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You Don't Know Jack rated by ESRB for 360, Wii, PS3
Here's why it's important to beat the ESRB when spilling details on your game. We were so excited to see a listing for THQ's revamped You Don't Know Jack on Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ... until we read the description and examples of YDKJ's "crude humor." "The ending credits contain audio commercials of fictitious TV reality programs (e.g., "Farting with the Stars"), which are accompanied by loud flatulent sound effects." Huh. Well, that sounds ... umm.
You Don't Know Jack is coming back
A little part of gaming history died when the final You Don't Know Jack episode went live on Jellyvision's website. Fortunately, if you thought that was the end of the long run for the classic quiz games, then you don't ... well, you know. As originally heard on the Giant Bomb podcast and later confirmed on the official site, Jellyvision is partnering up to THQ to bring the series back yet again. More details are expected later this year, so we don't know just yet if this is a new game or simply a new way to play the old ones (a release on XBLA or PSN would be nice). Show host Cookie says on the Bombcast intro that he's been working on a game for three months already, so a new title isn't out of the question. Either way, we can't wait to get Jack back. Life just hasn't been the same without a good Jack Attack every once in a while -- remember the clue!
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV survives marathon 33 page review
Canon's EOS-1D Mark IV has been slinking around at retail availability for some time now, and while we brought you plenty of sample imagery from the camera over a month ago, it's taken awhile for the thing to get the full review treatment. Digital Photography Review has finally done the deed, dedicating a whopping 33 pages to Canon's low-light, 1080p wunderkind. It's that last new feature, video, that the review finds fault in, with the same jellyvision we've seen on other HD-shootin' DSLRs (seemingly no worse here than elsewhere), but the review feels that the movie mode here doesn't feel sufficiently integrated with the camera. Meanwhile that low-light, high-ISO shooting performance is impressive, but not quite up to the performance of the Nikon D3S. Everything else, though, seems to be a nice evolution over the older Mark III -- if you have a similarly advanced budget.
Jellyvision suing Aflac over 'You Don't Know Jack' parody
Now, see, we were pretty certain that nobody was still working for Jellyvision -- however, we wouldn't be willing to risk a pricey copyright infringement suit over that assertion. According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Aflac recently drew the ire of the developer by designing a new web-based promotion titled You Don't Know Quack. Jellyvision now seeks a court order to prevent Aflac from trademarking the title, as well as monetary damages. Hopefully, if the studio wins, they'll spend said damages on developing a new You Don't Know Jack, and not, you know, yachts. However, we really don't see the similarities between the two games. One is a hilarious and entertaining series of trivia games, and one is an interactive commercial featuring that talking duck which has never, ever, ever been funny. [Via Gamasutra]
Jellyvision getting back into the games biz
We couldn't be more excited about this news, so brace yourself: Jellyvision, creators of the You Don't Know Jack series, are coming back to the games business. As new head of Jellyvision Games Mike Bilder said in a recent release, the company's mission is now to "build huge new brands that run on every platform that makes sense -- the three consoles, PC, mobile, handheld, coin-op, Vegas. And, of course, we're going to start by truly reincarnating You Don't Know Jack."We're giddy at the thought of games that, as company CEO Harry Gottlieb said, "combine the social dynamics created by great board games, with the thrill and story arc of great television game shows." But ... and we almost hate to say it out loud ... could this also mean that an English Seaman 2 might be just a little more plausible?(P.S. If you want to warm up on some Jack right now, you totally can.)
You Don't Know Jack to become part of Yahoo! Games
If in-game statistics are to be believed, most of you don't know jack about the new, online version of You Don't Know Jack. Something is seriously wrong with the state of gaming when even the most-played editions of the funniest, cleverest, and overall best trivia quiz ever created can't even top 100,000 plays after over a year on the interwebs (despite being absolutely free to play!). The show even has an RSS feed to remind you of the daily updates, for goodness sakes. What's are you waiting for, people? Halo 3 will still be there in five minutes. Broaden your gaming horizons!Luckily, someone at Yahoo! recognized the genius of Jack more than all of you, because Fortune Small Business is reporting that the company has signed on to distribute the game on its popular casual games network. No details on exactly how the alliance will work, but hopefully some of the site's 17 million monthly users will be able to stray away from hits like Dress Shop Hop and Sally's Salon for some delightfully raunchy trivia fun. Hmmm ... then again, maybe Yahoo!'s audience isn't the best fit for this kind of content. Note to Microsoft: we would not be adverse to the idea of an Xbox Live Version of this game. Nope, not adverse at all ...
Best of the rest: Ross' picks
Lumines Live! (XBLA) On a big screen with surround sound, Q Entertainment's Lumines Live was easily the most-played game in my library (if you stretch the definition of library to digitally distributed titles). Although I railed against how microtransactions were implemented in this title and still think the extent to which they disclosed the dearth of features was misleading, both the Basic and Advanced Pack got more than enough play time, as did the multiplayer. It is the best Xbox Live Arcade title since Geometry Wars.
