What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I want to be playing Enslaved and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow this weekend. A bunch of my industry friends are done or nearly done with these games and their reactions are all over the place. I need to see what all the fuss is about.  The bad news is that I’m hitting the road, so no PS3 or Xbox 360 for me. Good thing I’ll have my trusty DS and Pokemon SoulSilver to keep me busy on the airplane. Plus, I want to download a new Mew and start EV training him.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

T-Mobile G2 Review Center

After spending two weeks with the T-Mobile G2, I have a new favorite Android phone. It beats out the Motorola Droid X as my favorite Android phone of 2010 (by a really slim margin). I love the HSPA+ Internet speeds, form factor, zippy CPU/GPU, and vanilla-ish Android. I love that it will be getting WiFi calling and tethering in the near future. That said, it’s not perfect. I wish it had a bigger screen and noise-canceling microphones. Since I’m a Swype guy, the G2’s quality keyboard is wasted on me. I’d also trade the optical trackpad in favor of larger capacitive buttons. Those complaints aside, the T-Mobile G2 would be my first choice if I were buying an Android phone today.

If you want more details, be sure to check out all three parts of my review.

As always, please let me know if I didn’t cover any aspects of the phone you want more info on. I’ll try to answer your questions in the comments section.

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Tweetdeck and Skype Available For Android (And I’m Not Happy)

In the past, I wrote about how Skype and Tweetdeck for Android would be perfect for me. Today, Tweetdeck went out of beta and is now available in the Android Market. Recently Skype became available on the Android Market too. I should be overjoyed, no? The problem is, the Android versions of these apps aren’t as good as their iOS equivalents.

I love having custom columns in the desktop and iOS versions of Tweetdeck. Even though I only follow 99 people at a given time, sorting through tweets can be arduous in single-column view. Tweetdeck allows me to divide the people I follow into different categories. Unfortunately, I don’t see away to use my custom columns in the Android version (unless I’m missing something).

Skype is similarly gimped. The Android version doesn’t allow you to make calls over 3G or send international text messages. The latter feature is really important to me. The four major wireless carriers in America grossly overcharge for international texts. Skype’s rates are much more reasonable.

*sigh* Hopefully the features I want will get implemented soon. I was hoping for feature parity between Android and iOS apps, but it looks like the Android versions of several major apps will be two steps behind (like that crappy Def Leppard song).

New Splatterhouse Screens Feature Blood and Splattering

Namco Bandai has released a batch of new screens for the upcoming Splatterhouse. A modernization of the classic beat-’em-up arcade game (also popular on TurboGrafx-16), I had fun checking out Splatterhouse for Shacknews at E3 2010. The art is super stylish and the gameplay offers ludicrous violent.

Check out the screens and let me know what you think (please)!

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Netflix for PlayStation 3 Will Go Discless on October 18

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that Netflix for Playstation 3 will no longer require a disc starting October 18, 2010. A few other features have been added as well. Here are the bullet points from the press release:

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that Netflix for Playstation 3 will no longer require a disc starting October 18, 2010. A few other features have been added as well. Here are the bullet points from the press release:

  • Movies and TV shows from Netflix will be accessible from PS3’s XMB menu under a new Netflix icon under the Video category. To access Netflix, PS3 owners will need to sign-in with their PlayStation®Network account.
  • Support for Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel surround sound will enable users to experience premium-quality audio.
  • A new user interface, including the recently added search functionality, will deliver a much richer and faster browsing experience, making it easier to find the specific titles you’re looking for or to discover new content.
  • Some movies and TV shows will be viewable in 1080i resolution, offering an enhanced visual experience as more consumers adopt HDTVs.
  • The amount of time to start playback will be improved.
  • An increasing number of movies and TV shows will be viewable with subtitles or alternate audio tracks.

This is certainly more convenient than using a silly disc, but I mostly posted this story because the word discless sounds funny.

Opera Mobile Browser Coming to Android “Within a Month”

Opera Software has announced that it will be bringing its Opera Mobile web browser to the Google Android platform within a month. The browser, not to be confused with the more limited Opera Mini, will support hardware acceleration for a smoother experience.

I’ve mainly used the stock browser on the Android phones I’ve had. I tried Dolphin HD because a few of my friends wouldn’t shut up about how awesome it was. I thought it was good, but not any better than the stock browser (for my purposes, anyway). For some reason, I’m intrigued by Opera Mobile for Android. Anyone else interested?

Source

Dance Central Track List Revealed

Harmonix and MTV Games have revealed the complete song list for the upcoming Xbox 360 Kinect game Dance Central. This November you’ll be able to shake your booty to the following:

Harmonix and MTV Games have revealed the complete song list for the upcoming Xbox 360 Kinect game Dance Central. This November you’ll be able to shake your booty to the following:

  • Audio Push – “Teach Me How To Jerk”
  • Basement Jaxx – “Rendez-vu”
  • Beastie Boys – “Body Movin’ (Fatboy Slim Remix)”
  • Beenie Man – “King Of The Dancehall”
  • Bell Biv DeVoe – “Poison”
  • Benny Benassi – “Satisfaction”
  • Cascada – “Evacuate the Dancefloor”
  • Christina Milian – “Dip It Low”
  • The Commodores – “Brick House”
  • Craig Mack – “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)”
  • Dirty Vegas – “Days Go By”
  • Eric B. & Rakim – “Don’t Sweat the Technique”
  • Fannypack – “Hey Mami”
  • Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne – “Down”
  • Kool & The Gang – “Jungle Boogie”
  • Kylie Minogue – “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”
  • Lady Gaga – “Just Dance”
  • Lady Gaga – “Poker Face”
  • Lipps Inc – “Funky Town”
  • M.I.A. – “Galang ‘05”
  • Nelly Furtado – “Maneater”
  • Nina Sky – “Move Ya Body”
  • No Doubt – “Hella Good”
  • Pitbull – “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
  • Quad City DJ’s – “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)”
  • Rihanna – “Pon de Replay”
  • Salt-N-Pepa – “Push It”
  • Snoop Dogg/Pharrell – “Drop It Like It’s Hot”
  • Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”
  • Technotronic – “Pump Up the Jam”
  • Wreckx-n-Effect – “Rump Shaker”
  • Young MC – “Bust A Move”

As I mentioned last June, Dance Central was one of the coolest things I saw at E3 2010. It’s one of two Kinect games that actually looks interesting.

Are any of you planning to pick up Dance Central? What songs are you looking forward to playing? “Brick House” is aweome!

Coffee Talk #228: Game Delays That Break Your Heart

Sony has announced that Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed…again. It’s comical at this point, but I’m trying not to laugh because I have the utmost respect for Polyphony Digital. The delay got me thinking about other delays. Have you ever had your heart broken by a game delay? Was there a game that you wanted so badly that its delay crushed your soul?

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 Chilean miner saga, Gilbert Arenas faking an injury so a teammate could play, or your favorite park, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Sony has announced that Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed…again. It’s comical at this point, but I’m trying not to laugh because I have the utmost respect for Polyphony Digital. The delay got me thinking about other delays. Have you ever had your heart broken by a game delay? Was there a game that you wanted so badly that its delay crushed your soul?

Today’s Coffee Talk is another gamer therapy session. Share your sad stories and let’s try to help each other get past some painful game-delay memories.

Faster Trailer (Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson)

Here’s the trailer for Faster, starring former WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It shows off his natural chops as an action star, but is darker than his other movies. There’s blood, shooting, stabbing, and more. While I think The Rock is a fantastic comedian, most people prefer him as an action star. Faster looks like a great movie for fans of The Rock.

Let me know what you think of the trailer when you have a moment.

SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 DLC Announced: Nexus, NXT, and More!

THQ has announced details for the first two batches of DLC for the upcoming SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 (aka the game with the best writing in the world). I’m going to get all Michael Cole on you now. May I have your attention please? I have a press release from the general manager. It says, and I quote:

The first downloadable content package for Fan Axxess, currently scheduled for release this holiday season, will include WWE Legends British Bulldog and Lex Luger; WWE Superstars Wade Barrett, David Otunga and Justin Gabriel; WWE Diva Layla; alternate ring gear for WWE Superstars Shawn Michaels and Shad; and a playable WWE NXT arena. The downloadable content package will be included as part of the Fan Axxess program, as well as sold separately for the anticipated cost of 560 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE or $6.99 on PlayStation Network.

The second downloadable content package for Fan Axxess, currently scheduled for release in early 2011, will include alternate ring gear for WWE Superstars John Cena, Undertaker and CM Punk, as well as a playable WCW arena. The downloadable content package will be included as part of the Fan Axxess program, as well as sold separately for the anticipated cost of 240 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE or $2.99 on PlayStation Network.

I’m definitely interested in the first DLC batch. Most of you know that I’m a big Shawn Michaels mark. I also love Justin Gabriel’s 450 splash (which is almost as good as Austin Aries‘). The second one…I think I’ll pass.

Any of you interested in either DLC pack? Do you find it weird that DLC pricing and details are announced before the game is even out? Does it give you the “well why isn’t it in the game?” feeling?