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On Gear Live: 10 gadget sightings in Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance music video

Bleeding Edge TV 318: Xbox Live Fall Dashboard Preview: Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Zune 1080p

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, High Score, Features, Internet, Podcasts, Software, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos

We got our hands on the new Fall 2009 Dashboard update, which features Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, and Instant-on 1080p movie streaming from Zune. You can get the full scoop in the video, but in a nutshell, here are our thoughts:

  • Facebook: Facebook on Xbox 360 is integrated well into the console. We like that you can see which of your Xbox 360 friends are on Facebook, and which Facebook friends have an Xbox 360 account. The problem is that the Xbox 360’s ridiculous friend limit really stands out here. You have a limit of 100 friends, and if you have a bunch of friends on Facebook that you want to connect with, you will quickly find that you have to pick and choose. You see what I mean in the video. Other than that, being able to view profile data and photo galleries of friends is a nice touch. Updating or commenting sucks if you don’t have a Chatpad.
  • Twitter: Twitter, on the other hand, is way too simple for our liking. It shows you the last 50 tweets from people you following, trending topics, and basic profile info. You can also send tweets out from the Xbox 360, but it’s frustrating to do, unless you have a Chatpad handy.
  • Last.fm: This works as expected. You sign in, and you get access to all your channels, and you can create new channels on the fly. What sucks? You can’t see your Last.fm friends, which is something I miss. Even worse? The music only plays when you are actually in the Last.fm area. If you leave, the music stops. This means you can’t carry it over to the dashboard, or in-game. So really, what’s the point?
  • Zune Instant on 1080p: This was awesome. Definitely blew me away. We streamed a portion of the movie 300. After a bandwidth test, the Xbox 360 confirmed we were good to go for instant 1080p streaming, and it delivered. Fantastic. The best streaming video quality we’ve seen from any service.

There are a few other new details as well, and we give you a detailed look at it all in this video. Sit back and enjoy!


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Bleeding Edge TV 312: Xbox 360 August 2009 Dashboard Update Walkthrough

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, High Score, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos

A few days ago we did a quick post of our Xbox 360 August Dashboard Update video, promising that we’d publish the actual video podcast version later. Well, here it is. In case you missed it, we give you a 35-minute full walkthrough of the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update, giving you a look at the new features, Avatar Marketplace, Games on Demand, Indie Games, and more. Go ahead and give it a look for all the goods. Definitely a nice, solid Xbox 360 update.


Bleeding Edge TV 311: Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, PC / Laptop, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos

We got our hands on the Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 personal video recorder, and we bring you a review of this unit in this episode. The Hauppage HD PVR 1212 connects to your peripherals using component cable, and then goes out to your display over component as well. It captures the video output live, and records it to a computer, which will then let you edit that video. It is fantastic at recording video game sessions in full HD resolution, as we demonstrate in the video. Take a look, and if you want one, you can pick up the Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 on Amazon.


Bleeding Edge TV 296: New Xbox Experience definitive walkthrough video

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, High Score, Design, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos


We know a lot of you owners are counting down the days to November 19th, which is the day that everyone will be able to download the dashboard update. Until then, we figured we’d give you a nice, full walkthrough of the update and its interface. Our friends up in Redmond were able to send the update to one of our two Xbox 360 consoles, which in turn, allows us to bring you this exclusive first-look walkthrough.

We show you everything, from the boot-up video, the new HDTV display output options, Xbox avatars, , and a whole lot more. Our early thoughts? We love it. In fact, we love it so much, that we now hate our second Xbox 360, which still has the old, busted blade interface. We want NXE on that one as well.

One thing we mentioned in the video that we need to clarify, though. As it turns out, Netflix HD streaming should be available on other Netflix-enabled hardware devices on November 19th as well, as opposed to HD streaming being exclusive to the Xbox 360 at first.

Oh, and be sure to check our New Xbox Experience gallery if you wanna see some screenshots in addition to the video - and if you have any NXE questions about anything we didn’t cover, or didn’t delve into enough, let us know on the forum.


Bleeding Edge TV 292: Wii Sports Resort preview

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: High Score, Short Bytes, Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos


Sports is one of the most popular and accessible console pack-in games of all time, so it’s only natural that would want to follow up with a paid offering. That’s where Wii Sports Resort comes in. The sequel to Wii Sports will be the first game to be compatible with the add-on, which feature 1:1 mapping of your Wiimote. The game will come bundled with the MotionPlus device and an extended Wii Remote Jacket, both of which will also be sold separately. Games announced to be included (so far) are: Frisbee (Disc Dog), Jet Skiing, and Kendo, with more to come. Wii Sports Resort will launch in Spring 2009.


Bleeding Edge TV 291: Animal Crossing: City Folk preview

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: High Score, Short Bytes, Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos


Animal Crossing is on of the main franchises that many a gamer has been waiting to see hit since the console launched. We were able to catch up with Janet Braulio of Nintendo to get a look at some of the gameplay features, WiiSpeak integration, as well as what we can expect with the game drops this November. This is definitely one we are looking forward to getting our hands on.

Asfar as what sets this apart from other Animal Crossing experences you may have had in the past, Katsuya Eguchi, leader of Animal Crossing’s production development, stated, “someone could send a letter from their cellphone or from an email address on a PC to the Wii, and then the player living in the town in Animal Crossing could receive that letter.” In another interview with IGN, Katsuya Eguchi also discussed how his team continues exploring potential ways to take advantage of the WiiConnect24 feature such as allowing friends to visit other towns or leave messages while the machine is in standby mode.

You can pick up Animal Crossing: City Folk in the US on November 16.


E3 2008: Street Fighter IV first look

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: High Score, Short Bytes, Features, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Software, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos


During 2008, we got the opportunity to chat with ‘s Seth Killian about the much anticipated Street Fighter IV. Seth gives us some insight into the development of the next generation of Street Fighter, and then demos a few of the new characters for us, our favorite being El Fuerte, the luchador chef. He shows off some of the super moves, the 2D/3D play mechanics, and let’s us know which characters he uses to win tournaments. We also talk to Seth about the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade and PSN title, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

We are definitely looking forward to getting our hands on Street FIghter IV for an extended period of time.


E3 2008: Cooking Mama World Kitchen Wii Preview

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: High Score, Short Bytes, Features, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Software, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos


For those of you out there who are fans of the Cooking Mama series of games for the Nintendo DS and , you may be delighted to know that Majesco is about ready to spring the second installment of the Wii portion of the series on you, coming this October. We were able to get a quick demo of the game during , and immediately realized that the successor to the original seems to be a better game all around. Specifically, a lot of the frustrating actions you needed to do in the original are replaced by very intuitive Wii Remote actions that anyone can pull off. Also, if you mess up, you aren’t pretty much eliminated like you were the first time around. A few new game modes round things out. Hit the video for all the details, and prepare yourself for more cartoony kitchen battles.


E3 2008: Sony Media Briefing Highlights

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, High Score, Features, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos


During E3 2008, we hit up the Sony Media Briefing to get a look at all announcements related to the PS3, PS2, and PSP. We bring you the best of the best in this episode, showing off games like Resistance 2, MAG, LittleBigPlanet, DC Universe Online, and others for the PLAYSTATION 3. Of course, there is also a bunch of portable PSP goodness, and even some PS2 love as well. Hit the video for all the details.

Also, if you want all the notes, we’ve got the Sony E3 2008 Media Briefing live coverage, and even a full photo gallery of the highlights as well.


CES 2008 Video: AMD Spider platform, Dual-Chip Radeon R870

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, CES, CES 2008, Corporate News, Features, PC / Laptop, Peripherals, Podcasts, Video Games, Videocasts


We take a few moments with ‘s Rick Bergman, General Manager of the Graphics Processing Group, about their new Spider platform—a three-tiered computing system that helps tie together and ensure compatibility between the chipset, CPU and GPU. We talk about what sort of benefits this means to the enthusiast-class consumer. We also dive into the nitty-gritty with the new , currently codenamed the R870—a dual chip design that has two separate GPU units with an internal Crossfire link and Alternate-Frame Rendering to tie them together. I also ask about some of the design challenges realized in smashing two cards together and getting an efficient, workable result. The design is impressive and the ability to link two of these cards together will come to mean a great deal of graphics processing power in the near future.

The card will be available late January and can be powered in a typical system by a 500 watt power supply; has cut their power requirements for similarly powered cards in half, without sacrificing any performance.


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