after that point, you’ll either have to wait for members of your party to respawn at a rate of one every three minutes (remember, your party can be as big as 40 characters deep) or fork over a buck to bring everyone back at once.

Feel like spending a bit more money? We hope so, because Square Enix appears to be hard up for cash given the in-app purchases in All the Bravest. Aside from the characters you unlock over the course of your gameplay, there are also a list of premium characters to be acquired. This isn’t done by skill or dedication or even just by dropping some cash. No, these 35 extra characters, the big names from the FF universe that are no doubt the reason you’re playing this baren excuse for a game in the first place, can be yours for a $1 a pop – but they are delivered totally at random. Get one that you don’t particularly like? Too bad, they are defaulted to one of your party slots anyway.

This game is supposed to be all about nostalgia, of course, so you’re going to want to take those beloved stars of previous FF games and drag them through a re-imagined version your favorite moments in the series’ history. You can unlock the worlds of Final Fantasy VII, X, and XIII for $4 a pop, or the same price you paid just to download this travesty in the first place.

If you’d like to experience everything that Final Fantasy: All the Bravest has to offer, you will fork over at least $51. $4 for the download, $35 to unlock every character, then $12 to get yourself all the moments the game promised you’d be able to relive in the first place. That doesn’t account for the possibility you’ll have to revive your party for a $1. There doesn’t have to be anything wrong with in-app purchases. There is something very wrong with what’s happening here. We can’t imagine that people who want to relive their favorite Final Fantasy memories, people who have already invested a fair amount of their money into this franchise in previous installments, have any interest in forking over $50+ to play a totally stripped down, tappable movie version of the game they love. You want to have this same experience for far less money and get about the same amount of enjoyment out of it? Load up the trailer for Final Fantasy: All the Bravest on YouTube and tap the screen occasionally as it plays. The video is a minute and twenty-seven seconds long, which is about how long you’ll enjoy this game.

Bethesda promised that the PlayStation 3 version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim would eventually see the same DLC as the Xbox 360 game. It took months of waiting, but that claim finally seems to be coming true.

For a few brief moments following the November 11, 2011 release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players were content. Bethesda Softworks had served up yet another expansive, heavily-detailed fantasy world that instantly appealed to fans of the company’s earlier work. Sadly this universal sense of happiness didn’t last long. As time rolled by, Xbox 360 owners were treated to a steady stream of downloadable content additions to the game — three to date — while PlayStation 3 owners were told that they too would see these DLC packs at some unknown point in the future. It’s been more than a year since Skyrim debuted, and now we finally have word on when the aforementioned DLC will be available on the PlayStation 3.

In a new blog post added to the official Bethesda Softworks website just this morning, the company announced that PlayStation 3 owners will be able to download and play the Hearthfire, Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLC packs for Skyrim at some as-yet-unknown point during the month of February. 

Oh, but that’s not all: Bethesda also offers useful a release date for the PC version of the Dragonborn DLC, as well as word on an upcoming sale targeting DLC-starved PlayStation 3 owners. According to the announcement, the PC version of Dragonborn will appear on Steam come February 5. Why this has a specific date attached to it while the PlayStation 3 DLC is scheduled for a “to be determined” point in the next month is anyone’s guess. 

While the upcoming PlayStation 3 debut of Skyrim’s extant DLC is certainly the big news here, Bethesda has a plan to sweeten the pot even further. For the first week of their availability, PlayStation 3 owners will be able to download any or all of the Skyrim DLC for 50 percent off of their regular prices. We don’t yet know what price points Bethesda hopes to attach to each of the PS3 DLC packs, but we expect them to match up with their Xbox 360 analogues. Assuming this is true, the Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLC will set you back $20 each ($10 during the debut sale), while Hearthfire will cost $5 ($2.50 during the sale). We’ll let you know of the official release date for the PlayStation 3 Skyrim DLC just as soon as Bethesda opts to make that information public.

The special introductory price for Windows 8 upgrades will no longer be in effect starting February – and the upgrades’ permanent pricing is not exactly wallet-friendly.

If you’ve considered getting Windows 8, it’s time to make up your mind and purchase that upgrade stat. A huge price increase is upon us. When the new operating system was launched towards the end of October, Microsoft sold Window 8 Pro upgrades for $40 a pop. That price is astoundingly lower than any previous Windows upgrade, but it won’t last long. The $40 Windows 8 offer is a special introductory price valid only until January 31, 2013. Permanent prices will be in effect starting February 1, and you’ll have to pony up significantly more money to get the new OS.

According to Microsoft Communications Manager Brandon LeBlanc, after January 31, a Windows 8 pro upgrade will cost you $200 ($160 more than it will cost you now), while a basic Windows 8 upgrade will cost $12o. A Windows 8 Pro Pack, which you can use to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro if you have the basic version, will cost $100 – $30 more than its current price.

Finally, the Windows 8 Media Center Pack, which is currently free, will be sold for $10 per copy. Once the new prices are in effect, we expect Windows 8 sales reports to be vastly different from current W8 reports that supposedly credit decent adoption rates to system upgrades instead of new computer sales. 

The good news is that if you bought a Windows 7 computer on or after June 2, 2012, or plan to buy one by January 31, you can still upgrade your operating system to Windows 8 Pro for only $15 until February 28. Do you plan to upgrade to Windows 8 before the end of the month?

Curt Schilling battled through a gory foot injury to win the second game of the 2004 World Series. Schilling is now selling the bloody sock he wore that day to help offset the massive debt of 38 Studios.

Baseball memorabilia is a very big deal in America. Baseball cards you’d expect to pull in good money; they are designed to be collectibles, after all. Fans of the sport, though, are seemingly willing to shell out big bucks for any item related to the game, and that’s how one of the best baseball players of all time comes to sell a disgusting, bloody sock to whoever can shell out the most cash.

Curt Schilling is known for two things: First, he’s a Hall of Fame pitcher, and second, after retiring from baseball, Schilling decided that he wanted to make video games. Thus, Schilling took a chunk of his not insignificant wealth and formed 38 Studios (née Green Monster Games). Being a smart man, Schilling opted to surround himself with talent, and as a result both fantasy author R.A. Salvatore and comic book wunderkind/action figure mogul Todd McFarlane were among those employed by 38 Studios. Though the firm was initially slated to produce massively multiplayer online roleplaying games — Schilling has long been publicly known as a devoted MMORPG player — the company was only able to release one game prior to its collapse: last year’s Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning.

From there, the story of Schilling’s game studio takes a dark turn. The case is too complex to cover here in full, but the end result is that 38 Studios fell apart, leaving debtors to pursue Schilling in court. Of these, the state of Rhode Island is undoubtedly the largest, and while exact figures are unknown, the Boston Globe claims that Schilling’s total amount owed to the state is in excess of $100 million.

As a retired baseball player and failed gaming industry CEO, Schilling doesn’t have $100 million lying around, so he’s turned to selling his stuff in an effort to recoup as much money as possible. Most notably, the bloody sock he infamously wore during the second game of the 2004 World Series (see above) is now slated to hit the auction block. As it’s a gory article of clothing, and was worn during the first World Series win the Red Sox had seen in 86 years, the sock is effectively invaluable to the right baseball fan, but Schilling believes that $100,000 for the footwear might be a conservative estimate of its final sale price.

If you’re intrigued by the thought of owning Schilling’s sock or would just like to help the man literally pay his debts in blood, you can bid on the item  on February 23. That’s the date it’s scheduled to be on offer at the Fletcher-Sinclair mansion in New York City, alongside other baseball memorabilia included a cap worn by Lou Gehrig.

We’ve been hearing rumors about the LG Optimus G2 for a while now, and now we have some specs and a leaked slide to go with the prior claims. Interestingly enough, the device leaked is not called the Optimus G2, instead bearing the name “Optimus G Pro”.

The G Pro has pretty decent specs, though nothing that revolutionary outside of perhaps the 5-inch 1080p display. The phone itself is powered by a Snapdragon S4 Pro at 1.7GHz with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space. There is also LTE, a 3,000mAh battery and a 13MP back cam, 2.4MP front cam and Android Jelly Bean.

We even have supposed measurements, which have the phone at 139 x 70 x 10.1mm and weighing in at 160 grams.

Keep in mind that this phone is destined for Japan’s DoCoMo service, and we have no clue if it is actually going to be released to other markets like the United States anytime soon (or even ever). We also don’t know if this is the Optimus G2 or if LG is planning on branching out with multiple Optimus G lines go forward.

What do you think of the Optimus G Pro based on what we (think we) know so far? Interested in seeing it come to your local area or not?

Bethesda Softworks hopes to create a television series based on the long-running, fan favorite Fallout franchise of post-apocalyptic roleplaying games, assuming you believe the records of the US Patent and Trademark Office.

A new trademark application was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on January 8 by publisher Bethesda Softworks. It’s a simple document, only asking the USPTO to issue a mark protecting Bethesda’s right to create and profit from what it describes as “entertainment services in the nature of an on-going television program set in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world.” That “post-nuclear” descriptor is the important part here, as Fallout fans will recognize that phrase as the de facto tagline for the franchise since the first Fallout debuted in 1997.

While that description could also fit other Bethesda properties like Rage and Brink as Eurogamer points out, this trademark coincides with a recent, then-ambiguous tweet from voice actor Erik Todd Dellums. You may not recognize Dellums’ name, but fans of Fallout 3 would certainly recognize his voice. In that game Dellums portrayed radio DJ Three Dog. Keep this in mind as you read what Dellums tweeted on the same day that Bethesda submitted its trademark application:

To all my  # Fallout3 and  # ThreeDog fans: There may be more of the Dog coming! Fingers crossed!

Dellums later claimed that he was given permission (presumably from Bethesda) to write that tweet and that his attempt to tease his followers was entirely sanctioned by the company. This initially drove fans to speculate that Dellums was referring to a role in the hypothetical, yet almost certainly imminent Fallout 4, though this newly discovered trademark filing casts doubt on that theory.

Given that the above-linked trademark application is the only real public evidence that this television series might exist in the future, there aren’t many clues as to what it could contain. We’d assume that the creators of the show would want to avoid being tied to any particular Fallout game, if only for the expanded creative freedom they’d be afforded by working with the Fallout concept as a whole. A show set in the ruins of Washington D.C. and linked to the mythos of Fallout 3 could be entertaining, but that concept is inherently more constrained than a series that’s free to explore any aspect of Bethesda’s dystopian future.

We’ll bring you more word on where this trademark is going as soon as Bethesda offers a bit of concrete information. This could very well just be an attempt by Bethesda to protect all aspects of its Fallout intellectual property, but if the company really is serious about making a Fallout TV show, we’re anxious to see where that leads.

Most iPhone games cost just 99-cents, but if you want to play one of the illustrious Square-Enix’s games, you’ll have to shell out more than that. The developers of Final Fantasy Dimensions explain why their RPGs cost what they do.

Apple’s meteoric rise from a non-entity in the video game industry to one of its most powerful players has everything to do with the economics of the iTunes App Store. The iPhone is an industry defining product, as are the iPod Touch and the iPad, but the secret sauce that keeps people spending on iOS games is low pricing. When a new, substantial game is just $5 or even 99-cents away, it’s not difficult to separate players from their money.

That’s why Square-Enix is such a baffling iOS publisher. The revered RPG maker has earned a reputation for its expensive mobile titles, with ports of old RPGs like Chrono Trigger priced regularly at $20 and up. With the new original Final Fantasy Dimensions scraping the upper range—it was originally priced at $29 before dropping down to $20—Square has shed some light on why it goes against the iOS grain.

“We are aware of both the positive and negative opinions on this matter,” reads a message from the Dimensions staff to Siliconera, “[Final Fantasy Dimensions] offers about fifty hours of gameplay, and we feel that our community can enjoy the contents of this game as much as they would a console title. Also, we have set the price where it is because this title was developed specifically for the mobile platform, as opposed to just being a port of an older console or handheld game. I hope our long-time fans will feel the nostalgia, while our younger fans will find this game to be refreshing and new.”

The nostalgia factor is born of Final Fantasy Dimensions’ style. Its two-dimensional sprite graphics and chiptune soundtrack were made to mimic the Final Fantasy games of the early ‘90s on Super Nintendo. The price shouldn’t make players nostalgic, though. Super Nintendo Square RPGs like Final Fantasy III often cost as much as $70 when they were first released two decades back. Square’s iOS releases are not just affordable by comparison but cheap.

Still the pricing of Dimensions demonstrates that the business of iOS game publishing is still very much in flux, changing with each release. Chilingo offers game like Puzzle Craft whose campaigns last for 30 hours or more for just 99-cents. By the same token, Square has sold games like Demon’s Score that are relatively short, but costs $44 for all the content. Considering how quickly Dimensions’ price has dropped, it appears that Square is rushing to find the sweet spot for iOS succes.

Representative Jim Matheson has proposed a new bill to Congress that would make the current video games ratings system administered by the ESRB a legally binding set of guidelines that could land you in jail.

It seems that on a daily basis some politician somewhere, decides that he or she has the solution to whatever deleterious effects violence in video games might have on the human psyche. Yesterday it was President Barack Obama calling for expanded research into those effects, while today a Congressman believes the answer lies with the Electronic Software Ratings Board.

Colloquially known as the ESRB, the Board mainly serves as the arbiter of which games should be rated M and which games have little enough blood and gore to qualify for a T rating. At the moment there’s little difference between these two ratings, at least as far as sales are concerned, so publishers are just as keen to debut a new title that’s been rated M for Mature as they are a game with a T for Teen rating. This stands in stark contrast to Hollywood studios which avoid the R rating whenever possible. Traditional wisdom dictates that since more people are able to walk into a PG-13 movie than an R movie, the former rating is the one to aim for if you hope to maximize your profits. The gaming industry has never had such problems – M rated games perennially top sales charts – but if Representative Jim Matheson has his way, that all might change very soon.

Matheson proposed a bill on January 15 that, if ratified into law, would make the ESRB’s ratings system legally binding. The stated goal of the bill seems innocuous: “To require ratings label [sic] on video games and to prohibit the sales and rentals of adult-rated video games to minors.” If that sounds familiar, it should. Matheson’s concept seems to be a simple extension on current video game sales rules, with one important exception: Under Matheson’s potential law, those caught selling or distributing “adult-rated” video games to those under the age of 18 could face civil penalties of up to $5,000 in fines per violation. As it stands now, most games retailers refuse to sell M-rated games to kids, though if they do there’s no real official recourse for such things. Matheson hopes to change that.

It should be noted that Matheson’s proposed bill isn’t as outlandish as it may seem to American gamers. Both Europe and Australia provide legal penalties for selling mature games to minors. It may, however, find itself rubbing up against the recent Supreme Court ruling that overturned California’s efforts to classify violent video games in the same light as pornography. 

We’re opposed to censorship at any level, but Matheson’s bill is far less insidious than it seems on first inspection. We’re impressed to see a politician demonstrate knowledge of the difference between M and AO-rated games, and as a whole the changes Matheson has proposed would necessitate very little effort from existing games retailers. In the end, it seems the only people truly inconvenienced by this potential law would be children who will no longer be able to walk into the nearest Gamestop, slyly wink at the cashier (who happens to attend the same high school), and walk out with the latest Call of Duty title.

Vostok Games pulled itself by the irradiated bootstraps after losing years of work on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, starting afresh with a brand new apocalyptic MMO. The studio recently laid out its plan for its new project Suvarium.

The past few years have been difficult for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadows of Chernobyl developer GSC World Publishing. The studio was hard at work on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 when the rights to the series went up in the air. The studio no longer had access to the franchise as rumors spread far and wide that none other than Fallout publisher Bethesda would take it over. Not to be deterred the former members of GSC reformed as Vostok Games announced it would go off and make its own massively multiplayer online shooter set in a post-environmental apocalypse wasteland, with or without the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. name. This week GSC laid out a road map for the roll out of Suvarium, its successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

“Following our tradition to be utterly open to the players, we are eager to share out development plans for Suvarium,” reads the update from the Ukraine-based Vostok, “So as the expectations of when and which game elements you can see in-game.”

The team’s imperfect syntax can be forgiven considering the ambitious schedule it’s laid out for its new game. Starting in the second quarter of 2013, Vostok will invite players to participate in an alpha build of the game. Missing many of the core features that will be in the final version, this period will hammer out any stability and basic balancing necessary in the shooter, the player-versus-player modes, four maps, two factions, and quests tested during this phase. Between late spring and fall, Vostok will introduce clans into Suvarium letting people team up, with new mechanics like melee combat introduced as well as the full world map for the game. By the end of the year, Vostok hopes to move into beta testing with a 2014 launch for version 0.8. So when will version 1.0 be ready? When it’s ready.

Vostok’s slow and steady approach is appropriate in light of its history with the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. That game was widely praised for its experimental design, trading in the sort of methodical survival play that made DayZ a surprise hit in 2012. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was also notorious for its bugs, though, a game so glitchy that many found it unplayable without heavy modification.

Suvarium is just the sort of game that builds a loyal fan base willing to help in any way with its completion. Vostok has also carried over a significant following over from its beginnings at GSC. It will be interesting to see how Suvarium grows over the coming year.

iPad production rates are down. Is the full-size Apple tablet in trouble?

The launch of the iPad Mini may be bittersweet for Apple. According to folks at the production-side of things, sales of displays for the 9.7-inch iPad have slowed to a near halt, running at “the minimal level” according to a report from Reuters. While Apple’s current display manufacturer, Sharp, declines to spill the beans from a spokesperson, insiders from several sources claim production is down a lot, signaling bad news from the end of the food chain.

Declining iPad sales can be blamed on anything from over-saturation to competition from Android and Windows RT, but a smaller culprit could be at work: the iPad Mini. While the iPad’s sales are down, iPad Mini sales are climbing. High sales of the iPad Mini, as well as cheaper Android tablets, could be impacting iPad sales.

Reports indicate that the iPad’s Q4 predictions are not matching up to sales, and this contradicts with growing display panel sales from production in Asia. On the whole, tablet sales are up. However, on the bright side, the iPad Mini continues to perform well, as consumers see it as a cheaper, though equally qualified miniature tablet.

As Android tablets continue to get cheaper and the iPad Mini works its mojo, the good old iPad seems to be in for a rocky year.

Son’y next-generation console is rumored to change much about the company’s video game business. One big change: PlayStation 4 won’t use a DualShock controller, but a new pad with a touch screen and biometric sensors.

The PlayStation 4 is coming. Maybe it will be called Orbis, maybe it will be called Thebes, maybe it won’t be backwards compatible, maybe it won’t play used video games. Maybe Sony will finally release a video game console that will actually slice bread. It’s all up in the air until the company announces the machine later this year, as they’re expected to do sometime between now and E3 2013. All that’s guaranteed is that it will be different than the PlayStation 3, and in more ways than one. Based on new rumors it appears that the PlayStation 4 will be the first Sony console to abandon the DualShock controller.

The UK’s Computer and Video Games reported on Friday that a studio source working on a PlayStation 4 game that Sony will publish has said that the next home console from the company will abandon its iconic 18-button controller. While the exact form factor of the new controller isn’t finalized, it will bear little in common with any iteration of DualShock from the past 15 years.

According to the source, the new controller will have biometric sensors in the grips as well as an LCD touch screen in the middle. Another source connected to Sony  (but not a video game developer) backed up the first source, claiming that the PlayStation 4’s designers are “trying to emulate the same user interface philosophies as the PS Vita.”

Incorporating a touch screen into the controller is an expected move from Sony. It would allow for better cross play experiences between PlayStation 4 and PS Vita, and a number of Sony’s competitors are including touch screens on their controllers. The Nintendo Wii U’s raison d’être is its tablet-style controller, but even the new Android-based Ouya console has a touch panel incorporated into its controller.

The biometric sensors are also an expected addition. Sony patents published in September detailed such controller sensors, describing a system that would recognize individual users by scanning their fingerprints, irises, and even their DNA. The tech would both allow for deeply personalized experiences but also an anti-piracy system based on genetics. Orwellian? Yes, but Sony seems dead set on avoiding the specter of piracy while also making its system easier to develop for than the PlayStation 3.

Prior to the PlayStation 3’s release, Sony proposed a very different looking game controller than the DualShock 3. The boomerang-shaped controller pictured above was widely panned and never went into mass production.

Details have leaked teasing the upcoming Optimus G Pro, LG’s latest rumored Android flagship. Look at the specs, LG is planning on bringing its A-game to the Android battle.

Following in the footsteps of LG superstars, the Optimus G and Nexus 4, the company’s next Android device will be the LG Optimus G Pro. A leaked graphic was sent to Engadget today showing off the latest flagship’s killer specs.

What we’re looking at is a 5-inch 1080p display with a 1.7GHz Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon processor providing the horsepower. Even though the specs are impressive, we must say they are pretty standard for high-end Android devices in 2013 – assuming the graphic can be trusted anyway.

The Optimus G Pro will ship with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and pack in 32GB of storage, 2GB of memory, and support for LTE networks. As for the cameras, it looks like LG put a 2.4-megapixel up front and a 13-megapixel on the back. Again, very standard specs for a top-of-the-line Android device, not that we’re complaining. It is a definite step up from the Optimus G, which is already an outstanding smartphone.

Unfortunately, any information on availability or pricing was left out of the leak. The Optimus G is currently sold in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea so it could be assumed the Pro would follow suit. Engadget confirms that certain features of the Pro hint at it being carried by NTT DoCoMo in Japan.

This leak accompanies another set of rumors that LG may release an Optimus G2 before the end of the year. Of course, since this latest leak pins the same features of the G2 (5-inch 1080p display, Android 4.1, etc.) it is possible the Pro and G2 are actually the same device. The identical feature set also doesn’t make sense as usually one device would take a more entry-level position, but it wouldn’t be the first time a tech rumor led us astray.

In any case, LG has a great track record with the Optimus G and the (almost identical) Nexus 4, with the latter being the subject of Android obsession. Today LG revealed that more than 1 million Optimus Gs have been sold in the four months following its debut, Yonhap News Agency reports. Those numbers will only grow as LG finishes plans to launch the phone in China and parts of Europe. From where we’re standing, Samsung better watch its back. LG may be the manufacturer to challenge the success of the Galaxy S3 and help put another Android device on the mainstream’s radar.