Black
Latest
Molyneux discusses Wii and PS3
Gamespot UK recently had a Q & A session with Lionhead's Peter Molyneux (Populous, Black & White). Lionhead Studios, who was acquired by Microsoft last April, has also developed such hits as The Movies and Fable. During the interview, the console wars debate came up and Peter's response was surprisingly Wii-positive, but of course he couldn't help but cram some praise for the 360 in there as well. As for Sony, he said: GSUK: There seems to be a backlash mounting against the PlayStation 3, while the Wii seems to be going from strength to strength. How do you think the next-gen console war is going to stack up? PM: Well, I have been through console wars before, but this one strikes me as particularly interesting. Nintendo has done a great job of convincing us that next gen is about game play rather than high-tech specs. Microsoft has done an incredible job of expanding games online and making them more mass market. Sony, in my view, seems it has been rather more lazy with their message. How all this pans out really depends on one thing and that is the brilliance of the titles that appear on each platform over the next two to three years. Marketing the hardware is nothing compared to the games that run on it, so I expect the system with the greatest games on it to end up on top. Everyone has been very supportive of the one-two punch combo of the Wii and Xbox 360, leaving Sony to stew in their own stolen juices, forgetting that Microsoft is in fact the competition for Nintendo as well. Just like Reggie said in his USA Today interview, he'd rather see consumers buying the Wii, along with some games and accessories, over buying both consoles and creating an opportunity to sell more of his competitor's product. We couldn't agree more.
Casio introduces 7.2 megapixel Exilim EX-Z70
So Casio's just announced that it's taking the six megapixel Exilim EX-Z60 and bumping the resolution up to 7.2 megapixels in a new model whose name you can probably guess, while at the same time managing to make it just a little more pocket-friendly by shaving a few millimeters off the depth. Besides those extra million or so pixels, though, the Exilim EX-Z70's specs remain nearly identical to its sibling's, so the 2.5-inch LCD, 3x optical zoom, and digital image stabilization will come as little surprise. Retailing for around $425, a black version of this 118-gram point-and-shooter will be available at the beginning of July, while a silver edition will hit the streets about a month later. Keep reading to get a view from the back, though if you're familiar with Z60, you'll have seen it all before...
Black DS Lite comparison shots
Spuderstercool, the luckiest man in the UK right now, was up late taking some comparison shots of his black DS Lite against his DS Phat and PSP. Why he wasn't up late playing it is beyond me, but I guess the man is just a giving person, generous in his torture for all you European gamers chomping at the bit to get your hands on this ebony beauty. What a guy!
Rumor: DS Lites go missing in Hong Kong
Those Black DS Lites are pretty hot. Well, now they are, anyway, as $2.32 million U.S. dollars worth of portable gaming goodness was apparently stolen from a cargo container in Hong Kong. Expected to hit the black market (the puns are just naturally built into this story), officials are offering over $125,000 U.S. dollars for some information. So, if a watertight cargo container full of Nintendo products washes up on your private beach, or something, please let someone know. There are some European gamers waiting to get their Mario on.[via Joystiq]
First hand pictures of the new U2 iPod
Ash over at techpaedia dropped us a line to let us know about some photos he took of the new U2 iPod at an Apple retail store. The four photos over at his site show the rear black metal enclosure a little more clearly than the official ones on Apple's site. Ash reports that "like the traditional stainless steel mirrored finish enclosure, it is a fingerprint magnet." We'd also have to assume that it scratches as easily as the reflective mirror finish on most other iPods too.Now that Apple has created a completely black bodied iPod, how long do you think it'll be until they start bundling black accessories with its black products? Or will we just have to live with it, just like we've been living with the fingerprint and scratch magnet "feature" present on practically every iPod?
The U2 iPod makes a 5th generation encore
Apple has re-released the U2 iPod in the form of a red and black 5G iPod with video. The new U2 iPod features one design element to differentiate it from the normal 5G iPod and the previous U2 iPod: "an all-black stainless steel enclosure" or (as a subtitle underneath a picture of the U2 iPod mentions) a rear featuring "striking black metal." The screenshots of the new U2 iPod on Apple's site don't show the black metal very clearly thanks to the black background, so we'll have to wait for some hands-on pictures for a "yay or nay" design critique. Fingers crossed it doesn't scratch as easily as, well, every other iPod ever made.Another bonus over the normal iPod is the inclusion of an iTunes coupon that lets U2 iPod owners download an exclusive video featuring music and interviews with the Irish rock band. Pricing is $329 ($30 more than a vanilla iPod) and shipping is currently "within 24 hours."Update: check out the Quicktime VR movie at the bottom of this page ("take the U2 iPod for a spin") for a better look at the black metal enclosure. Without the U2 signatures and the red scroll wheel (i.e. on a normal, black 5G iPod) it'd look great![Thanks, Robert]
Rig of the Day: What else?
Picking a rig to highlight this afternoon was pretty easy. Flickr user cdevroe has posted some nice shots of his brand new, not-even-24-hours-old MacBook. In black, no less. We're jealous."Macbook" by posted by cdevroe.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
TUAW Poll: Would you buy a black MacBook?
Two hundred dollars for 20GB and black paint?!? Has Apple gone mad? Still, that black MacBook is a seriously good looking machine. So, TUAWers, what's the verdict? Have you got an extra two hundred bucks for Steve? Take our poll and check back tomorrow for the results. Would you buy a black MacBook No way in heck I'm tempted I simply must have it!
Is that a black DS Lite?
Straight from the pages of a new Famitsu issue comes this gobsmacking black beauty--or is it just that tricky paintjob on the Enamel Navy unit fooling us again? Regardless, we're still betting on that color showing up at the Lite's North American launch. Anyone care to translate that text for us? We'll pay you in red herrings.[Via 4cr]
Sadness to be displayed primarily in black and white
NIBRIS' Piotr Orlowski emailed 4cr and dropped an odd bit of news pertaining to their upcoming title Sadness. Turns out, the game is to be displayed primarily in black and white. Bold move for the developer who has nothing but concept art to show for their game. So have they dug too large a hole for themselves? Can gamers be all that accepting of this direction in presentation? "Nibris decided to follow Nintendo’s path, which definitely fights the stagnation which has occurred in video games, and creates new trends. With this move, we want to create a unique environment, which is only available in Sadness[...]"
Nacho Libre is all about the DS apparently
Jack Black, best known for his comedic and musical stylings as part of the duo Tenacious D, is currently filming his upcoming movie Nacho Libre in which he stars as, well...Nacho Libre, a priest who dons the luchadore mask in order to save an orphanage. Recently, a teaser trailer was released for the upcoming behind-the-scenes video diaries of said film, filmed by Jack Black, for Jack Black, which if the trailer is to be believed, will mostly be about Jack Black wearing ridiculous outfits and getting his chest waxed. In the teaser trailer, we see a glimpse of Jack lounging in what appears to be the character's priest costume, holding a DS. Now it's no new thing for celebrities to be lavished with free hardware from the companies, but this time around it appears that Jack procured the DS himself and brought it along for the long months of rigorous film-making he no doubt has to endure. Besides, even if he was given the DS free from Nintendo, wouldn't he instead have been given a DS Lite? Upcoming installments of Jack Black's behind the scenes diaries will be twice a week starting March 15th available through iTunes. Here's to hoping Jack throws down in some Mario Kart and provides a friend code in an upcoming installment. Slamming Wonderboy with a red shell? Sign us up! Clicking on the Read link will automatically open the video in Windows Media Player. [Thanks Krystian!]
HDTV Game of the Week: Black
It's old -school week here at HD Beat, with no Xbox 360 titles debuting we'll take it back to EDTV with a new release for Xbox and PS2, Criterion's Black. This is a shooter in the purest sense of the word. Don't worry about the story, complex enemy AI or online multiplayer here, just blow stuff up. And when it looks this good that is not a bad thing at all.
BLACK not coming to the 360 but BLACK 2 is!
Alright, some bad news leavened with some good news: If you had any hopes of playing BLACK, EA's new gun-crazed FPS, on the 360, developer Criterion's Alex Ward has a message for you. He told Eurogamer, "I keep reading all over forums that we're going to make a 360 version of BLACK, and it's just not true... The only time you'll see [the BLACK franchise] on the Xbox 360 is when we make BLACK 2 on it in a few years." Apparently the speculation arose from BLACK's incompatibility with the 360, though Ward explained this had nothing to do with developers or publishers, and everything to do with Microsoft. He said, "[Microsoft] controls and decides what games its emulator works with. I've actually asked them four times myself for them to make it happen, but it's really not up to us... The fact that BLACK doesn't work on the 360 isn't us trying to make people wait for a 360 version... because that's not going to happen." This is consistent with what Microsoft has told us in the past though gaming conspiracy theorists refuse to accept it: games aren't being specifically kept from 360 compatibility for the sake of selling updated, next-gen variants. To quote, "Q: Are you intentionally trying to keep (game X) off the list because you want us to buy the 360 version? A: Nope. The team is probably working on (game X) right now, even as you read this post." See that? They're probably working on game X BLACK right now, as you're reading this post. Right guys? Guys? See also: Rumors squashed! MS debunks top 10 360 rumors Xbox team talks backwards compatability UPDATE: Mr. Ward has put up a conspiracy-theory smackdown post at the GAF forums, beginning, "Jesus, you guys are seriously paranoid! This is just an effort to set the record straight. So many of you are attacking us, as developers, for being deficient in some way regarding backward compatibility. It is simply out of our hands." He sounds serious! Let's hope MS keeps plugging away at the back-compat system, or Alex Ward is gonna have a lot more theories to dispel. [Via Xboxic]
HDTV Game of the Week
Now that the high definition gaming era is upon us (or not, depending on who you believe), we'd hope to see a lot more of these posts, but there has been a bit of a post-Christmas drought in the videogame lineup. That's coming to an end as the Xbox 360 gets a new game this week, Full Auto, not to mention lots of HD resolution trailers and screens from upcoming games.Unfortunately despite all the Playstation 3 news as of late, we have no new trailers or images for you.
