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Archive for July, 2008

Rent/Buy Movies from Your PS3

Posted on July 18th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related.
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On Tuesday, PLAYSTATION® revealed their latest offer: users can now rent and purchase movies from the PLAYSTATION® store. As it stands, they’ve got close to 300 full length movies and more than 1,200 TV episodes, many of which are available in both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD). The content is coming from top movie studios including 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate Entertainment, MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and various television partners.

Rentals range from $2.99 to $5.99 and you’ll have 14 days to start the content. Once started, you’ve got a 24-hour window to view it. If you want to own a movie, that’ll range from $9.99 to $14.99. Whichever way you go, you’ll be able to download the content to your PSP for travel. Sounds good. I just wonder how many freaking software updates I’m going to have to install before it’ll work.

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Wii Speak

Posted on July 18th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related.
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So in addition to the announcement about the Wii MotionPlus remote add-on, Nintendo revealed their plans to get on board with the rest of the consoles and add the ability for folks to chat through the Wii. The mic peripheral will ship out with Animal Crossing by the end of ‘08. In this video from GameTrailers.com, Katsuya Eguchi talks about the upcoming title and the mic:

[youtube vu3yoKaP35g]

I love how Eguchi defines the Animal Crossing gameplay: “The town is where you live and do the things you like. There are no required goals and the players are free to do things their own way.” Man. No goals? Roam around pimping out rooms and getting my hair done? That sounds AWESOME.

And when he talks about the mic and explains: “It’s not a singular headset, but a community microphone that lets every person in the room talk with another room full of players anywhere in the world” I guess that means we can look forward to hearing more conversations like the one in this video without having to strain so hard to hear everyone talking:

[youtube LWnyUtdcboc]

See pictures of the WiiSpeak Peripheral»

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E3 Money-Saving Announcements from PS3

Posted on July 17th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related.
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80GB PS3 Gets $100 Price Drop
Starting in September 2008, the PLAYSTATION¬Æ3 (PS3‚Ñ¢) 80GB model will become the mainstay of the company‚Äôs hardware line-up. They’re dropping the 80GB price $100 bucks putting the console at just $399 – the current price of the 40GB model.

Great PS Games for $29.99
SCEA will introduce the PS3 Greatest Hits program beginning July 28th. Through the program, gamers can get some of the best titles at a reduced price of $29.99. The initial inductees include:

Warhawk‚Ñ¢
Motorstorm‚Ñ¢
Resistance: Fall of Man®
Call of Duty® 3
Need for Speed: Carbon
The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion‚Ñ¢
Ninja Gaiden® Sigma
Tom Clancy‚Äôs Rainbow Six® Vegas
Assassin‚Äôs Creed‚Ñ¢

Save with PS Bundles
Launching in October 2008 for $199.99 MSRP, one bundle will include a limited-edition silver PSP system with Ratchet and Clank¬Æ Size Matters; a blockbuster movie on UMD¬Æ (they don’t say which one… guess it will depend on what’s popular in October); a PLAYSTATION¬ÆNetwork voucher to download echochrome‚Ñ¢ from PLAYSTATION¬ÆStore and a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo‚Ñ¢ for storing music, videos, photos and such.

In addition, SCEA introduced a new family entertainment bundle for the PlayStation¬Æ2 system. The limited-edition LEGO¬Æ Batman‚Ñ¢: The Videogame PlayStation¬Æ2 Pack will feature the game, Justice League: The New Frontier on DVD, and a PlayStation¬Æ2 system ‚Äì all for $149.99 MSRP. That’s a $30 less than purchasing all the stuff separately.

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Xbox Pacts with Netflix

Posted on July 16th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related.
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At E3 on Monday, Microsoft announced a deal with Netflix to enable Xbox 360 owners to instantly stream movies and TV episodes through their consoles. If you’re an Xbox LIVE Gold member with a current Netflix account, you don’t need to pay for anything extra. (SWEET! That’s me!)

‚ÄúWatching movies at home will never be the same. Netflix on Xbox 360 is an entertainment first, and we are bringing friends together with the best in entertainment content like no other device in the living room,‚Äù said John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Services Business at Microsoft. ‚ÄúWe are creating a completely new social entertainment experience, and Xbox 360 will be the only video game system where you can access your library of instantly streamable movies from Netflix and turn any room into a virtual movie theater.‚Äù

If you’ve ever tried to download a movie through Xbox LIVE and you managed not to kill yourself during the process, you know how much of a pain in the ass the current service can be. Through this new partnership, Xbox claims that the streaming movies and shows will begin playing within 30 seconds from selection and you can fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either your Xbox 360 Controller or Media Remote. Plus, if you want to watch movies with your friends through LIVE, you’ll be able to use Live Party to create a room for 8 people to chat, share content and throw virtual popcorn at the screen.

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Xbox Dashboard Getting a FaceLift

Posted on July 16th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related, Videos.
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What happens when you combine the sleek PS3 dashboard interface with avatars from the Wii? The new Xbox dashboard revealed this week at E3. Check out the video:

I’m not sure how I feel about the avatars. I mean, I had fun with them on the Wii… but the Wii is supposed to be cutesy with family games and classics. I’m not sure what kind of mood it would set to see a doe eyed avatar before I play Gears of War II. But who knows… Microsoft could be onto something big here. Everyone gets sick of the Wii avatars about a month after they start messing with them. The trivia games, photo sharing, movie watching and chatting functionality are all things the Wii didn’t have. I’ve long been a supporter of the Xbox way and I believe that if anyone can do it right, they can.

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New Metallica Album Available Through Guitar Hero

Posted on July 16th, 2008 in Pre/Reviews.
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Some musicians scoff at Guitar Hero. Smart ones who want to make money, however, embrace the idea of having their songs can played on plastic guitars by a bunch of nerds.

We’ve seen Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. And we know there’s Guitar Hero: Metallica in the works. At E3, Red Octane’s Kai Huang announced that the new Metallica Album, Death Magnetic, will be available for download through Guitar Hero III and also on Guitar Hero: World Tour. This is supposed to happen in conjunction with the album release (rumored to be on September 17th.)

Wondering what sales will be like? Just take a look back to May when the new Motley Cr√ºe single, “Saints of Los Angeles,” sold more downloads on Rock Band than services like iTunes and Amazon. According to stats from their management, the track was downloaded 47,000 times via the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band within the first week it was available. Compare that number to the measly 10,000 downloads by fans content to rock out with air guitars. It seems the Rock Band/Guitar Hero world is becoming a new destination for popular bands trying to get fans to pay for their songs instead of ripping them illegally.

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Wii MotionPlus Revealed

Posted on July 15th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related.
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You know how we all though the Wii Remote was going to be revolutionary until we played with it and realized it kind of sucks? Well, Nintendo hopes to fix all those shaky miscalculations with their new Wii MotionPlus add on. According to the Nintendo site, the little square piece is supposed to “[redefine] game control, by more quickly and accurately reflecting motions in a 3-D space. The Wii MotionPlus accessory attaches to the end of the Wii Remote and, combined with the accelerometer and the sensor bar, allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player‚Äôs arm position and orientation, providing players with an unmatched level of precision and immersion. Every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm is rendered identically in real time on the screen, providing a true 1:1 response in their game play.”

Nintendo promised to reveal more at E3 this morning, so we should be hearing details on pricing and all that soon.

UPDATE 07.18.08 Nintendo says this remote is supposed to be bundled with Wii Sports Resort which is due out in March 2009.

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Super Chuck Norris Bros.

Posted on July 15th, 2008 in Pre/Reviews.
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So I know we’re going to hear about a lot of awesome game releases from E3 this week, but this one is still pretty impressive:

[youtube uCaUre8Ju94]

According to Ripten, the video teaser above was posted on YouTube back in 2006. Then, in March of this year, NeOVidas posted an actual game demo which you can download from his (her?) site for free.

I remember playing another version of this game a few months back, but it was only one level and in another language. (Linkage) Not sure how many levels NeOVidas’ version is b/c I’m on a Mac. If you’ve got a PC and can check it out, let me know the scoop!

Download Super Chuck Norris Bros.» (Windows only)
Play Super Tchaqui N√≥uris Bros.» (Flash 1 level game)

[ Thanks to Chris E. for the tip ]

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Xbox 360 Price Drop Confirmed!

Posted on July 13th, 2008 in Console/Platform-Related.
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Microsoft published this press release on their site today confirming the rumors from last week. $50 off! Yeay! Just enough to ~~buy a new game~~ fill up your gas tank to drive to the game store!

REDMOND, Wash. ‚Äî July 13, 2008 ‚Äî Microsoft Corp. is giving consumers more gigabytes for their buck. The company today announced an Xbox 360 console with triple the storage space of the original console, but for the same price of $349 (U.S.) estimated retail price (ERP).

Available in retail stores in the U.S. and Canada starting in early August, the upgraded Xbox 360 will include a 60GB hard drive for storing the growing wealth of digital entertainment available for the console, including music, movies, television shows and game content. In addition, Microsoft today dropped the price of its 20GB Xbox 360 console in the U.S. and Canada to just $299 (U.S.) (ERP) while supplies last, a savings of $50.

‚ÄúWe know consumers need more and more space to store the amazing digital content Xbox 360 offers, and we‚Äôre giving it to them at no extra charge,‚Äù said Albert Penello, Xbox director of product management at Microsoft. ‚ÄúNo one device offers the depth and breadth of entertainment that Xbox 360 can deliver, and now you‚Äôll have three times the storage to manage all that great content.‚Äù

Xbox 360 is just one of three Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment systems Microsoft offers. Microsoft‚Äôs Xbox 360 Arcade, which comes with a 256MB memory unit and five Xbox LIVE Arcade games, is a value for the whole family for $279 (U.S.) (ERP), and the premium Xbox 360 Elite console is available with a 120GB hard drive for $449 (U.S.) (ERP).

[SOURCE: Microsoft]

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Make A Functional Nintendo Controller Coffee Table

Posted on July 11th, 2008 in Techie Tidbits.
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I’ve seen a lot of video game inspired furniture in my day, but this one ranks in the top 10 of awesomeness. Not only is it a stylish place to rest your bong, you can store swag inside AND it actually works as a controller! ZOMG!!! Designer Kyle Downes (who seems to be challenging me with the number of times he says awesome on his blog) built the whole thing from scratch and was cool enough to share step-by-step directions. 1UPs TO YOU KYLE! You are super cool.

Here’s the table in action and a “making of” montage:

[youtube 2c3q9K4cHzY]

Find out how to build your very own NES controller table»
Check out Kyle Downes Ultra Awesome blog»

[Propz to The Grim and Sarcastic Tim Fate for the tip.]

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Archive for July, 2008

Rent/Buy Movies from Your PS3

Wii Speak

E3 Money-Saving Announcements from PS3

Xbox Pacts with Netflix

Xbox Dashboard Getting a FaceLift

New Metallica Album Available Through Guitar Hero

Wii MotionPlus Revealed

Super Chuck Norris Bros.

Xbox 360 Price Drop Confirmed!

Make A Functional Nintendo Controller Coffee Table

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