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It's not TV, it's HBO Go, and it's finally coming to Cablevision
Being a Cablevision customer was hard. Watching your colleagues with FiOS subscriptions stream Carnivale on their iPads, the guy who pays Dish Network for his programming could get Cinemax on his smartphone -- and all you had was YouTube for entertainment. Fortunately, the final major provider not to carry Home Box Office's online services has relented and you'll be able to enjoy both HBO Go and Go Max as soon as it's launched in "the next few months." Just remember that while you can now enjoy all those episodes of True Blood in public places, it doesn't necessarily mean that you should.
Infamous 2: Festival of Blood gets Truly Bloody this October [update: trailer!]
Electro-monster Cole from Infamous 2 is now an electro-vampire in Infamous 2: Festival of Blood, available on PSN this October. In this downloadable game, New Marais is infested by vampires. Cole is bitten, and must find the head vampire before the night ends, to reverse his condition. Does electricity hurt vampires? We'll find out, we suppose. Also, can you make a vampire game set in Louisiana and avoid comparisons to both Interview with the Vampire and True Blood? This post has already proven that you cannot. This was called a "brand new game available for download," which sounds more like a standalone PSN game than DLC. Update: The PlayStation Blog confirms that you don't need any other Infamous games to play this. It also posted the above trailer.
Fluorescent nanosensor tattoo monitors glucose under the iPhone's glare
Unless you're a True Blood diehard, the idea of bleeding yourself intentionally shouldn't really seem all that appealing. So imagine how most diabetics feel when they're forced to prick their fingers seven times a day in the name of health. Well, soon they might not have to thanks to a nanosensor tattoo and... an iPhone? Developed by Prof. Heather Clark and her Northeastern University team, this injection of subdermal nanoparticles combines "fluorescent dye, specialized sensor molecules...and a charge-neutralizing molecule" that attach to glucose, releasing ions and altering the tat's glow in the process. The researchers had originally designed a "large boxlike" tattoo-reading device, but an apparent Apple fanboy on the team modded an iPhone case with LEDs and a filter lens to make the whole affair a bit more stylish. Next up for the team is, you guessed it, an app for that -- although this one'll focus on sodium.
Rise and Shiny recap: City of Eternals
City of Eternals is somewhat of an enigma to me. I've heard of it off and on through the last few years. I've seen it before, and it doesn't seem as though it has changed much, if at all. I am familiar with it just because I have been covering games for a long time, yet I've never really checked it out. Sure, I poked my head into it through Facebook once or twice, but to be honest, I didn't really like what I saw. I am all about independent, different-looking, or not-so-pretty games... heck, if I weren't, I'd have nothing to play but bloated "AAA" grindfests. But there's just something about the skinny-jean, pleather-wearing vampire scene that I cannot stand. My wife is into True Blood, the campy, vamp-heavy, naked-people festival that shows on the HBO network, but at least the show has fun with it and builds up interesting characters. City of Eternals seems to be stuck in that cheesier area of vampire fandom, though. Still, I played it over the last week and started to enjoy it a bit, for a few different reasons. Click past the cut and I'll tell you about it.
PlayStation Network adds HBO content before Zune / Xbox 360, follows iTunes pricing
Congratulations PSN, you are the first video game console to sell content from HBO. That means you can't buy True Blood, The Sopranos or Rome on Xbox via Zune yet, but you already could on iTunes if you were willing to pay $3 per episode. Contrary to a few reports, that premium pricing doesn't extend to the rest of HBO's lineup which share their $2 per episode pricing with the SD versions of most TV shows on the PSN and elsewhere. It's actually not a terrible price, with the season two DVDs of True Blood available for $32 on Amazon buying all twelve episodes one by one will only cost an extra $4, and still let you avoid any that don't feature your character of choice removing their shirt. the only sad part is that just like iTunes, there's still no HD availability, so we hope you like 480p -- and if you're reading this site, you probably don't. Hey Sony, make a big deal when you've negotiated some higher resolution or lower prices than what's available elsewhere, and tell HBO to stop crowing to the Wall Street Journal about its ability to charge premium prices when it really isn't -- when you sell an episode of The Wire for the same price as the pilot for Bionic Woman that's nothing to brag about.
HBO joins PlayStation Network video service
Time Warner's premium cable channel is coming to the PS3 and PSP later today. Sony has just announced that programming from HBO will be made available via the PlayStation Network video delivery service in North America. The initial selection includes the both the first two seasons of True Blood (Season 2 debuts on DVD today, as well). In addition, select seasons of Big Love, Entourage, Eastbound and Down, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, Rome, Da Ali G Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Flight of the Conchords will also be available, with "more titles and additional seasons to be added each week." Pricing information wasn't made available in the press release, but we believe it will be similar to the content currently available on iTunes: $2.99 per episode. HBO enthusiasts will definitely want to stay tuned for tonight's PSN Tuesday update.
HBO files trademark for True Blood game
With True Blood character likenesses (hey Jason and Tara!) already showing up in Left 4 Dead 2 this year, it certainly took HBO long enough to wake up and smell the O+. Superannuation has noted a US trademark filing for a video game based on the down-home vampire series, which should make fangbangers everywhere happy.Of course, there's no word of what the game -- if one ever comes to sunlight -- will entail. HBO's never really sunk its teeth into major video game development before. Anyone remember those Sopranos games?
Telltale's next franchise announcements 'around October,' not necessarily comedies
Known for perfecting the episodic release, Telltale Games says it's stepping into "new genres." CEO Dan Connors told VG247 as much in a recent phone interview, and the idea for this move is coming from a somewhat expected place -- television shows like The Sopranos, Lost and True Blood. "We've already evolved the genre in a lot of ways ... but we believe there's a lot of head-room to make more dramatic advances in storytelling and drama inside of this genre [adventure games]." Considering the company's past work with franchises like CSI though, you could say this tale has already been told. (YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)Though Telltale will be at PAX alongside us and everyone we know, don't expect any announcements just yet. Connors says the soonest we'll be hearing about anything is "around October," so, ya know, get comfy.
Dead Space: Extraction guest stars in recent episode of True Blood
HBO's True Blood houses an all-star cast, one of which consistently tops the sales charts throughout the gaming world -- of course, we're referring to the Nintendo Wii. The home console has made multiple appearances in the show, from the main character showcasing his golf skills to its most recent cameo -- showing off the upcoming shooter, Dead Space: Extraction.In last night's week's season 2 episode, "New World In My View," Hoyt Fortenberry's aggressive mother waggles her way through a slew of Extraction enemies. While the game won't hit store shelves until September 29, the popular adult drama looks like as good a place as any to get the game's marketing machine rolling. Check out the clip after the break. Warning: The language is NSFW.[Via Video Games Blogger]
Screen Grabs: the G1 gets some serious love on 'Weeds' and 'True Blood'
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. If you're unfamiliar with either Showtime's series Weeds or HBO's True Blood, we'll catch you up to speed really quickly. The former is about a widowed housewife living in California who sells stolen gadgets to make ends meet for her family, while the latter is a Southern-fried tale of a Louisiana town infested with vampires plus a cute young woman who can see the future, and uses her power to predict Nokia's product roadmap for 2010. No? Well, that's what we thought we saw. We'll tell you this much: we definitely spotted the G1 in both shows this week. Yes, in Weeds Andy took a call from Nancy, and boom! Android screen, while on True Blood, Eric did some evil, tanktopped talking on his own. Who knew vampires were nerds? Second shot is after the break. [Thanks, Brendan]
HBO, Cinemax coming to Comcast's On Demand Online
Following Starz, HBO has announced plans to provide programming on Comcast's On Demand Online trial. Of course, this move shouldn't surprise anyone given previous hints HBO was looking for ways to brings its video online or previous trials it has participated in. Just like Starz, users can expect a mix of television shows and movies, basically reflecting the current on demand lineup, including series like True Blood and Entourage, further detailed in the press release after the break. Also like Starz, following the launch, HD streaming is expected -- clearly premium channel subscribers have the most reasons to be interested in being included in the 5,000 customer nationwide trial Comcast is launching in the coming weeks, but what about the basic cable only folks?
Blu-ray releases on May 19th 2009
After missing some great movies last week, for no good reason, we're back. The most exciting new release is easily Tom Cruise's Valkyrie, but Paramount also has an old favorite in Enemy at the Gates -- if you love playing the sniper in FPS games then this is a must see movie. Lionsgate gets ready for the latest Terminator movie in theaters by releasing special editions of the previous blockbuster hits. There are also a few TV shows this week which is a trend we like to see as True Blood and 24 both get the Blu-ray treatment. Next week is a little slower though, but Universal does have a few more catch up titles -- yeah we can't believe there are still any left either. Valkyrie (MGM) Lions for Lambs (MGM) The Machinist (Paramount) Enemy at the Gates (Paramount) Paycheck (Paramount) Three Days of the Condor (Paramount) Changing Lanes (Paramount) My Bloody Valentine (Lionsgate) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Lionsgate) Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Skynet Edition (Lionsgate) 24: Season Seven (Fox) Driven to Kill (Fox) Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (Fox) Batman (Warner) True Blood: The Complete First Season (Warner) A Bug's Life (Disney) Eden Log (Magnolia) Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony)
