J Allard has been the poster boy for Xbox gamers for awhile now. However, he abandoned us after launching the 360 into infamy by going to work on the mind-bogglingly successful Zune and now it looks as if his time at Microsoft has officially ended. He’s left us with a lot of good memories though and we certainly wish him the best. And we especially hope he doesn’t devolve from his snazzy makeover back to his far more terrifying yeti appearance pictured below:
Steve Wiebe is the new King of Kong (Jr.) – via RetroGamer.net
World of Warcraft Plushies: On the Wings of Cuteness – via Kotaku
Goldeneye 64 Multiplayer Maps Coming to Perfect Dark XBLA – via Destructoid
Plants vs. Zombies hits the iPhone – via TUAW
Fable III Press Release – via Lionhead Studios
Dear Videogame Industry, Please Stop Making Games – via GameSpy
30 Useful (And Unknown) Web Apps You Need to Bookmark – via Maximum PC
Google Goggles to Translate Text in Photos – via Mashable
Windows Phone 7 Interface: Microsoft has Out-Appled Apple – via Gizmodo
WordPress for Android Writes and Edits Posts on the Go – via Lifehacker
Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color – via Smashing Magazine
Top 10 Tools for Finding Cool Stuff Nearby – via Lifehacker
Finalily!: New and Improved Ketchup Packets – via Geekologie
Pass the Butter: Giant Crab is Giant! – via Geekologie
I Think R.L. Stine is Phoning it in – via Collegehumor
Final Fantasy for iPhone Looks Fantastic – via Destructoid
360 Scores the Only Final Fantasy XIII Bundle Outside of Japan – via Kotaku
Uncharted 2 Gets New Multiplayer Maps, Skins & Trophies on Feb. 25 – via Kotaku
Microsoft X Convention Top 10 Reveals – via VideoGame Geek
Bioshock 2′s Widescreen Bug is Strangely Familiar – via Destructoid
Marvel Teases Us With New ‘Avenger’ Promos – via Geeks of Doom
Penny Arcade Book Tour – via Penny Arcade
Wil Wheaton to Give Keynote at PAX East – via Destructoid
Fav4.org is a Dead Simple but Very Attractive Start Page – via Lifehacker
Top 10 Google Settings You Should Know About – via Lifehacker
Google to Offer ‘Ultra High-Speed’ Broadband in US – via BBC News
Sexist Vintage Ads – via PBH3
The End of the World? (Infographic) – via Pixlmonster
Finally, Live Webcast Goes Wrong – via MakeUseOf
I have no idea how I missed this the first time around, but having watched this hilarious ad/trailer from Microsoft I chuckled more than a little bit. Kudos for the madness expressed at Wingdings- check it out!
So Microsoft’s retail stores launched recently and I can’t quite place my finger on it, but it almost feels like I’ve already been to one somehow. It’s eerie really, like deja vu almost. I mean, I don’t know how that’d be possible considering I’ve never, ever stepped foot in a store with expansive areas of glass facilitating natural light, museum-ish displays for products, minimal design and a…bar of some sort where they must keep the genius employees to answer complicated questions about hardware and software. Oh well, maybe it’ll come to me later. In the meantime if you’d like to see more head over to pcmag to check out a slideshow of more images from the new retail store.
A coworker of mine turned me onto the video below of some of Microsoft’s new attempts at re-vitalizing the standard mouse. A couple of them don’t strike me as super-intuitive, but on the whole this appears to be a very interesting development. Take a look for yourself:
The new Zune HD was officially released today with a slew of powerful new features. Is it too much like the iPod touch and iPhone? Maybe a bit, but Microsoft competes fairly well with their new toy. I’ll summarize a few points…
In response to Sony’s $299.99 PS3 Slim, Microsoft has confirmed that they are indeed phasing out the Xbox 360 Pro and are leaving the public with two options (giggle): the $199.99 Arcade system or the $299.99 Elite system. The big change here is that the Elite is $100 less than it used to be, but still comes with the 120GB hard drive. In fact, the only difference between the $399.99 Elite and the $299.99 is that the Elite will now come with standard component cables, no HDMI cables. No worries to the high-def gamers like Joshua and me though: you can get most universal HDMI cables for around $40, and used at Gamestop they’re only $19.99. Now if Microsoft would only include the wireless adapter, these things would fly off the shelves even more than they already do.
It sounds like blasphemy to even utter those words in the same sentence. Microsoft? Ending? But how?! But since Apple’s boisterous return in 1997 and Google’s overwhelming popularity over the last decade, it seems those two companies keep spitting out nothing but success while Microsoft is stuck in third gear.