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Daily Show tackles iPhone fever
Nothing's funnier than geek humor, I suppose. Tonight's episode of The Daily Show featured a segment with correspondent Rob Riggle on a mission to get himself an iPhone. When he discovered that the onsale date was tomorrow, he interviewed (and came close to beating up) Gizmodo's Brian Lam (of the Cisco iPhone fracas) to try and get a piece of the action. Riggle eventually admitted to Jon Stewart that he'd been out selling his body, working to earn the scratch for his iPhone fix. Classy.
Pricey Daily Show, Colbert Report now on XBLM
Xbox Live owners looking to download some Tek Jansen goodness today might be pleasantly surprised to see last night's Daily Show and Colbert Report available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Comedy Central favorites cost 160 MS points ($2) per episode and will be made regularly available "within 24 hours of each original airing" according to a notice from Microsoft.While we're happy to see some more quality video content available for our Xboxen, we think the pricing might be off for such a short, topical show. At $2 an episode, buying both shows four days a week costs $64 per month. For that kind of money, you could probably swing a complete basic cable package, with a little left over to put towards a Tivo subscription. Considering iTunes users can get the same double dose of direct download comedy goodness for about $20 a month, we've got to wonder why Microsoft thinks their system is worth the extra money.
Newsbreak: Stewart and Colbert Report on XBLM
Microsoft dropped off a little missive today letting us know that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will now be available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Starting today, new episodes of each show will be available on Marketplace within 24 hours of the original airing on Comedy Central.We booted up our Xbox just to check, and sure enough, there they were. Episodes are available in 480p for 160 MS Points (US$2). Of course, Comedy Central airs the previous day's episodes three times during the next day, but don't let a silly little thing like logic keep you from paying for your favorite programs.Video Marketplace, you're on notice.
"I'm a PC." "And I'm also a PC.": Gates vs. Hodgman on Daily Show tomorrow?
Turns out our old friend Bill Gates is going to be making an appearance on the Daily Show tomorrow evening to promote the launch of Windows Vista, an event which is interesting in and of itself, but which also raises the tantalizing prospect of him finally coming face to face with John Hodgman (AKA "PC" from those "Mac vs. PC" ads). As far as we know Bill's only there for a straightforward sit down with Jon Stewart, but nevertheless we'll be filling the next 35 hours or so with plenty of geek fantasies about what could potentially be some hot PC vs. PC action.
Bill Gates headed for Daily Show on Monday
Just in time for the launch of Microsoft's new game enabled operating system, Windows Vista, Bill Gates will be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday. We imagine Billy boy will take a little time to tout the success of the Xbox 360 as well. Who knows, if we're lucky, we might even get to hear a little corporate mudslinging. That's always fun. We have to wonder if Bill will have a few choice words for John Hodgman though.Check out the show (or set your TiVo) Monday 11:00/10:00 Central on Comedy Central.[Via Digg]
Sony marketing asks you to "Find Me"
I've been looking for days to find a direct-feed version of Sony's new commercial, entitled "Find Me." Unfortunately, I couldn't. "Find Me" is part of Sony's newly revamped PSP marketing plan. It tells the touching story of a man who must find a girl through a Memory Stick loaded with clues in photo and video form. A hard-to-get girl that plays with a PSP must be worth the effort of running around the city. The ad can be seen on shows like Family Guy, The Daily Show, and Sports Center."The PSP system has already been established as a popular gaming handheld, but it was designed to do so much more -- from playing music and videos to sharing photos and accessing the Internet," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing, SCEA. "These marketing initiatives deliver the broader PSP brand message and offer PSP owners the entertainment experience they're thirsting for from a content perspective."[Via GameDaily]
John Hodgman not a PC, just plays one on TV
Initially I found those Get a Mac commercials charming, but after a while I started to wonder why Apple chose to make the intellectual and funny guy represent the PC and the annoying dork represent the Mac. What twisted logic was used there? Anyway, I'm a fan of John Hodgman's work on The Daily Show, while I find Justin Long's snide arrogance to be perfect for sitcoms like Ed and movies like Dodgeball, but counter-productive for a pro-Mac marketing campaign. So it's with great pleasure that I read Engadget's interview with Hodgman and learned (as I had suspected but never truly cared enough to find out) that he's a Mac user in real life and has been for 20+ years, excepting "...a brief period in the wilderness between 1997 and 2003," which he'd rather not speak of. You can see more of the interview over at Engadget... don't worry, it's a short read.
The Political Game: Who will save gamers? [update 1]
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Despite an uninterrupted string of constitutional defeats, politicians continue to seek ways to legislate video games. In state capitals from Salt Lake City to Albany, political Captain Ahabs are poring over court opinions, seeking the Great White Legal Loophole. Elected officials and culture cops are tweaking the legalese and experimenting with new tactics – such as equating violent games with pornography. For all their bluster, however, they haven't yet been able to pass even a single law that has survived judicial review.And they probably never will. The First Amendment, it's a powerful thing.
The Daily Show gets Left Behind
Take one part The Daily Show, stir in one part violent religous video game Left Behind: Eternal Forces, and roll it all up with a nice portion of This Week in God's Rob Corddry. The results: a delicous, snarky treat comparing "murder-simulator" Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with, uh, saving-simulator (?) Left Behind. "Damn! He just saved that guy right between the eyes!"See also:Congressman: Daily Show misrepresented meJon Stewart blasts Congress' ignorance towards video gamesStephen Colbert frags Steven Johnson
Found Footage: I'm a PC on the Daily Show
John Hodgman, the fellow who plays the PC in Apple's recent commercial blitz, is a regular Daily Show guest. This clip features Hodgman discussing Net Neutrality by way of pretending that he is a computer of some sort. I wonder what kind of computer he would be. Watch the video and find out.
Jon Stewart blasts Congress' ignorance towards video games
Wednesday's episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart featured a long segment based around Congress' recent hearing on the topic of the video game ratings system, which brilliantly highlights how many Congressmen and women sound like out-of-touch jackasses when it comes to discussing the topic that "anybody in any party can grandstand about".One of the most poignant parts of the show is where Jon responds to a clip of a seemingly helpless Lee Terry pleading to the hearing that "as a father of three young boys... who are avid gamers, I am very concerned about the content included in the games" by deadpanning "and as I stand there, watching them play these violent games, helpless to do anything about it, I can't help but wonder where the system has failed". Also worth a look is the end of the segment interview with Samantha Bee, a Senior PlayStationologist, from within San Andreas.It's the typical Daily Show mix of poking fun at the ignorance of people with power, coupled with an "OMG the 'House of Representatives filled with insane jackasses' might screw up my favorite past-time" hangover.
