Category Archives: News

PlayStation Move motion controller: Holiday 2010, under $100

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Yesterday at the Game Developer’s Conference Sony finally made official the PlayStation Motion Controller as PlayStation Move.  Dubbed the “next generation of motion gaming,” PS Move will take on Nintendo’s Wii-mote directly with a wireless Move controller and sub-controller (don’t call it a nunchuck).  Paired with the PlayStation Eye (Sony’s webcam device for the PS3) the PS Move will become an “extension of your body” with near 1:1 motion precision and accuracy.  Sony says the Move’s latency is about the same to that of its DualShock 3 controller (about a 1fps delay).  The Move contains “advanced motion sensors, including a three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, and a terrestrial magnetic field sensor, as well as a color-changing sphere that is tracked by PlayStation Eye camera.”

So what differentiates the Move controller from the Wii-mote?  The answer lies in the Z-plane.  The PS Eye tracks the colored sphere at the front of the controller and can sense when you are moving closer to or farther away from the on-screen action.  The Eye+Motion setup will be able to detect motion in 3D space (the Z-plane) far more effectively than the Wii-mote+Wii sensor bar configuration (especially if you don’t have the WiiMotionPlus add-on).  Other differences from the Wii-mote: the controller and sub-controller wirelessly pair to the PS3 via Bluetooth, they are USB-powered (no batteries), and the sub-controller does not have a motion sensor (the Wii nunchuck does).  Also, since the PS Eye can capture images and voice, augmented reality experiences can incorporated into games.

Sony’s plan is to market the PS Move not just to casual games but also to the rabid hardcore, FPS-lovin’ group of gamers.  They’ve come out and said that 36 third party developers and publishers are on board to make games supporting the new motion controller, promising that over 20 games “that are either dedicated to or supported with the PlayStation Move platform” will release this year.  At the GDC press conference Sony announced the following Motion-supported games, many with tentative titles: Move Party (collection of mini-games with augmented reality features); Sports Champions (think Wii Sports on the PS3; demos included table tennis, sword fighting, and archery); SOCOM 4; TV Superstars; Slider; The Shoot; Motion Fighter; Eye-Pet; and Brunswick Pro Bowling.  Click here to see Joystiq’s hands on coverage of the games.

PlayStation Move will be made available for purchase in three ways come Holiday 2010: a starter kit includes the PS Move controller, PS Eye, and a game and will sell for under $100; you can buy the Move controller standalone; or you can get a PS3 console bundled with the Move controller.  An exact launch date and definitive pricing details will surface as we get closer to the holiday season.

A motion controller for the PS3 is coming soon.  Question is, how will it fare in competition with the Nintendo Wii and the forthcoming Microsoft Project Natal?  Wii-like motion controls being implemented into both casual and hardcore games in high definition sounds tempting, but it all comes down to execution.  If Sony lives up to its promise and makes sure to release a decent variety of motion-supported games inside the launch window the new controller will likely be embraced by many PS3 users.  PlayStation Move will find a niche in the gaming community, especially with a sub-$100 price tag.  Motion-detection offers a new way to experience video games; in particular it invites users to become more immersed in the games they play (like what 3D did with Avatar).   With Wii living in the stone ages (graphics/lack of hardcore third party games support) and hype for Project Natal growing louder every day, the ball is in Sony’s court and it’s up to them to get this right.

Look after the break for the Sony press release and the Move introduction video.  The gallery below contains the first official press shots of the controller and sub-controller.

[Via Engadget, here, here & here; Gizmodo; Kotaku]

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CoCo comedy tour coming to a city near you

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Today Conan O’Brien posted his most exciting tweet yet: “Hey Internet: I’m headed to your town on a half-assed comedy & music tour. Go to http://TeamCoco.com for tix. I repeat: It’s half-assed.”

That’s right, the rumors were true!  Conan is going on tour this spring hitting up 30 cities between April and June.  The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour kicks off April 12 in Oregon, makes its way through Canada and across the US, and finishes in Atlanta, Georgia on June 14.  Like Conan said, head over to http://TeamCoco.com (or Ticketmaster) to purchase tickets.  Soon after Conan shared the news on Twitter, tickets sold out in major cities like NYC and Chicago.  Conan later announced that extra dates would be added to the following venues: New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Vancouver, San Fransisco, and Seattle.  So, if you are planning on buying tickets you better get on it, like right now.  Full tour schedule posted after the break.  Oh, and it’s good to see Conan has finally accepted the nickname Tom Hanks made for him back on The Tonight Show.  “CoCo-CoCo-CoCo!”

[Via Twitter; toursite]

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FOX summer schedule includes Glee, Lie to Me, SYTYCD

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On Tuesday FOX released its summer schedule.  Notable inclusions: Glee returns to the airwaves April 13 and will run straight to its finale on Tuesday, June 8.  It will be paired with So You Think You Can Dance (returns Thursday, May 27) in the 9PM time slot during the first two weeks of June.  Lie to Me has been on haitus for a while now and won’t return until Monday, June 7 at 8PM.  This does not bode well for the show; there has to be a reason why FOX decided to hold off a spring return (low ratings?).  Lie to Me will be paired with a new show from Matt Nix (the creator of Burn Notice) called The Good Guys.  Then there’s Past Life, which is all but dead.  The remaining unaired episodes will air Fridays at 8PM.  IGN took the words right out of my mouth: “What’s worse than airing on FOX on Fridays? Airing on FOX on Fridays in the summer.”  Hells Kitchen returns Thursday, June 10 at 8PM.  Look after the break for the full schedule.

[Via IGN]

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Wall Street 2 gets pushed to September

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[Wall+Street+Money+2+Shia+Labeouf.jpg]

Just as we were all getting excited to see the return of Gordon Gekko and the introduction to his new friend Shia LaBeouf, distributer FOX has decided to delay the release of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.  Instead of hitting theatres April 23, WS2 will wait until September 24.  Why, you ask?  According to the original Variety report, the date was changed so that the film could enter the Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 12-23.  Being selected for viewing at Cannes helps promote a film before its worldwide release, helps create more buzz.  Oh well.

[Via LATimesBlog]

Felicia Day to star in Syfy’s dark re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood

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Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, Buffy) is ready to put her prominent red hair (and acting chops) to the test in Syfy’s reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood aptly called Red.  She will play a werewolf-hunting descendant of Little Red Riding Hood.

In the action-packed Red, Red (Day) brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business – hunting werewolves. He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf. When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him.

Red is one Syfy original movie in a series of re-imagined classic fairy tales.  Syfy is also “developing films around the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Hansel & Gretel.”  You can expect Red to air July 2011.  Full PR announcement after the break.

[Via SciFiWire]

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Rapper is coming to The Cleveland Show as “Kenny West”

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The fine folks at EW got an exclusive sneek peek at the upcoming May 2 episode of The Cleveland Show.  In it rapper Kanye West “voices a 19-year-old local hero named, er, Kenny West, who gets into a lopsided rhyme battle with the show’s Cleveland Brown, Jr. over the affections of a young woman who’s voiced by Taraji P. Henson.”  According to show co-creator Rich Appel working with West was an absolute pleasure and he expects Kenny West to “become a recurring character in our universe.”  In fact, they’ve already planned to have West return in a season 2 episode.

The Cleveland Show airs Sundays at 8PM on FOX.

[Via EW-MusicMix]

Valve’s bringing Steam and Source Engine to Macs (at long last)

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On Monday video game developer Valve announced they are finally bringing Mac support to their Steam digital distribution platform and Source Engine that powers Valve games like Half-Life and Portal.  The popular Valve lineup of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will make its way to Mac users this April.  To add to this exciting news comes, well, even more exciting news.  Valve also announced Steam Play:  [this] allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge.  For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play.”  Holy hell yes.  Oh, and Portal 2, sequel to the highly acclaimed 2007 action/puzzle game, will be the first simultaneous release on the PC and Mac.  Valve Mac teaser posters in the gallery below.

[Via Joystiq]

Sony brings aboard all major Hollywood studios for HD movies on PSN

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The PlayStation Network is about to get pimped with a slew of new movie releases in glorious high definition from all six major Hollywood studios.  Sony signed a deal with 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures Entertainment that will bring a wide range of movies available for purchase or rental at the PSN.  The initial batch of 19 include flicks Fantastic Mr. Fox, UP, Star Trek, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and The Hangover.  Look after the break for the full listing, and check the PSN video hub on your PS3 to find out if your favorites are making their way to PS3 HD land.  Sony is happy to say that the “PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download”…for now.

[Via PRNewsWire; Engadget]

Oscars: ‘The Hurt Locker’ trumps ‘Avatar’

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This year’s Academy Awards was actually quite entertaining.  Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin proved to be great hosts; the Neil Patrick Harris surprse opening number was a hit (the Paranormal Activity spoof was spot on); the horror film montage was long overdue; Ben Stiller dressed as a Nav’i blue humanoid with fishline-controlled tail was great; the Best Picture featurettes worked well; the dance routines performed for each song in the Best Original Score category was fun; the Best Actor/Actress introductions were touching; and there was even a “imma let you finish but…” moment by some strange woman.  AND the Best Director award went to a woman for the first time!  So those were the highlights; now let’s discuss the notable winners.

Let’s start with the king (or should I say queen) of the night Kathryn Bigelow and her brilliant film The Hurt Locker.  The critically acclaimed film nabbed six Oscar wins in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.  Avatar, directed by Biglow’s ex-husband James Cameron, walked away with many technical awards including: Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.  (Side note: District 9 totally would have won all these awards if Avatar had not been competition!)  Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), no surprise there; and Best Actress went to Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  Best Supporting Actor deservedly went to Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds); and Best Supporting Actress went to Mo’Nique (Precious), again no surprise there.  Precious also picked up Best Adapted Screenplay.

Other notable winners include: Pixar’s UP nabbed Best Animated Film and Best Score (well done, Michael Giacchino); and Star Trek won Best Makeup.  Look after the break for the full breakdown of the night’s winner and losers.  Overall, the 82nd Academy Awards show was entertaining, fun, and full of deserved wins.  Congratuations to Kathryn Bigelow & crew for The Hurt Locker.  James Cameron, go wallow in your boatloads of cash.

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FOX picks up Fringe for a third season

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What’s that you’re pointing at, Walter?  Is the parallel universe telling you something?  FOX decided to renew Fringe for a third season, huh?  YES!

Despite the recent drop in ratings due to its competitive Thursday night time slot, FOX is reassuring its rabid fans that Fringe will return next fall for a third season.  Fringe proved itself a worthy contender this season when its audience numbers were up on nights when its competition (CSI, Grey’s Anatomy) aired repeats.  Along with a good amount of DVR recordings, what this proves is that Fringe still has a strong viewership; it’s just that it isn’t priority number one against other high profile shows.  The renewal comes at a good time; Fringe is on hiatus right now, so the guarantee of another season puts the writers in a comfortable position; they can plan ahead and not worry about the fear of wrapping story lines up too quickly.

Fringe returns with all new episodes Thursday, April 1 on FOX.

[Via EW; IGN]

Apple iPad to launch April 3rd, pre-order on March 12th

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The Apple iPad took one step closer to the brink of reality today when Apple announced a ship date.  iPads will be available for purchase Saturday, April 3 at Apple Retail stores, online at Apple.com, and “select Apple Authorized Resellers.”  (Could that mean we’ll see iPads sold at Best Buys?  Time will tell.)   On March 12 (one week from today) you can pre-order the iPad (Wi-Fi + 3G models) at Apple.com or you can reserve the iPad (Wi-Fi model only) at an Apple Retail store and pick it up on that date.  The 3G model will be released in “late April.”  Speaking of late April, peoples of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will get their paws on the device at this time.  Need to be reminded the prices of the models and how much poorer you will be come next month?

Fun fact: Apple’s stock hit a record high Friday afternoon, jumping to $219.70 before it slightly fell to $218.95 at closing time, up around 4%.

[Via Apple; Yahoo!]

First-gen gamers losing Xbox Live will receive consolation prizes

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You all knew it was coming: On April 15 access to Xbox Live on all original Xbox consoles and games will shut down.  That’s right, means no more Halo 2 online multiplayer.  Instead of just pulling the plug and sitting there idly, Microsoft has decided to reward all gamers who will lose their Live service.  They will get a free three month Xbox Live Gold membership card, 400 MS points, and an invite to the Halo: Reach beta.  Not too shabby if you ask me.  Those of you who stand by your original Xbox console and Live-enabled games listen here: Take the three month membership and the MS points and the beta invitation, buy yourself an Xbox 360 Arcade ($199), and bask in the world of next-gen gaming.  Halo: Reach will surely fill in the hole its extremely aged predecessor once ruled.

[Via Xbox]