We have been working hard to bring you our first ever podcast, we hope you enjoy listening to it.
This week sees listeners join the Editor, Benjamyn Carron and contributors: Emma-Lee Davidson, Andy Robison, Charlotte Peters and lastly Michael Palmer talk about sexism in the video games industry.
Be sure to check out the article which spawned the topic for this weeks podcast: here
Remember these guys? The overly popular, little furry robots of the late 90s are set for an Autumn/Fall 2012 return, Hasbro announced earlier today.
The original line, released in the 1998-2001 period, saw over 40 million units sold before kids interest quickly darted to the next phase at the time. The new 2012 reboot isn't hugely different to the original although one of the main new features is twin brightly-lit LED eye screens with mechanical eyelids animate with a variety of different expressions and even quirky pictures.
Hasbro has also revealed that there will be a companion app released for iOS devices, which will allow users to control their Furbies via different on-screen commands. The app itself works by playing different soundbites that the Furbies are programmed to respond to.
Furby's artificial intelligence have also received a boost resulting in different personalities and characteristics as well as the ability to interact with other nearby Furbies:
The new Furby has a series of nested personalities than can be unlocked over time. Within minutes of using mine, its eyes started blinking, and it transformed into a "valley girl" type of character. Furbies respond to being shaken or turned, and will dance to music. Honestly, it's as unpredictable as a little kid. - CNET
The new breed of updated Furbies will retail this Autumn for $60 Stateside, there is currently no word on a UK retail price or release date.
DBZ Fans are set to shout and scream this Winter... Because it makes you stronger:
A Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection consisting of two PS2 fighting games from the overly popular anime franchise was announced by Namco Bandai earlier today.
Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD, will include HD remasters of DBZ: Budokai and DBZ: Budokai 3. The latter remains to date, the highest-rated Dragon Ball game on Metacritic. Oddly and inexplicably Budokai 2 seems to have been left out of the collection.
The HD collection will be joining Dragon Ball Z: Kinect (Xbox exclusive) for a Q4 2012 release as It is set to be released in North America on 9th October 2012 and in Europe on 12th October for Xbox 360 and PS3. A new trailer was released alongside the announcement:
Dragon Ball Z began airing as long as 23 years ago in Japan and has seen dozens of video game releases since.
To celebrate independence day, a few select publishers are selling many games for the iPad and iPhone at the low low price of £0.69/$0.99 on the app store.
Price at time of Review: £1.49/$1.99 iOS- £3.13/$4.99 Android
Size: 20.2 MB iOS/2.87MB Android
Splashtop 2 is a virtual network computing app that allows you to view and control your Mac or Windows computer from your portable device through the internet. There is no shortage of VNC apps on the iOS App Store or Android market but Splashtop 2 is one of the fastest and best remote computing apps available and currently has over 7 million users worldwide.
Features:
* Access all your programs and files with 100% compatibility, including PowerPoint, Keynote, Word, Excel, Outlook, Quicken, IE, Firefox, Safari, and other PC / Mac applications.
* Watch all kinds of videos, including Flash videos (Hulu, AOL Video, Yahoo Video, etc.), DVDs, Media Player, that are only playable on your computer.
* Listen to music in any format on your computer (WMV, Real, WMA, MP3, AAC, etc.)
* Enjoy the most vibrant experience with Apple Retina display support (when using native resolution)
And with the in-app purchase of Anywhere Access Pack, you can also:
* Connect to your PC or Mac seamlessly from anywhere, including over 3G/4G
* Browse all your content securely across the Internet with the same encryption algorithms and technologies as the biggest banks in the world.
* Establish the fastest and most responsive remote connection with enhanced reliability and self-optimizing network capabilities.
Splashtop 2 is an incredibly easy to use app with an intuitive user-friendly interface. To use it users just have to download the desktop client streamer for free from their website and set up a user account. Finding computers on the same Wifi network is automatic once you are logged in. Accessing your computer from a different internet connection than your home one is not any more difficult either. The requirement to log in with your user account or an IP address and security code will prevent unauthorised access to your computer from other users.
If you're the one family or friends go to when their PC has a problem, one great use of such VNC apps is that you can install them on a family or friend's computer and help them out with problems (if it's not too severe) without needing to leave your home.
As well as using it to view and access your computer remotely, Splashtop 2 allows users to turn their portable device's touchscreen into a track-pad to control the mouse on their computer, which can be handy for those who use their computers as a media centre in their living room.
It also allows you to stream audio through your portable device's speaker (or headphones if you wish) which essentially grants you the ability to stream all of your music and video collection straight to your device. The app streams video smoothly enough to be comfortable to watch and even has an option that will make the stream favour smoothness over sharpness for video playback.
For £1.49 (current sale price) it's an absolute bargain to be able to access and stream content from your computer to your tablet or phone. Splashtop 2 is miles better than most if not all other rival VNC apps on the market and also one of the cheapest. Nothing else I've tried even comes close to the near lawless streaming Splashtop 2 offers. It honestly feels like something out of a Sci-Fi film...
Forget to turn off or lock your computer, or transfer an ever so important document after you've left the building? Splashtop 2 has you covered.
The Gametoaid Zelda gaming marathon fundraiser finally came to a close Sunday evening/Monday Morning, a staggering 86 hours after its Thursday debut.
The group of students in Adelaide, Australia hosted and streamed their live Zelda video-game marathon over the weekend. The group raised a GametoAid record-high $10,750 for Child’s Play charity from nearly 500 donations worldwide.
We first started GameToAid in late 2010. Inspired by groups like ExtraLives.org, we thought it'd be fun to do our own marathon and raise money for a great cause. In every marathon we've run since then, we strive to improve the quality of the stream and make it more smooth and entertaining. I've wanted to do a Zelda marathon for a while, and we finally got around to doing one this time! - -Toby Zerner, GameToAid
Team Beedle and Team Tingle, named after characters from the game series, played competitively over the course of the marathon, aiming to be the team to finish each title first. Both teams' game screens were streamed live on Twitch TV to viewers across the world.
The live stream view on Gametoaid.org
One of the charity marathon's biggest strengths was the high-level interaction with the community. Viewers were able to vote in polls, submit fan art and communicate via the stream's built-in chat service. The group always had a constant view over the chat and regularly responded to questions and comments from the community as well as taking suggestions. There were also contests held where donated prizes were raffled off at random to donors.
Toby Zerner from GameToAid said he was thrilled with the success of the marathon and the level of activity in chat. "Everyone in the chat room was extremely encouraging and enthusiastic and it was a truly awesome experience to be a part of." - Toby
GameToAid also implemented a unique donation dependent feature called 'Chance Time' which occurred for every $100 in donations. The 'Chance Time' was a custom made roulette of actions that would randomly select: an individual or group of people involved, an activity and a subject/object. Chance Time resulted in many different occurrences from special challenges like playing blindfolded or result in a team having to act out a famous internet meme. Particular highlights included Team Beedle running around the block, everyone singing about doughnuts, one member eating Vegemite on Weetabix and everyone dancing and singing to Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'.
The final poll on the GametoAid site asked viewers which of the six The Legend of Zelda titles that the group had fought through from start to finish was their favourite to watch. Majora's Mask narrowly beat the marathon finale, Windwaker by just two votes. Had the poll been put up after Team Beedle finished The Windwaker, the results may have differed. Windwaker would have surely earned a few more votes after Team Beedle's player beat the final boss in the game, while blindfolded which also resulted in a few hundred dollars more in donations rolled in and an explosion of enthusiastic cheers in the chat room.
Blindfolded Windwaker final boss battle
IMustConfab's very own Michael Johnson also acted as one of the moderators for live stream's chat. He commented on the marathon's success:
It was so much fun watching the guys play through six different Zelda games plus acting like dorks at the same time. So many laughs and smiles were had from George Rage Quitting to Toby beating Wind Waker blind folded! It's such an amazing thing for them to do for charity and I can't thank them enough. Also this was probably one of the easiest marathons to mod as 99% of the time all the chat members were great. Everyone who donated should be proud of themselves for supporting charity and breaking the previous GametoAid donation record. - Michael (Slurmee)
GametoAid's fan art section was incredibly popular throughout the marathon and resulted in over 500 images over a dozen pages of submitted content from fans, which ranged from hand-drawn pictures to Zelda related internet memes. All fan art submissions were displayed live on the stream for viewers to see shortly after they were approved by GameToAid.
This fundraiser serves as a nice reminder that gaming does, in fact, have its benefits to humanity and is perhaps not as bad for us as many media corporations have made it out to be. It also shows how charitable some people can be, with an average donation amount of $22.36 (£14) GameToAid expects to hold another gaming charity marathon later in 2012 and encourage interested fans to subscribe to hear about any future updates on their website.
Earlier today, Google revealed their first official 7" tablet, the Nexus 7, at their Google I/O conference.
The tablet, made by Asus, will be the first device to debut with the upcoming Android 4.1 release 'Jellybean'. Google will be launching two very affordable models come Mid-July.
Model - UK/US Price
8GB £159 $199
16GB £199 $249
Google's speedy tablet is set to run on a powerful 1.3Ghz Tegra 3 Quadcore processor, 1GB of RAM, a crisp 7" 1280x800 HD resolution screen (216 PPI) and will come in 8GB and 16GB storage models. Unfortunately for high capacity enthusiasts, there will be no physical expandable memory slots.
As well as fighting for a share of Apple's current share in the tablet market, this new powerful yet affordable tablet is set to challenge Amazon's Kindle Fire which is currently the best selling Android Tablet in the US. Amazon has yet to release their 7" Kindle Fire tablet outside of North America which means Google could be the first to tap into the 'affordable premium tablets' market in the UK.
With this new service making it easier than ever before to find new acquaintances at festivals, concerts and other public events, now is the perfect time for facebook users to check over their accounts privacy settings.
Once again gamers are calling in sick days, stocking up on snacks as they prepare for the years biggest gaming expo, where Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo hold conferences which are set to run over the next couple of days, as well as conferences being held by three of the largest publishers: Ubisoft, Konami and EA.
Nintendo have a lot to prove this year as they build up to the release of their next generation console the Nintendo Wii U which is set to hit retail in the 2012 Holiday period. Nintendo appear to have a plethora of information and announcements for this years E3 as they have ran a Pre E3 direct presentation to reveal new information about some of the Wii U's new hardware and software features.
Hardware:
Wii U Tablet Controller:
Wii U Tablet Controller named Wii U Gamepad
Wii U Gamepad changed slightly from prototype seen in E3 2011
- Slider pads changed to Analogue Sticks
- NFC Chip on bottom left corner of Gamepad
- Start & Select Buttons Moved to below the face buttons on right hand side
- Gamepad longer and more comfortable to hold
Wii U Pro Controller announced:
This new, yet incredibly familiar looking controller, aimed at the 'hardcore' audience is intended for longer play sessions than using the Wii U's Game pad. Despite looking an awful lot like their rivals current generation controller, it could potentially be one of the best controllers out there featuring what appear to be good analogue triggers and that which the Xbox 360 controller lacked: a decent d-pad.
Another year, another iThingy by Apple. Not a laptop, not a phone, but instead a new, ever-so-slightly-modified version of the iPad 2. A beautifully crafted 7-10” slab of technology with a touchscreen for primary input and wireless technologies for communication and data transfer. Sure they look pretty neat and certainly feel cool and intuitive to use but do we really need them?
Tablets are not as functional as laptops and as yet are not small or portable enough as your smartphone, so where exactly is the market for them? Yes, you can word process on them, but the whole experience feels clumsy and troublesome compared to the ease of typing on a laptop or desktop computer. Society seems to have reached a point where we’re making sleek gadgets that we just do not need. Yes you can draw sketches or read books on the high resolution touch-screen, but there are dedicated drawing tablets for that and e-readers with e-ink screens which do not strain your eyes after a few chapters. Hell, what’s wrong with just drawing on paper and reading a book? The niche that the iPad manages to fill is that of convenience for cool people who must have the new... everything. Smartphones offer the same convenience but wait - the iPad has a bigger screen and more power under the bonnet. Laptops are portable too but require a time consuming boot-up and a protective bag. The iPad will fit in most bags, satchels and rucksacks, and battery life lasts anywhere from six to ten hours, compared to a laptop’s paltry two to four hours. The iPad cannot replace a laptop for work-heavy users and in no way can it replace a mobile phone, it would look implausibly idiotic pulling an iPad out of your bag to take a call.
Many tablet owners are doing just what smartphone owners do but with a few more inches of playspace. The new iPad’s major new feature is the amazingly high resolution screen (2048x1536 pixels) which is actually crisper and more detailed than any HDTV on the market. The 9.7” screen works wonders for drawing detailed sketches, reading larger volumes of text, and editing photos etc. If you have ever played Draw Something, the hugely popular pictionary-like game, you’ll know how tricky it is drawing on a smartphone’s tiny screen. Much like the iPhone 4’s retina screen, the iPad’s retina screen makes high resolution images and videos look more beautiful than ever. The new iPad is indistinguishable from its predecessor by design alone. It comes in at an acceptable weight of 652g (10g more for the 4G version) and at just 0.37 inches wide it fits incredibly well in the hands. Yes, you’ll notice you’re holding a weight, but the device is by no means like a lead brick.
The iPad 3 really comes into its own against other tablets when it comes to apps and software. A choice of over 200,000 dedicated apps and games means there is far more choice for casual users and tech geeks alike, and an abundance of higher quality apps than are available on competing tablets.
Gamers interested in picking up a tablet should note that In the last couple of years the gaming library on iPad has exploded with high quality releases, with graphics rivalling output on even the Xbox and Playstation 3. The iPad 3 is the definitive tablet to own if gaming is a big factor in helping you decide which tablet to purchase.
So the new iPad is an impressive piece of kit, but aside from 4G mobile internet technology, which isn’t even available in the UK until the end of 2012 or mid 2013, it doesn’t really do anything new that the iPad 2 can’t; it just does everything with a prettier screen and more processing power.
The extra £100 cost over the iPad 2’s price nets you a higher resolution screen, a better rear facing camera and a more powerful processor. It’s a worthy investment if you’re spending a few hundred quid on a device anyway and keeps you future proof. If you really like the extra detail that HDTV brought into our living rooms the new screen will not disappoint.
Should you buy it?
iPad 2 owners may want to give upgrading a miss as it’s not a huge jump in features or specifications, but if you’re in the market for a new (and unnecessary) tablet, have a few hundred quid to burn and don’t already own one, then the iPad 3 is an easy recommendation. Just don’t expect it to replace your laptop or compete with your phone for portability.
Bit.Trip Saga & Bit.Trip Complete Set for Release in UK & Europe
The publisher of the popular Bit.Trip series, Rising Star Games, have announced that the upcoming collections: Bit.Trip Saga & Bit.Trip Complete will be released on March 16th 2012 in the UK and across the rest of Europe. The two retail titles will be released on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii platforms.
Gaijin Games, acclaimed developer of the Bit.Trip series, has finished development of the two collections which feature all of the rhythm-based Bit.Trip series. A huge part of the games are the soundtrack which are chiptune-inspired.
The Bit.Trip series involves six unique games which include a mixture of 1980's video game graphical style and various gaming elements such as platforming, pong and shooting. The series began in March 2009 when Gaijin Games released Bit.Trip Beat for the Nintendo Wii, a downloadable title that was like Pong meets Guitar Hero. In Bit.Trip Beat players had to control the paddle to bounce back oncoming blocks to the beat of the music. Bit.Trip Beat has received many positive reviews averaging a respectable average score of 80/100 at Metacritic. Official Nintendo Magazine Writer, Simon Bramble, described it as a "fresh take on Pong" and praised its value and aesthetics.
Bit.Trip Beat gameplay
Since Bit.Trip Beat released, Gaijin Games have developed five more games in the series: Core, Void, Runner, Fate and Flux. All these games are set to be re-released in 3D on Bit.Trip Saga and will include all new content on Bit.Trip Complete such as new levels, online leaderboards and a new audio gallery.
Bit.Trip Saga & Bit.Trip Complete Features:
BIT.TRIP SAGA (Nintendo 3DS)
BIT.TRIP BEAT marks the beginning of CommanderVideo’s epic journey
BIT.TRIP CORE is the second instalment in CommanderVideo’s soul quest
BIT.TRIP Runner marks the first fully character-based adventure for CommanderVideo
BIT.TRIP FATE is the penultimate chapter in the six-part BIT.TRIP series and will leave you wondering what’s next
The BIT.TRIP series comes full circle with BIT.TRIP FLUX, CommanderVideo’s final adventure
BIT.TRIP COMPLETE (Nintenod Wii)
All six games in the award-winning BIT.TRIP series in one complete package with 120 completely new BIT.TRIP challenges spanning all six games
New audio gallery with fan remixes, original songs and demo versions of existing BIT.TRIP themes
An image gallery with exclusive production stills, concept art and promo images
A video gallery with more than 25 movies telling the story of CommanderVideo
Six letters to BIT.TRIP fans written by the series’ director
Original soundtrack CD packaged with BIT.TRIP COMPLETE, featuring music from all six games in the series
New difficulty modes in all games
Online leaderboards
Whether you've tried and liked just one or a few of the Bit.Trip titles or have bought each game on release; these collections are set to be the definitive way for gamers to own all six Bit.Trip titles for playing at home on the Wii or on the go on the Nintendo 3DS system.
Bit.Trip Saga and Bit.Trip Complete for Nintendo Wii and BIT.TRIP SAGA for Nintendo 3DS will be released on 16th March, 2012. Stay tuned out for the review which will be published on the same day.
Spotify is an online music streaming service in Europe and North America that allows users to stream music from thousands of artists to their computers or phones/tablets instead of having to download all the songs to their memory.
It is very handy for music lovers who are running low on space on their hard-drives and/or phone memory. Spotify's development began in 2006 and it was released to public access in Europe, in October 2008. Free accounts were originally invite only to manage new user growth. Since then Spotify has also launched in the US and has over 10 million users. 2.5 million of those users are paid subscribers.
Accounts
Once you've downloaded the client for your device, you can either use a free account which is ad supported and has certain limitations, or you can sign up for an unlimited or premium account which have extra features and benefits for a monthly fee. Then you can get to listening to your music right away.
To use Spotify on a mobile device you'll need a premium account
A free account would suffice for non-heavy music listeners but for those who listen to music for several hours a day the unlimited and premium account may be worth the fee. For the price of buying one album per month, you get the option to listen at a higher bit-rate, to use Spotify offline by downloading the tracks to your hard drive and the ability to use it on mobile devices.
I have the been a subscriber to the premium service since May 2010 and find it an absolute joy to use, whether I'm blasting some Daft Punk through my speakers at home or listening to various montage-like songs at the gym with my smartphone.
Being able to 'queue' songs is a fantastic feature every music player should have.
Mobile phone users should watch that using Spotify doesn't cut into their monthly Internet allowances, making playlists available for offline use while connected to a WiFi network can help negate using too much data while using Spotify on the go.
Music Catalogue & Playlists
Spotify adds thousands of new tracks daily to their millions and millions of existing tracks by thousands of different artists across the globe. Adding songs to your overall library is as simple as starring any song with a single click.
Sometimes people critique Spotify for not having certain high profile artists such as The Beatles, Metallica or Pink Floyd. While it can be a shame you may occasionally find one of your favourite artists absent, it's not something you should let discourage you from using Spotify, and here's why: All Spotify accounts allow users to listen to their own local music files on their computer as well as the various songs you're steaming in your playlists. So if you really want to listen to a song that Spotify doesn't have (rare, but it happens) then just download it elsewhere and tell Spotify which folder to look in and it does the rest. Simple.
Finding the right tracks couldn't be easier, the search bar in the corner lets users search by: song title, artist, album or playlists.
The ability to create playlists on the fly and add songs to one or more playlists and star your favourite tracks results in a incredibly useful music organising and sharing tool. Any playlist can be shared with others via Facebook or even just a link. You can also make collaborative playlists that allow multiple users to create and edit funky playlists. For premium users you can also check 'Make Available Offline' and Spotify will download all the tracks in that playlist to your device for use should you ever find yourself without an Internet connection. It's all incredibly easy to do, with most of these features being only a couple clicks away.
Social
One of Spotify's biggest advantages is the social integration. As of September 2011 new accounts are required to link to a facebook account. Some might see this as an unnecessary push for those just looking for a music app that don't want to bother with facebook, but how many people out there that would be tech savvy enough get Spotify wouldn't have a facebook account? Most people have one even if they don't use it anymore, and you could quickly make a new account should you not have one when you sign up for Spotify.
Sorry Twitter looks like you've been friendzoned.
The social integration is fantastic though, you can share playlists directly with your facebook friends and see what they've been listening to and what playlists they've subscribed to. If you don't want people to know you've been listening to the likes of Abba or Justin Beiber you can set Spotify to 'private session'. You can also set which playlists you want set public too should you have any embarrassing cheesy 80's playlists kicking about you don't want your buddies to see.
Another social feature is that you can share any track, album or artist on facebook or twitter or send it to one of your friend's Spotify inbox. So if you've just heard a great new song and want to recommend it, Spotify allows you to do so, seamlessly.
Apps
In 2011 Spotify launched it's own Apps centre which allows users to install apps for all sorts of music related apps. There are all sorts of interesting and wonderful apps waiting for you on Spotify. Many apps just aim to help you explore and experience new songs and bands. Others expand on playlist building and sharing such as the 'Top10' app that lets you make different Top 10 lists of songs and share them with your friends. Other apps have totally different functions and can be really useful like 'TuneWiki' which has synced lyrics for your karaoke enthusiasts out there.
At the moment there's only around 15 Apps available, though Spotify have said more are set to release throughout 2012. The apps that are available do contain some interesting ideas. 'MoodAgent' finds playlists containing tracks to match the users mood. Built into Spotify is the Top Tracks and Lists which let users see the current Single and Album charts on Spotify, handy should you be interested in what's popular at the moment. Spotify also handily tracks your music habits and compiles a list of your top listened to artists and songs. You can also see your friends top artists/songs too which can be neat.
The apps are an entirely optional feature on Spotify to enhance your music and listening experience. Best of all they're all free.
Radio
Unlimited and Premium subscribers can also listen to Spotify in radio mode, which is 'A gold mine for discovering new artists.' This is a dedicated radio stream to find and play tracks similar to songs by any of Spotify's artists.
Just click on your favourite artist and it'll automatically pull up and play songs deemed to be similar to that artist as well as tracks by said artist. I've already discovered some great new artists thanks to Spotify Radio.
Sadly it doesn't include actual radio stations, hopefully Spotify will integrate radio support in the future. Although it would be a country by country basis and as such would be both very time consuming and potentially costly.
Spotify's Radio Mode on the Desktop client
Alternative Services
There are alternatives out there such as Grooveshark, Rdio and Rhapsody. Grooveshark is the only one I've tried thoroughly myself, you get more for free than you do with Spotify and it runs in your browser instead of as a programme. It's music library is the main difference though, it's powered by user uploads so while it does allow them to get many different artists, including ones not on Spotify, it does leave the library prone to duplicates and poor quality uploads and user-errors like spelling/name mistakes. Unlike Spotify, Grooveshark is not completely licensed which means artists may not benefit at all from appearing on Grooveshark. Also please note this does not make Grooveshark an illegal music service.
'There is a distinction between legal and licensed. Laws come from Congress. Licenses come from businesses. Grooveshark is completely legal because we comply with the laws passed by Congress, but we are not licensed by every label (yet). '
- Paul Geller,Grooveshark’s Sr. VP of External Affairs, in an open letter to the music industry regarding Grooveshark’s legality.
Each music service has it's own advantages and disadvantages but from the ones I've seen, experienced and read about; Spotify offers the best features, look and seamless functionality to me.
Verdict
Spotify isn't for everyone. It's not particularly worth it for people who rarely listen to music and it's definitely not for those who are very rarely or never with an Internet connection. Spotify is an online service and can not be properly utilised if you don't have regular access to the Internet.
But for those with frequent access to the Internet, Spotify can be a wonderful music player and tool; especially for those willing to cough up £5/£10 for the unlimited or premium subscriptions. It's a well designed, fast and functional client that can enhance the user's music experience. It covers it's bases for audiophiles by allowing higher bit-rates (paid subscription only) and use of local music files on your computer or device. It feels like they've thought of everything and the music catalogue which contains over 15 million tracks is just incredible. Spotify have done away with needing gigabytes upon gigabytes of storage to store huge music libraries and the social integration has the potential to open up anyone's music tastes and enjoyment of sharing different songs with friends without having to keep a hundred different youtube or last.fm tabs open in your internet browser.
You don't have to take my word for it, why not download and try out Spotify for Windows/Mac for free: here
13:38 Dead Rising Cross dressing
15:40 Soul Calibur Females
16:30 Ivy from Soul Calibur 
