Call of Duty: Ghosts | Masked Warriors Teaser Trailer

Although it is a multi-platform game, Call of Duty: Ghosts is said to be available first for Microsoft’s Xbox One. In addition, the upcoming game’s downloadable content will also land on the new console initially.

Moreover, Activision Publishing CEO, Eric Hirshberg, revealed the game’s first official trailer, featuring a steady 60 fps capability. He also showcased the game’s Xbox One visuals versus the previous titles in the series.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is expected that the game will be available in retail stores on November 5. More information about Call of Duty: Ghosts will be revealed at the upcoming E3 2013.

Halo 4 Box Art | Wikipedia

During the announcement of Microsoft’s Xbox One last Tuesday, it was also unveiled that Halo will have a live-action adaptation. Steven Spielberg will be the executive producer of the game’s TV series.

In a video chat during Microsoft’s event, Spielberg noted that he’s been a long-time gamer. He noted:

For me, the “Halo” universe is an amazing opportunity to be at the intersection where technology and storytelling meet.

However, it is still unclear whether Halo’s TV adaptation will be offered on regular networks or through the new Xbox One.

Steven Spielberg in January 2012 | Wikipedia

This is not the first time that Halo got involved in a live-action adaptation. In fact, it inspired a 90-minute Web series that was released last fall—the Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. It was credited by Microsoft for helping them drive sales for the Halo 4 game, which was launched last year. The original game and its three sequels have sold 50 million copies worldwide in total.

The Amazing Spider-Man/Facebook

Ever since The Avengers became a major blockbuster, and that’s probably putting it lightly, people have pondered why isn’t Spider-Man involved.

Of course all of the fanboys and girls know the only reason. Spider-Man’s film properties belong to Sony, not Marvel/Disney. Of course, there’s also the fact that Spidey isn’t really a core member of the team, like Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and The Hulk. Sure. He’s been an Avenger, but Spider-Man isn’t a constant figure in the group like the characters who make up the roster that we’ve seen on the big screen. But I digress.

While Marvel could pay a boatload to have a cameo, or at least a nod, from Spider-Man/Peter Parker, I think their cinematic universe is doing just fine without him. That’s not saying, however, that they wouldn’t love to bring the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, they’ve recently acquired back the film rights to Daredevil, Blade, Ghost Rider and The Punisher, and the addition of Spider-Man would make fans extremely giddy with all of the possibilities.

But, there’s no way that Sony would part with such a profitable commodity. Right?

According to The Register, Sony may actually be doing the unthinkable.

Word is that Sony is listening to an offer from activist investor, Daniel Loeb, and his hedge fund company Third Point, about purchasing some of the company’s music and movie properties. This would include “popular franchises Spider-Man and Resident Evil and the weepy ballads of Brit crooner, Adele.”

But, why on Earth would Sony sell off these cash cows?

Sony is hurting a bit and if they sold off some of their entertainment pieces they would not only be saving money, they could make some cash as well. Sony Chief exec Kazuo Hirai stated :

Third Point’s proposal involves the way we manage a core business of the Sony group and the direction of our management. So the Sony board will give it thorough consideration before replying to Mr Loeb.”

The idea is that by selling a portion of its entertainment division, Sony could put more money into its electronics division that sells cameras and smartphones. The company already uses money from its entertainment division to boost the electronics division, but selling a property like Spider-Man could really give the company a boost.

Before anyone gets their hopes up, Harry Knowles, from Ain’t It Cool News, decided to see if there was any truth to this rumor. He shot an email to Amy Pascal, co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and her response was an emphatic no.

Amy said that she would ‘Never ever ever’ let go of SPIDER-MAN. She feels the property is directly tied to her legacy and time at SONY. Not just that, she is really thrilled by the work on the new film.”

So, there you have it. It looks like Spider-Man is staying with Sony. But, and there’s always a but, my Spidey senses are tingling.

While I believe that Sony Pictures, and Amy Pascal, have no intention on selling the film rights to Spider-Man, that’s not really their call. The original report stated that Chief exec Kazuo Hirai and Sony’s board are considering the proposal from Third Point. Maybe I’m wrong, but Hirai is higher on the ladder than the co-chair from Sony Pictures.

That’s just my two cents.

Regardless, I don’t think that Spider-Man is going anywhere. But you never know. If the company has an opportunity to cash in on Spidey, I wouldn’t be surprised if they jumped at the chance.

If you haven’t checked out your calendar this month, you might have missed that Memorial Day Weekend is coming up.

While the long weekend is meant to honor the men and women who have bravely served our nation, most of us will be enjoying the festivities because it’s the unofficial kickoff to summer. Which means it’s time to bring out the grill and start barbecuing. But, barbeques, as with summer in general, just isn’t the same without an ice-cold beer.

Usually, you can’t go wrong with lighter beers, lagers and wheat beers, for traditional American food. These type of beers go well with burgers, dogs, brats, steak, and ribs slathered in barbecue sauce. They also cleanse the palate, which means you can enjoy every single bite of your grub.

While some people are content with just a Bud or Coors Light, a really good brew can make a bbq much more enjoyable.

While we all have our preferences, here’s a quick guide on some of the better barbeque and beer pairings for you to enjoy not just on Memorial Day, but for the entire summer.

Beef

To complement the earthy, rich flavors of red meat, stick with darker, maltier beers such as porters, brown ales, and dark lagers.

Suggestions: Full Sail Session Black, Allagash Brewing Company Dubbel Ale, Victory Sunrise Weissbier, Boulder Beer Hazed & Infused, Great Lakes Eliot Ness, Ommegang Abbey Ale, Affligem Dubbel

Pork

The caramelized malt from amber ales and lagers pair up nicely with the sweet and savory taste of pork. But, pork is also a versatile dish that can go with a number of other brews.

Suggestions: Fullsteam Brewery Hogwash, 21st Amendment Brewery Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, Lagunitas IPA, Sam Adams Lager, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stone Smoked Porter, Schlenkerla Helles, Bear Republic Racer 5

Chicken

Keep things simple with a lighter fare like chicken. You don’t want something too heavy that will overwhelm the taste.

Suggestions: Saison Dupont, Devils Backbone Brewing Company Vienna Lager, Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Hop, Live Oak Brewing Company HefeWeizen

Hot Dogs, Kielbasa and Brats

What outdoor celebration would be complete without either hot dogs, kielbasa or bratwurst? Just don’t overwhelm their delicious and subtly grilled taste with something like certain IPAs.

Suggestions: North Coast Brewing Co. Red Seal Ale, Spaten Dunkel, Shiner Bock

Seafood/Vegetables

For dishes containing seafood or vegetables, look for something light and refreshing that will complement these lighter dishes.

Suggestions: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Pretty Things’ Jack D’Or, Allagash White, Red Hook ESB

Of course, there are a number of other beers that you can pair with your barbeque, use this quick guide as a reference. But, many beers can go perfect with a number of any sort of grilled meat. And, here are five suggestions that you should have ready for a Memorial Day cookout.

Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale

A crisp, clean and refreshing brew that is perfect to sip on all day.

Two Brothers Dog Days Dortmunder Style Lager

A light and refreshing traditional German lager that has a touch of orange sweetness. It’s a serious thirst quencher.

Dogfish Head Aprihop

This fruity beer can be paired with salads, grilled chicken and foods with a barbecue sauce in general. You don’t usually find a fruity beer that accomplishes that.

New Belgium Brewing Shift Pale Lager

This brew has a perfect balance of floral fruit hops, kinda like a pilsner, with bready malt that creates a refreshing beer that can go with a variety of grilled food.

Flying Dog Backyard Ale

This amber ale claims right on its label that it’s “the perfect complement to all things grilled, charred, broiled, roasted, and smoked.” We agree.

Images via Wikipedia

Former LM Ericsson Headquarters, Telefonplan, Stockholm | Wikipedia

During the CTIA Wireless trade show last Tuesday, Ericsson announced their new network software, which is designed to ensure better mobile Internet connection. It can be used by mobile operators that take advantage of Wi-Fi to supplement their cellular networks.

How Ericsson’s Network Software Works

Ericsson’s latest network software measures which connection works best for a user, especially when he’s in an area where both Wi-Fi and cellular network are available. It will then shift automatically to a better connection.

The company said that this feature can prevent users from being shifted from cellular to Wi-Fi network connection. As it turns out, there are circumstances when a mobile Internet connection remains on Wi-Fi, even though it’s slower than the cellular network in its current location.

Delivering a better Internet connection is not just about offering heterogeneous network to offload data traffic. It also has something to do with knowing what is currently the best available network connection in a particular spot.

With Ericsson’s latest network software, it can determine and carry out real-time traffic between Wi-Fi and cellular connections. It also offers access selection, as well as a self-optimizing network tool to guarantee good performance.

According to the company, this new technology is in line with the standard mechanisms of Wi-Fi and cellular roaming, which include Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint and 3GPP’s Access Network Discovery, and Selection Function.

Microsoft’s Xbox One | Official Website

Last Tuesday, Microsoft announced their latest Xbox console—called the Xbox One—at their A New Generation conference. Dubbed as “ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system,” it aims to unite every component of a household’s entertainment system to create an inclusive media experience.

Inside the Xbox One

Microsoft’s Xbox One features cloud storage, Blu-ray capabilities, better graphics, and faster processor than the previous model. Aside from that, its new controller has a more ergonomic design. It has an integrated battery compartment and the much-awaited directional pad design.

The Xbox One also brings in the new-generation Kinect. Its sensor boasts multi-microphone array, which can distinguish a user’s voice amidst the background noise. Because of this, users can verbally switch into TV, games, Skype or other Xbox One experience.

It’s been eight years since the Xbox 360 made its debut. With Microsoft’s Xbox One, it will be exciting to see how it will go up against the updated Sony and Nintendo consoles, as well as the smaller startups like the Android-based Ouya.

In 1982, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that every state in the U.S. reduce the drunken-driving limit from 0.10% to 0.08%. A year later, Utah became the first state to lower the limit, but it wasn’t until 2004 that all of the states reduced their limits to the current 0.08%. Now, the NTSB is pushing for it to be lowered to 0.05%.

Currently, there are over a hundred countries that enforce the drunken-driving levels at 0.05%. This leaves the U.S. as one of few developed countries with a higher level. The NTSB claims that if the limit is dropped to 0.05%, the risk of a crash is about half as much as at 0.08%. Deborah Hersman, the NTSB chairman, stated:

This is critical because impaired driving remains one of the biggest killers in the United States.”

The recommendation was applauded by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. However, MADD would also like to use technology to completely eliminate drunk driving by preventing intoxicated and previous offenders from getting behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, groups like the American Beverage Institute were against the report. Sarah Longwell, the institute’s managing director, said:

Further restricting the moderate consumption of alcohol by responsible adults prior to driving does nothing to stop hard-core drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.”

So, that raises the question. How many drinks would it take for you to be over the suggested 0.05% limit? As many are aware, that depends on a number of factors including your sex and weight, as well as, what kind of alcoholic beverage a person is consuming. Using the calculator on the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation website, NPR found that a “man weighing 180 pounds who drank three beers in an hour would have a BAC of 0.052,” while a “120-pound woman would hit the same level drinking two beers over 60 minutes.”

Despite how people feel about decreasing the limit, fatalities related to drunk driving have been reduced. According to the NTSB, in 2010 there were more than 10,000 highway deaths that involved an alcohol-impaired driver. In 1998, that number was more than 18,000. With stricter alcohol limits, the NTSB believes that that number could go even lower.

For now, this is just a suggestion from the National Transportation Safety Board. And, it would probably take years for any new legislation to be enacted. Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for Governors Highway Safety Association, told USA Today that “When the limit was .10, it was very difficult to get it lowered to .08,” and he also added, “We don’t expect any state to go to .05.”

So, how do you all feel about the NTSB wanting to reduce the blood-alcohol level that qualifies as drunken driving to 0.05%? Do you think it will prevent fewer fatalities? Or, is it just punishing responsible adults?

Image via Wikipedia

Sony PlayStation 3 | Wikipedia

Although console wars are nothing new in the gaming industry, the next-generation PS4 and Xbox will make it bloodier this. Both consoles are expected to hit the stores this holiday season.

Due to this, Sony started hyping up their PlayStation 4, announced and teased upcoming games, and took over a whole issue of Game Informer over the past weeks. As if that’s not enough building up, they released a video teaser of the PS4’s design to take the spotlight from Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox.

This is the same strategy that Sony did against Nintendo and Microsoft prior to PlayStation Meeting. The said event will stage the announcement of the PS4. This time, though, they are focusing their advertising efforts on the Xbox Event.

Do you think Sony is being smart and funny with this kind of marketing strategy? Sound off your comments below.

A New Generation Revealed | Xbox Live Official Website

Microsoft is getting giddy today, as the company is set to kick off their “A New Generation” conference today.

The said event will stage the announcement of the next-generation Xbox gaming console in Seattle, Washington. Aside from that, Activision will show their first game footage of “Call of Duty: Ghosts”. The conference is said to be one hour long, showcasing Microsoft’s vision of Xbox and a taste of the future.

Call of Duty: Ghosts | Masked Warriors Teaser Trailer

Aside from A New Generation conference, it is expected that Microsoft will have additional software revealed at the upcoming E3 2013. The company will showcase the next-gen Xbox’s complete lineup of blockbuster games.

Over the years there have been a lot of movies based off video games, and there has yet been one that has been an overwhelming success with fans and critics. But, that could all change when the Assassins Creed flick hits theaters on May 22, 2015.

The collaboration between New Regency Films and Ubisoft Motion Pictures is already on the right path. Michael Fassbender is set to star, and produce, in the film adaptation that is about “a man who learns his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret org with ties to the Knights Templar, and sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts.”

So far, Assassins Creed sounds intriguing, but it’s going to have to go against The Avengers 2 and Star Wars: Episode VII at the box office around the same time. Hopefully, the film will at least break the curse that has plagued all of the movies based on video games throughout the years.

If Assassins Creed is anywhere close to as entertaining as the following best ten films based on video games, which shouldn’t really be a challenge, we can safely call it a success. Just as long as Uwe Boll has absolutely no involvement with the ambitious project whatsoever.

10. Doom (2005)

While Doom isn’t exactly a good movie, the film adaptation still managed to please some fans of the video game series by entertaining them with gratuitous violence. And, it did have a pretty solid cast with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Karl ‘I Am The Law’ Urban.

9. Hitman (2007)

Another film that is anything but good for moviegoers. However, Timothy Olyphant at least made Hitman kinda watchable. He nailed the role of Agent 47. It’s just a shame that he was given such poor material to work with.

8. Max Payne (2008)

When the Rockstar Games’ antihero hit the big screen, it featured more than enough stylized action to keep fans entertained. If the film had come out years earlier, the game’s bullet-time gunplay that revolutionized video games and movies would have made Max Payne a groundbreaking film. Instead, we got a movie that takes itself way too seriously starring Marky Mark. At least Mila Kunis was in it.

7. Street Fighter (1994)

This was the third video-game film ever made, and it’s become a guilty pleasure. It had an unusual cast, Jean-Claude Van Damme, the late Raul Julia and singer Kylie Minogue, but the campy one-liners and non-stop action still make Street Fighter a fun cult classic.

6. Resident Evil (2002)

Paul W.S. Anderson’s adaptation of the popular zombie franchise provided us with lots of gruesome monsters, zombie action, and Mila Jovovich to make it a guilty pleasure. The sequels, however, are just terrible. But, they keep releasing new Resident Evil films, so Anderson and Jovovich are doing something right.

5. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Even though the first “Prince of Persia” video game was released in 1989 for Apple Computers, it didn’t come to theaters until 2010. The Walt Disney film version was a major improvement for video game movies by not taking itself that seriously and delivering a fun and watchable popcorn flick. The Jake Gyllenhall, Ben Kingsley, and Gemma Arterton vehicle also did well at the box office by taking in $335.1 million.

4. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Sure. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within may not be considered a classic, it did make history by becoming the first completely photorealistic computer-animated film ever released. While the movie received mixed reviews, it was a trendsetter for computer animated movies to come.

3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (2003)

This is one of the few sequels that is superior to the original film. Angelina Jolie was the perfect actress to portray Lara Croft, and the supporting cast included Gerard Butler and Djimoun Hounsoun. Cradle may have had its flaws, but it was definitely an improvement from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

2. Silent Hill (2006)

When Konami’s premier horror title was released on the big screen, many people felt that it was confusing and ran too long. However, a lot of people agree that the film is visually impressive. In fact, Don R. Lewis of Film Threat stated that it was “the best-looking bad film I’ve ever seen.”

1. Mortal Kombat (1995)

Maybe it’s nostalgia that has us listing Mortal Kombat as the best movie based off a video game. After all, the controversial game’s film version has bad dialogue and laughable effects. But it stayed true to the source material and starred cult favorite Christopher Lambert. If you question this decision, think back to when you first saw Mortal Kombat and tell us that you didn’t geek out when Scorpion came on the screen and delivered his signature yell, “get over here!”

Images via Wikipedia