Showing Out

Back at the beginning of the year, news emerged that EA was reviving their classic game NBA Jam and giving it a 2010 makeover, with the intention to release the game exclusively on the Nintendo Wii. Now, we get a first look at the game with the above trailer for the joint. And to be quite honest, this looks awesome. Sticking to the game’s classic play interface, the game is basically a graphically updated version of its source material, with catchphrases like “Boom Shaka Laka” and “Somebody needs to put a straitjacket on this guy!” included as soundbytes. And by the looks of it, the game will feature NBA players like Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Carlos Boozer, Kobe Bryant and a handful of others. Look out for this one when it hits retail in the second quarter of 2010.

Like watching TV for free on Hulu? Soak it up while it lasts, because it looks like the streaming service is about to start charging for their services. According to L.A. Times, Hulu is set to launch a new service called Hulu Plus on May 24th, charging users a monthly charge of $9.95 to view anything beyond the five most recent episodes of TV show. The pay-for-play service is apparently being launched since “they can no longer justify offering the same shows online for free,” a move that, in spite of the capitalist motives, will actually help the economy, since productivity at desk jobs is about to increase tenfold.

Blockbuster was (and still is) in some serious hot water, with the “b” word (bankruptcy) floating around last month. But it looks like they’re doing everything in their power to prevent being forced out of business. According to THR, Blockbuster has struck a deal with Warner Bros., Sony and Fox to have a first lien on its Canadian assets “in exchange for day-and-date delivery of DVD rentals for movies from those studios, as well as payment terms that are tweaked to favor Blockbuster up front.” “These positive signs of studio support are part of our overall recapitalization effort to drive top-line performance while reducing debt and operating costs at Blockbuster,” Blockbuster CFO Tom Casey said. “This affirms our strong and collaborative business relations with these critical vendors.” Now, all they need to do is win back their consumer base and they’ll be good. God speed.

Rappers, take notes on Apple’s game-plan: create an album, build a buzz, sell it for $499 and watch the money pile up. That’s what Apple did with their new, highly buzzed about iPad, which, according to AP, just moved more than 300,000 units in its first day.The figures included pre-orders that were picked up or delivered Saturday, when tech-lovers across America rushed to their local Apple retailer to wait in line for hours to be the first to get this piece of technology. While initial sales didn’t match up with estimates (it in fact undersold said estimates), sales for the iPad managed to exceed the numbers of the original iPhone in 2007, with projected sales set for 1.3 million iPads to be purchased in the current quarter compared with the 1.1 million for the iPhone in its first full quarter. So what’s the word? Is the iPad worth all this trouble? Sound off below.

Oh, Nintendo. Always trying to outdo to the competition. But this time, they could quite possibly have done it. According to EW, Nintendo is currently in the process of designing a handheld video game system that has 3-D capabilities, with the working title of Nintendo 3DS already announced. The system is set to be released in Japan by March 2011, when rampant Japanese gamers will be able to view their video games in 3-D without having to wear those stupid looking glasses. Though there’s no official release date announced for a Stateside debut of the system, the 3DS is supposedly compatible with software designed for previous incarnations of the Nintendo DS and DSi, which have collectively sold over 125 million units worldwide. Be on the lookout for a further update when they unveil this bad boy at the E3 convention this June 15th.

Google is pretty much taking over the world, so it really comes as no surprise that it’s headed off the internet and onto your TV screen. According to the NY Times, Google has teamed up with Intel and Sony to develop Google TV, with plans to introduce a new generation of television sets and set-top boxes into homes across the world. The service will allow users to navigate the internet as if they were flipping channels, with options to switch between Web apps like Twitter and Picaso at the drop of a hat. Google plans on rolling out Google TV in the next few months, partnering with Logitech to provide customers with keyboards and remotes compatible with the technology. Face it: if the internet could be turned into a human being, Google would be the biggest celebrity in the world. Get ready for this bad boy.

For those of you who got tired of your local bar’s Rock Band night for a lack of a decent catalog of songs to choose from, prepare to put back on your drinking cap. Taking it to their official Facebook page, Harmonix has announced that it’s developing Rock Band 3 for a worldwide release this holiday season. Though there’s no exact release date set in stone, the game, which will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, is said to “innovate and revolutionize the music genre once again, just as Harmonix did with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band.” In the meantime, a Jimi Hendrix Rock Band is due later this year in addition to a Green Day edition. Yay for better theme nights at your local watering hole!

Another benefit to watching the Oscars last night was seeing the new ad for the Apple iPad, which is headed to retail April 3rd. The ad, which features the song “There Goes My Love” by The Blue Van, shows just how amazing this piece of technology is going to be. Not only does it function like an iTouch and iPhone, but you can read e-books on this bad boy as if you were flipping real pages; watch movies like it ain’t no thing; surf the web on its wi-fi system; and basically use it like a portable computer. If you’re not at least somewhat interested in purchasing one of these after watching this, then you are probably a proud owner of a phone that has Snake on it. You know, stuck in the past. G-bless you.

Looks like Hulu’s taking a big ol’ L today. According to the AP, Hulu is losing two of its most popular shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, beginning when Comedy Central pulls its shows from the site starting on March 10th. Unlike most public falling outs these days, the departure is amicable, with senior v.p. of content and distribution Andy Forssell taking to Hulu to write a blog post on the matter. ”In the past 21 months, we’ve had very strong results for both Hulu and Comedy Central, in terms of the views and revenue we’ve generated,” said Forssell. ”After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time.” Comedy Central will most likely move programming to its own website properties, but this means that Hulu’s about to lose a substantial amount of traffic. Sucks to be Hulu right about now.

Think you know everything about President Obama? Well, you’re about to at least know more. According to the AP, Pulitzer Prize winner David Remnick is penning a new biography of the Prez, with a tentative release date scheduled for April 6th. The book, titled The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, is based on “hundreds of on-the-record interviews” with Obama himself, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, with the addition of some correspondence and letters by his mother, Shirley Ann Dunham. No word what sort of material will be discussed in the book itself, but it looks as though it’ll document his ascent to the President through the eyes of those around him. Adding this to our wish list.