Sony Computer Entertainment of America has announced God of War III pre-order promotion in conjunction with 7-Eleven. If you pre-order the game in the land of Big Gulps and Slurpees, you’ll get a nifty God of War III poster (pictured above).
It’s a nice promotion, but it got me wondering about the viability of 7-Eleven as a game retailer. I’ve never gone to the store for anything but unhealthy snacks. How about you? Have any of you purchased games at 7-Eleven?
Here’s a friendly reminder that Amazon has one year of Xbox Live Gold on sale for $34.99. The deal is good until January 16. Even if you still have several months left on your subscription, this is a great price to extend your service for another year. Plus, it would help out my site!
As a frequent flyer, I’ve always wanted a nerd bandolier to hold my BlackBerry, (Sim-less) iPhone, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and digital camera. It would make organization and security lines so much easier. For the former, I’d have easy access to my gadgets on the airplane. For the latter, I’d just take off my bandolier, put it on the screening belt, and sling it back on after it’s scanned. Plus, it would make me look like a geeky version of Chewbacca.
A friend of mine that’s familiar with my vision pointed me to Setgo’s Transport. This is almost what I want. It doesn’t look quite as cool as Chewbacca’s trusty strap, but it will get the job done. Perhaps I’ll give it a go on my next international flight. For the record, I would only use this for travel. Wearing this on a subway, bus, or crowded urban area would be foolish. You might as well wear a sign that says, “Mug Me!!!”
If any of you know of a nerd bandolier, please let me know!
Nintendo has announced that the Netflix movie service will be available for its Wii console this spring. Already available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems, the streaming movie service has been one of the most popular non-gaming features on consoles. Now it will be available on the most popular console in the world. Today’s press release stated:
Netflix is scheduled to go live on the Wii console this spring in the United States at no additional cost to Netflix members who have a plan starting at $8.99 a month, a Wii console and a broadband Internet connection.
I’m curious to see how Netflix will do on the Wii. Obviously the installed base is enormous, but I wonder how many casual gamers even have their systems connected to the Internet. For enthusiasts gamers that have multiple consoles, there’s no reason to use the service on the visually challenged (but environmentally friendly *snicker*) console; they’d be better of using the PS3 or Xbox 360 for a superior image. I’m sure Netflix will do well on the system, but I’m not sure how well.
Any thoughts on the matter?
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, Lane Kiffin jumping from Tennessee to USC, Conan O’Brien vs. Jay Leno, or what Jose Canseco injected into you, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The box art for Heavy Rain has been getting a lot of criticism from American enthusiast gamers. A lot of of them feel that the European version is vastly superior and Americans are getting the shaft by out-of-touch marketers. Personally, I like both boxes and don’t see what the big deal is, but I’m reminded of a situation where I did care: Ico.
The American box art for Ico sucked and I was jealous that gamers around the world had a prettier version. It’s a bit irrational, for sure. The game wasn’t any better or worse because of the box. Sony certainly didn’t care if the box made its customers happy since they already bought the game. The majority of gamers didn’t care or didn’t know that there was better box art in other lands. All that said, for a small group of people this was a huge deal. In retrospect, I’m not even sure why the whole thing bothered me so much. Capricious youth?
Today I wanted to see how you felt about box art for games. Does your blood boil when cooler art is available in Europe or Japan? Or do you not care at all?
Ah, the drama surrounding NBC’s late-night programming — it’s like 1992 all over again! This time around, NBC awarded the outstanding Conan O’Brien with The Tonight Show, but aims to bring Jay Leno back to the 11:35 time slot for a half-hour program. This would move O’Brien’s show to 12:05 and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon even later.
I must admit that I’m biased and greatly prefer O’Brien over Leno, but I don’t see how anyone can think this is anything but a dick move on NBC’s part. It’s disrespectful and discourteous, even more so than the aforementioned Leno/Letterman struggle after Johnny Carson’s retirement (watch the excellent movie The Late Shift for more info). I’m completely behind O’Brien on this one and I hope that he gets everything he wants.
Check out O’Brien’s full statement and let me know which side you’re on (please)!
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
I’m pretty sure that none of you are interested in Style Savvy for Nintendo DS, but a few of you will want to check out these photos of Beyonce filming a commercial for the game. She’s beautiful and talented…and according to a certain hip-hop artist is responsible for one of the greatest videos of all time. According to the press materials:
Beyonce has fun during filming of two upcoming commercials for Style Savvy, a new fashion game for the portable Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, in Long Island City, New York. Five designs from the real-life Dereon clothing line co-created by Beyonce and her mother, designer Tina Knowles, will be available for download in Style Savvy in the coming months.
Well, I’m glad she had fun. Ha!
A group of California State University San Bernardino students have made their way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace with an old-school shooter called VectorForce. The effort is part of the school’s computer systems game development program. According to Game Politics:
The arcade-styled shooter took two years to create and involved over a dozen students in all, who worked on the project under the tutelage of Professors Art Concepcion and David Turner. Student Mark Chapman took on the role of the game’s designer.
I will download this game on principle and as part of my new year’s resolution. C’mon guys (and gals)! Let’s support these kids!
Sony has unveiled the official box art for Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain. A lot of you are looking forward to this game (me too!) and the box art should get those fires burning even higher. Check it out and let me know what you think (please)!
This nifty God of War Collection video from Japan shows footage of the same scenes on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Plus, it’s always fun to look at this excellent series…especially in a foreign language. It’s like watching The Three Stooges in French — it’s just a whole other kind of brilliant.
