Natalia brings you the latest news on Adele’s interview with Anderson Cooper, Kristen Bell’s interview on Ellen is auto tuned, Ladyhawke’s latest music video and much more!
Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks!
Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.
When The Kooks are in the studio they’re focused and most importantly, sober. Watch Hugh and Luke explain their reasoning below.
The Kooks released a new album called “Junk of the Heart,” and you would think Hugh and Luke would be very excited about it. Well, they seemed rather indifferent to be honest. We spoke about that and why they don’t care about critics.
Natalia dishes the latest in entertainment news on Joan Rivers, Lana Del Rey and a brand new trailer for the movie Hunger Games.
Natalia talks about how Snooki might be pregnant, Nicolas Cage’s Cage Rage, Elisabetta Canalis is dating Steve-O and more for Feb 1, 2012.
Natalia dishes the news on Miley Cyrus breaking her tailbone, a 100 year old woman who plays the Nintendo DS to stay young and Houston, Texas contemplating a statute of Beyonce.
David Beckham debuts a new line of underwear, the worst dressed celebrity – Shy’m and Matthew Broderick is back as Ferris Bueller with a brand new commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Feb 5th 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe is back with his new movie The Woman In Black. It’s a bone chilling remake of a film from the ’80s. Ironically, Daniel actually scares very easily but he’s not afraid of ghosts. In this interview he tells us what really gives him the creeps.
Next time you’re struggling to make conversation, try asking this question: “If you could invite anyone (living or dead) to the perfect house party, who would it be?”
Graffiti6 is starting to make their North American invasion, and they are hitting up the Tonight Show. Does this sound familiar? Well the Beatles made the exact same journey over 40 years ago. Naturally, @jordans_life had to make some comparisons.
Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he’s the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist.
During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number and took phone calls from his fans. These were real phone calls from real fans who we gave exclusive access to one of the biggest recording artists of our generation.
There were great questions about music, fitness, the backstreet boys but the most popular question, however, was about his underwear. In this clip Nick talks about his his ‘Haynes’ and covering his fans with glow in the dark paint.
When releasing new music today, half the battle is online promotion. However, contests, signed merch and giveaways aren’t always the best solutions. When working on their latest album, Hedley came up with a brilliant idea, they decided to make trailers.
It’s hard to prepare for an interview with Hedley. So in this interview, we threw caution to the wind, got a 24 of beer and broadcast the interview live on our USTREAM (andPOP.tv). Eventually Jacob, Dave and @jordans_life ended up talking about hairy legs, their newest music video and more.
Diamandis from Marina and The Diamonds talks to us about her very serious disease. It’s called synaesthetic. And we lied, it’s not a disease. More like a cool condition. Diamandis explains further.
Would you be embarrassed if someone scrolled through your iPod? We sit down with Spee and Brendan to talk about the diverse music on their playlist.
Marina and The Diamonds are working on some new music, but Marina is being very secretive about it. Although the release has been delayed, she let’s us in on some secrets about the new album, and how alcohol changed her life.
I was arguing with a friend recently with regards to Nintendo’s upcoming new system titled the Revolution. I explained to him that having felt shafted by my investment in the Gamecube I could no longer trust Nintendo. I reminded him that when video game magazines were feeding us tidbits of info way back in 1995 about Nintendo 64, we were overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation. Looking back, I can easily count the number of great games that came out for N64 using two hands.
Then came the Gamecube, gaming sites claimed it was the system that was going to redeem Nintendo for its lost years of providing loyal enthusiasts with the well-deserving hours of video-game gratification reminiscent of the days when Super Nintendo reigned supreme. But alas, once again as I look back, or in this case as I look at my stack of Gamecube games, I see that give or take a disappointment or two ? enter super Mario sunshine and Mario Kart: Double Dash ? I can easily count the number of great games that came out for Gamecube using two hands. Now, I will admit that I am certain the next instalment in the Zelda series scheduled for release this November will make up for a lot but this is my point: less than ten great games is not enough.
I suppose that part of the problem is that Nintendo has been catering more and more to a younger audience hence we see less than three releases of the Nintendo champs such as Zelda and so many bothersome sequels to Mario Party. Regardless, now that Gamecube is nearing obsoletion Nintendo is going to have to level up its status and hopefully it can when the Revolution is released sometime in 2006.
I somewhat feel guilty for trying to tackle the Revolution when we still know so little but it only seems fair since Xbox 360 and PS3 having been pumping the masses with raw synergy and hype.
So let’s get started.
Apparently Revolution is the code name and not the official name (note, Nintendo said the same thing prior to the official release of the Nintendo DS). The system itself is about the size of three DVD cases stacked on top of each other and has a custom-built IBM CPU that we don’t know anything about just yet.
In terms of connectivity the Revolution has built in Wi-Fi meaning you need a wireless router – an innovative idea but also a risky one as not everybody has one.
Just like with the Gamecube, you will not be able to play DVD’s on it but a DVD support device will be sold separately. The case Nintendo is making with this ? and I must say, I agree ? is that most people own a DVD player nowadays and to manufacture the system without it makes it inexpensive to manufacture and inexpensive for the consumer; expect the revolution to be priced no higher than $350.
The system will be backwards compatible, accepting the new 5-inch discs and Gamecube 3-inch discs. In fact, a cover on the top of the system opens to reveal Gamecube controller ports and memory-card ports. This is an interesting idea except one of the main reasons the system is named revolution is rumoured to be the new controller ? of which we still know nothing about! This actually scares me a bit in view of the fact that I still haven’t got into the swing of using the stylus with the Nintendo DS. Consequently the Revolution could be quashed before it starts, which is the fate of so many revolutions these days, if Nintendo gets just a bit too imaginative says I. But then again, Nintendo hasn’t disappointed with controllers, console-wise so far.
Unlike PS3 and Xbox 360 the Revolution is not specifically designed for HDTV as Nintendo believes most gamers could not care for it. Also worthy of mention is that the system has two USB ports, a first for a Nintendo system.
Lastly, the Revolution’s internet subscription will apparently be free, a move that could single handidly turn the tide in the ongoing console wars. Games from previous Nintendo systems as far back as the original NES will be available for download but this, I’m certain, will not be free.
To finish, if you read my column a few weeks back in which I ranked the number one games for the current systems, I ranked Super Smash Bros melee the victor for Gamecube. Now, I’ve always said ? and most people agree with me ? that nothing would have been finer than an online multiplayer version. So although I’ve taken a considerable amount of time to condemn Nintendo for its mistakes with its current and previous systems, I will whole-heartedly admit that if done correctly, an online Smash Bros for revolution will undoubtedly give the Nintendo the best shot they’ve had in nearly a decade at completely turning the tables in the North American market; a revolution that is desperately needed.
Gaming has become quite the luxury these days. Some people have plenty of money to spare and some people don’t mind skipping meals and cutting down on haircuts but it seems to me that a person invests in only one system. Interestingly enough, rivalries between system owners are as heated as those between the developers themselves.
So now that the consoles of today are just about obsolete and new ones are on the way, who?s side are you going to be on?
Sure, there are people who have been loyal to Nintendo since the first Super Mario Brothers game, thus they are sure to buy their next system. Sure, there are people who love Halo so much they?re going to invest in Xbox 360, heck, I know someone who?s trying to pre-order it.
But for the most part I?m finding that from the people who play video games so much that they should seek medical attention to the people who buy a game once a year ? PS3 is the system of choice.
If you read my column last week about the Xbox 360 you know I went into a lot of detail with regards to its impressive hardware specs and PS3 is no exception. The key to the power of the PS3 is it?s exclusive Cell processor technology developed by IBM. The Cell processor is composed of a PowerPC processing element (PPE) and eight Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). Basically, information flows from the PPE to the eight SPEs; as a result the PS3 is capable of concurrently processing eight threads at its full speed of 3.2Ghz.
Similar to the Xbox 360, to truly appreciate this kind of a CPU you?ll need a High Definition television but the PS3 will still operate just fine on any modern TV. The definitive difference between the Xbox 360 and PS3 has to be that while the Xbox 360 is sticking with a DVD drive, PS3 will boast a Blu-ray disc drive.
Blu-ray, which employs a blue-violet laser to read and write data technology, is apparently the format aimed at replacing DVDs. Once again, this all goes back to the push tech-developers are making towards HD television as Blu-ray is hoping to become the standard of high-def DVD flicks and consequently making us all jealous of the bourgeoisie.
A single-layer Blu-ray disc holds 25Gbs and a double-layer disc a whopping 50Gbs. Now first of all, if this is true, for all the people who invested thousands into building DVD collections ? I told you so. Second of all, although this technology will obviously make the PS3 a powerhouse it is still quite the gamble.
Blu-ray discs are very expensive to develop and consequently for this medium to pick up PS3 itself will have to do most of the work and frankly, nobody has been in a rush to buy minidisks so that they can watch movies on their PSPs so far. Sony is hoping that Blu-ray becomes the standard so that buying a PS3 becomes easier but has made sure that its compatible with CR-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R formats
As if the Blu-ray factor wasn?t dubious enough it also looks like you will have to purchase the hard drive separately. Now this right here is what I like to call the low-blow: to buy a system and then more for extras such as memory cards or RF switches is quite the annoyance, but just imagine how much hard drive is going to cost.
Now in terms of connectivity, the PS3 has built in Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet connections. In english, the PS3 will be able to connect at an incredible speed, ten times that of the Xbox 360?s. Speed is not as important to multiplayer gaming as people think so it?s likely PS3 has it?s site of expanding into other markets – rumours have it Sony plans to eventually distribute movies online. There hasn?t been an indication as to how much the online service will cost but I?m betting that it definitely won?t be free.
Making use of Bluetoooth technology the PS3 will have wireless controllers and will be able to interact with the PSP With the six USB ports you?ll be able to plug in anything from a camera to an mp3 player and likely a keyboard; similar to the Xbox 360, PS3 will operate as a multi-media centre.
In the end what really matters are the games and PS3 is going to have a solid selection such as the next instalments of Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Killzone, Metal Gear Solid, and Tekken.
Clearly these are examples of what made the PS2 a huge success: the very fact that Sony has always made sure to provide a selection of games that span such a wide range. On the contrary, catering mostly to a younger crowd is what led to the Nintendo Gamecube?s poor success in North America. How fitting it is that the title of their next console is exactly what Nintendo needs – a revolution. Come back next week to find out more.
