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TheFeed’s Weekend Playlist: Trine, Left 4 Dead, Dissidia, ‘Splosion Man, And Monkey Island

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:23:12 +0000

A wise man once said, “But there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.” Fortunately, that doesn’t apply to the peeps at TheFeed — how can anyone here be blue when there are so many great games to play?!? From Wii MotionPlus action to indie darlings to upcoming fighters, the troops have all sorts of great games on tap for the weekend. Find out what your favorite writers are playing and let everyone know what’s on your playlist this weekend.

Jake Gaskill: I finally picked up Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii, and I’m thoroughly satisfied. I’m looking forward to trying out the Play the Pros feature during this weekend’s British Open (I’ve already torn apart Turnberry, so it should be a pretty easy tournament.) I’ll also be working on the XBLA title ‘Splosion Man, which I’m really excited about (be sure to check back next week for my review). Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to get in any more Shadow Complex (BOO!), and when I say that that saddens me, you have no idea how much I mean that.

Stephen Johnson: A Left 4 Dead mania is sweeping the G4 offices, so I imagine I’m going to spend my weekend in zombie-town. I haven’t played that much multi-player L4D yet, but I’m teamed up with the great Jeff Kanjanapangka, Eugene Morton, and a yet-to-be-decided fourth. I’m sure they’ll school me good.

Here are the G4 office-workers I most look forward to murdering, in a virtual sense: Jonathan Goorvich, Dana Vinson, and Eugene Morton. Dana because she’s super-friendly and needs to be taught a lesson in evil, Jonathan because his glasses haunt my dreams, and Eugene Morton. He knows what he did. I know Eugene is on my team, but I’m going to light that bitch on fire anyway.

Raymond Padilla: I completely failed to start Blue Dragon last weekend. That’s what happens when you forget that your friends from Thailand are supposed to crash at your place. I’m not sure I’ll get to it this weekend either. I have a bunch of Dissidia: Final Fantasy to play. I’m also trying to con my friends from Sony and Ignition to come over for some Rock Band 2. The good news is that they suck at setting up WiFi, so I agreed to sort our their router problems if they play some Rock Band at my place…which really isn’t much of a con when I think about it.

Andrew Pfister: After a week spent on the road for Special Assignments™, I’d normally be looking forward to a weekend planted on my slightly misshapen futon (who needs luxuries like a couch?) and tasting a sample platter of games I’ve recently liberated from Billy’s office. But I think I’m going to be attached to my PC for most of the weekend finishing up Trine, diving into some of the newly released LucasArts stuff, and generally exploring my long-neglected list of Steam favorites. And if I find myself compelled to pick up a new widescreen monitor to enjoy them on, well, so be it.

Patrick Klepek: Having finally put Overlord: Dark Legend behind me (an entertaining Pikmin-like adventure that sadly dovetails into repetitive nonsense in the last few hours), this weekend promises a two-pronged dose of old school. On one hand, my recent efforts to install Windows XP on my MacBook Pro were successful, immediately prompting me to install Steam and purchase a copy of Trine, the wizard/knight/thief platformer that’s all the indie rage lately. I can’t wait to dive in. On the other, there’s The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Having not joined the adventure genre until The Curse of Monkey Island era, it’s been a blast to see where Guybrush Threepwood came from. Please, LucasArts — make more of these!

Source:g4tv.com

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Hey, Wii Owners Complaining About Nothing To Play, Check Out The Munchables

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:53:38 +0000

Video Games – E3 2009 – Video Game Trailers

Sometimes I feel like Stephen Totilo, my former MTV News boss turned Kotaku reporter, and I are the only people who are constantly turning on their Wii, perfectly content with the content being offered. We’re always talking about our Wiis. While some folks just like to complain, in this case, I believe it’s nothing more than sheer ignorance. At least I can help with the last one, which is why I’m recommending Namco Bandai’s criminally overlooked The Munchables to starved Wii gamers.

The Munchables is the love child of two other Namco Bandai franchises, Katamari Damacy and Pac-Man. The Munchables combines the sense of scale witnessed in Katamari Damacy as your rolling ball become larger with the nom-nom-nom eating mechanic of Pac-Man. You don’t roll a ball in The Munchables, you are the ball, since you’re eating everything around you to develop additional mass.

Try to look past the irritating art style. In that respect, it’s no Katamari Damacy, but The Munchables is cheap (I mean that literally — it’s only $29.99), enjoyable, consumable fun that almost every Wii owner will probably walk right past at the store. Which is why I’m here saying that you shouldn’t; The Munchables is absolutely worth your time. Make me proud.

Oh, and the main character literally poops everything it’s ingested at the end of each level. I’m serious.

Source:g4tv.com

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iPhone 3GS Hands-On – Is It Worth The Upgrade?

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:51:16 +0000

The iPhone 3GS comes with a few features you won’t be getting through a software update on the iPhone 3G. They are:

Faster processor & upgraded graphics chipset.
Better camera with video support, auto-focus, auto-white balancing.
Voice command
Support for HSDPA 7.2MBit/s 3G (whenever AT&T actually gets around to rolling it out)

The biggest feature, especially for those of you that play games on the iPhone, is the faster processor and upgraded graphics chip. What do I mean by faster? Watch this side-by-side comparison for loading Pop Cap’s Peggle on a 3G and 3GS. It’s a LOT faster on the 3GS.

iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 3GS Loading Time Comparison

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The 3GS is loaded up and taking shots before the 3G even finishes loading to the main menu. Additionally, the upgraded graphics chipset will support shaders that won’t even run on the 3G. Whether or not developers decide to code games exclusively for the 3GS is another question, though.

What about the camera?

Are these worth the point of entry, though? It all depends on the tasks you throw at your device. If you take a lot of photos and want video: upgrade. The camera is so much better on the 3GS. It loads up faster, takes pictures faster, and they look better. The auto-focus and white balancing is a nice touch, but doesn’t reach the level of quality that a true digital camera offers. Take a look at these comparison shots.

Mr. Sark in the Game Lab

Sterling McGarvey loves Friday!

The view into G4’s courtyard

Overall, the quality of the pictures off of the 3GS is higher with Mr. Sark looking better on the old school 3G. That is possibly due to poor white balancing on my part, though. Throw in bonus features like direct uploading to YouTube and you’ve got the complete package. How is video quality, though? Take a look:

The voice command is what it is… voice command. If you really miss not being able to dial by voice, it’s a nice bonus feature. I wouldn’t recommend upgrading for it, though. I guess it’s nice to be able to control iTunes by voice.

Personally, I ordered the 3GS after seeing how much faster it loads games. There’s a major increase in performance and game load times are probably my least favorite aspect of the iPhone. Being able to shoot video is a huge added bonus as I often find myself wanting to sneak video of events and games without having my digital camera ready.

Did you get the iPhone 3GS? Were you eligible for the upgrade or did you pay full price?

Source:g4tv.com

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Ubisoft Explains Lack Of PlayStation 3 Support For Splinter Cell: Conviction

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:49:10 +0000

Sony’s PlayStation 3 lineup over the next year is nothing short of stellar. Yet, there is one game that PS3 fans will unfortunately not be getting their hands on anytime soon, and that game is of course Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Conviction. But if you think Conviction’s absence on the PS3 has anything to do with console favoritism, then you’ll be pleased to know that you’re only half right, according to Kotaku.

During a Q&A on the company’s official forums, a Ubisoft developer explained:

“Splinter Cell games are historically linked with Microsoft platforms. The first Splinter Cell on the original Xbox was one of the first games to fully exploit the console’s technical possibilities. At that time, Microsoft really believed in the game potential and provided strong support to promote it. So, there is a ‘link of heart’ between the franchise and the platform. Some games are like this (think of Final Fantasy for instance). The second reason behind this choice is purely linked to production. Having a single target platform means that we can optimize the game even further, because we only have one type of – console – hardware to support.”

I can understand the brand loyalty argument, to a degree, but as Grand Theft Auto proved (and Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid: Rising will most likely prove), just because a game is associated with a particular console, doesn’t mean players will avoid it if it then appears on a different console as well. If it’s a good game (and these are major franchises, so their success is all but guaranteed), people will play them on whatever console they can.

Plus, this “one console” assertion means that Ubisoft could be considering a PS3 exclusive Splinter Cell game sometime in the future, right? And given that Assassin’s Creed 2, like its predecessor, will be released on both consoles, it seems kind of hard to buy any other explanation beyond the questionable console loyalty argument., unless Conviction is considerably more technically demanding than AC2,

I’ve contacted Ubisoft about all this, and they’ve yet to respond at the time of this posting. I’ll give you an update when I hear back from the company.

Source:g4tv.com

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Tech Review: Novatel MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:46:22 +0000

Watch Larger Version of this Video

In an age where your cell phone is quickly becoming your link to the Internet, Chris Hardwick gives us the Novatel MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot hub that can take a mobile broadband connection and turn it into a WiFi network, anywhere you want.

Check out below the cut for the full review from Attack of the Show.

What You Need To Know

The hub is incredibly portable, weighs about 2 ounces and measure 0.4 inches thick.
Set up requires you to plug it into your computer and install the software directyl from the device.
It’ll activate over the air, you can check how much you’ve downloaded and use it as a modem (tethering) or download apps.
Then you can use it anytime, with our without the computer.
Speeds range from 600 kps to 1.4 megabits, which is about 76K to 179K a second in actual download speeds. Not enough to split between 5 people.
Our tests could only get 2 or 3 bars, which means slow speeds for just one person.
Mi-Fi barely beats the iPhone, in terms of speed.

Price

Free from Amazon with a cell phone contract, but it’s $40.00 a month with a 250 megabyte limit per month.
This isn’t a good deal and it’s slower than it should be.

Rating

2 Seals of Approval out of 5.

Source:g4tv.com

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Fresh Ink Online: Invincible, Phonogram, Destroyer

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:44:31 +0000

Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version

On this very special webisode of Fresh Ink Online, Blair welcomes two very special surprise guests. Plus, she reviews the latest and greatest comics, including Phonogram: The Singles Club, The Invincible Iron Man, Punisher, Red Mass For Mars, Destroyer and Batman: Streets of Gotham. But it’s the gore-tastic Invincible that really has her talking. Did it make Pick of the Week? Tune in and find out.

…and make sure to visit us on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace…

Source:g4tv.com

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John Kerry (And Other U.S. Senators) Hate AT&T’s iPhone Exclusivity Deal

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:33:17 +0000

While most of the G4tv.com staff spent time upgrading their iPhones to OS 3.0 with great excitement, it was revealed that a group of U.S. Senators sent a letter to the FCC complaining about the exclusivity agreement AT&T enjoys with Apple. The Senators are part of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. According to PC World:

“The letter, which is signed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), expresses concern that handset exclusivity arrangements may be anticompetitive and reducing consumer choice in the marketplace.

It’s interesting to note that some concerns spelled out by the senators sound like they’re a direct reaction to recent complaints over AT&T’s status as the exclusive U.S. provider for Apple’s iPhone. When last week Apple announced launch details for iPhone OS 3.0, AT&T was the target of scorn over delays to supporting the iPhone’s new tethering and MMS capabilities. In the past, AT&T has also been accused of having spotty 3G coverage in rural areas.”

Considering Apple’s history of Machiavellian tactics, it wouldn’t surprise me if it funded the letter and the actions behind it. (Just kidding.)

Personally, I hate all the exclusives and subsidies that are prevalent in the American mobile-phone market. I wish things were more open, like in numerous Asian and European countries. I think the iPhone is a damn impressive piece of consumer of electronics, but I also think AT&T’s network is a damn piece of excrement. AT&T’s service is so poor in the areas I work, play, and visit that there’s no way I’d get an iPhone…as long as it’s exclusive to that network.

On the other hand, this is another example of government officials wasting time on stupid problem. Homelessness, hunger, poverty, and health care are exponentially more important things to focus on than some hack carrier having exclusivity on an excellent phone. Besides, Apple’s actions and the rumor mill indicate that iPhone exclusivity won’t be an issue in 2010.

What do you ladies and gentlemen think? Are exclusivity deals a healthy part of a capitalist market? Or is Kerry’s crew right in wanting to socialize (*snicker*) the mobile-phone market?

Source:g4tv.com

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First 15: Fight Night Round 4 Legacy Mode Preview

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:31:21 +0000

Fight Night Round 4 drops next week for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but we’ve already been putting the game through its paces here at the office. Up first, we’re showing off the game’s improved “Legacy Mode”, which starts off with the boxer’s first amateur tournament and follows him throughout his entire career. You can also elect to play this mode as one of the real world boxers, by the way.

Instead of just choosing your next fight like in Fight Night Round 3 followed by one training minigame, the career in Round 4 follows a calendar. You’ll have to account for things like recovery time and training days before each fight. Do you cram in as many fights as possible without fitting in a lot of training or do you hit the gym and build your stats for a few big fights?

Additionally, Round 4’s Legacy Mode is built around the fact that all boxers must retire. The question is, what will your boxer’s record and standing be when age finally gets the best of him?

First 15: Fight Night Round 4 Legacy Mode

Also, be sure to read my hands-on preview for Fight Night Round 4.

Source:g4tv.com

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God of War III Demo On X-Play

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:30:14 +0000

In case you were wondering where you’re going to be tomorrow night, June 18th, at 6:30PM ET and then again at 8PM ET, I’m here to tell you. You will be watching X-Play on G4. That is of course unless you don’t want to watch game director Stig Asmussen demo the mythical brutality-fest that is God of War III live just for you.

With over 20 minutes of gameplay footage, this God of War III special is the biggest demo X-Play has ever done! Adam and Morgan will be revealing more hands-on gameplay than ever before and this, PlayStation 3 fans, is going to be huge. Huge, I say! HUGE!

Now, if for some inexcusable reason you miss the show, not to worry. You’ll be able to watch the entire demo in glorious HD right here on G4tv.com mere minutes after X-Play starts. However, our demo here on G4tv.com won’t include Mr. Asmussen’s insightful commentary, so to catch what the game director has to say, you’ll have to tune in to X-Play.

Well, that’s it. You have your orders. Now don’t disappoint me.

Source:g4tv.com

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What The Heck Is Homefront’s ‘Drama Engine’?

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:29:13 +0000

Video Game – E3 2009 – E3 ‘09 Live

There is a mix of different features in Homefront that THQ and Kaos Studios are calling the “Drama Engine.” The…drama engine? At first, it sounds like something silly, ala the Emotion Engine that was hyped for the PlayStation 2, but it’s actually a little cooler than that, as Homefront general manager David Votypka explained during E3.

“We have a mix of these really intense action moments combined with in-game storytelling,” said Votypka. “You’re not going to see any cutscenes in the game. One of the things that the drama engine done is it’s a lot of dynamic triggers and tracking of bringing events in your face, at the player, all the time. For example, in our demo…there’s this one sequence where this enemy jeep comes hurtling at you and you fire a rocket launcher and it flips over and careens towards you. Now, if I’m standing 30 or 40 feet to the left or the right, it’s actually still gonna track to the player, so there’s a lot of systems that’s checking dynamically [in] real-time about really bringing you those action moments right into your face.”

Essentially, Homefront still engages in a large amount of scripted events to convey drama, but rather than potentially missing out on part of the event because you’re looking the wrong way (or having the camera ripped from your control to force your vision there), it tailors the direction of the on-screen action, based on where you’re located in the environment. Cool!

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