Gadgets and Video Games

Doug Lombardi has told Joystiq that a multiplayer demo for Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 is planned for both the Xbox 360 and PC. According to Valve’s PR guru, users who pre-order the upcoming zombie survival title at “participating retailers or [via] Steam” will gain “advanced access to the demo,” which will eventually land on both platforms for all users prior to the game’s November 17 launch. Speaking with OXM at a recent London preview event, Lombardi discussed the strength of Left 4 Dead ’s “word of mouth,” which has presumably fueled the need for a demo to the sequel

Go here to read the rest:
Valve: Left 4 Dead 2 multiplayer demo on its way

Select individuals have been seen sporting Halo -themed Avatar clothing recently, with fine young gentleman Randy No Arms being the latest spotted. It makes sense, considering the guy works for Microsoft , but are these new duds a part of the Avatar rewards beta , or is this the Avatar marketplace at work? Regardless, we’re totally jealous he’s sporting a slew of Halo- branded clothes, including a hat emblazoned with the UNSC symbol, a shirt with a pair of crossed energy swords, and a nice pair of khaki shorts with the Spartan helmet on the left leg.

See more here:
Halo-themed Avatar clothing spotted in the wild

Select individuals have been seen sporting Halo -themed Avatar clothing recently, with fine young gentleman Randy No Arms being the latest spotted. It makes sense, considering the guy works for Microsoft , but are these new duds a part of the Avatar rewards beta , or is this the Avatar marketplace at work? Regardless, we’re totally jealous he’s sporting a slew of Halo- branded clothes, including a hat emblazoned with the UNSC symbol, a shirt with a pair of crossed energy swords, and a nice pair of khaki shorts with the Spartan helmet on the left leg. Be sure to hit up our gallery below for some shots of the Avatar marketplace from E3 , complete with Gears of War 2 and Halo storefronts. Halo-themed Avatar clothing spotted in the wild originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST

Originally posted here: 
Halo-themed Avatar clothing spotted in the wild

Perhaps as penance for all the brains it’s helped to rot with WoW , Counter-Strike and Dolphin Olympics over the years, AMD has announced that it has awarded three grants for the creation of educational or “serious” games to build skills in science, technology and math. There are, of course, no specific games being talked about, but we’ve got some killer ideas if anyone wants to break us off a piece of that sweet, sweet grant money. (Oh, a sneak preview? How about a fully 3D version of Mathman ?

View original here: 
AMD doles out grants for educational game push

In this day and age we’re seeing more often than not gadgetry that tries to do everything. Refrigerators that make shopping lists, cell phones with screens you can barely see with the ability to browse the web, toilet paper dispensers that connect to your iPod. How much do we need? And how many gadgets do you really use on a daily basis? (continue reading…)

In this season of giving, Blockbuster is giving themselves a 40 percent raise. For those of us that are signed up for Blockbuster’s mail order DVD service, they send you 3 then you can exchange them for movies at your local Blockbuster; we are in for a big rate hike.

The 40 percent rate increase is quite unbelievable, but this rate hike was inevitable being that Blockbuster lost $37.8 million in the third quarter of 2007. (continue reading…)

Okay it is Friday night and you plan on sitting down to watch The DVD that you just paid $29.99 for. You are subjected to the countless number of previews at the beginning of the disk, no problem, you simply skip forward to the movie. You get a quarter of the way through the movie and a commercial pops up pushing some useless product that you could care less about. At first you say what the heck is going on? This is a DVD, there isn’t suppose to be any commercials! You try to skip forward and your player does not respond. So what is really going on? (continue reading…)

The new Zune 80GB launched last Tuesday has already sold out across the web. This comes to no surprise to myself. Take for instance the game systems that are released in November for the coming Christmas season, there are never enough to supply the demand.

Sure I can get a 4GB or 8GB at my local retailer or web retailer, yet I can’t seem to find the 80GB at Best Buy, Amazon or Circuit City’s web site. “Sorry little Timmy, no 80GB Zune in your stocking this year for you”. (continue reading…)

I’ve been shopping for electronics for quite some time now, and I’m no newcomer to the retail scene (I’ve worked in a retail store for more than a decade now), but it seems that as technology is advancing, companies more often are placing a lower emphasis on quality customer service. The focus of this article is the retail big box chain Best Buy, but this could easily be transposed with just about any retailer out there.

So lets get on with it; my latest gripe about Best Buy! (continue reading…)