If a company that makes headphones is worth 3 Billion dollars, what’s a company on the cutting edge of satellite imagery worth? Apparently only a mere half billion. That’s chump change for Google, which has agreed to purchase Skybox Imaging. The 5 year old company uses relatively small and low-cost satellites to gather high-quality images, and video, that Google will use for Maps and Earth. This new acquisition could also help google refine its autonomous car project and spread internet service to remote areas of the planet as part of the Loon initiative.
Skybox says the acquisition will help them think bigger and bolder…Doesn’t Skybox sound a bit like skynet?
Super Mario Brothers was more than just a landmark 8 bit game, it helped Nintendo become a gaming powerhouse in the 80’s. The original Super Mario Brothers levels influenced subsequent video game design. And soon, you’ll get a chance to use bricks, tubes, and mushrooms to create your own levels. Announced at E3, Mario Maker will provide a menu full of classic Mario sprites so you can remix and create new levels. Maker also gives you the option of building in the 3D rendered Wii U version of the game. You’ll be able to seamlessly switch between building and playing, allowing for on-the-fly tweaking to accelerate the design process.
Unfortunatley, we’re all going to have to wait until 2015 when it’s released for Wii U and 3DS.
And finally, caught on camera. Or at least webcam. A gamer in Tempe, Arizona got a huge surprise while playing Defense of the Ancients 2 this week when 2 armed men broke in to her house. You can see Nikki Elise duck away from the camera, followed by the armed men storming the room. Gamers watching the livestream noticed something was wrong and thankfully contacted police. In the meantime the robbers collected valuables and threatened to take Elise hostage. Luckily police arrived before that could happen, and they were able to apprehend one of the invaders.
Were it not for the online gaming community, things could have ended up much, much worse. And Nikki Elise is very grateful for that.
