soccer
Latest
Annoying sound, video problems mar high-def World Cup broadcast
While the guys playing in the World Cup are professionals, it seems the stateside broadcasters are still very much amateurs when it comes to displaying the beautiful game. I've caught a couple games since the tournament started, and while the quality of the broadcast is excellent. You can see everything very clearly and the sport is more fun to watch in widescreen, as you can see the positioning of the players better. While it is almost enough to wipe the nasty taste of the Winter Olympics debacle from my mouth, and doesn't have the HDTV compression problems cited in Korea, there are still some issues to be worked out.
Overcompressed bitstarved HDTV frustrates World Cup fans
It's an unfortunate but familiar circumstance for many high definition television owners, after spending a lot of money on a new HDTV, hooked up the cable/satellite/antenna and settled in to watch the big game, only to get a blurry, blocky mess. While American soccer futbot football soccer fans have commented that they "can finally see the ball" during the World Cup broadcast, Korean watchers are flooding the nations three major broadcasters with complaints that they can't see anything thats moving quickly.The broadcasters have been testing a new multicasting system, MMS to broadcast more channels within the same frequency, lowering the bitrate from 19Mbps to 13Mbps. It looks like viewers noticed the difference, with threats to sue and other complaints posted on the internet. The Korean Broadcasting Commission is going to vote tomorrow on whether to continue the MMS test or not. Korea, we've got our fingers crossed. Whether or not someone will sue ESPN for their poor color commentary during games remains to be seen.
The geek version of the World Cup
Alice spotted this snap of the geek's version of the World Cup from the Electronic Football Challenge '06. I'm sure many gamers are intrigued by the logic behind a football game that doesn't require much more effort than rapid wrist movements and lets players argue with the referee over irc. Also, check out the absent keeper from the nearest team: they must have replaced him with a firewall (sorry).If you're the type that prefers -- slightly more -- real football, then you might be pleased to know that Konami dropped us a line to say that they've signed (according to the press release) "one of the most dangerous strikers in soccer today", Adriano "lightning balls" Ribeiro, to be the figurehead of Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007.
Rabbids can indeed rave
As impartial observers, we'll need to scientifically verify the truth of this statement. Regardless, it's quite a bizarre advertisement, and one right in line with what you'd expect from the rather quirky series head honcho, Michel Ancel. Rayman: Raving Rabbids is currently slated for launch.[Update: Experiments have yielded conclusive test results; bunnies are completely unable to play soccer. Further studies involving dancing, we leave to the reader.]
Comcast is adding ESPN2-HD in time for the World Cup
Many have complained after seeing the World Cup TV schedule that a significant number of the games are on ESPN2, which does broadcast in HD but most companies don't carry. Comcast has announced they will add ESPN2-HD in "several markets" tomorrow...but they didn't say which ones. So for all the soccer futbol fans out there, you might be in luck...or you might not. If anyone can get ahold of the list of cities or areas where ESPN2-HD will be available or if other carriers will add the channel as well, please let us know in the comments.
Having mastered soccer, robots try football
One of the nice things about modern robotic competition is that once the competitors get too skilled at a given sport -- soccer, for instance -- you can simply toss a differently-shaped ball onto the field, and even the greatest RoboRonaldo is instantly knocked down a notch or two. Such is the case with Japan's Robot American Football Tournament, where the soccer ball of RoboCup-style tourneys has been replaced with a classic US pigskin (made out of rubber to liven things up), although NFL-type, turn-based play is eschewed for what usually degrades into a frenzied-but-exciting demolition derby. Teams of four bots each are controlled remotely by high school students during the six-minute games, where the goal is to score more "touchdowns" than one's opponents by shoveling the ball into the end zone. While this concept certainly makes for an entertaining spectacle, we'd like to see organizers from the All Japan Robot Sumo Tournament Office tweak the rules just a bit more, because instead of standing on the sidelines, the student operators should be strapped into huge, hydraulically-powered mecha and forced to use flame-throwers and nail-guns on one another if they want to emerge victorious on the playing field.
HDTV World Cup madness sweeps the world...but not South America
With World Cup action just a week away, HDTVs are flying off store shelves and broadcasters are gearing up to provide high definition signals worldwide...but not quite. If you live in the Americas south of Mexico there will be no high-def broadcasts available to you as the governments there have not agreed on a broadcast standard. As the article notes (and we've noted previously), Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Colombia are looking into it, but will not have anything set until well after this summer's sports action has ended. Unfortunately, the people of futbol-crazy South America won't get the same broadcast quality available elsewhere, at least in Europe people will go to bars or even movie theaters to catch the HD game. Our government (with quite a bit of prodding from CE manufacturers) at least has a standard set so we can watch HD, now if they can just work something out so cable subscribers can get more channels.Read (Translated by Google)
UK sales charts, April 30-May 6: FIFA scores again
World Cup fever is running high in the UK still, with FIFA World Cup holding on to its top spot for a second week. Metroid Prime: Hunters rushes straight into the top ten in its first week at number 6, and Crazy Frog Racer finally vanishes from the top 40, leaving us with nothing but a terrible memory.1. FIFA World Cup Germany 20062. Tomb Raider Legend3. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter4. The Godfather5. Animal Crossing: Wild World6. Metroid Prime: Hunters7. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown8. FIFA Street 29. Buzz! The Big Quiz10. Championship Manager 2006
Becks loses two Bimmers to laptop-toting thieves
For every hundred or so stupid criminals that we feature on these pages, there are a few just as brilliant as their contemporaries are dim: look at the international group of hardware pirates who managed to build their own version of Japan's NEC Corp, or the laptop-toting thieves who succesfully stole not one, but two, of soccer football star David Beckham's BMW X5 SUVs by hacking the keyless-entry systems. In the last six months, the Real Madrid star and Mr. Posh Spice has seen two of his $60,000 vehicles lost to geeky criminals, with the most recent GTA occurring while Becks dined at a mall in Spain. Apparently thieves armed with a particular model's security schematics can jack into the car's PC and run software that dumps out the necessary codes for breaking the encryption, allowing them to unlock the doors, start the engine, and in some cases, even disable built-in tracking devices. Yeah, we're kind of impressed, but let's see these fancy criminals use their high-tech lockpicks to "hack" the cold, hard steel of our "Club LX."[Via Left Lane News]
Matsunichi's MF228 Football MP3 Player
Ah yes, that most convenient, ergonomic, and yet elusive of all MP3 player shapes: the soccer ball. Preceded by the Shiro AS, Matsunichi's new MF228 Football MP3 Player has managed to land a bit nearer the World Cup, but still we're not quite sure we're going to put up with the pocket bulge for six whole weeks. That said, the player features a 80 x 48 pixel display, supports MP3, WMA and WAV files, has FM and voice recording, 10 hours of battery life off of a built-in rechargeable battery, and an epic 256MB or 512MB memory capacity. The player also outsizes the 37.4mm diameter Shiro AS at 45.2mm. Reportedly, the MF228 is due "worldwide" on May 1st, and if that means us soccer-phobic Americans then more power to it.[Via The MP3 Players]
Arsenal equip new stadium with HDTV
The Dolphins aren't the only one with HD aspirations, Arsenal Football Club (the other football) has teamed up with Sony to outfit their new stadium with high definition from top to bottom. With a whopping 439 screens all connected via network (sounds like they'll be using these). The Baltimore Ravens went with a similar approach last season with the help of Panasonic.Seems like a great way to introduce the fans to HD, as they walk through the stadium and enjoy games they'll surely want one of those nice new TVs for their home, and that is what Sony is betting on. When your local team comes begging for funds to build a new stadium, would you prefer two big 720p screens, or several hundred smaller LCDs?
Toshiba's Dynabook 2006 FIFA World Cup laptop
So you've got your FIFA World Cup Xbox 360 and HDTV read to go but, well, you’re still just not feelin’ that World Cup fever? How ‘bout trying on a new, limited edition Toshiba Dynabook 2006 FIFA Word Cup laptop? This pup starts with a Dynabook TX base (1.6GHz Core Duo, 15.4-inch WXGA LCD, 80GB disk, 512MB RAM, and Harman & Kardon speakers), lays on a healthy slathering of gold paint inscribed with the dates and countries of previous World Cup hosts/winners, loads-up a multitude of soccertastic themes, and then slaps on a serial plate just in case your silicon slab gets mixed-in with one of the other 600 units produced. Now the ol' mercury's rising, eh? Ok, maybe not. Still, they'll be shipping May 26 for right around $1700 -- just in time for some hard posing at the pub or heaving onto the pitch should the “Hand-of-God” make its return. [Thanks, Roygbiv]
Yahoo! Mobile Matchcast brings World Cup to phones
This being a World Cup year, it's only fitting that some of the slickest ways to digest sports stats will be coming our way before the tournament hits in June. Along those lines, Yahoo! has partnered up Everypoint to develop Yahoo! Mobile Matchcast for Java enabled phones. The downloadable app "pushes" scores and stats to a user's handset, along with photos, previews, and tournament news. It all works in real time, and the content is displayed by Everypoint's vector display engine to keep things looking sharp. The app will be available for download at the official tournament site, we're not sure on the price.
FIFA World Cup 2006 gets a website
EA has launched the official website for their latest attempt at "the world's most popular sport," FIFA World Cup 2006. If you're getting a sense of digital deja vu, it might be because FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup launched along side the 360 a scant four months ago to middling reviews. This game is supposed to have more stadiums, better animations and a "Best World Cup moments" mode. We'll see if five extra months in EA Canada's backfield results in a world class Cup, or just another kick in the balls for next-gen soccer fans.
Sneak preview of *football on Sky TV
The other football. Maybe some of our European friends will be giving HD more respect once their favorite sport is being broadcast in high definition. Last weekend it seems Sky showed a few UK journalists a preview of their high definition broadcasts of soccer, and they came away very impressed.This isn't really surprising, if HDTV has a single killer app, it's sports. Football, futbol or otherwise, once you've seen your favorite players in HD there isn't any going back. [Via HDTV UK]
