It's not all that often that gaming publications get excited over a fishing game, but at least one is saying that The Strike is "shaping up to be the best fishing video game ever created." In fact, after playing a preview of the game, which is due out this fall, Patrick Shaw of GamePro thought it was so good it gave him "tingles" after playing it for less than an hour.
The game is being developed by Griffin International and features "realistic lake bottom topography, advanced graphics, lifelike fish behaviors, fully customizable characters and an abundance of boats, lures, rods, and reels." Griffin also has The Hunt, a realistic hunting game in the works.
Both games are sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and offer accessory options like the sweet-looking XBox 360 fishing pole controller you see below (the bundled cost of the XBox 360 controller and game will be $69.99). The Hunt and The Strike will be available for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PC later this year.
G4's video preview appears after the jump.
... Read moreThe Hollywood writers' strike might have shortened the television season, but iTunes customers will get some compensation for their losses.
iLounge noticed that Apple has started sending notices to iTunes Store season pass subscribers with good news: they'll be getting a two-episode credit from Apple to make up for the writers' strike.
Apple is also promising to provide partial refunds for shows that won't be delivered as a result of the strike. For example, if 20 episodes were promised when the season pass was purchased, but only 17 wind up getting made this year, it sounds like Apple will issue a credit for the missing three episodes. It's not clear whether the two-episode credit applies to that difference.
The Writers Guild of America went out on strike for about four months in hopes of negotiating a better compensation package for Internet downloads of writers' works. That forced the television-watching public to miss its daily dose of digitally delivered drugs and watch reruns and reality TV instead. The strike ended last month.
Buying a season pass to a particular show over the Internet is a relatively new way to watch TV, and this is a relatively interesting way of dealing with the strike. So far, my cable company has not offered me anything back for forcing everyone to watch The Moment of Truth.
House MD is one of the many shows that rely on screenwriters.
While some 12,000 TV and film screenwriters go on strike this week, people are filling the void by turning to other forms of media, such as DVDs and the Internet. Ironically, these outlets are exactly what the members of the Writers Guild want more of the profit of (and don't want people to support). They're hoping to come to an agreement soon, although the last walk out like this (in 1988) lasted for five months. Ouch.
We'll miss The Office, Desperate Housewives and Conan O'brien, but it's not the end of the world, right? Rather, it's the perfect time to listen to new music on Download.com! Check out this made-for-TV screenwriters strike playlist now (while you work), then go to the artist pages to download or stream the songs. The playlist includes Johnny Cash, E40, Simply Red, the House MD soundtrack and more. Read our related newsletter here.
TV and film writers will officially go on strike starting Monday at 12:01 PST, a spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America said on Friday.
As the weekend may bring more negotiating between the guild and the group representing film and TV producers, one of the main sticking points is Internet revenue, according to a story published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.
The writers want a share of ad revenue generated by online broadcasts of TV shows. Producers insist that the Web is more of a promotional tool and hasn't brought in much money.
The dispute comes as TV networks and cable channels are posting more and more shows to the Web soon after they appear on television. For example, NBC Universal and News Corp. last week launched a test version of Hulu.com, a new online video outlet where full-length TV shows from both companies appear.
ABC, CBS, and Viacom have steadily increased the number of offerings online in recent months. Feature films are still too big to distribute easily over the Web, but it's generally believed technology improvements will likely solve those problems. The writers want assurances that when that happens they will share in the profits.
The writers say they're trying to avoid missing out on Internet money in the same way they missed out on the DVD bonanza that has fueled much of the growth in the film industry over the last decade.
The writers agreed to a deal soon after the mass adoption of the VCR that eventually earned them 4 cents per DVD sale. They now are demanding a bump to 8 cents.
According to several publications, the producers and writers remain far apart on this issue.
(Credit:
OhGizmo)
This item ranks right up there with the "qStart," that device that reminds you which side of the road to drive on.
The "StrikeAlert" describes itself as "the world's first convenient, dependable and easy-to-use personal lightning detector." During a thunderstorm it supposedly gauges the distance of lightning based on the decibel level of their crackle up to 40 miles away, according to OhGizmo.
Forgive us, but we must ask: Do we really need a gadget to tell us that lightning is approaching? Would it not be more prudent, say, to just weather the storm indoors? The $80 it costs to get one of these, in our opinion, would be better spent on an AM radio, canned food and a deck of cards.
They're baaa-aack. Actually, they never left. In recent years the mainstream media has often dismissed Microsoft as old news, offering headlines about its decline that have focused on Bill Gates' departure, Vista delays, Internet Explorer bugs and Google, Google, Google.
Yet if there's one thing we've learned about the battle-hardened veterans of Redmond--declining or otherwise--it's never count them out. Witness the news about TV and movie downloads through Xbox Live, including high-definition shows. Microsoft has long understood the potential for an uber-device to take over all digital home entertainment, from games and Web browsing to television and videos. The question has always been who would get there first.
Of course, Microsoft has had a spotty track record at best in the entertainment realm, and there's no guarantee that the Xbox will be the killer that it obviously hopes it will be. But given all the product delays and other setbacks it has suffered lately, this is undeniable evidence that the world's largest software company is still very much in the game--for now.
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