The Zone

The original LEGO Star Wars wasn't really a great game, but it was considered a cult classic for a lot of gamers (including yours truly). Part II is now out, so check it out at game shop near you.

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Hello guys, missed me? If you were wondering why I didn't blogged any entries for the week, it was because I was down in Korea for the HP regional PSG consumer launch. Lots of nifty stuff was on showcase, including their new HP TouchSmart PC and "Touch & Twist" TX-1000 notebook. I'll cover more on the event in the March issue of HWM Malaysia. Mucho thanks to my colleague kev for covering my share! I'll treat ya to yum cha one day. :D

What you see above is the free original DVD copies of Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit and 64-bit edition that was given out to all the members of the media who attended the Microsoft Corporate Vista launch this morning at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Don't you just love the holographic imagery captured by our studio lights? Too bad this Vista is for office-use only. I wish they had given away free copies of Office 2007 though...I could really use it, heheheh...

Look forward to our March issue for more pictures and coverage of the Malaysian Vista launch! For now, here's some pictures of what went down this morning down at the KLCC. 

Windows Vista and Office 2007 was finally launched last weekend at LowYat Plaza in Malaysia and we were there to capture all of the excitement! We'll have a full report in the next issue of HWM so in the mean time, enjoy this batch of photos! :3

Ever wondered what will happen when EA throws in a third race of playable opponents? Grab the HD version of Trailer 4 from gametrailers.com to get a view (if not for a brief moment) of the Scrin, which is looooong overdue since thier story began about 2 years back.

Oh yeah, C&C3 is open for pre-order at The Software Boutique, if anyone's wondering, so get your original product-loving hands on your moolah and hand it over! 

For all its worth, being at the cutting-edge of technology is a slow and excruciating torture process on your wallet and I for one, couldn't resist the hype around Windows Vista, since its so cool (that's my #1 reason) and my not-so-legit downloading machine at home is using an *ahem copy of XP (the #2, real world reason), so I bit the bullet, forked out the remainder of my ang-pow money and bought a full-fledged legit copy of Home Premium.

LG has teamed up with Google in a move that allows preinstalled Google software on LG mobile phones. Users can then use their extra accesibility to search, check their Gmail, update thier blog and even use a cut-down version of Google Earth (how is this possible, we're not sure).

Coming to Europe, America and Asia as early as the second quarter of 2007, will include a dynamic user interface, including one-click access, and the liberal use of Java for mobile. 

"“Building on our efforts to set new standards for wireless handsets, we are excited to partner with Google to offer extra value to consumers with enhanced mobile Internet experiences,” said Mr. Paul Bae, Vice President of the Product Planning Team at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “LG’s mobile devices, combined with Google, will provide consumers with easy access to their favorite Internet services even without a PC and make it easy for them to stay connected while in motion.”"

We hope that the collaboration will make better phones, instead of rehashing the Chocolate brand over and over again, though.

What a real LOL moment! Mexican Police are getting kids out of the gunfighting slums and into the virtual battlefield known as Saints Row - if they traded in their firearms. Apparently, those who gave up a high-calibre gun such as an AK47 recieved a computer worth 700 bucks each, and for smaller firearms like a glock or Desert Eagle, they net an Xbox 360. 

In this part of the world, we'd rather have fun with the BB version of the Desert Eagle, thank you, and get blinded or killed which is better than being a couch potato *cough *cough

sauce article = Reuters

Hitachi Data Systems just announced the appointment of Johnson Khoo as its new managing director for Malaysia, and to commemorate the event they held a drifting session!

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Like WTF does data systems have to do with drifting??? But it was undeniably cool and getting a light taste of drifting felt great! The only drifting I've ever done was in racing video games, and the experience was both nerve-racking and cool at the same time.

They got an experienced drifter, Sean Khoo, from drift.com.my to be our driver. He was pretty cool, since he took us on a wild spin a number of times. Halfway through the session they had to switch tyres as bits and pieces of the tyres were already being spat out by the harsh tarmac.

Check out the video of the drifting session after the pics below! :D 

It's back! The MSC Malaysia IP Creators Challenge Series 2007 is now on for local budding animators, artists, and game developers! Last year IP Creators Challenge saw up to nearly RM900,000 in grants given away to 25 winners. If you missed out last year, now's your chance to win grants to expand your creative idea into a marketable product!

The closing dates for the proposals (just the proposals, not the finished product) is 28 June 2007, so get cracking! During this time, MDEC will be holding a number of workshops for people new to pitching ideas and proposals to interested publishers, as well as talks on IP.

For more info, check out the following link.

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Sparkfun Electronics has released their first wall-mounted tetris game which also features buttons so that you can actually control the blocks as they fall, and full RGB LEDs so that your game is no longer dictated by white dots on a black background. We simply love the blinking lights in a full rainbow spectrum, and playing it almost seems like an ethereal experience....

Check out the video after the break!

Maxis Hotlink just launched their latest mass multiplayer mobile card trading game, Master of Maya! Hotlink and Maxis customers will be one of the first consumers worldwide to enjoy the game and it's already available! The card game is steeped in Mayan culture, which explains why the lovely ladies above are dressed in such garb. :3 Click the jump for more pictures of the event.  

There were no more disputes when the real speaker gods showed up at the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), thanks to urban artist Marka27. Made from vinyl, like all your other Micheal Lau toys, these 'toys' are from a limited edition run, and there are only 800 units available - at the SDCC only. While they look cute and all, they certainly are large, with each speaker standing at a full 16". Would we want a pair? You bet!!

In other news, a Russian ATM was caught with its pants down - it had an unactivated copy of embedded Windows. Anything can be done in Russia, really, but we wouldn't know if that ATM had the nessacary patches required to stop hackers from getting free money - and vodka.

You can now get rid of the Safari skin you got on your IE or Firefox because Apple just released the public Beta of Safari 3. Like any decent web browser today, it sports features like tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, RSS and tougher security features. But Apple being Apple, there has to something inherently better with Safari than any other web browsers out there. And Apple's salvo is that it claims that Safari is "blazing fast" with HTML and JavaScript pages. Firefox 2, Opera 9 and IE 7 can't be even close enough to smell the trail of dust it leaves behind (okay, we might be exagerrating a little but you get the idea).

Don't just take our word for it. Go download it now from here and take it for a test drive. We're downloading ours as we type.

DS Fanboy reader Dan has sucessfully quit smoking for 40 days now, thanks to Pokemon Pearl! While this is not due to the inherent addictiveness of the game itself, it gives you time to preoccupy your mind so that you'll not reach for that pack of pricey tobacco the next time you're lazing around. While the method varies with each individual gamer, you can also try playing Flow on the PSP - a relaxing method that will definitely soothe nerves at the same time. Then again, some gamers I know are able to play WoW and DOTA with a lit ciggie in their mouths, but that's another story for another day ;)

* If you've noticed the PG sticker on the box...........don't smoke, drink, or gamble kids! wait till you're mature in the head!