Sprint has announced that it will be offering the Google Nexus One phone, featuring Android 2.1, some time in the future. The company said that it will announce the exact release date “soon” and that pricing has yet to be determined. In today’s press release, Sprint vice president of product development Fared Adib said:
While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint’s commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple.
The Nexus One was originally available for T-Mobile, with a Verizon version of the phone promised at a future date. Yesterday I wrote about the phone being available for AT&T. With Sprint’s announcement, Google’s Android 2.1 champion product will be available for all four major carriers in the United States.
Any Sprint customers in the house tempted by the Nexus One?
Here’s a hot rumor for you…or perhaps I should say a cool and small rumor — it looks like the Xbox 360 is getting the “slim” treatment. A9VG has posted a photo of what appears to be a newly designed Xbox 360 board that uses new chips and an updated design. Here’s what Kotaku had to say about the board:
The pic above shows the board in question, with the chip part of a rumoured redesign for the Xbox 360 console, testing of which has recently been completed in China. This isn’t simply a new board for the existing hardware, either; it’s reportedly a total redesign of the console. Think the PS3 Slim, only…for an Xbox 360.
My Xbox 360 Elite has been going strong for a little over a year after being replaced once. However, I’m always interested in newer models that use less power and up the reliability. It’s easy to sell a console for a good price on eBay, so making a switch isn’t a big deal to me.
How about you ladies and gents? Would you be interested in a slimmed down Xbox 360?
Left-handed gamers looking for a competitive edge will want to check out Razer’s DeathAdder Left Hand Edition. It offers the high-tech precision Razer is known for and couples it with an ergonomic design that lefties will enjoy. Here’s what Razer USA president Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff had to say about the new product:
Leftie gamers have long been requesting that we develop a gaming grade mouse that is designed exclusively for the left-handed gaming community and we really value the feedback we receive from our fans. Not many gamers know this, but I am a southpaw myself and feel truly excited to have a mouse that fits perfectly in my left hand. There is really no substitute for gaming with your naturally dominant hand.
It’s nice to see that Krakoff is a leftie, like President Obama, President Clinton, and me! Although I do most things leftie (get your mind out of the gutter!), I actually use a mouse with my right hand. This is a bit disappointing since I’ve always wanted to pull an Inigo Montoya, break even at the start of a competitive match, and say, “I know something you do not know. I am not right handed!”
Are any of you guys and gals leftie? If so, are you interested in the DeathAdder Left Hand Edition?
Today’s Coffee Talk is a suggestion from RPadholic N8R. What’s your favorite videogame cliche? To stick with N8R’s examples, are you a fan of doors that lead to nowhere? Do you love how waterfalls are used to hide important objects?
As for me, I’m a huge fan of barrels, boxes, and crates in role-playing games. Who puts treasure in barrels? Why do adventurers think it’s okay to break and plunder every crate they come across? It’s not like I’ve ever read townspeople in an R.A. Salvatore book say, “Oh crap. It’s that Drizz’t guy again. Better hide the crates before he and Bruenor wreck everything!” Yet for some reason, it’s totally acceptable in games.
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, Siobhan Magnus slaying it on American Idol, Bryan Danielson’s losing streak on NXT, or Jeff Hardy’s latest day in court, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Today’s Coffee Talk is a suggestion from RPadholic N8R. What’s your favorite videogame cliche? To stick with N8R’s examples, are you a fan of doors that lead to nowhere? Do you love how waterfalls are used to hide important objects?
As for me, I’m a huge fan of barrels, boxes, and crates in role-playing games. Who puts treasure in barrels? Why do adventurers think it’s okay to break and plunder every crate they come across? It’s not like I’ve ever read townspeople in an R.A. Salvatore book say, “Oh crap. It’s that Drizz’t guy again. Better hide the crates before he and Bruenor wreck everything!” Yet for some reason, it’s totally acceptable in games.
[Tangent: Computers are a modern-day equivalent of crates. My friend and I love playing as Wolverine in X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, just so we can shred every computer we come across. In our heads, Logan is frustrated that he never learned how to “work a computer” and goes into a berserker rage every time he sees a PC. This is a lot funnier is you’re actually playing the game with me.]
So tell your fellow readers and me about your favorite videogame cliches! This should be a fun one. I can’t wait to read your comments!
Today’s poll is designed to help you get all your hate out. For various reasons, many enthusiast gamers are down on the burgeoning trends of motion controls and 3D gaming. As a writer, they’re interesting topics to cover and new subjects to explore. I’m bummed that a lot of “hardcore” gamers aren’t digging them (yet). Which one do you dislike more? Put down the Haterade, take the poll, and explain your choice in the comments section if you have time.
The Google Nexus One is now available with 3G support for AT&T in America and Rogers in Canada. This opens up Google’s Android 2.1 champion to millions of customers in North America. With a CDMA version passed by the FCC and rumored to be heading to Verizon as early as next week, the Nexus One will finally be in a position to do some damage (real marketing would help too!).
I know that some of you are on AT&T and a few of you are anti-iPhone. Are you interested in the latest version of the Nexus One?
Despite what some outlets have reported, I didn’t spend my “entire” time at GDC 2010 snooping for Nintendo information. One of the coolest things I saw at the show was stereoscopic 3D gaming on the PlayStation 3. This was a big deal at CES 2010, but I didn’t attend that show so I couldn’t experience it for myself. After seeing a few PlayStation 3 games in 3D, I must say that the tech is really cool and adds a new kind of fun.
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, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on Monday Night Raw, Tiger Woods returning to golf at The Masters, or Agassi vs. Sampras, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Despite what some outlets have reported, I didn’t spend my “entire” time at GDC 2010 snooping for Nintendo information. One of the coolest things I saw at the show was stereoscopic 3D gaming on the PlayStation 3. This was a big deal at CES 2010, but I didn’t attend that show so I couldn’t experience it for myself. After seeing a few PlayStation 3 games in 3D, I must say that the tech is really cool and adds a new kind of fun.
That said, I still have a lot of concerns about stereoscopic 3D gaming. RPadholic Smartguy pointed out that gamers that wear glasses might find it uncomfortable. I’m concerned about the additional weight on my head and a different type of eye strain limiting my playing sessions. It was totally fine for a few minutes MLB: The Show, but will I be able to pull off FFXIII or Dragon Age sessions with the 3D glasses?
Sony is going full-on with its stereoscopic 3D blitz (interesting story about that…later), but I wanted to see how you felt about this trend. Are you down with 3D gaming? Do you think 3D is the real deal? Or is it a fad that will get buried in a few years?
Sony Computer Entertainment of America has announced a limited-edition bundle for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP). The bundle includes a “spirited green” PSP-3000, a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, and a movie voucher. It carries an MSRP of $199.99 and will be available on June 8, 2010. Here’s some more info from the press release:
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker game on UMD — Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker marks the return of the world-renowned stealth-action series. Hand-crafted by series creator Hideo Kojima, the all-new sequel delivers an original game design, story, and scenario as it picks up where Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for the PlayStation 2 system leaves off
PlayStation Network downloadable movie voucher (U.S. residents only; title to be announced)
2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo — Leverages the PSP system’s multimedia functionality by storing photos, music, videos, and game saves
I totally dig the Peace Walker PSP’s color, but it’s not enough to get me to buy another PSP. I totally would have gone for a camouflage PSP Go, but that bundle would be too pricey for a lot of gamers. Any of you tempted by the “spirited green” PSP bundle?
Warning: this is going to be one of those “selfish” editions of Coffee Talk. You see, I had a pretty amazing time at GDC. The networking was fantastic — I bumped into hundreds of fantastic developers and great friends. I really enjoyed spending time in my old home city, San Francisco. It was just a wonderful blend of people, places, and circumstances…that was tarnished by two people from VGChartz. Before I get to that, let’s take a trip back to 2005.
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, Manny Pacquiao dominating Joshua Clottey, America screwing over Alex Lambert, or David Beckham missing the World Cup, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
VGChartz PR manager Brian Zucker says I have no credibility.
Warning: this is going to be one of those “selfish” editions of Coffee Talk. You see, I had a pretty amazing time at GDC. The networking was fantastic — I bumped into hundreds of fantastic developers and great friends. I really enjoyed spending time in my old home city, San Francisco. It was just a wonderful blend of people, places, and circumstances…that was tarnished by two people from VGChartz. Before I get to that, let’s take a trip back to 2005.
Right around GDC 2005, I posted the biggest story of my career. It was a three-part series on the console that would become the Xbox 360. I was either one of the first people or the first person to reveal features like achievements, gamercards, gamerscores, and gamertags. I worked hard on the story and was very proud of it.
Kotaku’s Brian Crecente totally ripped the third part of the feature. To be completely honest, he was absolutely right to do so. My editor…strongly suggested a third part just to get more page views. I hated writing that fluff after two highly informative pieces. All that aside, I was still annoyed that Crecente dismissed the first two parts of the feature as “some new information”. Some new information?!? Bullsh*t. I revealed a ton of facts and features that were only known by Microsoft and its software partners at the time.
Okay, back to the future (1.21 gigawatts!). The site has been getting great traffic since Friday thanks to a story I wrote about the successor to the Nintendo DS. Yes, I traded my “verbal entertainer” outfit for a journalist’s hat and got some pretty cool results. The story capped off a great week at GDC 2010…or so I thought. I was pissed off to learn that two people from VGChartz wrote negative things about my story, my site, and me on N4G.
First up was public relations manager Brian Zucker who wrote:
Im at GDC 2010 right now and this story is completely false. rpad.tv lost all credibility before it had any.
Yes, a guy with “public relations” in his title actually wrote that unsubstantiated and libelous comment backed up by nothing.
Here’s a follow-up comment from his coworker, community manager and senior editor Nick Pantazis:
This is completely fake. I’m also at GDC, the Nintendo reps here are completely uninvolved with the future of the DS and its development. This is 100% made-up on the spot. Do not support this website with hits.
VGChartz senior editor Nick Pantazis says I make stories up and you shouldn't read this site.
I guess Pantazis didn’t bother to read the part of the article where I said that none of the information came from Nintendo. Since he asked some rep at Nintendo’s booth about the article and he/she denied it, Pantazis felt it was okay to accuse me of making up the story and tell people not to go to my site.
VGChartz is a popular site and a great resource. It’s annoying that the company allows its employees to make accusations based on idiocy. It’s completely unprofessional. One of my friends said that I should cut these two a break since they’re college kids and I’ve been writing about games since before they hit puberty. I’m sorry. I can’t. I’m proud of what I’ve done over the years and I’m not going to let two children from a popular web site piss all over it.
When Brian Zucker has entertained and served as many readers as I have, then he can question my credibility. When Nick Pantazis questions all the developers I spoke to about the DS successor, then he can accuse me of making up stories and tell people not to visit my site. Until then, both of them should stop making baseless accusations and shut the hell up.
I stopped by BioWare’s suite at GDC 2010 to check out Dragon Age: Origins Awakening. Most of you know that Dragon Age was my favorite game of 2009 and I played through that sucker four times. As much as I love the Final Fantasy and Pokemon series, those games will have to take a backseat to this expansion pack. I already know that I’m going to love it, but in the spirit of my friend Augustine’s binary system, here’s a preview of the expansion using two categories: good and bad.
Good: Accompanying Awakening is a title update that will fix several issues with the original game. One of the biggest glitches it will patch is the dreaded dexterity bug in dagger-damage calculation. This bug made dexterity-based rogues far less effective than they should have been.
Bad: Players that went with cunning rogues will be steamed that their carefully crafted thieves will not be able to exploit the dexterity fix out of the box.
Good: Thankfully, the expansion has tomes that will allow you to redistribute character stats and specs. Keebler, my city elf rogue, will be deadlier than ever by the end of the week.
Bad: I don’t care if intelligent, talking darkspawn are supposed to be menacing. They (pictured in the header image) still look like evil raisins to me.
Good: Several characters will make cameo appearances in Awakening. Those of you keeping up with the expansion’s trailers already know that Alistair takes a break from ruling Ferelden to check up on your party.
Bad: Only Oghren returns as a playable character. I understand that new blood needs to be introduced and I’m looking forward to adventuring with the new characters, but I got super attached to Leliana, Shale, and Dog. I’m sure that those of you that worked hard to avoid the Leliana romance glitch will be disappointed that the sexy Orlesian bard will not playable.
Good: Fans of the original game will want to play the expansion at least twice. If you play as your original Dragon Age character, you’re viewed as the hero of Ferelden. People will treat your favorably and there should be some nice perks you can enjoy during Awakening. You can also start from scratch and play as a grey warden from Orlais. Some people will view you as an outsider, remembering the harsh treatment Ferelden received during the Orlesian occupation.
Good: There are loads of new talents and skills to enjoy. Characters will be able to craft their own enchantments (enchantment!). Bow slingers will get to abuse a new area-of-effect attack. As a rogue fan, I saw some outstanding defensive and offensive skills that left me drooling. Realizing that mages were ridiculously powerful in the original, BioWare wanted to beef up the other classes in the expansion.
Good: Enchantments (enchantment!) can be used in armor now!
Good: The dialogue seems well done. The characters had lots of great banter, with Oghren and Anders providing excellent comedy to Mhairi’s straight woman.
Good: Speaking of Mhairi, she was apparently requested by Dragon Age fans. All the tanks in the original were male. Mhairi will show that women can tank with the best of them.
Good: Each class has two new specializations to learn. It’s the same deal as the original; specializations can either be learned from other characters or through tomes.
Good: You have a new base of operations called Vigil’s Keep. No more crappy campsites for you and your party!
Bad: Vigil’s Keep requires some management. You can fortify its defenses or keep the local peasants happy. Sure, you can let your seneschal take care of things, but you really ought to do this yourself. It’s cool that it adds another activity to an already deep game, but it’s bad because it takes time away from killing evil raisins that are threatening the land.
Good: Since you’re the new commander of the grey wardens, you’ll be able to recruit new members to the cause. This includes busting out the right of conscription.
Bad: As you know, becoming a grey warden requires a ceremony that some of your recruits will not survive. I’m not even attached to the new characters in Awakening and I’m already sad that some of them will not make it to the end.
My binary preview is over, but I’ll be writing about the game a ton (not reviewing it!) as I play through it. I’m sure I’m going to have a blast and I hope some of you play it too so that we can chat it up. Is it Tuesday yet?!?
(PSP). The bundle includes a “spirited green” PSP-3000, a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, and a movie voucher. It carries an MSRP of $199.99 and will be available on June 8, 2010. Here’s some more info from the press release:
