Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

Do You Use Online Coupons?

Online coupons are a huge business. Groupon recently turned down a $6-billion offer from Google. Unhappy with being spurned, Google has announced plans for a competing service called Google Offers. Think about that for a few seconds — a company turned down $6-billion dollars!!! That should clue you into the sheer massiveness of the online coupon business.

Do you guys and dolls use online coupons? Are you cool with signing up for services — and possibly giving up a little privacy — to save some cash? Is there are particular online coupon service you like or do you just take them as they come?

Google Voice Allows Number Porting (For Some)

The outstanding Google Voice has finally allowed number porting…for a select group of users. It costs $20 to port your number over to Google Voice, but there could be some hitches if you’re trying to switch over a mobile number that’s still under contract. There’s a chance that porting your number could result in an early termination fee. Some users have reported that they’ve been able to give their mobile provide a heads up, port their current number to Google Voice, and get a new mobile phone number. Hopefully my carrier let’s me do this.

As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Google Voice and absolutely love the service. Any of you tempted to port your phone number to Google Voice?

What Do You Think of the Verizon iPhone Commercial?

What do you think of the new commercial for the Verizon iPhone? I’m digging it! Verizon has always had strong marketing. The company ran a series of fantastic commercials that criticized AT&T’s network. The commercials seemed even cooler when AT&T countered with Luke Wilson. Hell, there are hundreds of thousands of people that think Google’s mobile operating system is called Droid, which is a testament to how effectively Verizon has marketed that brand.

Anyway, check out the spot and let me know what you think (please)!

Coffee Talk #288: Another Crazy Videogame Dream

Sorry for the late start today! I had a wacky dream about game developers. You see, I was at some fancy cocktail party (accompanied by my sidekick Zoe Flower, naturally). Some of the best developers in the world were there…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, why Taco Bell is delicious even though it’s fake Mexican food, the RPad.tv American Apparel sale, or why the hell anyone feels sorry for Carmelo Anthony, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Sorry for the late start today! I had a wacky dream about game developers. You see, I was at some fancy cocktail party (accompanied by my sidekick Zoe Flower, naturally). Some of the best developers in the world were there. BioWare’s Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk were hanging around, being awesome. Double Fine’s Tim Schafer and Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor were cracking everyone up with their sharp jokes. It was a fantastic scene…until the incident.

As Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto was chatting it up with Konami’s Hideo Kojima, a waiter accidentally spilled a drink on Miyamoto-san. He tried to laugh it off, but the waiter kept trying to dry his face. All of the sudden, a bit of skin peeled off and it was clear to everyone that Miyamoto was actually a Terminator! The waiter screamed…and screamed even louder when all the game developers in the room peeled off their faces to reveal Terminator skulls. As the Terminator game developers proceeded to kill all the humans in the room, Zoe and I ran out a service tunnel.

So yeah! This nutty dream is why I started things late today. What do you think it means?!? Have you had any funky videogame dreams lately? Any chance that Miyamoto-san is actually a Terminator?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

My gaming weekend will be a repeat of the last. With GameStop giving away shiny legendary Pokemon, I’m totally into Pokemon SoulSilver again. After a failed attempt at getting things going with DC Universe Online, I vow to get the RPad.tv Super Buddies going this weekend. History will be made!

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy Voice Actors

Square Enix has confirmed the voice actors for the upcoming PSP game Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy. There aren’t any surprises here, with longtime FF voice actors reprising their roles, but it’s nice to get the official word. Here’s some of the cast:

  • Rachael Leigh Cook as Tifa Lockhart
  • Keith David as Chaos
  • Steve Burton as Cloud Strife
  • George Newbern as Sephiroth
  • Ali Hillis as Lightning

Naturally, this is a great excuse to look at photos of Rachel Leigh Cook. She’s all that. *snicker*

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Virtua Tennis 4 Screens and Artwork

Sega just sent out a bunch of sweet screens for the upcoming Virtua Tennis 4. As a longtime fan of the series and a former competitive tennis player, I’m really looking forward to this game. As a videogame verbal entertainter, I’m interested in VF4 since it supports motions controls for Wii, PlayStation Move, and Kinect. It’s motiontastic!

Any of you interested in buying this game? If so, for which platform?

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Who is Your ISP? What Kind of Speeds Are You Getting?

Out of curiosity, who is your ISP and what kind of speeds are you getting? I’m a Time Warner Cable subscriber, but only because AT&T U-Verse isn’t available in my building. Thankfully, the company upgraded the wiring in my building a few months. I just did ran SpeedTest.net and got 24.99 Mb/s down and 1.84 MB/s up with a 17ms ping. That’s much better than what I used to get, but still not as good as the Comcast service I had in San Francisco.

If you have a moment, kindly post your results and let me know if you’re happy with your ISP.

Interactive Achievement Awards Nominees Announced

The excellent Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced the nominees for the 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards. The AIAS is one of my favorite professional organizations in the gaming business and it runs a top-notch awards show. You know when people win a Grammy or Oscar award they thank “The Academy”? The AIAS is the videogame industry’s Academy. They rock.

Please let me know what you think of this year’s group. And the nominees are….

Game of the Year
Angry Birds HD (Publisher: Chillingo; Developer: Rovio)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Publisher: Activision; Developer: Treyarch)
God of War III (Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America; Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Mass Effect 2 (Publisher: Electronic Arts; Developer: Bioware)
Red Dead Redemption (Publisher: Rockstar Games; Developer: Rockstar San Diego)

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Angry Birds HD (Publisher: Chillingo; Developer: Rovio)
Dance Central (Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games; Developer: Harmonix Music Systems)
Heavy Rain (Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America; Developer: Quantic Dream)
LIMBO (Publisher: Playdead; Developer: Playdead)
Red Dead Redemption (Publisher: Rockstar Games; Developer: Rockstar San Diego)

Action Game of the Year
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Publisher: Electronic Arts; Developer: Digital Illusions CE)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Publisher: Activision; Developer: Treyarch))
God of War III (Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America; Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Halo: Reach (Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios; Developer: Bungie)
Red Dead Redemption (Publisher: Rockstar Games; Developer: Rockstar San Diego)

Adventure Game of the Year
Alan Wake (Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios; Developer: Remedy Entertainment)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Publisher: Ubisoft; Developer: Ubisoft Montreal)
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West (Publisher: Namco Bandai; Developer: Ninja Theory)
Heavy Rain (Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America; Developer: Quantic Dream)
LIMBO (Publisher: Playdead; Developer: Playdead)

Casual Game of the Year
Angry Birds HD (Publisher: Chillingo; Developer: Rovio)
Bejeweled 3 (Publisher: PopCap Games; Developer: PopCap Games)
Kinect Sports (Publisher: Microsoft Game Studio; Developer: Rare)
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (Publisher: Namco Bandai; Developer: Namco Bandai)
Plants vs. Zombies (Publisher: PopCap Games; Developer: PopCap Games)

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Publisher: Nintendo; Developer: Square Enix)
Fable III (Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios; Developer: Lionhead Studios)
Fallout: New Vegas (Publisher: Bethesda Softworks; Developer: Obsidian Entertainment)
Mass Effect 2 (Publisher: Electronic Arts; Developer: Bioware)
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment; Developer: Blizzard Entertainment)

Social Networking Game of the Year
Cityville (Publisher: Zynga; Developer: Zynga)
Family Feud (Publisher: iWin/Backstage Technologies; Developer: iWin/Backstage Technologies)
FrontierVille (Publisher: Zynga; Developer: Zynga)
Nightclub City (Publisher: Booyah; Developer: Booyah)
Ravenwood Fair (Publisher; Lolapps; Developer: Lolapps)