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Review: Assassin’s Creed 2

David Diaz — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:05:34 +0000

Ubisoft needed to publish something amazing given their anemic financials thus far this year, and Assassin’s Creed 2 delivered. Assassin’s Creed 2 was simply put, amazing. The sequel vastly improves upon Assassin’s Creed which given all the hype, was disappointing to say the least. The game plays on the strengths of Assassin’s Creed, most notably the free-running, and is no longer monotonous and repetitive, like its predecessor. If you want to complete all of the quests in this game, I would suggest setting aside around 35-40 hours. It took me a little over 25 hours to complete the main quest, as well as completing about 80% of the side quests (feathers notwithstanding, there was no way I was going to look for 100 of those).

If you never played Assassin’s Creed, I suggest taking the time to look online for synopses of the game so that you get a feel for what happened as Assassin’s Creed 2 does a poor job of rehashing the tale. I played the first game almost a year ago so I was hazy on the plot and was a bit disappointed that I had to look up the Wikipedia page to figure out what was going on. Ubisoft could have done a better job here by having some flashbacks, or even some dialogue at the beginning of the game to help those who are new, or haven’t played in a while.

This installment of Assassin’s Creed has you playing as Ezio Auditore, a suave ladies-man hell-bent on exacting revenge upon those who took part in the killing of his father and two brothers. His blood lust carries him throughout Italy, assassinating all who he deems guilty. As you progress through the game, you learn new techniques, as well as acquire new weapons–through the help of Leonardo DaVinci. Each weapon has different assassination traits, and I highly suggest trying them all out–they are extremely satisfying and awe-inspiring and keep the game from becoming stale. My favorite however, is the dual-hidden blades, because let’s be honest, there aren’t many things cooler in video games than jumping from three stories in the air and assassinating two unsuspecting guards below. Don’t believe me? Just try it.

Simply Awesome.

The first thing you notice when playing this game is the awe-inspiring graphics. The engineers in this game went through a lot to make sure the game looked absolutely amazing. Whether it’s the movements of Ezio himself, or the structures he ascends, every aspect of this game is painstakingly detailed.

The combat in Assassin’s Creed 2 is good, but nothing exceptional. It actually reminds me a lot of the combat system used in Fable 2. Controls are simple–one can get through this game by simply mashing the attack button over and over again–but using combos and making sure your weapons match up well against your opponents (for example, using your knife is better than your sword against a spear) make the game more strategic. Like many games, throwing an enemy is obscenely overpowering (think Super Smash Brothers). You can grab a guard and throw him off a roof and watch him plunge to his death, or simply throw him to the ground and assassinate him quite easily. Unlike in the first Assassin’s Creed, you can swim, while your enemies cannot. Thus, grabbing an enemy and throwing them in the water is a sure-fire way to kill a pesky guard. As I said before, you get most of your combat pleasure through the use of various assassinations. As such, I used the counter-assassination move quite often simply because of the animations which followed.

Assassin’s Creed 2 adds the concept of an economy this time around. You can use money you collect to upgrade the villa you’ve been put in charge of, as well as to buy supplies such as weapons, medicine, or art. Everything you collect in the game, whether it be new weapons, armor, or paintings, adds to the value of your villa which is proportionate to how much money you get per 20 minutes of play time from the villa chest. This, while a good idea in concept, makes it very easy for people to game the system. By upgrading your villa early on, you make enough money to buy anything you need later on in the game. By the time I had progressed far enough to purchase a certain set of armor for instance, I had triple what was needed to buy everything in the store.

Like any good RPG, Assassin’s Creed 2 has a multitude of side quests. For the most part, these are quite enjoyable and add to the scope of the game. There are over 20 assassination contracts you can fulfill, all with a varying degree of difficulty. Races and beat-up events were introduced as well. The beat up events are pretty pointless in my opinion, but the races are quite fun, as they take full advantage of the free-run capabilities of the game. The races start with a timer and you must run through checkpoints before time runs out. One fall or a mistake and you’ll have to start over. Luckily, these races are only about two minutes, so messing up a few times isn’t going to want to make you quit playing for a while.

This brings me to my point: free-running. I spent a great deal of time just jumping from rooftop to rooftop and it was extremely enjoyable. The grace and precision in Ezio’s movements is simply astounding. When scaling buildings, you’ll always find Ezio grabbing onto a ledge or a crack in the wall while placing his feet in supports as well. You will hardly ever find Ezio grabbing onto an invisible ledge or putting his feet somewhere where he shouldn’t be able to. It was small details like these which makes you actually believe some of the things Ezio is doing are possible, and they did not go unnoticed.

The controls in this game are pretty basic and intuitive, which is a major plus. Since there are so many things going on at once in this game, the game does slip up every once a while. It was frustrating to be scaling up a wall and then suddenly diving into a bale of hay twenty stories down when in fact you wanted to simply jump to another building. There were also times when I wanted to assassinate a certain individual and ended up killing nearby civilians instead. While these occurrences were rare and far-between, it was annoying nonetheless, but did not however detract significantly from the game. For the most part, Ezio did precisely what you wanted him to do, with grace and swagger to spare.

As you can see, all my gripes with this game are small and nit-picky. Assassin’s Creed 2 excelled in every way imaginable, from the story line to the gameplay. I have not had this much fun playing a single-player video game since Mass Effect.

It is a shame that we have to wait for the next installment of Assassin’s Creed to come out. Hopefully Ubisoft can correct the few flaws in this version, and make a perfect ending to this epic trilogy. When thinking about game of the year for 2009, Assassin’s Creed will definitely be in the running. The gameplay is smooth, the story is compelling, and it was a hell of a lot of fun to play. If you have $60 to spare, I would suggest going to the store and buying this game right away, you will surely not regret it.

If you’ve already beaten the game, don’t be hasty and trade it in. Ubisoft will be releasing two DLC packs, one in January and the other in February, for your enjoyment.

CrunchGear score: 9.45

Big Day in Gaming, October 27th edition: Forza Motorsport 3, Tekken 6 & DJ Hero

Nicholas Deleon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:00:59 +0000

Today’s a pretty big day in gaming, ladies and gents. You’ve got DJ Hero, Tekken 6, and Forza Motorsport 3 all coming out today. (Incidentally, I’ll have like a mini FM3 “review” tomorrow, and we may have some fun Tekken news this week to share—stay tuned!) So I decided to go around some of the big gaming sites, and take select quotes, completely out of context, and share them with y’all here. Let’s go~!

Let’s start with FM3, since it’s the game I’ve actually played.

From Edge:

How often can you reinvent the wheel? It’s a question videogame developers are more qualified than most to answer. Year after year, driving titles strive to overtake each other for the lead in a continually evolving genre. It’s an interminable race, although one that in recent times has felt like it’s approaching its closing stages… Where does the genre go from here? With no one looking particularly threatening in its slipstream, Turn 10 [the game's developer] has time to decide.

From IGN:

Sony’s Gran Turismo may still sit in the pole position among racing sims for many, but Microsoft is making a hard charge with Forza Motorsport 3… Simply put, Forza 3 is one of the best racers ever made… I felt Forza 2 was lifeless and without spirit. That is not an issue with Forza 3. This is a game that showcases speed and beauty. The cars are sexy, the tracks look great, and the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second. The lighting isn’t always perfect — you can often see shadows dancing around the car in some odd ways — and a few times textures didn’t load on the track. Despite these issues, Forza 3 is one hot looking game.

From 1UP:

Forza 3 upholds the franchise’s tradition of excellence, but also plays it a little too safe; it irons out the previous game’s clunky interface and sports a minor visual upgrade, but the gameplay feels strikingly similar to its predecessor. Still, Forza 3 is a very good racing sim in a handsome package that can proudly proclaim itself as the best and most polished currently available, but it’s the excellent integration and extent of its online features that make it a stand out game. Driving, tuning and creating within a living community breathes essential life to a game genre that can occasionally be a bit too stuffy for its own good.

So, surprise, it looks like FM3 is good. Again, I’ll have my take on the game here tomorrow. Not that you care ;-)

Next, Tekken 6. Remember: we may have some exciting Tekken-related news here later this week, so keep your eyes peeled!

From IGN:

Following in a long line of arcade fighters, Tekken 6 continues the one-on-one, 3D tradition with the franchise’s biggest roster yet, and some nice gameplay refinements… The real problem comes from the game’s load times, which are poor all around. Not only is there a frustrating amount of loading before an online match (while the two players sync up) but there’s some unusual loading peppered throughout the entire Tekken 6 experience. Even selecting a fighter off the character select screen takes a fair amount of time, as the character models pop into existence after a hefty delay. This issue is present on both the PS3 and 360 versions, even after the PS3 version’s optional install of more than four GB. These awkward load times, while disappointing, are still tolerable and won’t spoil Tekken 6. I just wish we could have seen the game perform a little better… Tekken 6 has a lot to offer, including a massive roster, refined gameplay, plenty of modes, online multiplayer and an absurd amount of character customization options…With that said, Tekken fans will certainly gobble it up and I think gamers unfamiliar with the franchise should give it a shot. The unique mix of an easy-to-use interface with intensely deep strategies is definitely worth checking out.

That’s the only “big” review I could find. If you guys find more, I’ll add ‘em later, such is the POWER of the Internet.

And lastly, DJ Hero.

From IGN:

Because this is a new type of music game, there’s a lot to explain, but let’s get this out of the way first: DJ Hero is fantastic. It’s one of the best games I’ve played this year and one of the best music games I’ve ever played… In an overcrowded genre of music games, DJ Hero resides at the very top with the best of ‘em… But DJ Hero is already the most exciting music game around and is guaranteed to get the party started. To paraphrase Run DMC: gosh darn that DJ made my day.

From Nerdworld, Peter Ha’s new gig at Time:

What’s unique to DJH is the soundtrack that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. You’re not fingering your way through another ho-hum track from yesteryear. Each track was exclusively mixed for DJH. Where else would you hear the Gorillaz x Blondie, Daft Punk x Queen or The Jackson 5 x Third Eye Blind? For the record: I hate Third Eye Blind, but the music is broad and appeals to just about anyone… As far as peripherals go, the turntable appears to be of high quality. The case and telescoping legs that come with the Renegade Edition surpassed my high expectations. There’s the off chance that you might inadvertently break or knock off the effects dial or cross fader, but it never crossed my mind while playing.

Again, I couldn’t find any more DJ Hero reviews. Is today a holiday or something? Because if it is I’m out of here!

So, yeah, just some random comments.

Update Added Time.com’s review of the game.

Western Digital announces WD TV Live HD Media Player

Jeremy Kessel — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:00:38 +0000

Looks like those images that leaked back in August of the WD TV 2 were pretty spot on. Earlier today, Western Digital announced the newest member of its growing WD TV family, the WD TV Live.

As you may (or may not) recall, we’ve been pretty big fans of the original WD TV HD media player since it was released at the end of 2008. The highly capable little black box provides a simple, yet effective solution for watching your growing collection of digital media on your HDTV.

One of the few missing features in the original WD TV was any variety of network connectivity. Luckily, Western Digital has listened to the growing community of WD TV fans and included both an ethernet port for wired connectivity as well as support for USB Wi-Fi adapters. But the Internet fun doesn’t stop there. According to the press release:

The network capability of the WD TV Live media player enables users to stream or transfer movies from PC or Mac® computers or a network-attached storage device such as WD’s My Book® World Edition™ and WD ShareSpace network drives to their HD TVs. The WD TV Live media player also allows users to stream rich content from YouTube™, Flickr® and Pandora®. The HD onscreen menu brings together all of the users’ available media in an elegant and simple-to-navigate interface.

The new Internet and network capabilities are welcome additions to this already impressive and relatively inexpensive HD media player. Along with these new features, the WD TV Live features the same 1080p playback, support for just about every codec under the sun, HDMI connectivity, and the ability to show photos and play music like its older sibling (complete comparison chart available here). The WD TV Live is available now for $149.99 MSRP. Check back for our hands-on review in the coming weeks.

WD TV Live HD Media Player
Features of the WD TV Live HD Media Player include:
- Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;
- Play a wide variety of file formats including support for a wide variety of the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;
- Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio;
- Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection1 to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;
- Turns a USB drive2 into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
- Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;
- Two USB ports for seamless media playback from multiple USB drives and ability to access them simultaneously while a media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type;
- Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
- Picture Transfer Protocol support to show photos and movies directly from digital camera or video camera and or any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;
- Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
- Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
- Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
- Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
- File copying between USB devices;
- HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output3 for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;
- SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,
- Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.

Review: LoveHoney’s Sqweel

John Biggs — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:01:56 +0000

OK. This is NSFW. Stop reading right now if you’re easily offended. There is no nudity, but we’re going to be talking on some fairly racy subjects but I will keep it clean. Ahem.

So. This is the Sqweel. It is, in a nutshell, a cunnilingus simulator. It consists of a motor, a wheel of pink tongue-like appendages, and a casing. You can close it up and it make it look like a hockey puck for easy transport and you can take it apart for cleaning. It is, if you haven’t gathered, a jam for the ladies.

It has three settings, slow, medium, and high, and my test subject found low to be the most she could take. The little tongues flick merrily away at whatever you point them to but sometimes they get caught up in the foliage, if you catch my meaning. My advice is to stay well shorn and use a bit of lubricant.

Effectiveness? I’d give it a 7 out of 10 where this is pretty much a 10 for her and watching Cops with me is a 1.

We were not able to reach the point of orgasm with this device, but that may be her particular physiology. It is also slightly effective on the male member and can be used, in conjunction with a complex tubing system, as a method to lick many stamps at once.

Bottom Line
Yeah, this thing works. I suspect that results will vary but if you need to add some spice to your self-abuse routine or want to share Uncle Lingus’ Tongues of Fury in the bedroom, go for it. You won’t be disappointed.

Product Page

The Gadget Love of a Guitar God

Thomas Scott McKenzie — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:30:15 +0000

Most gadget do-it-yourselfers have stories of an idea that didn’t quite work out. Maybe the prototype never functioned properly. Or maybe a competitor introduced a similar piece of gear into the marketplace first.

But how many gadget geeks can say that they were stymied by a cult, a laser, and legislative changes?

Of course, rock guitar legend Ace Frehley is no ordinary gadget guy.

Frehley’s first album in 20 years is released today as the long-awaited Anomaly hits stores and various outlets like iTunes. It’s a return to the form that made Frehley’s 1978 solo record the most successful of the four simultaneously released KISS spinoff albums. But Anomaly isn’t just a retread of that seventies disc. Instead, it features new techniques from Space Ace such a dropped tunings and a surprising amount of acoustic guitars and clean tones.

Known for his innovative guitar special effects, Frehley has always dabbled in gadgets and electronics. His father was an electrical engineer who passed on a love of circuitry to the young guitar player.

“I think it was in my blood,” Frehley says. “My dad told me that when he was young, he used to make his own batteries. I just inherited his curiosity and his know-how.”

Frehley started by taking apart radios around his Bronx household and when he picked up the electric guitar in his early teens, the instrument soon provided an outlet not just for his musical interests but also his electronic interests.

“I couldn’t put the gear down,” he remembers. “I’ll never forget the day I got my first amplifier that had reverb. I was just so fascinated by it. All the elements were ripe because I loved music, I loved tinkering around and the electric guitar allowed me to do that.”

As his proficiency with the instrument grew, Frehley started modifying the pickups on his guitars, maximizing his amplifiers, and even experimenting with his famous special effects, including the famous smoking axe that was a staple of Frehley guitar solos in the seventies and continues to be a highlight of his performances today.

“The original smoking guitar was nothing more than a smoke bomb inside the volume control compartment of a Les Paul,” Frehley says. “But that ended up screwing up all the volume and tone controls and the pickups. So I got together with one of the engineers on the tour and he built me another box with a lighter in it and we worked out a switch. I didn’t use the rhythm pickups, so we used the volume and tone controls from the rhythm pickup to trigger the bomb and pull back the trap door there that allowed the smoke to come out of it. It’s been an ongoing process and I’ve been perfecting that, making it smaller, more effective.”

Frehley’s massive amount of success in the seventies and early eighties era of KISS enabled him to dabble in computers and other gadgets long before they were fixtures in homes across America.

“My first computer was a Radio Shack,” he recalls. “I think it had 4k in it. That was ’75 or ’76 maybe. Next one I got was an Apple II with 64k. And I’ll never forget the day I went to a computer store up in Connecticut and they had the extension card to bump it up to 128k. That was a big day for me.”

Today, Frehley uses Macs and also has a few PCs networked together for rendering chores. He was responsible for some videos of his bandmates morphing into each other during the 1998 KISS tour for the album Psycho Circus and he has recently been “screwing around” with graphics and modeling software from Maya and Carrara.

He carries a laptop and a BlackBerry to cover his electronics needs on the road. And Bose Computer MusicMonitors allow him to listen to high quality tunes while traveling. “I mean, for the size of the speaker, they’re the most amazing little speakers I’ve heard,” Frehley says.

Frehley intends to debut some brand new special effects as he tours in support of Anomaly. He’ll also be bringing along a new signature series Gibson Les Paul guitar, rumored to be a blue sunburst with lightning bolt accents.

But what about the failed gadget attempt? The one with lasers and all that?

“I had a fiberoptic running through the neck of my Les Paul that connected to a high-powered laser to blow things up,” Frehley laughs. “Right around that time, Blue Oyster Cult had blinded someone with one of their lasers so new legislation came out that limited the amount of wattage you could use in a laser on stage. That was the advent of using rockets in the guitar neck. It was supposed to be a laser beam and then I just went to fireworks.”

For more information, check out Frehley’s website.

Photos credit: Kevin Britton

The Palm Pixi: A smaller Pre but without Wi-Fi

John Biggs — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:50:19 +0000

In a move akin to Herman’s Hermits opening for the Rolling Stones, Palm has decided to announce the new Palm Pixi, a phone akin to the Palm Centro of yore in price point and features, on the very day Apple will eat up the rest of the news cycle. This is in line with the intelligence we received earlier yesterday about the Pixi launching in time for Fashion Week.

The Pixi is a non-slider with touchscreen and full keyboard. It will cost about $149 with two year contract and rebates on Sprint. You have 8GB of on board storage and it takes 2-megapixel pictures – down from the Pre’s 3-megapixels.

There is no Wi-Fi, a dealbreaker for many. The Pixi will be available in multiple “Artist Series” styles and will be available around the holidays.

The Pre costs about $199 – cut to $99 for a bit and then raised back up – so a $50 savings isn’t much when it comes to a device without Wi-Fi. I think the average smartphone buyer is looking for a few things in a device – a touchscreen, 3G networking, and, ideally, some alternative form of transfer. This doesn’t have it.

That said, it’s a fascinating move by Palm. Either they wanted to bury this news in the Apple event today or they foolishly thought this would overshadow the event. I’m betting on the former.

WebOS is a contender but with phones like the Hero and the Tattoo appearing on the horizon and HTC really taking a a hard look at its competitors – and eating them – Palm may be barking up the wrong tree.

We’ll have hands on later today.

Thin Palm Pixi Phone Puts

Fast, Intuitive Communication at Fingertips

Palm’s Thinnest Phone Yet Expands Palm webOS Line with Customizable Style

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 9, 2009 – Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today introduced the Palm® Pixi™ phone for faster, more intuitive and personal communication in a compact and customizable design.(1) With the instinctively useable Palm webOS™ platform, strikingly thin design, a visible full keyboard and fashionable personalization options, Palm Pixi lets you express yourself in amazingly useful ways. It’s scheduled to be available exclusively from Sprint in time for the holidays.

“With Palm webOS, we’re creating a new, more intuitive smartphone experience defined by unmatched simplicity and usefulness,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “Palm Pixi brings this unique experience to a broader range of people who want enhanced messaging and social networking in a design that lets them express their personal style.”

In addition to linking your information from Google™, Facebook and Exchange ActiveSync, Palm Pixi adds Yahoo! and LinkedIn integration to Palm Synergy™ and assembles it all in a single view.(2) You can get your Yahoo! contacts, calendar and IM, and access to your LinkedIn contacts, including job titles. Synergy on Palm Pixi makes messaging easier by showing you all your conversations with the same person in one chat-style thread, so you can start a conversation on AIM Instant Messenger, Google Talk™ or Yahoo! Messenger and continue it by text message later.(3)

Complementing the phone’s already rich Facebook integration with the contacts, phone, calendar and photo applications, a new Facebook application will be available with Palm Pixi so you can see and comment on all the latest news from your friends, as well as easily update your status. The phone’s full QWERTY keyboard puts it all at your fingertips, and the multi-touch screen lets you move back and forth between open applications using natural gestures.(4) The unique removable back cover is rubberized, making it scratch-resistant, slip-resistant and durable.

Personalization with Style

For those who want to express themselves with some extra style, Palm is introducing the Palm Pixi Artist Series. Designed by some of today’s most unique and compelling artists, these numbered, limited-edition back covers let you change designs to suit your mood. You can see the first collection in the series, as well as information about the artists, at www.palm.com/artistseries. Palm will be showcasing the fashionable new Palm Pixi with the Artist Series covers this week at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York (Sept. 10-17).

You can also tailor Palm Pixi to your interests with downloadable applications from the Palm Beta App Catalog, including the latest entertainment and social networking applications such as Local Concerts by iLike, and Yelp™.(5) You can use Palm media sync to customize your phone with music, photos and videos from iTunes (Versions 8.1.1-8.2.1)(6), or use the on-device Amazon MP3 store to purchase individual songs or full albums over-the-air.(3)

“Palm Pixi continues Sprint’s leadership in providing useful and innovative devices on America’s most dependable 3G network,”(7) said Dan Hesse, chief executive officer at Sprint. “We are pleased to be the first carrier to bring this device to market and offer both devices in the growing Palm webOS family. Sprint’s Everything Data plans, which provide unrestricted access to the Internet, mobile content and applications, and our Ready Now retail experience make for a perfect combination with these new Palm products.”

The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network reaches more than 271 million people, 18,652 cities and 1,838 airports, and Sprint’s networks are now performing at best-ever levels.

Customers who purchase Palm Pixi will benefit from Sprint’s Ready Now, which the company pioneered to help customers leave the store educated, comfortable and confident about the phones they’re taking home. It is like having a free personal trainer that educates you on all your phone can do by setting up all the applications you want to use on the device.

Palm Pixi is also the perfect complement to Sprint’s Simply EverythingSM plan, which provides unlimited nationwide calling, texting, email, social networking, web browsing, GPS navigation, Sprint TV, streaming music, NFL Mobile Live, NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile and much more for only $99.99 per month. It’s a savings of $1,200 over two years versus some comparable competitor plans.

Palm Pixi Features

High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A)
2.63-inch multi-touch screen with a vibrant 18-bit color 320×400 resolution TFT display
Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
Exposed QWERTY keyboard for fast messaging
Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities), including Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! IM
High-performance, desktop-class web browser
Integrated GPS(8)
Multimedia options, including pictures, video playback and music, and featuring a 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
Email, including Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (Google push, Yahoo! push, POP3, IMAP)(9)
Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
8GB of internal user storage (~7GB user available)(10)
USB mass storage mode
MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
The first handset to launch with Qualcomm’s high-performance MSM7627™ chipset
Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage
Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
Removable, rechargeable 1150 mAh battery
Dimensions: 55mm (W) x 111mm (L) x 10.85mm (D) [2.17 in. (W) x 4.37 in. (L) x 0.43 in. (D)]
Weight: 99.5 grams (3.51 ounces)
Sprint services, including Sprint TV® and Sprint Radio, Sprint Navigation, Sprint’s exclusive NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile Live

Availability and Pricing

The Palm Pixi phone is scheduled to be available from Sprint in time for the holidays. Pricing for the phone, as well as the limited-edition Palm Pixi Artist Series covers, will be announced closer to availability. Customers who would like to register to receive additional information about Palm Pixi and be notified when it’s available can register at www.palm.com/pixi.

In addition, effective today the Palm Pre™ phone from Sprint is available for $149.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $150 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate. You can find this great pricing at Sprint stores, on the web (www.sprint.com) and by calling Sprint’s telesales group (1-800-SPRINT1). With the new Palm Pixi phone, and Palm Pre at a lower price, Palm and Sprint are bringing greater choice of Palm webOS phones to a larger audience.

CrunchBase Information

Palm

Palm Pre

Palm EOS

Information provided by CrunchBase

ZVOX outs the Z-Base 525 audio system for flat panel owners, neat freaks

Matt Burns — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:27:32 +0000

Do you know the one crappy thing about small flat panel TVs? The sound sucks. Really, it does, but generally you don’t want extra speakers and whatnots cluttering up your space. There are a few options like a Bose Wave Radio or even self-powered computer speakers, but ZVOX has something now too. The Z-Base 525 is 24″w x 12.5″d x 3.5″h box that house all the goods needed to enrich the audio. Just put your TV on top, says the presser.

Now I can’t attest to the quality of the audio, but it has got to be better than what comes from the stock TV speakers. This isn’t ZVOX’s first time on the merry-go-round so I would imagine that it sounds good enough. You can’t expect the world though as the audio gets piped in through just left and right audio cables. But I’m a big fan of simple but yet effective audio devices and the Z-Base 525 seems to be just that.

The Z-Base 525 just started shipping and carries an MSRP of $399.99.

Ultra-Compact Z-Base System from ZVOX Brings Surround Sound
to Bedrooms, Offices, and Other Tight Spaces
Small enough to fit on a standard 12-inch bookshelf, the ZVOX Z-Base 525 is perfect
for 22″-32″ TVs—or for use with multimedia PC systems
Swampscott, Massachusetts, Sept. 7th, 2009 — ZVOX, the company that pioneered the concept of single-cabinet home theater, has announced the introduction of the Z-Base 525, a smaller version of its popular Z-Base 550 system. The Z-Base 525 measures 24″w x 12.5″d x 3.5″h, and will fit on a standard 12-inch deep bookshelf—making it ideal for countless applications such as bedrooms, dens, offices, family rooms and kitchens.
The ZVOX Z-Base 525 also provides an elegant alternative to traditional PC sound solutions by acting as a space-saving base for the computer’s monitor. Despite its compact size, the 525 reproduces music and movie soundtracks with remarkable accuracy, filling the room with three-dimensional surround sound. The Z-Base 525 incorporates five speakers, a powered subwoofer, amplifiers and PhaseCue virtual surround circuitry—all in one low-profile cabinet, with no external subwoofer required.
“This is the first home theater system to specifically address the space restrictions commonly found in bedrooms and offices,” says Tom Hannaher, ZVOX president. “Now you can put a Z-Base 525 on a bookshelf, put a 32″ LCD TV on top of it, connect the two with one wire and bingo—you have a bedroom home theater.”
Unlike most all-in-one home theater systems, the ZVOX 525 employs a hand-built, cross-braced wood (MDF) cabinet with beautiful hand-lacquered high-gloss black end panels. The top of the Z-Base 525 is finished in rugged, scratch-resistant black vinyl that is less likely to be marred by objects such as the TV
placed on its surface. Set-up of the Z-Base 525 requires very few steps: Simply place the unit on a table, shelf or cabinet. Place your stand-mounted flat-panel TV on top of it. Plug in AC power, one connecting cord to the TV and you’re done! Sit back and enjoy big, realistic sound including remarkable bass from the built-in powered subwoofer. The Z-Base 525 uses the ZVOX PhaseCue™ virtual surround system to create wide, three-dimensional sound, as if you are listening to speakers eight feet apart from each other, with movie sound effects that literally surround you. You get a room full of sound without a roomful of speakers and messy wires! The ZVOX Z-Base 525 has an MSRP of $399.99 and will be shipping September 1st, 2009.
Specifications
• (5) 2″ full-range speakers and (1) 5.25″ subwoofer
• PhaseCue virtual surround sound
• Auto-on/auto-off circuit
• Remote control included
• (2) Analog stereo inputs (mixing inputs)
• Power: 60 watts
• 24″w x 12.5″d x 3.5″h

Video: The first trailer of Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony totally has Eric Prydz’s ‘Pjanoo’ in the background

Nicholas Deleon — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:30:35 +0000

What was one of the biggest house songs of the year 2008? That’s right: Eric Prydz’s “Pjanoo.” (The Madonna remix is pretty cool, too. I like(d) house music, sue me.) What song is featured in the DEBUT TRAILER! of Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony? That’s right, Eric Prydz’s “Pjanoo.” Massive props to Rockstar.

The trailer is all in-game footage, which you probably could tell by the somewhat stiff dancing animation. (Has GTA ever been known for great animation?)

What I find sorta interesting, and I stress the “sorta,” is that Rockstar seems to be hiding the DLC name, The Ballad of Gay Tony, behind the name of the retail pack, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City. I have zero information to that effect, and it’s only based on the press materials we receive. It’s all Episodes From Liberty City! and not so much Ballad of Gay Tony!

Anyhow, the game comes out on October 29. Hopefully “Pjanoo” actually appears in-game!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen DLC rolling out August 27

Peter Ha — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:02 +0000

Autobots, roll out!

The first batch of DLC for Activision and Luxoflux’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is slated for an August 27 launch for the Xbox 360 (800 MS points) and PS3 ($9.99). The entire DLC list is detailed below but the quick and dirty version is as follows: eight new playable characters, three new character skins, three new multiplayer maps and a “Expert” level for single-player campaign.

Character Info:

G1 Optimus Prime

Primary Weapon: Laser Rifle – This weapons functions the same as Movie Optimus’ Dual Laser Rifles, however it has increased damage and slightly increased ROF since there is only one cannon.
Secondary Weapon: Shell Cannon – Functions the same as Movie Optimus’ Dual Shell Cannons, again with increased damage and ROF to compensate for not dual wielding.
Melee Weapon: Energy Axe – Just as it was in the original series, Optimus deploys an energy axe to melee his enemies.
Special Ability: Valiant Leader – Same as Movie Optimus (Damage reduction, retain at least a sliver of health, increased melee damage), but now turns G1 Optimus Gold (a la “The Golden Lagoon”)

G1 Megatron

PW: Lightning Gun – Works the same as Movie Megatron.
SW: Dark Matter Beam – Works the same as Movie Megatron.
MW: Energy Ball and Chain – Melee weapon from the original G1 series. Crackles with energy.
SA: Fusion Arm Cannon – Works the same as Movie Megatron.

G1 Starscream

PW: Dual Null Rays – Rapid fire weapon with G1 inspired FX and sounds.
Dual Homing Missiles – Similar to Movie Starscream’s missiles, except you fire two bursts of three at the same time. Damage is lower to compensate for increased missile barrage.
MW: Fists
SA: Megatron Blast – A single shot, high damage blast similar to Megatron’s fusion arm cannon. When performed, a transformed G1 Megatron in gun form will pop out of Starscream’s back and charge up, then fire a massive laser blast.

G1 Sunstorm

PW: Dual Null Rays –Same as G1 Starscream’s PW.
SW: Flamethrowers – Dual Flamethrowers. Will cause sustained damage on enemies as well as overheat their weapons, but you must be very close to be effective with these.
MW: Fists
SA: Thermal Wave – Will do a radial blast that will overheat the weapons of any nearby enemies. Great to use in hit and run situations, leaving your enemies overheated and subject to the incoming fire from teammates.

Jazz

PW: Slug Repeater – Fast firing machine gun type weapon. Good accuracy and decent range.
SW: Plasma Crescent Launcher – Boomerang shaped energy missile that will aggressively track to locked on enemies (automatically locks on like the Seeker missiles). Great for taking down air targets.
MW: Fists – Jazz works with what he’s got.
SA: Super Speed – Increases Jazz’s movement speed in all forms, allowing for faster travel on foot or in vehicle, and faster melee attacks.

Sideswipe

PW: Pulse Pistols – Rapid fire weapon that shoots big bolts of energy. Not as fast as Jazz’s repeater, but does more damage per shot.
SW: Proximity Mines – Can plant multiple mines on any surface that will automatically explode when an enemy comes within range. These can be shot directly at enemies so they explode on contact, or can be used to booby trap control points or main areas of combat. Will explode on their own after a certain amount of time or if more mines (above the deployable limit) are fired.
MW: Arm Blades – Sideways makes use of the dual forearm blades he possess.
SA: Blade Strike – Single strike, homing melee attack that does high damage. Not a 1 hit kill like Megatron’s Fusion Arm Cannon, but brutally effective none the less.

Soundwave

PW: Charged Pulse Blast – Charged cannon that does high damage and charges to full power very quickly. Requires skill to use properly, but rewards good aim.
SW: Sonic Disruptor Waves – Rapid fire sonic energy blasts that do minimal damage, but slow the target down when they are hit continually with this weapon.
MW: Fists
SA: Dual Deployables – Depending on his form, SW can deploy one of two different deployables. When his special is used in vehicle form, he will deploy the Jammer Pod which will fly up over the battlefield, and fire down on enemies below, while also cloaking all allies from the enemy’s radar. When his special is used in robot or weapon form, he will deploy the AOE Pod, which will continually smash the ground and damage any enemies who try close in (excellent for defending a control point).

Jetfire (MP Only)

PW: Ancient Cybetronian Pistol – Energy weapon that fires at a relatively decent rate, but does good damage with each shot.
SW: Energon Wave Cannon – Similar to Grindor’s Energon wave. When fired a slow moving projectile will impact the nearest object in its path, then turn into a energy shockwave that will travel for a set distance. Anyone caught in the shockwave will take a small amount of damage, but also be stunned until a few seconds pass or they take damage from an enemy. Great for immobilizing large enemy groups on control points.
MW: Fists
SA: Radar Scanner – When activated will reveal all nearby enemies on radar for a limited time.

Stealth Bumblebee

All weapons and abilities same as Movie Character

G1 Colors Ratchet

All weapons and abilities same as Movie Character

G1 Colors Sideswipe

All weapons and abilities same as DLC Sideswipe

Aerialbot (SP Only)

All weapons and abilities same as Movie Character (this character is now selectable in certain SP missions)

Map Info:

Courtyard – Fast paced East Coast map that focuses on a heavily contested center action point. This key strategic area allows for views of the entire map as well as control of the high ground surrounding the middle courtyard and its perimeter. Flying characters are able to utilize the open skies and tall skyscrapers to quickly get to advantageous positions, but ground based characters can make use of numerous back alleys to flank around the sides of the map and attack from unprotected angles.

Hillside – A tiered map in a dense urban area of Cairo. Varied height sections on the map make for multiple small arenas of combat, while allowing sneaky players to move throughout the level virtually un-noticed under the cover the surrounding buildings. A central marketplace provides a high point to get views of almost the entire level, but the maze like street layout and numerous buildings mean that you will have to hunt your enemies down in the alleys of this ruined city.

Sandstorm – A very fast paced map that takes place in a smaller section of Cairo. Mostly populated with low level buildings and an open central area, combat on this map is fast and frenetic, with near instantaneous action as there is almost no place to hide. Flying characters can quickly hover above the map for near un-obstructed views of almost the entire map, but this also leaves them vulnerable to ground fire from almost every angle.

DVD/Blu-ray Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen confirmed for October 20, augmented reality included

Peter Ha — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:42:37 +0000

Big, bad Bay just pushed out the press release confirming the October 20 street date for both the DVD and Blu-ray of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Both the DVD and Blu-ray versions will come in a two-disc variety (single disc DVD will be available as well). The two-disc packages will include “augmented reality technology” that give owners a chance to rebuild a broken down Prime using their webcam and a “special website.”

As an added bonus, the Blu-ray will include an exclusive interactive feature that gives viewers the ability to customize their own robot characters and get a glimpse at a rogue robot. Out of all the available permutations, one will unlock an exclusive interview with Michael Bay about his plans for the next adventure.

Two-Disc Special Edition DVD & Blu-ray:

The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows:

Disc 1:

Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

Disc 2:

* The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen–This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew:
* Seeds of Vengeance – Development and Design – After the overwhelming success of 2007’s Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel?
* Domestic Destruction – Production: United States – Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania.
* Joint Operations – Production: Military – No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast.
* Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East – You can’t really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor.
* Start Making Sense – Editing – In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film.
* Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM’s total render farm capacity.
* Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release – Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres.
* A Day with Bay: Tokyo–An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan for the world premiere of the biggest film of the year.
* 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS–Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro’s most successful and popular franchises.
* NEST: Transformer Data-Hub–Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film.
* Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto– A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film’s most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay.
* Extended Scenes
* Music Video: Linkin Park’s “New Divide”

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE:

The ALLSPARK Experiment–Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a top secret message about the future of the TRANSFORMERS movie franchise.

* NEST: Transformer Data-Hub–A database of some of the TRANSFORMERS characters that appear in the new film, offering users access to each robot’s confidential file including:
* Innovative 3D spin galleries of each robot
* A timeline for each TRANSFORMERS character charting its origins, back story and design evolution from toys to animated series to comics and finally feature films
* Giant Effing Movie – A very personal look at the making of the movie.
* The Matrix of Marketing–An archive of the film’s promotional media including trailers, posters and television spots.

Maingear unveils the EX-L 18 gaming notebook beast

Matt Burns — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:00:41 +0000

Maingear has thrown everything possible into its latest gaming notebook. This massive machine boosts an 18.4-inch screen, three 3.5-inch SATA or SSD drives, and all the ports that you would expect on a $2,999 rig. But that’s not why it’s impressive. Oh no, this bad boy is packing some serious power.

Under the hood of the EX-L 18 is am Intel Core 2 Extreme quad CPU coupled with either single or dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M GPUs. Plus it can support up to 8GB of DDR3-1333 RAM. Now, I don’t know if it’s the most powerful notebook on the planet like the presser claims as it has the same specs as the new Alienware M17x, but it is certainly good enough for a pickup game TF2.

MAINGEAR Unveilsthe World’s Most Powerful Gaming Notebook
eX-L 18 laptop delivers unprecedented performance with Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs with NVIDIA SLI technology, GPU Computing with NVIDIA CUDA, 1080p HD resolution support and an Intel Core 2 Extreme CPU
Union, New Jersey – July 23, 2009 – MAINGEAR Computers, award-winning builders of high performance custom computers for PC gamers and enthusiasts, is proud to announce the world’s most powerful desktop replacement notebook, the eX-L 18. Featuring dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M graphics processing units (GPUs) with NVIDIA SLI technology, the eX-L 18 brings your games and multimedia to life with brilliant 3D graphics and movies in 1080p HD resolution. With powerful Intel Core 2 mobile processors, eX-L 18 delivers breakthrough multi-core performance and dual-channel DDR3 memory.
“MainGear has equipped the eX-L 18 with the world’s fastest notebook graphics solution,” said Rene Hass, General Manager of the notebook business unit at NVIDIA. “With NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs, MainGear’s customers will experience breathtaking in gaming physics from titles such as Terminator Salvation or Darkest of Days and are ready for GPU computing applications such as Badaboom, vReveal and Arcsoft SimHD.”
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M GPUs are the fastest GeForce notebook GPUs ever. Built-in support for NVIDIA® PhysX^TM technology enables a new world of ultra realistic gaming effects from lifelike explosions to natural water. Stay on top of your game with the highest performance using the latest notebook drivers direct from NVIDIA.com. When you’re not gaming, NVIDIA® CUDA^TM technology offers breakthrough performance in compute-intensive tasks like video transcoding and photo editing, delivering up to 10x faster performance compared to traditional CPUs. Watch high-definition videos come alive with sharp images and vibrant colors supported by NVIDIA® PureVideo® HD technology, which enables extended battery life so you never miss a scene.
The eX-L 18 is chock full of expansion potential, with up to 3 2.5″ SATA or SSD drives configurable in RAID formations. eSATA, HDMI, USB 2.0, and FireWire ensure that you can use the eX-L 18 just
like you would a desktop and without compromise. Additional features include a 3 Megapixel video camera provides high definition video

That Fall Xbox Live update drops on August 11

Peter Ha — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:03:51 +0000

All of this drops on August 11. Games On Demand titles confirmed for 8/11 are as follows: Assassin’s Creed, BioShock, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Mass Effect and Sonic the Hedgehog. We’ll have to wait for the next update to get Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Zune Video and 1080p Instant On. That is all.

Pandora teams up with record labels: Wants regular radio to pay music fees too

Nicholas Deleon — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:20:45 +0000

The enemy of my enemy, right? Pandora, the Internet darling that lets users stream music for a newly nominal fee, has teamed up with record labels to get Congress to pass a law that would require regular radio stations pay the same music rights fee as that it has to pay. The labels want regular radio to pay up to help offset the losses connected with the industry’s transition from a pre-Internet music business to a decidedly post-Internet music business. (Maybe stop employing untold numbers of lawyers to go after mothers, hmm?)

So it’s pretty simple, actually. When a regular radio station plays the latest Katy Perry single, she and her record label (well, mainly her record label) get zero dollars and zero cents. When that same song is played on Sirius XM or Pandora, or any non-regular radio format, a nice bag of money shows up at the record labels’ headquarters. To that effect.

Regular radio, which isn’t doing too hot either, claims that it should be exempt from such fees because it is the primary conduit of mass popularity. You know, because your average 16-year-old stays glued to his boom box making All Request Lunch requests.

Flickr

Review: Suunto t6c training watch

John Biggs — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:30:19 +0000

I’ve been testing quite a few training watches of late. Mostly it’s because I’ve been trying to get into shape and the only thing that has really succeeded was getting huge stomach cramps and going on an IV in the ER (lost 8 pounds! Thanks Oprah!). Sickness is the ultimate weight loss regimen. That’s neither here nor there.

So When Suunto sent me the t6c I was pretty excited. The watches I tried so far have had a fatal flaw – maybe the footpad was too big or the connection was poor or the heart rate monitoring was flakey at best. During my runs I’d constantly go back to the Garmin Forerunner 405, one of my favorite watches, simply because it had GPS built-in along with HR monitoring, making it considerably more useful than anything else I’ve used.

So how does this watch compare? Well, the Suunto is much lighter and with an optional foot pod you can assess distances run with a high degree of accuracy.

The Suunto watch also as a special feature called Training Effect. The watch gives you a 1-4 rating of your current effectiveness. There’s a little book included that tells you all the tips and tricks. I won’t go into those here.

It also has an altitude monitor to watch your ascents and descents in real time and customizable screens that allow you to add different settings to the watch face.

The heart rate monitor includes min and max heart rate alerts along with training tools like a countdown timer, stopwatch, split times, and, with the foot pod, vertical speed. It is water resistant to 330 feet.

Now – the big differences. Well, first there’s the price. The watch without foot pod costs $429 although I’ve seen it for about $325. The 405 is $299.99 and the 405CZ, the next-gen watch, is $369.99. All of these prices will fall by an order of magnitude in real settings, but off the bat I’m leaning towards the Forerunner. The Triathlon pack with foot pod, bike pod, and cadence pod, costs $629.95 at Amazon.

However, there is build quality. I’ve seen the Suunto factory in Finland and I came away impressed: for a mass-market, commodity device there is a lot of care put into the manufacture of these pieces. The t6c is much lighter and more compact than the 405 and when you’re running ever gram counts. The user interface is also slightly more streamlined than Garmin’s cascade of menus.

Sadly there is no OS X support for Suunto products, another ding against this watch.

Bottom Line
Of all the heart rate monitoring watches I’ve tried in the past few months, this model is the most powerful and easiest to use. It still hasn’t replaced the 405 on my wrist but it comes in at a close second.

E3 2009: Omnibus E3 demo/hands-on roundup

Peter Ha — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:00:52 +0000

We came, we saw, we played.

Sega

Alpha Protocol: We first saw AP at last year’s E3 and things are looking quite good for Sega’s upcoming “modern-day spy RPG”. It’s currently in Alpha and is scheduled for a late Fall launch on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It plays like a shooter with sprinklings of RPG thrown in to mix it up.

To recap: the main protagonist is Michael Thorton and he’s still out to save the world. As Thorton you can upgrade weapons in the “black market” like you would in Dead Space. Mini games are also in effect throughout the game and they’re akin to the mini games you might find in BioShock. There will be roughly 25 hours and the last mission has various endings depending on which path you choose to take. A “Fury” mode slows down the gameplay that allows Thorton to close in on enemies for hand to hand combat.

Aliens vs Predator: Rebellion makes a comeback on this upcoming Sega title that revisits and improves on their first AVP title that came out in 1999. AVP takes place 30 years after Aliens 3. Behind closed doors I saw a bit of the Marine campaign mode while E3 attendees checked out Predator campaign (or was it Alien?). To be honest it looked like any other FPS, but with Aliens and Predators hunting down your Marine ass. In other words, I liked it. There are three separate campaign modes that let you experience the thrill of the hunt from each side, but they all follow the same narrative story. Rebellion confirmed that AVP will have online multiplayer but failed to divulge any other details during the private demo. It’s set for an early simultaneous 2010 launch for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The Conduit: Without a doubt, the best FPS for the Wii with amazing graphics that would have you think you’re on an Xbox 360 or PS3. Online multiplayer is fantastic and the weapons in the game are badass. What sets the title apart from other Wii FPS titles is the amount of in-game control you have over controller settings. You can tweak the settings to make them as precise as you want. Just like you would on a PC. But the comparisons end there. It’s a start, though. And a damn good one at that.

NHL10: I’m not a hockey buff or fan, but EA had a compelling demo to make me want to play their upcoming hockey title, NHL 10. I especially enjoyed the first person fighting. If you’re getting whooped on your screen gradually gets darker and darker to indicate that you’re about to lose the fight. If your star player gets hassled then the team’s tough guys come in to protect him. On the board play was also improved and lets players protect the puck like you would in real life. You can kick the puck away; pin an opponent to the glass and AI even comes over to help out. The fans also bang on the glass to replicate a real life hockey game. EA stated that passing was also improved from past releases with a full control passing scheme that lets you control speed and accuracy. The default setting is a hybrid control scheme between full control and assisted control. There have been over 200 improvements that include the ability to shoot from your knees and leg kicks to fake a shot.

FIFA 10: You might not believe it but the US ranks second behind the UK in sales for the FIFA franchise. The FIFA teamed scoured the forums to find out what gamers wanted improvements on for FIFA 10 and the 70 percent of the work went into improving the game based on those criticisms and critiques. Manager Mode features 50 new improvements, but the biggest improvement has to be the 360 degrees of dribbling. You can push the ball anywhere, make small lateral touches, and make minute directional changes. There’s also a bit more contact when going for the ball so it feels authentic!

Dragon Age Origins: Set to launch on October 20th of this year. I’m not big into RPGs like this, but making video game characters do the humpty hump intrigues me. During my private demo, the BioWare devs bedded loner, sorceress, hottie Morrigan pissing off a fine red-headed Irish lass by the name of Leliana. If it’s from BioWare it has to be good, right?

Dante’s Inferno: Video game adaptation of the Divine Comedy (duh). Your goal is to save Beatrice. Your weapons include Death’s scythe and a cross that Beatrice once gave us a gift. As you can imagine, each level is one of the nine Circles of Hell and you begin in Limbo with unbaptized children terrorizing you among other beastly creatures. Graphics were stunning and at 60fps, gameplay is quite smooth. Dante collects souls as currency in the game and has the ability to absolve or punish characters that pop up throughout the game. Reload times in between deaths is amazingly quick. Fun fact: protestors were on hand at the EA booth handing out flyers to get the game banned.

Mass Effect 2: Is Shepherd dead? Well, BioWare made it clear that ME was a trilogy, so you should be able to figure that one out assuming you survived the first game. If you did then you can import your ME game into ME2. So make sure you survive ME2 so you can import it into ME3. Weapon effects, like head shots have been improved and there are now 90 weapons classes to choose from. An “interrupt” option has been implemented in the real time dialogue system that pops up in the bottom left corner of the screen. What I saw during my demo was a confrontation between Shepherd and a mercenary (or something, I don’t remember what he was) that resulted in Shepherd pushing him through a window that he was leaning up against. In this scenario, the player has the option of acting on the “interrupt” whether he/she/it chooses to do so.

So the question remains whether or not Shepherd is dead. BioWare debuted a short cinematic trailer with the Normandy going down and Shepherd trying to save a crewmember. In the process, the ship gets hit one more time and Shepherd is seen floating off into space with very little oxygen. BioWare promises numerous endings based on the team you pick, so you best be picking a strong one.

Lucas Arts

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Three new features were revealed last week at E3 and that includes a new class, cover system and multiplayer dialogue, but I won’t go into the latter since it’s a bit dry and you can probably figure out what happens.

New class: Han Solo-like character that’s a gunrunner for the Republic. Weapons at his disposal include flash bang grenades, pistol, and nut kicking moves, literally.

Cover system: For the first time in an MMO, TOR has a cover system that works much like cover systems you’ll find in console FPS games. However, there are multiple points in one section, behind a boulder for instance, that give players better coverage or a better shot on enemies.

BioShock 2: OMG!!! Multiplayer on the Xbox 360 for BioShock 2 is the new hotness. The demo I saw took place at the Kashmir Restaurant and pitted six players against one another in a deathmatch. Weapons, thus far, aren’t anything new and include a pistol, shotgun and three elemental plasmids (Winter Blast, Incinerate and Electro Bolt). I just started playing through BioShock again and I kind of like the fact that it’s a single player shooter. It’s my hope that 2K reveals a multitude of multiplayer exclusive weapons. But playing as a Big Daddy is pretty damn cool in and of itself. Just be sure to find the suit before anyone else.

Scribblenauts: A quirky DS game that makes you think outside the box. It’s simple, really. You have one simple task each level and that is to obtain a Starite. How you obtain it is up to you. For example, one level might have a Starite dangling from the ceiling so you have to figure out what objects you might need to get it. Type or scribble “ladder” or “lasso” and you just might have yourself a Starite. You can use anything you can think of to get the object of your desire. It’s a simple game, but probably one of the biggest titles to come to the Nintendo handheld this year.

Capcom

Lost Planet 2: More or less the same thing we saw in the first LP. I didn’t notice anything different, but that’s not to say it wasn’t fun to play. I also didn’t play for very long.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles: I can’t really say anything negative about the Darkside Chronicles. It’s a Resident Evil title and it’s good, but any other FPS besides The Conduit is pretty meh at this point.

LIVE: EA E3 2009 press conference

Peter Ha — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:38:49 +0000

We’re live at EA’s press conference here at E3 in Los Angeles…

4:42 PM: Devin Coldewey Yo. We’re Live at EA’s press conf. Still a while before it goes live. Looped animations, Clif bars and an asset drive full of stuff we’ve already seen. Get ready for some Mass Effect 2 footage though, we’ll get it up as fast as is humanly possible.
4:42 PM: Devin Coldewey
4:50 PM: ThePeterHa Devin, any power outlets in there?
4:50 PM: ThePeterHa ROFL
5:02 PM: Devin Coldewey Damn, this wifi is spotty as hell
5:04 PM: Devin Coldewey Lights are dimming. I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it!
5:05 PM: Devin Coldewey starting right off with a trailer. Looks like Dragon Age: Origins.
5:05 PM: ThePeterHa test
5:06 PM: Devin Coldewey Neeeever mind. Dante’s Inferno.
5:06 PM: ThePeterHa EA and Visceral want us to “Go to Hell”
5:07 PM: Devin Coldewey Can’t get any sense of gameplay. Cinematic trailer. John Riccitiello is talking about the people here, etc…
5:07 PM: ThePeterHa Didn’t Sims 3 get leaked the other week?
5:08 PM: Devin Coldewey John is EA’s CEO. Showing Sims 3 now, which of course leaked onto torrent sites last week
5:08 PM: ThePeterHa I think NA downloaded it
5:08 PM: ThePeterHa 12 games will be showcased today from EA.
5:09 PM: ThePeterHa “The Wii is a spectacular platform.”
5:09 PM: ThePeterHa Chip Lang from Hasbro is on stage
5:09 PM: ThePeterHa *from the Hasbro division
5:10 PM: ThePeterHa Littlest Pet Shop. Over 2 million girls played the previous title. Three new adventures are coming: Country, City, Beach.
5:10 PM: Devin Coldewey
5:10 PM: ThePeterHa Coming to the Wii and DS.
5:11 PM: ThePeterHa Devin, wake me up when this press conf gets exciting.
5:11 PM: Devin Coldewey Got a daughter? Want her to spend all her time with a pretend plush dog? This is the game for you.
5:11 PM: Devin Coldewey
5:12 PM: Devin Coldewey You too, reader, can make friends in Littlest Pet Shop Online. Fall 2009. twee!
5:12 PM: ThePeterHa Charm Girls Club
5:12 PM: ThePeterHa BFFs
5:13 PM: ThePeterHa Are we at the right press conference?
5:13 PM: ThePeterHa “EA Girl”
5:14 PM: Devin Coldewey Speed hair teasing! on the wii!
5:15 PM: ThePeterHa Is this Sweet Valley High?
5:15 PM: ThePeterHa LOL
5:15 PM: ThePeterHa Now onto Need for Speed Shift
5:15 PM: ThePeterHa 3 things to remember from this presentation
5:16 PM: ThePeterHa Cockpit view completely redefines the driving experience
5:16 PM: ThePeterHa New driver profile in Shift
5:16 PM: Devin Coldewey BFF games – Charm Girls Club being previewed so the girls they brought can clear out before the Dead Space expansion trailer.
5:16 PM: Devin Coldewey Are we at the EA press conference Peter, or Toys R Us
5:17 PM: ThePeterHa Video died and they’re restarting
5:18 PM: Devin Coldewey No matter what you stay in the race. Nobody loses!
5:19 PM: ThePeterHa Demo with an M3 from the cockpit view
5:19 PM: ThePeterHa Is this bumper cars or street racing?
5:20 PM: ThePeterHa The gentleman playing just crashed into a railing
5:20 PM: Devin Coldewey Nice framerate… looks good. Better than Prostreet anyhow.
5:20 PM: ThePeterHa Oh jeez. EA is giving away a BMW M3.
5:20 PM: ThePeterHa Now we’re onto Dragon Age Origins
5:21 PM: ThePeterHa Violence, lust, betrayal are what we can expect from DAO
5:21 PM: ThePeterHa New in-game footage coming up
5:23 PM: ThePeterHa Sex scenes
5:23 PM: ThePeterHa How naughty
5:23 PM: ThePeterHa We’ll have video coming up
5:23 PM: ThePeterHa October 20th launch date
5:23 PM: ThePeterHa Mass Effect 2 is coming up
5:24 PM: ThePeterHa Shepherd is a “kickass hero”
5:25 PM: ThePeterHa ME2 is coming early next year
5:25 PM: ThePeterHa New trailer is being shown now.
5:25 PM: ThePeterHa “chances of survival are slim.”
5:26 PM: ThePeterHa The soundtrack sounds pretty righteous
5:26 PM: ThePeterHa This looks like a cleaned up version of what was leaked at GDC
5:27 PM: ThePeterHa Now onto EA’s bread and butter
5:27 PM: ThePeterHa football, tennis, golf, basketball
5:27 PM: ThePeterHa and hockey
5:27 PM: ThePeterHa and boxing
5:27 PM: ThePeterHa and soccer
5:27 PM: ThePeterHa Peter Moore now on stage
5:28 PM: ThePeterHa applause
5:28 PM: ThePeterHa cheers
5:28 PM: ThePeterHa The most diverse product portfolio is coming up
5:28 PM: ThePeterHa To start things off is Fight Night Round 4
5:29 PM: ThePeterHa Visuals and gameplay have been updated
5:29 PM: ThePeterHa Demo on the Xbox 360 coming up
5:29 PM: ThePeterHa Moore says his dream fight would be Tyson vs Ali
5:29 PM: ThePeterHa 60fps as opposed to 30fps from FNR3
5:30 PM: ThePeterHa updated physics engine
5:30 PM: ThePeterHa Ali just knocked out Tyson
5:31 PM: ThePeterHa Reach and height make a big difference in FNR4 because of the new physics engine
5:31 PM: ThePeterHa everything is “dynamically driven”
5:31 PM: ThePeterHa “sweat, blood spray, muscle contractions”
5:31 PM: ThePeterHa demo over
5:32 PM: ThePeterHa FNR4 is coming a week earlyu
5:32 PM: ThePeterHa launching June 25
5:32 PM: ThePeterHa EA is coming to MMA
5:32 PM: ThePeterHa Coming in 2010. Well under development at Tiburon.
5:33 PM: ThePeterHa
5:34 PM: ThePeterHa
5:34 PM: ThePeterHa FIFA 09 Ultimate Team had 1.3 million downloads
5:34 PM: ThePeterHa Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online coming this fall
5:34 PM: ThePeterHa no disc needed
5:35 PM: ThePeterHa EA Sports World launched today to track stats
5:35 PM: ThePeterHa “Connected Features”
5:35 PM: ThePeterHa Lots of user generated content
5:35 PM: ThePeterHa All from your desktop
5:36 PM: ThePeterHa customize stadiums, uniforms, etc.
5:36 PM: ThePeterHa “Team Builder”
5:36 PM: ThePeterHa for NCAA Football 10
5:37 PM: ThePeterHa Get started now so you can have you custom team ready to go when the game launches next month
5:37 PM: ThePeterHa Madden 10 online franchise
5:37 PM: ThePeterHa iPhone App for Madden 10
5:38 PM: ThePeterHa And now onto the Wii
5:38 PM: ThePeterHa Active was launched two weeks ago
5:39 PM: ThePeterHa Moore is extremely proud of EA Sports Active.
5:41 PM: ThePeterHa Allison Sween or whatever her name from Biggest Loser is now on stage to talk about EA’s “new platform”
5:41 PM: ThePeterHa She’s now a size 4
5:41 PM: ThePeterHa She’s thanking EA Sports Active for that
5:42 PM: ThePeterHa Moore and Sweeney are chatting about nonsense now
5:42 PM: ThePeterHa EA moved 600k units of Active
5:42 PM: ThePeterHa This coming holiday is the first DLC for Active
5:43 PM: ThePeterHa 13 new exercises and activities
5:43 PM: ThePeterHa currently in development
5:43 PM: ThePeterHa Paddle boarding
5:43 PM: ThePeterHa squash
5:43 PM: ThePeterHa
5:43 PM: ThePeterHa
5:44 PM: ThePeterHa Grand Slam Tennis launches next week
5:44 PM: ThePeterHa I played GST a few weeks back
5:44 PM: ThePeterHa And it works great with WiiMotion Plus
5:44 PM: ThePeterHa You can slice your shots
5:44 PM: ThePeterHa Throw up a lob
5:45 PM: ThePeterHa Pete Sampras is walking on stage
5:45 PM: ThePeterHa Pete is standing behind Moore
5:45 PM: ThePeterHa Moore doesn’t know he’s there
5:45 PM: ThePeterHa And now Moore sees him
5:46 PM: ThePeterHa Sampras is now strapping in and playing against the GST producer
5:46 PM: ThePeterHa Wimbledon is in GST, which is a first
5:47 PM: ThePeterHa Moore asks Sampras how this compares to the real thing
5:47 PM: ThePeterHa Pete says, “it’s easier.”
5:48 PM: ThePeterHa
5:48 PM: ThePeterHa Now onto The Saboteur
5:48 PM: ThePeterHa
5:48 PM: ThePeterHa
5:50 PM: ThePeterHa WWII game from Pandemic in case you don’t know what’s goin on
5:50 PM: ThePeterHa The particular demo we’re seeing takes place in Paris
5:51 PM: ThePeterHa There’s a vast world that Pandemic built for this game
5:51 PM: ThePeterHa It’s mostly black and white with spots of color
5:51 PM: ThePeterHa We’ll have video later tonight
5:52 PM: ThePeterHa The objective in this demo is to blow up a gas depot of some sort
5:52 PM: ThePeterHa there are various hiding spots, like the redlight district
5:53 PM: ThePeterHa Coming this holiday season
5:54 PM: ThePeterHa Tim Schafer from Double Fine productions is now on stage to talk about Brutal Legend
5:55 PM: ThePeterHa Tim’s talking about all the rock legends that he wanted to see in this game
5:56 PM: ThePeterHa Lenny Kilmister’s character is being shown
5:56 PM: ThePeterHa he’s a Killmaster
5:57 PM: ThePeterHa Ozzy is the “Guardian of Metal”
5:58 PM: ThePeterHa
5:58 PM: ThePeterHa
5:59 PM: ThePeterHa *Lemmy Kilmister. may bad.
5:59 PM: ThePeterHa Lita Ford will also be in the game
5:59 PM: ThePeterHa Jack Black is the voice of Eddie Riggs
6:00 PM: ThePeterHa Brutal Legends comes out on October 13
6:02 PM: ThePeterHa Cevat Yerli from Crytek is now on stage
6:02 PM: ThePeterHa Crytek is working with EA on Crysis 2
6:02 PM: ThePeterHa Crysis 2 will be coming to the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3
6:03 PM: ThePeterHa All thanks to CryEngine 3
6:03 PM: ThePeterHa More details to come later this year
6:03 PM: ThePeterHa No demo or video of C2
6:04 PM: ThePeterHa EA has inked a new partnership with Realtime Worlds
6:04 PM: ThePeterHa All Points Bulletin is the new title
6:04 PM: ThePeterHa “online city full of life, streets full of vehicles, thousands of pedestrians”
6:05 PM: ThePeterHa Customizable characters
6:05 PM: ThePeterHa This is an MMO
6:05 PM: ThePeterHa
6:05 PM: ThePeterHa
6:06 PM: ThePeterHa
6:06 PM: ThePeterHa
6:07 PM: ThePeterHa Trailer for APB being shown
6:07 PM: ThePeterHa We’ll upload this video as well soon
6:07 PM: ThePeterHa Star Wars!!!
6:07 PM: ThePeterHa WHoa
6:07 PM: ThePeterHa Lots of Jedis on stage
6:08 PM: ThePeterHa With varying lightsabers
6:08 PM: ThePeterHa Two jedis are walking down the aisle to the stage
6:08 PM: ThePeterHa Bioware and Lucas are showing off Star Wars The Old Republic
6:09 PM: ThePeterHa PC MMO
6:10 PM: ThePeterHa TOR will be the first fully voiced MMO
6:10 PM: ThePeterHa Thousands of lines of dialogue
6:11 PM: ThePeterHa The first cinematic trailer is now being shown
6:12 PM: ThePeterHa There’s a lady boba fett
6:12 PM: ThePeterHa bounty hunter, i mean
6:14 PM: ThePeterHa Wow
6:14 PM: ThePeterHa The Jedis just got pwned
6:15 PM: ThePeterHa And that’s a wrap
6:16 PM: ThePeterHa We’ll be back in two hours from the Ubi press conf
6:16 PM: ThePeterHa Devin and I will be uploading video in the meantime

EA E3

Interview: 20+ questions for JAGTAG’s Dudley Fitzpatrick

Jay Donovan — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:54:45 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to have a phone conversation and Q&A session with JAGTAG Founder and CEO Dudley Fitzpatrick. JAGTAG, for the unfamiliar, is a company that specializes in the creation of proprietary two dimensional bar codes, or JAGTAGs as they are called. These special “tags” are encoded with a variety of information—everything from URLs, to coupons to contests. JAGTAGs are similar to standard open source QR (Quick Response) codes and/or Data Matrix variations, however unlike their open source brethren, JAGTAGs require no software to be downloaded in order to decode them. You simply photograph the code with your camera phone and send it to the JAGTAG server, via MMS (or via email if you have an iPhone), where it is processed to return specific media or info directly to your mobile phone. It is a major differentiator for the company that prides itself on offering extended user reach and technical know-how. But JAGTAG also prides itself on its extensive advertising agency background and its ability to offer a more comprehensive approach to helping brands market with their technically savvy solution.

As an “ad-guy” by trade, this kind of tech is of particular interest to me in that it can simplify a lot of mobile user interaction with brands, but I still had some questions lingering in my mind. I caught up with Dudley and he was kind enough to answer some 24 or more questions about their tags and the marketplace for them.

In your own words, what exactly is a JAGTAG?

It was born out of our agency (which I thought you might appreciate). Basically in early 2006 we first got exposed to 2D barcodes. We were trying to figure out how we could help a newspaper company attach their physical paper to their online content and that’s the first time we ever discovered that ‘wow, there’s this cool new medium coming to the United States in which the brand can use their own assets and turn their own packaging and product and advertising and point of sale into their own medium instead of having to give their money to other media companies.’ We were really big in utility marketing and consumer requested stuff instead of ‘push’ and we saw those things together and thought ‘man, this category of being able to make every advertisers asset an on-demand media channel is going to be the biggest thing to happen, for brands, since the internet.’ We got pretty hopped up about it and as we looked more at the market, we just felt like, in the United States specifically, that an application based system that had to be downloaded prior to use was not going to be a good short-term solution for brands.

We were worried that [having to download a QR code reading application] would create negative brand engagement and there wouldn’t be any reach. So we thought, ‘hmmm what if we could eliminate that barrier.’ We started realizing that MMS was coming soon and if we created the world’s first MMS enabled 2D bar code solution and could make every camera phone work instantly without the need for a download then we’ve solved one of the biggest issues around consumer trial and reach for the brand [with regard to 2D barcodes]. The initial inspiration for the product was (a.) the magnitude of the category and then (b.) the opportunity to create a better solution for the advertiser than an application based system that was not pre-manufactured into the device.

So that’s an overview. We felt like there was this amazing category out there and the issue was that it was trying to be served by technologists that didn’t really design their system around a brand’s or consumer’s needs.

One of your main differentiators is that there is no client side app. That makes it easier for users correct?

Yes, but it’s not just ease—it’s ease and reach. The latest numbers we have are that 60% of people under 35 habitually take and send [mobile] pictures here in the United States. So you could argue that 60% of the market already does the behavior that we require. I think that outside of iPhones (we can’t find a number) but we have surmised that about 1% of the market will download and app [to a mobile device]. With iPhones included, that might be about 6% of the market will download an app. So if 6% of the market will download an app and 60% takes and sends pictures then arguably we have 10 times the reach of an application based 2D barcode system.

There is no application required—that’s one benefit—but because there is no app how does that affect JAGTAG with regard to location-based initiatives.

One of the primary ways we can bring value to the ecosystem is by understanding what’s going on in the immediate environment of the person that’s making the request, so location based understanding is at the forefront of our long-term strategy. It’s a requirement for us. In the short term, interestingly enough, we can get a lot of that out of the tag itself, because we can put different tags in different places. So we can do some geo-understanding based on the tags. The other biggest benefit that we have is that we are also a wonderful measurability tool. We enable brands to measure the relative value of their media because we put a different tag on every piece of source media based on how the brand wants us to and we can tell them ‘hey, this is what’s happening with packaging that came out of CVS versus packaging that came out of Wal-Mart—this is what’s happening with your ad in TIME Inc. versus your ad in Newsweek—this is what’s happening if you’re a manufacturer at your point of sale from one store to another.’ One of our greatest immediate values is we give brands the ability to measure media that they’ve never been able to measure before. They’ve never been able to measure print, they’ve never been able to measure out-door, they’ve never been able to measure event marketing. We don’t give them exact impression data, but we give them relative data, because if I run the same ad in TIME and Newsweek and I get three times as many requests out of TIME than I do Newsweek, then I can pretty much assume that TIME is a better medium for [the brand] and [the brand’s] consumers than Newsweek is. We have 900 million tags by the way.

Out there right now?

That’s how many different combinations there are in our current code-reading schema.

If sheer ease of use could help get you guys get ahead and dominate the U.S. market for 2D bar codes in the short term, what is your plan for sustaining that system in the long term against a swiftly growing list of technologies vying for that same space in object hyper linking and beyond.

Normally, the people with the money control an ecosystem—either the people with the money or the people who have the customers—so our long term strategy is to satisfy the brands immediately and to continue to evolve to satisfy the brands needs in the future. So we are building a category and the category will move and we plan on moving as the category moves.

What do you mean by “the category”?

The category of being able to give the consumer the opportunity to access a brand, anywhere and in any way they want directly off of physical objects. I am hesitating to answer your question because I’m trying to figure out how much of our long term strategy do I want to share with the market. We will have long term value within the value chain of content delivery based on object-based code-triggered, consumer requested communications.

I will tell you one thing, and I’m not touting our product—I’m touting the category. When brands get a taste in their mouth for not having to give their money to media companies but [rather] are able to turn their own properties into media channels…that’s a really big thing for them. You think about Wal-Mart and Six Flags… they are brands that reach an awful lot of people, and the fact that they can now turn every asset that they have into a media channel for themselves or for other people—I think this whole category is going to shift the whole way people look at media, because suddenly every brick wall at Burger King is now [like] a TV screen and now Burger King can have more impressions than traditional media does.

As mentioned, there are a lot of competing technologies out there. Things like “contactless” RFID enabled phones, virtual geo-locational tagging, and computer vision services. Those technologies are evolving as we speak. Do you see JAGTAG taking a step into any of those kinds of technologies?

We see ourselves being very fluid within any object-based, code-triggered, consumer-requested-via-mobile technology. So, RFID, SMS, image recognition, traditional 2D barcodes…we have a strategy for adding value within any of those immediate and long term technologies.

Do you operate as a custom shop too? For example, if a brand came to you and said “this is not in your offering but we want to do x, y or z”? Would you take on a custom job in that way?

We will, but right now were doing that more within our immediate core-capability of our tag.

Are JAGTAGs color sensitive like Microsoft tags?
No, everything gets converted to a grayscale.

Coming from a graphic design background, I noticed that there is an aesthetic quality to JAGTAGs that is different from other QR codes. Did you all Design it?

We designed and developed it in house. Interestingly our early business models were based on QR codes because it is open source. But cameras aren’t good enough to be able to take a picture of it. In many instances, when we do testing, it appears that we are actually reading better than an application based systems. We also can be much smaller; we can go down as small as a half-inch by a half-inch. You mentioned the design, and it is an aesthetic design, but it’s really the only code that doesn’t have adjoining objects. In most of the other codes, their black and white fields touch each other, and that created problems when you take a picture of it. The dots [in a JAGTAG] are designed to increase code reading because when they get compressed and sent over an MMS they don’t touch. That code is the only code we know of that was designed to actually have a picture taken of it and sent via MMS. All the other codes are designed to be read by an application.

I wanted to ask you about scalability. You said there are 900 million possible JAGTAG combinations right now. Data Matrix codes, however, are essentially, infinitely scalable—you can just keep stacking them next to each other to make a larger code to get more data. So when you do reach 900 million can you make a JAGTAG larger? What will you do then?

They can be recycled, because we could re-issued earlier tags that have expired, but really by the time we would reach 900 million we would have updated the code to have more combinations. We may be an application-based system by then. We do believe that in the future we will be an application based system. But what we really believe is that brands right now—that an application-based system right now does not give brands or consumers what then need.

Tell me about your SellToMe offering. I notice you have a suite of several services. I looked at them all and SellToMe seemed the “sexiest” and I mean sexy in terms of enabling impulse mobile commerce. I wondered if you could explain a little bit about how it would work—if I understood it correctly, a person would see a tag and could buy whatever that is, right there on the spot.

We’re working thru that with partners right now. The first stages will be that basically we can deliver an operator based sale and an Internet based sale—those will be the two primary areas that we move into. It’s probably not as exciting as you might imagine in the immediate future.

Can we go back to Metrics for a minute? I know brands are typically extremely concerned about metrics. One way you described the metrics offering of JAGTAG is that they are, in one sense, “old school” in that the tags are actually in physical locations and can be tracked as such. The sheer location of the tag can be meaningful alone. Is there more that differentiates your metrics offering than just that?

Yes, but they are more long term. We have some proprietary systems. In the short term we have source media tracking.

Will JAGTAG technology work in other countries?

Right now we’re focused on the U.S. and it feels like we have the greatest immediate opportunity here, but anywhere where a carrier enables two-way MMS we can instantly integrate. So any country where that is currently established, we can get up and running in no time. But our current focus is providing value to brands and consumers in the United States.

Can you explain to me, specifically, how rich media experiences are returned via JAGTAG. Someone takes a picture of a tag, sends it via MMS to the server, it is processed and then what? Does it return an actual video or does it return a link to a video that the user watches in a browser? Can you explain?

We are currently commercially approved with the carriers we run on [Verizon and AT&T], for returning WAP links, MMS and SMS. The majority of our business will be returning MMS and when we return an MMS we are actually returning video, multiple pictures and audio directly into the phone. So while we can support a mobile web solution, we believe that 20% of the world accesses the mobile web and 80% do not and we believe that an MMS return, in most instances, is easier to use and much lower cost to the consumer than a mobile web based return. Our reach goes thru the roof when we return MMS. With an MMS input we get device information. Basically, that is the big difference. So because we have device information, we understand the media player of the phone and the screen size and we optimize that return based on that phone’s specific requirements. That’s really our big home run, right. So when you make a request off your phone, we know exactly what your device is. And when you have an SMS input, you don’t have that understanding. The way some other people do that is they send out a WAP link and try to understand the device off the WAP link.

Then would you say that smart phones are your market, because these could be heavy data media files correct? And that would presuppose that the person downloading does have an unlimited data plan in order to really download this kind of stuff all the time. Unlimited data plans seem to be more closely associated with smart phones.

You know, we would say that our market is smart phones and dumb phones [regular feature phones, like a Motorola RAZR]. An MMS return works wonderfully on a smart phone or a dumb phone. So it’s that extra reach that we’re bringing to the market. Let’s say you wanted to show a video highlight to everyone that clicked in Sports Illustrated. Well, if you rely on the mobile web only, you’ve reached 20% of their audience and if you rely on MMS you’ve reached 100% of their audience.

So what you are saying is that if a person has a “dumb phone” and they don’t have an appropriate player to play back a video then you would send what back to them?

We would know that and would send them a message to the effect of ‘sorry your phone cannot play video, but here is something else from the brand instead.’

Ok, so you sniff out the phone type and there is a payoff, for the consumer, one way or the other, depending on their phone.

Right. We don’t even really sniff it out. The carrier gives it to us.

Can you capture other data about the user other than their phone number?

We receive the phone number, the image and device information.

You don’t collect profile-type info from the user? Or do you?

We don’t transfer individual consumer data to the brand unless the user has requested it be sent.

Is every JAGTAG that is photographed and sent in to the server considered an “opt in” then?

Yes, every request is an “opt in” as long as the source material is clear about that.

I read on Mashable not too long ago where Dana Oshiro had listed 5 possible uses for QR codes. Things like, green ticketing, etc. Obviously you have your product offering and that says something about where you think tagging is going, but can you give me a little insight into what you all think is the future of this technology, outside of where it is today?

Well really it’s still not established today [laughs]. You know, the current IS the future.

That’s a good point.

Really the future is our current product offering.

Right. That is, outside of Japan, where this kind of thing has been going on for years. I guess we just look at whatever was going on in Japan 2 years ago, to find out what will be hip here in 3 more years.

I hear everyone talking about personalized tags—that every consumer has their own tag. Eventually you attach user-generated content to a tag and that person can share their personal best when they go to see someone else. For example in a conversation, one person asks another ‘hey are you a very good skateboarder? Well here, take a picture of the code on my board and watch my videos to find out?’ I think that is certainly a future.

I also believe that whoever is closest to the consumer will be able to use tags to create new media channels for themselves that they can charge other people money to use. Kind of like the current way retail circulars work or the way that sports teams use billboards inside a concourse to charge their sponsors to reach their consumers. [Like those older models], one of the things I think is going to happen is that once geographic locations or venues or retail stores become ‘mediums’, I think that the owners of these physical footprints will be able to establish all kinds of revenue streams via their ‘bricks and mortar.’ I think one of the big huge shifts will be that places like Starbucks will become a medium for all kinds of stuff beyond their own properties and products. If you think about it today—if you take media as a consumer impression—Wal-Mart, Target, McDonalds, Burger King—everyday they reach many more people, I would surmise, than the New York Times does. So when you get in to a ‘physical world connection’ those are the future media properties. It’s crazy. If you look around your room right now, everything in your room is a media channel. The table is a media channel. The wall is a media channel. So whoever owns the physical source materials now owns the media channel. It’s a crazy idea to think that every object in the world becomes the media channel either for that object to market to somebody or for that object to generate revenue from someone else who wants to market thru that object.

I agree. It’s a fascinating concept. It even gets deeper when you think about it geolocationally… that step beyond when people are vying to purchase coordinates in 3 dimensional space to place their ad in so that when users walk into that space with their GPS enabled phone, they are automatically served an ad. I mean, it doesn’t have to be an ad… we are surrounded by a world of information and the point where the physical world meests this nebulous informational world is really interesting.

Right. For example, what am I doing right now? I see something in the real world and then I have to go online and then I have to find it [in order to get information about it]. But with this technology, anything I see in life I can instantly find out more about. Anything you want to know about the object you are interacting with, you can find out. That’s literally how it can be.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about JAGTAG that we haven’t covered?

I would just want to reiterate our main advantage to anyone considering using a 2D barcode today, which is that our technology literally has 10 times the reach of any other 2D barcode. We are the only 2D barcode that doesn’t require the consumer to download an application, prior to use. Also if anyone is considering returning multimedia to a mobile phone, we are the only real way to do it to a mass mobile audience. You can’t do it with Text2Get (because it doesn’t understand the device ID) and as long as you’re dependent on mobile web, you only reach 20% of the market.

Another thing I’d like brands out there to know is that they can now send gorgeous video, they can now send gorgeous looking multiple images of their products, they can now send that to almost as many people as they can send text to. I’d also like brands to know that if they are considering a traditional image recognition solution, that they can accomplish the same thing with us but they can also measure the media.

And you all have worked with many brands already, correct?

Yes, we have run programs with Sony PlayStation, Red Bull, Nike, Cleveland Cavaliers, Qdoba. One last thing I’d really like to explain about JAGTAG is that one of our core competencies (because we come out of the advertising community) is that we understand how to use the technology to accomplish marketing goals, objectives and programs, unlike some companies entrenched only in the technology side who may have more of an attitude like ‘here’s the technology—YOU figure it out.’ We’re not like that. We’re a really good partner in terms of figuring out and guaranteeing that the program along with the technology succeeds. We are agency people here to help other agency people do great things for their brands.

Yeah, I’m never shopping at Best Buy ever again

Nicholas Deleon — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:20:54 +0000

So long as there is blood coursing through my dumb veins I will never shop at Best Buy again. Why? Because I feel the store’s anti-shoplifting measures went above and beyond what’s necessary at the weekend. Let me explain.

I went to the local mall, the Poughkeepsie Galleria, on Saturday to drop off a roll of film at Target. (I’ve recently been shooting with a film camera; I’m working on a post that’ll show up one of these days.) My brother and I then exited the way we came in: via Best Buy. The Best Buy is located right next to the parking lot, so it’s quicker to go to and from the parking lot via the store. You know what I mean.

Anyhow, as we’re exiting the Best Buy, on our way to the parking lot, the security alarm goes off. In my experience, the guy standing watch by the exit usually just waves you on—“it’s cool, just go”—since the alarm goes off all the time. (Shouldn’t that be fixed?) Not on Saturday.

The guy on watch immediately comes over to us, saying something like “stop right there,” with the tone of voice that suggested he was on a massive power trip. My initial reaction, at least mentally, was “no, I’m not stopping.” But whatever, let’s see what he has to say.

He then instructs my brother to lift his shirt up (?!) and empty out his pockets, and asks me to empty my pockets. I pulled out my phone and said something like, “Are you allowed to do this, or is this police-only type of thing?”

Then the guy motions us back into the store—the above took place in that little divider part between doors, where the gum ball machines are—and brings us to a table in plain view of all the other shoppers. Oh, great, now we have a situation, I’m thinking. The guy’s “you messed with the wrong man” grimace and tone of voice really put us off. He then proceeds to rifle through the contents of my brother’s wallet, like a police officer would. Never mind how hard it’d be to stuff an Xbox 360 or wireless router inside a wallet, it was the whole situation here that annoyed me.

Again I asked the guy, “Is this even legal? Are you permitted to look though our wallets, ask us to lift our shirts and empty our pockets because the alarm, which goes off every time I come here, went off?” After about a minute—I’m not going to exaggerate for effect and claim something ridiculous, it was only about a minute—of looking over our items, he says, “Go on, get out of here.” Gee, thanks. Next time I’ll strip naked and you can make sure there’s nothing on my person.

Here’s how far I was willing to take it: if I could go back in time, I’d tell the guy, “Look, I didn’t steal anything, so there’s no way I’m going to let you rifle through my things, demanding to see X, Y or Z, just to prove my innocence. That’s not happening. You’re more than welcome to call the police, who I’ll listen to because they’re the police, and not some guy in a yellow shirt.” Then the police would come, tell me to stop being a crybaby, chastise me for wasting their time, and tell me to leave the damn store already. And I would have, in a heartbeat, because, again, they’re the police, not some guy in a polo shirt. The police can compel you to do something, not some Best Buy employee who thinks he’s making an example out of someone, or who’s taking his aggression out on you.

Is this an overreaction? Perhaps; I don’t see myself as Toussaint Louverture or Patrick Henry or anything. But in no way am I prepared to shop at a store that thinks it can pull you aside, in the view of Lord knows how many people—great, now to these people I look like a criminal—just because its alarm goes off, especially since the alarm goes off all the time. But the fact that that alarm goes off every single time I enter the store suggests that the alarm perhaps isn’t what it should be— so don’t ask me to “comply” or whatever because your alarm is rubbish. I don’t take kindly to being treated like a common thief by your goons because your security system is trash.

Thank you, and God bless America.

Bioware to dilute Mass Effect franchise with iPhone games

Devin Coldewey — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:30:31 +0000

Although the original Mass Effect was promoted as a go-anywhere, do-anything exploration game, it was in fact merely a varnish of exploration layered over an admittedly good action RPG. That makes the jump to the iPhone as a pure action game much less of a shock than, say, KOTOR would have been. The iPhone may even be a good platform for this sort of thing, but if they ever hope to deliver on the promises of the franchise, they’d better stop with this one.

Mass Effect: Jacob’s Story will be a short action game providing some back story for one of the characters in Mass Effect 2. The flexibility of the naming structure implies they’re leaving it open for every other character in the series if this one makes a splash. It’ll be a top-down shooter (think Ikari Warriors in the future) probably with some RPG features like upgrading weapons. Don’t get me wrong, Bioware makes good games and this one will probably be solid as well, but the deep, spacefaring Mass Effect brand is only going to be hurt by short, shallow games like this one.

How did the world get a workprint of X-Men Origins yesterday? Blame terrorists

John Biggs — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:19:20 +0000

I was perusing the Internet yesterday and found something unusual: a movie that was to be released on May 1 instead appeared, in very high quality yet with glaring problems. The movie was X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it featured a certain very hirsute Australian actor playing a guy with claws. That’s all I’ll say.

Not to be hyperbolic, we are witnessing the rise of media terrorism. This workprint, essentially a version of the movie released to the various parties who have a stake in the film – either in testing, special effects, or editing – was not released by a happy person. The fact that you rarely see workprints of any value online – the last one of any interest was probably Star Wars Episode 3 – is a testament to the value the parties involved put on secrecy and trust. People who like their jobs don’t leak workprints like X-Men. Sure, Paul Blart Mall Cop got a workprint release, but who cares about that? I suspect the people working on X-Men are proud of their work – heck, they’re making cool sci-fi movies! – and they don’t want people to steal it.

Here is Fox’s official stance on the leak:

“Last night, a stolen, incomplete and early version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was posted illegally on a website. It was without many effects, had missing and unedited scenes and temporary sound and music. We immediately contacted the appropriate legal authorities and had it removed. We forensically mark our content so we can identify sources that make it available or download it. The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law – the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts in the past. The FBI and the MPAA also are actively investigating this crime. We are encouraged by the support of fansites condemning this illegal posting and pointing out that such theft undermines the enormous efforts of the filmmakers and actors, and above all, hurts the fans of the film.”

My official stance is that the movie kicked ass and I want to see it in theaters.

That said, could this have been an inside job? Could someone at a company that has been downsizing lately have done this out of spite? What happens when workprints become fodder for blackmail?

I’m not saying this will happen, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a highly anticipated release so long before its official release date. Maybe resident pirate Nicholas can set me straight, but this is a scary leak and indicative of things to come. Disgruntled employees can easily create a digital copy of anything out there and leak it. They usually don’t because they’re not usually disgruntled. But someone, somewhere must have been amazingly mad at someone to dump this movie on the masses. Even the piracy motive doesn’t stand up here.