Today's Specials Archives - Page 13 of 89

Coffee Talk #421: “Shreds” Videos and You

Several years ago I came across several “Shreds” videos by a YouTube user called StSanders. He overdubbed horrendously bad guitar playing over memorable performances. His clip of Jake E. Lee “shredding” while Ozzy Osbourne clapped just about…

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, Groundwork’s Bolivia Aipac La Paz , Juan Manuel Marquez getting jobbed out of a win over Manny Pacquiao, or the impressive uselessness of Buboy Fernandez, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Several years ago I came across several “Shreds” videos by a YouTube user called StSanders. He overdubbed horrendously bad guitar playing over memorable performances…and made art. His clip of Jake E. Lee “shredding” while Ozzy Osbourne clapped just about killed me. His overdub of Metallica’s “One” completely cracked me up and was extra funny to me since I knew how to play most of the song.

Today I’m going to kick off the week with a laugh. Here are three of my favorite “Shreds” videos. Feel free to post your own YouTube links in the comments section. If you find these funny, head on over to StSanders’ web site and give him some props.

Sony Unveils UMD Passport Program For PlayStation Vita

Sony Computer Entertainment has unveiled information on the UMD Passport program, which allows PlayStation Portable owners to re-download their games on the PlayStation Vita for a reduced cost. Details for the program apply to the Japanese market, but hopefully a…

PSP owners will have to download a program, insert their UMD games into their system, and connect to the PlayStation Store. Once this is done, a downloadable version of their (participating) game will be available on the Vita for ¥500 to ¥2,400 (roughly $6.50 to $30). An initial list of participating publishers and games was posted by Sony but, again, this applies to the Japanese market.

I like that Sony is rewarding its PSP customers with this program. I also expect many gamers to bitch about having to re-purchase their games. The reality is that there was no easy solution for this “problem”. No matter what Sony did, it was going to get dinged. I see it as a, “Hey, they’re trying!” situation.

What do you think of the UMD Passport program for PlayStation Vita? Is Sony doing its best to reward loyal customers? Or is it double dipping?

Source

Coffee Talk #420: What’s Your Favorite Stoner Movie?

Considering that I recently attended the premiere of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and it’s Coffee Talk #420, I thought that it would be a good time to discuss your favorite stoner movies. Since the the groundbreaking Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke…

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, the dude that cancelled his suicide attempt because Lindsay Lohan is posing in Playboy, making your action figures Tebow next to your RPad.tv magnet, or your favorite algorithm, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Considering that I recently attended the premiere of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and it’s Coffee Talk #420, I thought that it would be a good time to discuss your favorite stoner movies. Since the the groundbreaking Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke, the stoner genre has become a Hollywood moneymaker. Just look at movies like Dazed and Confused, Harold & Kumar, Half Baked, etc. Several characters found in Kevin Smith movies and most of the characters Seth Rogen plays owe a lot to the the stoner genre. It’s here to stay!

Out of all the stoner movies out there, what’s your favorite? Do you love the Cheech & Chong classics? Are you more of a Dazed and Confused guy? Are Jay & Silent Bob your role models? Were you floored by the 3D marijuana smoke in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas? Kindly share your stoner movie picks in the comments section!

Casper Van Dien Talks Noobz

Justin Leeper and I were lucky enough to get to chat with the legendary Casper Van Dien on the set of the upcoming videogame movie Noobz. The Starship Troopers star talks about his roles (multiple) in the movie, whether he can take on Dom from Gears of War, New Jersey vs. wherever the hell Justin is from, and more. It’s a fun and loose interview with a great man. Check it out and let me know what you think (please!).

Razer Chimaera 5.1 Wireless Gaming Headset Review

Here’s a video review of the Razer Chimaera 5.1 wireless gaming headset. Although it can be used with any console or PC, it only allows for chat on Xbox 360. It’s a high-quality product from Razer, a company that’s known some of the best mice and keyboards for gamers…

Here’s a video review of the Razer Chimaera 5.1 wireless gaming headset. Although it can be used with any console or PC, it only allows for chat on Xbox 360. It’s another high-quality product from Razer, a company that’s known some of the best mice and keyboards for gamers.

Here’s the Cliff Notes version:

Like

Super Comfortable — I wore the Chimaera for several gaming sessions of two hours or more and found it perfectly comfortable the whole time.
Great Sound — Although it’s not as impressive as headsets with multiple drivers, I really enjoyed the sound output. At the very least, it blows away TV speakers in terms of clarity and detail.

Didn’t Like

Microphone — The mic isn’t noise-cancelling, which could be a deal breaker for gamers that play in crowded living rooms, doorms, etc.
Possible Interference — I’m positive that interference won’t be an issue for most people, but if you live in a crowded apartment complex (like me) with lots of 5.8GHz devices fighting for signal then you’ll probably experience occasional dropouts. At home, I experienced a few dropouts but when I brought the Chimaera to my friend’s house in the suburbs I didn’t have any.

Kindly watch the review when you have a chance and let me know what you think! Is the Razer Chimaera 5.1 something you want this holiday season?

Jason Mewes & Blake Freeman Talk Noobz (Videogame Movie)

Actor Jason Mewes (Clerks II) and director Blake Freeman talk about their upcoming videogame movie Noobz in this excellent video. In addition to the movie, the two talk about Gears of War 3, discuss first-person vs. third-person action, send a special message to Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski, and go off-topic in a hilariously lewd way. The legendary Casper Van Dien also pops up in the video making it extra awesome. Warning: this interview contains lots of naughty language and dirty references.

Special thanks to Justin Leeper for conducting the interview while I cracked up behind the camera.

Coffee Talk #419: My Casper Van Dien Story

One of the highlights of my Noobz set visit was meeting Casper Van Dien. During our interview, he was super funny and charming. My buddy Justin and I were surprised when Casper hung out with us for a bit after the camera stopped rolling…

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, the awesome 3D smoke in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the awesome power of WaffleBot, or Gmail’s redesign, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

One of the highlights of my Noobz set visit was meeting Casper Van Dien. During our interview, he was super funny and charming. My buddy Justin and I were surprised when Casper hung out with us for a bit after the camera stopped rolling. It was a fun chat that spanned a wide variety of topics: New York vs. New Jersey, getting rattlesnake boots in Thailand, air pollution in Manila, martial arts, and more. I even texted Cliff Bleszinski on his behalf. Ha!

Hanging out with him was especially cool for Justin since Starship Troopers is one of his favorite movies of all time. My mark-out moment was when Casper said, “You on Twitter? What’s your handle? I’ll follow you.” This was awesome because he actually did it himself…right in front of me…on his BlackBerry. Usually these things take place through intermediaries.

Casper introduced me to his (gorgeous) daughter, India Oxenberg. She plays a member of the girl-gamer team in the movie. It turns out that she’s pals with the excellent Chris Cross, one of my favorite peeps in the gaming business. That was a cool coincidence.

Anyway, I know that a lot of you are still big marks for Michael Dudikoff. I’m going to use today’s column to encourage you to drop him as your favorite action star and replace him with Casper Van Dien. He completely rules!

Coffee Talk #418: Rating Halloween Candy

Today I’d like to talk to you about Halloween candy. What candy did you love getting in your trick-or-treat bag? What candy did you loathe? Is there a particular candy bar that left you with a feeling of “meh”? Let’s review and analyze Halloween…

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, Verve’s Ethiopia Biloya, Jennifer Aniston’s wrinkly hands, or posthumous albums, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Treat: I loved getting 100 Grand candy bars. The combination of chocolate and caramel is a timeless classic. I’m pretty sure the rice appealed to me because I’m Asian. The name makes it sound like a luxury. Hmmm, I might have to get one for breakfast….

Trick: Necco Wafers are, by far, the worst candy in the world…unless you’re fond of Tums and chalk. Every time I saw this dreaded candy being thrown in my bag I thought, “Screw you lady!” At best, Necco Wafers are useful for when you run out of poker chips. At worst, they’re Necco Wafers.

Meh: I never understood the popularity of Three Musketeers candy bars. They’re not bad at all, but they’re not particularly good. The whipped filling and lack of density gives it a rather unsatisfying feeling. Despite the swashbuckling name, they’re just fluffy and boring. I didn’t mind getting Three Musketeers during trick-or-treat runs, but I wasn’t thrilled to get get them either.

Now it’s your turn! Kindly share your favorite, least favorite, and meh Halloween candies.

Today’s Poll: Lindsay Lohan in Playboy vs. the McRib

This is probably the most important question you’ll be asked in October. What’s the bigger news story — Lindsay Lohan posing for Playboy or McDonald’s bringing back the McRib? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss in the comments section!

This is probably the most important question you’ll be asked in October. What’s the bigger news story — Lindsay Lohan posing for Playboy or McDonald’s bringing back the McRib? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss in the comments section!

[poll id=”138″]

Coffee Talk #417: Developers Setting Their Own Game Pricing

Epic Games president Mike “Busta” Capps is wise, handsome, and charming. In a recent interview with Develop, he proposed the idea of game developers setting their own prices for games and downloadable content. Capps said…

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, Steve Jobs creating the iPad out of spite, Lindsay Lohan in Playboy, or your favorite streaming television app, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Epic Games president Mike “Busta” Capps is wise, handsome, and charming. In a recent interview with Develop, he proposed the idea of game developers setting their own prices for games and downloadable content. Capps said, “Right now we’re not even allowed to change the prices of virtual content. We’re not even allowed to set the prices. I just don’t think this protectionist approach is going to be successful in a world where the price of virtual items changes on a day-to-day basis. Double-A games will never come back unless we get rid of this notion of a game being $60 or not released. The console manufacturers need to let this happen.”

It’s an excellent idea that could be fantastic…or terrible. Certainly it’s ridiculous that some crap motion game has the same price as Gears of War 3. One argument is that price should reflect a game’s budget and/or quality. The counter to that argument is the movie business. A ticket to a small-budget indie-film costs the same as one to a mega-million Michael Bay monstrosity.

Then there’s the fact that some developers would find a way to screw up game pricing. Certainly larger companies with a lot of experience or smaller companies with savvy executives would find a way to get the most out of flexible game pricing. However, I expect there would be just as many cases of developers setting unreasonable or unrealistic prices because they’re too attached to their creations. Gaming is still a relatively young business and I think that its immaturity would show up if developers could price their on wares. Publishers are often viewed (sometimes unfairly) as an evil force in the gaming business, but the suits have their uses.

What do you think of Capps’ idea? Can you envision a world where game developers price their own software? Would you prefer flexible game pricing over a rigid system? What benefits and perils do you see with having developers price their own games?