geekosystem

This screen-shot allegedly from Konami's Comic Con demo was found on Reddit this morning and the rumors and speculations have been running up and down the halls of the Internet like a toddler who doesn't want to get in the bathtub. Folks have been calling this the confirmation that Kojima's fabled "Project Ogre" is another iteration of the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Are these speculations to be believed? Is this just another rumor that will be debunked and fall into oblivion? Read on, my friends, read on!

And so, it was that the latest redesign for Nintendo's Wii U tablet comes courtesy of Twitter user MATTYB00SH -- who no longer exists; likely as an attempt to escape pointing fingers -- via a picture they snapped in the QA department of TT Games. Given that the redesign seems pretty different from what we'd previously seen, ditching the handle was probably a good idea. The games industry hasn't historically been kind to those that leak major console news.

With Nintendo's Wii U set to launch in November -- prime holiday season time -- the development of launch and post-launch titles should be well underway, which means some listing system out there in the cold, dark world of retail would have a list of these games. Enter an unlikely hero, Blockbuster U.K., rather than the usual suspects of Walmart or GameStop, which listed 25 titles supposedly slated for Nintendo's next big gimmicky console.

For the unaware, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a legitimately great show. And when it was announced that a new series called Avatar: The Legend of Korra would be a direct sequel to the original, there was (quite understandably) a lot of excitement. Though for fans, anything to get the sour taste of the live action adaptation out of their mouths would have been welcome. Now, the first 80 seconds of the first episode have been leaked online.

Have any lingering questions about the details of the new Verizon data plans? Now you don't. Rumors about Verizon's move to usage-based data plans have been floating around for a couple of days now, specifically rumors that the tiers would be $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB, and $80 10GB, rumors that the leaked data seems to confirm. These documents, originally received by Android Central, also confirm that previous users can be grandfathered in with unlimited accounts, which serves as at least one bright spot. Full text of the memo and an in-depth data plan chart after the jump.

Though there is an increasing amount of speculation that Portal 2 will release earlier than its April 19 release date, it turns out people might have gotten their hands on a copy early enough before that date to release some walkthrough videos into the wilds of the Internet. Now, I was terrified to watch the videos, as I shall not have Portal 2 spoiled for me in any way, but journalism prevailed, and I toughed it out and reached a compromise: I watched the videos, but skipped around in order to put the events out of context.

We can't say for sure if these walkthroughs are of the actual game, but a slight bit of research, coupled with how the videos actually look, seem to suggest that these videos are legit. The platform on which the game is being played is the Xbox 360. I checked out the seedy underbelly of the Internet in the name of journalism, and found that the only early-release downloads of the game that are currently available are indeed for the Xbox 360. The comments sections on most of these downloads don't have too many people questioning whether or not the download is the real deal, but on the flip side, no one is really saying the download works, either.

The walkthroughs are provided by gaming review outlet Media Cows, whose description reads "We are a game review site. Our goal is to continuously bring you the earliest walkthroughs and reviews," which does lend credence to legitimacy of the walkthroughs and leaked release. What doesn't lend credence to the leaked release, however, is that Valve hasn't blasted Media Cows into oblivion yet, though his may be forthcoming. Either way, if you aren't terrified of possible Portal 2 spoilers, check out the videos after the break and judge for yourself. As always, we will update as more information becomes available.

If this is real, it would be a leak of some magnitude: One YouTube user, alexdaft26, has uploaded what purports to be the entirety of the Tron Legacy soundtrack as composed by Daft Punk. From afar, it sounds well Daft Punk-y and like it certainly could be the soundtrack to a movie about people who wear glowing suits and ride around on lightcycles, but there are a few reasons to suspect it isn't: I'll confess I haven't gotten the chance to listen to the whole thing and must rely on second-hand information, but it supposedly does not quite match with what official music has been released by Disney.

Sonic comparisons aside, the biggest reason to suspect these might not be real is that you can still listen to them: The tracks were uploaded on July 26th, eons ago in Internet time, and started getting major attention as of yesterday, with the compilation track racking up close to 30,000 hits on YouTube. Disney has been very protective of Tron stuff, so it's a good bet that if these are real, they'll be gone by the end of the day today. Which is all the more reason to hit the jump and listen to them now while you can: Think of it as an investment in being up on things.

Man, remind me never to entrust my deepest secrets with anyone in Silicon Valley. It seems like every day we get a new story about some kind of technology leaks. Today comes the news that a bunch of different blogs (including one that has suspiciously been taken off line) have received and posted different slides showing Microsoft's plans for the (not even announced yet) Windows 7. The slides showcase all sorts of new features as well as the lessons the company is trying to take away from Apple's success. We can only assume that one of those lessons involves how to get your leaked info plastered all over the Internet.

Over the past few days, there have been a number of World of Warcraft news items that our official Azerothian correspondent has skipped lightly over, in a effort to keep from seeing spoilers. Only recently did she realize why there had been such an influx of information, and of what kind. This wasn't just a few rogue screenshots, or leaked zone maps. Turns out, someone in the NDA protected Blizzard Friends and Family Alpha allowed the entire alpha client to reach the wild world wide web. Every file of Blizzard's incomplete Cataclysm expansion to MMO juggernaut World of Warcraft, is available for anyone on the web to download, install, and begin to mine for data. This includes every bit of the game's new visuals, detailed information on changes to game mechanics like class talents and new achievements, and story spoilers. WoW.com (an unofficial World of Warcraft news blog) is calling it "one of the largest and most complete game leaks ever."