Tech Editors's profileTech & Gadgets Editors' ...PhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
June 26 HTC Hero, Windows 7 and Virtual WooliesPosted by: Jane Douglas
According to you, our beloved readers, the unveiling of the Hero, HTC’s re-skinned Android touchscreen mobile, has been the hottest news, alongside Microsoft announcing the Windows 7 prices and a virtually resurrected Woolworths doing a roaring (initial) trade. We’re also psyched over the kick-off of first-round voting for the T3 Awards 2009, the veritable Oscars of gadget gongs. As for gaming, there’s sadly been little quality time with the consoles – but I’ve been thinking how multiple reviews of Transformers 2 sell the general medium of games short by likening the film to “a video game transposed to the big screen”. For plot and drama, I’d rather watch someone play BioShock or Half-Life for two hours. Even Gears of War is positively cerebral by comparison. And with the weekend very nearly upon us, how about a catch-up on some of T&G’s finest offerings?
June 25 Vote for your favourite gadgets and winPosted by: Jane Douglas
If you know your MacBook from your ebook reader or want to get behind your games console of choice, head on over to awards.t3.com and cast your vote for your favourite gadgets. (There’s a bunch of award-worthy gadget prizes up for grabs.) We’ll be following the awards as the longlists are whittled down to final nominees and then, later in the year, reporting from the glittering gadget gongs ceremony itself. June 19 Play PC games on demand: for freePosted by: Nik Taylor The more eagle-eyed among you may have noticed there’s been a recent addition to the gaming section of MSN Tech & Gadgets. You can now use the site to play PC games on demand, or download full versions of the latest games to your computer. Games available include The Sims 3, Far Cry 2 and GTA IV. We currently have a special offer running, where you can try the on-demand service for 14 days for free. Read our article on the service to find out more information. Elsewhere this week on Tech & Gadgets June 12 Multi-mobile mayhemPosted by: Nik Taylor If you’re currently in the market for a new mobile phone, you’ve got a whole heap of choosing to do. It would also be worth waiting a while, as there are some serious handsets just around the corner. Apple surprised no-one when it announced a new iPhone model at the start of the week; although many people had thought there may be a slightly more radical update than what’s on show with the speed-boosted iPhone 3GS. Still, it’s desirable enough that many iPhone owners are up in arms that O2 isn’t going to give them a free upgrade when it comes out next week. I don’t get why they’re so surprised; that’s what 18-month contracts are for, isn’t it? Anyway, the competition for iPhone’s crown is getter stronger than ever, with the Palm Pre now on sale in the States. When we’ll get a date for a UK release is anyone’s guess, but I hope it’s sooner rather than later as the Pre looks the business. Meanwhile, Nokia has the N86 and N97 on the way, while the number of Android handsets will soon be bolstered beyond the existing G1 and the excellent Magic. It all adds up to a shedload of handsets to choose from. In fact, with mobile technology dramatically improving on an almost monthly basis, it seems there’s more choice than ever before. Perhaps it’s small wonder that consumers are getting unhappy about being forced into keeping their phones for 18 months – even 24 months in some cases. Could it be time for the networks to have a rethink over how their contracts work? Also on Tech & Gadgets this week…
June 11 Post-E3: games to watchPosted by: Jane Douglas This year’s spectacular E3 left our heads spinning, visions of must-own upcoming games dancing before our bloodshot, jetlagged eyes. Besides the barely teased games such as Team Ico’s The Last Guardian (of which we saw no more than a gorgeous trailer) and the bound-to-be-blockbusters in our E3 round-up, there were countless future gems to be found on the Los Angeles Convention Center show floor. Among them:
Brink is a fresh-faced first-person shooter set on the Ark, an artificial floating city built as a green initiative and now surviving as the last refuge for humans on a post-apocalyptic planet. Game director Paul Wedgwood, of British developer Splash Damage, talked us through an impressively polished extended demo. Combining diverse (that is, not all grey-brown) environments with class- and mission-based gameplay, Brink values single-player, co-op (with up to seven friends) and multiplayer modes equally – all types of play add to the progression of your highly customisable player character.
Chet Faliszek of Valve pointed out key changes as we played through the fifth of five campaigns, The Parish, set in New Orleans. Besides the new Survivors, there are three new special Infected, such as the Charger (speedy, with a huge, deformed arm) and some semi-special Infected, such as a fireproof hazmat suit zombie. There’s also a new multiplayer mode yet to be announced, new items (including chainsaws, axes, frying pans and incendiary ammo) and both daylight and after-dark campaigns, some lashed by storms. More importantly, the moreish, tight gameplay of L4D hasn’t been unnecessarily tampered with.
Wet is a slick, stylish and self-consciously over-the-top action adventure starring the foxy Rubi (voiced by Eliza Dushku, formerly Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The developers (Artificial Mind and Movement) have channelled grimy grindhouse flicks and heavy Tarantino influences into a hacking, slashing, shooting, acrobatic action game with an accessibility that quickly had us rampaging like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. One standout early set-piece, triggered by blood splashing across Rubi’s face, transformed the game world into one of black silhouettes against a vivid red backdrop. In this stylised mini-level, a supercharged Rubi slices her way through yet another mob of gangsters – offering minimal challenge but maximum fun.
As with Left 4 Dead 2, all we really needed to know about Mass Effect 2 was that it would have more of the stuff we loved about its predecessor, epic sci-fi RPG that it was (and tidy up that clumsy inventory system, which it has). Better yet, director Casey Hudson says that importing your Mass Effect savegames will bring the consequences of key decisions from your playthrough into the sequel – along with your customised Shepard, who is evidently not dead after all. There are heavier weapons this time around (missile launchers and the like), along with an improved, more dynamic dialogue system and ‘richer’, more varied locations. “Exploration is going to be more fun,” says Hudson. Sold, we say. June 05 E3 2009: view from the showPosted by: Jane Douglas As this year's E3 draws to a close, here are just some snippets of video taken around the LA Convention Center and on the show floor. By all accounts it's been a spectacular show, much more so than in recent years, with publishers going all out on big, flashy booths. June 03 Round-up: Sony at E3Posted by: Jane Douglas Sony Computer Entertainment of America president Jack Tretton began the Sony conference at E3 by joking about the show's biggest leak, the PSP Go. "We consider ourselves at Sony an industry leader and with press leaks that's no exception," he told the assembled press.
Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai came on stage to introduce the Go as a device "specifically designed for the digital lifestyle." "It's size is really built for the digital consumer," Hirai said, with the Go some 40% lighter than the first PSP. The PSP Go will be available in October in the US for $249 and in Europe for €249. As for the most exciting games on PlayStation's extensive games roster:
The live code revealed Nathan Drake scaling buildings, dodging helicopter fire and kicking ass alongside co-op partner Chloe.
The squad leader was shown assigning objectives to his squad (destroy a bunker) and so earning bonus points, as well as securing forward locations to create new local spawn points from which friendly players would deploy. 3) Gran Turismo PSP The game will run at 60 frames a second and feature an ad hoc multiplayer mode. Another new feature for the PSP will be a system for trading and sharing cars between your garage and those of your friends, making it easier to collect to full 800-car set.
The trailer shows a game set in 1970s Costa Rica, with the private military force (Militaires Sans Frontieres) that would later become Outer Heaven brought in to defend the country. Four Snakes appear towards the end of the trailer - could this be hinting at co-op multiplayer or something else? 5) Resident Evil Portable 6) Final Fantasy VII 7) Agent 8) Assassin's Creed 2 In our first look at actual Assassin's Creed 2 gameplay, hero Ezio infiltrated a gorgeously rendered Venetian ball while Desilets outlined some game details. Leonardo da Vinci is the Q to Ezio's James Bond, furnishing him with gadgets such as the bird-like hang glider. Also new is the two-handed instant throat-stabbing double takedown and smoke bombs. 9) Final Fantasy XIV Online 10) Mod Nation Racers 11) The Last Guardian 12) Gran Turismo 5 12) God of War III Nintendo's E3 line-upPosted by: Jane Douglas These are the upcoming Wii and DS games highlighted by Nintendo at its E3 2009 media briefing, with the biggest surprise reveals being New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Prime: Other M, a project from Team Ninja (Ninja Gaiden).
2) Wii Fit Plus
4) Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers 5) Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
7) Golden Sun DS 8) Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion 9) COP: The Recruit 10) Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again 11) WarioWare DIY
15) Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles 16) Dead Space Extraction
Sony shows off motion controllerPosted by: Jane Douglas
The makers of the PlayStation 2's EyeToy came on stage to demonstrate the technology. With the camera tracking the player's movement and capturing his image, the conference's 40- by 80-foot screen showed the player wielding and swinging various instruments: a golf club, tennis racket, sword, flashlight, desert eagle and electric whip. Sony calls the technology "true 3D pointing", complete with "tracking at sub-millimetre accuracy." In the tech demo, the control system was put to use in a painting application, a real-time strategy interface, a first-person shooter and a first-person action test game with swordplay and archery. The unveiling of Sony's new controller comes a day after Microsoft presented Project Natal at its own E3 press conference, confirming pre-E3 rumours that both companies would be showing new motion-based control systems. "Expect a launch in the spring of 2010," said Sony Computer Entertainment of America president Jack Tretton. Nintendo reveals fingertip Vitality SensorPosted by: Jane Douglas
The Wii Vitality Sensor add-on is a means to "achiever greater relaxation" through gaming, Iwata says. "Maybe everyone in our stressful society could use this to relax with a videogame." Traditionally games were about about excitement or stimulation, Iwata says, but they cold soon be about unwinding or even helping you fall asleep. The Vitality Sensor, then, will most likely be a device to enable relaxation games in the same way that the Balance Board enabled fitness games. (Although it would be interesting if a developer produced a 'lie detector' game that exploited the same sensor data.) June 02 Xbox unveils hands-free gamingPosted by: Jane Douglas
Senior vice president Don Mattrick unveiled the sensor bar device that sits below the TV screen and detects motion, saying that Xbox was going beyond even Nintendo's Wii remote offering. "You are the controller" With celebrity gamer (and, more recently, game-maker) Steven Spielberg on stage to talk up the system, the crowd was shown first video and then live demonstrations of Project Natal. By means of a camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor, the Natal device can track and recognise full body motion in three dimensions - including, Xbox says, subtle gestures and even facial expressions. That comes coupled with intelligent voice recognition to detect not only commands but also emotional shifts in the player's voice. Facial recognition Two avatar-based games were put on show: Ricochet, a full-body game where the player kicks or hits bouncy balls down a bowling-type alley to destroy boxes, and Paint Party, a paint application with a voice-activated colour picker and motion control painting. No word on the system's availability yet, but "developing kits are arriving at Xbox's partners today." Molyneux's Milo He introduced a video of a Lionhead project developed over the last few months: a character called Milo, a little boy who interacts with the player via Natal, seemingly having full-blown conversations. Whether Milo can stand up to live scrutiny we shall see: we've got a hands-on demo with the little guy shortly. Read all the latest from E3 on MSN Tech & Gadgets. June 01 Xbox's E3 2009 games line-upPosted by: Jane Douglas Look for in-depth coverage of Microsoft's games roster shortly. For now I'll share the bare bones Xbox E3 games line-up, as revealed at the Microsoft media briefing. If you're an Xbox 360 owner you could soon(ish) be playing: 1) The Beatles Rock Band (see earlier post) 2) Tony Hawk Ride
The live gameplay demo showed the player character ('Roach') traversing an icy mountain ledge and climbing an ice wall with picks and crampons, following Captain (formerly Sergeant 'Soap') MacTavish. The demo centred on a mission to plant explosives at a runway fuelling station in the same snowy environment followed by a spectacular snowmobile chase. If anyone can pull off the trick of great first-person driving-while-shooting, we hope it's Infinity Ward.
They highlighted a dynamic battle system in which "we have four active time gauges; that way you can attack the enemy consecutively with wider tactics." Final Fantasy's turn on stage also brought us the world's first look at summon monster Odin in action. Square Enix is "targeting a spring 2010 release." 5) Gears of War: Shadow Complex
We're betting on a micropayment system Xbox hopes will turn lucrative. 7) Crackdown 2
We're looking at new Survivors and new weapons (chainsaws!), all set in the South (think New Orleans and thereabouts). The game will be with us as soon as November 17 and we still can't wait. 9) Splinter Cell: Conviction
The game's director Dan Greenawalt wants us to know that Forza Motorsport 3 will be "the definitive racing game of this generation" and that although, yes, the game looks gorgeous (it does), "we deliver much more than good looks." There's also "the largest roster of the hottest cars", alongside new accessibility features such as one-button driving and gameplay rewind and a new focus on community and player-created content, including an in-game video capture, edit and upload function. Not to dwell on those looks, but an all-new graphics engine does have the game running at a sweet 60 frames a second. Ships in October.
Bungie is mining the existing Halo universe timeline for material, with the former title set some weeks before the start of Halo 3, the latter seemingly before the start of the first Halo. The brand new ODST co-operative mode, Firefight, will be on the show floor at E3 - look out for more in due course.
13) Metal Gear Rising (see earlier post) Facebook and Twitter hits XboxPosted by: Jane Douglas
In the Facebook app, Xbox Live friends and Facebook friends are accessed and displayed together, along with live Facebook status updates. The Facebook Connect function will also allow players to grab and post screenshots from their (supported) game straight to their profile.
These announcements were bundled with Xbox's other multimedia entertainment items: a new partnership with Last.fm that will bring free music streaming to Xbox Live gold members, the previously announced Sky Player for Xbox in the UK, the Zune Video service and Xbox Live party: an avatar-and-voice-chat-based app for watching TV and movies with friends. Metal Gear Solid comes to Xbox 360Posted by: Jane Douglas
Xbox senior vice president Don Mattrick declared that with the addition of the franchise, "we can finally say our platform is complete." Mattrick brought videogame auteur Hideo Kojima onto the stage to make the announcement, asking "What's the blockbuster franchise that every Xbox 360 owner wants to play?" Kojima said: "The next major release in the series will be called Metal Gear Solid Rising and development is currently underway for the Xbox 360." It's not a return for Metal Gear Solid's retired Solid Snake, though - as Kojima has previously said, Metal Gear Solid 4 will remain Snake's final chapter. Instead, Cyborg Ninja Raiden will be the main playable character in Metal Gear: Rising. Beatles on stage at E3Posted by: Jane Douglas
The conference opened with the world premiere of the cartoony cinematic intro to The Beatles Rock Band, set for multi-format release on September 9 this year, followed by a full band on stage playing Day Tripper in our first look at the game. Giles Martin, music supervisor and creative producer, promised the title would feature "never before heard studio chat from John, Paul, George and Ringo" alongside a track list that includes I Want To Hold Your Hand, Taxman, I Am the Walrus, Here Comes the Sun and Get Back. In addition to the songs included with the retail game, Martin confirmed, The Beatles Rock Band will be bolstered with substantial downloadable content. The Abbey Road album will be available in its entirety shortly after the game's launch. The Xbox exclusive DLC titbit comes in the form of All You Need Is Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney took a brief turn on stage to endorse the game - though not as brief as the separate (unspeaking) appearances of Yoko Ono Lennon with Olivia Harrison. The E3 rumour mill and PSP GoPosted by: Jane Douglas With all the rumours, leaks and informed guessing going on ahead of the show, it's our fond hope that E3 still has some real blow-you-away surprises in store. Seems like E3 2009 would be more like the spectacle intended if there wasn't so much ticking or crossing against a long E3 rumours list and filling in the details on some already pretty detailed speculation. When a leak furnishes us with a cool new gadget, though, we can't grumble. I'm thinking of the PSP Go, presumably the centrepiece of Sony's E3 presentation, leaked in an official video that went live early: Kotaku: Qore Lets Slip the First Look at PSP Go
Say goodbye to UMD - there's no slot for the discs - and hello to 16GB of lovely flash memory. There's a slide-out screen that conceals the buttons when shut and is slightly smaller than those of the PSPs we know and love - but the devicer is lighter, too. There's no dual thumbsticks, as some of the rumours (and wish lists) included and no touchscreen, but there is both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity - obviously, since the device will be all about the downloadable content. And what of the UMD? Though the PSP-3000 will be with us for some time yet, it's hard not to see this as the death knell for the format, fated to go the same way as the MiniDisc as Sony matches pace with Nintendo and its DSiWare. More accurately, it goes one further than even Nintendo, whose DSi still packs a cartridge slot. If all non-physical format, downloadable games are the wave of the future (and it's not unlikely), then Sony is quick off the mark with the Go. We'll get a better look at the PSP Go ourselves come the Sony E3 press conference. May 31 Dragon Age: Origins cinematic trailerPosted by: Jane Douglas
Looks glorious but what's with the ongoing Marylin Manson soundtracking? That's If I Was Your Vampire (as heard in the Max Payne movie trailer, for its sins), followed by This Is The New Sh*t, which also set the tone for this earlier trailer for Dragon Age. BioWare, presumably, wants us to have no doubts: theirs is a badass fantasy game which has no time for more traditional wistful fantasy scores (think Howard Shore or Enya for Lord of the Rings). May 29 Shadow of the Colossus follow-upPosted by: Jane Douglas It seems we won’t get a reveal of Project Trico, the codenamed upcoming title from Team ICO (Shadow of the Colossus, Ico) at E3 this year, so I couldn’t properly include it in this feature on our most anticipated games of the show, even though it’s now one of my most anticipated games ever. Did any series need a chance to show off on current-gen (PS3) technology like this one? Oh well, maybe we’ll see more of Project Trico at the Tokyo Game Show in September. At any rate, I’m including below the leaked early footage brought to us a few days back by PlayStationLifeStyle, for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet. YouTube - Project Trico HD - PlayStation LifeStyleVampires and werewolves and zombies, oh myPosted by: Jane Douglas The Grinder is apparently a heady combo of four-player online co-op (think Left 4 Dead) and old exploitation horror flicks (think House of the Dead: Overkill), with crowds of vampires, werewolves and zombies awaiting massacre by Wii remote. It’s fast become my most wanted Wii title at E3 this year, until (or unless) Nintendo whips out a Zelda game hidden up its sleeve. Check it out here: The Grinder Revealed Bethesda teases BrinkPosted by: Jane Douglas At E3 next week, I’ve been offered a look at a new multiplatform Bethesda title, being developed by multiplayer FPS specialist Splash Damage and set for a 2010 release. The teaser trailer has just arrived. There’s not a lot to be gleaned gameplay-wise from the teaser, and just a few hints at the sci-fi-flavoured fiction: an idyllic future city (or giant building) called the Ark, a “dying world” with, from the sound of it, a war going on. So far, so generic. Great shooters have been made of thinner stuff, though, and Bethesda is promising something that will really shake up the genre. Fingers crossed. Video: Teaser trailer: Brink |
![2A8D3FF3B5A224294F8741552323A9[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mA6_MORMN5B3OU79FzsZg40-nQGorWG4tVzqpB_l7SxzTQAsyc05uw98bkYn3s6NEq8u7gVn3qaqa2dQT2VsIUIx7DMR1fOeBKV2WpYp8YB_4wtS8YFvS56GcXBGrCawwRMcCOLWXwV9lpoyFkU_Qlw/2A8D3FF3B5A224294F8741552323A9[1][3].jpg "2A8D3FF3B5A224294F8741552323A9[1]")
![DDDFAC7FAD39678D42D95D7E23AC[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1m6MJRKxRNKpTHY2vYh_Ft53lRm5XtQdWrNb3N_0ejFin6vbzHcq3QY6fb_T-A1fmeUdOUXW3Z1Z66arjOa96naAU53bRjA1vwTMMCsWYYxRp8f4jLRZ4wdnL_f6pFh2vrOUKFQ4mXgE5vynC29eh-UQ/DDDFAC7FAD39678D42D95D7E23AC[1][3].jpg "DDDFAC7FAD39678D42D95D7E23AC[1]")
![C9444E7738AAC1866D2DD374F5F[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mRrd558_SZ4_Z6cHazLTj0Vz17StVSW2_6o_48YInkqpcTKrwGozpjkwv2ge4H57nVj6uqkNpX79pINXVwQbNoVy5wq88wiVCB0Gdg3uTG_gbqkaKK7bt9whkNwQ-9oDDMkwP8SV1BsMAmGim4hfU1g/C9444E7738AAC1866D2DD374F5F[1][2].jpg "C9444E7738AAC1866D2DD374F5F[1]")
![666F567E145991FA7A1D461218831E[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mtnWPVJ4_nZ3D0T1_Ngs-ndQ_u-pJ-KnNAArn0LxW70Drik2hsCxKkdOBuFaZKVkMPqDW2YWlr-Kb6H1TiDFv1s7pCgU5l94BoxyEXQjN5iNxEkqf24Ywp8vCWXsdKWaXbz_XG2NUThBdWnnWFpknLg/666F567E145991FA7A1D461218831E[1][3].jpg "666F567E145991FA7A1D461218831E[1]")
![8FAA7761AD322965F0433F2B386F1D[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1m5bTkZlXW6QpNYxeC6ICOZqATxsUFI9SuylEwRuUoETPDXnd346h6nB8C7oUuJk6PoCxmyKm3NtZx94NW5xc4b-V9y-OqePax3a01d7tebe56I5NnUXqKQb-6EvtqC0obS6hJL7h27EaAEvOYxgH3FQ/8FAA7761AD322965F0433F2B386F1D[1][3].jpg "8FAA7761AD322965F0433F2B386F1D[1]")
Iain Lee joins the T&G editors for the latest gaming podcast. Go listen now!![574C80B81B9E33F7D384F83710A27C[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mD23C1Zf_4fWA7ogCgHIg_ZYCoN8uW-Ugux_xGfZRT0-5hicAhfiodoR90bSSxs64DWYZJ_JVlA5qFncZm2jdxnUII3ljJDN8bi4bH9exUEperqCDiNOY5H3YQvouIH_LRW6CD-_QBnCSpV0TyBmIMA/574C80B81B9E33F7D384F83710A27C[1][3].jpg "574C80B81B9E33F7D384F83710A27C[1]")
![8F63EC3AAF2C5FA1293EB8F98070B2[1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mb1QRK0NvKvTHcVmBaIpyGHdzZ0d5WvCcfgehrEm48YYPKd-FdT5q7DDe6LjU-EMYSzrk0nWsVDRzzO6zwK53P085girvx2BT5Ef0kf0duZLnoOp02YaR07aeTbt2DUxQveHx_uF1QHZKS9BgZddCFw/8F63EC3AAF2C5FA1293EB8F98070B2[1][3].jpg "8F63EC3AAF2C5FA1293EB8F98070B2[1]")
![sd1]](https://ttmpbq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mdA4AhwCSXwMpvZ7gvWUSCelFS8SMnmvzA72hcwF4mrksXA_CKlHmP2VcjdnDJTuoD_9Dlp77pNyZsxyckhRViBragOMTLbogVNgiQY6zu2MdbhMMsl04A3qBvXAd_7Y3Bj2e6frGkQg4MMuvX0-oCA/sd1][3].jpg "sd1]")
|
|
