Daily Wrap-Up 1.14.08
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Monday, January 14, 2008 6:00 PM
Here's what went down today in the world of videogames, popular culture and technology.
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TAGS: Daily Wrap-Up, Videos
Japanese Gamers Eat Up DS, Wii Sports in 2007
Posted by Justin Fassino - Monday, January 14, 2008 3:42 PM
The official numbers in Japan's 2007 hardware and software races are in, and according to Enterbrain, publisher of the Land of the Rising Sun's biggest gaming magazine Famitsu Weekly, the Nintendo DS took home the hardware crown with 7.1 million units sold. That number brought the lifetime-to-date sales of the DS to 21 million.
On the software side, Wii Sports won the year, selling just shy of 2 million copies, and impressive feat considering did not come bundled with the Wii system and had to be purchased separately. The Wii sold 3.6 million units in 2007, for a total of 4.6 million since it launched in November of 2006.
Bringing up the rear was the Xbox 360, selling an abysmal 257,800 systems in 12 months, trailing both the PS3 (1.2 million in 2007) and PSP (3 million in 2007).
Gamespot: DS tops Japan's 2007 sales charts
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TAGS: Nintendo DS, Videogames, Wii
Factor 5 Returns to Nintendo
Posted by Justin Fassino - Monday, January 14, 2008 3:31 PM
 Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht confirmed today via an IGN interview that his studio is hard at work on a brand new Wii title. He was quick to point out that the game would not be a Virtual Console offering, nor would it be a re-tread of the Rogue Squadron engine.
Factor 5's last game, Lair for the PS3, received lukewarm reviews and was considered by most accounts to be a commercial flop. It is not believed that this new Wii title is an installment in the Pilotwings franchise, a series which has been linked to Factor 5 by rumors the past several years.
New Turrican, anyone?
IGN.com: Official: Factor 5 Back on Wii
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TAGS: Videogames, Wii
Pepsimazon: The Right Stuff
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 3:06 PM
 Pepsi and Amazon.com, two great tastes that taste great together, just announced a joint digital music promotion effort called Pepsi Stuff.
The promotion will kick off (get it?) during a Super Bowl commercial starring Justin Timberlake and is designed to introduce Amazon’s new digital music service to the public.
Here’s how the promo works:
“Pepsi will distribute 4 billion specially marked Pepsi packages -- including bottles, six-packs, etc. -- that let buyers collect points which are good for free music downloads on the Amazon.com service. Players "bank" their points at PepsiStuff.com, with five points good for one free song. The points are also redeemable for TV downloads, electronics gear, clothes, DVDs and CDs and other merchandise sold on Amazon, totaling $1 billion in prizes.”
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TAGS: Sports, TV
Dyack Joins The 'One-Platform' Chorus
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Monday, January 14, 2008 2:21 PM
 Last week, God of War creator David Jaffe created some internet waves by posting that gaming would be vastly improved if there was only one platform. Today, Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack told G4 he couldn't agree more.
"David Jaffe and I are on the same page," Dyack said. "A single open-standard for video game platforms would be good for games, gamers, developers and publishers. Competition would increase, game prices would go down, quality of games would rise, and finally, gaming demographics would increase substantially."
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TAGS: G4 Web Exclusive, Videogames
Steroid Abuse Hitting Hip Hop?
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 2:10 PM
 Hey, ever wonder how all these rappers get all buffed out so quickly?
Like, one day 50 Cent is just buff, and the next he’s gone all Conan on us!
Well, it may not be just working out and healthy living and vitamin water, or so says an ongoing Albany, NY based probe into steroids trafficking that is fingering Fiddy, rapper/producer Wyclef Jean, producer Timbaland, author/actor Tyler Perry and singer Mary J. Blige as suspects that may have used or received prescribed shipments of steroids and injectable human growth hormone (HGH) in recent years.
Mary J. Blige?!?!?!
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TAGS: Music, Other People's Misfortune
New X-Play Premieres Tonight!
Posted by Jonathan Hunt - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:59 PM
Tonight is the night!
First came the next-generation consoles. Then, the next-gen games. Now, gamers have a next-gen TV series. X-Play, the most-watched videogame series on television, unveils their all-new and expanded format tonight at 8PM ET, only on G4!
On tonight's X-Play, High Moon Studios' Rory McGuire comes by to give us a "Hands-On" with The Bourne Conspiracy, Adam and Morgan get some "Face-Time" with Corporate VP of Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim, and Kristin Holt shows you how to join the "Mile-High Club" in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
The new, half-hour episodes of X-Play will premiere every weeknight at 8 pm, giving viewers a comprehensive update on each day’s videogame-related developments, along with a wide range of new features, including behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at games in development; interviews with industry luminaries; live, hands-on demonstrations of games before they hit store shelves and in-depth analysis of the latest videogame trends.
For Adam's thoughts on the all-new X-Play, check out this week's Sessler's Soapbox.
Don't miss tonight's all-new X-Play at 8PM ET, only on G4!
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TAGS: G4, TV, Videogames
New 'Top Spin 3' Screenshots
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:57 PM
Please take a moment to enjoy these brand new screenshots from the next installment in the Top Spin series of tennis games.
Along with the impressive graphics obvious here, Top Spin 3 will feature more than 25 tennis superstars including Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova and James Blake.
Also on tap: Weather changes, "situation-specific behaviors," revamped audio, enhanced crowd reactions, more than 40 exotic venues from around the world, a Player Creator, and, best-for-last, a robust suite of online features. So we can crush our enemies through tennis, then trash-talk them until they cry like Terrell Owens.
Top Spin 3 will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS in spring 2008.
Check out the gallery!
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Wii
Bone Thugs N Harmony With Baseball
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:42 PM
 Crooning Cleveland hip hop act Bone Thugs-N-Harmony recently recorded the the official anthem of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
"The Negro Leagues Anthem" will appear on a compilation CD about "black baseball" that is being produced to raise funds for the museum.
"When I heard it, I was like, 'Wow, this is really good,'" NLBM Marketing Director Bob Kendrick told MLB.com. "These young men did an outstanding job of interpreting the Negro League experience and embracing it and appreciating what that experience was about. They got a real understanding of what the struggles were, but also how talented these athletes were, as well. They brought that out in this first track."
Good thing too, because Bone Thugs haven’t “brought” anything out on a track in about a decade!
Allhiphop.com: Negro Leagues Anthem
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TAGS: Music, Sports
China Rejects iPhone
Posted by Brian Leahy - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:36 PM
 Hoping to capture the enormous cell-subscriber market in China (350 million!) Apple has been in talks with China Mobile, their largest provider, to bring the iPhone to the nation.
China Mobile, however, has walked away from these talks. No word on why, but we can assume that it has something to do with the revenue sharing agreements that Apple has been making with other providers that skew heavily toward Apple.
Sorry, China. You'll have to stick to your knock-offs for now.
Yahoo News: Apple, China Mobile call off iPhone launch talks
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TAGS: Apple, iPhone, Tech
Sky Commuter On eBay
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:32 PM
 Anyone remember the Sky Commuter?
The Sky Commuter was a failed attempt at a personal commuter craft, designed in the ’80. When the company went belly up, all prototypes were destroyed…all but one.
And that last remaining Sky Commuter coulda been yours if you were the winning eBay bidder…and had an extra $62,600 lying around.
But it's not. And now you are a loser without a hovercraft. Join the club.
Check it out.
Engadget.com: Last prototype flying car hits eBay
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TAGS: Tech
Toyota Plug-In Hybrid By 2010?
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:25 PM
 Toyota announced Sunday night at the North American International Auto Show that it will build its first plug-in hybrid by 2010.
In fact, the auto manufactuer is planning on developing a new hybrid-electric car specifically for its Lexus division as well as another new hybrid for the Toyota brand, and will unveil both at the 2009 Detroit show.
Toyota, already the world’s leader in sales of hybrid-electric vehicles, says the plug-in hybrids will run on lithium-ion batteries, instead of the nickel-metal hydride batteries that power its Prius and other Toyota models. Plug-ins can be recharged externally, from an ordinary power outlet, as opposed to the battery being recharged via power generated by its wheels like regular hybrids.
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TAGS: Cars, Tech
Toshiba Cuts HD-DVD Player Prices
Posted by Brian Leahy - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:24 PM
 In addition to slashing prices of their HD-DVD players, Toshiba is launching a marketing blitz to push the benefits of HD-DVD over Blu-Ray as they see them.
Sure, the players are pretty future proof and will play every HD-DVD released, but content is king and the studios are supporting Blu-Ray.
"Effective on January 13, 2008 the MSRP of the entry-model HD-A3 will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end HD-A35, $299.99."
Note that the $149.99 HD-A3 does not output 1080p, but can only achieve 1080i. Sure, these are great prices, but we really can't recommend picking up an HD-DVD player right now.
Press release from Toshiba after the cut.
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TAGS: Movies, Tech, TV
Netflix Starts Unlimited Streaming
Posted by Brian Leahy - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:18 PM
 Netflix has removed the limits from their online streaming service, which used to allow users 1 hour of streaming for each $1 they paid to Netflix a month.
Subscribers that belong to any of the unlimited rentals per month will be able to stream to their heart's content.
The streaming, unfortunately, still requires Windows and Internet Explorer. Let's get some Mac & Firefox support going, plzkthx.
Yahoo News: Netflix lifts limits for movies watched over Web
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Movies, Tech
CES 2008: Our Thoughts One Week Later
Posted by Brian Leahy - Monday, January 14, 2008 1:11 PM
 The Consumer Electronics Show has come and gone and we’ve been trying to wrap our brains around everything we saw to try and sum it up for you. We can only come to the conclusion that unless you really like HDTVs and their ability to grow in screen size, decrease in thickness, and get rid of wires, there wasn’t that much to see.
There were products that played MP3’s for no reason and big companies showing off their already released product lines. Bill Gates made his last keynote address to CES and Microsoft made some minor announcements.
Sony showed off some beautiful OLED TVs (hey, more TVs!) and added Skype to the PSP. Pioneer wowed us with two concept plasma TVs that we won’t see on the market for at least a year.
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TAGS: CES, Tech, Tech Reviews
Sabretooth Schreiber
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 12:12 PM
 Actor Liev Schreiber just got cast in Fox’s upcoming X-Men spin-off, but not in the role many have been expecting.
Rumor had it the Omen star was to play the young version of Colonel William Stryker (portrayed by Brian Cox in X2: X-Men United) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it turns out he is likely gonna be Victor Creed, a.k.a. Sabretooth (played in X-Men by Tyler Mane).
Plus, there’s report that Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone, M:I-3) might get cast as the Silver and Michael C. Hall (Dexter) is up for Stryker.
Me thinks this movie to be rad.
IGN.com: Live Schreiber Is Sabretooth?
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TAGS: Comics, Movies
A-Team To Get A Woody?
Posted by Frank Meyer - Monday, January 14, 2008 12:05 PM
 Director John Singleton is reportedly trying to get Woody Harrelson to play Captain "Howlin’ Mad” Murdock in his film version of the 1980s TV series The A-Team.
Singleton says his version will not a campy send-up a la Starsky & Hutch, but a kick-ass action film with some humor in it a la Lethal Weapon and…er, The A-Team! He also noted that that the four lead actors will be signed for multiple pictures, indicating that if the flick is a hit, there could be more adventures for the Team.
This all great news, and last week’s report that Ice Cube could play B.A. Baracus is also a great choice…but, really, why would you get someone to play a role made famous by Mr. T when the real T is alive, well and looks exactly the same!
IGN.com: Woody Harrelson In A-Team?
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TAGS: Movies, TV
'Resistance 2' Revealed
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Monday, January 14, 2008 11:37 AM
According to Game Informer magazine, the sequel to Resistance: Fall of Man has been unveiled.
Gamespot.com says:
Resistance 2 will support two campaigns, multiplayer battles of up to 60 people, and eight-person online co-op play. Unconfirmed reports say the game will support three character classes--including a heavy weapons, special operations, and the all-important medic. It will also incorporate vehicles, including the alien-built Stalker, which will have cloaking abilities.
We predict the Resistance sequel will be a hugely awesome game. Seriously.
GameSpot.com: Resistance 2 revealed
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TAGS: Videogames
Two 'Deathly Hallows' Movies Coming?
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Monday, January 14, 2008 11:35 AM
 The seventh and final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows might well be two movies, by the time all is said and done, according to reports. Not thrilled over having to condense the final story into one bite-sized film, the crew is being prepared for the idea that there will be two smaller films to end the saga correctly.
There isn't official word yet on this happening, nor is there any word over who might be directing the film or films when the time comes, but there have been some rumors, including Guillermo Del Toro and even Steven Spielberg. Production on the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is nearing its end.
IGN: Deathly Hallows Split in Two?
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TAGS: Movies
Microsoft Teams With Library of Congress
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Monday, January 14, 2008 11:25 AM
Microsoft is teaming up with the Library of Congress to encode and digitize our nation's history.
In April, you'll be able to point your browse-machine to Myloc.gov and there you will thrill to interactive galleries that allow you to view and sometimes "interact with" a rough draft of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the Gutenberg Bible and a 1507 map that first used the word "America."
Please do not hack into the Constitution and remove the third amendment. That's the one that reads: No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
I'm sick of soldiers stopping by and being like, "Sjohnson, can we stay in your spot? Please???" No, dude. You can't.
PC World.com: Library of Congress Goes Virtual
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TAGS: Tech
Dwight Howard Is Top 'Baller'
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Monday, January 14, 2008 10:53 AM
 Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic will be the cover athlete for Midway's new NBA Baller: Chosen One, which is a sort of combination of basketball game and action film, not unlike Grand Theft Basketball. The game will also feature Atlanta Hawks rookie Al Horford as part of its packaging, and both players can be seen in the trailer online.
This is a pretty sweet opportunity for both of these guys, who are just getting recognized as some of the NBA's young, premiere talent. Of course, we don't know if there's any sort of a jinx for basketball cover athletes, but, were we Howard or Horford, we'd watch our step.
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TAGS: Sports, Videogames
'Dungeon Siege' Film Failure
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Monday, January 14, 2008 10:31 AM
 We know you were waiting with bated breath to hear how In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale fared at the box office over the weekend. We can not tell a lie. It tanked. Rather spectacularly, to boot.
Uwe Boll's long-awaited take on the movie, starring, among others, Burt Reynolds and Ray Liotta, made a paltry $3 million over the weekend to come in 14th on the box office list.
That's with a budget of $60 million. Which means that, at this rate, it will take...FOREVER to make any money. Yet another videogame-to-movie project that is going to end up losing a ton of money. However, this time, you can't have expected anything different. After all, it is Uwe Boll. The big mistake was likely giving him $60 million to begin with.
Box Office Mojo.com: Weekend Box Office
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TAGS: Movies, Videogames
Play PC Games on the PS3 (Sort Of)
Posted by Brian Leahy - Monday, January 14, 2008 10:14 AM
 If you've ever dreamed of playing PC games on the PS3 your dreams have come true. Only, they've come true in a weird Twilight Zone kind of way. You know, where you think you're getting everything you ever wanted only to find out that there's a twist and it's actually everything you feared.
StreamMyGame has launched a Linux version of their program that will let you "play" PC games on your PS3. The way it works is the downfall. You run your game on your expensive high-end gaming PC and stream the audio and video over your network to another device in your home.
The only issues are that to play Crysis on your PS3 you will need to:
- Own a PC that can actually play Crysis.
- Install Linux on your PS3.
- Play with a keyboard & mouse on your couch.
It's a great idea, but we aren't exactly rushing to install Linux on our PS3s to play games 30 feet away from our computers.
Hit the cut for a video for step-by-step instructions and a demo of the program in action.
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TAGS: PC Gaming, PlayStation 3, Tech
Nugget From The Net
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Monday, January 14, 2008 10:06 AM
Once in a generation, a pop song comes along that perfectly captures the pain of our life. This is that song.
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