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What's on your HDTV: 'Better Call Saul!', 'The Walking Dead'
If you've been missing Breaking Bad, you can try and get that taste back as its spin-off series Better Call Saul! launches on AMC this week. It comes right after the winter premiere of The Walking Dead, and on the same night as the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Game of Thrones isn't back yet on HBO, but there is a new trailer, and gamers can check out episode two of the videogame series this week. ABC also has its new series Fresh Off the Boat premiering Wednesday, while NBC takes the wraps off of Allegiance on Thursday night. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
What's on your HDTV: 'Walking Dead', 'Edge of Tomorrow', 'Alien: Isolation'
Syfy is now home to two zombie series but no one can replace the king -- The Walking Dead returns on AMC Sunday night. Naturally, that also means the return of Talking Dead with Chris Hardwick, which we've grown to like. As we've settled into the new fall shows (Discovery's Tethered is just about as good of a gimmick as their previous Naked and Afraid), this week has some big movie and video game releases. That includes the excellent Edge of Tomorrow aka Live Die Repeat starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, Disney's Sleeping Beauty and the 30th Anniversary release of The NeverEnding Story. Gamers have yet another excellent racer to look forward to in DriveClub on PS4 while Xbox One launches the innovative Project Spark. For your cross-platform enjoyment, there's NBA 2K15 and Alien: Isolation. Hit the gallery or just look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Must See HDTV for the week of March 24th: The Walking Dead, Psych, Fez, Louis CK on SNL
March Madness rolls on this weekend with the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games, but with our billion dollar brackets already destroyed, what else is there to watch? The Academy Awards Best Picture nominee march continues this week with the release of The Wolf of Wall Street on Blu-ray (how can Leo not have an Oscar?) and Continuum S2, while on TV The Walking Dead wraps up its fourth season, Helix reaches its first season finale and Louis CK brings his talents to Saturday Night Live. We'll have to put our DVRs to work on Saturday though, since Hannibal Burress' special is airing on Comedy Central around the same time. Before all that however, we'll bid a final farewell to USA's Psych, which is airing its series finale this week after eight seasons (and a movie?). For games there's no next-gen exclusive blockbusters this week, but PlayStation owners can cross buy a port of Fez across Vita, PS3 and PS4. Check after the break for trailers plus our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Must See HDTV for the week of February 3rd: Walking Dead and Winter Olympics
After the Super Bowl, we will have to fill the hours with non-football things (until the NFL Combine, at least) and right on time we have the return of AMC's The Walking Dead this weekend. If you prefer the rush of sports action (and the thrill of high speed crashes in various downhill events) however, the 2014 Winter Olympic Games from Sochi also begin, with the first competition set for 3AM ET Saturday. In the US NBC is broadcasting hours of coverage across its channels (check out the schedule here), and streaming every event live online (if you have a cable TV subscription). Football fans can get their last taste of the game with the season finales of Inside the NFL and NFL Turning Point, while gamers can check out the Fable Anniversary collection. Check after the break for trailers plus our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Must See HDTV (December 16th - 22nd)
Time is running out on 2013, and as the year comes to a close most of the high-profile TV shows are taking off on their winter break. This week we're looking forward to individual releases of the classic Indiana Jones movies -- due for a return to the big screen in a few years now that Disney/Lucasfilm has the rights -- while another 80s favorite, Predator, returns in 3D-converted form. The process worked out pretty well for Top Gun 3D, but we're thinking jungle foliage and camouflaged aliens may be a little tougher to deal with. Football fans have a slew of lower-tier championships and bowl games to deal with this week while gamers will see Minecraft on the PS3 and the first episode for the second season of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead. Check after the break for our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Must See HDTV (October 7th - 13th)
As the MLB playoffs continue to ratchet up the intensity, we'll also keep an eye on all of the new fall shows to see which ones die off first (ABC's Lucky 7 has the award for first new show cancelled). Appropriately, this weekend also marks the return of AMC's The Walking Dead and its Talking Dead aftershow counterpart. Sony has a major videogame release for us with Beyond: Two Souls, while on Blu-ray we're looking forward to classics like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Look after the break for our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Telltale Games bringing 'The Walking Dead' to the OUYA this winter
It's safe to say The Walking Dead game has had a pretty successful term on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 -- still, there's always a chance to grow beyond the more traditional consoles. With that in mind, Telltale Games announced today its plans to bring the zombie-heavy gaming series to the OUYA later this year. The game studio behind the title doesn't go beyond saying it'll be "coming this winter." However, it did say the release will include The Walking Dead: Season One along with the 400 Days DLC. The second season, meanwhile, is said to be in the works and due to follow at some point in the future. Owners of the tiny, Android-based box will be able to play the first episode at no cost, which should help decide if they want to carry on with the rest of the story or, you know, keep playing You Don't know Jack.
Must See HDTV (August 26th - September 1st)
As the NFL prepares for its debut in a couple of weeks, the college football season kicks off Thursday night with a number of interesting matchups planned. Syfy is dropping a pilot for another time travel show tonight called Rewind, while BBC America brings another Doctor Who-related special Saturday. Madden NFL 25 leads the videogame pack, while Blu-ray releases include The Walking Dead season three, Sons of Anarchy season five and Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Look after the break for our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.
The Walking Dead's '400 Days' episode comes to Mac this week, iOS on July 11
IGN reports that the new, extra episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead series will be arriving on both Mac and iOS very soon. And by "soon," we mean this week for the Mac (on Steam and Telltale's site), and July 11 for iOS. The episode, first revealed back at E3, is called "400 Days," and is supposed to serve as a halfway step between the game's first season and the upcoming second. The Walking Dead game is critically acclaimed as one of the best games of last year, and while I played (and enjoyed) it on the Xbox 360, it also earned a lot of praise on iOS as well. If you've played the first series already, you'll want to try and play this episode on the same platform, because your choices should carry over in the storyline. I don't want to know anything about the episode before I play it, but in case you do, here's a launch trailer from Telltale that you can watch now. I'm going to pass, though -- this game and this series are so great that I know I'll play this episode no matter what. We look forward to continuing this very gripping story.
Must See HDTV (March 25th - 31st)
The second weekend of the NCAA Basketball tournament takes place this week with the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, but hoops fans will also want to keep an eye on the streaking Miami Heat. Meanwhile, some sci fi / fantasy favorites are highlights thanks to their seasonal return or departure this week, but we'd also give new series like BBC America's Orphan Black a chance in between sessions of Bioshock: Infinite. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. Doctor Who Doctor Who is back, now featuring actress Jenna-Louise Coleman as companion Clara Oswald for the next half season. There's a preview trailer embedded after the break, and the BBC has a rundown of the first four episodes right here. (March 30th, BBC America, 8PM) The Walking Dead This season of everyone's favorite zombie series is finally ready to wrap up with what we expect will be an epic showdown between the prison residents and Woodbury. Last season's finale certainly met our expectations in terms of action, we'll see if it can repeat or even top that effort this time around. (March 31st, AMC, 9PM) Game of Thrones Winter is... still coming. Game of Thrones is back for season three and there is an appropriate amount of backstabbing, intrigue, violence and dragons to go around. By now we know what to expect from the lands of Westeros, if you need to be filled in check after the break for a recap of the last two seasons. (March 31st, HBO, 9PM)
Must See HDTV (February 4th - 10th)
It's finally over -- pro football is done for the year. In its absence we have a number of big returning shows to look forward to, including favorites like Community and The Walking Dead. Also of note, Syfy will air Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome this weekend, a show that already premiered months ago on YouTube (click here to watch it now), while Dead Space 3 arrives on your gaming system of choice. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. Community October 19th is Thursday night. Correct your calendars as necessary. (See video after the break if you require an explanation) (February 7th/October 19th, NBC, 8PM The Walking Dead Season three of AMC's juggernaut has been rolling along well so far, we'll join our favorite group of zombie apocalypse survivors for the second half of the story Sunday night -- see the trailer after the break. Also worth remembering for fans is that the Talking Dead recap show has been extended to an hour and will air immediately after the episode at 10PM. (February 10th, AMC, 9PM) Top Gear The best part about season 19? BBC and BBC America have narrowed the window between when episodes air in the UK and the US, so we'll finally get to enjoy content while it's still fresh. Check out BBC America tonight for the season premiere. (February 4th, BBC America, 9PM)
TUAW's Best of 2012 Personal Picks: Michael Grothaus, and the year that wasn't
In my opinion, 2012 was a lackluster year for the Apple ecosystem and the tech sector as a whole. Smartphones are now ubiquitous and this is the year the tablet hit mainstream adoption. While those are both good things, the whole touch computing world is now five years old and innovation and excitement seems to be taking a back seat to more of the same old-same old. 2012 brought us more Instagram clones, more Angry Birds knock-offs, and an endless array of people asking me to review their Kickstarter projects. I remember a world pre-2012 when developers and accessory makers would ask me to review real, finished products. Even the self-righteous outrage in the tech media about Twitter's third-party client TOS changes that brought about the (horribly named) App.net attracted only the geekiest of the tech world. After all, how is a Twitter knockoff that charges annual subscription fees going to gain mass adoption among users in the non-techie world? Before I depress people more about the state of tech in 2012, let's talk about a few bright spots. Yes, most of these were because I need to pick something that says "this was good" -- that's why my category choices are a bit generic. Hopefully 2013 will be a more exciting year for tech. Best iOS device: iPhone 5 This year we saw the iPad 3, the iPad 4, the iPad mini, and the new iPod touch in addition to the iPhone 5. That's a lot of new iOS devices in one year. And while the iPad mini deserves praise for its design and lightness, the best iOS device of the year is the iPhone 5. Its thin profile, look and feel, and that extra bit of screen space turned an aging design into something sleek and sexy again. I never thought adding just a half-inch (diagonally) of space to the screen would change the user experience that much, but it did. Matter of fact, that half-inch is just enough that I do most of my web browsing on my iPhone now instead of my iPad. Best Mac: MacBook Pro with Retina display Apple had two major Mac product launches this year: MacBook Pros with Retina displays and the new optical drive-less iMacs. While the new iMacs are sleek and beautiful, the best Mac award goes to the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. Why the 15-inch and not the 13-inch? Because the 15-inch is actually a little thinner than the 13-inch. Also, as my office is mobile, I prefer to carry the largest screen around with me that I can. For me, working in Word or Pages on a 15-inch screen is leaps and bounds better than working on a 13-inch screen. And, as with the iPhone and iPad before it, once you use a Retina display, it's hard to work on anything non-Retina. Best iOS game: The Walking Dead This is the one thing on my list that is truly a bright and shining example of a standout product in 2012. Yeah, there were tens of thousands of new iOS games this year, so why pick The Walking Dead? Because it brought back my faith that video games could be used to convey emotional, gripping stories. And that's where this game succeeds wildly. The entire team at Telltale Games deserves props for game play, art direction, and everything else that goes into making a game. However, it's the writers that deserve a standing ovation. The best video games on any platform (almost like a good book) are the ones that can get the reader emotionally attached to the characters. More than that, the best games (again, like the best books) are the ones that let us peek into the human condition and tell us something about the world around us -- and ourselves. And yes, the game is set in a world where zombies walk the earth, but that in no way implies that the story is not compelling or relevant. The world of iOS gaming is primarily dominated by "casual" games. They're games like Doodle Jump and Angry Birds (both fun games, mind you) that we play when we have five minutes to kill while on the train or waiting for an appointment. Games with complex, gripping stories are a rarity outside of the console world. That's why The Walking Dead is such an outstanding game. If you haven't played it, grab it this week while the first episode is free. The game is normally $4.99 for the first episode and $4.99 for each additional episode (or $14.99 if you buy the remaining episodes at once). There are five episodes in total and, once completed, they form a compelling story. Also keep in mind that The Walking Dead game is based on the comic book universe and not the TV series; however, players can enjoy the game without familiarity with either series. Best iOS app: Google Maps Enough has been said about Apple Maps this year. It was a huge mess that led to the firing of at least two senior executives at Apple and was a rare major failing on the company's part. Sure, Apple will keep building on its maps, and sometime in the future the company's back-end database may be adequate for most users. In the meantime, users are flocking to Google Maps via the new dedicated iOS app. In less than 48 hours there were over 10 million downloads of the app; while it wasn't out in time to be included in Apple's "Most downloaded apps" lists this year, something tells me that in its three short weeks of 2012 downloads, it may end up as the most downloaded app of the year. Besides being a wonderfully designed app with vector maps and turn-by-turn directions -- and an incredible POI database and search features -- I love the Google Maps app so much because it let me come back to the iPhone. I was finally able to buy that iPhone 5 I wanted so much, rather than bailing out to a Samsung phone. Best reader: The paperback I read a lot. My pace is about one book a week. This year I gave iBooks a real shot, having bought ten books through the iBookstore. And while the iPad's Retina display made ebooks much more pleasurable to read, the iPad is still too heavy and distracting to use as a dedicated e-reader. I also gave the new Kindle a shot. Again, nice, but for me it doesn't compare to a printed book. The only e-reader I found that I liked (primarily due to its size) was the Txtr Beagle, which I reviewed for The Guardian. However, that e-reader won't be out anywhere until next year, and in the US even later than in Europe, so I can't recommend it yet (not to mention I played with a prototype). 2012 saw e-readers move in the right direction, but for now the old-fashioned paperback book still rules. I wish picking the winners of tech in 2012 had been more work, with a larger pool of contenders to sort through. There just weren't. While I feel my choices (particularly The Walking Dead) are all bright spots, here's hoping 2013 brings much more than 2012 did.
Holiday game sales continue: Kingdom Rush, 2K Games, The Walking Dead, and more
We're rolling right up to Christmas next week, which means 'tis the season for big discounts and freebies on App Store titles, as publishers try to climb up in the charts going into the big gift-giving event. Kingdom Rush (which some say is the best tower defense game on the App Store) is now free, and the team would also like you to know that it's entered the game in the Steam Greenlight program, if you'd like to support it over there. 2K Games is having a great big sale, featuring Borderlands Legends for just US$0.99, Civ Rev and Sid Meier's Pirates for 99 cents as well (which is pretty amazing), along with a few other titles at the same price. Telltale's The Walking Dead Game is winning acclaim all over the gamingsphere, with plenty of Game of the Year nods already, and the company has decided to give the first episode of the title away for completely free on the App Store. Download this one right now if you haven't played it yet -- if you're a fan of zombies or just really well-made mature games, you won't regret it. Telltale has also got quite a few other games on sale, including Puzzle Agent, the Monkey Island series and almost all of its other episode titles, all for just 99 cents. Cut the Rope HD is just a buck right now. Almost all of Gameloft's games are on sale as well, for just 99 cents. The Settlers HD and Nova 3 are probably the biggest standouts, but there are a lot of options there. Rodeo Games' Hunters: Episode 1 is also on sale, as is Hunters 2. Whew! And we've only just started this week. Stay tuned for lots more gigantic sales as the week goes on.
Dish Network settles Voom HD lawsuit, AMC comes back on the air tonight
Dish Network customers have been without AMC and its family of channels since July 1st, but thanks to a settlement between the satellite company and Cablevision's former Voom HD unit, AMC will be back on the air starting tonight. The possibility of a settlement leaked out late last week via a court filing, and it looks like Dish CEO Charlie Ergen will avoid taking the stand Monday after all. According to the terms, Dish will hand over $700 million in cash plus its 20 percent stake in Voom, and receive 500MHz of video and data spectrum licenses in 45 areas. In a separate deal, Dish and Cablevision spinoff AMC Networks have a new multiyear deal that should bring back AMC (on channel 131) in time for The Walking Dead to air tonight, and all of its other channels (IFC, WE tv, Sundance and for the first time, Fuse) starting November 1st. While Dish had previously claimed the channel deal was being held up by AMC's distribution of its shows via iTunes, Netflix and Amazon, now that lawsuit is over those concerns seem to have faded away.
Must See HDTV (October 8th - 14th)
The fall premiere season is hardly over, with CW taking the wraps off of if its new comic book adaptation, Arrow (preview video embedded after the break) while NBC and ABC unveil Chicago Fire and Nashville. Of course, some old favorites are returning too, and web series Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog is making its TV debut Tuesday night. Oh, and some little flick called E.T. is coming home on Blu-ray for the first time. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. The Walking Dead After season two's exciting finale we are once again all in on AMC's zombie apocalypse series. Fans of the comic are looking forward to seeing characters like Michonne and The Governor, but first our ragtag band of survivors will apparently try to take control of a prison. Should be a piece of cake. Check out the season three trailer embedded after the break and set your DVR for Sunday night. (October 14th, AMC, 9PM) Prometheus The sci-fi movie that has produced more divisive opinions than any other in 2012 finally hits Blu-ray this week. Complete with a 3D edition and requisite iPad companion app, the hook is promises of extra scenes and background information that may help fill in this story. Unfortunately, unlike one of director Ridley Scott's other flicks, Blade Runner, the extras aren't smoothly integrated as an XL-sized director's cut, at least not in this edition. Still, if you dig it there should be plenty to keep you watching once the movie is over, and while it's playing the visual effects will entertain. ($24.99 on Amazon) The League Whether you're as obsessed with fantasy football as we are or not (hopefully not, it's just unhealthy at some point) this series about a group of friends and their league is one of the most consistently funny shows of the last few seasons. Last season ended with the Shiva trophy getting a viking funeral at sea, and while we have on idea how they'll top that, we suspect Rafi will be involved somehow. Of course, it's not the only show on FX Thursday night, as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns ahead of it this week, with shows from Russell Brand and W Kamau Bell bringing up the rear. (October 11th, FX, 10:30PM)
The Walking Dead developer discusses multi-platform development
The Walking Dead is one of a growing number of game titles which were designed from the start to run on multiple platforms, including the major gaming consoles, OS X, Windows and iOS. Venture Beat talked to Steve Allison of Telltale Games about the game's roots and some of the challenges involved in a multi-platform launch. Allison points out that smartphone and tablet specs are creeping close enough to desktops and consoles that a multi-platform launch now makes sense. He says, "Given the rise of smartphone and tablet specs that are now in the same range as our target PC and home console specs, as long as we make a great narrative entertainment experience, a Telltale game is going to be fairly rock-solid and consistent across every platform for the most part." The short interview also talks about the difficulty of timing a launch across several, very different platforms and discusses some of the tweaks the team made for iOS. You can read the full interview on Venture Beat's website.
Dish Network, AMC dispute could see the network's channels dropped this summer
It wasn't that long ago that Dish Network was proudly offering AMC HD to its customers (especially since DirecTV didn't, which has since been rectified) but now the company is willing to let the network's contract expire this summer, taking new episodes of Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead away from subscribers. The source of the sudden animosity, according to a press release from AMC, is continuing litigation between it and Dish Network over dropping the Voom HD channels back in 2008, leading to them going dark soon after. The LA Times reports Dish Network claims the denial of its appeal on a decision in the case has nothing to do with its sudden change of heart is solely about AMC's high renewal cost for a relatively low viewership. Whatever you believe, the sniping and threats will likely continue right up until the contract runs out June 30th, which is at least long enough for this season of Mad Men to finish on its own.
Must See HDTV (October 10th - 16th)
Baseball playoffs are in full effect and altering TV schedules, so if you're digging Fox's lineup then too bad -- it's going to be mostly on ice for the next couple of weeks. We've still got a few major fall premieres trickling in, but the most significant addition are the first Blu-ray titles with Ultraviolet (Horrible Bosses, Green Lantern). Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. Forza Motorsport 4 It's no big secret that around these parts, our love of things that plug in and log on only narrowly beats out the need to go fast, and since we can't drive every car in real life, we'll leave that up to Forza. The fourth iteration of Turn 10's driving game arrives this week and has racked up a list of glowing reviews. New this time around are Kinect-enhanced car walkarounds and driving, enhanced community features and a revamped career mode. The only knock seems to be that some things are a little too familiar from its predecessors, but we can't wait to get behind the wheel and find out ourselves. ($59.99 on Amazon, October 11th) Psych The Adventures of Shawn & Gus' Psychic Detective Agency continue on this week, and while that title may make one USA's best show's appear somewhat childish, we assure you -- it's even more childish than you think. Of course, one of the appeals of Psych is its retro flair (so far we've seen Ralph Macchio as a guest star and an entire episode spoofing Twin Peaks) so if you're in the target age range and haven't quite grown up, this is one to watch. (October 12th, USA, 10PM) The Walking Dead One of last season's most-talked about shows, this tale of survival in a zombie infested wasteland came in with a bang and went out with a whimper. We'll be watching to see if it can retain the crunchy action flavor of the first few episodes and avoid the boring melodrama that came in later on. If you're willing to risk a few spoilers (surprise, the RV breaks down at the worst possible time) then check out the season two trailer after the break. (October 16th, AMC, 10PM)
DirecTV adds AMC-HD next week, too bad Mad Men is still six months away
After slowing its pace of adding HD channels dramatically as of late, DirecTV has finally satisfied one of the loudest and longest running customer requests by announcing AMC-HD will come to its satellites starting September 9th. There's still a pretty long list of channels it's not offering yet, but if you're on contract and just want to enjoy some Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Mad Men (when it returns in March) in HD then today's Facebook posting (just hours after it was dug up by the satellite sleuths at DBSTalk) is exactly what you've been waiting for. [Thanks, Joe & Casey]
Vudu adds TV shows to its rental catalog, but only some are in HD
Here we go again with a good news / bad news announcement from Vudu, as it's added a nice catalog of TV shows to its library for rent and/or purchase. The bad news however, is that despite having the 1080p / 5.1 audio HDX technology we've come to know and love, it's currently only offering a small subset of them in anything other than standard definition. Like other online stores, there's an odd situation where some things are a decent value (season one of The Walking Dead is $26.99 on Blu-ray at Amazon, $15.99 on iTunes in HD, and $16.99 on Vudu HDX) and others are not (season six of Weeds is $27.99 on Vudu HDX, $23.99 on Blu-ray at Amazon and $38.87 on iTunes) so shop carefully. Given time the library will probably even out more in quality and price and once Vudu is available on more devices (and hopefully in HD on the PC at some point) there will be more reasons to consider it as a VOD option.
