It’s time for a haircut. I’m super tempted to get a padawan braid, simply because it would be silly. Should I do it? That’s where you come in! To paraphrase Captain Planet, “The power (over my hair) is yours!!!” Please vote in today’s poll. If you have extra time, make a case for or against a padawan braid in the comments section.
[poll id=”154″]
Square Enix has confirmed that Camilla Luddington will be playing Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider game. The British actress is known for (naked) roles in Californication and True Blood. Naturally, this is the perfect time to enjoy some pictures of Ms. Luddington. For the record, it was somewhat difficult to find photos of her with her clothes on. This “research” was done all for you!
At the Google I/O 2012 conference, Google unveiled the Nexus 7 tablet. A “pure” Android device built by Asus, the Nexus 7 will cost $199 or $249, depending on whether you opt for 8GB or 16GB of storage. Notable specs include a 1,280 x 800 seven-inch screen, quad-core Tegra 3 processor, and Android 4.1…
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, Lamar Odom to the Los Angeles Clippers, scar tissue, or Tony Parker’s eyeball being injured in the Drake vs. Chris Brown showdown, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
At the Google I/O 2012 conference, Google unveiled the Nexus 7 tablet. A “pure” Android device built by Asus, the Nexus 7 will cost $199 or $249, depending on whether you opt for 8GB or 16GB of storage. Notable specs include a 1,280 x 800 seven-inch screen, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, and Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). While the specs are nice, the remarkable thing about this product is its price point. It offers a lot of tablet-computing power for a very low price.
In some ways, the Nexus 7 will compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire. This $199 tablet runs a highly customized version of Android that’s built around Amazon’s digital services. While many pundits and Asus execs have said that the Nexus 7 is going after the Kindle Fire, there are huge differences in the types of customers each product appeals. Certainly there’s some overlap, but for the most part I don’t believe that the Nexus 7 will disrupt Kindle Fire sales (much). Let’s break it down.
The Kindle Fire is a general consumer device. Amazon is marvelous at marketing to and serving general consumers. These buyers won’t or don’t care about the superior specs of the Nexus 7. They’re comfortable with Amazon and content to live in the company’s somewhat limited (though very polished) digital ecosystem.
The Nexus 7 is an enthusiast device. As amazing a company as Google is, it has a poor track record as a consumer electronics company. Nerds love Google Nexus products, but “real” people buy Samsung Galaxy devices. Recently, Google started selling the Galaxy Nexus phone directly to consumers through its Google Play store. It will be interesting to see how a new device, like the Nexus 7, fares on Google Play. At best, it still won’t get the kind of exposure and marketing push that the Kindle Fire enjoys.
The Kindle Fire has a limited reach. The Fire started off as a U.S.-only device. I don’t expect it to be available in more than a handful of countries by the end of the year. This is by design, of course. Amazon will only sell the Kindle Fire in regions where it has the rights to digital content and can adequately support consumers. By contrast, the Nexus 7 will be available in many more territories than the Kindle Fire by the end of the year.
The Dad Test. I bought a Kindle Fire for my Dad last Christmas. He’s an Amazon customer. He’s familiar with the company’s buying experience. The customized UI was easy for him to learn and understand. For people like my Dad, the Kindle Fire is an excellent device.
The Nerd Test. For people like you and me, the Nexus 7 is a much better choice. I’m familiar with the quirks of Android and Google Play. I will play games that take advantage of the power of Nexus 7’s Tegra 3 processor (can’t wait for Eden to GREEEEN!). I appreciate that fact that Nexus devices get Android updates sooner than other phones and tablets. The Nexus 7 is totally in my wheelhouse.
Anyway, I’d love to hear what you guys think about the Nexus 7 and how it will fare against the Amazon Kindle Fire. Sound off in the comments section (please)!
Journey — one of the best and most unique games of 2012 — is about to get even cooler. Right about now you’re asking, “How is that even possible?” I’ll tell you how! Journey Collector’s Edition. This $29.99 bundle will be available starting August 28, 2012. Think of it as thatgamecompany’s greatest hits. In addition to Journey, it incudes flOw and Flower. Awesome extras include:
I want Journey Collector’s Edition now! Any of you interested in this awesome set from thatgamecompany and Sony Computer Entertainment?
Digital Extremes has announced Warframe, an upcoming free-to-play third-person shooter for PC. The company is known for its excellent work on the Unreal Tournament series, The Darkness II, and Dark Sector, as well as the upcoming Star Trek game. Digital Extremes is cool and Canadian, ergo you should sign up for the Warframe closed beta. Not yet convinced? Here are more details on the game:
WARFRAME is a fast-action PvE shooter set in an evolving sci-fi world. Some would call it MMO-Lite as squads of four players band together to advance their characters and battle the oppression of the genocidal Grineer. Throughout their combat missions, players will continually increase the power and abilities of their WARFRAME and weapons. Players will raid new areas of space searching for exotic and powerful weapons and WARFRAME augmentations to customize their arsenal. With WARFRAME’s Automatic Mission Generator, the game will offer endless replay as levels are procedurally configured for a unique raid — every time.
That last sentence reminded me of Sex Panther by Odeon — 60 percent of the time, it works every time.
Seriously though, kindly sign up for the beta and support Digital Extremes when you have a chance. I’m a fan of those cats and want to see them do well with Warframe.
Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that system software update 4.20 will be available for download today. Initially I thought the 420 update centered around extending the PS3’s use as a marijuana device, but that’s not the case. A number of enhancements with the Wireless Stereo Headset have been added. Here are the details on the other goodies:
This update will also allow you to set the amount of time that the system will wait before turning itself off automatically for [Video/TV/Music/Photo] and for [Game/Other Features].
Additionally, saved data management has been improved. You will now be able to select multiple saved data items and delete or copy them as a group.
If any of you update your PS3 to system software 4.20, please leave a comment below and share your experience. Additionally, if you’re weeping about not being able to use your PS3 as a bong then consider the comments section your personal support group.
There are a bunch of fun games coming out this week, but I wanted to kick things off with one of my E3 2012 surprises that was released last week. I’m talking about Brave, the game based on the Pixar movie. I had no expectations for this game and was delighted to find an action-RPG that reminded me a lot of the old Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games. I kind of want to see the movie, but I really want to play the game. Speaking of movie-games, The Amazing Spider-Man is out this week for your web-slinging pleasure. If military shooters are more your thing then you’ll want to check out Spec Ops: The Line. Do you want a game with the ugliest Olympic logo in history? If so then you must buy London 2012. Last, but not least, is a quirky-cute Japanese RPG called Record of the Agarest War 2.
Any of you picking up new games this week?
Digital media is awesome and super-convenient. The only thing I miss about analog music is making mixtapes. I’ve (pathetically) made countless mixtapes for girls and (pathetically) made dozens more to fuel my morose moods in high school/college. My friend Gordon and I were recently talking about the modern equivalent of mixtapes. Lugubrious loop totally works for me! Here are the three songs that have been looping in my head for the last several days.
Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom debuted on HBO last night. As a fan of Sorkin’s writing, I loved the first episode. It was full of the witty and snappy dialogue that he’s known for. The show also reminded me of several discussions we’ve had about the news — particularly broadcast news. Whether it was on here or on G4tv.com, I recall several instances of discussing with y’all what television news reporting was and what it has become.
For most of television history, the news was about reporting facts and putting them in context for the viewers. I suppose that’s still the case, but networks like Fox News and MSNBC have taken a more heavy-handed approach to contextualizing news, sometimes (often?) to the point where the facts are misrepresented. Back in the day, nightly news shows were a service and more often than not lost money for networks. These days, they’re profit-driven and agendas are often shaped by advertisers.
One of the themes in The Newsroom is taking the news back. The characters in the show want to make a modern news program with old-school sensibilities. The show’s protagonist laments that people choose the facts they want to hear these days, not just the opinions. Isn’t it funny that it takes a fictional news show to make things “right”? Has news reporting gotten so biased that the idea of a mainstream news program that’s balanced seem unbelievable? Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I think the days of broadcast news defined by people like Edward Murrow, Walter Kronkite, and Dan Rather are gone forever.
Anyway, I thought this would be a great time to discuss The Newsroom and broadcast news in general. More importantly, do you think The Newsroom will take a turn for the worse when Olivia Munn’s character debuts next week?
The French Open recently finished and Wimbledon kicks off today. In the span of a month, the two most prestigious tournaments in the sport take place. This is the best time of the year to be a tennis fan. Naturally, as a videogame nerd I’ve been thinking about my favorite tennis videogames. As a huge fan of the sport and…
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, Victor Ortiz being a quitter, dramatic encounters with an ex, or Thai Airways’ amazing service, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The French Open recently finished and Wimbledon kicks off today. In the span of a month, the two most prestigious tournaments in the sport take place. This is the best time of the year to be a tennis fan. Naturally, as a videogame nerd I’ve been thinking about my favorite tennis videogames. As a huge fan of the sport and someone that played the game fervently in high school, I pretty much love all tennis videogames.
That said, there are two that hold a special place in my heart. Virtua Tennis for Dreamcast was critically acclaimed and I loved it. It was especially fun since so many of my friends were into the game and wanted to play multiplayer. However, Mario Tennis 64 was the better — and surprisingly more accurate — game. As a videogame, it was just more fun. As a pseudo-simulation, it allowed you to do more things with the ball in terms of spin and angles. To this day, Mario Tennis 64 is my all-time favorite tennis videogame.
How about you? What are some of your favorite tennis videogames?
