andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Ubisoft has released the first of three Assassin’s Creed promotional short films on the World Wide Web via YouTube.

Developed by Ubisoft Digital Arts as well as Ubisoft’s Hybride Technologies (yes, the visual masterminds behind the hit films Sin City and 300) have unleashed a live action introduction into the world of Assassin’s Creed 2. Staring the game’s main character Ezio’s Father, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze. With a mix of live action combined with CGI backdrops and special effects the films will tell of the growth of Assassin’s Creed’s protagonist and how he came to be where he is now.

The film series will entice gamers to get more involved in this upcoming title (which by the way, I had the chance to demo and was AMAZING) and give them a feel of the Italian Renaissance period they will be playing in. With Assassin’s Creed 2 coming out November 17th, 2009, this little taste will have you begging for more.

And what’s this? We have the Assassin’s Creed Lineage video embedded right here after the break! CLICK MORE to see it! READ MORE »

U2’s second last show on their 360 degree tour will be streamed live this Sunday on the band’s website, CBC news reports. The concert will be viewable to fans in 16 different countries, including Canada and the U.S.

Taking place in the Pasadena Rose Bowl, California, the show is expected to draw around 96, 000 fans.

YouTube will enable the server support to handle the online screening of possibly millions of viewers. It will be available on both YouTube and U2’s official website after the show.

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Pistachio Nuts, that is.

Levi Johnston made his television commercial debut this week as part of Wonderful Pistachio’s “Get Crackin’” campaign. The Paramount Farms campaign is also a first-time appearance for Levi’s co-stars, pistachio nuts.

“Get Crackin’” is the first-ever TV campaign for pistachios, and features eight celebrities demonstrating how to crack open a pistachio, each in their own unique way.

Featured celebrities on “Get Crackin’” include Miss South Carolina beauty pageant contestant and YouTube sensation Lauren Caitlin Upton, America’s Next Top Model beauty Adrianne Curry with Brady Bunch alum husband Christopher Knight, Jackass prankster Wee-Man, The Sopranos’ Vincent Pastore, Olympic swimmer and record-setting medalist Dara Torres, a real-life dominatrix, the Denny quintuplets, and, of course, father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild, Levi Johnston.

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Before Susan Boyle became an international star when millions checked out her voice in a YouTube video, Priscilla Renea was using the site to sing covers, showcase original songs and even sing the dictionary to Fergie’s “Glamorous.”

One of her videos has even been viewed 1.7 million times – and counting.

Renea’s debut album Jukebox comes out October 20th (also you can check out her first single Dollhouse here: http://bit.ly/hjHzL.

andPOP: When did you first get into music?

Priscilla Renea: From what I can remember I’ve always been into music. My birth father played the trumpet and my mother was the lead singer in several bands. As far as music as a profession goes, I just recently decided to pursue it as a career a couple of years ago.

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This summer, Sacha Baron Cohen returns to theatres with Brüno. Surprisingly, there have been nearly no successful attempts to take on reality comedy appetite Cohen helped bring into the mainstream.

From a Friendly Goth to the infomercial host Fibre Man, Canadian comedian Paul Telner has soared to becoming one of the most popular Canadian comedians online.

Paul also stars in hidden camera pranks under the brand name of Apauled, which first aired on U.S. cable network G4 TV. Each episode monthly has Paul failing at different jobs out in front of the unsuspecting public.

Another element of the Paul Telner experience is the behind-the-scenes of Paul’s world as he and his crew pulls pranks on the public, and each other.

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5. 186,000,000 views: Susan Boyle of Britain’s Got Talent

This never-been-kissed sweetheart of Britain has supposedly got talent. In fact, I won’t ruin it for you. Go watch this clip, and you can be the judge of Boyle and her presentation.

4. 196,500,000 views: Jeff Dunham – Achmed the Terrorist

Who doesn’t appreciate a touchy subject ripped to shreds? If you are offended by terroist humor, this isn’t the youtube video for you. Between the “I KILL YOU” dialogue and puppet mastery, it is safe to assume that this idiocy is popular due to its context.

3. 230,200,000 views: Touch My Body music video by Mariah Carey

Yet another suggestive music video from Mariah Carey, and yet another hit on youtube. If you enjoy watching Carey frolicking around touching herself, this is the youtube video for you. In fact, just type in Mariah Carey, every result won’t let you down.

2. 266,500,000 views: Twilight, the movie trailer

The first time I heard about Twilight, it was through the movie trailer on youtube. A friend, terminally in love with Edward, proudly showed me the preview, and I’ll admit to being excited. Yes, it’s about vampires and werewolves, but don’t be too quick to judge, at least the movie trailer was great.

1. 356,300,000 views: Crank Dat music video by Soulja Boy

Without youtube, the world would be deprived of this oh-so-original rap artist. Soulja Boy demonstrated the power of online networking through this youtube phenomenon, and had people on their feet within minutes. For those of you who don’t know the steps to Crank Dat, it’s time to crawl out of that dark hole you have been living in, and ” Superman that Hoe”.

iBuypower, a gaming PC manufacturer, recently announced the release of its new line of video PC’s. The Video PC’s are designed for amateur videographers who like to share their work online through websites such as Youtube. The iBuypower Video PC line includes the Video Bot, Video Pro, and Video Extreme.

The Video Bot, housed in an NZXT Appollo case, features the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 CPU, nVidia 9800GT GPU, and 4 GB of RAM. Users looking for more power can go for the Video Pro, which features an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, ATI HD 4850 graphics card and 8 GB of RAM.

The Video Extreme is housed in a Termaltake Armor case, and features an Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9770 CPU, ATI HD 4870 graphics card, 8 GB of RAM, a Blu-ray burner and a 1200W power supply.

All three of the iBuypower Video PCs come with Adobe’s Premier Elements 4.0 editing software built-in 8 channel surround sound, Microsoft Windows Vista Home, a 12-in-1 card reader/writer and a 3 year limited warranty. The Video Game PCs are selling in the range of $1,299 to $4,299.

It all started with two girls and a web cam.

Miley Cyrus and her best friend Many have been keeping regular video blogs on YouTube since February. In their videos, the girls generally just fool around and sometimes dance.

So what else was there to do but battle? “Step Up 2: The Streets” director John M. Chu and star Adam Sevani posted their own video blog on April 10, challenging Miley and Mandy to a YouTube dance battle. Their video continued with a montage of Sevani and his crew break dancing and krumping.

Sevani and Chu explained that there were no rules, and that the young girls could recruit anyone for their response – if they were brave enough to take the challenge.

Just three days later, the girls proved they were man enough. With help from their friends, Miley and Mandy made a complete music video to Madonna’s new single, “4 Minutes.”

They even recruited “Step Up” alumni Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan to perform in their video – surely a slap in the face for Sevani and Chu.

Chu, Sevani and their crew, “ACDC,” have not retaliated yet, but keep watching the blogs – and the streets.

Chocolate rain, a naked Professor Dumbledore and human blocks were among the winners of the second annual YouTube Video Awards announced Friday.

The awards, which honoured the popular website’s top user-created videos of 2007, were decided by online viewers who voted on six nominees in each of 12 categories.

The winner in the music category was Tay Zonday with “Chocolate Rain.” The clip of the 25-year-old Minneapolis man singing the self-penned song in his home had been viewed more than 15.7 million times as of Friday.

Neil Cicierega won in the comedy category for his video featuring Harry Potter hand puppets, including a clothes-less Dumbledore. Cicierega, 21, is an Internet artist known for his work in a genre of Flash animation known as “Animutation.”

He beat out videos including a Paris Hilton spoof called “Paris in Jail” and a clip about a Super Mario-esque character’s marital problems.

Guillaume Reymond’s “Human Tetris” won in the creative category. The video was a spin on the classic Tetris game, with the “blocks” made up of real people sitting in an auditorium.

The other categories included sports, instructional, short film, inspirational, commentary, politics, series, eyewitness and “adorable.”

You can check out all nominated videos at www.youtube.com/ytawards07.

To make sure it keeps up with a growing generation of mobile phone users, YouTube has announced that it will be extending its service to a much wider range of phones used by 100 million consumers worldwide who rely on high-speed wireless Internet access to stream their mobile-made videos.

“It’s basically the full YouTube experience you can get on the desktop–on the phone,” said Dwipal Desai, YouTube’s mobile-product manager. Software is also being tested that will make it easier for mobile-phone users to upload videos from phones onto YouTube, potentially allowing for far greater use of video to document people’s everyday lives.

However, when it comes to turning a profit, don’t expect many forthcoming details from YouTube. Typically, according to Reuters, YouTube and other Google services wait until they have developed a large user-base before seeking to introduce advertising to help pay for the service.

The service will run on select devices from U.S.-based Motorola, South Korea’s LG Electronics, Finland’s Nokia, and Sony Ericsson, co-owned by Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson. YouTube for Mobile will be available in 17 countries and 11 languages.