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Spotify offers a year of Premium streaming for $99
For the holidays and Taylor Swift's Reputation streaming launch, Spotify is offering new and existing subscribers of its Premium, ad-free service at a discount. You get a year of service for $99 up front, a discount of two months or $20 over the regular price. (That works out to $8.25 per month, $1.74 off the regular $9.99 monthly price.) The only catch is that the deal is not available to family plan members, and you can't cancel after the 14-day cooling-off period, unlike with the regular monthly plan.
iOS 5 features: Calendar
iOS 5 has arrived, and with it come some really nice updates to the Calendar app. There aren't a whole lot of new things; the app's basic functionality of saving events on dates and showing them back in various views hasn't changed, but there are a few new elements. First up are the new views. On the iPhone and iPod touch, you'll be able to see a week view where you can scroll all the way through from Monday to Sunday. On the iPad there's a new year view, where you can pick up a wide angle look of what your schedule is like. In the views where it's appropriate, you can now drag event borders around to set up the various end and start times for each event (dragging a meeting from 1 pm to 2 pm to last for an hour, for example). You can add, rename, and delete whole calendars right on your iOS device. And there are some subtle features that really make the app more polished. You can now see event times on the month view -- before iOS 5, you could only see that there was an event there, not when it started -- and when you turn pages, you'll get a nice iBooks-like effect. Calendar is better than ever in iOS 5. Whether you're a longtime Calendar user or are just setting it up to sync up with your standard calendar service, these new changes should be quite helpful.
Blizzard 20-year anniversary retrospective video now online
Blizzard turned 20 years old this year, and we have been given a wonderful treat by Blizzard's founders -- the story straight from their mouths. Are you interested in Blizzard history? I sure am. Mike Morhaime and Allen Adham lead us through a 20-year retrospective about the foundation and formation of the company, their trials and tribulations, and how we got to the Blizzard of today from two guys in the same computer architecture class. The video is absolutely fascinating. Check it out at the Blizzard Entertainment 20-year anniversary site.
The Daily Grind: Half down, half to go
The start of July means that we're just about halfway through the year, and it also means some of the most major pieces of news have already come to light. We've had release dates announced, E3 has come and gone, and there's little else to do other than sit and watch as the next six months roll on. Of course, there's always the chance for a surprise announcement later -- but by and large, we've seen the shape of things, and we're just rounding out the dates now. So how have you been feeling about MMOs over the past six months? Has there been a game such as TERA or Final Fantasy XIV that captured your attention for this year or the next? Have you been disappointed with the news and new releases for the past several months? Or has it all felt like business as usual? And if you're feeling brave enough to predict the future, what do you think the next six months will bring? (We're betting on World of Warcraft: Cataclysm selling like hotcakes. Going out on a limb there.)
Burglars going after LA Apple Store customers
I better be careful next time I walk out of my Apple Store here in Santa Monica -- apparently burglars are targeting Apple Store customers here in the Los Angeles area. Over 100 customers have apparently been targeted after leaving the store and keeping a computer or other purchase in their car. The thieves wait for customers to walk away from Apple Store bags in their car, either at home or at another store, and then they break in and take them. For some reason, no computers have yet been returned, either, which makes cops think that they're possibly being "shipped out of the country or fenced right away." But of course that would require an organized ring, and police aren't even sure these are all related yet. How to prevent this from happening to you? Don't leave an expensive computer unattended in your car (duh), or just make the Apple Store the last stop on your list. I've made a few pricey purchases while driving around out here (most recently, I picked up a PS3), and no matter what the neighborhood, I didn't feel safe about leaving it unattended. Even when I'm just carrying my iPod around, I always lock it out of sight in the glovebox before parking the car. As with all of these types of situations, a little bit of care goes a long way.
Joystiq highlights a game of the year 2009
Here it is, folks: The moment you've all been waiting for. Team Joystiq has been scouring the list of games that came out in 2009, attempting to pick the best of the best, then present them to our readership in an enumerated fashion. Unfortunately, we got bored with that, and instead started playing 2009: The Game, which is, in fact, a game of the year 2009. We apologize for the misleading headline. It's more or less an "avoid-these-things-lest-you-die" game flash game which takes quick, topical jabs at the year's low points. However, it's a great reminder of some of the ridiculous shenanigans we had to put up with this year. Like, remember Swine Flu? Hoo boy.
EVE Evolved: A year of EVE Evolved - 5 most popular articles
Next week marks the one year anniversary of my weekly EVE Evolved column on EVE Online. I can hardly believe it's been a year since I was the newbie here at Massively, learning the ropes. To celebrate the one year anniversary of the EVE Evolved column, Massively is giving you the chance to win a free battleship of your choice, pre-fitted and ready to undock. To be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment here before April 25th saying which previous EVE Evolved article was your favourite and why. To enter, you must have an active EVE Online account but there's no need to leave your EVE character name, the winner's email address will be looked up and they will be contacted. And remember, it doesn't have to be one of the posts linked in this article, just whichever EVE Evolved article you've liked the most. The winner will be chosen at random and announced in next week's article. In this retrospective article, I look at how far the EVE Evolved column has come and introduce the top five most popular articles by number of hits.
Happy Birthday, iPhone
Yes, it is hard to believe, but our pal the iPhone will be 1 year old at 6 pm EST today. The iPhone has undergone many changes over the past year: from generating all the hype and buzz to being the best way to do everything on-the-go. The original iPhone sold at 6 p.m. (in each time zone across the US) at Apple and AT&T corporate stores for a retail price of $599 for the 8GB model and $499 for the now-discontinued 4GB model.With Apple set to release the next generation iPhone on July 11th, we can only stop and look back at all the accomplishments Apple has achieved over the past year. The iPhone has definitely changed the way we look at smartphones.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Nintendo Wii takes Engadget Awards
Nintendo Wii Fanboy is related, in an odd sort of second-cousin once-removed kind of way, to the hyper-popular Engadget, which like totally everyone reads all the time forever. As such, their annual Engadget awards are nothing to sneeze at, and so we look with great pride (we helped, after all) at their selections for 2k6. Let's take a glance at the honors: Reader's Choice: Most Innovative Peripheral Reader's Choice: Game Console of the Year Editor's Choice: Game Console of the Year Reader's Choice: Gadget of the Year (!!!) Editor's Choice: Gadget of the Year (!!!) Yeah, that's right. That means the Wii pretty much wins at life. It's quite a series of awards, but which console will take home 2007? It may come down to one showdown: Halo 3 vs. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Which will suck up more of the average gamer's free time? Bring it, Chiefy.
Wii Warm Up: Coming up next
Here's a simple question: with all the AAA titles (supposedly) being released in 2007, which one are you actually looking forward to the most? Super Smash Bros. Brawl will certainly be a favorite, but recent hype and an unwavering faith in Miyamoto-san make us want to experience Super Mario Galaxy just a tad bit more. Maybe you're looking for the first truly-done-right first-person shooter on the Wii, courtesy of Metroid Prime 3, or perhaps you simply desire a return to a certain blue hedgehog's former glory in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Maybe we're wrong altogether. If you could have just one of the 2k7 games, which would it be? Which title can you just not live without?
Wii Sports wins Game of the Year award in Time Magazine
Once again, Wii Sports is the media darling of the mainstream press. Time is as big as they come. But Game of the Year? Many of us may disagree. As hardened, totally awesome gamers, we've come to expect grand adventures, interesting characters, nail-biting action sequences, and wonderfully infuriating logic puzzles. (And if you were wondering, dear readers, our own game of the year award goes to Twilight Princess, naturally.) But totally awesome gamers do not run Time, and thus, we don't think they really care about such nonsense.Still, stepping off our pedestal for a moment, Wii Sports has brought more new and lapsed gamers to the screen than any game since Super Mario Bros. Having fun with friends and family; is this not the point of gaming in general? It's an interesting question, and one akin to comparing Old School with American Beauty. One may have been an inspiring, cinematic masterpiece, but which did you have more fun watching? Which do you guys think deserves the award?[via Joystiq]
It's (technically) Virtual Console Monday!
And you know what that means ... new games! Unfortunately, it looks like Nintendo has one hell of a hangover (we can't blame them, we were up till 6 AM ourselves), and they only managed to spit out two rather inauspicious titles: Baseball and Urban Champion, both for the NES. After five hundred points each, we maintain that both playing baseball and punching someone in the face are both far more enjoyable in real life in Wii Sports.And by the way, fellow fanboys, Happy New Year! Did your megaton party involve raucous Wii-playing? As you know, there was a more important countdown in Times Square around a month and a half ago, so if you played right through midnight, wish yourself a happy belated 2007 and check the ball-drop on your TiVo. Just kidding. We know you've already erased that to make room for the next episode of Heroes.
Japanese hardware sales, 18 Dec - 24 Dec: New Year's Resolution Edition
As we here at the Fanboy ready ourselves for the revelry of a new year, we must turn back and view 2006 through shiny, gold-tinted glasses. It's been a full twelve months of taking names and kicking ass (look forward to a special Review of 2006 series), but we can't help but think that we could do better.What's in store for 2007? The library of DS games continues to expand with gems like Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Dragon's Quest IX, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, Diddy Kong Racing, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Phoenix Wright 2 (oh hell yes), Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and much more. We'll be starting up a series of Fanboy podcasts quite soon, and we'll be bringing some new talent into the fold as well.Let's not forget, of course, the reason you guys come here in the first place: the weekly Japanese Hardware Sales posts. In case you've missed the hilarity, there's a run-down of every edition after the break. We're curious: which were your favorite? Let us know! We look forward to 2007, readers, and have a wonderful New Year's!And holy hell look at those DS Lite numbers.- DS Lite: 485,584 165,876 (51.88%)- Wii: 279,277 171,040 (158.02%) - PSP: 138,588 89,626 (183.05%)- PS3: 76,882 5,940 (8.37%) - PS2: 46,209 8,479 (22.47%) - Xbox 360: 17,213 45 (0.26%) - Game Boy Micro: 2,394 903 (60.56%) - GBA SP: 1,858 9 (0.48%) - Gamecube: 1,250 98 (8.51%) - DS Phat: 380 222 (140.51%) - GBA: 57 15 (35.71%) - Xbox: 11 8 (266.67%)[Source: Media Create]
Super Paper Mario scrapped for Cube, coming to Wii
According to the latest Wii Mailbag over at IGN, Super Paper Mario, the sequel to the awesome game that is Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, is to release on the Wii and not the GameCube. The game was supposed to release next month, but according to retail listings and the fact that Japan has yet to receive the game, we doubt this is still the planned release date.Given all of this, we can safely assume that gesture-based controls will somehow be implemented into the final game. We can see ourselves utilizing the Wiimote as if it were a hammer, gripping it tightly with both hands above our head and swiping it downward to squash Goombas. Flicking the nunchuk attachment upward could naturally cause Mario to jump in-game. In what other ways could the Wiimote's unique control scheme improve the game experience?
