Archive for the ‘News’ Category


April Fools – Sony VAIO Q Series Ultrabook Launched

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Sony did have some good news today to counterbalance the rather shocking PS Vita news.  Via their corporate blog Sony both announced and launched a new VAIO Ultrabook.  What makes this Ultrabook special is that it is by far the smallest laptop ever mass-produced.  With a screen size of only 1.25″x0.75″, the VAIO Q can easily fit in pretty much anybody’s pockets.  The specs that they managed to pack into this device (as listed above) are also astounding and almost blow my huge custom gaming computer out of the water.  Needless to say, such a capable, 3D-enabled computer of such miniscule dimensions is really putting the heat on portable video game consoles, as why would you want to carry around devices with bulky 3″ screens when you could play Crysis 2 at Max DirectX 11 settings anywhere you wanted?

I’m going to have to drop by my local Sony store pretty soon to check this out because I still have a couple reservations.  The monocle that they show that’s used to make the screen appear larger looks slightly uncomfortable.  I hope that they had the foresight to put padding on it or something to reduce strain when gaming for a couple hours at a time.  The keyboard and trackpad are also so small that they’re basically mutually exclusive, meaning that you could probably only manage to use one of them at a time.  There is a dock that allows you to attach regular USB peripherals to the VAIO Q and I hope that it comes with it for free, because I can imagine that most people that will but this device will probably want to supply their own keyboards and mice to ensure that they can be used at the same time, especially for gaming purposes.  Make sure to check out the announcement video or the official product page to see a few of the different ways in which this clever piece of tech can be used.

We’ll have an impressions article about whether or not this will end up being a good gaming device in the next couple of days when we get a chance to visit a Sony store and try it out. 

April Fools – PS Vita Distribution Halted Due To Apple Injunction

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Apple has continued its series of lawsuits against just about everything with a multi-touch touchscreen, this time targeting the PS Vita.  The lawsuit, which has apparently been in the US courts since the announcement of the system as the NGP but kept quiet in the media by both sides, shows Apple claiming the PS Vita’s menu “is a flagrant and shameless imitation of our iOS interface”.

Apparently the courts have granted not only an injunction against the importation of new PS Vita units from Japan, but also the removal of remaining units from store shelves and online retailers within the next 48 hours.  Sony is still hopeful that they can beat the pressure from Apple as Jack Tretton, Sony USA President, posted on his Twitter feed, “We hope to see the Vita back in production and back on sale within the next seven days”.

So, if you were on the fence about getting a PS Vita, now would probably be your best (and perhaps last) opportunity to get one.  Just be sure to pay extra for overnight shipping if you’re ordering it online, because if your order doesn’t get processed in time you’ll be out of luck like Sony themselves.

We’ll keep you posted on any further developments in this unprecedented dispute.

Source

April Fools – Assassin’s Creed Kinect Announced

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

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Ubisoft announced an Assassin’s Creed Kinect game today without a solid release date.  It seems that instead of being a spin-off of Assassin’s Creed 3 that it’s going to be another chapter in the already much too long Ezio saga surrounding Assassin’s Creed 2.  We still don’t have a Kinect for the Game Usagi office and this new entry into the Assassin’s Creed series isn’t really making us chomp at the bit to get one either.  The controls, like in many other Kinect games, look too involved to be engaging or fun even in small amounts.  If Microsoft wants the Kinect to be taken seriously, this is certainly not the way in which to do it.

April Fools – New Awesome ThinkGeek Products

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

No, this is not a paid advertisement, we just wanted to let you know about all of the neat and original new products that the gamer/nerd product megagiant ThinkGeek has unveiled today.  We’ll tell you about the gaming-related ones here, but you can go to thinkgeek.com to check out all of the other cool Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. ones too.

First off, as pictured above, there are Minecraft-themed Peeps called Creeps!  Peeps are one of my perennial favourite Easter candies (for those who don’t know they’re like sugar-coated marshmallows).  At $5 a case they’re significantly more expensive than regular Peeps, but they make up for it with their awesome look.  I want some even though I’ve yet to play Minecraft myself. Read on to find out about the other new products they’re offering.

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April Fools – Google Maps Expanding Device Compatibility

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Google Maps is available in some form or another on most of the electronic devices that you can purchase these days.  Google, never satisfied with their ubiquity, has come up with a new initiative to start supporting retro devices with Google Maps.  The first classic device that they are going to support is arguably the best-selling electronics device of all time, the NES or Famicom.  With roughly 62 million units in the wild, there won’t be a shortage of people willing to try out Google Maps on their old consoles.  To compensate for the NES’ lack of raw processing power, Google says that they’re going to do the brunt of the calculations required on a very large array of computers and basically just use the NES/Famicom as a display device.  All you have to do is pop the cartridge into your console, connect a phone line (perhaps blow on the cartridge), and then you’re all set to use all of the features of Google Maps (including Street View) in a retro-chic way on your classic Nintendo system. Google was even nice enough to but a beta preview of this new functionality into the current maps.google.com, so head on over there and hit the “Quest” button if you want to check out what your town or some international landmarks look like in all of their 8-bit glory. 

As a proud owner of both an NES and a Famicom, I’ll probably buy a cartridge or two depending on the price if only just for the awesome retro-ness of it all.  You can see the announcement video for the Google Maps NES service after the jump (and yes, it’s one of the Youtube videos you get GP for watching!)

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