seinfeld
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Ask Massively: The deranged J. Peterman catalog knockoff edition
I remember when I first took on the role of writing Ask Massively, sitting on the patio of Shawn Schuster's Minnesotan lakehouse. It was twilight, the last rays of sun filtering through tumblers filled with pinot noir, the haze of extravagance and of gaming fading gently into the background. Shawn idly strummed a few bars of a melody on his '54 Stratocaster, then he looked at me and he asked me if I was ready. Of course I was ready. I had always been ready. He gave me a curio then, a keepsake. As his ancestors had handed it down through the generations, so it would now be passed to me, a talisman to remind me of the importance of writing. Later that day, I tripped and splashed mud on the pants I was wearing, which I had been planning on returning. (Today's edition is about peripherals, by the by. But I felt like a Seinfeld homage.)
Funny or Die introduces us to Seinfeld: Rock Band
Look, we know Funny or Die Team UK's latest gag video, which reveals that the next single-artist iteration of Harmonix's rhythm franchise will be based upon Jerry Seinfeld's prolific sitcom, isn't actually real. We can totally recognize a joke when we see one, especially when said joke is hosted on a website dedicated to the distribution and adjudication of jokes. That being said, though we wouldn't necessarily have much interest in a Rock Band game dedicated to Seinfeld's slap bass-heavy soundtrack, there's no amount of money we wouldn't pay for a Classic Sitcom Theme Songs: Rock Band. Think about it! Golden Girls? Perfect Strangers? WKRP in Cincinnati? Full House? We must have it.
Fake Steve Jobs to be a TV show
Dan Lyons, better known as blogger Fake Steve Jobs, has apparently signed a deal with Seinfeld writer Larry Charles to create a half-hour, single camera, satirical TV show about a Silicon Valley hotshot. As of now, Lyons is only writing the pilot script for the series, but since it's called "iCON," there will probably be plenty of FSJ's humor and voice in the series itself. It's set to air on Epix, which is a premium cable channel run by Viacom. The show centers around Tom Rhodes, a Silicon Vally big shot who's designed to be a composite of Steve Jobs and a few other big tech company names, and the "savage satire" is supposed to be "a study of ego, power and greed." That sounds like fun! Since "iCON" and the Facebook movie are both scheduled to begin production, it certainly looks like Hollywood is interested in digging into the recent Silicon Valley past for a little humor and drama. [via Apple Insider]
Man leaps past George Costanza's fictional Frogger score
Seinfeld isn't just the greatest sitcom ever (don't try to argue with us, you're wrong), it's actually relevant in the games landscape. See, the classic coin-op Frogger was featured prominently in one of the last episodes of the show. In said episode, George Costanza scored a whopping 860,630 points -- a score many believed to be laughably high. Sure, it's a comedy show, so why not make the high score ridiculous? Well, through a perfect combination of Mountain Dew and mozzarella -- and just the right amount of grease on the stick -- young Pat Laffaye bested that high score on January 1, 2010, getting his name on the Twin Galaxies high score board with an impressive 896,980 points using an original Frogger arcade cabinet. We take our hat off to Laffaye ... and offer our condolences to the weeping ghost of George Costanza. [Via Eurogamer and Examiner]
Pulitzer Prize winner George Will thinks gamers shouldn't be allowed to vote
Washington Post columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George F. Will really, really doesn't like denim. In an Op-Ed piece he wrote for the Washington Post this week, he condemns the fabric and in the process, harshly insults gamers, saying, "Seventy-five percent of American 'gamers' -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote." On the other hand, Mr. Will does, however, love making disparate correlations -- for instance, between "society's most slovenly" and video game players. In fairness, his tirade doesn't solely focus on games, as he also calls out the Indiana Jones series and television shows such as Seinfeld (a show which, ironically, he was lampooned on as "not too bright.") He says the two are "juvenelized,"and for "undifferentiated audiences," and justifies his assertion on the fabric ubiquity from child to parent. We're thinking of siding with Seinfeld on our opinion of this guy, how about you folks?[Via GamePolitics]
What is the deal with the iPhone nano?
Adding to a small stack of rumors about a supposed iPhone nano, case-maker Vaja today quietly added the category to its website (pictured after the break). Frankly, we're not sure what to think. There are a number of ways in which Apple could produce a cheaper phone or alter its subsidy deals, so the idea of an iPhone that's simply smaller makes very little sense. Yet, here we are showing off the site of a reputable accessory manufacturer with a brand new phone listed -- ostensibly just a teensy version of the iPhone 3G. Of course, this is probably just rumor, speculation, lies, corruption, signs of an unquenchable thirst for power, and a glimpse at the machinations behind one of the greatest conspiracies mankind has ever known. So, we're posing the question to the biggest brains of all: the Engadget reader. Is Apple working on an iPhone nano?%Poll-24426%
Five WoW movies to help get your Festivus on
Merry Christmas World of Warcraft players! No matter what you celebrate, whether it's Festivus for the Rest of Us or full blown Christmas cheer, you can appreciate some quality holiday movies this season.Let's take a look at five festive holiday machinima productions over the past few years.Of course it needs to be stipulated that there are no Gnomes or Paladins in these movies, since they're godless heathens. (Insert /sarcasm here). But for the rest of us these movies will delight and titillate our holiday spirits.Take a look after the break for our five holiday machinimas you won't want to miss! And don't forget to check out of coverage of the Feast of Winter's Veil if you're looking for something to do between all the holiday fun times.
Microsoft's new ads: Seinfeld and Gates out, Hodgman lookalike in
According to a report from in the New York Times, the next phase of Microsoft's latest ad campaign is set to begin -- sans Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently, the new ads do away with the unusual (and somewhat ill-received) banter and "real life" experiences of the two celebrities, and trade them for an earnest embrace of... Apple's "PC" character. Apparently, one of the new ads even begins with a John Hodgman lookalike stating, "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype." Beyond the flip on a rival's depiction of its brand, the campaign will feature cameos from Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Pharrell Williams, and even Gates -- though Seinfeld doesn't make the cut. While we're curious to see what the company cooks up in the new ads, it does strike us as somewhat odd that the supposed narrative Microsoft was establishing with Gates and Seinfeld has abruptly been abandoned in favor of these new spots. Is this a decision which was made long ago, or did the largely negative / confused reaction to the last set of ads force the company's hand? We only have its official statement to go on: "We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start."[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Microsoft airs second ad, campaign makes sense
Microsoft aired the second in its series of new ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and unlike the first ad, we finally discover that the pair are trying to find out what life is like for the average person. Since Gates "lives in a moon house over Seattle" and Seinfeld "has so many cars he gets stuck in his own traffic," the pair are living with a stereotypically average family in order to "connect with real people." Thus the theme of the campaign: "perpetually connecting." PC. Get it? Mac developer Daniel Jalkut thinks the ads are genius: "They are so random, indeed so touchy-feely, that the universal reaction among the 'smart-asses' I know, is to declare them ridiculous, not-funny, and utter failures. [...] So if you think the ads suck, don't worry, you're not the target audience." You Look Nice Today's Adam Lisagor adds a salient point: "If you smile even once, the Windows brand wins." Thus the heart of the matter: The ads are not intended to sell Windows: They're ads to sell The Windows Brand. Think of it as The Soul of Windows. If, by the end of this campaign, we only think of Microsoft as the company with the weird ads, then Microsoft will have saved Windows' soul.
Poll: Is Microsoft's new ad working?
By now you've probably watched the Bill Gates / Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft ad a dozen or so times (if not, get to it). If you're like us, you've got a healthy conversation happening about what the new campaign means, and whether or not you actually like the thing. According to a leaked internal email from Redmond's senior vice president Bill Veghte, this first installment in what will be a series of commercials is meant to function as an "Icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context." It seems that the company is following the path they've stamped out with their previous media burst, the Mojave Experiment, which appears to be less concerned with changing the product (Windows), and more concerned with changing consumers' perception of the product. In Veghte's words, "Telling our story means making significant investments to improve the way consumers experience Windows." So here's our question to you: is Microsoft on the right track here? Let us know in the poll below! (You can also read the full text of the email after the break) %Poll-19148%
Seinfeld and Gates pair up for intense shoe-fitting session, cryptic advertisement
As promised, Gates and Seinfeld made their television pair-up debut tonight, in an advertisement for something or other. We were sad to see Seinfeld sans-bee suit, and Gates is lacking in Costanza-isms, but we might just be looking at a beautiful friendship here. Video is after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Seinfeld goes HD on TBS HD
No, this isn't the usual stretch-o-vision we've come to expect from TBS HD, this is the real thing. Yesterday -- in a move that has been more than three years in the making -- TBS HD started broadcasting syndicated reruns of Seinfeld in HD. What's that you say, how could a show that was produced long before HD was invented be presented in HD? It is simple, film is eternal -- well almost -- and Sony spent the big bucks to go back to film for your HD enjoyment. Now, since this is TBS we're talking about here you know there has to be a catch, and that catch is that the show is cropped -- TBS, like Engadget is a Time Warner company. Everyone knows how much Turner hates black bars, and apparently 4x3 HD content isn't any different.
What's the deal with Seinfeld doing ads for Microsoft?
Microsoft has set aside $300 million for an ad campaign featuring once-funny comedian Jerry Seinfeld in a series of advertisements targeting Apple. [Insert "master of his domain" joke here. -Ed.] According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft will pay Seinfeld $10 million to appear in a series of ads for its "Windows, Not Walls" campaign that will feature Seinfeld and Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman. According to AdWeek, other highly-relevant comics like Chris Rock and Will Ferrell may also appear in the ads. Wired notes that Microsoft's "choice of Seinfeld was an effort to avoid pandering to the kids with 'a celebrity that was too hip.'" Mission accomplished. It's unclear why the titan even has to advertise; its highly successful Windows Vista and Zune media player products have dominated the landscape for ... I'm sorry. I just can't type anymore. I'm laughing too hard. The campaign is due to launch September 4, and will be produced by MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The agency is responsible for such memorable hits as Burger King's "Subservient Chicken" and Miller Lite's "Man Laws," the latter with Burt Reynolds. Will his star ever stop rising? [via Macworld]
HD syndication expanding with Two and a Half Men
Now that HD has been around for some time, we're seeing more and more reruns of HD shows (the industry calls reruns syndication). Just because a show wasn't originally presented in HD doesn't mean it can't be syndicated in HD, as we've seen with Seinfeld and more recently Star Trek: Enterprise. Unfortunately for local broadcast stations and HD fans everywhere, additional equipment is needed to syndicate in HD. This is above and beyond what they've already acquired to pass on the network HD feed or even produce their own HD. So, just because the show is syndicated in HD, doesn't mean you'll actually be able to enjoy it. Now we can add Two and a Half Men to the short list of syndicated HD shows, that you may or may not have access to.
Wii Warm Up: is 480p a problem with your GameCube games?
We've encountered a problem recently. See, we finished Twilight Princess a couple of weeks ago and we've declared it our favorite Legend of Zelda adventure of all time. But, just to be sure, we had to go back and play through Wind Waker again, which was our favorite before playing through Twilight Princess. We noticed something horrible, however, when we hit the high seas.The problem is that our component cables don't display blues all that well. We get these funky, off-blue vertical lines that are about a quarter-inch thick and spaced about a half-inch apart. We couldn't believe our eyes and immediately checked the cable connection on the back of our Wii and TV. No dice. So we unplugged each cable and replugged them back into our TV. Still, no dice. We then thought it could be the brand of cable we purchased, which were the Mad Catz variety (we're cheap, but not that cheap). Of course, our next idea was to try another game with a lot of blues to see if the problem persisted there. So, we popped in Super Mario Sunshine, turned on Progressive Scan mode and found the game to look fine. No problem with the water or any of the other blues in the game. Again, no dice.What would we do? Well, we thought there would be no better place to ask than here. Have any of you out there encountered this problem with any of your GameCube games, namely Wind Waker? Have you purchased the Mad Catz cables? Have you purchased Nintendo's official cables and run into the same problem we did with Wind Waker? Are we insane? Bueller?
Gaming has image problem, Nintendo to fix
Seth Schiesel, a writer for the NY Times, recently put up an article about the image problem with the videogame industry and how it was, for the most part, its own fault. An attendance at the recent Ziff Davis Electronic Gaming Summit provided the inspiration for this piece, which talked about the state of gaming and its effect socially. Stating that gamers are often outed as socially inept at the mention of enjoying video games, the writer claims that even given the financial success the industry has seen, its still not the mainstream and widely-accepted activity that we all think it to be. Seth noted that Nintendo was the only company who seemed to "get it."Enter Carl Howe of Blackfriars Communication, who agrees that the industry is not innovating like it should beyond first-person shooters and becoming the entertainment power house it needs to be. Carl sees hope, however, in a company who decided that the standard controller just wasn't cutting it and that people don't just want flashy graphics on their handheld. They might want to teach a puppy to sit or see how quickly they can solve 100 math problems. And Nintendo is going to be the one to reach out to those looking for entertainment beyond plasma grenades and rocket launchers, to casual gamers who might be curious, but aren't looking for a free-for-all deathmatch where whoever gets the sword first wins.We can still have those games, but we want something new, something fresh, something that will once again make our eyes open wide and our mouths fall to our chest, something that will make that small stretch of hair on the back of our necks straighten and cause a chill to run down our spine. We want to experience the feelings we did when we first got into gaming and if anyone can make that happen, it's Nintendo. Maybe then your dad won't laugh at you when you say you've been playing a game for the last few hours, instead asking if he can give it a whirl.[Via N-Sider]
Is anyone getting syndicated HD?
About 3 or 4 months ago we reported that Sony was going to start syndicating Seinfeld in HD. We have been waiting patiently and we haven't see it yet. There is a discussion over at AVS about the complexities for a station to syndicate HD shows and it doesn't seem easy, but it's only money after all and we have already spent alot on our TVs. Have any of you spotted Seinfeld or any other syndicated shows in HD?
