Here are a couple of things in motion right now that, while not at all related to games, give me hope for the end of the world.
- Earlier this morning, 30GB versions of Microsoft's Zune all decided to reboot and freeze up on the reboot screen, rendering them all completely useless. Microsoft's Xbox Man, Major "Larry Hyrb" Nelson has twittered a bit on the subject, and he claims that the Zune team is on the case. I, however, am with Destructoid's Jim Sterling on this one. It's hilarious. I'd ask you all to check your Zune to see if it still works, but... does anyone actually own a Zune?
- The television apocalypse may be at hand, and I'm not talking about the SAG strike vote. Time Warner Cable and Viacom are beefing over how much money Viacom gets paid to let Time Warner broadcast their channels. And Time Warner claims that if it caves to Viacom's demands, other networks will put some squeeze onto all TV providers, resulting in a $30/month jump in cable bills. So if you have Time Warner, you might wake up tomorrow unable to see Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and so on. This one has a loose video game tie-in, as it all leads back to Sumner Redstone's holding company, National Amusements, which is attempting to restructure its debt. That's the same Sumner Redstone that used to own most of Midway.
- As of midnight tonight, it will be illegal to send text messages while driving a car in California. What is this, RUSSIA? I look forward to watching people exploit the system by saying "I wasn't texting, I was looking for a new song to play on my music-capable phone" and watching courts explode with the ensuing nonsense. If you want to keep people focused on the road, just pass a law that bars all distractions instead of just lashing out at one specific piece of technology. Dopes.