Graffiti-centric skate-‘em-up Jet Set Radio gets its own remake across various platforms, including iOS and Android, with firm release dates, publisher Sega has announced.
The XBLA and Steam versions are set for 19th September release for 800 Microsoft points or $9.99 respectively. The PS3 version will be out on PSN on 12th September for PlayStation Plus Subscribers and the 19th for everyone else.
However, the Vita version won’t be out till 19th October in Europe.
For those new to the name and game, Jet Set Radio was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 1999 for Dreamcast and garnered stupendous amount of press attention due to its use of the then revolutionary rendering technique known as Cel-Shading. Now commonly found in many games, cel-shading allows for a “comic-like” or “cartoon-like” appearance of 3D rendered objects. Jet Set Radio was released in Japan on June 29, 2000.
A sequel titled Jet Set Radio: Future was released for the XBOX after Sega became a software-based company. The sequel remained faithful to its cel-shaded graphics and gameplay style, it was however improved to take advantage of the XBOX hardware. Will a HD remake of the sequel see the light of day or not remains a mystery so far.
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We’re reaching a critical point for mobile phone development. In 2012 manufacturers have promised us powerful quad-core processors and more vibrant displays. They’re cramming more and better components under the hood, too, allowing us to replace more of our existing gadgets with just a single smartphone. While these are all generally positive developments, they do come with a downside: they draw more power from our batteries.
For moderate level users, this might not be an issue. But frequent users will start to see their batteries lasting less and less. Some companies, such as Motorola and Samsung, have made it a point to focus on battery life, but we have seen little actual progress — and Motorola’s solution, as seen with the Droid RAZR MAXX, simply comprises a larger sized battery. It’s up to us to find ways to extend our battery lives. Thankfully, there are a few easy ways to do this.
Turn the radio off
Your smartphone is always searching for signal. Even when you have three bars, it’s searching for a stronger signal. Unfortunately, the process of searching for signal can be one of your phone’s biggest battery drains. The weaker the signal, the harder it works to find a stronger one. You can, of course, take measures to prevent this.
If you’re in an area with no signal, turn off your radio. This comes in handy especially with underground transportation. You know that you won’t have a signal while you’re underground, so you can turn it off when you’re riding and turn it back on when you come back above ground. When you have a weak signal, you might consider turning off 3G or 4G data. That way you can still get calls and texts, but your phone won’t waste battery searching for a stronger signal.
Pay for apps
For many smartphone users, particularly those on Android, free apps have become something of a norm. Developers have taken advantage of this craving for free by offering two tiers of apps. They’ll have their normal pay version, and they’ll also have a free version. How does the free version make money? By serving advertisements. Unfortunately, the process of serving those ads can take a toll on your battery.
A recent study shows that the ad serving process accounts for about 75 percent of a free app’s battery usage. (Via “>New Scientist.) Switching to the premium version, then, can eliminate that toll and help you preserve battery life. That’s not to say that you should pay for all of your apps; rather, it’s that you can create a better balance by paying for some, while using the free, ad-based version for others.
Dim the backlight
Unsurprisingly, your screen backlight eats up a lot of battery. Both Android and iPhone have auto brightness features that help keep that under control. But you can control your own brightness. This comes in handy, especially when your battery runs low. Dimming the backlight might be just what you need to squeeze a few more minutes of use out of your smartphone.
Extend your battery
There are a couple of hardware solutions that can work for heavy users. The first is an extended battery. These are available for every platform, and they do exactly what’s advertised. You’ll get up to double the battery life. The downside: with double the battery life comes double the battery size. Extended batteries require special battery doors, because they’re basically add-ons to your existing battery. That extra bulk might not appeal to users who value a smartphone’s thinness.
Users who want to avoid bulk can carry around a second battery, but this is also inconvenience. It means rebooting the phone when swapping batteries. It also means buying a special smartphone charger that allows you to charge the phone and a spare battery at the same time. It’s not ideal, but it will let you use your smartphone without fear of losing battery life completely.
While these tips will help, they’re not a long-term solution. Eventually manufacturers and developers will have to put a greater emphasis on energy efficiency. That means hardware that consumes battery power more efficiently, and apps that conserve battery life wherever possible. It appears that everyone’s hands might be forced in this one, too. With a wave of powerful smartphones coming down the pike, the issue of battery efficiency seems like one we can’t ignore for much longer.
Joe Pawlikowski is the editor of BBGeeks.com, along with several other niche tech blogs.
Sony Computer Entertainment America or SCEA for short has finally signed up with New York based advertising firm Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty (BBH for short) replacing Deutsch, which is the firm responsible for the highly successful Kevin Butler and “Michael” campaigns. And after the whole Wii – Bridgestone fiasco, I doubt we’ll be seeing the VP of everything in future Sony ads.
“All of the participating agencies, 180LA, Anomaly, BBH New York and Deutsch presented outstanding ideas during the process,” said Guy Longworth , SVP, PlayStation Brand Marketing at SCEA. “But after careful consideration, BBH New York is the best partner for our business.” via GamesIndustry.biz
BBH has worked with brands like Audi, Vodafone, Levi Straus, British Airways, Johnnie Walker, Omo/Persil and Axe/Lynx so they have ample experience but only time will tell if they’ll be able to satisfy the gaming community.
By the timing of it, looks like BBH will be responsible for all adverts of the rumored Playstation 4 console expected to be announced at Sony’s 20th February Playstation conference.
Did you like the Kevin Butler and “Michael” ads? Let us know in the comments below.
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According to a rumor reported by VGLeaks, the next gen Playstation 4 console by Sony expected to be announced on the 20th of February will come bundled with a new PS Eye Camera.
The new PS Eye camera is said to be called a “Dual Camera” and will be an evolved version of the former. The “Dual Camera” will have two wide angle 720p cameras “4 microphone array working at 48 khz,”. The camera will be used for video chat and will be able to log users into the Playstation like Microsoft’s Kinect does with the Xbox 360.
Just like the Kinect it will also be able to detect head and hand movement, if it can track rest of the body is not known as of now. Expect to hear more about it on the 20th if the Playstation 4 does get announced.
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The I9100UHMS8 or simply UHMS8 for the Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 has been released and bring along latest goodies that Android 4.2 Jelly Bean has to offer. The latest release only include some big fixes so no, you won’t find many new features, but it’s still recommended to stay on the latest firmwares.
Some technical details of the UHMS8 firmware are below:
PDA: I9100UHMS8 CSC: I9100UUBMS5 Version: 4.1.2
The UHMS8 firmware is an unbranded firmware so you can install it any Galaxy S II I9100 smartphone except for those from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as they have a few differences.
To install the UHMS8 firmware on the Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 we’ll be using Odin as it’s the easiest way to do so and very safe too as long as you take the necessary precautions. The UHMS8 is an official Samsung firmware, so after installing it you will lose your root access, but don’t fret, we’ll cover how to root your Galaxy S II I9100 again later in the article.
Before starting, make sure that:
You have all your important data backed up.
The battery is at least 50% charged.
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on the Galaxy S II brings a lot of neat features like:
Smooth navigation through the interface thanks to Project Butter.
TouchWiz Nature UX like the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note II
Samsung’s S Cloud services
Improved Camera features
New Lockscreen With Many Customization Options
New Features like Direct Call, Smart Stay and Pop-up Play
New Widgets (From Galaxy S III)
2 Home screen modes
New Notification bar With More Notification Toggles
Google Now
The full tutorial to update your Galaxy S II to UHMS8 firmware is below:
Step 1. Download the UHMS8 firmware for Galaxy S II I9100.
Step 3. Turn off your phone and connect it to your PC in Download Mode. To access Download Mode turn on your Galaxy S II I9100 while holding the Volume Down and Home buttons.
Step 4. Make sure you have the required USB drivers installed for your Galaxy S II.
Step 5. Wait for Odin to recognize your device, if it does, one of the ID:COM boxes in Odin will turn yellow with your device’s number.
Step 6. Select the required files from the archive you download from the first step:
Click the PDA button. Select the file which has CODE in its name
Click the Phone button and select the file which has MODEM in its name
Click on the CSC button and select the file which has CSC in its name
Click the PIT button and select the .pit file. Some firmwares will have this, ignore if it doesn’t.
Step 7. In ODIN select Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options. Select repartition only if your selected the PIT file
Step 8. Click the start button. Installation process will take a few minutes. After the reboot is complete, your Galaxy S II will boot into the UHMS8 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean firmware.
Now the tutorial to root your Galaxy S II running the newly installed UHMS8 firmware is below:
Step 2. Go into Download Mode again and start up Odin like we did above.
Step 3. After Odin recognizes your Galaxy S II I9100 click on PDA and select the Siyah-s2-v6.0b4.tar file we downloaded in the first step.
Step 4. Check the Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options.
Step 5. Click on the Start button and let it do it’s thing. After the rooting is complete your phone will restart.
That’s it folks, your Galaxy S II will be running on a rooted version of UHMS8 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean firmware ready for use. If you have any questions please feel free to ask us in the comments below.
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Rejoice Kingdom Hearts fans everywhere! Square Enix has just announced that Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX will indeed be localized and released in Europe and North America.
The publisher revealed that the game will be releasing sometime in Autumn exclusively for the Playstation 3 and will be localized in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX is the long awaited HD Remaster of Kingdom Hearts 1 Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories and cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days.
Every previously Kingdom Hearts game has been released internationally but people were doubting Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX because of the inclusion of Kingdom Hearts 1 Final Mix. Final Mix of Kingdom Hearts games have always been Japan exclusive and contained extra content like new cutscenes, new missions, secret movies, etc.
Along with the new content players will enjoy the remastered HD graphics along with high quality audio and new dialogues. Trophy fanatics will also be glad to know that Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX will also be coming with a set of trophies so better clear up your schedule for that platinum.
So will you be buying the game? Let us know in the comments below.
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All good things must come to an end! While not one out of ten million Entourage fans would agree, it’s time to end the 8 year long ride! The show that gave HBO new meaning after The Sopranos, by displaying the glamorous life of a Hollywood star and what it takes to stay on top, is in its eighth and final season as we speak. The last season features 8 episodes only, the shortest of the series. The creators of the show have made it clear that everyone will end well, judging from what they’ve revealed so far, all doesn’t look well. With just two episodes left, I have no clue how they will turn the whole story around when they’ve left so many unanswered questions and so many episodes wasted with Sasha Grey. Read on.
I still have high hopes for the series finale though, like The Sopranos, HBO knows how to maintain quality when it comes to ending a huge series. Rumors of an Entourage Movie are also in the air and I really hope they make one, but it doesn’t mean they should end the show on a bad note. The seventh episode titled “Second To Last” is set to air next week while the season and series finale will follow the week after.
I speak for all of the Entourage fans when I say we don’t want the show to end so soon, it’s been one hell of a ride and we were willing for eight more seasons! But let’s wait and see how the end shapes up. It could either be the finale we are hoping for, or it could be a cheap way to make people wait for the movie to come out, either way Entourage has been a part of my life and It will never be forgotten! Click here to read reviews of earlier episodes and come back for the finale!
Nokia and Mobilink recently held an event in Karachi called “Switch to Lumia” to officially launch three new Lumia smartphones in Pakistan. The new range of Lumia smartphones include the budget oriented Lumia 620, the mid tier Lumia 820 and Nokia’s current flagship the Lumia 920.
The Nokia Lumia 620 is the budget oriented one in the trio. The Lumia 620 features a 3.8-inch 480 x 800 px AMOLED screen, Dual Core 1 GHz processor, 5MP back and VGA front camera, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage which can be expanded via a microSD card. The Lumia 620 is priced at Rs. 24,800.
The mid tier Lumia 820 features a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen with the same 480 x 800 px resolution as it’s smaller brother, Dual Core 1.5 GHz processor, 8MP back and VGA front camera, 1GB of RAM along with 8GB of internal storage expandable via microSD card.
The flagship Lumia 920 features a bigger 4.5-inch 720p IPS LCD PureMotion HD+ ClearBlack display, 1.5 GHz dual core processor, 8MP back and 1.3MP front camera, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage which unfortunately is not expandable.
All three of the aforementioned devices run on Microsoft’s latest and greatest Windows Phone 8 mobile smartphone operating system.
Mobilink will be the exclusive telecom partner for the Nokia Lumia 620, Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 smartphones, both companies are said to to keep venturing together in the future. As an exclusive offer to Mobilink customers, customers who the Nokia Lumia 920 from Mobilink’s Business Centres will receive a free wireless chargers worth Rs. 5,000. Mobilink will also provide these Lumia devices to it’s employees at subsidized rates in installments.
So are you getting one? Let us know in the comments below.
Another day, another next gen console leak. Today we have two images of an alleged Playstation 4 controller which we personally think is the real thing.
The first image as you’ll see below is courtesy of the guys over at Destructoid. The image shows off the Playstation 4 controller which their sources claim is still a prototype. Behind the controller we have a big box with LEDs and whatnot, we think this is the Playstation dev kit probably still in beta. The controller as you can see is a radical change from the Dualshocks of the past.
The middle section of the controller now has a touch pad of sorts like the back of the PS Vita, the PS button has been moved a bit down and is that a speaker just above it? That’s not all, the D-Pad seems to have been altered a bit making the buttons slightly bigger. The Analog sticks have been greatly improved, they’re now like the Xbox 360′s which is a much welcomed change. There’s also a blue light at the top although we’re not sure of what it does.
Sony announced in today’s Vita Heaven conference that the PS Vita will be getting a price cut, but that’s only in Japan for now. The new price is ¥19,980 or roughly US$214 for both WiFi and 3G bundles, the price will be effective in stores starting February 28th. In comparison the launch price of the PS Vita was ¥29,980 and ¥24,980 (3G and WiFi version respectively).
The price cut comes days before Sony’s supposed Playstation 4 announcement on the 20th of February. Along with the Playstation 4, rumors suggest that new Western prices for the PS Vita would also be announced at the event.
So will you be buying a PS Vita now or do you already own one? Let us know in the comments below.
