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Metal Gear Solid 3DS slithers into view, looks snazzy
We've gotten our eyes on the limited edition Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3DS once before, but only a shallow glance offered via Hideo Kojima's cell phone. Frankly, we wanted a better look, and now we've got it. Feast your eyes on that snakeskin embossed bad boy above! Hoo-ah! Unfortunately for us outside Japan, there won't be a lot of opportunity to actually purchase the unit. That kind of goes for the folks in Japan as well, as the only way to even have a chance to purchase the unit is by winning a raffle offered by Konami in February. The bundle will run ¥22,980 ($298) for those lucky enough to grab one, and it'll come with the game itself, the fancy 3DS, a "snake-styled" 3DS, and two ... folders. Like, the kind you use in high school, except they have MGS3 characters on them.
Engadget Distro Issue 24: CES Roundup, OK Go's Andy Ross and SOPA comic relief
We've spent the past week recuperating and reflecting, and while we're ready to put CES 2012 behind us, we're bring you this special roundup edition to cover all of our consumer electronics bases. In this issue, we'll dive deep into product categories that were overlooked in our previous CES editions, like audio, and flesh out those categories that dominated this year's coverage. Also in this issue, OK Go's Andy Ross takes on the Distro Q&A, we bring you a visual breakdown of Engadget's CES Vital Stats and Box Brown takes a comic look at the SOPA / PIPA debate. So join us in grabbing a cold one and get to downloading.Update: And we're back! Let the downloads begin!Distro Issue 24 PDFDistro on the iTunes App StoreDistro in the Android MarketDistro APK (for sideloading)Like Distro on FacebookFollow Distro on Twitter
Live from Las Vegas, it's Engadget Distro's CES Special Edition
If you're reading this, you likely know that CES 2012 is in full swing. Since things kicked off this past Sunday, we've posted some 575 different previews, posts and hands-on and sucked down countless gallons of coffee to avoid the slumber we so fondly remember. Of course, it's all in the name of keeping you informed, and to that point this very special edition of Distro is all about the Consumer Electronics Show. Doing what we do best, we've filtered out all of the noise to bring you the biggest breakouts of this year's show in an easily digestible timeline. In addition, we've compiled CES-flavored versions of all the content you've come to expect week after week. But this isn't the last you'll see of Distro this week, as we have yet another special edition coming your way from our doublewide, right here in the Nevada desert. We'll sleep when we're dead, but in the meantime, hit the download link and enjoy.Distro Issue 22 PDFDistro on the iTunes App StoreDistro in the Android MarketDistro APK (for sideloading)Like Distro on FacebookFollow Distro on Twitter
Engadget Distro's 2011 Year In Review is here!
As yet another year of spectacular technological gains and enormous losses comes to a close, we present to you our best attempt at a comprehensive look back: Engadget Distro's Year In Review. In "Technology_In_2011.zip" we'll provide a compressed month-by-month timeline of just a few of the year's standout stories and announcements. We'll also bring you the year in corporate mudslinging with a collection of the most outrageous "CE-Oh No He Didn't" moments and present "The Top 10 Crappiest Crapgadgets of 2011," as selected by our readers. Looking ahead, we have our predictions of what's to come at CES 2012, TechnoBuffalo's Jon Rettinger gives us some insight into his distaste for OS wars in "Q&A" and Don Melanson offers up his list of the year's must-reads. So, in the interest of retrospection, hit that download link and let's reflect. Distro Issue 20 PDF Distro on the iTunes App Store Distro in the Android Market Distro APK (for sideloading) Like Distro on Facebook Follow Distro on Twitter Cover Illustration by Stephen Webster.
The Metal Gear Solid snakeskin 3DS is not to be eaten
Despite its subtitle, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater should not encourage you to consume the snakeskin-embossed Nintendo 3DS coming out alongside the game in Japan. For starters, the device is a piece of electronics, and on top of that it's a rare, cool-looking limited edition 3DS. Konami has yet to give the 3DS a full reveal, but the above image was teased via Hideo Kojima's Twitter account, like most things MGS these days. We'll keep an eye out for any other images slithering onto the internet before the game launches on March 8.
Harrods reportedly nabs Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry as UK exclusive, costs a princely £1,275
The department store Harrods is no stranger to exposing Londoners to some of the finer -- and more eccentric -- things in life, and so after learning that it'd be bringing RIM's Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry to its shelves as a UK exclusive, we couldn't help but smile with curiosity. While we've yet to see anything official come across the wires, it's reported that this sexy slab of unlocked goodness will retail for £1,275 and hit stores before the month's end. We've attempted to confirm these details with RIM's UK group but, as it turns out, Brits like going home early on Friday, too.
iTunes version of Avatar will let users control scenes, more
Apple has just announced a special iTunes version of James Cameron's Avatar that will not only include some special extras like the film's script and a big 1,700 picture special effects gallery of pictures to browse through, but allow viewers to actually control 17 scenes as they happen, switching between different views like the finished film, rough CG cuts, and the original live action motion capture footage. Viewers will also be able to "x-ray" these scenes, moving a special view around the screen that will show off the original live action footage, superimposed over the finished movie. Sounds pretty awesome to us. Special features have obviously been a standby of disc-based movies for years, and modern Blu Ray discs offer up split-screen and onscreen special effects information and footage for all kinds of movies. But this is something that's really interactive, and it's exclusively on iTunes (Apple doesn't say yet if the special footage will work on an iPad or an iPhone, though it seems likely, right?). That's a nice get for Apple, and it might be an indication of more features like this to come (which would make for nice viewing fodder on a possible Apple TV, wouldn't it). You can preorder the movie on iTunes right now. The special edition version will cost you $20, while the regular edition itself is $15.
EA literally trolls fans with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning special editions
No, really. You get a troll. Specifically, a 12.5" tall "Prismere Troll" statuette designed by McFarlane Toys, with the purchase of two of the newly announced Special Editions of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. In all, there are three levels of specialness. For $80, you get a parchment map, a seven-piece dice set, replicas of the 40 "Destiny Cards" found in the game, a soundtrack, and DLC weapons that increase XP gained from "Fate Shift Kills." The $200 "Collector's Edition" adds the aforementioned troll and a concept art lithograph signed by Ken Rolston. This edition is limited to 700 units. For the person who is really sure Reckoning is his or her jam (despite never having played it), there's the $275 Signature Edition. That has all the other stuff, but the troll is "signed by Todd McFarlane, R.A. Salvatore or Curt Schilling," and you get a custom sketch by Todd McFarlane. There are only 300 of these to hand out. All three are available for pre-order here. If you're a really true fan, of course, you'll buy one of each. Just saying.
Joe Danger: Special Edition triple flips to XBLA on December 14
The beefed up, sanded down version of Joe Danger coming to Xbox Live Arcade (the "Special Edition") will apparently arrive on December 14 for 1200 MS Points ($15). Developer Hello Games revealed the date via Microsoft Studio's own "playXBLA" blog, where the dev team further cemented what has been added (and subtracted) to the upcoming re-release. Beyond the launch date announcement, Hello Games also gave out a brand new launch trailer and a whole variety of new screens. For those of you who have yet to check out Joe Danger, you're in for a real treat. For the rest of us, well, hey, more Joe Danger! Alright!%Gallery-141291%
NVIDIA announces special edition GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, available now for $289
Now that we're officially in the throes of holiday shopping season, NVIDIA's rolling out a promotion of its own, though sadly it doesn't involve any steep discounts. The outfit just announced a special edition GPU: the GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, running at 1.46GHz, a 732MHz graphics clock and 1.25GB of GDDR5 memory charging ahead at an effective rate of 3.8GHz. Other features include support for three-way SLI, DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI. Those specs place it snugly between the current GTX 560 Ti with 384 CUDA cores, and the higher-end GTX 570, which packs 480. If this seems like a puzzling move, it is indeed the first time NVIDIA's bothered with a limited holiday edition card, though in conversations with reporters the company made it clear its new hardware is meant to dovetail with the arrival of games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City. If you're shopping for a gamer (or, you know, yourself), it's available now for $289 in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Russia and Nordic countries through companies like ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte, among others. Update: Looks like the reviews are rolling in! We've linked a handful of 'em below.
Max Payne 3 gets $100 Special Edition, pre-order only until January 15
\ If you're absolutely certain you'll want Max Payne 3 in a really bad way, and you're already financially and emotionally prepared to drop a Benjamin on it, has Rockstar got the deal for you! Between now and January 15, roughly two months before the game's March release window, you'll be able to order the Max Payne 3 Special Edition, "while supplies last." What will your $100 pre-buy you, besides the game itself? Ready? Here goes: A 10" tall Max Payne statue; "game-inspired Original Still Life Art Prints," for your art collection; a bullet-shaped keychain with screw-off back (for your drugs!); the obligatory multiplayer character pack, including Max Payne favorites like Mona Sax and Vladimir Lem; the similarly obligatory multiplayer weapons pack; and lastly, the game's original soundtrack. Curiously, this Special Edition really is special, in that it actually is limited ("while supplies last") and won't be available after release. If you want to wait, be warned that eBay scalpers are probably circling the waters already.%Gallery-139989%
The MMO Report: The beard is gone edition
An unashamedly beardless Casey Schreiner* bookends a special (albeit late) edition of The MMO Report this week, and it's all about RIFT's colossal 1.6 update. The Report features RIFT Producer Adam Gershowitz, who declares that RIFT is now well-known for being "the MMO that updates the most" while discussing November's impending From the Embers patch, RIFT's sixth major update and its largest to date. Gershowitz explains that the update inserts a massive new zone-playground for endgamers, the Ember Isle, complete with the new Rise of the Phoenix raid instance, the Caduceus Rise dungeon, the instant adventure "looking for quests" tool, and RIFT's first recurring holiday event, Fae Yule. (*Casey's de-bearding was, he claims, "for the greater good," and by the greater good, he means in the service of a swanky Petyr Baelish Halloween costume. How cool is that?) Hit the jump for the special edition MMO Report!
The Game Archaeologist salutes Asheron's Call's 12th anniversary
Turning 12 is a wake-up call for most people because they realize that next year they will officially be teenagers. We just hope that Turbine's ready for that when Asheron's Call breaks curfew, sasses back, and starts developing a romantic interest in other MMOs. One of the privileges of writing The Game Archaeologist column here on Massively is that I get to watch over these classic MMOs as they marinate in maturity. Despite new titles being announced or released literally every day, these long-running games are the established old guard that have nothing to prove at this point. It's hard not to be a little in awe of that and gush at it. So congratulations to Asheron's Call, one of the first batch of 3-D MMOs that hit the scene back in the late '90s, for reaching its 12th anniversary! How bizarre is it to think that Asheron's Call came out the same year that we were freaking out about Y2K, seeing how far George Lucas could fall with The Phantom Menace, and paying about $1.22 a gallon for gas in the U.S.? AC almost seems legendary when you realize how far back it stretches. Join us as we sing the praises of Dereth and its citizens after the jump!
Telltale opens the gates on Jurassic Park Deluxe Edition
The following was penned by Joystiq contributing editor Richard Mitchell. The comments contained herein are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Joystiq, AOL, The Huffington Post or any affiliates thereof. When I was young, I really liked Jurassic Park. Of the many, many JP toys I owned (I still have one of these), I remember one T-shirt in particular. On the front was a sweet raptor, and on the back was a map of Jurassic Park, including the locations of its dinosaurs. I spent weeks meticulously recreating said map, literally pixel by pixel, using Microsoft Paint – we didn't have Minecraft back then, and if we had, our computer wouldn't have been able to run it. And now Telltale goes and announces a Deluxe Edition of Jurassic Park: The Game for Mac and PC. The package is a veritable cornucopia of Jurassic Park memorabilia, including an InGen ID badge and field guide, a Jurassic Park staff patch and, best of all, a replica brochure from the movie including the map. The package can be pre-ordered for $40. But the point I'm trying to make is that someone at Telltale has either been tailing me for 18 years or, in a far more likely scenario, they found a Being John Malkovich door into my head. Get out, Telltale. Get out of my head.
Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry provides a long-awaited design jolt, compensates for a lot
Remember that downright futuristic BlackBerry we spied back in September? Say hello, all over again. RIM and Porsche (of all companies) have just taken the official wraps off of the Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry, a frighteningly beautiful new slab that offers up a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and "crystal clear touch display." It'll ship with an exclusive Porsche Design UI and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience, not to mention the "premium, exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P'9981 smartphone user." Fancy. As for specs, it's boasting a 1.2GHz processor, HD video recording capabilities, 8GB of onboard memory, Liquid Graphics technology, a microSD expansion slot, an inbuilt NFC module and BlackBerry OS 7. We're told that it'll be available from Porsche Design stores later this year, but mum's the word on the (presumably stratospheric) price. Head past the jump for T-break's hands-on vid. Update: MobileSyrup reports that the device shown here will sell for "around $2,000," and they'll be (unsurprisingly) limited in quantity. %Gallery-137690%
Engadget Distro's first special edition traces the origins of the iPhone 4S
We promised you some unexpected surprises, and it's time that we delivered. Distro's very first special edition is ready for download (and yes, it's available on PDF too). This one's all about a device that's never failed to get folks talking. Yup! It's the iPhone special issue. Love it or hate it, Apple's flagship phone has had an undeniable impact on the mobile space. In this issue, we'll dive deep into Cupertino's latest with our iPhone 4S review and shed some light on the phones that came before with The Evolution of the iPhone. So hop on that iPad, or hit the link below, and download Distro's very special new issue. Distro Special Edition PDF Distro on the iTunes App Store Like Distro on Facebook Follow Distro on Twitter
New PS3 and PS Move bundles leaked by box manufacturer, Black Friday deal evidently in tow (update)
There may be a healthy selection of new PlayStation kits coming your way in the near future. Images of unannounced bundle boxes have surfaced over at Slickdeals, courtesy of Scream777, who claims to work at a package production facility that makes 'em. Those include a previously unknown Mayhem Edition PS Move kit with a Sharpshooter peripheral and the newest Resistance and Killzone titles, while a Complete Entertainment Bundle packs a 160GB PS3 Slim with a free month of PlayStation Plus and the latest Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank. Gaming blog Gimme Gimme Games claims that the CEB will be $250, with Scream777 noting that its order invoice lists it as a Black Friday special. Adding credence to the leak, said poster also threw in box shots of the 320GB Uncharted 3 bundle and Goldeneye 007: Reloaded Sharpshooter set -- both of which are currently available for pre-order. Here's to hoping it all proves true, but in the meantime, you'll find more details in the links below. Update: We've received a few comments noting the typo of "stereoscopic" on the box. While all of the pictures in the source do seem like they could be valid (as we mentioned, the latter two can currently be pre-ordered), it's certainly worth raising an eyebrow to.
Mario & Sonic go to Europe in a blue Wii bundle
In honor of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Nintendo announced plans to launch a special blue Wii bundle in Europe this November. Despite the Sonic theme, the system (one of the new-model, GameCube-free Wiis) is a lighter blue than the hedgehog. It will include the game, a matching Wii Remote Plus, and likely a Nunchuk in the same color. When Nintendo announced the new Wii configuration back in August, it suggested that other bundles would be on the way. We don't think it would only have been referring to this one -- which means we should look forward to more variants in Europe this holiday. We should also look forward to colossal sales from this game, as always!
LotRO introduces Mithril Edition, Dwarves swarm local retailers
Every Hobbit and Dwarf knows that, ounce for ounce, Mithril is far more valuable than gold or silver. With a new Mithril Edition of Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine is hoping that players will value this deal just as much. Coming soon to an online or brick-and-mortar retailer near you, LotRO's Mithril Edition is designed to give new players a leg up in the game while perhaps tempting current free players into spending a little something and getting a well-rounded experience in return. Priced at $29.99, the Mithril Edition includes the game discs, starter guide, keyboard map, 2,000 Turbine Points to spend in the in-game store, an exclusive Steed of the Horse-lords mount, and a bundled quest pack covering the Trollshaws, Eregion, Moria and Lothlorien. Turbine claims that this is a $50 value, so it might be worth taking a close look. At the very least, you can keep it tucked inside your shirt for the next time a troll throws a spear your way, as it could save your life!
Ben There, Dan That! gets a special edition
Size Five Games, formerly Zombie Cow, has announced a new special edition of Ben There, Dan That. The charming point-and-click adventure has been revamped with graphical enhancements, a new soundtrack (by which we mean there is a soundtrack now) and lots of bonuses. Bonus materials include an eBook, Lowering the Tone, which discusses the story behind the creation of Ben There, Dan That. A video story book is also included, "explaining the backstory as to exactly how Dan wound up dead in a jungle tied to a length of twine in the first place." Purchasers will also receive music cut from the original game, printable posters, some unheard audio and Ben and Dan ringtones. The Ben There, Dan That! special edition is available now at a "pay what you want" price, with a $3.25 minimum. Size Five is also hoping to offer a special edition update to those who already purchased the game on Steam "as soon as possible."
