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Motorola CLIQ finds a home on T-Mobile's website
Lookie here! Those who thought Motorola was messing around with the revitalization of itself best take notice, as the company's CLIQ -- which was literally just announced moments ago -- has already surfaced on T-Mobile USA's website. At least initially, T-Mob will be the exclusive carrier for the phone in America, and it'll be shipping in both black and white. Sadly, there's no clues yet as to when it'll launch and how much it'll set you back, but feel free to hit that read link if you're interested in subscribing to updates.[Thanks, Micah]
Video: Motorola CLIQ quick hands-on
It was all too brief, but we managed to grab a few snapshots of the Motorola CLIQ less than an arm's length away and shoot some shakycam footage before the PR rep re-cloaked it and promised more at a later event -- what a tease. Video after the break.
Motorola CLIQ runs Android, headed to T-Mobile
Motorola just announced its first Android handset, the CLIQ, which is headed to T-Mobile by the fourth quarter, or in time for the holidays. As you'd expect, it runs the new MOTOBLUR Android skin, and Moto's calling it "the first phone with social skills" to highlight the social networking integration. It'll come in two colors, Winter White and Titanium, and have a 3.1-inch 320 x 480 screen, 3G, WiFi, and a five megapixel camera that'll also shoots 24fps video. Internationally, the CLIQ will be known as the DEXT, and it'll be on Orange, Telefonica, and America Movil. It will also be far less ugly than we all expected from those Morisson leaks. %Gallery-72460%
Motorola introduces the MOTOBLUR Android skin
As expected, Motorola just introduced its Android strategy at the Mobilize conference, and it's based around a skin called Blur -- or MOTOBLUR if you're feeling cute. It's built around social networking, and it features live widgets that integrate Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, MySpace, Yahoo, Last.fm and more. Like Palm's Synergy, Blur aggregates all your contacts into a single address book, but it shows you recent status updates along with photos when contacts call you -- very slick. There's also remote wipe and GPS tracking like MobileMe.%Gallery-72455%
Hands-on: Blur (split-screen multiplayer)
I'm a pretty tough customer when it comes to the adoption of racing franchises. To me, the driving genre seems much like a foreign language -- because I haven't been a strict stuent of virtual vehicles since my early youth, attempting to add it to my expansive areas of expertise would be a near-impossible task.Bizarre Creations' upcoming arcadey racing title Blur eschews the genre's unsavory, ultra-realistic bits, replacing them with weapons, power-ups and fast-paced neck-and-neck action. It's not the first time racing games have swapped out real for enjoyable -- but after playing a handful of four-player split-screen matches at Activision's PAX event, I couldn't remember the last time a racer made said switch so sublimely.
Blur trailer is powered up
After watching this brand new trailer for Bizarre Creations' Blur, we were left with a few key observations: Blur looks like an awesome combination of the slick street racing of Fast and Furious with the unpredictability of Mario Kart-style power ups -- all bathed in gratuitous neon light. While really exciting, it's still only our second-favorite Blur-related video of the day. The sound of British people talking makes cars look faster. We have no explanation for this.
PAX 2009: Blur gets Twitter support
Bizarre Creation's arcade-style racer, Blur, has received a nitrous-level boost of social networking. Initially, the social component of the game was limited to mock text messages and emails sent from AI racers in the game, who you build love/hate relationships with over the course of your races against each other. Additionally, Blur features faux social networking sites like "Inner Tube" (a Bizarre version of YouTube). Today, real Twitter support has been confirmed for the game, although current details can be summed up in less than 140 characters.Here we go: Twitter apparently working in both 360 and PS3 versions of Blur. Update example: "I just won 1st place at Hackney!" etc.So, will we be tweeting from our existing accounts? Is the Xbox 360 version's integration independent of the Xbox Live partnership? Can we see tweeted replies in-game? Can we post Twitpics of our victories? Will the Fail Whale be drivable? We want answers -- and we shall get them!
Rock Band Weekly: Foo Fighters, Blur, Dropkick Murphys, Blind Melon
So, are we all getting used to Rock Band Weekly across the various platforms being combined in one serving every Friday? No ... um, tough noogies. This is the way it's going to be for the time being. Next week brings a new Foo Fighters pack to the PS3 and Xbox 360, while the Wii gets a whole mess of Red Hot Chili Peppers songs. Meanwhile, Ms. Benatar and Coheed and Cambria make their way to Unplugged. Check it all out after the break.. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:
Blur pre-order bonuses make decision about where to buy less clear
Activision has announced the pre-order bonuses for Blur, which include different extras for three different retailers. Don't worry too much about being forced to choose -- it's just digital stuff, and not, like, a hat or anything.Pre-ordering Bizarre Creations' latest racer from GameStop (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) will net you an "Exclusive Multiplayer Advantage Booster Kit" which unlocks a Ford Bronco and an exclusive "Last Man Standing" multiplayer survival mode, as well as a "Double Fans" bonus for the first ten multiplayer races, which increases your ability to earn money.Those who pre-order from Game Crazy will receive double cash for the first three single-player races. And purchasing the game on the release date from Best Buy gets a code to unlock a Dodge Hennessey Viper.Activision still has yet to officially reveal when that release date will be, though all three retailers agree on November 3.%Gallery-69456%
Newest Blur video provides insight into game's vision
It's unfortunate that at the end of the half trailer/half developer diary you see above for Blur, the game's publisher, Activision, makes no mention of a release date. We enjoyed the time we spent with the game at E3 earlier this year, no doubt about it. However, the lofty claims various companies associated with the game have been making have us anxious to find out when we'll get to put it through its paces a bit more thoroughly. More importantly, we'll finally find out what the "Shunt" power-up does. Also, how is that not a swear?%Gallery-63796%
Bizarre stands to make $40m if Blur is a hit
If you doubt the potential for success with Blur, the first racing game under the protective wing of new mother bird Activision, then you don't know how popular Bizarre's Project Gotham Racing franchise has been. We didn't either, to tell the truth, until Bizarre's Chris Pickford revealed to Develop that the franchise has sold over seven million. This is the kind of runaway success Activision is looking for in Blur, as Bizarre could make $40 million should the game meet projected sales by 2012/13. While we don't know what the target sales are, Blur will have close to three years to reach the goal set by Activision when it releases later this year, so we'd say something around the four million mark is definitely not out of the question.
Glu also sticking Guitar Hero 5, Blur, Tony Hawk: Ride on cell phones
Activision has stuck with Glu for bringing more than just Modern Warfare 2 to mobile phones. Gamasutra reports that the studio will also create keypad-friendly versions of Guitar Hero 5, Blur and Tony Hawk: Ride for release this year, although we have to question how closely the gameplay of the latter with adhere to that of the peripheral-based console version.Again, these ports are all for mobile phones, not gaming handhelds masquerading as such, iPhone! (Which, when you think of it, would seem ideally suited for Ride.) They're being made for handsets running Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Java-based operating systems. In Ride's case, we imagine the phone must also be able to handle a rider weight of 300 lbs.
Behind the scenes with "that SWTOR cinematic trailer"
Sure, the Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer from E3 may have been lacking in the gameplay department, but that didn't stop it absolutely rocking the socks off anyone that saw it. The people that made that possible are from Blur Studio, specialists in CG animation for games, films, and commercials. The IGN video above features an interview with Derron Ross, an animation supervisor for the company. He explains that although you might not realize it in the final products, a ton of the highest quality game videos are from Blur -- as an example, one of the early Warhammer Online trailers that a lot of you will have seen is from them. Ross goes on to describe what it takes to create something with such dangerously high levels of awesomeness.If this little behind-the-scenes look at the SWTOR trailer has you craving more CG goodness, Blur's website has links to a ton of their other works for your viewing pleasure.
Bizarre: Racing games not meeting sales expectations
We're not certain whose expectations Bizarre Creations' communications manager, Ben Ward, was referring to in his recent -- and incredibly vague -- statements about supposedly disappointing sales of (equally unspecified) racing games, but they must belong to someone. "I won't name any names, [but] more recent titles that were really good, critically acclaimed and we all played them, they didn't sell as well as can be expected," Ward posited to VideoGamer.com.It's difficult to argue against Ward, as he doesn't suggest anything concrete, but racing games have been competitive in the sales charts this generation (if that's recent enough). Console exclusives such as MotorStorm, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (a glorified demo!) and Forza 2 all rank among the top 10 bestselling games to date on their respective platforms, and Burnout Paradise has succeeded both at retail and digitally in its lengthy, multiplatform run. Sure, a niche racer like GRID is never going to gain mass appeal (nor is it intended to) and certain staple franchises, like Need For Speed, have dwindled in popularity and quality (hence the reboots), but the racing genre is right where it should be -- at least, in terms of our expectations.Perhaps Ward and Bizarre just have greater expectations for their upcoming racer, Blur, which we called "a hyper-realistic Mario Kart." That puts Blur in good company, as Mario Kart Wii -- what Ward calls "the exception rather than the rule" -- has sold in excess of 15.4 million units by last count in May. But, really, there's nothing realistic about expecting those kinda numbers.
E3 2009 highlights: The Xbox roundup
E3 was brütal! If you blinked, for a split/second, you missed something. Even if you were trine to keep up, it was a blur -- staying a.wake like that, you only pushed yourself to the brink of your own dark void. That's where Joystiq comes in; to crackdown on the madness; to reach out ... with conviction -- phew! Crysis averted. We've scoured the dark corners and survived the inferno to piece together this roundup of all things Xbox at E3. Why? Just 'cause we love you. So, draw nier and shift your eyes past the break.
Head-to-head racing with Blur, Need for Speed: Shift, Split/Second, and Forza 3
Are racing games the new first-person shooter? Revving up for release and shown off at E3 with tires smoking were Disney's Split/Second, Blur from Activision, Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 3, and EA's Need for Speed: Shift. They range from hyper-realistic to arcadey, so chances are you'll find something that's right up your alley among these four. But which one will you choose? We spoke to all four developers and asked them the same questions to see how they'd stack up, and you can check out the results after the break.
Hands-on: Blur
Blur is a hyper-realistic Mario Kart. There is no sugar coating it. After being behind the development wheel of realistic racing titles like PGR (well, realistic at least in look), Bizarre Creations has decided to do away with its half-and-half arcade style and create a different kind of racing experience. That experience is Blur, published by (new parent company) Activision. As we sat down at the (ridiculously loud) Activision booth in the West Hall during E3 2009, we were greeted by an enthusiastic Bizarre employee who explained this was the game the developer always wanted to make. A fun, almost party-game style racer where players jump behind the wheel of powered-up, real-world vehicles. Yes, strangely, Blur features licensed cars -- with unreal abilities.%Gallery-63796%
Rock Band Wiikly: Iron Maiden and friends
With no real change to Rock Band Weekly since the Iron Maiden announcement a couple weeks ago, we gave the long-running feature a break last week during the E3 madness. However, the newbie, Rock Band Wiikly, still has to work it this week. Not only did it receive the aforementioned Iron Maiden content, but an additional 13 tracks previously released on the other consoles. Don't forget to download "Charlene" from Stephen and the Colberts for free. Check out the full list after the break.
Seen@E3: Blur devs playing Need for Speed: Shift
While wandering through the EA booth on the last day of E3, we noticed the grinning symbol of Blur developer Bizarre Creations on the back of a man playing ... Need for Speed: Shift. We stuck around for a few minutes to make sure the gentleman in question was for certain a developer on the upcoming Mario Kart-inspired racer, then ran off to giggle with all our friends.
Impressions: Blur
We took a look at Bizarre Creations' racer Blur recently, and while we didn't get to put our hands on it, we were some of the first people to see actual gameplay. The team is attempting to make racing a lot more accessible to people who aren't into the fine-tuning aspects that have invaded racing games over the past few years, and they want to make it fun for anyone to pick up and play with easy to use controls and arcade-style graphics.Find out what the game looks like, and exactly how they planning on leveling the playing field for racers. Hint: it doesn't involve blue shells and banana peels ... but it's fairly close.%Gallery-63796%
