Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. files a countersuit against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which had filed an application for a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the sale of the Diamond’s Rio PMP300 with the Central District Court of California on October 8, 1998. According to the RIAA, the player, which stores and plays music obtained from the Internet, violates the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act because it circumvents the need to pay royalties to play the files. On October 26, the judge denied the RIAA’s application, but the case is ongoing.
Midway releases Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero for the PlayStation in Europe. ESRB: M (Mature)
1999
Apple announces that it has enhanced its entire Power Mac G4 line of computers to include the new ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card to improve the system’s 3D graphics performance. In addition, the 350MHz configuration has been upgraded to the same architecture used in the 400MHz and 450MHz configurations, and it now includes a DVD-ROM drive, AGP graphics, and support for AirPort wireless networking with an optional US$99 card required.
id Software releases the first-person shooter (FPS) Quake III Arena for Windows in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M (Mature)
2002
Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Game Boy Advance and for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan in the U.S. It is the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. Visit the game’s official website.
2003
Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) confirms that 220996011-1 is prime number. With 6,320,430 digits, it is the largest known prime number and the fortieth known Mersenne prime, six of which have been discovered by GIMPS. Visit the official GIMPS website.
Pirate copies of a pre-alpha version of Microsoft’s Windows “Longhorn” operating system go on sale in Malaysia for less than US$2 a copy more than a year ahead of its expected release date.
2004
The Gen Con SoCal 2004 gaming convention is held December 2 – 5 at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, California. The event will be attended by 5,559 people. Visit the event’s official website.
Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) in Japan. The system features two ARM processors, a 67MHz ARM946E-S main CPU and a 33MHz ARM7TDMI co-processor, 4MB Mobile RAM, two 3-inch diagonal TFT LCD screens, stereo speakers, a microphone, and IEEE 802.11 wireless communications with range about thirty feet. It also includes PictoChat and a demo of Metroid Prime: Hunters built-in. It is the first Nintendo system to be first released outside Japan, where it will be released on December 2.
Visit the game’s official website.
Tim Berners-Lee accepts a chair in computer science at the University of Southampton.
Ubisoft releases Prince of Persia: Warrior Within for personal computers the Gamecube, Playstation 2, and Xbox in North America. Visit the game’s official website. ESRB: M (Mature)
2005
Microsoft launches the Xbox 360 video game system in Europe. The system features an IBM PowerPC processor with three 3.2GHz symmetrical cores, a 500MHz Custom ATI Graphics Processor, a 20GB hard drive, and four controller ports.
Paramount Pictures releases the science fiction film Æon Flux, directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Charlize Theron, Sophie Okonedo, Marton Csokas, and Jonny Lee Miller, to 2,608 U.S. theaters. In it, a mysterious assassin working for the Monicans, a group of rebels trying to overthrow the government, is sent on a mission to kill the Chairman, the dictator of the city that contains all the survivors of a virus that has destroyed most of the Earth’s population. The film is based the animated science fiction television series Æon Flux. Produced on a budget of US$62 million, it will gross US$12,661,112 domestically in its opening weekend. Visit the game’s official website. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
The Rybka chess engine, created by International Master Vasik Rajlich, is first released as a beta. Visit the engine’s official website.
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction film Doom, directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak and starring Karl Urban, The Rock, Ben Daniels, Rosamund Pike, and Yao Chin, to 3,044 U.S. theaters. It is based on the popular Doom series of video games. In it, Space Marines sent to investigate strange events at a research facility on a distant planet find themselves facing off against genetically enhanced killing machines. Produced on a budget of US$60 million, it will gross US$15,488,870 domestically in its opening weekend. Visit the film’s official website. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: R) Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
2006
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York rules that the FBI’s practice of remotely activating the microphone of a cellphone for use as a so-called “roving bug” for covert surveillance was legal because the agency had obtained a court order authorizing their use and because “alternative methods of investigation either had failed or were unlikely to produce results, in part because the subjects deliberately avoided government surveillance.” The ruling, which sets precedence for law enforcement agencies to use cellphones that appear to be deactivated as bugs sends chills through the privacy lobby. Read the judge’s opinion.
Nintendo releases the Wii video game system in Japan. The system features a 729MHz IBM PowerPC Broadway CPU, a 243MHz ATI Hollywood GPU, 512MB internal Flash Memory, and four controller ports. The platforms launch titles include: Elebits, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and Wii Sports. Visit the system’s official website. Price: ¥25,000 (US$215)
2007
SixApart tonight announced the sale of journal/blogging service Livejournal to Russia-based SUP.
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