The Zone

This morning the media was invited to a special Media Machinimasia workshop organized by Intel and Machinimasia, where we were briefed on some tips on making our own short movies through captured footage from games and basic film-making techniques. It was kinda interesting, though I wished they had prepared the presentation earlier so we could have more time to play around with the game and movie-making application. 

The good news is that the workshop is also open to the general public but only for today (Friday) at 5 p.m. and tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 a.m. So if you have an interest in making your own short movie clip of your favorite video game, go check it out! It's totally free of charge, and you might pick up some useful tips in the meantime.

Venue:
Horus Surfer iCafé
No.4, Jalan SS 2/61,
47300, Petaling Jaya.

Time:
Fri, 13 Jul, 5pm to 7.30pm
Sat, 14 Jul, 10am to 12.30pm

You might have heard of this - you might have not.  For those in the dark, did you know Vista's DVD has an easter egg in the form of hidden pictures of some scenes?

They are rather small to be seen with the naked eye though - so you might want to whip out that camera with macro turned on, if you have a Vista DVD with you.

Source : Sugiero's Blog

Oh dear, imagine the clutter on your actual desk if this was real....

When one user sents in his iPhone for service, he gets a loaner unit as well as an 'official' iPhone tool that even comes with its own instruction label and packaging! Fantastic! Too bad the 'iClip' doesn't come with a white finish; it would have been a lovely match with the white iPhone.

Read

Pictures 

HWM Malaysia was down at The Apartment, The Curve earlier this afternoon to check out BenQ's new range of Joybook notebooks inspired by Pop Art, the S41 and S32! Click the jump for more pics and impressions of the new BenQ Joybooks that sports the latest Intel Centrino Duo chipset.

Want an iPhone? Here's how you can get one...

We were invited to an Apple launch yesterday and while the net was abuzz over the new iMac and its lovely new features, we really didn't imagine that they would be introduced to us at such a short notice!

Tony Li from Apple Singapore posing with the new beauties 

[More pics and comments after the break]

In a somewhat thumping blow for the Blu-ray camp in the current nex-gen format wars, Paramount Pictures just announced that they're going to throw their support solely behind HD-DVD. All Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films and DreamWorks Animation movies will only exclusively be available on HD-DVD (or DVDs of course). Note that Steven Spielberg's films do not apply as his films are not exclusive to either format.

According to Paramount, one of their main reasons to do so is because they believed that standalone HD-DVD players are more prevalent in homes today in the US. Of course, what Paramount didn't say is that it's also easier on Paramount's pockets too as HD-DVD is cheaper to manufacture than Blu-ray discs. So much for the PlayStation 3 being a so-called trojan horse for Blu-ray adoption eh?

The first movie to be released from Paramount exclusively on HD-DVD will be Blades of Glory on August 24th. Yes, Transformers and Shrek The Third will follow soon after that. And yes, exclusively on HD-DVD only.  

Source here.

Just came back from a very eye-opening Media Prima (the company that owns TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9) media introduction of thier Network Media Portals and I must say, I'm impressed with the amount of work that's gone into the website. For one, users can now watch EVERYTHING that was shown on TV a couple of hours after the program has been aired in a quality that's better than your average VCD up to a week from its screening date.

Secondly, you can check out the content from the Media Prima archives (stuff like Majalah Tiga and the likes) all the way back to when they first started which is a total of 40000 screen hours - all from RM1 per download/RM15 per 150 downloads without ads!

Talk about unlimited reruns of fresh new shows for free! To date, only the 8TV portal is "near 100% up" as the team sorts out the bugs, but we're already enjoying our Ho Chiak  reruns!! Check out the whole lineup come September 9th, I know I will! XD

Again, this may be old news but we couldn't resist. It's two different videos of the same prisoners in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines doing Michael Jackson's Thriller dance and that dance from the popular anime, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Incredible. We never knew prison was so much fun.  

Words not needed really. Just watch.

Game reviewers are bashing Lair for the PS3 for its poor implementation of the motion controls while gamers who bought the game thinks the critics are full of bull, accusing them of not going through the tutorial stages or playing past the 3rd level. There are even theories that the reviewers received an early buggy review build, or that they were paid out by Microsoft. It's a full-out counterattack by PS3 fanboys, one that they're not willing to let it fade away without some resistance.

Usually most people read game reviews for two main reasons: one, they want to know if the game is worth a rental or buying. The other reason is to reaffirm one's preconceived idea of the game. It's a bit like self-wankery - you think the game is a good or bad game but you aren't really sure until you hear it from an authoritive voice. "I thought the game was pretty good and Mr. Game Reviewer also said it was good. See? I wasn't wrong after all", or "He said the game was pretty bad and I thought it was sucky too. I'm glad to see we had the same opinion". A higher authority's opinion that agrees with one's opinion feels good because it feels like both you and the reviewer are on the same wavelength.

Sony's initial decision to remove the dual shock controls from the Sixaxis controller in favor for motion controls had been an unpopular one among its fanbase and it took quite awhile for them to finally grudgingly accept Sony's argument that it was more 'next-gen'. Sony fanboys had also weathered much ridicule from game critics and rival fanboys that the PS3 controller was copying the Nintendo Wiimote motion controls and that it was hastily implemented. So if a killer PS3 title could come out with good motion controls, then they would have been able to recover some of the pride lost during the E3 2006 Warhawk demo fiasco.

Since its conception, Lair had been touted as the system seller for the PS3 due to its primary use of the Sixaxis motion controls which no other PS3 title had done. But game reviewers were frustrated by the game's implementation of the motion controls and promptly panned the game. The low scores that the game received were like a giant backhand slap to the fanboys faces, standing against everything they stood for the beleagued console's efforts for its acceptance of motion controls in the Sixaxis controller.

Hence the fanboy backlash.

But fanboys can't have it both ways. They can't say "Both IGN and Gamespot say Warhawk is good so it's proof that the game is awesome!" but then turn around 180° the next day and cry "IGN and Gamespot reviewers don't know jack shit what they're talking about!" when Lair receives a poor score. Game reviews take a lot of time, dedication, and most importantly, discipline. Game reviewers don't needlessly bash a game unless for good reason. And with the majority of game reviewers and websites complaining about the motion controls, fanboys will need to look past Lair's pretty bloom effects and see why the game's controls aren't all what they make out to be.

Looks like tons of users had fun with the Bioshock demo that they downloaded over Xbox Live. Here are some glitches you can do in the game, and there are even more and more videos that are being uploaded to the videosphere as you watch this. There's even a NSFW glitch which involves a Big Daddy too!

A special prize to the first person to answer correctly. The answer after the jump.

If you've got too much cash to spend, and you've seen enough of the babes, booze toys, why not create your own one? This Ferrari 360 Modena limo is just that - too bad the days of the dotcom boom was over decades ago, we would have gotten one and trashed it!

Okay, time for some really weird gaming news before we enter our Bioshock-induced weekend stupor. First up is a crazy story about a dog swallowing a Wiimote whole - a 3-year-old Labrador retriever started spitting up blood and his owners brought him to a vet to be x-rayed only to find a Wiimote stuck somewhere between his throat and his stomach. Some belly rubs later the wiimote was extracted - in chunks. Too bad for the poor dog and his owner - he had to fork out two weeks' allowance to buy his mom a new Wiimote!

Check out more crazy stuff after the break!