(Not a) PSA: Best Buy Giving Away Free TweetDeck App

In one of the boldest marketing moves I’ve seen all decade, Best Buy is giving away the excellent TweetDeck application for free! Of course the application is free to begin with, but maybe some of Best Buy’s customers don’t know that and will fall for this lame “deal”. The Consumerist has reported:

They’re offering an amazing deal this week — buy a CD from certain Interscope musicians, and you can download Tweetdeck for iPhone absolutely free. Which would be a very nice deal if Tweetdeck weren’t already free.  Actually, the custom version of Tweetdeck comes pre-loaded following sixteen Interscope musicians, so it’s even less of a deal.

That’s funny and dickish of Best Buy at the same time. Oh marketers and their ploys….

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Capcom Will Leave Sequels to the Round Eyes

Citing disappointment with Bionic Commando, Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto said that he has reevaluated the role Western developers will play in the company’s games. At a recent Q&A session he said:

Our experience with Bionic Commando has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new title to overseas companies. We are considering ways to separate the roles of activities in Japan and overseas. We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan. Overseas companies may be used mostly to develop titles for existing game series with well-established characters and universal themes. Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or lineups of such games.

Japan is a pretty xenophobic culture (though that’s changing somewhat with the younger generation) so I’m not at all surprised by these comments. Having said that, there are a number of Eastern-Western partnerships that have worked well. In Capcom’s case, Bionic Commando has become too important if it’s going to affect the company’s future development strategies. While I generally prefer games developed in Japan, I think it would be foolish not to explore true collaborative efforts that combine the best of both regions.

What do you think of Tsujimoto-san’s stance on Western developers?

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Capcom Will Leave Sequels to the Round Eyes

Citing disappointment with Bionic Commando, Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto said that he has reevaluated the role Western developers will play in the company’s games. At a recent Q&A session he said:

Our experience with Bionic Commando has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new title to overseas companies. We are considering ways to separate the roles of activities in Japan and overseas. We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan. Overseas companies may be used mostly to develop titles for existing game series with well-established characters and universal themes. Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or lineups of such games.

Japan is a pretty xenophobic culture (though that’s changing somewhat with the younger generation) so I’m not at all surprised by these comments. Having said that, there are a number of Eastern-Western partnerships that have worked well. In Capcom’s case, Bionic Commando has become too important if it’s going to affect the company’s future development strategies. While I generally prefer games developed in Japan, I think it would be foolish not to explore true collaborative efforts that combine the best of both regions.

What do you think of Tsujimoto-san’s stance on Western developers?

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“I’m on a Mac” Gives Apple the Auto-tune Treatment

This excellent “I’m on a Mac” video is a parody of The Lonely Planet’s “I’m on a Boat”. It’s cute and clever. More importantly, it shows how utterly ridiculous auto-tune is. I absolutely hate the effect and its overuse in today’s popular music. I blame Cher for making it so popular.

Anyway, check out the video and let me know what you think (please)!

Coffee Talk #55: Your Favorite Gambling Minigames

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, what the hell happened to the Minnesota Vikings, WWE hyping Bret Hart’s return to Raw, or the best things to do with leftover turkey, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to Atlantic City with my family. I’m Asian, ergo gambling is in my blood. I actually spent the better part of 2001 earning money in blackjack and video poker. Although I don’t gamble as much as I used to (in casinos, life is another matter), I’ve always loved gambling and card-based minis in videogames.

Out of all the minigame distractions I’ve enjoyed over the years, my favorite would have to be Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII. It’s a fun card game that was great for a distraction from the RPG grind and actually had an impact on gameplay. Its simple and addictive nature proved to be so popular that several fans created downloadable versions of the game. While it’s not as exhilarating as going on a hot card-counting run at Binion’s Horseshoe, it doesn’t require a bankroll and you won’t lose money on a bad run.

What are some of your favorite gambling or card-based minigames? Let me know and I’ll try to reply from the road on my BlackBerry!

Nokia Sales Rep Flat-Out Lies to a Customer?

I was playing with a Nokia N900 at a small booth in Roosevelt Field Mall when I heard a most interesting conversation. A customer was interested in the N900, but wanted to stay with AT&T. At first I was alarmed that someone in NY actually wanted to stay with AT&T, but the Nokia sales rep’s words quickly knocked that thought out of my head. He told the customer that the N900 doesn’t support AT&T 3G, but a firmware update in Q1 will correct that.

The N900’s 3G radio supports the 900/1700/2100 WCDMA frequencies. This is great if you’re a T-Mobile customer, because the company’s 3G uses the 1700/2100 MHz bands. For AT&T customers — like the one curious about the N900 — the N900’s 3G radio is pretty useless since the company uses 850/1900 MHz for 3G. Nokia’s FCC filing for the N900 (PDF link) does not mention support for AT&T’s 3G frequencies.

Perhaps the sales rep was talking about an advanced type of firmware that physically changes the mobile radio in your phone (with magic nano-elves of course). Or maybe he was trying to be all hush-hush about it since Nokia didn’t mention support of the 850/1900 MHz bands in its FCC filing (how dastardly!).

Just for the hell of it, I called Nokia telesales to ask if the N900 would be able to support AT&T 3G through future firmware updates. The telesales rep told me that it’s not possible since it’s a hardware issue and not a software issue.

What do you guys and gals think? Was the Nokia funployee at Roosevelt Field lying to the customer for a quick sale? Or was he just stupid? And yes, that is a photo of the actual booth with the reps’ faces blurred out.

Nokia Sales Rep Flat-Out Lies to a Customer?

I was playing with a Nokia N900 at a small booth in Roosevelt Field Mall when I heard a most interesting conversation. A customer was interested in the N900, but wanted to stay with AT&T. At first I was alarmed that someone in NY actually wanted to stay with AT&T, but the Nokia sales rep’s words quickly knocked that thought out of my head. He told the customer that the N900 doesn’t support AT&T 3G, but a firmware update in Q1 will correct that.

The N900’s 3G radio supports the 900/1700/2100 WCDMA frequencies. This is great if you’re a T-Mobile customer, because the company’s 3G uses the 1700/2100 MHz bands. For AT&T customers — like the one curious about the N900 — the N900’s 3G radio is pretty useless since the company uses 850/1900 MHz for 3G. Nokia’s FCC filing for the N900 (PDF link) does not mention support for AT&T’s 3G frequencies.

Perhaps the sales rep was talking about an advanced type of firmware that physically changes the mobile radio in your phone (with magic nano-elves of course). Or maybe he was trying to be all hush-hush about it since Nokia didn’t mention support of the 850/1900 MHz bands in its FCC filing (how dastardly!).

Just for the hell of it, I called Nokia telesales to ask if the N900 would be able to support AT&T 3G through future firmware updates. The telesales rep told me that it’s not possible since it’s a hardware issue and not a software issue.

What do you guys and gals think? Was the Nokia funployee at Roosevelt Field lying to the customer for a quick sale? Or was he just stupid? And yes, that is a photo of the actual booth with the reps’ faces blurred out.

Photo Blast From the Past: Babbage’s


I fondly remember shopping for Infocom games at Babbage’s and Software Etc. when I was a kid. These days, GameStop is the only major videogame specialty retailer that operates nationally. I wasn’t aware that GameStop still used the Babbage’s name, so I was a little shocked when I saw this old brand in a relatively new mall. Naturally, I had to snap a photo.

No Electronics on International Flights to the U.S.?

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is such a stupid and reactive organization. I hate it. I hate that because one idiot attempted to “shoe bomb” an airplane and another tried smuggle aboard liquid explosives, millions and millions of travelers have been inconvenienced. Instead of implementing better technology that screens passengers more effectively, the TSA makes idiotic rules that make travel more annoying and time consuming. I was reading about some of the new TSA actions on FlyerTalk‘s message boards and was shocked the learn that electronics are currently banned on international flights.

Due to that Yemeni-trained moron that tried to blow up Detroit — and yes, he’s absolutely a moron for targeting a city that has become so minor due to rampant crime and dreadful unemployment — it looks like electronics will not be allowed on international flights headed for U.S. destinations. That’s right, some travelers have reported that they were not allowed to use electronic devices at all during flights headed to America. What’s even more ridiculous is that the restriction isn’t limited to personal electronics — airlines were instructed to turn off their in-flight entertainment, leaving some passengers with nothing to do but sleep for 13+ hours.

Not being able to move during the last hour of a flight is irritating, but somewhat understandable. Further limiting carry-on items is also a drag. Not allowing the use of electronics at all?!? That’s just f&*ing stupid. Hopefully that’s only happening for a few more days and airplane travel will resume its moderately annoying ways shortly.

If anyone from the TSA is reading this, please know that you suck and you’re doing an awful job. If secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano is reading this, please know that you sounded like an inept moron trying to explain the situation on MSNBC.

The only silver lining I can see is that print media might make a comeback. That’s assuming that the TSA doesn’t screw the airline industry more than it’s already screwed. *sigh* And I was just getting used to the joys of in-flight WiFi….

What Are You Playing Over Holiday Break?

Those of us that are lucky enough to have some vacation time during Christmas and New Year’s have an excellent opportunity to catch up on gaming. Whether you’re locking yourself in your “man cave” with your consoles or catching up on PSP or DS titles while visiting friends and family, it’s game time!

As for me, I’m away from my consoles, but that’s cool because I wanted to catch up on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for Nintendo DS and Ghosts Attack for iPhone. I’m totally geeked out that Ghosts Attack will generate one set of maps based on the GPS location of my parents’ house and another based on my apartment’s coordinates. As expected, I played a lot of Civilization Revolution on the airplane…and probably spent another eight hours playing since I’ve been here. Assuming I can stop myself from playing Civ, I wanted to give the iPhone version Song Summoner a shot.

How about you guys and dolls? What are you playing until it’s time to go back to the grind?