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Evil Avatar has shares details of a Full Auto Review.
Now here is a game that’s likely to split reviewers down the middle. Full Auto doesn’t quite feel finished, there are problems with using custom soundtracks and the Xbox Live hosting screen is very hard to read on standard definition televisions. Yet despite these problems there’s a really fun game that combines elements of Burnout and SpyHunter here.
I mostly agree with the above comments from my impressions of the demo. While I recognized I played just a demo and not the final game, I came away with mixed feelings. The game didn’t seem polished or really ready for release, but its concept was pretty cool. Hit the link below to then make the jump to the review. The game was given a 7 out of 10.
Read More 
| Evil Avatar
DMB (Digital Media Broadcasting) is quite popular in South Korea - not that odd considering it’s where the standard was created. DMB is a protocol by which digital television is delivered via terrestrial sources (T-DMB) or satellite (S-DMB). With some countries in Europe scheduling trials of the service, it has the propensity for becoming a standard
worldwide
everywhere but here in the U.S. Sadly, that makes the new SMU-D110 PMP from Samsung a “look, but don’t touch” kind of item. In addition to receiving DMB signals and playing video, the SMU-D110 also plays MP3s, can act as a picture frame (albeit a really small one with a 2.4” LCD), and has Bluetooth built in. No word on pricing, but then, it doesn’t really matter does it?
Read More | Akihabara News
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Xbox News reports that a DOA4 patch should be coming out this Februrary.
[The patch] would correct some of the data save problems and smooth out some of the balance between characters.
We’re glad developers are able to get patches out their to fix their games but is this becoming a problem? Similarly, Activision recently released a problematic COD2 - that locks up at times and has issues with multi-player. Are developers becoming too reliant on being able to patch games as they have in the PC market? Would they be more willing now to ship a glitch-filled product than before?
Read More | Xbox-News
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Black Hands-On Preview
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 2, Xbox,
Kikizo has posted a recent preview of EA’s upcoming FPS, Black. The game certainly looks impressive, and Kikizo says the game “could turn out just as great as Burnout” - since after all, it’s by the same developer. Of course, when it comes down to it, the verdict’s still out.
We haven’t seen enough of Black to be able to tell if it’ll live up to the hyperbole. Does it do for shooters what Burnout did for driving games? Mostly. But we’re betting (and hoping) that there’s still a lot for us to see. Check back next month when we jump the finished product through our hoops.
If you’d like to read more on the game and check out some media, check out Kikizo. We’re certainly looking forward to this one.
Read More | Kikizo
According to Major Nelson’s blog, the following is a list of the top ten most popular games played on Xbox Live last week.
1) Halo 2
2) Call of Duty 2
3) Perfect Dark Zero
4) Dead or Alive 4
5) PGR3
6) Need for Speed Most Wanted
7) Battlefield 2: MC
8) Madden NFL 06
9) Full Auto Demo
10) Madden NFL 2006
Firstly, is anyone surprised to see Halo 2 on top? With no real strong competition, it’s not much of a shocker. However, it’s good to see the newer Xbox 360 titles covering a good reminder of the list. I’m a bit surprised to see the Full Auto demo up there, but then again, the demo’s free and gamers are looking for more content. Unfortunately though, the Full Auto demo isn’t very hot and early word says the full version of the game is lacking.
Read More | Major Nelson
The new EGM features an interview with Reggie, what follows is a snippet of it:
EGM: When Nintendo first showed the controller, it said there were other functions it wasn’t talking about yet. Might those include a digital camera and microphone?
Reggie Fils-Aime: As much as I think [Nintendo President Mr. Satoru] Iwata likes me, if I shared that with you I probably wouldn’t be here. [Laughs] You know, here are the facts: Come [this May], we’ll disclose a lot more. After [that], we’ll disclose even more… There are certainly elements to everything we’re doing about Revolution—I’m talking beyond the controller, the virtual console, all the different elements...
While this really isn’t actually much of a hint, Reggie’s getting us excited about the Revolution all over again. Whatever Nintendo’s hiding, it’s going to be big.
Read More | 1Up
As if most people don’t have enough things crammed into their wallets, Wallatex has developed a flash drive that is the size and thickness (pretty close anyway) of a credit card. The Wallet Flash as it is so aptly named, can be had in a myriad of capacities from 64MB all the way up to 2GB. With ample “real estate” for company branding, the Wallet Flash can easily be used for promotional purposes, and the optional magnetic stripe lends the possibility of a multi-purpose card. Walletex has designed durability into the flash drive as it is waterproof, temperature tolerant, and made of “double laminated unbreakable plastic”. Unbreakable sounds good on paper, but that little USB connector sticking off of the drive is just begging to be snapped off.
Read More | Walletex via Cnet Asia
Conspiracy theories are born of concepts like this. Riya Photo Search is a photo-sharing website similar in nature to Flickr, SmugMug and Picturetrail, but with a twist. That twist is Riya’s software that performs facial recognition of the subjects in your photos. It works like this: you upload your images to Riya, go through those images and select the faces of people in them and associate names with those faces. Riya will then allow you to search your photo collection (as well as other’s publicly shared photos) for images that match who you’re looking for. Looking for that picture of Aunt Sally? As long as you have tagged a prior photo of her, Riya will pick out every photo that she is in. The software is also capable of text recognition so searching for street and business names becomes a reality. Riya’s beta phase starts soon and they are taking applications for people who want to give the service a try. Neat concept, but very creepy. We have hung with a few of the Riya peeps (like Tara Hunt) in the past - their team is damn cool.
Read More | Riya Photo Search
Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Action, Activision, Corporate News, Sports,
In a recent announcement, Activision declared that it would take Tony Hawk down a new road; specifically, into a Downhill Jam. The new Tony Hawk title, Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, is slated to be released within the next year - most likely during the holiday season. According to IGN, the title will be geared toward a younger audience.
I bet the main idea behind a move to a younger audience is as follows - Activision has the Hawk license for another ten years or so. Since sequels haven’t been selling as well recently, Activision might have decided to leave the Hawk license for the kids - who have always strongly latched onto celebrities and IPs - while reallocating assets to create new titles/IPs for the slightly older gamers who are becoming burned out on sequel after sequel.
Additionally, I’d expect THDJ to be a bit more linear in level structure. Downhill Jam was one of the levels in the original THPS where you basically skated down a linear venue. Certainly not one of my favorite levels in the series, but I’m still curious as to how this new title will turn out.
Read More | IGN
IGN’s put together quite a funny list that’s worth checking out. Which video game character would you say has the worst hair? Cloud? Knuckles? Snake? Take a look to see what IGN thinks.
Read More | IGN
