Free Gift News
This section will be kept up-to-date with all new news affecting the products and related products available in the free gift market.
Sony announces academic PS3 dev kit
Source: Devlop Online
Sarah Lemarie of SCEE R&D announced at the Develop Conference 2009 that a free PS3 dev kit designed for academia is now in closed beta. This kit is thought to provide help to students at university in using Linux to program on the PS3. It was announced that a student's understanding of Linux would be greatly increased through this.
Sony should beware - Activision chief is not simply playing games
Originally published at: times online
Bobby Kotick and a partner bought the once-struggling Activision for $440,000 in 1991, at a time when it was losing $30 million on $10 million in revenues. Now the world's biggest independent computer games company, it has a market value of $16 billion (£10 billion) and operating profits of $179 million in the first quarter on sales of $981 million.
Activision overtook Electronic Arts last July when it was in effect taken over by Vivendi of France in a deal where Vivendi injected World of Warcraft into the company for a 56 per cent stake. With such success, Mr Kotick, who runs the business from Beverly Hills, can probably get away with saying anything, which, soon enough, he does.
The target is Sony, the once-dominant hardware maker. "I'm getting concerned about Sony; the free PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform. It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the free Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation," he says.
It is not a very subtle hint, although Mr Kotick says his company paid $500 million to Sony in royalties and other goods last year, which "probably still worked out at 400 per cent of the profit they made". Actually, Sony's games division lost $597 million last year, and Mr Kotick seems to think it may have to risk more losses if the £299.99 PlayStation 3 is to develop.
"They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates [the number of games each console owner buys] are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony." Ask when and he says: "When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console - and the free PSP Go[portable] too." Sounds like Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's chief executive, is going to have to call Mr Kotick pretty fast.
Activision is pretty fortunate in that it has ridden the trend away from traditional "shoot 'em up" titles to family-oriented, interactive games such as Guitar Hero, which grossed more than $1 billion last year. "It was as big as Titanic [the film] with better margins".
DJ Hero, with its own turntable, will follow this year, although Activision will have to endure its main competitor, Viacom's Rockband, launching a Beatles-themed game.
But it is a trend that, unlike Nintendo, which practically reinvented gaming with the Wii, Sony has been slow to react to. To illustrate the point, Mr Kotick stands on a plastic skateboard that turns out to be the controller for Tony Hawk: Ride - the company's attempt to reignite the well-worn franchise. Using motion and infra-red sensors, the board detects movements in both the player's body and feet, and speed is generated by swiping a foot on the floor next to the board. It is hoped the title will be a blockbuster later this year.
"Such a physical interface could be ideal for the free PS3 manufacturer, Sony," he says, building up the sales pitch, before he warns that he will "generate better returns on invested capital" on the Wii and the Microsoft console. If he can persuade Sony to bend to his will, then it will be a sign of how far the power in the computer games industry has changed.
PS3 May Feature Next Xbox Tech By 2009
Source: Skoar
Technology will crumble the might of nations across the globe, as the actual world seems to be engulfed with the question of preventing large scale nuclear fallout, rise of artificial intelligence uniting mankind in an epic struggle for power. Videogames on the other spectrum seem to be providing a platform to enhance the interactivity of its user base and destroying man's physical social life.
The discussions centered around next generation consoles has already started a wildfire across communities, with E3 2009 bringing in a pot load of information regarding motion technology across the three major players. There are already a round of discussions regarding Microsoft's next machine to incorporate their camera technology. TeamXbox recently came up with a quote regarding the next generation Xbox to incorporate full HD stereoscopic visuals and 3D visuals. All the rumors/stories convene at the point that this technology shall be implemented in the next iteration of Microsoft's console.
Refraining to sound like a fanboy, but Sony's current machine may already possess the technology for giving birth such a massive technology by 2009. According to numerous reports that appeared sometime in December 2008, "Sony "fully intends" to support stereoscopic 3D gaming and Blu-ray 3D on free PS3 in 2009 with their Blitz Tech engine. MTBS is a stereoscopic 3D certification and advocacy group." This form of next generation entertainment merely requires a BIOS firmware update giving it a huge competitive advantage over its current competitors.
Although there is still a lot of work as far as the choice of television sets are concerned, a few existing high end television models under production (Mitsubushi Laservue) already support the format of providing a 3D experience for its users. It's only a matter of time when such technological innovations become affordable and usher a change in the form of digital entertainment. So will the Playstation 3 finally be a cheaper and more viable option in the longer run, or will the next Xbox be a far cry from Sony's current machine? These falmes are getting hotter by the mintue time to indulge in some Madword antics on our precious free Wii.
Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS gives you the power of words
According to: arstechnica.com
Scribblenauts gives you puzzles to solve and a nearly endless array of items to use while solving them. All you have to do is write it out. No dirty stuff, and no trademarked names, but everything else is fair game.
One of the games that I kept hearing about at E3 was Scribblenauts. Sure, people wanted to play God of War 3, and everyone was raving about the Last Guardian trailer, but everyone I saw told me I had to go play Scribblenauts. With some anticipation I headed over to the Warner Bros. booth and had myself a demo. What did I find? I found that this may be my game of the show... or at least the best, most pleasant surprise.
Scribblenauts is a free DS title from the team that brought you Drawn to Life, and the idea is simple: you have a man on the screen, and he has to fulfill a goal in each of the over 200 increasingly tough levels. Maybe you have to rescue a cat, or grab a star, or make it past a shark. How do you do this? By typing in the names of items, and using those items. That's it, that's the gimmick.
Of course, there are tens of thousands of items, and each one does something. To get that star, you can type in ladder and climb up. You can type trampoline and bounce to it. You can type in giraffe and ride over to the star. You can type in rocket pack and zip up to grab it. You can type Chimera and... well, it won't help you get the star, but there will be a Chimera running around.
It gets even crazier when you're playing levels in which God, Albert Einstein, and a Kraken are running around. Why are they there? Because they are objects in the game.
It becomes something of a challenge to find an item that isn't supported; we're promised tens of thousands of things, more than your mind can handle. Items will also work together: you can type grill and get a grill, and then type steak and get a steak. And then cook the steak and feed it to animal to sneak past. If you have to refresh a character you can type rain cloud and soothe him with a gentle shower, or type lemonade and give him a drink, or type hose and spray him down. Get creative. Try anything that comes into your mind. The game's motto is "Write Anything, Solve Everything," and it's certainly fitting.
I walked away with a big grin on my face; this is one to pick up when it's released closer to the end of the year, on the free Nintendo DS.
Cheaper iPhone may show as early as Monday
Source: AppleInsider
Citing only "people familiar with the initiative," the Financial Times claims that Apple plans to release an iPhone model with a substantially lower retail price in order to boost sales, and that the introduction could happen as soon as the opening day of WWDC.
"The anticipated new phone is likely to start production in July with the third version of the free Apple iPhone operating system, also expected to be released next week as a free upgrade for existing iPhone owners," the article stated, noting that Apple declined to offer any comment.
It's been previously reported that Apple is expected to deliver a series of new iPhones, including a possible 4GB low-end model. Mainstream new free iPhones are expected to deliver a faster processor, more working RAM, faster mobile and WiFi networking, an improved camera and an electronic compass, in addition to the software features to be delivered in iPhone 3.0
Analysts have been predicting that Apple would cut the upfront price of the iPhone for some time, but the idea that the company would announce a cheaper version as early as Monday is provocative in that Apple faces little competition that would compel such a significant price cut.
The Financial Times cited Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty as saying, "it's either a $50 or a $100 cut" based on a survey of consumers that indicated a $50 drop "could increase demand by 50 per cent and a $100 cut by 100 per cent."
Huberty is somewhat infamous for delivering the worst analysis on Wall Street when it comes to forecasting Apple's future. For Q1 2007 she predicted iPod sales nearly 20% lower than the Street's consensus figures and the company's actual sales, and she expected revenues that were a nearly a billion short of Apple's actual performance of $7.5 billion.
Last fall, Huberty cited general weakness in the "global macro-economic environment" for dramatically lowering her price targets for Apple stock, although the company's actual results since then have proven seemingly recession-resistant in marked contrast to the PC industry in general.
Apple's new iPhone software may let users share applications
Source: AppleInsider
Apple's forthcoming free iPhone Software 3.0 may introduce features that let users share their purchased applications with family or friends, a move that would give iPhone and free iPod touch owners a greater say over which apps deserve the spotlight in the overly-congested App Store.
Citing a "a person familiar with the technology," BusinessWeek reports that the forthcoming software update "includes features that, if activated by Apple, may let users share software with one another." The publication goes on to speculate that such a feature could even be expanded to allow iPhone users to generate a commission "when they've induced someone else to make a purchase."
The ability to try applications before buying them has been a sore point with App Store shoppers. In an attempt to address this, some app developers have released "lite" versions of their apps that are free or close to free and include only a few levels or features of the full-fledged version.
This, however, adds a few more steps to the purchasing process for a potential buyer, since a second trip to the App Store must be made to purchase the full version. Additionally, the user will probably want to delete the lite version from the iPhone to free up memory and avoid confusing the two apps, which often have similar icons.
With the tens of thousands of apps available in the App Store today, shopping for interesting and useful applications can be a challenge. Friends and family often share common interests, and the ability to learn of a new application, obtain it directly from a friend or family member, and try it out could present a more streamlined approach to app shopping in many instances.
Apple has seeded five betas of iPhone Software 3.0 to date in which numerous discoveries pertaining to future software and hardware features have been made, but Wednesday's claim is the first to suggest application sharing capabilities will be amongst the software's highlights.
Apple reportedly declined to comment on the matter, with spokesperson Jennifer Bowcock stating that, "We've made no announcements at this time."
The Future Of Metal Gear Solid Franchise
Source: gamehistoryx
Honestly when I first saw Raiden fighting in MGS4, I asked myself why they didn't make him selectable. Raiden was genetically engineered and carries better nanomachines than Snake. Raiden was very badass in the cutscenes in MGS4. Solid Snake might be back in the future but I'm very positive that Kojima will be sticking to Raiden and probably Big Boss in the potential sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater that might be announced tomorrow. Kojima express that he liked the jungle setting a lot, and is the reason why he made MGS3 a Big Boss game instead of Solid Snake. But Big Boss is the genetic DNA donor of Snake, so Big Boss is the same as Snake in a lot of ways. Snake and Big Boss are only different in personality.
Guys don't forget that Metal Gear Solid 2 was released on the original xbox 360 and Metal Gear Solid was remade for the Gamecube.
The only reason I'm talking about MGS on Xbox 360 is because during the last few months free PS3 fanboys were giving free xbox 360 wishful gamers a very hard time. Until yesterday even reporters from Cnet said that it was not likely that MGS franchise would be announce for Xbox 360. The unthinkable happened today, never say never.
I just beat MGS4 for the second time. I already own MGS4, so I don't really want it on Xbox 360
.A remake of all the MGS games is possible on PS3 because Bluray can support that capacity.
I have to say that M$ and Konami could had just annouced MGS for Xbox 360. But sending Kojima himself there was probably hard on their relationship with Sony. But if you looked at the PS3 game case for MGS4, it does not say that is "Only on PS3" or "exclusive" anywhere. There was never an exclusivity deal on MGS4 between Sony and Konami. Kojima was just trying to remain as faithful as possible to Sony.
"kojima looked like he had a gun to his head and a sack full of cash to silence him"
Apple briefs staff on wireless iPhone movie and TV downloads
According to AppleInsider The free iPhone 3.0 operating system release will include new support for direct downloads of movie and TV content from the iTunes Store, according to people familiar with Apple's internal training materials.
Last week, a Salon blogger covered initial reports of a new iTunes Store interface for downloading movies and TV directly on the iPhone, including support for movie rentals.
Beta testers of iPhone 3.0 can already access the new interface from a special URL.
The new interface is mostly functional, although featured content blocks were marked with F.P.O (for positioning only) placeholder art and all attempts to download any video content return the error "the item you've requested is not available."
Now however, AppleInsider has learned from people familiar with Apple's training program that new self-guided training materials being distributed to familiarize AppleCare agents with the features of iPhone 3.0 software "definitely covered" the ability to directly download movies and TV shows on the device itself, rather than just syncing video content through iTunes.
Those people noted that the advanced training was unique, saying that "Apple never puts out product training this far ahead of a product launch." This training material is roughly 6 weeks early, they said, having arrived in the form of a single training module on Tuesday.
Apple already supports direct downloads of free video podcasts within the mobile iTunes app, as well as video content from YouTube on the iPhone and free iPod touch, so direct video downloads of rented or purchased videos from iTunes would be an incremental and unsurprising step over the current selection of directly downloadable music for sale within the app. It would, however, cement Apple's lead in delivering paid content to mobile users.
What isn't yet known is whether Apple will immediately enable video downloads over 3G mobile networks. The company originally limited iTunes music downloads to WiFi, and even originally called the feature the iTunes WiFi Store. That measure was likely done to gauge the demand for bandwidth that users would create.
Since then, the WiFi limitation has been removed and it is now possible to directly access iTunes music over 3G mobile networks. Apple touted mobile music downloads on the 3G iPhone as being no more expensive than music purchased over WiFi or directly from iTunes running on a desktop computer, a direct blow to other mobile network operators and mobile content stores that charge extra fees when users try to obtain content over their mobile network.
Since videos are much larger than music files, it is likely that video and TV downloads and rentals might initially be limited to WiFi. AT&T's plans to double the speed of its American 3G network to HSPA 7.2 Mbps service and its parallel efforts to bolster its back end networks to better support mobile data demands - specifically video steams - may likely play into how soon iPhone users can expect to download videos from iTunes outside of a WiFi hotspot.
Sony's Biggest E3 Announcements Ever
According to Playstation Lifestyle The general consensus among gaming media and fans alike is that E3 2009 could be Sony's biggest showing in the history of the PlayStation 3 brand. Rumors, leaks, and a massive pre-E3 media event have helped fuel the hype for what is set to be quite an amazing show.
PlayStation LifeStyle has the great pleasure of seeing this first hand, and will work tirelessly to bring you all possible coverage of the PlayStation brand, no matter how big or small the news.
Before E3 begins, and Sony takes the gaming world by storm, we are bringing you a trip down memory lane by giving you a recap of Sony's biggest E3 showings of the past. This way, you can see exactly what Sony's showing at E3 2009 is up against, and you can be the judge of whether or not this will be Sony's best year ever!
E3 1995
SEGA, after having two poorly-received hardware offerings with the SEGA CD and 32X, needed to impress the crowd at the very first E3. SEGA had previously announced the SEGA Saturn before the show which had a scheduled release date of September 2, 1995. However at the SEGA Keynote, it was announced that the SEGA Saturn was secretly shipped to retailers the night before, and was now on sale for $399. A move that left retailers unhappy, and gamers without many launch titles to choose from.
This, shortly after, was completely overshadowed by Sony. Olaf Olafsson (who named this guy?) took the stage at Sony's keynote and announced the release date for the Sony PlayStation. The real shocker, and what could have been the death blow to Sega before the PlayStation was even released, was the announcement that it would release for the price of $299. Also shown during E3 were what soon became PlayStation franchise mainstays: Ridge Racer, Tekken, and WipEout. This marked the beginning of Sony's reign over the gaming industry.
E3 2000
History repeated itself a bit with E3 2000. The Sega Dreamcast had been released in North America the prior year and was off to a rough start. Its CD-based software medium constrained the visions of many developers.
While the PS2 had already been announced in Japan previously, there hadn't been a release date set for the American market. Sony took the opportunity to do so at E3 2000, and set the big day for October 26 of the same year. Although this time around, Sony's console was priced higher than SEGA's by $100; it offered DVD playback, as well as DVD-ROM as the software medium, allowing for larger games. The inclusion of the DVD player may have been Sony's most genius idea yet. It helped introduce the PS2 into the homes of anyone interested in DVD players, as it offered a decent quality DVD player, along with PlayStation brand gaming for around the price of your average DVD player at the time.
E3 2000 wasn't all about hardware, in fact it was the software that really stole the show. One title in particular had fans and media floored. That title was Metal Gear Solid 2, the follow up to the fan favorite Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation (now known as the PSOne). The sheer detail of MGS2 is what impressed the crowd, and it really showed of what the PS2 was capable of. While MGS2 didn't make the PS2's launch, Sony had plenty of other titles to show, 51 of which were scheduled to be available by Christmas of 2000.
E3 2003
Kaz Harai takes the stage at Sony's Keynote during E3 '03, and had plenty of major announcements to discuss. He started off with the announcement of a revised PS2 in the works. The revision boasted progressive DVD playback, a built in IR port for use with a remote, reduced fan noise, and would be bundled with a Network Adapter.
Sony continued to strut its planned online strategy, which was a direct response to the undeniable success of Xbox Live. Games that were shown included Final Fantasy XI, SOCOM II, and pledged support from EA Sports' future lineup.
Of course Sony wasn't done there. Dr. Richard Marx then took the stage and demonstrated the PS EyeToy. The EyeToy was a USB web cam that allowed for interaction with images on screen by moving your body and appendages; no controller was needed.
Lastly, Sony announced its plans to take on Nintendo and its stronghold over the handheld gaming market with the PlayStation Portable. No Hardware or Software was shown, or demoed, but the announcement was big enough to shock gamers.
E3 2005
The PlayStation 2 was in its prime; a large amount of AAA games were shown. The current king of consoles was easily overshadowed by the announcement of its successor, the PlayStation 3. The free PS3 was debuted, boasting some of the most impressive specs ever seen by console gamers. Specs at the time included the cell processor, 1080p High Definition gaming, 3 Ethernet ports, 2 HDMI outputs, 6 USB ports (4 front, 2 rear), Wifi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a built-in Blu-Ray drive.
Even with the massive listed specs, the thing that generated the most buzz was the new controller. The new controller wasn't yet another iteration of the Dualshock, it was a boomerang-shaped controller. Jokes galore hit the internet about how if you were angry after losing in a game, you couldn't throw the controller, as it might come back and hit you.
There was no actual software, however there was plenty of technical demos ready to go that were running on PCs that had specs similar to that of what the PlayStation 3 would have. PlayStation staples such as Devil may Cry, and Tekken were shown (ironically, both went multiplatform). The biggest splash came from the confirmation of Metal Gear Solid 4 being in the works, and the showing of a technical demo of Final Fantasy VII. This immediately sparked excitement from the crowd, as fans thought a FFVII remake was in the works. However, that wasn't true, as Square quickly make it clear that it was a tech demo only.
E3 2006
Not all E3 announcements are good announcements, despite how large they may be. In 2006, Sony announced the price of the now "gimped" (originally the free PS3 was to have 2 HDMI outputs, 6 USB ports, 3 ethernet ports, and more) PS3, which was set to $599. Although there was a less-expensive 20GB model announced, which was even more gimped with its removal of wifi, card readers, and a lower-capacity internal hard drive, the price shocked the world. Both Sony's previous consoles had been released for $299, and history had shown that expensive consoles never fared well.
There was the argument that you get what you pay for, and Sony's newest console was surely a beast. While that was indeed true, the massive price tag scared away many long time PlayStation fans over to the other HD console on the market, the free Xbox 360. The price tag was the target of media outlets, which soon started questioning Sony's motives about the console, claiming it was more about Blu-Ray penetration than making another successful gaming console. To this day, the PlayStation 3 is the most expensive console. Anyone can see that because of this, the sales have been less than Sony (perhaps foolishly) hoped for in comparison to the ridiculously fast-selling PlayStation 2.
E3 2009
You have seen our predictions. You have heard the rumors of a redesigned PSP, and a slimmed down PS3. You know the massive lineup of games that are scheduled to be at E3. You know that Sony always has more games that are currently unannounced, and that E3 is prime time to unleash them. Because of those facts, it does seem to be that 2009 will be Sony's best showing ever. Stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle for all of your E3 coverage!
iPlayer uncovered: What powers the BBC's epic creation?
According to Cnet
During peak hours, BBC iPlayer pumps out 12GB of data every second, and seven petabytes of data every month. It's insanely popular on Apple's free iPhone -- but mostly after midnight -- and the next version of iPlayer will land this year, with some exciting new features.
These are just some of the fascinating facts revealed by iPlayer boss Anthony Rose, in an exclusive one-on-one interview with CNET UK.
Rose's official job title is Controller, Vision and Online Media Group, and he heads up many of the Big British Castle's Internet activities, including the BBC homepage and the site's search system, as well as iPlayer. Previously, he was chief technology officer at the file-sharing service Kazaa -- the music download service developed by the founders of Skype.
From what to expect over the next year of development, to a detailed look at the iPlayer's hardware, infrastructure nd operation, this detailed interview takes you behind the scenes of the Beeb's enormous on-demand video service.
What will iPlayer 3.0 bring later this year?
"At the moment we've got the Web site -- you go there and click play or you click download. But imagine a future where things come to you, where you can subscribe to things and have favourites and so on. Users are clearly telling us they'd like alerts and an online library, and having delivered HD and video quality that for the most part is similar in quality to TV, we now turn our attention to the personalisation and socialisation, and customisation of iPlayer.
"Although at the moment (iPlayer Desktop) is just a download system, in due course it's going to grow to become more part of the Web site. You'll be able to optionally log in to get enhanced iPlayer services: pre-booking, the equivalent of series link, and you'll be able to see which programmes you're subscribed to for automatic download."
How much data is iPlayer really using?
"iPlayer usage on the iPhone is very popular and it's growing strongly month on month. Here's a fun stat: iPlayer usage, for streaming, peaks about 10pm - just a little later from TV. But interestingly, iPlayer on the free iPhone peaks at about midnight. So people are clearly going to bed with their iPhone and watching in bed. And we also see on the weekends, there's a peak of Saturday and Sunday morning usage at about 8 to 10am in the morning on iPhone.
"I think that at the moment, just for streaming, iPlayer uses about 60Gbps of bandwidth (that's about 7.5GB downloaded every second) in an evening peak. I think about 15Gbps for downloads, and about 1.5Gbps for iPhone. So overall on a particular peak day we may hit 100Gbps (about 12.5 gigabytes per second) although typically it'll be somewhat less than that. That turns out to be up to 7PB of data transfer a month.
"Petabytes is a nice number. Some people know about gigabytes, some know about terabytes, and then there's petabytes."
Why did you abandon P2P downloads?
"I think the Internet world has changed in about the three years between our making a decision to use P2P and now. The P2P proposition was made in the day a long, long time ago, when distribution costs were really, really high, and it was felt that our servers wouldn't be able to cope with the load of a lot of people downloading.
"But in the end, what's happened is that streaming is clearly the main proposition, and download is about 10 per cent of the total consumption. So if the downloads came directly from our servers, it would add only a small extra on to the streaming piece, and in fact it made it more effective -- essentially more cost-effective -- to simply have a direct HTTP download of the download files, rather than maintaining the infrastructure for a separate P2P delivery network.
"Additionally, some people didn't like their upload bandwidth being used. It was clearly a concern for us, and we want to make sure that everyone is happy, unequivocally, using iPlayer.
"P2P did work very well for us, but times change and our saying we're not using P2P now, doesn't mean we will never want to use it again. We may find, for instance, that we use multicast for live video, or a live P2P in the future. The one thing that's constant in the tech world is that things change, and as of today direct download makes the most sense for us. But things may change in the future."
Is the iPlayer completely automated?
"Most content these days is ultimately on tape delivery, so BBC Vision might have filmed a programme a year ago, or someone may have sent in footage, and it's often on tape. We will create a programme and it'll be saved on a digital tape, stored in a secure vault. Then a couple of days before a programme goes out on TV, that tape is ingested and turned into a high-quality 50-100Mbps video file. So there there's a lot of manual handling of tapes.
"Above the surface you see a Web site that's clearly computer-generated and automated, but beneath the surface there are some trucks driving around town with tapes. And we've been doing it this way since 1940 or earlier. There are a lot of systems which are operationally robust, but in a way a lot of Web people would consider legacy methods.
"There's an operational team of probably five people who make sure that videos get encoded, and there are about a dozen people who work on the iPlayer Web site itself and the content management systems that power it. There's also about a dozen people who work on the video player and the media production systems."
iPhone rumored to get wireless movie, TV downloads
Source: AppleInsider
A new rumor, complete with supposed screenshots, maintains that Apple is on the verge of allowing movie and TV show downloads directly from an iPhone or iPod touch.
According to the blogger reporting the purported find, a friend who downloaded the latest version of the iPhone app TwitterFon claims to have discovered three mobile ads from Apple that pointed to "iTunes Movies," "iTunes Movie Rentals" and "iTunes TV."
Rather than take the visitor to a website, however, tapping one of the ads is said to switch to the mobile iTunes client and shows what appears to be a work-in-progress video section of Apple's mobile store. Viewers can browse genres and see featured items, but tapping the actual videos themselves produces a notice that the content is "not available." Promos for episodes and movies are missing.
The section was reportedly in a rough enough state when viewed that a navigation bar used to filter by music videos, movies and TV shows wasn't there at one point in the day and appeared the next. It's possible that Apple was building the portal in a live environment, the report suggests.
A video store would signal a loosening of the restrictions surrounding video downloads on the iPhone. Since adding the podcast section to the iTunes Store, Apple has allowed downloading video podcasts whenever one of its handheld devices is connected through Wi-Fi but has never permitted paid video downloads, in part because of the lengthy wait to download hundreds of megabytes of content.
While the authenticity of the rumor hasn't been corroborated outside of the seemingly real screenshots taken to show the new store portal's existence, its appearance comes just as Apple is poised to introduce 802.11n WiFi to its handhelds. The wireless standard is about four times faster than the 802.11g the free iPhone and free iPod touch use today and would significantly shorten the time spent waiting for downloads that would otherwise be interminable with fast-enough Internet connections or less-than-ideal WiFi reception.
The blogger's friend didn't make any assertions as to whether or not videos would work over 3G, though carrier concerns about overloading the network would most likely keep paid content restricted to WiFi in the same way that video podcasts are restricted today.
The testing would also come just a few weeks before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Latest info for Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
According to Examiner, the newest title in the Ratchet & Clank series will be revealed at E3.
The latest Full Moon Show podcast from Insomniac Games revealed the latest information for the developer's upcoming Playstation 3 exclusive title, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.
The game is nearing its alpha stage of the development cycle and will be at E3 2009. Furthermore, internal play testing has already begun. The level, Krell Canyon, will be shown at the convention.
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is bigger than Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Fans can also expect more variety in addition to several game modes (multiplayer is all but confirmed).
Killzone 2: PS3 Review
Source: Gamespot
No one could have suspected that the sequel to 2004's Killzone would be this good. Killzone 2 is a tremendous package, offering an exciting campaign and terrific competitive online play, neither of which create new paradigms for first-person shooters, but rather set new standards in subtle but significant ways. From groundbreaking visuals to well-crafted multiplayer maps, most of Killzone 2's individual elements stand out in a crowded genre, making its meager attempts at storytelling easy to ignore. PlayStation 3 owners looking for a shooter to keep them busy for the rest of 2009 and beyond need look no further: The fierce action will keep you glued to your television screen for some time to come.
What makes Killzone 2's single-player campaign so much fun? First and foremost, the weapons are a lot of fun to shoot, even the standard assault rifles that form the core of your loadout. The M82's effective scope makes zooming in on your target a breeze, yet this rifle is effective at close range as well, establishing itself from the beginning as a formidable firearm. The LS13 shotgun is also powerful and rewarding to fire; though you may only shoot off a foe's helmet with other weapons, you'll watch entire heads explode with a single blast from this close-range powerhouse. The bolt gun is another favorite, skewering enemy soldiers onto surfaces and exploding a short moment later. Though you're traversing a sci-fi setting, your weapons are decidedly modern-day, from the sniper rifle to the vicious flamethrower, with one exception: the lightning gun. This mighty instrument showers enemies with overpowering jolts of electricity, and though it's not available for long, it makes short work of robotic and humanoid foes. Each of these weapons feels just right; fantastic spurts of blood, outstanding animations, exquisitely detailed weapon models, and explosive sound effects fuse seamlessly and give a satisfying sense of impact every time you land a shot.
Although there's a great variety of weaponry, you won't encounter that many different kinds of enemies as you fight your way across the war-torn landscapes of the planet Helghan. As in the original Killzone, your enemies consist largely of Helghast soldiers, yet though this limited selection led to monotony in the past, an assortment of factors in the sequel hold tedium at bay. The action is constantly pushing forward, leading you from one quality scripted event to the next and pitting you against bright AI opponents that have a remarkable grasp of battlefield tactics. These soldiers put up a fight and exhibit authentic behavior as you rain bullets on them. If you set your sights on a soldier peeking from behind cover and fire off a few rounds in that direction, he'll patiently wait until all signs of fire have vanished. Helghast will flank you and shoot blindly from behind cover, and should you toss a grenade in their direction, they'll quickly scatter. You'll normally be fighting alongside a computer-controlled teammate or even entire squads of fellow infantry. Enemy AI is just as concerned with your comrades as it is with you, so you'll never feel as if you have a bull's-eye plastered on your forehead, as is common with many other team-based shooters. As a result, Killzone 2's thrilling large-scale battles unfold dynamically and offer a legitimate challenge while rarely feeling unfair--a frustrating rocket-heavy final battle serving as the only exception.
Some excellent turret sequences and other segments also provide welcome variations on the shooting theme. At one point, you'll climb into a robotic shell and mow down infantry and tanks with machine gun fire and rockets. The way your transparent protective shield exhibits cracks as you take damage and the remarkable fire and smoke effects that light up the screen add to the excitement of the level. In another fun and visually stunning sequence, you'll use an antiaircraft turret to take down squadrons of enemy fighters. Even operating a standard turret is more appealing than you would expect, which is a result of great map design and well-scripted enemy entrances. If you're just using your standard arsenal, missions are diverse and engaging. You'll take aim at tanks (and in one boss fight, a hovering aircraft) using Killzone 2's potent rocket launcher, and you'll fight your way through a besieged air base in which winding corridors and intersecting passages have you battling multiple enemies on multiple levels.
Most levels take their cue from the usual first-person shooter formulas, and though it takes place in the spacefaring future, Killzone 2 feels more akin to a modern-day FPS by way of its standard weapons and mostly humanoid enemies. It's an interesting blend of two disparate sensibilities that works far better than in the original, and it's further ripened by gameplay touches that feel authentic within that framework. Movement and turning speeds have a real feeling of weight, which is appropriate considering the heavy armor burdening you. This can make the controls feel somewhat sluggish at first, given that you take a moment to gather momentum. It doesn't take long to get accustomed to this sense of overall bulkiness, though, and it's consistently delivered across multiple mechanics. For example, when you jump, the way that you bend into the leap and cushion the landing with another slight crouch feels surprisingly realistic. That weight also informs movement in and out of cover. Killzone 2's cover system is solid, and it never removes you from a first-person viewpoint. Though some objects can obscure your view if you try to take potshots from behind them, sticking to cover and leaning out from behind walls is generally effective and intuitive.
Whether you go for a pop-and-shoot approach or just gun your way through, the mission design keeps you constantly moving from one objective to the next. The quick pace is one of Killzone 2's finest facets; battles don't wear on too long, and they aren't so brief as to be anticlimactic. Like many other shooters, mission objectives often involve turning a crank or pushing a button. In Killzone 2, this may mean rotating the controller to simulate the onscreen activity. These moments feel unnecessary and ironically disrupt the sense of immersion, but as tacked-on as they are, the actions are too brief to be especially annoying. You'll also use your gamepad's motion sensitivity to stabilize the sniper rifle, though the implementation here is subtle and therefore relatively harmless.
It's a real pity that there is so little context for the exceptional action. If you're familiar with the original Killzone, you'll at least have an idea why the ISA (International Strategic Alliance) is attacking the Helghast homeworld; if not, it's clear that as Thomas Sevchenko, you are on the side of the good guys--just not clear why they are the good guys. The dialogue is rudimentary (a discussion regarding sandwiches jumps immediately to mind), the characters forgettable, and the plot serves purely as a thin framework to move you from one environment to the next. Yet the cutscenes are top-notch, and unlike their counterparts in fellow free PS3 shooter Haze, there's nothing intrinsically offensive or wearisome about the fist-pumping grunts at the core of the story. The story isn't deep or involving--it's just there, neither enhancing nor diminishing Killzone 2's action.
That action is enhanced by groundbreaking visuals that elevate Killzone 2 to the head of its class. Both technically and artistically, this is a real stunner. You'll first notice the obvious expressions of its technical prowess: environments jam-packed with objects and textured architectural details, pipes and crumbling rebar jutting from dilapidated buildings, and gorgeous lighting that drenches market squares and sandy battlefields with an incandescent glow. As you peel away the visual layers, your appreciation will only grow. Soldier animations are the best in the genre: Enemies move so fluidly during battle, and shift from cover to firing stance so smoothly, it's clear that meticulous attention was given to making each limb move authentically. Even the smallest details are striking. Raging fires react to the wind as it blows through the level, lightning flashes across the gloomy skies, and billows of smoke so thick you could choke on them cloud your view--but never so much as to be a gameplay annoyance.
These visuals coalesce beautifully to give Killzone 2 a cohesive look that relies as much on its art design as it does on its technology. A subtle grain filter, a good amount of motion blur, and deep color saturation give most levels a dank, overcast ambience, and asymmetrical architecture and other small stylistic touches make Helghan feel more like a grim alternate-universe Earth than a completely foreign world. The sound design offers an equally intense palette. Explosions are obnoxiously loud, and the din of gunfire spreads across the map. The largest battles, such as one that rages across a decrepit bridge, sound intensely chaotic, and the crack of lightning bolts on Blood Gracht may cause you to jump out of your seat. The stormy soundtrack rages at all the right moments but gets a bit overwrought, which befits the hammy voice acting more than it does the layered sound effects.
Although the campaign is over in eight or nine hours, many levels are eminently replayable thanks to tough enemy AI and multiple difficulty levels, and the game makes it easy to revisit specific sequences within its mission menu. But what gives this shooter legs is its fantastic online play, a fun and competitive extravaganza that issues a constant stream of benefits. Like the most recent Call of Duty games, Killzone 2 rewards you with bonuses as you play, which in this case can mean new weapons, extra grenades awarded upon respawning, and most intriguingly, entire classes. This is done not only via a leveling system that pushes you ever closer to the next reward, but also with ribbons earned by completing specific tasks, such as getting a certain percentage of your team's kills. These bonuses are earned separately from leveling, which makes for two layers of online play enhancements to keep you ever addicted.
These dividends flow in a seemingly endless current, though they aren't the only facet of online play that will keep you gripping your controller; the team-based gameplay itself is outstanding, which serves as reason enough to stick with Killzone 2. The modes themselves offer few surprises, what with variants on Team Deathmatch (Bodycount), Conquest (Capture and Hold), and Capture the Flag (Search and Retrieve), among others. Rather, matches are unique because these modes are strung seamlessly together, forcing teams to move from one objective to the next with barely a breather in-between. Up to five modes mesh into a single game, which keeps teams on their toes and spreads hotbeds of action about the maps. In a single match, you're likely to band with teammates in an exposed courtyard, navigate tight walkways as battles rage in the artificial gulley just beyond, and defend an objective in a claustrophobic alcove. It's unlikely that you'll have trouble finding players online to join you in one of Killzone 2's 32-player engagements, but should you be so inclined, you can fill out the games that you host with up to 15 AI-controlled bots. You can even practice offline in one-off matches with those same bots if you prefer.
The eight maps included are exceptional, largely because they are flexible enough to make every mode feel like a natural fit for the precise layouts. Aspects such as the varying spawn points of the propaganda speaker in Search and Retrieve, and the vulnerable locations of capture points in Capture and Hold, provide focused hot spots and send you to every nook and cranny of the maps. Be prepared to think vertically because the pathways wind up stairwells, through hidden tunnels, and across balconied walkways. The addition of techniques available to each of Killzone 2's seven classes makes the ensuing action even more dynamic. An engineer's turrets can make Pyrrhus Rise's natural chokepoints even more treacherous, whereas a cloaked enemy may pounce on you as you navigate Tharsis Depot's constricted walkways. All the while, visual flourishes such as floating embers on Visari Hammer and distant artillery fire on Salamun Market keep the mood oppressive.
Additional features flesh out the robust online play. You can join other teammates in a squad, a la Battlefield 2 and Enemy Territory, a feature that lets you coordinate attacks with ease. Full support for clans and clan challenges should make Killzone 2 a natural destination for competitive teams, and you can use killzone.com to schedule clan matches and tournaments. But whether you're a lone wolf or a clan enthusiast, you'll be happy to find a mostly smooth online experience, with only rare and short bouts of visual slowdown and online lag. In light of this extraordinary suite of online options, it's a pity that there is no cooperative play, and the single-player campaign seems ripe for such an addition, given that you're usually accompanied by an AI teammate.
You'll have to look to the inevitable Killzone 3 to find out if developer Guerilla can dig any diamonds out of this series' rough narrative. Otherwise, Killzone 2 is an exceptional first-person shooter, not because it does anything particularly new, but because it does everything extraordinarily well. There's certainly no doubting its graphical superiority, but though its moody visuals invite incessant superlatives, it's the tight, electric action that will make this an off- and online haven.
T-Mobile confirms 32GB iPhone
Source: t3
If the leaked specification didn't convince you of the impending arrival of a new 32GB free iPhone, maybe a leaked headline on a T-Mobile will bring you round to the idea of one appearing in the not-too-distant future.
T-Mobile you ask? No, we haven't lost leave of our senses, this is T-Mobile in Austria rather than the UK and in its 'coming soon' section, a placeholder for the new 32GB has appeared. It offers little more than a name, not even showing an image or a price. But it seems highly unlikely that someone would put up details on the network's site for a wind up.
It's the nearest thing we've had to an official confirmation so far, but it's still a long way from seeing something set in stone. We'll have to wait until the 8th June for that (or not). In the meantime, check out the details we have so far and get saving.
Slimline Sony PlayStation 3 incoming?
Source: t3
It's not unusual for us to be ahead of the game, but we were over a year ahead when it came to an all-new Sony PS3 console.
A slimline PS3 has been caught on camera in full grainy glory. Why don't these technology spies buy better cameras? Perhaps because the 'grain' usually hides the imperfections of the forgery. But with so many rumours doing the rounds of a stripped-down free PS3, this just might be the real deal.
The image indicates a lean and mean machine, which fits in with recent speculation, although it doesn't give us any technical specifications. Sadly, that means we don't know (as yet) if the console contains new chips and/or motion-sensing hardware. But it all fits in with the story we broke back in February of last year, based on information gleaned at that year's CES. We even created mock-up images of the proposed new machine and wouldn't you know, they are more or less the same as the spy shot.
If you want to be first with the news, stick with us. You'll also be the first to know of an official announcement - watch this space.
