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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

D-Box X3me and Quest chairs

D-Box X3me and Quest chairs

For those who love the feeling of being seated in simulation rides, the D-Box X3me and Quest chairs are just the thing for you. Each of these leather recliners come with integrated actuators that pull you into the onscreen action, rocking you in style (and in sync) with the movie's movement and sound. You'll need a D-Box decoder box to act as the go-between for your media player and D-Box chair. New movies will have their motion codes constantly updated on the D-Box site. These chairs are capable of up to 2Gs of acceleration as well as 100 movements per second. The X3me retails for a whopping $13,110, while the Quest is $4,140 cheaper but misses out on one actuator.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/11/dbox_x3me_and_quest_chairs.html

Good Turkey Recipe!!!!!!

INGREDIENTS
1 (12 pound) whole turkey
6 tablespoons butter, divided
4 cups warm water
3 tablespoons chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 tablespoons seasoning salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse and wash turkey. Discard the giblets, or add to pan if they are anyone's favorites.
Place turkey in a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Separate the skin over the breast to make little pockets. Put 3 tablespoons of the butter on both sides between the skin and breast meat. This makes for very juicy breast meat.
In a medium bowl, combine the water with the bouillon. Sprinkle in the parsley and minced onion. Pour over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle seasoning salt over the turkey.
Cover with foil, and bake in the preheated oven 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C). For the last 45 minutes or so, remove the foil so the turkey will brown nicely.
My mom made this. its good!!!!!

SeeSnake micro inspection camera

SeeSnake micro inspection camera

Ridgid has released the SeeSnake micro inspection camera, helping DIY lovers to detect and diagnose problems throughout the home with ease. The SeeSnake micro inspection camera is the first professional-grade adjustable mini-camera that can see inside, underneath and in-between the toughest-to-reach spots. A high-resolution camera head rests at the tip of a flexible 3-foot cable, reinforced by a waterproof vinyl jacket. The cable and camera are manually controlled, whereby images are relayed back to a 2.4" color LCD display connected to a comfortable pistol-grip handle. A couple of adjustable LEDs help provide the optimal amount of light no matter the task. Each SeeSnake micro inspection camera is accompanied by 3 separate attachments which can be twisted and locked into place on the camera head. The Hook Tip lets users pick up, tug, or pull small objects within reach of the cable, while the Magnetic Tip picks up metal objects. Last but not least, the Mirror Tip allows users to look around corners, providing more versatility in even the tightest spots. You can pick up the SeeSnake micro inspection camera for $239. -->

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/11/seesnake_micro_inspection_camera.html

Ubisoft Announces Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Haze Delayed Until 2008

Upon releasing their financials for the six months ending September 30, 2007, Ubisoft showed their sales were up 52%, and sell-through sales for Assassin’s Creed have topped the 1 million mark.

Unfortunately, with the good, you also have to take the bad, and while the PS3 (cough - timed) exclusive Haze was supposed to be released sometime in December, Ubisoft has now officially pushed the game back until the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 – which means the game will be

pushed out of this year, and land in the first part of 2008.
However, Ubisoft today also announced Rainbow Six Vegas 2, the sequel to the chart topping Rainbow Six Vegas, will be released in North America in March of 2008.

The game is being developed by the original Vegas team – Ubisoft Montreal. Little is known about this sequel, however, the game is said to “break new ground in both co-op and adversarial modes, while providing unprecedented interaction between the solo and multiplayer modes.” To that, we say bring it.

http://gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/4B18B5EB-EBCE-4151-ACFB-CB471DC4C2D9.htm

Monday, November 19, 2007

More Bestbuy Black Friday Doorbuster Specials Anounced

BestBuy has announced more Doorbuster specials that will be available in-store only on Black Friday. They will have a Toshiba A135-S7403 Laptop & Canon 3-in-1 Printer Package for $229.98 and a Samsung 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV for just $1199.99. To see the full list of BestBuy Doorbusters,Click Here

All The Black Friday Info You Need!!!

Check out http://www.blackfriday.info for all the black friday specials you can handle.

Rock Band



Developed by Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, Rock Band™ is an all-new platform for you to experience music, giving you the chance to rock in the shoes of the biggest guitarists, bassists, drummers, and singers of all time—as a solo superstar or as part of a hard-rocking band.

Rock Band delivers the most authentic music game ever—by challenging rockers to master lead guitar, bass, guitar, drums, and vocals. Built on unprecedented deals with top record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans all genres of rock and includes many master recordings from legendary artists.

  • Play the hottest music: Rock Band includes dozens of all-time classics as performed by the original artists. Rock out to legendary artists from punk, metal, alternative, southern, and classic rock.
  • Break out your axe: Shred on guitar and bass like never before with the all-new Fender™ Stratocaster™ replica guitar.
  • Bang the skins: Play like a real drummer on a drum kit with four pads, a kick pedal, and real drum sticks.
  • Sing your heart out: Take center stage on lead vocals and bring down the house on rock's greatest anthems.
  • Live the rock lifestyle: Completely customize your characters to reflect your own inner rock god.
  • Try out multiple game modes: Play solo or as a band in tour mode. Start small and work your way to the top.
  • Take your act online: Go online to play with—or compete against—rockers around the world.
  • Grow your act: Keep expanding your rock universe with downloadable content.
  • Get the Special Edition: The Special Edition of Rock Band includes the Fender Stratocaster replica guitar, the drum kit with four pads, kick pedal, drum sticks, and a microphone so you can really rock out.



http://www.xbox.com

Shopping carts get text displays

Modstream aims to bring advertising to a whole new level by introducing shopping carts which come with scrolling text displays on the handles itself, allowing advertisers to beam messages to selected stores sans wires. I suppose the messages will change each time you walk through different aisles, tempting you to purchase goods that aren't even on your shopping list to begin with. No idea on when such shopping carts will be used, but that time would require you to be more disciplined than ever when it comes to purchasing items.

http://www.ubergizmo.com

HTC Touch gets a facelift

HTC Touch gets a facelift

HTC has decided that the Touch is getting a wee bit too old for its own good (although it was just launched like, this year) and decided to inject the equivalent of electronic Botox inside, resulting in a couple of new shades for those who find the black and green shades off-putting. These new colors include white and burgundy, and will see an increase of RAM to 128MB as well as 256MB of ROM. Best of all is, the price still remains the same - in South East Asia at least, as it retails for S$848.

http://www.ubergizmo.com

Transcend T.sonic 650 MP3 player

Transcend T.sonic 650 MP3 player

Transcend has released its T.sonic 650 MP3 player that offers up to 4GB of storage space at a price that does not hurt the pocket that much. Features include a dual color OLED display, a lyrics sync function, an intuitive interface, a 4-way button, an integrated FM radio as well as Voice Activity Detection for high quality gapless voice recordings and personal memos. Audio formats supported include MP3, WMA, WAV and even WMA-DRM10. The Transcend T.sonic 650 measures 75 mm x 31 mm x 13 mm and weighs a mere 30g. It will come in ivory and charcoal colors, coming in 2GB and 4GB capacities.

http://www.ubergizmo.com

3G iPod nano knockoff

3G iPod nano knockoff

ECNokia of China has just lifted the veil on its latest knockoff effort that takes after the form factor of the 3G iPod nano. Not only does it come with an integrated FM tuner, a microphone for voice notes, and a much larger touchscreen display, it also boasts a 1.3 megapixel camera for you to snap impromptu shots. Unfortunately, there is no internal flash memory for you to fill it up - instead, all your media will have to be carried by an SD memory card slot. You can also bet your bottom dollar that the user experience won't be as refined as the real deal. There is currently no word on pricing or availability, since it is most probably available only to wholesalers at the moment. Keep a keen eye out whenever you see a cheap 3G iPod nano on eBay with such clones floating around in the market.

http://www.ubergizmo.com

Breezewalk Shoes

Breezewalk Shoes

The Breezewalk Shoes that you see here look pretty ordinary - until you realize that each pair comes with their own air-conditioning system that keeps both your feet cool, resulting in non-stinky socks for supple and spry feet; no matter how much time you spend at the office each day. Choose from Bureaucrat, Red Tape and Jobsworth styles to suit your current station in life. While you won't see a mini air-cond compressor anytime soon, the Breezewalk Shoes come with patented aeration channels that circulate air around your foot without any negative effects on your stability or comfort of your walk. Strangely enough, I suppose these aren't really what folks are looking for since the price has been marked down from $149.95 to a mere $49.95.

http://www.ubergizmo.com

Amazon rolls out Kindle

Amazon rolls out Kindle

Amazon has finally made the Kindle e-book reader available, and it will support over 90,000 books which can be purchased in the Kindle Store online, including 101 out of 112 current New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases for $9.99 a pop unless stated otherwise. The $399 Kindle is wireless, so you will be able to download just about any book you fancy no matter where you are courtesy of its delivery system, Amazon Whispernet that shares the same EV-DO network as cellphones. It takes less than a minute to download your reading material of choice, and since Amazon pays for the connection you don't have to worry about data plans or monthly wireless bills. While the lack of a backlight eliminates eyestrain and glare, that means the Kindle is useless in the dark unless someone creates a Kindle Lamp accessory. Other features include built-in access to The New Oxford American Dictionary and Wikipedia.org, making this a veritable tome of knowledge.

http://www.ubergizmo.com

Google and Sun may butt heads over Android

San Francisco - Google could be heading for a showdown with Sun over the way Android, Google's new mobile phone software platform, handles Java.



Instead of using the standards-based JME (Java Micro Edition) as an engine to run Java applications, Google wrote its own virtual machine for Android, calling it Dalvik. There are technical advantages and disadvantages to using Dalvik, developers say, but technology may not have been the driver for Google.

Google most likely built Dalvik as a way to get around licensing issues with Sun that would have come with using JME, said Stefano Mazzocchi, a developer and board member at Apache Labs.

Phone makers that incorporate JME into their phones must license the technology from Sun if they intend to make any modifications to it, Mazzocchi said. A phone maker could freely use JME under an open-source license if it shares innovations to the software with the community, but most large handset makers are reluctant to do that, he said.

Rather than require phone makers to license JME as part of Android, Mazzocchi said, Google built its own virtual machine. Dalvik converts Java bytecodes into Dalvik bytecodes.

"So Google can say Dalvik is not a Java platform," said Hari Gottipati, a mobile developer who also has been examining the issue.

Google declined to comment on Dalvik.

"I believe Sun didn't see this coming," Mazzocchi said. "I think this was a very smart and clever move."

Still, Google could run into trouble. If Google used any of Sun's intellectual property to build Dalvik, Sun could sue Google for patent infringement, Mazzocchi said. "I'd be very curious to see what Sun would do," he said. That's because Sun is a staunch advocate for open source, so it would hardly appease the open-source community to sue Google over an open-source software stack.

However, Google's move threatens Sun's business strategy, Mazzocchi said. He believes that Sun sees a bright future in the mobile market and hopes to earn revenue off the use of the Java virtual machine by phone makers. Google's plan diminishes that opportunity for Sun.

While Sun declined to comment directly for this story, it pointed to some public statements from company executives. Jonathan Schwartz, president and CEO of Sun, wrote a blog post congratulating Google on the day of Android's launch. Notably, he refers to Android as a "Java/Linux" platform. By contrast, Google carefully appears to avoid calling Android a Java platform. Google describes the Android software development kit as a set of tools that lets developers create applications using Java.

Sun also shared statements that Rich Green, executive vice president of software at Sun, made during Oracle Open World this week about Android. "We're reaching out to Google and are anticipating they will be reaching out to us to ensure the software and APIs will be compatible so deployment on a wide variety of platforms will be possible," he said.

Green also said that Sun wants to work with Google to prevent creating a fractured mobile development environment.

That's a concern for other mobile developers like Gottipati. The mobile environment is already fractured. Even with JME, he has to alter his applications for different phones. "But in that case, as a developer, I'm porting once and maybe tweaking for different phones," he said. "But with this, you'll need to develop a separate application that's not standard. Unless Android becomes mainstream and kills J2ME ... why should I develop applications that are not standard which I'm not sure about because I haven't seen any commercial handsets yet?"

Gottipati believes that the technical differences in Dalvik were the main driver for Google, not the licensing issue. The license fee that handset makers must pay for JME is very nominal, he said. He thinks that if Google asked, Sun would have included JME in Android and waived the licensing fee.

http://news.yahoo.com

New Zune media player in short supply

SEATTLE - The 80-gigabyte Zune media player Microsoft Corp. launched Tuesday has sold out across the Web, to the dismay of online shoppers and delight of the world's largest software maker.



"Anyone know where I can get a Cabbage Patch Doll ... er ... I mean Zune?" asks an Amazon.com Inc. customer listed as Paul Taylor on the Web retailer's message board for the product.

Amazon told Taylor and others that their preordered devices for Nov. 13 shipping would not be sent for 10 more days, according to the message board.

While Web retailers have 4 GB and 8 GB versions of the second-generation Zunes in stock, the 80 GB music player is not available on Amazon, Best Buy or Circuit City's Web sites.

Microsoft said it prioritized the manufacture of the smaller Zune 4 and Zune 8 devices, and that more of the 80 GB version should be on shelves, physical and virtual, in the next 10 to 14 days.

Rumors of a manufacturing delay spread across consumer electronics blogs this week.

"I think they were already probably a little later than they would like to be, given Apple's iPod announcement" of a new line of the market-leading devices in September, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft. "They probably wanted to get anything out the door as soon as they could."

Quite a few Zunes have "definitely shipped and sold," and Amazon is being given a limited number each week, said Anya Waring, an Amazon spokeswoman.

Microsoft, for its part, is happy to see such a positive reaction, according to a spokesman.

http://www.news.yahoo.com

T-Mobile Suspends Sales of Sidekick Slide

T-Mobile USA suspended sales of the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide phone on Friday evening, Nov. 16, the company confirmed Monday.



The company decided to suspend sales after Motorola, which manufactures the devices, said that some may inadvertently power off when the slide door on the front side of the phone is opened or closed. The root cause has not been determined.

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX and Sidekick iD are not affected by this issue, T-Mobile said.

The phone was just launched earlier this month, but T-Mobile said it took action "to help ensure our customers only receive devices we're confident will perform at their peak, so they can stay effortlessly connected to those who matter most," the company said.

If a customer purchased a Sidekick Slide that is experiencing the unintended power cycle issue, they may contact T-Mobile Customer Care, or go to a T-Mobile retail store, "for assistance and to discuss available options," T-Mobile said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20071119/tc_zd/219899;_ylt=AvIaynvAuvMUlFYtjPkkKlySxLEF

Q&A: Microsoft on Xbox Live turning five

When Xbox Live first went online five years ago, $49.95 would buy gamers a year's subscription to the service, a headset, and a pair of demos. For that price, customers could play a relatively slim selection of seven titles online, more than half of those sports games.

Today, every Xbox 360 game released has Xbox Live support integrated in it, either in the form of full-fledged online multiplayer, downloadable content from the Xbox Live Marketplace, the full game's availability on Xbox Live Arcade, or even just incorporating the basic friends list, achievement, and messaging capabilities.

As the catalog of titles offered has grown, so too has the number of subscribers. With the introduction of the Xbox 360 in November of 2005, Microsoft staggered its service into the yearly-fee Gold and completely free Silver levels, with online play limited to the former set. As a result of the change, the Live user base has increased dramatically, so much that Microsoft last week announced that it has surpassed the 8 million mark.

With Microsoft celebrating the anniversary of its online endeavor, Xbox Live Arcade product manager Jeremy Wacksman took some time to answer a handful of questions about the Arcade and Marketplace aspects of Xbox Live.

GameSpot: What are the biggest success stories for downloadable content on Live Marketplace?

Jeremy Wacksman: We're very pleased with the success of Xbox Live Marketplace. There is incredible momentum behind Xbox Live Marketplace with 10 billion Microsoft points redeemed to date ($120 million). More than 290 million pieces of content such as high-definition movies, TV shows, games demos, and Xbox Live Arcade titles have been downloaded from Marketplace since the launch of Xbox 360.

GS: Two years after launch, we're typically still only getting two days' heads-up on Live Arcade releases. Will gamers ever get more advance notice about the release schedule?

JW: It is our goal to provide Xbox 360 owners with news on upcoming Xbox Live Arcade-related content on a regular basis, which is often in the week preceding the release of new content on an Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday. We've also started giving gamers a periodic look into upcoming titles by announcing several games launching in a given month-to-two-month period in advance.

GS: We've had fewer demos and Live Arcade games miss promised release dates due to hangups with Live Arcade certification issues. Is that because developers aren't having as big a problem with passing certification these days, or have they just learned not to promise a release date until it is set in stone?

JW: Game development is a complex business and there are multiple reasons why a title might shift launch windows. What's most important to us is that we never ship a title before it's ready in order to ensure great high-quality games for our community. And overall, as developers have become more familiar with making games for Xbox Live Arcade, they've become more accurate with their launch predications.

GS: Last year Aaron Greenberg told us that the Live Arcade business was shaping up to be antiseasonal, in that sales were up in the summer and down during the holidays. Have you seen the same spike in sales around the holidays that the retail business experiences?

JW: Unfortunately, we don't share specific sales/revenue numbers. What I can tell you is that we continue to enjoy incredibly strong growth on the service. Within that overall growth, whenever there is an increased amount of fantastic retail titles launched, like we are seeing this holiday, we see consumers balance their activities between all those new games and Xbox Live Arcade. And conversely, as a digital service we enjoy an increase in attention outside of those retail windows.

GS: Are you noticing Live Arcade sales going up when there are lulls in the big retail releases, or sales tapering off when there's a huge new release like Halo or Madden to compete with?

JW: Gamers have limited time to play, and the appeal of Xbox Live Arcade is that you can jump in and start having fun instantly, whether that's for five minutes or a few hours at a time. When Halo 3 launched, we did see less users on Xbox Live Arcade, and that's attributable to the immense appeal of that title.

GS: Sony is already selling stand-alone retail-caliber games through its PlayStation Network in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online and Warhawk. Xbox Live Marketplace has Oblivion: Shivering Isles and Tomb Raider: Anniversary, but both of those are sold as expansions to existing 360 games. When will Microsoft offer newly developed, previously unavailable full-scale games through the Marketplace?

JW: Since Xbox Live Marketplace launched with Xbox 360 in 2005, the breadth of content available for download has evolved significantly. Now, Marketplace offers everything from high-definition movies, TV shows, trailers, game demos, and Xbox Live Arcade games, and in early December, full-length Xbox Originals. While the service will continue to evolve, we have nothing further to announce at this time.

GS: What did you learn from Xbox Live Arcade on the original Xbox? Was it a success as anything other than a dry run for the Xbox 360 service?

JW: Xbox Live Arcade on the original Xbox had a few key successes for us. First, it was essential in proving that Arcade content was in demand with our audience. Second, we created strong partnerships with key developers and paved the way for the development and publishing process in place on the Xbox 360. And most importantly, we established what Xbox Live Arcade was--high-quality, pick-up-and-play games that are quick downloads, provide free trials, and leverage Live.

GS: XBLA has grown to the point where it typically has two weekly releases. You've talked about carefully managing the portfolio of games on the service, so it seems at some point you would want to cap the number of games available. Is there a maximum number of games Microsoft wants to offer? When will we start seeing older or unpopular games removed from the service? Will gamers get any warning before such games are yanked?

JW: We strive for a nice balance of content in the Arcade portfolio, and Xbox Live Arcade is and will remain a service that offers simple, pick-up-and-play experiences for everyone. We're committed to expanding the Xbox Live Arcade library and we just celebrated our 100th title milestone and plan to keep the games coming on the service.

We do not have any plans to remove games from our service. The beauty of digital distribution is that you can maintain a large library without the costs of the retail shelf, and the games on the platform can experience a healthy sales tail over time, which is highly attractive to developers. At the end of the day, consumers have shown the continued demand for more, high-quality content on Xbox Live Arcade.

GS: When the Xbox 360 came out, much was made of the opportunity it afforded independent developers to get visibility. But with the managed portfolio, there are fewer games being released for Live Arcade than are coming out in stores, and now developers are having to compete for approval with publishers like Electronic Arts, licensed games like SpongeBob, and advergames like Yaris. Is the indie community's chance to get on Live Arcade diminishing?

JW: Absolutely not. We have put tremendous effort into creating a platform that enables indie and professional developers alike to make great games for Xbox Live Arcade. Take the Dream-Build-Play game development contest, for instance. This was a program we put together to encourage experienced game developers and enthusiasts to create innovative and fun-to-play video games for Windows or Xbox 360 platforms using XNA Game Studio Express. Because of the amazing creativity demonstrated by the top winners, the Xbox Live Arcade team extended invitations to publish on Xbox Live Arcade to two of the winners. And look at our slate of great recent and upcoming games by indie developers. Alien Hominid and the upcoming Castle Crashers from The Behemoth, Cloning Clyde and Band of Bugs from NinjaBee, the new Mutant Storm Empire from Pom Pom, and the upcoming N+ from Metanet are just a few of the amazingly innovative indies on the platform, and we plan to see many more join in the future.

GS: What are Microsoft's goals for Xbox Live Arcade to accomplish by its third anniversary?

JW: By next November, we hope to continue the incredibly strong growth of the Xbox Live Arcade audience by bringing even more top talent and amazing games to the service. And we expect to see our development and publishing partners continue to raise the bar on quality, innovation, and gameplay. It is amazing to look back at how the service has grown over the past two years, and we are excited to see how much further it will go in the coming years.

http://www.gamespot.com

First Halo 3 add-on detailed

Halo 3 has already set records at retail, and it might get the chance to make some new benchmarks in the downloadable content space as well. Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 first-person shooter will receive an array of downloadable multiplayer maps, starting with a Heroic Map Pack on December 11.

The Heroic Map Pack will include three maps, and will carry a price of 800 Microsoft points ($10) when it debuts on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Standoff is an outdoor map designed for midsize games, while the Rat's Nest is an indoor map with an emphasis placed on vehicles and intended for large-scale team skirmishes. Finally, Foundry is an industrial warehouse level designed with the game's Forge mode in mind.

As with the multiplayer map packs for Halo 2 and Gears of War, the Heroic Map Pack will eventually be made free to download. Microsoft has said it will drop the fee for the three maps in spring 2008, just before the next selection of new multiplayer maps becomes available.


http://www.gamespot.com

Friday, November 16, 2007

still kicking ass

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Halo 3 still kicking ass, having outsold every other game, across platform, for the month of October.

Here's the chart, from market researchers at the NPD Group.

01. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 433,800
02. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Xbox 360) - 383,200
03. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Wii) - 286,300
04. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (PS2) - 271,100
05. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - 262,800
06. Wii Play (Wii) - 239,700
07. The Orange Box (Xbox 360) - 238,400
08. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) -231,700
09. FIFA Soccer 08 (PS2) - 129,700
10. Brain Age 2: More Training In Minutes A Day (DS) - 116,900

http://www.g4tv.com

Sierra Ghostbust-ing

Earlier this week, Game Informer teased its upcoming December issue with news that a new Ghostbusters is in the works. Today, Vivendi subsidiary Sierra Entertainment officially announced Ghostbusters will arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC in fall 2008.

Stay strong, Marshmallow Man.

As previously noted, Ghostbusters will be a continuation of the original Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel. As with the films, Ghostbusters the game will be written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and take place in New York City circa early 1990. Paranormal activity is once again afoot, and the supernatural scientists hook up their latest recruit--that is, the player--with a proton pack to defeat the threat.

Ghostbusters will feature appearances from the original parapsychologists Aykroyd, Ramis, and Bill Murray, as well as the fourth addition to the team, Ernie Hudson. Also reprising their film presence in the game will be Annie Potts, Brian Doyle Murray, and William Atherton.

BloodRayne studio Terminal Reality will handle development duties for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, while Mushroom Men creators Red Fly Studios will create the PS2, Wii, and DS versions of the game. Ghostbusters has not yet been rated or priced.


http://www.gamespot.com

Guitar Center Having Black Friday sale!!!!!

Click Here to find more info.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

October retail gaming tally tops $1.1 billion

The holidays are here again, as the game industry opened the fourth quarter in a big way, according to the industry-tracking NPD Group. The firm today released its US retail sales figures for October, and NPD analyst Anita Frazier put the industry's yearly growth-to-date in perspective.

"This year sales have already achieved the annual sales number for 2005," Frazier said, "and the two biggest months are yet to come. I think we'll see not only record-breaking revenues but record-breaking year-over-year growth when the final numbers are tallied."

Game sales for October were up 39 percent to $513.9 million, with hardware sales up 127 %to $469.7 million. Factor in accessory sales, which Frazier said increased sharply alongside the hardware sales, and the industry as a whole for the month took in $1.1 billion, up 73 % from October 2006.

As promised, the group's monthly recap also included hardware sales figures, and the Xbox 360's Halo 3-sparked reign atop the charts was short-lived. For October, the Wii retook the sales crown with sales of 519,000 systems, followed by 458,000 units sold for the Nintendo DS. The Xbox 360 posted sales of 366,000 systems, while the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 followed with 286,000 and 184,000 sold, respectively. The PlayStation 3 trailed with 121,000 sold, perhaps hurt by Sony's advance notice that it would make a less expensive version of the hardware available in November.

As expected, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was all over the sales charts. The Xbox 360 bundle of the game and guitar sold more than 383,000 copies, followed by the Wii bundle (286,000), the PS2 bundle (271,000), and the PS2 standalone version of the game (nearly 232,000).

"Guitar Hero has certainly established itself among the elite video games properties," Frazier said. "Very few games sell in excess of 1 million units in their first month in market, but Guitar Hero III did easily with combined sales of 1.4 million units in only 6 days. Since it has broad appeal, it's also the type of game that should continue to do very well throughout the holidays."

While dwarfed by the cumulative sales of Activision's rhythm franchise, Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 sold more than any other single-platform release of a game during the month, notching almost 434,000 new recruits. Year-to-date, Halo 3 is still the best-selling game with 3.7 million sold in the US. Madden NFL 08 is close behind with 3.2 million sold across all systems, followed by Guitar Hero II (2.8 million), Wii Play with Wii Remote (2.5 million), Pokemon Diamond (2.1 million), Pokemon Pearl (1.5 million), Spider-Man 3 (1.4 million), and Guitar Hero III (1.4 million).

Top 10 best-selling games of October 2007, according to NPD Group

Halo 3 (regular, collector's, and legendary versions)--Xbox 360--434,000(OH YEA!!!)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)--Xbox 360--383,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)--Wii--286,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)--PS2--271,000
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass--DS--263,000
Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii--240,000
The Orange Box--Xbox 360--238,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock--PS2--232,000
FIFA Soccer 08--PS2--130,000
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day--DS--117,000

October 2007 hardware sales, according to NPD Group

Wii--519,000
Nintendo DS--458,000
Xbox 360--366,000
PSP--286,000
PS2--184,000
PS3--121,000

Android Platform from Google

The Android platform is a software stack for mobile devices including an operating system, middleware and key applications. Developers can create applications for the platform using the Android SDK. Applications are written using the Java programming language and run on Dalvik, a custom virtual machine designed for embedded use which runs on top of a Linux kernel.

An early look at the the Android SDK is also available. It includes sample projects with source code, development tools, an emulator, and of course all the libraries you'll need to build an Android application.

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. This early look at the Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.

Features
  • Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components
  • Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
  • Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine
  • Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
  • SQLite for structured data storage
  • Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
  • GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
  • Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
  • Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
  • Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE
Applications

Android will ship with a set of core applications including an email client, SMS program, calendar, maps, browser, contacts, and others. All applications are written using the Java programming language.

Libraries

  • Android includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system. These capabilities are exposed to developers through the Android application framework. Some of the core libraries are listed below:
  • System C library - a BSD-derived implementation of the standard C system library (libc), tuned for embedded Linux-based devices
  • Media Libraries - based on PacketVideo's OpenCORE; the libraries support playback and recording of many popular audio and video formats, as well as static image files, including MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG
  • Surface Manager - manages access to the display subsystem and seamlessly composites 2D and 3D graphic layers from multiple applications
  • LibWebCore - a modern web browser engine which powers both the Android browser and an embeddable web view
  • SGL - the underlying 2D graphics engine
  • 3D libraries - an implementation based on OpenGL ES 1.0 APIs; the libraries use either hardware 3D acceleration (where available) or the included, highly optimized 3D software rasterizer
  • FreeType - bitmap and vector font rendering
  • SQLite - a powerful and lightweight relational database engine available to all applications

Open Source Android Platform Emulator
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

America's Army: True Soldiers





Created by soldiers. Developed by gamers. America's Army: True Soldiers™ for Xbox 360™ is the only game co-developed with the U.S. Army. Get the true infantry experience with visually stunning graphics via the GRAW2 engine, real U.S. Army weapons and vehicles, and unparalleled multiplayer gameplay.

* Complete realism: The only video game brand to be co-developed with the U.S. Army, the level of authenticity of the real world scenarios and missions is unparalleled.
* A real training experience: Pull on your boots and strap up your gear in the most realistic single-player training experience ever. Move through the ranks to become a Rifleman, Grenadier, Automatic Rifleman, and Sniper. Use real-life U.S. Army gear and participate in simulations of war games.
* Offline and online integration: Build your soldier in single-player mode, then use those skills and attributes to dominate the competition on Xbox LIVE®. Eight all-new multiplayer maps have been developed for the game under the guidance of U.S. Army soldiers.
* Play-Lead-Recruit: Earn points through honorable actions and earn respect from other players online. As you gain respect, move up through the ranks and become a true leader.
* Real world gear: Use actual high-tech equipment from the Army, including Blue Force Tracker and the Raven UAV which provides necessary intel to the soldier. Listen to your A.I. teammates via in-game voiceover to stay effective in the field.
* Parental controls: Parental controls allow parents to determine settings at the level they feel appropriate, tailoring the gameplay action for fresh recruits or for seasoned veterans.

http://www.xbox.com

"Dragonball Z" Gets Cast and Release Date

Twentieth Century Fox is bringing the Japanese manga phenomenon "Dragonball" to the bigscreen.

Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds) will star as Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name. James Marsters ("Angel") is onboard as the film's villain Piccolo.

Actor-director-writer Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) is producing. "Final Destination" helmer James Wong will direct from a script he penned. Ben Ramsey wrote an earlier draft.

Story is based on Akira Toriyama's popular manga that has spawned graphic novels, a long-running TV series and more than 25 videogames, which have sold more than 10 million units since May 2002. The Jump Comics division of Tokyo-based Shueisha published the "Dragonball" manga.

With shooting scheduled to begin later this month, Fox will bow the sci-fi/adventure worldwide August 15th. Chatwin has already begun training with 87Eleven, the stunt performance company behind the action sequences in "The Matrix," "The Bourne Supremacy," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "300."

http://www.worstpreviews.com

Rock Band DLC price and detailes

Since Rock Band was first announced by Harmonix and MTV Games in March, the developers have made no secret of their ambitious plans for downloadable content. As the game's release has drawn closer, information about those plans has trickled out. At the E3 Media and Business Summit, Harmonix said it would be offering full downloadable albums from artists like The Who, with more tracks from Metallica, The Grateful Dead, and The Ramones among those that gamers could add on to the retail game.

With Rock Band set for release next Tuesday, Harmonix today finally took the wraps off its downloadable content model today. The studio has apparently heard complaints regarding the mandatory three-song bundles and $6.25 price point adopted by the Guitar Hero franchise's downloadable content, and is giving gamers a bit of a break.

Rock Band will still feature preselected three-song packs for download, but they will instead cost $5.49 (440 Microsoft points on Xbox 360). Songs will also be available individually for $1.99. Harmonix has said future songs will be sold individually for as little as $.99 (80 Microsoft points), and as much as $2.99 (240 points). However, "the vast majority" will come in at the standard $1.99 price point. The developer did not say how much full-album downloads would be, or when the first albums would be released.

Harmonix also detailed its release schedule for the first five weeks after Rock Band launches. The opening week will be highlighted by track packs from Metallica, The Police, and Queens of the Stone Age, with individual songs from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Foreigner, T-Rex, and more. Downloaded tracks will be integrated into all of the game's modes, and will be playable online only if all players have purchased the songs



Week of November 20, 2007:
Metallica Pack
"Ride the Lightning"--Metallica
"Blackened"--Metallica
"And Justice for All"--Metallica

The Police Pack
"Can't Stand Losing You"--The Police
"Synchronicity II"--The Police
"Roxanne"--The Police

Queens of the Stone Age Pack
"3's and 7's"--Queens of the Stone Age
"Little Sister"--Queens of the Stone Age
"Sick Sick Sick"--Queens of the Stone Age

Individual Tracks
*"Fortunate Son" as made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival
*"Juke Box Hero" as made famous by Foreigner
*"Bang a Gong (Get It On)" as made famous by T-Rex
*"My Sharona" as made famous by The Knack
*"Cherry Bomb" as made famous by The Runaways
*"Joker & The Thief"--Wolfmother

Week of November 27, 2007
David Bowie Pack
"Moonage Daydream"--David Bowie
*"Heroes" as made famous by David Bowie
*"Queen Bitch" as made famous by David Bowie

Week of December 4, 2007
Black Sabbath Pack
*"N.I.B." as made famous by Black Sabbath
*"Sweet Leaf" as made famous by Black Sabbath
*"War Pigs" as made famous by Black Sabbath

Week of December 11, 2007
Punk Pack:
"Rockaway Beach"--Ramones
"I Fought the Law"--The Clash
*"Ever Fallen In Love" as made famous by Buzzcocks

Week of December 18, 2007
Individual Tracks
"My Iron Lung"--Radiohead
"Buddy Holly"--Weezer
*"Brass in Pocket" as made famous by The Pretenders

http://www.gamespot.com

id Software And Fountainhead Create id Mobile

The team that created Doom RPG, Orcs & Elves, Orcs & Elves II for mobile platforms today announced that they have created a new mobile division simply titled id Mobile. This new division will develop games for mobile devices, the Nintendo DS, and PSP. This new dev house will be headed by Fountainhead Entertainment Founder and former Director of Business Development at id Software, Katherine Anna Kang, who will serve as president of id Mobile.

“Worldwide, mobile gaming has the potential to eclipse conventional gaming platforms,” said John Carmack, technical director and co-founder, id Software. “The resource constraints of mobile platforms reward technical and design virtuosity, making it a place where we can leverage the historic strengths of our company.”

“id Software is known for doing things that don’t conform to the status-quo and as a result, they’ve lead the gaming industry forward through their original ideas, technical prowess and the uncanny ability to see into the future; with id Mobile, that tradition continues,” said Katherine Anna Kang, president, id Mobile. “id Mobile is poised to shake up the emerging mobile gaming space.”
id Mobile is currently developing Wolfenstein for the mobile platform, and the follow up to Doom RPG.

http://gameinformer.com

Original Xbox games coming to Live Marketplace

The Xbox 360 already plays a selection of original Xbox games with its backward-compatibility feature, but soon gamers won't even need a disc to boot games like Halo, Fable, Psychonauts, and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge. In conjunction with its ongoing celebration of the fifth anniversary of Xbox Live, Microsoft today announced that it will be selling those four games, among others, for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace early next month.
Calling the program Xbox Originals, Microsoft will sell the games for 1,200 Microsoft points ($15) each, and the company is promising to expand the number of games offered over the coming year. A Microsoft representative had not responded to a request for comment on whether these games would have their original online features intact, or if Xbox Live support would be added into previously offline-only games, such as Halo. Xbox Originals will debut on December 4, and will be part of a firmware update that will also include new parental-control options.
That isn't the only news Microsoft has to celebrate the anniversary of Xbox Live. The company has also announced that it will allow Xbox Live users worldwide to download a free game. For 48 hours beginning 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on November 15, members in Korea will be able to download Hexic 2 for free, whereas the rest of the world can grab the board game Carcassonne at no charge.
Microsoft is also offering a token of appreciation to longtime Live users. The company will deposit 500 Microsoft points ($6.25) into the account of every Xbox Live member who joined the service in 2002, the year it first launched.

http://www.gamespot.com