Daily Wrap-Up 5.20.08
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 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, Videogames, Videos
Thompson "Recommended" Guilty by Florida Bar Judge
Posted by Ty Colfax - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 3:28 PM
Dava Tunis, the Judge who presided over the Florida Bar Trial for Jack Thompson has recommended that he be found guilty on 27 of 31 misconduct charges and now the Florida Supreme Court will have to decide his ultimate fate.
Judge Tunis wrote:
After considering the arguments presented by the Florida Bar and the Respondent (Thompson), observing the Respondent's demeanor during the nine-day trial proceedings, and carefully reviewing the record consisting of four volumes of exhibits totaling 1700 pages and approximately 2400 pages of transcribed testimony, the Court finds that the facts, circumstances and evidence presented regarding the Respondent's conduct, supports a finding of guilt as to certain Florida Bar rules...
Most of these misconduct charges come from his crusade against mature videogames, some from other bonehead moves. Hit the jump for a detailed list of the Bar offenses perpetrated by Thompson.
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TAGS: Lowlife, Other People's Misfortune, Prostate Health
'Wii Fit' Pushed Back A Day
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 3:24 PM
 If you're out of shape and blob-ular, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for Nintendo to make your fitness dreams come true with Wii Fit: The game was slated to be released today, but it won't be out until tomorrow. That's one more day of being too big for your pants.
"Wii Fit is available today exclusively at the Nintendo World store in New York, and will be at retail stores across the country May 21," A Nintendto rep told GameTap.
GameTap: Wii Fit Late to its Own Launch Party
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TAGS: Videogames, Wii
How 'LittleBigPlanet' Will Handle Porn
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 3:12 PM
We're deeply ambivalent about "user-created" content. On the one hand, gamers have produced some of the coolest stuff in videogame history, like, say, Counter-Strike. But generally, users are really bad at making content, which is why they're called "users" as opposed to "designers."
Unable to earn a reaction by creating awesome content, some users aim to shock, like those jerk-asses on Xbox Live who shout racist nonsense, and that ruins everyone's fun afternoon. So when we heard that sharing content was a huge deal on LittleBigPlanet, we were scared. The game just seems too neat and innocent to risk being invaded by the rabble of the lowest-rungs of gaming.
Maybe we're prematurely worried. Media Molecule has built a reporting tool into the game that allows users to take a pic of a scene with a report of what they see that's wrong. The report is filled out by selecting from a number of fields and lets you report copyright infringement, pornography, illegal activities or copyrighted pornography.
We sincerely hope you never have to, though.
Kotaku.com: Controlling Content in LittleBigPlanet or You Got Your Penis On My SackBoy
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames
First 'Guitar Hero IV' Pics Revealed
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 2:57 PM
The first pictures of Guitar Hero IV have surfaced. The pictures are scans from the next issue of Game Informer magazine. We're not gonna repost 'em, because you should really go ot and get the magazine, but here's a link... it looks a LOT like Rock Band, eh?
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Xbox 360
Girls Who Like Girls Like 'GTA IV'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 2:47 PM
Grand Theft Auto IV isn't popular with everyone; Some religious people, members of law enforcement and Jack Thompson have all spoken out about the game's bad influence on society, children and cepholopods. But, in the end, we'd much rather hang out with the girls of Gay Girls Who Game... not only do they like women almost as much as we do, they also dig GTA IV.
Check out the video.
The girls get the tongue-in-cheek humor of the game, and even forgive the title's homophobia, pointing out that the game's homophobic characters are generally shown as buffoons as opposed to role models.
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TAGS: Grand Theft Auto IV, PlayStation 3, Videogames
'Penny Arcade' Screens
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 2:41 PM
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is a downloadable videogame series based on the web comic Penny Arcade. There's a lot on the line: The strip has always been very critical of games, so it's going to have to avoid the traps that many titles fall into.
The game will be released on May 21st, 2008 on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Windows, Mac and Linux. Here's a gallery.
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TAGS: PC Gaming, Videogames, Xbox 360
Greenpeace: Consoles Are Toxic
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 2:15 PM
According to Greenpeace, videogame consoles are toxic. The Wii, PS3 and the 360 are full of polyvinyl chloride, phthalates, beryllium and bromine. Those can kill you, even if they help you play awesome games.
"If manufacturers only looked at each other's products, they'd quickly see ways of replacing their own dirty components with toxic-free materials," The group said on its site.
Inspired by Greenpeace, we built our own entirely environment-friendly console this afternoon. It contains no toxins, and has an entirely neutral carbon footprint because it's powered by pure imagination.
You might call it a pile of dirt sitting in front of a TV, but we call it the Nintendo 360-Station!
Eurogamer: Consoles too toxic, says Greenpeace
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TAGS: Other People's Misfortune, PlayStation 3, Videogames
Gamefly's Top Ten Of The Week
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 1:56 PM
Every week we bring you game rental company GameFly's list of the ten most requested games for rental. Keep in mind, these are often soon-to-be-released games. Here's what's in the hearts and minds of gamers this week!
Most Popular Games Cross-Platform:
Rank Title Platform Category Publisher
1 Ninja Gaiden 2 Xbox 360, Action Adventure Microsoft
2 GRID PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Racing Codemasters
3 Grand Theft Auto IV PS3, Xbox 360, Action Adventure Take Two
4 Haze PS3, Xbox 360, Shooter Ubisoft
5 Iron Man PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP Games, PS2, Action Adventure Sega
6 Boom Blox Wii, Arcade/Puzzle Electronic Arts
7 Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy PS3, Xbox 360, Action Adventure Vivendi
8 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars PS3, Xbox 360, Shooter Activision
9 LEGO Indiana Jones PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP Games, PS2, Action Adventure LucasArts
10 Mario Kart Wii Wii, Racing Nintendo
Console-by-console breakdown under the cut.
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TAGS: Videogames
Jake Gyllenhaal Is 'Prince of Persia'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 1:29 PM
Jake Gyllenhaal has been confirmed as the lead role in the film version of Prince of Persia. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is being produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films with Mike Newell directing.
The female lead will be played by relative newcomer Gemma Arterton (Quantuum of Solace, RockNRolla).Production is set to start in July.
In the film:
"Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world."
So, gamers, good choices or bad?
Eonline: Jake Gyllenhaal crowned 'Prince of Persia'
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TAGS: Movies, Videogames
Nugget From The Net: Fit vs. Mac
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 1:07 PM
In the history of great fights (Frasier Vs. Ali, John Brown Vs. The Steam Engine, that lady on "Banned from TV" Vs. a Train, Man Vs. Himself, etc.), we have found the ultimate battle.
That's right: Wii Fit Vs. a Big Mac. Two inanimate objects enter, one object leaves.
Source
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TAGS: Nuggets From The Nets
New 'Spore' Video, Screens
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:56 PM
Will Wright's Spore has a lot to live up to, with everyone in the gaming world slavering for this title, expectations are ozone-layer high. The cross platform (even on Macs!) game is slated to come out this year, with a Demo of the creature creator coming in June.
Here's a featurette about the game's cell phase...
And here's a gallery of screens! What do you think?
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TAGS: Nintendo DS, PC Gaming, PlayStation 3
No More Terrorism on YouTube!
Posted by Frank Meyer - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:01 PM
No more terrorism on YouTube, dammit!
Or so says Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is demanding that YouTube and its rivals delete any videos produced by al-Qaida, other Islamic terrorist groups, and any suspected sympathizers.
Not that there is any U.S. law requiring anyone delete terrorist-produced web content per say, but ol’ Joe wants ‘em gone anyways.
And who can blame him? Have you seen the production value of these al-Qaida videos? Terrible! Even Vinnie Vincent made better videos (see above).
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Music, TV
'Rock Band' To Get 'The Cars'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:42 AM
 Get your New Wave on, rockers, The Cars' seminal, awesome album The Cars is coming to Rock Band's DLC.
Here are the all-original, every-one's-a-winner tracks:
- "Good Times Roll"
- "My Best Friend's Girl"
- "Just What I Needed"
- "I'm in Touch with Your World"
- "Don't Cha Stop"
- "You're All I've Got Tonight"
- "Bye Bye Love"
- "Moving in Stereo"
- "All Mixed Up"
The price: $14.99 (1200 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the Album or $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track Locations: Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PLAYSTATION®Network.
You'll be able to DL 'em on Tues for the 360 and Thus. for the PS3.
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TAGS: Videogames
Kevin Pereira On NPR’s Marketplace
Posted by Eugene Morton - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:39 AM
 AOTS’s own Kevin Pereira is stopping by NPR’s Marketplace today to discuss the incredible and indelible Beamz Music Performance System. You’ll remember Beamz from last week’s QVC Showdown.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, tune in today to KCRW (89.9 FM) at 2 pm or KPCC (89.3 FM) at 3 pm and again at 6:30 pm (or feel free to listen online). May the Beamz be with you!
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Nas Changes Controversial CD Title
Posted by Frank Meyer - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:32 AM
 Rapper Nas has finally buckled and changed the name of his new album from the N-word after a firestorm of protest and controversy from retails.
The new title?
__________
Yes, that’s right. There will be no title.
Take that, Wall-Mart! You don’t even get a title now!
Nas told MTV that he was being pressured to change the title. I guess he finally decided it was too much. Or maybe he decided that having every major retailer refuse to stock the album wasn’t such a good business decision…especially in this age of sagging sales.
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TAGS: Music
The Netflix Box Has Arrived!
Posted by Frank Meyer - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:16 AM
 Roku just introduced The Netflix Player, the first product that allows subscribers to have movies and TV shows from the service's Instant Viewing feature (aka "Watch Now") to be streamed directly to their TV screen.
This, my friends, changes the whole dang game….
Instant Viewing was previously only available to Windows PC users through the Internet Explorer browser, so with the release of the Netflix Player, subscribers can finally access the entire Instant Viewing catalog through their TV. They only need a wired or wireless broadband connection, baby, and -- BANG! -- you’re in the game.
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Movies, Tech
'Battlefield: Heroes' Beta Sign-up
Posted by Ty Colfax - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:14 AM
It used to be a game would come out, you'd hear about it, maybe play it at a friend's and consider getting it if you had a system. Then, they started advertising a game before its release, sort of like movies. Then, they added the demo. Then beta testing. Now, you can sign up for the beta testing before it even happens. Soon, you'll be able to sign up on a list that will rss you when the sign up for the beta is about to be open.
Anyway, beta testing is in full swing for EA's DICE title, Battlefield: Heroes. It's a cartoony ad-driven, free game that's targeting the mainstream audience (pc requirements have been scaled down.) You're required to give up some personal info to the Quality Assurance Boss (QABoss.com) but you can always just use your spam email that you use to sign up for stuff.
The full game will be out later in the summer.
eurogamer.net: Battlefield: Heroes beta sign-ups begin
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Videogames
Around The Net 5.20.08
Posted by Eugene Morton - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:09 AM
Get ready, sports fans, we're taking another trip Around The Net, and this time, we're not going to stop until you're laughing so hard you cry...or crying so hard you worry about your sanity. Either way, we've got you crying, which is exactly what we've wanted from you all along.
YouTube: Double Knockout
College Humor: Oprah Audience
NBC: Japanese Office
Gizmodo: Indy vs. Lego Boulder
Gorilla Mask: Kung Fu Cat
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TAGS: Videos
Ted Nugent In Guitar Hero 4?
Posted by Frank Meyer - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:56 AM
 Gun-totting, animal hunting, guitar legend Ted "Wango Tango" Nugent recently revealed in an interview that he is going to be involved in a future Guitar Hero.
“They made me put on this silly ass suit, they wanted to make sure that the cartoon dude on Guitar Hero dances and prances like Uncle Ted,” The Nuge told Detroit Radio Station WRIF. He also told them that his classic “Stranglehold,” in involved somehow (which is insane considering the song is, like, 6 minutes of guitar soloing madness!).
Could this be a spoiler for Guitar Hero 4 or is Ted just talkin’ crazy again?
To listen to the entire interview click here! (The Guitar Hero part starts at the 12:30 mark.)
Guitarheronews.com: Ted Nugent Confirms Appearance in Future Guitar Hero
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TAGS: Music, PlayStation 3, Wii
Tech Review: Samsung’s Soul
Posted by Eugene Morton - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:47 AM
If you want a cell phone with soul that will make you superbad, you might want to pick up Samsung’s Soul. Of course, don’t just go out and buy it. Look at our review first and then make an informed decision. It’s the only sensible thing to do.
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