WWE Royal Rumble Surprises (and Spoilers!)

WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event had some nice surprises. To briefly recap the PPV, World Heavyweight Champion Edge and WWE Champion The Miz retained their respective titles. Booker T and Diesel (Kevin Nash) surprised the crowd and received huge pops for their participation in the Royal Rumble match. When the dust cleared, Alberto Del Rio emerged as the winner of the Rumble.

It was nice to see Booker and Nash work for their old company, though I hope they’re done. Neither of them are what they used to be. I do think it’s hilarious that Nash dyed his hair to play the Diesel character again; Nash has repeatedly said that he wants to work as a “silver fox” character but Vince McMahon hates his gray hair. I love that WWE went with Del Rio as the winner. He’s relatively new, he does great work in the ring, he’s above average on the mic, and his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez makes me laugh.

Anyway, let me know what you made of Del Rio’s win and the Royal Rumble PPV (please).

Mark Zuckerberg vs. Jesse Eisenberg vs. Andy Samberg

Did you guys and gals catch Jesse Eisenberg’s monologue from Saturday Night Live? Well here it is! The Social Network star is interrupted by SNL’s Andy Samberg playing Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Meanwhile, the real Mark Zuckerberg is backstage and eventually makes his way on stage to join the two men that portray him. It’s cute and geeky. Check it out!

Watch Sony’s Tokyo NGP Press Conference

Sony has posted videos of its NGP press conference from Tokyo. It’s long and in six parts, but it’s definitely worth watching. In addition to Sony executives, developers from Konami, Epic, Sega, and more make appearances. If you have a chance to check out the clips, please share your favorite moments of the presser.

Coffee Talk #294: Celebs You Should Hate, But Actually Like

Confession: I like Ashton Kutcher. On paper, I should loathe him. Punk’d is retarded. A lot of his movies suck. And there was that stretch in the early 2000’s when he annoyingly went to every videogame party in Los Angeles…

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, Timmy Bradley’s disappointing victory, Ozzy Osbourne’s sudden illness, or last-minute international jobs, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Confession: I like Ashton Kutcher. On paper, I should loathe him. Punk’d is retarded. A lot of his movies suck. And there was that stretch in the early 2000’s when he annoyingly went to every videogame party in Los Angeles. (To be fair, it wasn’t just him. Every party had at least on person from That ’70s Show and American Pie.)

The truth is…I find him funny and charming in some of his movies. I’ve enjoyed listening to him talk about his politics (fiscally conservative, socially liberal). I like that he’s perceived as this idiot pretty boy, but is much smarter than he looks. I love that he was one of the first celebrities to use Twitter in a hardcore way. Although his restaurants — Dolce and Geisha House — draw a hipster crowd, they’re actually very good. The Demi Moore thing is pretty cool too.

Ah, I feel better now that I’ve come clean about all of that. Do you have any celebrities you like but, on paper, should hate? Whether they’re from movies, music, or TV, please share your celebrity confessions today!

Nintendo 3DS eShop Delayed Until May: Deal Breaker?

At a recent financial results briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that the Nintendo 3DS eShop will not launch until May 2011. Numerous videogame pundits have criticized Nintendo for not having the online service ready for the 3DS’ launch. Here’s an excerpt from the briefing:

I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of our scheduled system updates of the hardware in detail. The first system update is scheduled for late May, at almost the same time around the world. Upon this update, you will be able to use some features including:

  • Nintendo eShop,
  • Transfer of Nintendo DSiWare from Nintendo DSi to Nintendo 3DS, and
  • Internet Browser.

Does the delay change your 3DS purchasing decision? Are you going to wait until the eShop is ready or are you going buy a 3DS on launch day? Does the delay reinforce Nintendo’s shaky Internet reputation in your mind? Or is the company wisely waiting until it gets things right before it launches the service?

Source

Motrola Shows Off Atrix 4G’s Netbook Features

Motorola has posted a slick video showing off the Atrix 4G’s netbook-like functionality. Some of you will recall that this AT&T Google Android phone has an optional dock that allows it to be used like a laptop computer. While there are several Android phones with dual-core processors and large screens set for release over the next few months, the Atrix stands out from the crowd with its netbook-like functionality.

I’m hoping that Motorola starts a trend with the Atrix. Dockable phones would be very useful. What do you think of the feature and this video?

NGP Developer Buzz: id, Q Entertainment, and Kojima Productions

John Carmack (id Software) posted an interesting tweet on the Sony NGP that said, “Low level APIs will allow the Sony NGP to perform about a generation beyond smart phones with comparable specs.” The tweet reminded me of several Twitter and AIM conversations I had with friends in Japan about the NGP. Contacts at Kojima Productions and Q Entertainment told me that their respective companies are psyched to work on the NGP. One of the reasons both contacts cited is that development will be easy and powerful. Both pointed out that working on the NGP will be much easier than working on the PS3.

Sure it’s early and developers are excited to finally be able to talk about NGP development, but there appears to be something here. A lot of developers struggled in the early days of the PlayStation 3. It took many developers a long time before they could harness the considerable power of the PS3. The early buzz on the NGP is that it will be easy to work with from the get-go. It will be interesting to see what the first generation of NGP games will look like as a whole.

Will the NGP’s purported ease of development combined with Sony’s superior third-party relations give it a better and more diverse catalog than the 3DS? I’m excited to see how it all plays out!

QuakeCon 2011 Dates Announced: August 4-7

Bethesda PR has announced the dates for QuakeCon 2011. This year’s show will take place from August 4 to 7 at The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It still feels weird typing that Bethesda is announcing id events. Ha! Anyway, here are some details from the press release:

QuakeCon will once again host North America’s largest BYOC (Bring-Your-Own-Computer) LAN party, with thousands of gamers hooking their systems up to play on a world-class network.

QuakeCon also offers nonstop fun and entertainment for those that don’t bring their own computers. Bethesda Softworks will offer the first chance anywhere for gamers to get their hands on upcoming titles, and the world’s leading technology companies will be on hand to demonstrate their latest hardware and software in the 45,000 square foot exhibit hall. Every day of QuakeCon is packed with contests, entertainment, announcements, panel discussions, and parties!

QuakeCon is the one major gaming show that I’ve yet to attend but would really like to. Perhaps I’ll go to this year’s show…though August in Texas sounds pretty gross.

How about you? Any of you interested in QuakeCon 2011? Wouldn’t marking out during a John Carmack panel be awesome?!?

How Will Sony Market the NGP?

The upcoming battle between the Nintendo 3DS and Sony NGP will be determined by the marketing — specifically how well Sony is able to convey the capabilities of its system. Remember the first few years of PS3 marketing? They sucked. The commercials, ad campaigns, etc. were wonderfully stylish spots…that didn’t say much and confused the audience. Sony has stepped it up a notch — especially with the excellent Kevin Butler commercials — but the challenge remains.

Nintendo will have a relatively easy time marketing the 3DS. The biggest and most obvious differentiator is its 3D graphics. That’s easy to sell and easy for the audience to understand, particularly casual gamers.

On paper, the NGP is much more diverse and capable, but also much harder to explain in comparison to its competitor. It has a high-resolution five-inch screen with OLED technology. It has a wonderfully advanced CPU and GPU. It has potentially fascinating social features. All of these things are more difficult to explain than 3D graphics — especially to the general consumer.

How do you think Sony will market the NGP? Will it have to outspend Nintendo in order to get consumers to understand why it’s so powerful? Will Sony learn from its mistakes with the PS3 and convey a clear message with the NGP? If you worked for Sony marketing, what aspects of the NGP would you highlight?