Google’s Nexus One Phone Could Disrupt the Market

Google Nexus One

Last Friday, Google gave its employees Nexus One phones, also known as the rumored “Google Phone” coming out in January 2010. Armed with a zippy Snapdragon processor, an OLED screen, and Android OS 2.1, this GSM phone allegedly runs on both AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s 3G bands. One unusual (and cool) feature is that the handset has dual microphones — one for your voice and one for noise cancellation.

The rumor is that Google will be selling these phones directly to the consumer, bypassing mobile providers. Considering that Google has yet to officially confirm that it’s selling the Nexus One, pricing and availability are still TBD. The company has an opportunity to disrupt the market by offering the phone for a low price, hoping to make more money from mobile advertising. That said, most writers are guessing that the phone will be around $399.

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Coffee Talk #46: Favorite Games of 2009 #5 Pokemon Platinum

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, WWE giving Sheamus and Drew McIntyre championships, last Saturday’s fantastic day of boxing, or Accenture dropping Tiger Woods, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned last week, I’ll be counting down my five favorite games of 2009 in this week’s Coffee Talk columns and I’d love for you to join me! Let me know what your favorite games of the year were in the comments section. Remember, this isn’t about what games you thought were “best”. I want to know what you had the most fun with in 2009.

Pokemon Platinum 2

#5 Pokemon Platinum — Yes, I’m a Pokemon addict that has put more than 600 hours into Pokemon Pearl. As someone that loves breeding Pokemon for competitive battling, several of the additions in Pokemon Platinum were “must haves” for me. From move tutors that let you create more diverse combatants to challenging fight modes that test your mettle as a trainer, Pokemon Platinum has it all!

Of course Pokemon Platinum is rooted in the fantastic RPG gameplay that millions and millions of players have enjoyed for years. Weavile, I choose you!!!

DC’s Blackest Night is Awesome…and it Shouldn’t Be

Blackest Night

DC Comics’ Blackest Night crossover event is working…and it shouldn’t be. The whole premise is ridiculous (even by comic-book standards). The established Green Lantern Corps has been patrolling the universe for decades in the DCU, but now there are a total of seven lantern corps duking it out in the War of Light. The seven corps are based off of different emotions. You have green (willpower), yellow (fear), blue (hope), red (rage), orange (green), violet (love), and indigo (compassion). When you add in the fact that all these lanterns recharge their powers by reciting a rhyming oath, the whole thing sounds stupid…yet it’s working so well.

A large part of why it’s working is that Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi have done an outstanding job with the Green Lantern and Blackest Night books. The whole thing feels epic and the pair have made the “emotional spectrum” thing plausible. Despite the facts that willpower isn’t an emotion (as previously used in the Green Lantern books) and the various lantern combat mechanics are straight out of Pokemon, these masterful writers are making a silly premise terribly compelling.

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Spike TV Videogame Awards (VGA) Winners List

Spike TV VGA

In case you missed it, here are the winners of the 2009 Spike TV VGAs. Check out the list and let me know what you think! Anyone get snubbed? Any of the winners undeserving? Or is the list mostly right?

  • Game of the Year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Studio of the Year: Rocksteady Studios
  • Best Independent Game: Flower
  • Best Xbox 360 Game: Left 4 Dead 2
  • Best PS3 Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Best Wii Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
  • Best PC Game: Dragon Age: Origins
  • Best Handheld Game: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
  • Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  • Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter IV
  • Best Action Adventure Game: Assassin’s Creed II
  • Best RPG: Dragon Age: Origins
  • Best Multiplayer Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Hit the jump for the rest of the winners!

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Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Television Footage

Here’s a pair of Japanese television clips featuring Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII. Thanks for Andriasang for digging these up! There’s a bunch of new footage here that you don’t want to miss.

Hit the break for the next clip!

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Sunday Housekeeping

– Last week was pretty big for RPad.tv. Tuesday was the best day the site ever had, with a bunch of traffic coming from N4G and a little bit from Gamekicker. Overall, it was the best week ever (or evar!!!) in terms of traffic. To everyone that reads the site regularly, thank you so much! If there’s a particular article you like, I encourage you to plug it in the two aforementioned sites, Digg, Twitter, Facebook, etc. With your help, the site is growing!

– Last night at the Spike TV VGA after party, Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski punched me. Unfortunately, I only have one witness and she’ll side with him.

– If you still have holiday shopping to do, Amazon.com is way better than going to the mall. If you do use Amazon, kindly use any of the links you see on my site. That would help me out a bunch…especially if you bought like 12 LCD televisions. Ha!

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Square Enix Busts Out Facebook and Twitter Pages for FFXIII

FFXIII Twitter

Square Enix has released official Facebook and Twitter pages for Final Fantasy XIII…because that game needs more hype. *snicker* Seriously though, it’s interesting to see how game publishers are using Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to promote their games. I know some of you hate Twitter, but it can be an incredibly useful marketing tool and a fantastic way for fans to keep tabs on their favorite games/athletes/celbrities.

Will any of you be following the game on Facebook or Twitter?

Fake Steve Jobs Speaks on the Fail Whale That is AT&T

Fake Steve JobsI hate to keep picking on AT&T — actually, I don’t — but I found this excellent blog post by Fake Steve Jobs talking about a recent call between Apple and AT&T regarding the iPhone. His Fakeness wrote:

And when I say that “we” have a hit on our hands, I’m really giving you way too much credit, because let’s be honest, the success of iPhone has nothing to do with you. In fact, iPhone is a smash hit in spite of your network, not because of it. That’s how good we are here at Apple — we’re so good that even you and your team of Bell System frigtards can’t stop us. You know what it’s like being your business partner? It’s like trying to swim the English Channel with a boat anchor tied to my legs. And yes, in case you’re not following me, in that analogy, you, my friend, are the f&*(&*g boat anchor.

That’s just awesome stuff.

Source

AT&T Sucks in San Francisco, After it Promised to Stop Sucking

AT and T FailYesterday I wrote about AT&T president and CEO of mobility and consumer markets Ralph de la Vega vowing that the company would stop sucking in New York City and San Francisco. Perhaps he meant starting next week…. AT&T suffered a major outage in downtown SF today. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler wrote:

This afternoon I started getting an abnormal number of messages from friends over email, IM, and Twitter because they apparently couldn’t text or call me. I tried to use my phone, and sure enough, no dice.

Calls are working sporadically, but the AT&T data network in San Francisco seems to be completely borked right now.

Siegler later reported a customer receiving the following 411 from the company:

Just got off the phone with AT&T — data + SMS in San Francisco is down. It will take 24 to 48 hours (!!!) to fix.

Apparently the problems are (mostly) fine now, but the timing of this latest AT&T failure is hilarious, to which I say, “Ha!”

Source

Sony Close to Breaking Even with the PlayStation 3

PS3 Slim 3

A recent teardown analysis from iSuppli revealed that Sony loses about $31 per PlayStation 3 console sold in the United States. Here’s the skinny:

The new PlayStation 3 with 120GByte HDD model is priced at $299 in the United States — which means Sony sells each PlayStation 3 in the United States for $31.27 less than its materials and manufacturing cost.

In comparison, iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service determined that Sony sold the previous-generation PlayStation 3 for $49.72 less than its manufacturing and materials cost, based on pricing from October 2008.

So even though the PS3 Slim costs $100 less than last year’s model, it loses less money per system than its forerunner. Keep in mind that iSuppli’s analysis does not factor in “software, box contents and royalties”. As it continues to make its manufacturing processes more efficient and parts continue to come down in price, it’s possible that Sony can sell the PS3 at a profit come this time next year.

Source via CNet