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Reviews
Snoopy Flying Ace Review: Dog Fights
Everyone’s favorite canine aviator, Snoopy, takes to the skies to shoot machine guns, rockets and a whole host of weapons at small children (and the Red Baron!) in airplanes. This is war with the gang from Peanuts. This isn’t the first Snoopy fighter pilot game. Developer Smart Bomb Interactive released Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 8, 2010 -
Microsoft Changing Xbox 360 Box Art
As we get closer to the release of Project Natal, we get closer to the day the Xbox 360 makes its biggest push yet for an image makeover. Leading the way will be…new box art. Since the 360’s launch, every single game released on the system has featured the above white stripe running across the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 7, 2010 -
Playing Project Natal Sure Is Embarrassing
Nobody looks good playing Project Natal. Nobody. Microsoft’s upcoming motion controlled Project Natal is controller-free. When the system was first showed at last year’s E3, it was assumed that Project Natal will involve flailing. It will, and it does Lots and lots of flailing. People do not look good flailing. And thus, people do not…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 7, 2010 -
Porn Empire Can’t Penetrate the PS3
Back in September, porn behemoth Vivid Entertainment approached Sony about streaming its porn all over the PS3 (snicker). Vivid’s boss says that thrust (haha) is over, and they’re now fantasizing about Microsoft. Speaking to CVG, Steve Hirsch, Vivid’s founder, said conversations with Sony “didn’t lead anywhere.” However, “If we could get further than we did…
By Owen Good Published June 4, 2010 -
Get Your Project Natal, Justin Bieber Fixes Simultaneously
Attention, Xbox 360 fans with an incurable case of Bieber Fever! The Tiger Beat coverboy and teenage pop star is buddying up with his friends at Microsoft to bring you hands-on time with Project Natal this fall. Xbox 360 is underwriting the Bieb’s “My World” tour this fall, which will be schlepping Project Natal playable…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 4, 2010 -
FTC Proposes 5% Tax On “Consumer Electronics”
As part of a draft plan to “save journalism” (as in, “save newspapers”), the Federal Trade Commission is making a number of proposals to Washington. Among them is a 5% tax on consumer electronics. Hey, game consoles are consumer electronics! It’s already been dubbed the “iPad Tax” by some hipsters, but really, that’s a little…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2010 -
This Lady Looks Familiar
On Friday, a new Swedish film opens in, wait for it, Sweden. The picture is a parody of cop shows and is called Kommisarie Späck (Detective Blubber). The lead female character doesn’t look like she’s from police dramas. She looks like she’s from video games. That’s Joanna Dark hair! You know, the fiery-haired heroine of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 3, 2010 -
One Of The Oldest Logos In Gaming Is No More
In this day and age, logos are a fickle thing, companies going through them like clean underwear in the constant search for “reinvention”. This week, one of the oldest developers in the industry has broken down and joined in. Rare Software, known for GoldenEye, Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark and the Xbox 360’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
Foxconn Employee Dies After 34-Hour Shift
Another Foxconn employee has died. However, it was not by suicide. A 28-year-old man, who married his wife (pictured) three months ago, died from exhaustion in Shenzhen in his rental house after working a 34-hour shift his family claims. No official statement has been issued regarding the man’s death. Yan Li was apparently suffering from…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 2, 2010 -
Hulu Coming To Xbox 360?
According to “a very reliable source”, gadget site Gear Live is reporting that Microsoft is set to unveil a nice little surprise during its E3 press conference: the addition of TV streaming service Hulu to Xbox Live. Requiring a separate subscription fee – just like Netflix – Hulu would let Xbox 360 users watch (most…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
Xbox Man Can Also Fix A Giant Robot
Sanrokumaru (literally 3-6-0) is Microsoft’s new mascot in the Japanese market. He’s a talented guy! Not only can he throw a baseball, but he can maintain a giant fighting robot as well. This is a new commercial for Virtual-On Force, the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade port of Sega’s 2001 arcade game (and successor to last…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 28, 2010 -
Dear Apple, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft
Right now, you all might be digging your own holes. The recent rash of suicides at Foxconn’s Shenzhen factory has shined a light on the fact that large companies like Apple, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have contracted out the manufacturing for devices like the iPad, the Wii, the PS3 and the Xbox 360 to Chinese…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 28, 2010 -
Greenpeace Still Says Nintendo Is Bad For the Environment
This year, like every year, Greenpeace has given Nintendo the lowest marks out of the electronics companies it graded. “Nintendo remains in last place with a pitiful 0.8 points out of 10, scoring zero on all e-waste criteria,” Greenpeace wrote last year. Many of Nintendo’s low marks were the result of the company not divulging…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 27, 2010 -
Yet Another Death
In what seems to be a daily occurrence, another worker at the Foxconn Shenzhen plant has jumped to his death on late Wednesday. Moreover, Reuters reports that three Taiwan TV stations brought news of another person that had jumped on Wednesday. The jumper, a young woman, survived with serious injuries. This information is still unconfirmed,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 27, 2010 -
Report: Goodbye, “Project Natal”
Project Natal is, if you hadn’t worked it out by the whole “project” bit, simply a working title for Microsoft’s upcoming motion sensing peripheral. What’s its actual name? We don’t know, but we’re about to find out. A report on Edge says that Natal’s final, actual name will be revealed as part of Microsoft’s E3…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 27, 2010 -
iPad Up, PCs Down
The New York Times called it: Microsoft is no longer the most valuable tech company in the world, Apple is. “The most important technology product no longer sits on your desk but rather fits in your hand.” It’s good to see that hyperbole will always have a cozy home at the Gray Lady.
By Brian Crecente Published May 26, 2010 -
Report: Project Natal To Cost Too Much Money
Would you pay $149 USD for Project Natal? According to a report from Edge, that’s what current Xbox 360 owners should expect to pay when the much-hyped motion sensing camera from Microsoft launches later this year. Edge, citing a “trusted source,” the same individual who fed the outlet details on Gears of War 3’s coming…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 26, 2010 -
J Allard’s Parting Advice To Microsoft
J Allard may have left Microsoft, leaving us heartbroken in his wake, but he leaves with some solid advice for the lumbering giant of the electronics world. “Find a college student that claims we don’t get it and blogs tirelessly about our lack of agility”, he wrote in his farewell memo to the company. “Track…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 26, 2010 -
A Brief History Of Xbox Quitters
Microsoft has a storied history of losing some of its biggest and most recognizable Xbox executives, the suits who manned the company’s E3 and CES keynotes. Today, two more names joined that growing list, Robbie Bach and J Allard. They’re not the only ones to move on from the Xbox division over the past eight…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 25, 2010