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Latest Gear Live Videos
Angry Birds take over Seattle’s Space Needle
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Misc. Tech, Video Games,
For those that live in Seattle, you might have noticed the bird-like tumor growing on the Space Needle. Upon closer examination, you'll realize it's an Angry Bird. You might be asking yourself, what's going on? Well, it’s all for the sake of marketing.
The popular mobile game, Angry Birds, has taken over our phones, toys, apparel, a racing team, and now the city of Seattle. The 35-foot suspended bird, held by a T-Mobile slingshot, is a part of a marketing scheme to promote the newly themed game, Angry Birds Space, which was released on March 22.
Peter Vesterback went on the record saying, “We wanted to do all things space and Seattle is famous for the Space Needle, so that’s why we’re here.”
Sadly, the bird won't be launched from the Space Needle, but nevertheless, it stirred up quite a bit of media buzz around the Emerald City.
Read More 
| Seattle PI
Gallery: Angry Birds take over Seattle’s Space Needle
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Zynga acquires OMGPOP, picks up Draw Something and other social games
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Corporate News, Software, Video Games,
For those on the go, iPhone and Android smartphones have been a lifesaver for mobile entertainment and keeping in contact with friends on the go. Once in a while, an app comes along that even uses your social network as the basis for an entertainment experience with something so addicting that even its competitors are threatened by it.
We’re taking about the game Draw Something, made by OMGPOP. It climbed its way to the top of the App Store and Android App Market and stayed there, out growing Zynga’s Words with Friends in popularity. Zynga wasn’t having any of this, so only one option remained—Zynga acquired Draw Something for a rumored $180 million, plus another $30 million for employee retention payouts, in an insanely smart move. Zynga is also acquiring a portfolio of over 35 social games aside from Draw Something, and the takeover is effective immediately. Current OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter is now Vice President and General Manager of Zynga New York.
Read More | Yahoo! Finance
Gallery: Zynga acquires OMGPOP, picks up Draw Something and other social games
Photographing the Lamborghini Aventador like a boss using a light on a stick and Forza 4
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Design, Transportation, Video Games, Videos,
I may not shoot often, but when I do I make sure I shoot like a boss. Now, grante,d access to the most expensive equipment may not always be something that you can count on, but regardless of what camera you've got, lighting is key in any shot. Apart from solid lighting, thinking outside the box may also be necessary, as Blair Blunting uses Forza 4 to get inspiration for shooting the Lamborghini Aventador. Don’t believe us? Check out the video above!
Read More | AutoBlog
Gallery: Photographing the Lamborghini Aventador like a boss using a light on a stick and Forza 4
Ask Andru: Should I get Kinect if I use my Xbox 360 primarily for watching Netflix?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Microsoft, Video Games, Videos,
We're back with another edition of Ask Andru - this time we're focusing on the wildly popular Kinect add-on, and how useful it might be for Xbox 360 owners who primarily use their consoles for watching streaming video. On to the question:
My family has an Xbox 360 but we end up using it primarily for Netflix, not games. I've read that the recent Xbox Live update added more ways to navigate menus and content using voice and gestures with Kinect. Is it worth buying a Kinect just for those controls, if we don't use it to play games? Is talking and waving at the TV better than using the controller?
It's true--Microsoft recently released an update for the Xbox 360, known as the Fall 2011 Dashboard Update, that has fully optimized the console's interface for use alongside the Kinect add-on. Many early adopters of Kinect complained about how clunky and tacked on the experience felt when trying to navigate menus while using the Xbox 360 outside of gaming, and the update pretty much solved all of those problems. Now, it's easy to "grab" something on screen, swipe through menus, and make selections using hand gestures. Even cooler, though, is that the dashboard is now pretty much fully navigable using just your voice. Simply say "Xbox" and all your options for where you can go are displayed on the screen. If you can see it, you can pretty much say it. Here's a video I made that looks at the features you'll find in the latest update:
Gallery: Ask Andru: Should I get Kinect if I use my Xbox 360 primarily for watching Netflix?
Get a 12-month Xbox Live subscription for $35 (40% off!)
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Video Games,
Looking to pick up a 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription on the cheap? Head on over to Amazon right now to grab one for 40% off. Seriously, you'll pay $35 instead of the typical $60, and you get access to stuff like Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, and much more on your Xbox 360. Even if you're in the middle of a subscription, you can just get one and extend whatever time you have left by another year.
Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.
Gallery: Get a 12-month Xbox Live subscription for $35 (40% off!)
Top 10 Gear Live Videos of 2011
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smartphones, Features, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Video Games, Videos,
2011 will come to an end in just a few short hours, and we are just in time with our annual top 10 list of the most-watched Gear Live video episodes. Over the past year, as expected, there was a bunch of Apple gear that made the list, but the HTC Thunderbolt gets two of the top spots, as does the Motorola Xoom.
Oh, and if you wanna be sure to get our new video episodes as they come out in 2010, be sure to subscribe to us in iTunes, on YouTube, or in your RSS reader!
Also, you can check out the top ten videos from 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 - and when you're done, be sure to check out the top 10 most popular Gear Live stories of 2011 as well!
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Gallery: Top 10 Gear Live Videos of 2011
AMD Radeon HD 7970 review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, PC / Laptop, Product Reviews, Video Games,
The perpetual war for supremacy between AMD and Nvidia constantly leaves enthusiasts dodging shrapnel: When you want the best video card you can afford, why buy one now instead of waiting for the better one the competing chipset designer will undoubtedly release in a few months? This leaves reviewers in a tough spot, too, as we're constantly proclaiming that nearly every new card is the fastest ever. But because you can only live in the world you live in, we're obliged to go there. So, here goes once again: The just-released AMD Radeon HD 7970 ($549 list) is the latest fastest and most feature-rich single-GPU card ever, surpassing our previous Editors' Choice winner, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 580.
Though we have little doubt that Nvidia will yank back that title with its next generation of cards, the 7970 is an impressive achievement for the moment. (It's rumored to become widely available by early January of 2012.) The inaugural member of the Southern Islands family, it utilizes a fresh architecture AMD refers to as "Graphics Core Next." Based on a new 28nm process technology and utilizing more than 4.3 billion transistors, Graphics Core Next uses a revised instruction set architecture, gives each compute unit the ability to simultaneously execute instructions from multiple kernels, and delivers an increased number of instructions per clock cycle per square millimeter of GPU space. The result, so AMD claims, is "designed for high utilization, high throughput, and multitasking."
Click to continue reading AMD Radeon HD 7970 review
Gallery: AMD Radeon HD 7970 review
3 big holiday game releases to add to your wish list
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Video Games,
Here we are in the week before Christmas, and while we hope that everyone's got their holiday shopping completed, we know from experience that it's a little too optimistic to think that way. We put together our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide in order to help guide you, but we've heard loud and clear that some of you felt the guide was a little light in the video game area. With that in mind, we've decided to compile three big holiday game releases that we think you should add to your wish list, if you haven't already. The holiday season is chock full of major game releases, so this obviously isn't a definitive list. Instead, it's a look at three titles that we think you shouldn't miss. A big thank you goes out to Sony's Xperia Play, which sponsored this post - if you're looking for the ultimate smartphone that can also run Playstation games, you'll wanna check out the Xperia Play.
These games should all be easy to find at your local Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Gamestop, and the like - so you don't have to wait for slow shipping that might ruin an otherwise perfect Christmas gift exchange. Now, on to the list - click on through for our thoughts!
Click to continue reading 3 big holiday game releases to add to your wish list
Gallery: 3 big holiday game releases to add to your wish list
Google takes down Shoot View, the Street View shooting game
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Google, Video Games,
Gamers are not averse to first-person shooters—Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, for example, earned $1 billion in just over two weeks. But what about when the targets are real, unsuspecting people on the sidewalks rather than cartoon soldiers?
That's the approach taken by Amsterdam-based ad agency Pool Worldwide, which used Google's Street View API to create "Google Shoot View," a game that lets players take aim at those who appear in the street-level, 360-degree images captured by Google's Street View cars.
"Google Shoot View. Explore the world at street-level... and fire a M4A1 assault rifle," Pool Worldwide said in a Dec. 9 tweet announcing the game (preview below).
Google was apparently not thrilled by the idea of having its technology used as the backdrop for a street-level killing spree. The search giant this week pulled Pool's access to its API—the code that allows developers to use the technology.
"Unfortunately, Google has killed the API so at the mo we can't run shoot view," Pool tweeted yesterday.
Click to continue reading Google takes down Shoot View, the Street View shooting game
Gallery: Google takes down Shoot View, the Street View shooting game
New Xbox Live Terms of Service say you can’t sue Microsoft
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Video Games,
Microsoft has wisely slipped a new proviso into the latest Xbox Live terms of service licensing agreement to prevent the kind of class action lawsuit Sony faced after the huge PSN data-breach and site downtime caused by hackers.
It's amusing since most of these agreements already take away the users' rights. The courts almost always uphold these supposed contracts, virtually giving any company the right to sell a faulty, or even dangerous, product.
Here is a snippet from the latest Xbox Live terms of service (TOS) :
"...if you live in the United States, you and Microsoft agree that if you and Microsoft do not resolve any dispute by informal negotiation ... any effort to resolve the dispute will be conducted exclusively by binding arbitration ... you understand and acknowledge that by agreeing to binding arbitration, you are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as a party or class member) all disputes in court before a judge or jury."
Note the "in the United States" proviso. Many foreign countries do not allow these sorts of contracts, but few make it easy to file a class action lawsuit so it is not as important.
Click to continue reading New Xbox Live Terms of Service say you can’t sue Microsoft
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