E3: Nintendo and 3D Movies

Source: LA Times

Nintendo has pulled something of a coup against Sony in the 3D market by announcing this morning at the E3 conference that their new handheld called the "3DS" will not only support 3D gaming but also 3D movies.

Currently Nintendo has partnered up with a few major studios such as Disney, Warner Bros and Dreamworks to get stereoscopic 3D movies. The E3 demo of the Nintendo 3DS showed the trailer for the upcoming Disney movie Tangled to give an idea of how the system would work.

The Nintendo 3DS is due out sometime this year, but no definite date has been set yet. The new handheld has two screens just like the previous DS models, with the bottome screen integrated with a touchpad but the top one is now capable of projecting 3D images without requiring cumbersome, but oh so fashionable, 3D glasses. Another major upgrade from the current DS is the inclusion of three cameras that will allow you to actually take 3D pictures that you will then be able to share with your other 3DS buddies.

This was a pretty big announcement that was off of everyone’s radar. They stole some of Sony's thunder (who has been heavily pushing 3D) since their announcement of 3D gaming and movies wasn't until a few hours later in the day.

It has been a long time since I invested in a handheld gaming system, the last one I owned was a Gameboy Color, but the 3DS is looking pretty awesome ... maybe this is the handheld I have been waiting for ... maybe.

E3: Sony Move

Source: Crunchgear

Well everyone is officially in the motion controlled video games business. The Nintendo Wii started the party while Microsoft and Sony chose to be fashionably late.

We all got to see the unveiling of Microsoft Kinect (formerly known as Project Natal) for the Xbox 360 yesterday at the E3 expo and it was really impressive. The thing that set itself apart on is the fact that no controllers are required as a camera just motion tracks your body for a whole new gaming experience.

Now Sony is in the fray with the Playstation Move. The move is much more like the Wii setup, where you have a controller (read: ice cream cone) in your hand that tracks full 3D movement. But before you think that it is nothing more than a Wii clone (I admit the article pic doesn't help matters) there are some differences in quality and functionality. So while it is similar to the Wii controllers but is far more accurate and has a wider range of motion sensing capabilities.

Totally nothing like the Wii ... we promise!

It is also worth noting that Playstation Move still has buttons, unlike the Xbox Kinect, which should be a relief for more traditional gamers who were starting to get concerned about actually getting off the couch to go to war or play in the Rose Bowl. It will also have a secondary attachment for "navigation" much like the Wii has the little nunchuk.

If the PS3 is your console of choice Move will be hitting shelves on September 19th. The pricing is pretty standard as the primary Move controller will cost you $50 and the optional navigation controller will put you back another $30, but that is just over half of what Xbox Kinect costs so it is fairly reasonable I guess. There will also be a bundle that comes with a Playstation Eye (camera) and the game Sports Champions for $100. There will initially be about 20 games that utilize Playstation Move but they hope to have at least 40 available by the time the holiday’s role around.

As a PS3 owner, not fanboy, I will be interested to try this out come September, especially if they can put together a halfway decent lightsaber dueling game. But I will probably be doing it when no one is watching ... just in case.

Amazon Gold Box: The Ultimate Matrix Collection

Source: High-Def Disc News

Now I am of the opinion that The Matrix was mind blowingly awesome and the sequels just couldn't live up to the first. But for ridiculously low price of $49.99 for all three Matrix films plus The Animatrix on Blu-ray I would not think twice about picking it up.

This Amazon Gold Box deal only lasts through today, so if you want to just pay 50 bucks for something that retails at $125 now is your chance.

Extras Include:

• Written introduction by the Wachowski Bros
• Various commentaries including Philosophers Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilbur; Critics Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thompson plus cast and crew
• Feature length documentary: The Matrix Revisited
• Music Videos plus an isolated music track of nearly 3 hours of music
• Various featurettes on the making of The Matrix video game
• The Roots of The Matrix: Various documentaries delving into the historical, philosophical and technological aspects of The Matrix series
• Theatrical trailers, plus much more!

Sorry about the late notice, but you should still have time to pull this off. And if you don't, no big deal. Everybody misses the first jump. Everybody.

Hair High

Source: Plymptoons.com

Bill Plympton's 2004 animated flick Hair High, the world's first "rom-zom-prom-com", that played around the world at various film festivals is now available on DVD via his site Plymptoons.com.

For those of you who haven't heard of Mr. Plympton and his work he has illustrated for The New York Times, Vogue and Vanity Fair and you may have seen his cartoon work in threads such as Rolling Stone, Penthouse and National Lampoon. The dude has even been nominated for an Oscar for his animated short Your Face way back in '88.

His latest animated feature, Hair High, follows the story of two 1950's high school kids that are murdered on their prom night and come back the following year zombified and looking for vengeance ... and their crowns.

This ‘toon employs the voice talents of Sarah Silverman, the late great David Carradine, Michael Showalter and Justin Long among others.

Extras Include:

• Director's Commentary with Bill Plympton
• Scene Breakdown and Voice-over Sessions
• Anicam
• Cockstume
• Film Premiere Interviews
• Trailers

I recommend supporting some independent animation and checking Hair High out!

E3: Microsoft's Monday

Source: Engadget

Today Microsoft has owned the E3 Expo. Here are the Monday highlights from the Microsoft E3 camp:

• Microsoft Kinect: (Pictured above left) Hey potential Project Natal users there are some solid facts in now for you to salivate over. First off it has a price tag now, looks like it will put you back $149 but there are some bundlle deals already popping up at retailers like Gamestop that will pair the Kinect with an Xbox Elite for $399. Microsoft Kinect will officially launch November 4th, along with a first wave of games that will utilize the motion tracking technology. The last Kinect related news for today involves video chatting. Yes. You will be able video chat while watching movies together for starters. Nifty feature that will be both Xbox Live and Windows Live Messenger compatible.
• New Xbox 360: (Pictured center) Yup, that is apparently what it is called "The New Xbox 360" no clever name yet, but man it looks pretty slick and it starts shipping out today! Major changes from the existing Xbox 360 models, besides actually looking cool, is that it has one internal fan. This is supposed to reduce the noise considerably which is one less distraction. The power source is internal, which means no more unsightly brick attached to your power cord. And it has integrated WiFi, so you essentially it takes some of the former Xbox accessories and just compiles them into one sexy package.
• ESPN3: No it isn't ESPN8 "The Ocho" but it is coming to an Xbox near you! Microsoft now has an exclusive deal with ESPN3 that will be available for no extra charge if you have an Xbox Live Gold Account and have a TV/Internet provider that will participate. You will be able to watch replays, highlights, participate in polls and will of course have Kinect capabilities.
• Xbox Netflix: The Xbox version of Netflix is finally getting an essential upgrade in November. You will now be able to search the entire Netflix Instant Watch and add videos to your instant queue, all directly from your console. Xbox is the first console to have this unrestricted Netflix access with out actually needing a computer. I would expect the other major consoles to follow suit eventually as well.

That about sums up Xbox news for the first day of E3; be sure to keep checking in for more updates from the E3 gaming front all week!

New PS3 to be Unveiled at E3?

Source: Engadget

Don't worry, that isn't it. That was actually one of the original PS3 designs a few years back, how about that controller? I apologize for the scare.

With the week long E3 Expo starting next Monday developers and companies will surely have announcements and surprises in store.

For the past several years E3 has been the place to announce the launches of new gaming systems and this year may not be different.

Some rumors are floating around that we might be seeing some new or updated version of the PS3. This speculation is backed up with an FCC report that confirms that they were testing some type of PS3 system with a new debugging unit.

What does this mean?

Well, you would generally need a new debugging unit only if you are using new hardware. If the new PS3 has significant hardware differences than the current model who knows what we will see? My guess is something involving 3D.

All this speculation on the new PS3 and more should be revealed next week during the E3 Expo; be sure to check back in then for updates!