Daily Wrap-Up 12.07.07
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 6:05 PM
Here's what happened today in the world of videogames, pop culture and technology.
- The demo version of Devil May Cry 4 is coming to PSN and Xbox 360 online services in early 2008.
- Using eBay for positive parenting.
- Activision is fixing the Wii version of Guitar Hero 3 with replacement discs.
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock contributors and UK punk legends the Sex Pistols will launch a summer ’08 tour to coincide with a new live reunion DVD.
- Smash Bros. Brawl will feature a unique way to thwart quitters online.
- Check out this giant Pac-Man Christmas tree in downtown Madrid!
- Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells recently confirmed in Sony's semi-official Three Speech blog that an Uncharted sequel is in the works.
- The PS3 version of The Orange Box isn't as bad as some have said.
- Looks like the problems with T-Mobile's Sidekick Slide have been fixed as the device has gone back on sale.
- On December 18th, the unrated version of Rob Zombie’s Halloween comes out on DVD.
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TAGS: Daily Wrap-Up
Fresh Ink: Swords, Soldiers, and Brian Wood
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, December 07, 2007 4:41 PM
It's Friday, and you know what that means...it's time for Blair Butler to give you the week's worth of comics with Fresh Ink Online. And, this week, it's quite a harvest, what with Northlanders #1, Infinite Horizon #1, Jonah Hex #26, The Ultimates 3 #1, and The Sword #3.
Whew...that's a lot of comics. Don't panic, though. Blair knows how to handle it.
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TAGS: Fresh Ink
The MMO Report: Friday, December 7th
Posted by Patrick Roche-Sowa - Friday, December 07, 2007 12:26 PM
Last weekend the news dropped about Vivendi Universal and Activision merging into Activision Blizzard. While we won't be seeing any direct effects from this deal anytime soon, this could be one of the most important moments in recent video game history. So of course, because you expect it, the MMO Report was instantly hard at work trying to find a way to make it funny.
On a different note, we're giving away some gifts on the MMO Report this week, so all of your submissions should be sent to TheMMOReport@g4tv.com. We're expecting greatness people, so don't disappoint.
So because you need your weekly fix, and because we love giving it to you, wrapped up in bows of funny, please enjoy this week's edition of...
The MMO Report
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TAGS: PC Gaming, The MMO Report
Nugget From The Net
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 12:01 PM
TheFeed is strictly apolitical, but we can't help passing along this collection of photos of our president and bald guys.
We're not sure why either.
Bush And Bald Men
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TAGS: Nuggets From The Nets
Cell Phone Movie Awards?
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, December 07, 2007 11:53 AM
 Dude, so you know how, like, you made that hilarious movie on your cell of me laughing until milk came out of my nose. Remember? And we, like, totally thought it was, like, award-winning comedy goldness? Well, now we can actually win a friggin’ award for that s**t! In Japan!!!
Yes, kids, The Pocket Films Festival opened today in Yokohama, Japan and features 48 movies shot on camera-equipped cell phones. This first of its kind, entries were selected from more than 400 submissions in the international contest. Many of the flick were edited as digital files on a personal computer..
Films in the running are such illustrious titles as Yuka Kojima's five-minute Thumb Girl, presumably about a girl with a thumb (a few pictured above), and the nine-minute Walkers whose main character is a pair of sneakers that ride on a train.
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TAGS: Movies, Tech
Slot-Car Mario Kart!
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 11:46 AM
 If you can't get enough of the Mario because there aren't enough hours in the day on your Mario clock or weeks in your Mario year, you might enjoy a Mario Kart Go slot-car racing set.
The toy is not some cheap knock-off either. Its is a Nintendo-licensed, "high quality slot-racing system" "for racing geeks of all ages."
Featuring 1:43 scale versions of Mario's B Dasher and Wario's Brute, Mario Kart Go also features a track that banks up into the walls and crap. Seriously, slot-cars are awesome. Mario is awesome. Pre-order it, why don't cha? It's only 90 bucks, cheap!
Check out the track:
EDIT: Bleahy says it looks "like a penis."
Firebox.com
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TAGS: Toys, Videogames
WB To Pick Next-Gen DVD Format at CES?
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, December 07, 2007 11:18 AM
 Rumor time! The vice-chairman of Lionsgate, Michael Burns, is claiming that Warner Brothers will soon be going over to the Blu-Ray camp.
Warner Brothers is the only studio that currently releases their movies on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
If they did this, it would give Blu-Ray 70% of the studios, which could lead to the end of this format war. If they go HD-DVD, however, it would bring the split down to about 50/50.
All signs point to an announcement at CES 2008 in January.
Engadet: Warner to finally go Blu-ray-only at CES?
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TAGS: CES, Movies, Tech
JetBlue Intros Flying E-Mail/IM
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, December 07, 2007 11:13 AM
Those of you that fly JetBlue and happen to be on one of their Airbus A320 planes will find that you now have access to in-flight Wi-Fi.
The service is limited, however, to Yahoo! e-mail and IM. Passengers will need a Wi-Fi enabled device that supports Flash (sorry iPhone/iTouch).
RIM has also made an agreement with JetBlue to support their BlackBerry handsets in flight.
Engadget: JetBlue introduces free in-flight email, IM
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Products, Tech
'Raw' Re-ups
Posted by Ty Colfax - Friday, December 07, 2007 11:10 AM
General Electric-NBC-Universal-USA Network has signed “WWE Monday Night Raw” up for a 2-year contract extension, which means USA will continue to be the Monday night winner for cable networks in primetime.
Since the show’s return to USA, after a brief stint on Spike, it has averaged 5.1 million viewers a week. Who knew there were that many rednecks and ironic indie kids out there?
"Raw" will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with a special three-hour episode this coming Monday night at 8. Hulk’s coming back, too - always entertaining. TheFeed will watch the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes which are the only exciting parts of any wrestling show over 30 minutes long.
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TAGS: TV
Dell Invades Best Buy Locations
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, December 07, 2007 11:00 AM
Best Buy is the worst place in the world for us. It's impossible to go in there without spending a ton of money. They just have everything that we want and it's all in one place.
It's gonna get even worse because they are going to start selling Dell computers.
The initial line-up of products looks like the new XPS One, XPS 1330 Laptop, and the Inspiron 1521.
Engadget: Dell coming to Best Buy stores across the US
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TAGS: PC Gaming, Products, Tech
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Casting News
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, December 07, 2007 10:47 AM
 Here’s two X-Men Origins: Wolverine rumors CHUD.com is reporting:
- With the Escape from New York remake he was to star in falling apart, Gerard Butler of 300 fame could star as Creed (the dude that becomes Sabretooth), replacing front-runner Karl Urban (The Bourne Supremacy).
- Director Gavin Hood wants Natalie Portman for the role of Kayla (though this is reportedly less likely).
- Deadpool may make a cameo.
Gerard Butler also happens to be working on Game, the new film from the guys behind Crank, and is being courted for the role of young Sean Connery in the Untouchables prequel. Which I guess makes him a big Hollywood hotshot at the moment…ladies, are you listening?
CHUD.com: Will Leonidas Take On Wolverine?
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TAGS: Comics, Movies
McCain and Schilling Team Up
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 10:40 AM
 As your grampa might say: "Politics make strange bedfellows." Consider the teaming of John McCain and Curt Schilling.
It doesn't seem strange at first that Schilling would be out on the campaign trail shilling for McCain. J. McCain is a right-wing, law-and-order, war-hero presidential candidate and Schilling is a baseball legend: Both as American as baseball pie, right, except...
Schilling is the owner of 38 Studio (named after Schilling's number), a games development company that focuses on MMOs. Kurt is also an avid Everquest player. McCain, on the other hand, was the sponsor, in 1999, of the “21st Century Media Responsibility Act” that would amend the Cigarette Labeling Act to apply its warning label requirements to violent media products, including videogames.
We wonder if the MMO 38 Studios is producing currently is a non-violent MMO. We doubt it, somehow. We also wonder whether Schilling would be okay with a warning label on Everquest. After all, a lot of skulls get cracked (for pretend of course) in that game.
Gamepolitics.com: MMO Game Studio Head Hits the Campaign Trail for McCain (when not pitching)
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TAGS: Videogames
Oh, The Horror! A Rob Zombie Update
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, December 07, 2007 10:36 AM
 On December 18th, the unrated version of Rob Zombie’s Halloween comes out on DVD, complete with ten minutes of added footage. More gore? More boobs? Nope, more…um…character development.
Zombie recently noted he is not planning on making any additional Halloween flicks, saying he’ll end his Michael Myers saga where the original 1978 version should have, after the first installment. “One is all I need,” said Zombie to Rolling Stone.
Zombie also squashed rumors of a C.H.U.D. remake, instead saying he’s prefer to make a full-length version of his Grindhouse trailer Werewolf Women of the S.S. or a western.
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TAGS: Movies, Music
Sidekick Slide Back on Sale
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, December 07, 2007 10:28 AM
 Looks like the problems with T-Mobile's Sidekick Slide have been fixed as the device has gone back on sale.
It'll still cost you $199 with a new contract and hopefully it won't shut it off when you slide it.
TheFeed still hates Sidekicks though because we only ever see annoying teens that need to get jobs with them. TheFeed is cranky and old like that.
Gizmodo: Sidekick Slide Back on T-Mobile, Hopefully Without Battery Contact Problem
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TAGS: Products, Tech
PS3 'Orange Box' Not Broken After All?
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, December 07, 2007 10:22 AM
 Rumors round the internets have been pointing to a terrible, unplayable port of The Orange Box for the PS3. A preview over at 1up.com was especially harsh.
Well, EA sent a retail copy of the game over to Destructoid and their experience with it was just dandy.
Apparently, there are a few minor framerate drops in some of the action sequences, but nothing that makes the game unplayable.
D-Toid admits that the textures don't really look as nice and the load times are harsh, but the game is very playable.
Read their full thoughts right over.... HERE!
Destructoid: Stop whining: PS3 version of The Orange Box isn't broken, please relax
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames
A Naughty Uncharted Sequel?
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, December 07, 2007 9:48 AM
Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells recently confirmed in Sony's semi-official Three Speech blog that an Uncharted sequel is in the works.
Yee-haw!
"We developed Uncharted as a franchise,” wrote Wells. “The pulp action/adventure genre lends itself perfectly to serialization and continued episodes, which is one of the reasons we were attracted to it," Wells said. "Right now we are brainstorming on what Naughty Dog's next project will be, but even if we don't do an Uncharted sequel right away, you can pretty much count on us doing one in the near future."
He also noted another edition in the Jak and Daxter franchise is a possibility.
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Videos
It's A Very Pac-Man Christmas
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, December 07, 2007 9:36 AM
Check out this giant Pac-Man Christmas tree in downtown Madrid! No real explanation from local officials as to why, or what inspired this…but it is here, it's full of cheer, and we love it!
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TAGS: Videogames, Videos
'Smash Bros. Brawl' To 'Pinch Hit'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 9:23 AM
We've all been there: You're playing an online game, fighting a dude, and, right before you can claim victory, the loser disconnects, robbing you of your glory.
Upcoming Wii title Smash Bros. Brawl has a unique solution to the problem: If an opponent signs off in the middle of an online match, you won't even know about it. Your Wii will take over immediately and begin fighting you with AI, and since there's no way to communicate with your opponent other than your fists, the idea is, you'd be none the wiser and everyone would be happy.
Pretty cool... but we think you'd know anyway. Computers fight with such a different style from humans, we think it would become obvious when someone punk bitched out of his beating and bailed. But it's better than an error message, anyway.
It doesn't work with friends, though. Which is good. You should know when your friends cut and run.
Super Smash Bros. Dojo
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TAGS: Videogames
Sex Pistols Back In Action
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, December 07, 2007 8:45 AM
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock contributors and UK punk legends the Sex Pistols will launch a summer ’08 tour to coincide with a new live reunion DVD.
Guitarist Steve Jones (an actual Guitar Hero) hinted as much on his Los Angeles radio show (the awesome Jonesy's Jukebox on Indie 103.1), adding that they might also play an upcoming charity show at London's Royal Albert Hall organized by Who vocalist Roger Daltrey.
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TAGS: Music, Videogames, Xbox 360
Wii's Guitar Hero 3 Mono Problem: Solved
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 8:04 AM
Those who bought Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii only to discover that the music game was not playable in surround sound or even stereo are in luck. According to a New York Times blog, a fix is coming.
Since the Wii has a "no patching" policy, the mono-only problem will be solved with replacement discs as opposed to downloadable patch.
Here's the statement from Activision, in its entirety:
We recently became aware that some consumers have not been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. We are currently working with Nintendo and are planning to issue an improved audio experience in future versions of the game. We expect to have re-mastered discs available by early 2008 and we will be offering consumers replacement discs at no cost once they become available. We thank all of our customers for their support and patience.
So happy Hanukkah.
New York Times: Fixing Guitar Hero III’s Mono Problem
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TAGS: Music, Videogames, Wii
Dad Sells Smoking Kid's 'Gh 3' Bundle
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 7:45 AM
There's about a 50 percent chance the story is true, but we love a good eBay yarn as much as anyone, so make up your own mind: This eBay auction for an unopened Guitar Hero 3 bundle for the Wii purports to be from a dad who scoured his local retailers looking for the game for his 15 year-old son.
Pops had an amazing stroke of luck at a local EB Games and managed to snag the hot-ticket Xmas gift of the year for his spawn...but a few days later caught his child and a couple delinquent friends smoking weed in the backyard.
So dad takes the game and controller and puts it up on eBay to show it to his son. As a final parting shot, Dad posts that he may buy little Isaac Barbie as the Island Princess or Dancing With the Stars instead. Ooh, that's just cold.
Via Filefront
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TAGS: Music, Other People's Misfortune, Videogames
'Devil May Cry 4' Demo In 2008
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Friday, December 07, 2007 7:29 AM
According to Capcom, the demo version of Devil May Cry 4 is coming to PSN and Xbox 360 online services in early 2008.
It's not just a first level thing, either. The demo gives players a taste of a variety of different levels and situations in the game, including the chance to play as new protagonist Nero. Swing your sword. Slay some demons. It's all good. And it's all free.
For a look this Devil May Cry 4 preview. Nice, eh?
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Xbox 360 |
