As most of you know, I’m fascinated by Jobs and admire his work. I’m looking forward to reading lots of behind-the-scenes dirt and learning more about the (extremely private) man. How about you? Are you going to pick up the Steve Jobs bio? Kindly take today’s poll and let me know!
Nintendo of American has announced that its 3DS portable gaming system will be getting a system update in November that adds 3D video capture. So if you want to get in touch with your inner James Cameron, get set for a killer update. Here are more details from the press release on the 3DS’ video-capture capabilities, as well as other features included in the November update.
At the end of November, a new system update will deliver a range of cool new features and enhancements, including 3D video capture, which will let users record up to 10 minutes of 3D video and enable people to create their own 3D stop-motion animation videos. The update will also add new puzzles to the StreetPass Mii Plaza and a new dungeon to Find Mii. Other features will be announced in the future.
I know that most of you are down on portable gaming and down on 3D, but I have to ask if there’s any chance you’re interested in this feature. Also, how many of you thought of the possibilities of 3D pr0n hitting the family-friendly 3DS? *snicker*
Nintendo of America has announced that its 3DS and Wii consoles will be getting Hulu Plus by the end of the year. The streaming video service is already available on the competing PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems. Here’s a clip from the press release…
Nintendo of America has announced that its 3DS and Wii consoles will be getting Hulu Plus by the end of the year. The streaming video service is already available on the competing PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems. Here’s a clip from the press release:
With Hulu Plus, Wii and Nintendo 3DS users will be able to instantly stream thousands of TV episodes — including the entire current season of popular shows like Modern Family, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, House and Grey’s Anatomy — from premium content partners like ABC, Comedy Central, FOX, NBC, MTV and many more. Hulu Plus also offers access to classic TV favorites like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, The Hills and hundreds of popular and award-winning movies. Hulu Plus is available through a separate subscription fee of $7.99 per month with limited advertising.
I’m positive that all of you are going to rush out to buy a 3DS to watch The Biggest Loser. I kid, I kid. Seriously though, does the addition of Hulu Plus make the 3DS or Wii more appealing to you?
Lots of goodies are supposed to come my way this weekend. My copy of The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection should come today. My friend from Sony is supposed to drop off Disgaea 4 on Saturday. I’m super psyched to play them both. I also have to play more Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures for Machinima.com. I’m enjoying that game way more than I thought I would…but the toys take up way too much space.
DC Comics’ “The New 52” is still entertaining the hell out of me. In fact, yesterday’s release of Justice League #2 made me laugh out loud. Comic books provide me with so much entertainment, but usually not the “LOL” kind. Check out the panel above. It’s fantastic. Batman is doing his detective thing. Flash is being earnest, wholesome, and helpful. Green Lantern is being brash — acting first without thinking of the consequences. The characterization is perfect and I found the whole thing hilarious.
I finally got around to watching the Scott Hall segment from ESPN’s E:60. It’s a fantastic look at the turbulent life and career of the man formerly known as WWE’s Razor Ramon. The piece covers Hall’s abuse of alcohol, recreational drugs, and steroids. It’s a hard-hitting look at a pro-wrestler that could have been one of the all-time greats, but succumbed to numerous temptations.
Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Eric Bischoff, PJ Polaco (Justin Credible/Aldo Montoya), Stephanie McMahon, and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman make appearances in the piece. One of the most surprising revelations was made by McMahon; she admitted that WWE has spent more than six-figures on Hall’s various rehab stints. Extensive footage of Hall at an indie show — hopped up on Percocet and Soma — was disturbingly sad.
Here’s a teaser for the segment:
I remember when I first saw Hall in the American Wrestling Alliance as “Big” Scott Hall. I thought, “If this dude gets rid of his white-man afro, he could be huge!” He went onto a successful stint in the WWE as Razor Ramon and one of the hottest runs of all time in WCW as part of the N.W.O. Hall was solid in the ring, killer on the mic, and had a great mind for booking. Like I said before, he could have been one of the best ever.
ESPN did a fantastic job on this piece and I can’t recommend it enough. Check it out hen you get a chance and let me know what you think (please!).
I’ve started playing Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures for a Machinima.com review. I’m completely fascinated by the Skylanders business model. For those of you not familiar with the deal, Skylanders is an action-RPG available for most…
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, Lindsay Lohan’s latest mugshot, the outstanding customer service at Verve Coffee Roasters, or Bernard Hopkins getting suplexed in a boxing match, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I’ve started playing Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures for a Machinima.com review. I’m completely fascinated by the Skylanders business model. For those of you not familiar with the deal, Skylanders is an action-RPG available for most videogame systems. What makes it unique is that it uses toys to enhance and unlock gameplay. The $69.99 starter kit comes with the game, the “Portal of Power” accessory that plugs into your console, and three action figures. Additional action figures can be purchased for $7.99 and up.
Now here’s the kicker: from what I’ve seen, you have to buy more toys to get everything out of the game. That’s brilliant…and possibly a little evil. So far, the game is surprisingly fun; I had low expectations for it and they have been greatly exceeded. The toys look cool. On their own, I’m not sure they’re worth $8 each or $20 for a three-pack, but considering that they unlock in-game features, they’re pragmatic as well as decorative. There are more than 30 toys, with more action figures and DLC on the way, so it’s entirely possible to spend hundreds of dollars on Skylanders…and I’m sure some kids will do just that.
Fascinating, hey? I’m not really sure what kids and tweens like these days, but I imagine Skylanders is going to be hugely popular this holiday season. While most of the videogame business has been focusing on DLC and $10 online solutions to make more money of off each title, Activision is probably going to strike gold with dollies action figures. If this game does well, can you imagine a Transformers, Pokemon, or Disney game using a similar business model? This dolly thing could be huge…and more than a little exploitative.
Anyway, I wanted to see what you thought about Skylanders and its business model. Is Skylanders brilliant, evil, or both?!?
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has revealed the first batch of speakers for its DICE 2012 Summit. As many of you know, DICE is my favorite event in the videogame business. It’s a relatively small gathering of gaming’s top creators, gaming’s top executives, a few people from outside the industry (oceanographers, movie directors), and idiots like me. The first speakers announced for DICE 2012 are fantastic. Check out their bios from the press release:
Tomonobu Itagaki, co-founder and CTO, Valhalla Games Studios Co., Ltd., world-renowned game designer who created the game franchises Dead or Alive the next gen Ninja Gaiden and the forthcoming Devil’s Third to be published by THQ, will be speaking on “What We Talk About When We Talk About Games”
Richard Hilleman, Chief Creative Director, Electronic Arts, will be speaking on “Games as Language”
Glen Ballard, president, Augury, Six-Time Grammy Award winner and Oscar-nominated producer/songwriter and arranger will be speaking on “Greater Than The Sum: The Miracle of Collaboration”
Isaac C. Gilmore, managing partner, 3SJ Tactical Solutions, previously a non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy where he was a member of SEAL Team 7
I’ve met Itagaki several times and enjoy hanging out with him. It’ll be cool seeing him again at DICE 2012 and hopefully we can do another interview where we’re both wearing sunglasses. Hileman is awesome; he’s one of those mad geniuses in the videogame business that makes me feel really stupid. I’m really looking forward to hearing what Glen Ballard has to say. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to ask him about the incredible music acts he’s worked with. I’m going to keep away from Gilmore though. I’m scared of SEALs.
Anyway, let me know what you think of the first speakers announced for DICE 2012. If you have time, please leave some questions you’d like me to ask. If I have the opportunity to interview any of these guys, I’ll try to slip them in (giving you credit, naturally).
With the rumor of Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio Auditore da Firenze set for an appearance in Soulcalibur V, I was thinking about videogame crossovers and cameos. There have been so many great ones over the years! Bill Clinton in NBA Jam…
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, Hulk Hogan taking back bumps after eight back surgeries, RIM’s BlackBerry BBX OS, or the Red Sox ordering Popeye’s fried chicken during games, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
With the rumor of Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio Auditore da Firenze set for an appearance in Soulcalibur V, I was thinking about videogame crossovers and cameos. There have been so many great ones over the years! Bill Clinton in NBA Jam, Mega Man in Dead Rising, Michael Jackson in Space Channel 5, Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Spider-Man in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 immediately come to mind. Last year I had a blast playing as a Helghast from Killzone in Hot Shots Tennis. Crossovers are cool.
The Soulcalibur series has my favorite videogame crossovers of all time. Soulcalibur II had Link from The Legend of Zelda and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn! Soulcalibur IV had Darth Vader and Yoda from Star Wars! Those inclusions caused me to mark out as a Zelda, comic book, and Star Wars fanboy. It was almost nerd overload, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing as those characters. So cool.
Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favorite videogame cameos and crossovers?
At a press conference in Hong Kong, Samsung and Google unveiled the Galaxy Nexus — the first Google Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) phone. The Galaxy Nexus features a 1.2GHz processor, an HD Super AMOLED screens (1,280 x 720), zero-shutter-lag camera, and 4G connectivity (LTE or HSPA+). Check out the specs from the press release, followed by some product shots:
Network
HSPA 21Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps 850/900/1900/1700/2100
EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
LTE version will be available depending on the region. Processor
1.2 GHz Dual Core Processor Display
4.65″ 1280X720 HD Super AMOLED OS
Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich Camera
Main(Rear) : 5 MP AF with LED Flash with zero shutter lag and fast shot2shot
Sub (Front) : 1.3MP for Video Call Video
Codec : MPEG4/H.263/H.264
Playback : 1080p@ 30fps
Recording : 1080p Full HD Video@ 30fps Audio
Codec : MP3/AAC/AAC?/eAAC?
3.5mm Ear Jack Google™Mobile Services
Android Market™, Gmail™, Google Earth™, YouTube™, Movie Studio
Google Maps™ 5.0 with 3D maps and turn-by-turn navigation
Syncing with Google Calendar™, Google? app Connectivity
Bluetooth® technology v 3.0
USB 2.0
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/ 5GHz)
NFC Sensor
Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, Light, Proximity, Barometer Memory
1GB(RAM) ? 16GB/ 32GB Internal memory Size
135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94mm, 135g Battery
Standard battery, Li-on 1,750 mAh
[nggallery id=78]
The Galaxy Nexus looks fantastic on paper and the demo of the phone’s camera was impressive, but I’m concerned about the processor. A pair of friends at the event told me (via SMS) that the phone has the typical Android lag. I found that odd considering that Android 4.0 is supposed to support hardware acceleration. With that in mind, it’s interesting that Samsung didn’t list the processor type — specifically the GPU — on the press release. I wonder if it’s a slightly older GPU that’s struggling with the 720p graphics.
Having said that, my colleagues raved about the screen, saying that it finally brings Samsung’s awesome Super AMOLED screen tech to a higher resolution. I can’t wait to see how text looks on this baby! One of them loved the new camera interface, while the other preferred the iPhone 4S’ photo software.
The Android 4.0 demos at the presser were mostly impressive. I’m loving the new design and digging several new features. Although I have concerns about the GPU, getting the first Ice Cream Sandwich phone — one that’s guaranteed to get the last updates straight away — is terribly appealing. An excellent camera and a 720p screen are also enticing.
