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First footage of Driver 76
Driver 76 is heading to PSP soon, and IGN seems to have an early build in their hands. They take the game for a spin, and it looks a lot like Grand Theft Auto. What it doesn't look like, though, is New York. Having lived in NYC all my life, I can't say the low-level buildings and the general lack of life in the game create an authentic facsimile of the city I love. Maybe you can judge for yourself by reading IGN's preview and checking out all of their videos.
Joystiq at the Pokemon launch party in NYC
Thousands of Pokemon fans stormed the Nintendo World Store for their incredible Pokemon Diamond & Pearl launch party. Getting into the event was no easy task, as the line stretched across a New York avenue. Once inside, fans were treated to equally long lines to purchase the game, and a myriad of activities to partake in. A scavenger hunt had Pokemaniacs survive the heat and go through all the stations set up for fans.Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori from Game Freak stopped by to answer fan's questions and sign autographs. In spite of the surprising success of the Pokemon franchise, the two were incredibly humble and seemed jovial in the presence of their adoring fans. Children (of all ages) crowded the plaza for a chance to meet some of the people responsible for this global phenomenon.To end the festivities, Nintendo made an incredible donation to Earth Day NY: a giant check (is there any other kind?) for $10,000 was presented to the eco-friendly charity. The event was a blast, and everyone appeared to be in high spirits. Considering the thousands of people in attendance, it's safe to say that the Pokemon phenomenon is still going strong.%Gallery-2731%
Driver 76 to bring GTA-styled NYC to PSP
The gaming world has been raving about Rockstar's incredibly accurate portrayal of New York City in Grand Theft Auto IV. While PSP won't be getting served with a tiny version of Rockstar's next-gen crime game, fans may want to look towards Ubisoft's upcoming PSP-exclusive Driver 76 for some NYC run 'n gun play. It's been a long time since we last heard about the game, but with the release only a month away, Ubisoft has opened a new official website, filled with new screenshots. We're getting mixed feelings about the presentation: while it looks good up-close, it appears to have the draw distance of an N64 game. Ouch. We're hoping for the best, and for fans of the genre, this may be the only game we'll have to play until Rockstar inevitably adds another GTA game to our library.
Rumor: GTA IV to be in New York City?
While we're going to categorize this as a rumor until we get a better insight upon the release of the trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV on the 29th, it definitely is worth consideration. Apparently, word on the street is that GTA IV will be taking place in New York City and have NYC stylized music. When we first got wind of this, the first thing that popped into our heads was, "Uh, wasn't the Liberty City from Grand Theft Auto I, GTA III, San Andreas, and Liberty City Stories supposed to be at the very least an homage to New York City (with a hint of New Jersey)?" If you look at the map for Liberty City from GTA I (pictured above), it's even more apparent. Or this could be a completely new direction for Rockstar, where instead of doing fictional places that are inspired by real world locations, they cut the middle man as it were, and just use the actual city. Either way, we could see a return to Liberty City, or Rockstar's rendition of the real life counter part. Which would you rather play in?
Rockstar using graffiti to promote The Warriors
While I was walking in downtown NYC, something interesting caught my eye: a spray-painted tag of The Warriors on the sidewalk. While it's true that Rockstar's offices are located in my fine city, I'm sure Mayor Bloomberg won't be too pleased about this apparent graffiti advertising. Remember when Sony tried the same thing? They were busted, and fined. Will Rockstar also get caught?
New York looking to clamp down on walk-and-play gamers
Hey, watch where you're going! Reuters reports that New York State senator, Carl Kruger, plans to introduce legislation this week to ban the use of all manner of handheld gadgets while crossing the street. It seems that some inhabitants of the city become so embroiled in the contents of their musical pods, their dark electronic fruits and their portable Playstations, that they fail to notice things like four-wheeled hunks of metal coming to crush them."What's happening is when they're tuning into their iPod or BlackBerry or cell phone or video game, they're walking into speeding buses and moving automobiles," says Kruger. "It's becoming a nationwide problem." Ignoring the proposed ban will not only place your fragile life in immediate danger, but also result in a decidedly unpleasant $100 fine.In the coming weeks, New York State is expected to ban glitzy neon signs, second-rate street musicians and loudly gossiping girlfriends in a continued effort to keep the streets free of deadly distractions. You're not reading this on your smartphone, are you?[Via Gamespot UK, thanks Gabe]
NYC residents to use cellphones as line of defense
The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has announced a plan to equip the city's 911 centers with the ability to accept cameraphone images from its residents. If you see a dangerous situation, snap a picture, and send it to a 911 operator via MMS or email. Sounds good to us -- but it may not seem as cutting edge as you think. Several months ago we a mighty similar patent, but New York's system has the distinction of being... well, real. We do see a few problems with this: A) Quality of the picture, B) Convenience of taking a picture or placing a call and C) getting the perp to smile for us.[Via Cameraphone Report]
Modeo announcing NYC trial next week
See, that wasn't so bad, now was it? We're guessing a few DVB-H fanboys and girls this side of the Atlantic were miffed at the news Modeo had slipped the go-live date for their trial (or "commercial beta," as they're calling it) in New York City -- but just two short weeks later, everything's ready to rock. A few hundred lucky participants will get hooked up with HTC Foreseers to experience music and video services powered by Modeo's DVB-H network, which GigaOM reports will be officially blessed next week at CES. Without any carriers yet signed to their platform, the folks at Modeo have got to be sweating bullets at this point, especially in light of the fact that Verizon and Sprint have both hopped aboard the MediaFLO bandwagon. Cingular and T-Mobile have yet to finalize their plans for mobile TV, but we'd imagine they'll be keeping a keen eye on Gotham for the next few months.
NYC mulling pay-per-use phone lockers for students
In our formative years we were kept on the straight and narrow with wireless leashes, and we got in touch with our folks the old-fashioned way -- two cans and a string -- and that's the way we liked it. Modern high school students, though, have a decidedly different take on the best way to drop a line, ditching pay phones (or, heaven forbid, the principal's office) in favor of trusty cellphones. Yipes, seems we've got a little hiccup: New York City's public schools have recently started clamping down on its longstanding ban on wireless goodies on school grounds, leaving a healthy percentage of tech-savvy pupils in the lurch. Parents aren't too happy, either, noting that it's the most effective way to keep tabs on lil' Johnny and Susie from afar in the event of an emergency. School officials are responding with the standard arguments, distraction and the threat of cheating, and are coming to the table with a proposal to install lockers outside schools for the sole purpose of housing phones during the school day. Sounds to good to be true, right? A rare case of taxpayer dollars being put to exactly the right use at exactly the right time, you say? Well, there's a catch: thanks to the crushing cost of said lockers, students would likely pay 25-50 cents a day for the privilege of being separated from their technology for a few hours. Needless to say a legal fight seems inevitable, though parents, teachers, and the school board will try to iron things out on the 18th of this month with a little face-to-face time. Of course, they could just give in and make texting a school subject, but we're not really seeing that happen.
Modeo slips date for New York trial
The wait for DVB-H-based mobile TV this side of the pond may have just gotten a little longer. A management shakeup at Modeo -- patron saint (along with Hiwire) of American DVB-H -- has hit the company as their search for a carrier partner continues, and its commercial-grade service trial in New York City using HTC's Foreseer appears to be a casualty. Originally scheduled for a Q4 2006 launch, the trial will now begin (knock on wood) in early '07. Between Hiwire and various MediaFLO-based efforts coming down the pike, Modeo's drama may not ultimately mean much to mobile TV's outlook in these parts, but it'd be tragic nonetheless to see one of these guys bite the dust before they even get out of the gate, would it not?[Via Phone Scoop]
Details emerge on Cingular's NFC plans
We'd previously noticed that Cingular was collaborating with Citigroup on some sort of mobile payment system in New York City, though details were pretty slim for the picking at the time; now the carrier has come out with full disclosure on exactly what it is they have up their sleeves. Like its Atlanta trial last year, the New York program involves Nokia handsets fitted with NFC (near-field communication) guts -- though for the sake of the trial participants, we hope Cingular is offering something a little more up-to-date than the lowly 3220 this time around. Unlike Atlanta, however, Cingular has switched up their financial partner from Chase / Visa to Citi / Mastercard, giving users the ability to use their phone for payment anywhere Mastercard's PayPass system is accepted. Parties involved expect the trial to last a total of three to six months, at which point we should all have a better perspective on how folks feel about shedding cash by tapping their cellphones against various surfaces. Of course, Japan seems to like it just fine -- so why not us?
Joystiq at NYC's Final Fantasy Day festivities
New York City's Times Square was overwhelmed by Final Fantasy fans as Square-Enix premiered the English language version of the upcoming Final Fantasy XII, which will be playable at this week's DigitalLife conference, which starts tomorrow. The trailer, shown to great excitement amongst fans, featured great visuals (as expected) and some truly impressive voice acting. For those of you that have HDTVs, you'll be glad to know that the US version has been enhanced with new anamorphic widescreen (16:9) functionality.Check out a shaky-cam version of the trailer, and some pics from the event after the break.
Go to NYC for launch, get a Wii handed to you by Reggie
In sitting down with ABC News, Reggie Fils-Aime does the usual PR thing to promote the Wii, talking up the innovative features of the console and the company's goals to bring their product to people in all walks of life, hardcore gamers and those who do not traditionally play games alike, but more interestingly reveals that he will be on-hand at Nintendo's store in New York city to hand out consoles during launch (he says "a store in NYC," but it's safe to assume it'll be at Nintendo's store). Obviously, he makes no mention of needing to kick your ass and/or take your name to get your hands on a Wii, so we assume you'll need your check card, or the good old cash standard. [Note: Read link will take you directly to ABC News' video interview]
DS Lites invade McDonald's in Times Square
Yesterday, we told you about a series of DS Lite demonstrations being held at various McDonald's joints in New York City. While some of you made the astute observation that the nearby Nintendo World Store made that sort of thing a bit redundant, it didn't stop one of our fellow bloggers, Andrew Yoon, from stopping by and shoving his camera into every available face. The fact that Mr. Yoon writes for PSP Fanboy will be conveniently glossed over.He summed up the event as follows: "The DS guys aren't timely. They arrived half an hour late." "The games playable include New Super Mario Bros, Tetris DS, True Swing Golf, Brain Age and Big Brain Academy." "Every person that plays will get an iced coffee and cool (but useless) frisbee thing." "It seemed like a success: people asked, 'Where's the nearest Toys R Us?' so they can buy these suckers." "A mom seemed completely entranced by Tetris DS." Entranced mothers could likely be taken as a good sign for Nintendo's ongoing Touch Generations campaign, and events such as these are a great way of grabbing the attentions of those who call every single gaming device "a Nintendo." More pictures follow in the second part of the post.
Sample the DS Lite at an NYC McDonald's
If you live in or around New York City and have yet to part with your old DS in order to embrace the Lite, you may want to stop by a McDonald's in the next few days and try the system out for yourself. Several of the burger joints will have demo units to try out and, if you're lucky (or a rampant kleptomaniac), you might just walk away with a free iced coffee, a handful of Nintendo vouchers or even a DS Lite. These are the times and places you need to barge in:Thursday, July 13, 200612:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.McDonald's restaurant at:220 West 42nd StreetNew York, NY 10036Friday, July 14th, 200612:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.McDonald's restaurant at:1560 BroadwayNew York, NY 100364:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.McDonald's restaurant at:427 10th Ave and 34th StreetNew York, NY 10001Wednesday, July 19th, 200612:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.mMcDonald's Restaurant at:946 8th Ave and 56th StreetNew York, NY 10019Just be sure not to get your filthy hamburger grease all over the precious things.[Thanks to Elicia Baker at MWW.]
NYC under NuVisions WiFi skies
For those in NYC, get ready to cut loose -- literally. In a city that isn't typically exposed to rollouts of this magnitude, NuVisions is, well, envisioning an ever growing "cloud" of WiFi over the metro areas. Their plan to dominate the airwaves with internet access begins with hardwiring buildings throughout the city with gigabit Ethernet (presumably via fiber), which is then distributed to tenants via short range powerline networking. Then the real fun begins. With every building that is hardwired for internet access, they light another WiFi zone on location. NuVision's CEO refers to it as "a virtual fiber optic network in the air." Pretty bold statement, we'd say, but until WiMAX is no longer a semi-distant fantasy, there isn't anyone who's more ready to see it happen than us. Well, aside from those waiting anxiously for NuVision to invade Chicago and San Francisco, the firm's next two targets. Unlimited access requires residing in a pre-wired building and costs $24.95 per month, not too shabby at all.
Apple Store panoramic
This will probably be my last post about Apple's new Fifth Avenue store, but I'm not making any promises. The Cult of Mac points us to this very cool Quicktime panormic image of the store on opening night. It is very cool.
Line to get into the new Apple store .45 miles long
That's right, at the height of the opening madness this blogger, using only Gmaps Pedometer, estimated the line to be .45 miles long. Waiting in a line that long for the privilege of getting into a store, and perhaps getting a free t-shirt? I suppose there are worse things to do with an afternoon (though if the line were that long a Suburban Station I'm not sure I would have waited).So, fess up, how long would you wait in line to get into an Apple Store?[via Gothamist]
Time lapse photos of NYC Apple Store opening
Apple has just updated the Fifth Avenue store's page to show a series of time lapse photographs for each hour of its first 24 hours of being open.Apple really is going all out for this store opening, though when you spend millions of dollars on a glass cube, you want to get your money's worth.
Steve Jobs at the new NYC Apple Store
Ben Shapiro, an eagle eyed TUAW reader, spotted His Steveness at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store set to open today at 6pm. Pictured above we can see the real reason Steve wanted a gigantic glass cube, so he could stare lovingly at his own reflection.Check out all of Ben's Steve pics in his Flickr stream.
