Hey Got Gamers!

We have a Roger Ebert free show for you this week. Why? Because that games as art debate doesn’t matter. If you play video games, then just enjoy them; you don’t need anyone’s validation. And if you like playing games then you should also listen to the audio file below this sentence, or as we like to call it, the Got Game podcast for Saturday, April 24th, 2010.

[audio:http://bit.ly/anJU2y]

On this week’s show the Got Game crew discusses:

• the new features announced in the recently released Madden 11 trailer
• the pros and cons of having MLB.TV on your PS3
• why Ubisoft went paper free and if it’s the right choice
• plus with the help of Microsoft’s Jeff Rivait, they inspect Bungie’s upcoming Halo Reach Beta

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Plus Calhoun reviews The Passing DLC for Left 4 Dead 2.

And Cooper reviews a few new games for your iPhone.

All that and much much more on this edition of GOT GAME!

One of the coolest features in MLB 10: The Show is the ability to add walk up and reliever entrance music to the game.  If you are interested in taking advantage of this feature here is how it is done…

Step  one

The music must be saved onto your hard drive so either have a CD or a memory stick with your music in your PlayStation, scroll over to the music tab, highlight the songs you want , hit triangle and copy them to the system.

Step two

Alright so now you have to load the game…In the main game menu scroll to My MLB Music and there should be a list of all the music on your HD, select anything you would like to add and it should appear on the custom playlist side on the right.

Step three (optional)

If you don’t want the songs you added playing during the main menu go to Jukebox and deselect anything you added.

Step four

Select edit player out of the menu and pick the team and player that you would like to edit.  Click R1 till you see the selection Walkup music and select that choice.  You should see the list of songs, just pick the song you would like the player to walk up to or for the pitchers to enter the game with. 

Step five (optional)

There is also the option to have the song start at the part you like best.   To do that you have to go into Sounds of The Show and set “marks” for the song.  The editor is pretty straight forward.

 If you get stuck at any part be sure to email gotgame@fan590.com and If you use these instructions let me know which songs you use for which players…always looking for new ideas.

As for which songs the Jays are using this season I don’t have that information yet but if/when I get a hold of all the tunes I will do another post with all the information.   In the meantime if anyone has been to a game and can help just leave the song names in the comment section.

I’m not sure how many of you have been reading up on, and anticipating, the upcoming PS3 throw-back exclusive “3D Dot Game Heroes.”

It’s a tribute to those old RPG’s which we  we grew up on (notably the Zelda and early installments of the Final Fantasy series).

Either way, with the game set to release on May 11th, you can not only expect to hear more about this game on “Got Game”… but you can expect the unnerving sense to click the video below to feel the cooling breeze of sheer entertainment – Old Spice style.

(via kotaku)

Hey Got Gamers!

We just got a press release from Microsoft about Halo Reach. They’ve just confirmed that there will be special editions for the newest HALO game, and that you can start pre-ordering them today if you want.

According to that press release the Limited Edition will cost $89.99 and include:
• A “recovered ONI black box” which will hold the game disc
• An exclusive Elite armor set for use in multiplayer
• Artifact bag containing Dr. Halsey’s personal journal and other classified documents and effects that unravel long held secrets from the “Halo” universe

According to the press release the Legendary Edition will cost $149.99 and include:
• The game disc, manual, and the complete contents of the Limited edition
• Individually numbered Noble Team statue by the artisans at McFarlane Toys.
• UNSC-themed custom packaging
• An exclusive multiplayer Spartan armor effect

If none of those appeal to you, you can still purchase the standard edition (just the game and manual) for $69.99.

At the same time Microsoft pointed us in the direction of some new details for the HALO Reach Multiplayer. You can find those in this video documentary that the boys at Bungie just released.

The Halo Reach Beta starts in just under 2 weeks on Monday, May 3, 2010.

Hey Got Gamers!

If you haven’t heard yet, Ubisoft is planning to go green by eliminating paper manuals from all of the Xbox360 and PS3 games that they release in North America. Instead of paper, each PS3 and Xbox360 game will come with an “in-game digital manual.” This paper free program is set to start during the 2010 holiday season with Shaun White Skateboarding being the 1st console game to get 1 of the company’s digital manuals.

Ubisoft says that for each ton of paper they don’t use to make manuals, they’ll be saving approximately:

• 2 tons of wood (13 trees)
• 28 million BTU’s (British Thermal Unit)
• over 6,000 lbs of CO2 in greenhouse gases
• 15,000 gallons of wastewater

Ubisoft began using digital in-game manuals last month when they started this same program for their North American PC releases, but it seems like they feel that there’s still room to improve.

They’ve recently joined forces with Technimark, Inc. to create a more environmentally friendly DVD case for their PC titles. This 100% recycled polypropylene DVD case will start shipping in late April when they release Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, for the PC, on April 27th.

Ubisoft noted that their greener policies will be better for the average gamer as well. According to Ubisoft, “(placing) the game manual directly in the game will offer the player easier and more intuitive access to game information, as well as allow Ubisoft to provide gamers with a more robust manual.”

No word yet if this new policy will also include the printing and packaging of promotional material that are usually found inside the boxes of games released by most publishers.

Hey Got Gamers!

This is normally were I start off the blog by making a sarcastic comment, but I have something even better for you this week. It’s an audio file that you’ll find below this paragraph. However, before you listen to it, please enjoy this quick back story. As you now know, this is the week that Zack is reviewing Splinter Cell Conviction on our show; and as luck would have it, I recently found myself in the presence of the voice behind Splinter Cell’s protagnoist: Micheal Ironside. I bugged him for a second of his time and asked him how he got the role of Sam Fisher in the first place?

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/ironside-gg-20100417.mp3]

But that’s just a taste of things to come. The real meat of today’s trip down the video game rabbit hole can be found in this next audio file, or as we like to call it, the Got Game Podcast for April 17th, 2010.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/gg-zc-20100417.mp3]

We talked about a number of subjects during this week’s show. One of my favorites was our discussion about good movies based on video games. You’ll have to listen to the show to hear our thoughts on that subject, but I think there are a lot of possibilities out there that no one has taken advantage of yet:

1. Pac Man: The Movie

2. Mario Kart: The Movie

3. The Legend of Zelda (the movie)

And this last one is actually the real trailer for a game…

… but it’s also probably the closest I’ll ever get to a real HALO film; that is unless Bollywood decides to make one.

Another topic that took up a decent chunk of our time was the new gaming rigs coming out of Dell’s Alienware division. Like I said in the show, I was recently invited to go check out Alienware’s new Area 51, m17X, and m11X, and I may be in love with the m11X. If it’s just a crush, then I can at least still say that the m11X may be the most impressive gaming rig I’ve ever seen. It’s not the most powerful, but it offers as much power as the Playstation 3 in a tiny package that is roughly the same size as the Nintendo Wii. My thoughts on this tiny little gaming laptop are in the show, along with an interview I did with Alienware’s Eduardo Goyanes and pro gamer Andrew Ryder, but I did promise you guys pictures and specs.

m11X

Key Optional Features:
• Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo SU7300 (1.3GHz, 800MHz, 3 MB)
• Graphics: 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M
• Memory: Up to 8GB DDR34 800MHz
• Hard Drive: Up to 500GB5 7200RPM or 256GB5 Solid State Drive
• Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate

It also lacks any sort of disc drive, but it has more ports then you can shake a stick at:
• IEEE 1394a (4‐pin) port
• Integrated Ethernet RJ‐45 (100 Mbps)
• 3 Hi‐speed USB 2.0 ports
• DisplayPort / HDMI Video Output
• 3‐in‐1 Media Card Reader
• 2 Audio Out Connectors
• Audio In / Microphone Jack
• Two Built‐In Front Speakers

But in the end the dimensions and weight continue to be the most impressive part of this rig:
• Width: 11.25”
• Depth: 9.19″
• Height: 1.29″
• Weight: Starting at 4.39lbs with 8 cell battery

The Area 51 ALX

I found the Area 51 ALX to be as equally impressive as it’s tiny cousin, the m11X, but for different reasons. While the m11X was designed to be a very powerful but portable gaming laptop, the Area 51 ALX was designed to be the final word in gaming.

For example, in this picture…

… you can see a piece of dark blue plastic covering the bottom half of the cavity that houses all of the desktops parts. Now at first glance, that piece of plastic looks like it would only get in the way of anyone trying to gain access to the inside of this machine, but in reality it was specifically designed and positioned to alter the flow of air inside the box. This is done so that the key computer components for smooth gaming, like graphic cards, can be better cooled.

From top to bottom this thing was designed for only one purpose: gaming. Why else would they include a copper cold‐plated liquid cooling unit with the Intel® Core™i7 CPUs, a 1100 kilowatt power supply, anodized aluminum surfaces, a motorized front door, the automated Active Venting louver system (that look like a series of fins on the top of each Area 51 ALX), internal theater lighting, and 6 SATA2 hard drive bays in a isolated storage compartment (supports traditional hard drives and solid state drives).

Here are the specs:
• Processor: Overclocked* Intel® Core™i7 975 3.86 GHz (8MB Cache)Extreme Edition Quad Core Processor
• Graphics: Dual 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 2951– NVIDIA SLI Enabled!
• Memory: Up to 12GB DDR3 1600MHz
• Hard Drive: 7,200 and 10,000 RPM hard drives as well as Solid State Drives available varying configurations such as RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 1+0 technologies.
• Optical Drive: Dual Drives including a 6X Dual Layer Blu‐ray Disc™ Burner

Front I/O Ports:
(3x) High‐Speed USB 2.0
(1x ) eSATA
(1x) Firewire IEEE 1394
(1x) Microphone In
(1x) Headphone/Speaker Out
(1x) 19‐in‐1 Media Card Reader (optional)

Rear I/O Ports
(1x ) eSATA
(2x) RJ‐45 Gigabit Ethernet
(6x) High‐Speed USB 2.0
(1x) Firewire IEEE 1394
(1x) Microphone In
(1x) Line‐In
(1x) Front Left/Right Speakers
(1x) Center Speaker
(1x) Side Left/Right Speakers
(1x) SPDIF Digital Output (TOSLINK)
(1x) SPDIF Digital Output (Coax)
(2x) PS/2 (mouse/keyboard)

Dimensions & Weight:
• Width: 277.1mm (10.9″ )
• Depth: 656.3mm (25.8″ )
• Height: 557.6mm (22″ ) (1x) Rear Left/Right Speakers
• Average Weight: 38 Kg (84 lbs)

And on top of all that, I’ll be reviewing the new Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC for the Playstation 3 (yes I know the trailer says Xbox at the end but it was the best trailer I could find)…

… Zack will review Splinter Cell Conviction…

… plus we’ll have a lot of gaming news and more on this week’s edition of GOT GAME!

Hey Got Gamers!

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @GotGame590, because that’s the only place where you’ll get constant updates on our ever changing time slot; and how you can listen to Got Game live. However, if you’re unable to listen live, you could always catch the podcast each week. “Where do you find that,” you ask? Well one way is to search for “Got Game” on iTunes; you’ll find us in the podcast section of those search results, or you can just play the audio file below this paragraph. An audio file we like to call the Got Game podcast for April 11th, 2010.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/April-11th-Got-Game-20100412.mp3]

On this week’s show:

1. We start off by talking about an unofficial minor league update for MLB 10 the show. That update will give you the faces and features for the top five to ten prospects of each franchises. And as Momin promised on air, you can find that update HERE.
2. We also discussed the upcoming iPhone OS 4 (OS = Operating System). Now I’ll admit that when I first heard this news, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between OS4 and Xbox Live. However, this could do one good thing for Apple’s closed system service. It could put a brighter spotlight on the really good iPhone/iPad games, and help seprate decent programs from useless shovel-ware. I am not 100% convinced that will be the end result, but it’s possible. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you should listen to our show, or check out this preview we found on Apple’s website.
3. And we reviewed Just Cause 2 for your 360, PC and PS3…

         Paper Bridge for the iPhone…

         and Zack talks about his experience with a program called System Mechanic.

All that, plus an interview with two Ontario school teachers who are using gaming devices as serious teaching tool, gaming news, and more on this week’s GOT GAME!

This was a video we got linked to (thank you Aaron) on Twitter .

Hey Got Gamers!!!

Sorry that it took so long to get this show blog up. We’ve been having some technical issues with our website and that has kept us from posting this until now.

However, good things come to those who wait, and because you’ve waiting for such a long time, here is the Got Game Show blog for April 3rd, 2010. As always it will be in the audio file below this paragraph.

[audio:http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/got_game/gg20100403.mp3]

On this week’s show the Got Game crew discussed the iPad’s release and it’s launch list of game titles. We didn’t mention all of them (once again because that would be bad radio) but you can find them all here divided into the 7 different price points that they’re going to be released in.

iPad Games for $1

• Frogger Pad

iPad Games for $5

• Flight Control HD
• Pac-Man for iPad
• Top Gun

iPad Games for $7

• Let’s Golf HD
• NHL 2010 HD
• Uno HD

iPad Games for $8

• Tetris

iPad Games for $10

• X-Plane
• Cro-Mag Rally
• Scrabble
• Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance HD
• Super Monkey Ball 2
• Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone

iPad Games for $13

• Command & Conquer: Red Alert
• Mirror’s Edge

iPad Games for $15

• Need for Speed: Shift
• Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies

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Also, if you’re like me and you’re tired of the iPad already, then I got a treat for you guys. Special thanks to the Financial Post’s technology reporter, Matt Hartley, for point us in the direction of these videos that showcase iPad destruction.

We also discussed the story of man who allegedly tried to steal an unreleased game directly from the PAX East show floor. The game is called Breach, it’s the next project by the guys who tried to make Six Days in Fallujah. We’ll discuss that situation in this week’s show, so tune in for that, but incase you haven’t heard of this game (and at until now not many people have) here is some gameplay footage of Breach, shot on the PAX EAST show floor.

We also got in our reviews of the new Heavy Rain DLC.

And Perfect Dark for Xbox Live.