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Nintendo's new spokesman is cute, famous, a dog
Nintendo's newest spokesman may not be as funny as Sony's Kevin Butler, but darn it if he isn't more adorable. Nintendo has hired Uggie, the Jack Russell pictured above, to promote Nintendogs + Cats for 3DS. The gig should be simple after Uggie's previous role in The Artist, 2011's silent, black-and-white film from Michel Hazanavicius.Nintendo may not know what it's getting into with this dog. The kind of personality it takes to star in a silent period piece about tap dancing won't be the easiest to work with on a managerial level, and Uggie and his owner, Omar Von Muller, will probably require trailers stuffed with Milkbones and bitches. Probably.
HTC says Gingerbread coming to T-Mobile's G2, exactly when remains a mystery
We wouldn't blame you if you'd snatched up T-Mobile's G2 citing quick Android upgrades as motivation. Given HTC's reputation and the phone's nearly stock build, a timely Gingerbread release seemed likely following the introduction of the halo device. In a cruel maneuver only bound to heighten anticipation, an HTC spokesperson confirmed with Computer World that Google's spicy treat is coming to G2 owners -- just not quite yet. We're told to expect the update this quarter (which means anytime between today and June), and while readers were rather accepting of some upgrade latency in our "How would you change..." segment from December, we're well aware of the growing clamor. The manufacturer wasn't specific on version numbers, so we're left hoping this great wait brings the 2.4 variant of Gingerbread. It never hurts to be optimistic, right?
Lenovo says Apple is missing the boat to China
We've heard before that one of Apple's main areas of concern, as of late, is raising its quality in China, but here it is straight from the mouth of a competitor. During a recent dinner, Lenovo's founder allegedly said that his company was lucky that Apple hasn't stepped up in the Far East. "If Apple were to spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer as we do," he reportedly said, "we would be in trouble." A spokesman for the company later said that the remarks were taken out of their dinner table context. Apple replied by pointing out its upcoming Shanghai store opening and a few other initiatives that it's already begun in China. It's not news that Apple has to do better in China; in past earnings calls, Apple has said exactly that and pointed out that making headway in China is a large goal. It's very interesting to hear it from a competitor, though. That's almost confirmation that if Apple does what it's planning to and, in fact, does "spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer," then even well-heeled Chinese companies like Lenovo will end up running scared. [via MacStories]
Video: Epson and 3M create the 0.3-mm spokesmodel, eating disorders skyrocket
The technology behind this display might not be new, but the approach to demonstrating it is absolutely captivating. Good thing too because the idea here is to combine Epson's rear-projection technology with 3M's 0.3-mm thin Vikuiti film to project talking avatars on shop windows in a bid to lure lusty nerd-boys and impressionable Cosmo-girls in for a closer look. Check it after the break courtesy of Impress.
Lappin' up the goss
Despite conversing freely about a bunch of important Nintendo information, Nintendo Australia's Rose Lappin was inundated with more unanswered questions, as Wii owners sought specific responses to their own queries. Being a good sport, Lappin took to the challenge.Of course, therein lay the problem. Most were very specific queries and resulted in the standard "contact our service department," "we have no current plans ...," and "we haven't had any feedback" responses. There's a slight problem when a spokesperson responds to outright feedback by stating they haven't received any feedback (after a question commenting on the supposedly complex Wii Message Board system).Not the most conclusive of interviews, but Lappin's intentions were very noble. It's difficult for one person to save the day of every gamer out there, but giving the most information available at the time, to as many people as possible, is worth a great big chocolate appreciation cake. For the full interview, make link go now!
Wii Warm Up: Executive power
In the past several years, it seems the reputation of gaming industry executives has begun to reach epic levels, proportionate, perhaps, to the spread of gaming as a culture. But we're also starting to think that maybe the corporate hype machines are getting a little out of control. What matters more, personality or product? Maybe it's just us, but it seems the lines are beginning to blur.We can understand a healthy dose of Miyamoto-worship -- the man is a legend in the industry, and he's responsible for more of our cherished childhood memories than we'd like to admit. And sure, we love Reggie, and Iwata is the man (by that, we mean one hell of a savvy businessman), but is it really their personalities that make Nintendo what it is right now? No, it's certainly their skills ... so what's with all the executive worship that is spreading throughout gaming communities? Is it just that industry execs are out in the open more and more often, or is it something else? After all, most of the people that we're chasing in the industry are just in marketing. They're not doing much to create the things we spend our time on; they're just a face. A name. No different than mascot characters -- it's just now that we're growing up, apparently Sonic and Mario can't bear the brunt of the console wars any longer, and we've moved on to Reggie and pre-exodus Peter Moore. But let us know what you think -- that's why we're here.
