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Coffee Talk #87: Do You Care About Video Game Awards?

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, Fat Tuesday, Chris Taylor talking to farm animals, or Bode Miller blowing the gold, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With BAFTA announcing its British Academy Video Game Awards Nominees and the AIAS’ Interactive Achievement Awards taking place on Thursday, I’ve been thinking a lot about game awards. I love them. I love that developers get recognized for the awesome games they make. I particularly love the aforementioned Interactive Achievement Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards that take place during GDC. They’re important for the business.

I’m guessing that some of you (perhaps many of you?) don’t care or don’t know about the different organizations that give out game awards every year. If you fall into that group, I urge you to learn about the different groups. It’s important to acknowledge the brilliant talent behind the games. Prestigious awards also go a long way towards mainstream acceptance.

I was wondering what you ladies and gents think of video game awards. Do you care? Do you think they’re necessary? Do you see them as the gaming industry’s Grammys or Oscars? Is there one particular award that you think is more prestigious than the others? Kindly share your thoughts on the matter.

BAFTA Videogame Award Nominees Announced

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced its nominees for the GAME British Academy Video Game Awards. Many of the choices are games you’d expect, while others definitely favor European tastes. Check out the list and let me know what you think (please)!

And the nominees are….

Action
Assassin’s Creed II
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infamous
Left 4 Dead 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Artistic Achievement
Assassin’s Creed II
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Flower
Street Fighter IV
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Best Game
Assassin’s Creed II
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
FIFA 10
Uncharted 2: among Thieves

Family & Social
The Beatles: Rock Band
Buzz! Quiz World
EyePet
Guitar Hero 5
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Wii Sports Resort

Gameplay
Assassin’s Creed II
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
PixelJunk Shooter
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Handheld
Gran Turismo
LittleBigPlanet
LocoRoco Midnight Carnival
Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Insider Story
Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box
Scribblenauts

Multiplayer
Battlefield 1943
The Beatles: Rock Band
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Halo 3 ODST
Left 4 Dead 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Original Score
Assassin’s Creed II
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
PixelJunk Shooter
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Sports
Colin McRae: Dirt 2
FIFA 10
Football Manager 2010
Forza 3
Wii Fit Plus
Wii Sports Resort

Story
Assassin’s Creed II
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director’s Cut
Brutal Legend
Dragon Age: Origins
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Strategy
Command and Conquer 3: Uprising
Empire: Total War
FIFA Manager 10
Football Manager 2010
Halo Wars
Plants vs. Zombies

Use of Audio
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
DJ Hero
Flower
Left 4 Dead 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Use of Online
Battlefield 1943
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
FIFA 10
LittleBigPlanet
Singstar: Take That
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

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Symbian^3 UI Preview Shown–Too Little, Too Late?

While Microsoft has been getting the lion’s share of attention at Mobile World Congress for Windows Phone 7 Series, The Symbian Foundation has been trying to garner buzz by previewing its upcoming Symbian^3 OS. The video above is a “design preview” of Symbian^3 from Nokia and the Foundation. Here’s a snippet from Nokia’s blog:

The Symbian Foundation today unveiled the first release of Symbian^3 which they expect to be code complete by the end of next month. This release features a wide range of enhancements including more advanced usability, faster networking and graphics acceleration in 2D and 3D for games and apps. The first devices running the new platform are expected to ship as early as Q3 this year.

Although Symbian is still the global smartphone OS leader, it is rapidly losing ground to modern operating systems like Apple’s iPhone OS and Google’s Android. Those two products along with Palm’s WebOS make Symbian S60 look extremely primative. While Symbian^3 (in preview mode) appears to be modern and promising, it also looks like an oh-crap-we-have-to-catch-up effort.

What do you think of Symbian^3? Will it help Nokia compete this decade and regain some of its dominance? Or is it too little, too late?

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TNA Impact Moving to Mondays Starting on March 8, 2010

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling announced that it will move its TNA Impact program to Monday nights, competing head-to-head with WWE’s Monday Night Raw show. TNA Impact will air from 9PM to 11PM, but only every other episode will be live. In today’s press release, TNA personality and creative consultant Hulk Hogan said:

Monday nights are now officially the best night of the week to be a fan of professional wrestling. My mantra has been ‘change is coming’ since partnering with Dixie Carter and TNA Wrestling. This change is great for the business and all fans of professional wrestling will benefit because of it.

The Monday night wars are back! While TNA did a good job and snagged strong ratings when it went up against Monday Night Raw on January 4, 2010, it still got trounced by WWE. While the organization has a ton of talent, its writing and production seem minor league compared to its chief competitor’s. Will TNA improve its writing and spend more on production? (Perhaps TNA should hire some of the writing talent behind the excellent WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010.)

What do you think of the return of the Monday night wars? Do you think it will push both companies to improve? Is TNA biting off more than it can chew? Do you see yourself flipping between both shows similar to the WWF vs. WCW days?

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Today’s Poll: What’s Your Next Mobile OS?

Microsoft made a big splash today with Windows Phone 7 Series. It adds another combatant to the extremely interesting mobile-phone market. I wanted to see which OS interests you the most. I realized a few seconds ago that I forgot all about RIM’s BlackBerry OS, but after a few minutes of thought, I realized that it was probably the right move. BlackBerry OS 5 is not a modern OS and isn’t really comparable to the others in the poll.

Anyway, take the poll and share your thoughts (please)!

[poll id=”26″]

Presidential Housekeeping

– Yeah, I totally forgot it was Presidents Day. I was wondering why my inbox wasn’t flooded with the normal Monday press releases and PR people weren’t picking up the phone. Ha!

– Some of you might have noticed a large Amazon box after every post and before the comments section. It’s a new feature I’m trying out. It’s kind of big and obnoxious, but it’s also pretty useful. You can search Amazon without having to leave RPad.tv! Try it out and let me know what you think. If it bothers you, I’ll remove it.

– Last week I posted two interesting videos. This super cool Super Street Fighter IV video didn’t get a lot of traffic, but it’s awesome and I recommend that you watch it. This Leona Lewis Final Fantasy XIII video got a bunch of views thanks to N4G.

– I started using a new advertising company last week. So far it appears to be much better than the last one. Hopefully it picks up.

– Traffic last week was strange. Monday through Wednesday things were pretty slow, which made me enter the “what the hell am I doing?” zone. Thursday and Friday were much, much better and totally saved my week/sanity.

– I’m set to go to DICE this week and I should have some fun interviews lined up. There’s a slight chance I won’t make it because I’m having hotel issues and don’t want to be schlepping around the outskirts of Vegas with a bad knee. Hopefully I’ll sort it all out today. Once I do, I’ll be asking for your question, naturally.

Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor Wants Your Help in Developing Kings and Castles

Gas Powered Games creative director Chris Taylor is taking a unique approach to developing Kings and Castles for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. He wants as much fan input as possible, using Facebook, Twitter, and silly YouTube videos like the one above to make development decisions. In a recent press release Taylor said:

We’re doing something different this time around. We want to take our fans on a great adventure with us. They’ll get to go behind-the-scenes and watch the game come to life from start to finish.

Synergy will be leveraged, and paradigms will be established. More importantly, buzzwords will be utilized.

Gamers are encouraged to follow Taylor on Twitter, email crackedout@gaspowered.com, join the game’s official Facebook page, and watch more silly videos on the official site to participate in the game’s creation. If you’re not up for that, watching Taylor with farm animals is always fun.

Chris is awesome and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with Kings and Castles!

Coffee Talk #86: Windows Phone 7, Xbox Live, and Your Next Phone

Earlier today, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress. It’s an important step for the company’s mobile future and by most accounts, it’s a huge leap forward for the Windows Mobile Operating System. After losing ground to RIM’s BlackBerry OS in the business world, as well as Apple’s iPhone OS and Google’s Android OS in the consumer market, Microsoft is stepping up its game. One of the ways it’s attempting to reach out to consumers is through connectivity with Xbox Live. Here’s the official description of Windows Mobile 7’s “games hub”:

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, your lovely Valentine’s Day surprises, the NBA All-Star Game, or what you think of the Winter Olympics so far, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Earlier today, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress. It’s an important step for the company’s mobile future and by most accounts, it’s a huge leap forward for the Windows Mobile Operating System. After losing ground to RIM’s BlackBerry OS in the business world, as well as Apple’s iPhone OS and Google’s Android OS in the consumer market, Microsoft is stepping up its game. One of the ways it’s attempting to reach out to consumers is through connectivity with Xbox Live. Here’s the official description of Windows Phone 7’s “games hub”:

This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox Live experience on a phone, including Xbox Live games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox Live unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.

There are a several interesting implications here. First of all, Microsoft has a huge opportunity to compete with and possibly eclipse the games market in Apple’s iPhone App Store. The company already has deep relationships with several of the best game developers and publishers in the world. Secondly, Windows Phone 7 Series has the chance to extend the social aspects of Xbox Live in a major way. So many people use Facebook and Twitter on mobile devices. By unchaining Xbox Live from a console or PC, the company could make the service a major force in social networking.

I want to know what you think of Windows Phone 7 Series. Check out the official press release and look at its impressive features. Can you see yourself using a Windows Phone 7 Series device in the future? If so, is Xbox Live connectivity a major reason why?

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Compares Himself to Malcolm X, MLK

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is arguably the most skilled boxer in the world today, but the idiotic things that come out of his mouth often overshadow his brilliant skills. Questioning — rightfully so — why Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao would pass on a $25-million payday over drug testing, Mayweather compared his efforts to bring stringent blood testing to boxing to the civil rights struggles of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Mayweather recently said:

It’s sort of the same stance Martin Luther King and Malcolm X made, so we could have freedoms, so everybody could tell the world that we’re equal. The only thing I’m saying is that we are equal. So if you’re not on nothing and I’m not on nothing, then let’s go take the test. That’s all I’m saying.

Wow. Just…wow.

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American Idol’s Kara DioGuardi Poses for Maxim, Says Dumb Crap

American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi — also known as “the useless one” or “the horny cougar” — recently posed for Maxim. There’s no denying that she has a beautiful body, but this video interview shows that her moronic comments are real — she’s just as stupid and annoying in Maxim as she is on Idol!