Apple's New iPhone & iPods, Are They Worth It?

The biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone was shown off last week: the new iPhone 5. As an incremental upgrade to the current iPhone 4S the design of this new phone was almost completely leaked before release and there are very little surprises. It finally has LTE wireless, is slightly faster, and of course has the rumored 4'' screen. The iPhone 5 will be on sale September 21st for the same suggested price of $199 on contract. The 4S will now be sold for $99 and the iPhone 4 for Free on contract.

On a more exciting note, Apple announced hardware updates to two lines of their iPods: the iPod Touch and the Nano. I was very excited for the new iPod Touch until I heard the price, but I will get to that later. The new iPod Touch is beautiful, and in my opinion much more so than the iPhone with its 6 different colors. As the first update to the iPod Touch in two years it now has the same display as the iPhone 5 yet uses the previous A5 processor instead of the iPhone 5's new A6. The new iPod Touch has a bit of a less terrible camera and therefore is now being marketed as a point-and-shoot. The killer new feature for the iPod Touch is the included wrist strap (Loop) that matches the color of the device - well at least you didn't have to buy it separately.

The new iPod Touch is said to be available in October and starts at the too-high price of $299 for the 32GB model and $349 for the 64GB model. If we put this into perspective, Apple will continue to sell the same outdated model of the 4th Generaton iPod Touch at $199 for 16GB or $249 for 32GB. There is no 8GB option to be found for the iPod Touch 4G and has been replaced with 16GB for the same price. The iPod Touch 5G has no 8 or 16GB model and therefore starts at $300. Many are saying that this conflicts with the price an iPad Mini should be offered at later this year. Someone who is not too much of an Apple-Lover may notice that it is $100 more than the 7-inch Nexus Tablet. Yea, it's pretty, but it's not the best deal in town.

Also in October a new iPod Nano is coming too. The tiniest iPod ever, the iPod Nano is just 5.4mm thin. The new iPod Nano looks like a mini ripoff of an iPod Touch with a 2.5 multi-touch display. It also uses a strange iOS-like operating system with rounded icons. The Nano also comes with built in Bluetooth 4.0 and an FM radio. At $149 for 16GB and the all new design, the new Nano really impresses as a device for listening to music, podcasts, running, or whatever you may do with a small screen.

What else do you have to be excited about? Well, all the new iPhones and iPods from now on will be using the smaller 8-pin connector. Also, Apple has released a new line of headphones called EarPods that are said to rival high-end third-party headphones. I have always liked the Apple headphones, but other people's ear blisters may confirm they are not the best. The iPod shuffle will soon be available in all the colors of the Nano while a new version of iTunes is also coming in October, iTunes 11 - and Windows users are hoping that this may be the update to make it more usable on our platform. We'll see about that when it happens.

Did this Apple event leave you excited, or were you wanting more? Are you an Apple lover or hater? Let us know in the comments below!

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AnythingGeek's Steam Summer Sale Hauls

So it has been a good couple of weeks since the coveted Steam summer sale, so we have all had time to digest through some of our games we have all bought. Each one of us bought a varied amount and different games through this sale. What you will find in this article is a list of what we have got through the sale, the value of that list and a small write up on our favorite game that we got. Anyways get your scroll bar ready, to start us off here is Colin's tiny haul.

Colin:

Left 4 Dead 2
Dear Esther
___________________________________________________________________
Retail Total $29.98 USD
Sale Total    $7.48 USD
Saved Total $22.50 USD

I was happy to get a couple games that I've been wanting to play for a while for less than $10. I only got 2 titles, but that is mostly because I went on a shopping spree of sorts with some previous sales. Dear Esther was a fair price for the short amount of time you can spend with it but it was completely worth experiencing. Left 4 Dead 2 is one of those games you can pick up and play anytime and I hope to play it soon with the other AnythingGeek writers!

Jake:

Fallout 3 GOTY
Fallout New Vegas GOTY
Sega Hit Collection
- Total War: SHOGUN 2
  - Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Rise of the Samurai Campaign
  - Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Dragon War Battle Pack
- Medieval II: Total War
- Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms
- Rome: Total War Gold Edition
- Rome: Total War - Alexander
- Empire: Total War + DLC
- Aliens vs. Predator
- Napoleon: Total War + DLC
- SEGA Genesis & Mega Drive Classics
- Comix Zone
- Crack Down
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Gain Ground
- Golden Axe
- Shinobi 3
- Space Harrier II
- Vectorman
- Altered Beast
- Shadow Dancer
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Bonanza Bros
- Columns, Ecco Jr.
- Eternal Champions
- Fatal Labyrinth
- Galaxy Force II
- Kid Chameleon
- Ristar
- Super Thunder Blade
- Alien Storm
- Bio-Hazard Battle
- Columns III
- Decap Attack
- Ecco The Tides of Time
- ESWAT, Flicky
- Golden Axe II
- Sword of Vermillion
- Virtua Fighter 2
- Alien Soldier
- Gunstar Heroes
- Landstalker
- Light Crusader
- Shining Force
- Shining Force 2
- Shining in the Darkness
- Streets of Rage
- Streets of Rage 2
- Wonder Boy III - Monster Lair
- Sonic Generations
- Renegade Ops
- Binary Domain
- Guardians Armor Pack
- Beyond Oasis
- Dynamite Headdy
- Golden Axe 3
- Phantasy Star 2
- Phantasy Star 3
- Phantasy Star 4
- Streets of Rage 3
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Vectorman 2
- Wonder Boy in Monster World.
___________________________________________________________________
Retail Total $474.55 USD
Sale Total $62.47 USD
Saved Total $412.08 USD

From all of us here I think I've gotten the most bang for my buck with great savings. The SEGA pack covered much of the company's gaming history from the days they were making the games up to them being a publisher. The Fallout series has a great line up here as well, I look forward to playing it and going through them with mods aplenty. Most of my time however will most likely be spent playing Team Fortress 2 or simply gazing at my massive digital collection.

Sean:

Audiosurf
Grand Ages: Rome
Grand Ages: Rome - Reign of Augustus 
Bethesda Collection
- Skyrim
- Hunted Demon's Forge
- Brink
- Fallout New Vegas GOTY
Civilization V: GOTY
  - Civ V Korea/Wonders DLC Combo
Mount and Blade: Warband
  - Warband Napoleonic Wars DLC
Star Ruler
Shogun 2 Collection
- Total War: Shogun 2
  - Blood Pack
  - Dragon War Battle Pack
  - Hattori Clan Pack
  - Ikko Ikki Clan Pack
  - Sengoku Jidai Unit
  - Rise of the Samurai Campaign
- Fall of the Samurai
  - Saga Faction Pack
  - Obama Faction Pack
  - Tsu Faction Pack
  - Sendai Faction Pack
Railworks 3: TS2012 + Horseshoe Curve
  - CN WideNose Pack DLC
  - Canadian National Addon
  - Trains vs Zombies DLC
Star Wars: KOTOR 
SimCity 4 Deluxe 
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
Left 4 Dead Bundle
- Left 4 Dead
- Left 4 Dead 2
Galactic Civilizations II
Oblivion Game of the Year Deluxe
___________________________________________________________________
Retail Total $367.63 USD
Sale Total    $111.70 USD
Saved Total $255.93 USD

To pin down which game is my favorite from this sale is hard since I got a lot of great games for dirt cheap, but one really stood out from the rest. I've been a fan of trains since I was a little kid so Railworks was on my wishlist for a long time. I'm quite surprised by the amount of content already in game, and the specific DLC can really give players what they want. Right now I'm looking into the world editor and so far I'm making decent progress on my own route.

Great hauls by everyone here. You can expect many of these games to either be reviewed or featured on the site in the future since we get enjoyment from them all. What did you get, how much did you spend and what game is your favorite from the list? Post your thoughts on the subject below and don't be afraid to correct our math!

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Bashing Windows 8: A Lack of Knowledge and the Unwillingness to Change

It's not often that a simple editorial on a blog would cause me to begin a multi-paragraph response, but with a constant flow of writers talking about Windows 8 it shocks me how misinformed they and the general public can be about some of the most important aspects of the OS. I recently came across an article posted on ZDNet about a week after the release of the Windows 8 Release Preview. Titled "Final thoughts on Windows 8: A design disaster" the writer brought up many of what he considers to be problems with Windows 8. I can say firmly that I do not agree.

Gnome 3

If a writer has trouble searching for apps in the Metro interface then they really have no purpose writing about technology, let alone using beta software. Windows 8 does all that is has changed to make it easier to use for everyone. To start an application you simply start typing the name of the program on the start screen. This is the same as what has been done in Ubuntu Unity and Gnome 3 on Linux. Both of these desktops have made Linux much easier for average consumers to use, it is only the hardcore geeks afraid of change who have had problems with it and stuck with the terribly old-fashioned Gnome 2. The same way of launching apps is how a large number of people have done so since Windows Vista with the Start Menu Search functionality. And how else people launch apps? Pinned icons, desktop shortcuts - they're all still there.

This is only one of the misconceptions about Windows 8. It never forces you to use Metro. Some people when trying Windows 8 the first time try to stay in it all day only to find themselves on the desktop. That is how it is supposed to work. Of course on a tablet you will be using full screen apps - most better designed than any iOS or Android app ever created - and will spend much more time in Metro than you would on a desktop. The start screen (as it says in the name) is just the place where you go to start. It replaces the start menu to launch programs entirely, and does so in a much more beautiful manner. It also offers a bonus of providing you useful information through the use of live tiles as well as easy searching of apps, settings, and files. Speaking of full screen apps, Windows 8 will be the first tablet OS to naively support true multitasking with multiple windows - third party solutions include Onskreen's Cornerstone for Android.

Some people are also criticizing other important features of Windows 8. There are several "hidden" menus that are very import to the experience: the charms bar, the app bar, and the Metro task switcher. On a tablet these menus are accessed from swiping for the edge of the screen, much like accessing multitasking and app switching on the BlackBerry PlayBook OS. On the desktop these menus can be displayed by moving your mouse to the appropriate corners or by using a variety of keyboard commands - thus, making is usable for beginners and advanced users. These bars unify the experience on Windows 8 by being able to use the same menus on all apps. We see this problem on Android often, and even on iOS, when  the method of finding settings differs from app to app.

Many beta testers are also complaining about the simplest aspects of the OS that have changed. To "unlock" your computer if you were on a tablet you would swipe, but on the desktop people begin to freak out. Microsoft has made it very easy to unlock your computer with a keyboard and mouse. Your options:

• Click the mouse
• Move the mouse scroll wheel
• Press any key on the keyboard

Obviously, it shouldn't be difficult to unlock your computer from sleep, yet people who are slow to change somehow can not get past it. These same people also don't understand how the Metro interface works with Horizontal scrolling. The secret is...scroll. Yes, just move your mouse wheel and you'll be flying across that scary UI in no time!

The desktop itself has also gained many improvements. Aside form being a generally faster experience than Windows 7 (even more so with the upcoming removal of Aero), certain improvements like the addition of the ribbon bar in Explorer makes many options available for the items you have selected known to novice users. Those who do not prefer a simpler experience can simply collapse the bar in all windows with a single click.

I wouldn't call Windows 8 perfect, but I feel that it is better than Windows 7 in almost every way. The metro UI may just be an evolution on the desktop, but it is a revolution on a tablet.

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Anime Spotlight: Hiiro No Kakera

Continuing on with my Springtime Anime Spotlights, with the season finale having just premiered I thought I'd share my thoughts thus far, on this series - Hiiro No Kakera.

Brief Summary
Based on a Japanese Visual Novel of the same name, released exclusively on the Playstation 2, this series follows a girl by the name of Tamaki Kasuga who after coming to stay at her grandmas realizes she's descended from the Tamayori princess blood line. Since she has this blood in her she becomes responsible, along side her five guardians that are sworn to protect her, for keeping the Onikimaru sealed. The Onikimaru being an extremely powerful sword. At the same time there is a group called the Logos that are trying to unleash the Onikimaru, which if accomplished would destroy the world.

Pros
The biggest pro of Hiiro No Kakera that I've found, is that its got an extremely wide range of content. There's lots of fighting scenes, there's a lot of mystery, a lot of supernatural elements, and there's even some mild romance. Being set in Rural Japan, there's also plenty of nice landscape shots, and the animation in general is quite nice. Nothing special, but nice nonetheless.

Cons
To me the biggest con would be the lack of character development and romance especially in the early episodes. Although this could be seen as a benefit because it makes way for more fighting, without the proper development of characters the fighting seems hollow. In the series defence the amount of character and romantic development does pick up around episode 10, but that doesn't help the first nine. There's also a number of background characters who seem to be important, but who don't get any air time, like Tamaki's highschool friend Kiyono. They could be saving the development of these characters for season 2 though.

Bottom Line
Even though there could have been more character development in the early episodes, near the end of the season it does step it up, and hopefully the second season continues in the same way. Besides this minor flaw, Hiiro No Kakera is a very good show, with lots of entertaining fight scenes and interestingly mysterious content. There's even a few laughs (pic Related).

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Pokémon Black 2 White 2: The Shiny Situation

As many of you know the Black 2 and White 2 games have released in Japan, now we all get to see what these games entail.  We are bombarded by new changes that are both quite interesting or even revolting.  What we take away from the new additions will transfer over to new games, new generations and shape the way we view the series.

Something of interest are the nature of shiny Pokémon in these two new games.  These certain Pokémon have always been a rarity since their inclusion in Gen 2, a prestigious achievement for any player that caught one legitimately.

Now there are two items that will influence the amount of shinies people have.  The first item is the Shining Charm, directly influencing the the encounter rate of Shiny Pokémon.  While we don't know the mathematics behind the odd increase it is obviously safe to assume that this item will decrease the value of a shiny since there is the possibility of flooding the market with them.  The second one, while not directly ties to shinies will still help increase the rate at which people acquire such Pokémon.  This item is called the Round Charm and it increases the amount of eggs which the daycare man finds.  This coupled with the Musada method will no doubt help people get their favorite shiny.

Maybe I'm being to traditional in my thinking that shinies should be a large rarity but I'm not excited for the influx of people on the Wi-Fi trade service showing off their shinies asking for lvl 1 Zekroms.  Stay tuned for more news and opinions regarding these two games.

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The Springtime Anime Spotlight: Mysterious Girlfriend X

Having marathoned the first seven episodes of this series last night, I just watched the eighth which premiered not too long ago, and thought I'd give my thoughts on the series thus far.

Brief Summary
Mysterious Girlfriend X, based on a Manga series of the same name (surprise, surprise) follows high school student Akira Tsubaki, who after tasting class mate Mikoto Urabe's drool that she had left on the desk falls in love with her. Mikoto Urabe, who is aware of the effect drool can have on people who are extremely close, realizes her and Tsubaki are meant to be together and agrees to go out with him. The series then follows their relationship and its evolution.

Pros
Although it may sound a little bizarre because of the whole drool thing, the series is so well done that you hardly notice or even think about  how weird it is. Being relationship centric there is little to no fighting in the series, but the characters are all so interesting - especially Urabe - that it's never boring. There is also a great deal of comedy and the series has actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times. The main pro though is the relationship between Tsubaki and Urabe, which is so well written and orchestrated that even if no words are said there's still something interesting going on.

Cons
The only real con is that since the series only focuses on four characters extensively, it can get a little stale. But even then, the four characters that get the spotlight are so interesting you don't really notice. It could also be said that the actual romance is a little slow paced, for example eight episodes have already aired and Urabe and Tsubaki haven't kissed yet.

Bottom Line
Unless you have an erational fear of drool, or need action in your animes, Mysterious Girl freind X is a fantastic anime full of comedy, romance, and mild mild ecchi. Theres also some mystery, I mean this whole drool business isn't a normal thing so there's got to be something else going on. Maybe even something supernatural.

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AnythingGeek Is Expanding, What Is Our Future?

You may have noticed some changes on the site in the past little while. In the latest podcast, episode 10 we introduced the newest contributor to AnythingGeek.net, Peter Salmon. Peter is responsible for Television/Movie/Anime news and reviews. He will also be creating some of our first video content for the site. Many of Peter's articles can be found here, but look out for some videos coming soon.

The real first video for our site though, was created for my Guild Wars 2 review, which you can check out here. Another thing we mentioned on the podcast was that we were going to take a hiatus from the podcast itself due to the amount of time it takes to edit. Instead of the podcast we chose to focus on our video content. We hope to have several videos weekly of new content on a schedule. We will announce the official schedule once we know that we can keep up with it, but for now now keep an eye out for lots of new video series starting within the next couple weeks. I hope you readers continue to read AnythingGeek.net and maybe watch our videos too. Until next time, enjoy your stay and love your life!

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The AnythingGeek Podcast - Episode 10

The long-awaited episode 10 of the AnythingGeek podcast is here! We have a new guest, Peter Salmon, to introduce some of his upcoming additions to the site including some of our first video content coming soon! Besides that we have lots of gaming news to talk about as well as a first impressions look at Torchlight 2 Beta and Mario Tennis Open. Also, the AnythingGeek podcast is going on a hiatus to make room for our new video content. Listen to this final (for now) podcast to hear the sound of Sean's heart breaking as we tell him the news for the first time!

Site News

New Contributor
Peter Salmon: Responsible for reviewing movies/TV shows, video and written

Gaming News

Nintendo
Pikmin 2 and Mario Power Tennis Joining Nintendo Selects
Mario Tennis Open: First Impressions & Live Match

Other Gaming News
CD Projekt Hiring for Two New Games
Halo 4 Box Art Revealed
Diablo III Game Breaking Bug Found
Borderlands 2 Collector’s Edition Packed With Goodies
Torchlight 2 Beta: First Impressions

Also Featuring

What we've been playing
Our poll results
And More!

Bonus

Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Animated Promo + LIVE Script Reading!

Click this to subscribe...please?

Theme song: Temperence by Matt McFarland
www.mattmcfarland.com

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The Springtime Anime Spotlight: Folktales from Japan

With a new episode of Folktales from Japan having aired last night, I thought what better way to start my new Spring Anime Spotlights than with this interesting series.

Brief Summary
Unlike most Anime series - or any series for that matter - instead of having a story that continues on every episode with a constant cast, each episode of Folktales from Japan revolves around three short vignettes that follow the story of an old Japanese folk tale. For example, in the most recent episode there's a story about a monk who saves a village from an angry god, a story about a lazy boy who travels from his village, to heaven, and eventually back again, and a story about a lazy man who after going for a walk meets two other lazy people (riveting I know).

Pros

The main pro of this series, in my opinion, would definitely be the animation. This is because unlike other animes who try to have a pseudo-real animation, Folktales from Japan, takes a complete 180 and tries to be as cartoon-like as possible. Although this story book style wouldn't work for all animes, for a series that is trying to re-imagine folk tales told to children, it is perfect. The fact that there is no consistent plot can also be seen as a pro in the sense that one does not need to fret about having seen every previous episode when a new one comes out, you simply turn on the television (or computer screen if you don't live in Japan) and watch.

Cons
Just as its lack of continuity can be seen as beneficial, it can also be seen as a detraction. This is because since there's no recurring characters or story, there is no reason to come back every week. Sure you might want to check in every once in a while, but there's nothing that makes you feel like you have to. Another con, and perhaps the most off-putting would be the lack of interesting story. By this I mean that even though there are three stories per episode, not all of them are going to be interesting. For example, the folk tale I described earlier about a lazy man going for a walk is literally just that, a lazy man going for a walk. There is not even a lesson or morale at the end.

Bottom Line
The bottom line for this series is: if you're someone looking for a good action, romance, or comedy series then try some of the other new springtime series, but if your interested in Japanese history then this could be a fun way to learn a bit more!

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Sunday's Game of Thrones and what's on the Horizon

First and foremost I felt like Sunday's episode of HBOs Game of Thrones The Prince of Winterfell was, like the previous episode A Man Without Honor, a filler episode thats main purpose was to build up towards next weeks penultimate Blackwater. This is because although there were many interesting things that occurred, the whole episode felt like it was just preparing for the next episode wherein Stannis and his army will finally reach Kings Landing, resulting in a battle between Joffrey's men and Stannis' See the video below for a preview of this battle:

Like the Season 1 episode The Pointy End, Blackwater is written by A Song of Fire and Ice author George R.R. Martin (the series of books Game of Thrones is based on) , meaning its sure to be a good one that captures the essence of the book perfectly. All of that being said there were many interesting things that occurred in last nights episode. Firstly there was a great deal of development between Theon Greyjoy and his sister Yara, who gives us some insight into the relationship she and Theon had prior to the Starks capture of Theon. The episode also deals with Theon's troubles trying to control Winterfell. The budding romantic relationships of Tyrion Lannister and Shae, as well as of Robb Stark and Lady Tarisa are also developed further when both couples declare their love for each other in verbal ways as well as physical.

Arya's troubles at Harenhaal are also developed further when, using her last request of Jaqen, she is able to escape with Gendry and Hot Pie, which they're also able to do since Tywin is riding off to fight Robb. Not only is this development great because Arya has escaped, but also because it means that in future episodes there will be more insight on the character Gendry, who I love because he's portrayed by  actor Joe Dempsie, who is most well known for portraying Chris on Skins, one of my personal favorite shows. Other notable but somewhat minor events include; Jon Snow being taken to the Wildling commander the Lord of the Bones where he is told of Mance Rayder's plan to storm the wall, Sam and Gren finding a buried Nights Watch cloak containing a horn and Dragon glass, and thankfully, it being revealed that both Rickon and Bran are still alive. So all in all, although mostly a filler or build up episode in preparation for next week's Blackwater, The Prince of Winterfell, like all episodes of Game of Thrones didn't fail to impress me, with its greater focus on the development of character relationships, and Arya's situation.God Damn is Arya bad ass.

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The AnythingGeek Podcast - Episode 9

It seems at though Wednesday (possibly Thursday) has been our regular release date for podcasts as of late. In this episode we finally bring back a bit of tech news we find interesting, as well as our regular load of gaming news. Check out all the links below to read more about what we talked about, and be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Next week will be our 10th episode and it will definitely be a special one. We will have many returning and possibly new guests, and maybe even some special announcements for the site!

Tech News

iOS 5.1.1 Released for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
VLC Media Player Hits 1 Billion Downloads
Facebook Announces App Center & Paid Apps

Gaming News

PC Gaming
The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb Release Date & New Features
Star Wars: The Old Republic - 400,000 Subscribers Lost Since February
Wolfenstein 3D 20 Years Old Today - Play It For Free

Nintendo
Help Support LEGO Mobile Designer for Nintendo 3DS
Blockbuster UK Hints at Wii U Launch Titles
Sakurai Says: No Kid Icarus Sequel
RIP Aqua Blue 3DS

Pokemon
Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Kami Trio Get New Formes
Pokémon Black 2 White 2: More CoroCoro Info

Other Gaming News
Is Treyarch stepping into Infinity Ward's territory?
Mass Effect 3: N7 Operation Silencer
Men in Black: Alien Crisis Debut Trailer
Hitman: Absolution Pre-order Bonuses Announced

Also Featuring

Upcoming games
What we've been playing
Our poll (vote on the right)
And More!

Click this to subscribe...please?

Theme song: Temperence by Matt McFarland
www.mattmcfarland.com

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The AnythingGeek Podcast - Episode 8

Join us on our next installment of the AnythingGeek podcast. We talk about tons of gaming news that has happened in the past week, and you can even click any of the links below to read more about all the things we talk about. From our usual Nintendo news to even the latest in Call of Duty, we have something for everyone!

Gaming News

Nintendo

Mario Tennis Open Pics & Features

Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Global Link Update

Bird Mania 3D Launches on eShop Today

Happy 10th Birthday GameCube!

Kid Icarus's Bad Controls? Sakurai: You're doing it wrong

PC Gaming

Gabe Newell: No Valve Game Announcements at E3

EA

EA: Rock Band on iOS Disabled & Update: EA will still sell Rock Band

EA Calls for Gamer's Opinions on Origin

Call of Duty

Black Ops 2 Trailer Analysis

Black Ops 2 Pre-Orders Exceed Black Ops 1, MW3

Other Gaming News

DiRT Showdown Demo May 1st

New Skyrim DLC Announced: Dawnguard

Union Jack Xbox 360 May 25th

EVE Online Burns, Developers Impressed

South Park: The Stick of Truth

AnythingGeek's E3 Predictions & Dreams

Game Review

Nintendo 3DS eShop
Reviews for the Road: Colors! 3D

Also Featuring

Game Sales

Upcoming games

Our new poll (vote on the right)

And More!

Click this to subscribe...please?

Theme song: Temperence by Matt McFarland
www.mattmcfarland.com

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AnythingGeek's E3 Predictions & Dreams

With one of the largest gaming events about a month away, we at AnythingGeek.net have decided to pour our thoughts into an article. Below you will find three opinions on what E3 will mean to gamers and why they should tune in for the festivities. When E3 comes around we will feature a lot of coverage so don't worry if you can't watch it all! Now, let's see what each of us has to say.

Sean's Thoughts:
Overall I think E3 will will bring a lot of great news from the gaming industry to consumers. However, I think Nintendo is going to dominate the show with it's numerous announcements. Mostly their showcase of the Wii U as well as many game reveals will get the attention of visitors. Also with their competition, Sony and Microsoft - saying that there will be no console announcements from both of them at this year's E3 -  will give Nintendo a time to shine.

Jake's Thoughts:
Well as many other people staying up to date with gaming industry are saying, I have to agree that there will be a strong presence with Microsoft emphasizing Kinect like they have ever since it was announced. Lots of gameplay of the new Call of Duty game will be shown, and probably Pikmin 3 for Wii U and definitely more talk about how the Wii U console itself. Nintendo might talk more about how they are doing digital distribution since they said the New Super Mario Bros. 2 would be that way. Also, Luigi’s mansion for 3DS, Animal Cross 3DS, and Paper Mario 3DS are games we can can hope to see. More on PlayStation All-Stars and a possible Vita price drop is what we may see from Sony.

Colin's Thoughts:
As said by Sean I think this E3 will be like Christmas for Nintendo fans - well, Christmas with no presents. Currently rumored to be releasing on November 18 we will have some time to wait for our new Wii U console. I hope Nintendo can show off some partnerships with the creators of more "hardcore" games so their next console will not again be considered just a kid's gaming system. As for the other companies I hope to see some PlayStation 3 games that will really draw me. I have had access to a PS3 for some time but no games have impressed me enough that I couldn't play on my PC or Wii - other than the Uncharted series and such indie games as the ones from thatgamecompany. And Microsoft, I don't know...Windows 8 on the Xbox? - Just kidding.

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The AnythingGeek Podcast - Episode 7

If you haven't noticed already, we at AnythingGeek.net have been pumping out quality news like crazy for the past 2 weeks. We are continuing this trend this week so this hopefully explains why the podcast is late - but also explains why this episode of the AnythingGeek podcast is filled with tons of gaming news.



Mass Effect

• Mass Effect 3: N7 Operation Exorcist Starts Tomorrow

Nintendo

• New Super Mario Bros. 2 Announced
• 3DS Firmware Update Incoming
• Play Zelda Skyward Sword on Xbox 360 Controller (Video)
• Nintendo Power Teaser: "A cover story for the generations"

Wii U

• No Wii U Price or Launch Date at E3
• Wii U Game Concepts

Crysis 3

• Crysis 3 Gameplay Trailer
• Shocker: Crysis 3 Won't Be on Wii U

Pokemon

• Two New Pokémon eShop Games Announced
• Pokémon Black 2 White 2: New Trailer
• Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Release Date Confirmed?

PC Gaming

• Max Payne 3 System Requirements Announced and New Pics
• Help Fund Nekro on Kickstarter
• Nvidia Gaming Festival Announcements

PlayStation

• PS1 Game Appears on Vita
• PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

DLC

• Second Portal 2 DLC Finally Announced
• Skyrim DLC Details Leaked Through Patch Files

Rayman

• Rayman Origins 2 Confirmed
• Rayman Legends: Leaked Wii U Trailer

Also Featuring

• Upcoming Games
• S**t we didn't write about but thought we should say
• What we've been playing

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Theme song: Temperence by Matt McFarland

www.mattmcfarland.com

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Atzunew's Pokémon Black Nuzlocke: Failure Synopsis

Hello there everyone, Atzunew here coming to you readers humbled.  As you will have know if you checked out our latest podcast I have failed my Pokémon Black Nuzlocke.  If you want to check out what future issues of this Nuzlocke series would have looked like then follow this link.  It goes to a PDF version of the synopsis which contains quite a few episodes.

I was at the second gym and lost to a combination of poor training as well as critical hits. This marks the end of the series as it would not be fair to put you through my comics again, maybe I'll make another series for Black 2 & White 2, but this time with a faster pace. Stay tuned for future series on AnythingGeek.net.

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Wii U Game Concepts

In this article I would like to discuss some great concepts for the upcoming console, Nintendo Wii U. Before I start I want to post a disclaimer. These are not actual concepts of real games coming to Wii U. Sietse Visser, a graphic artist by trade, has made some mockups for potential games and useful UI designs. Below are some really nice designs that Visser has made, I really hope Nintendo makes full use of the new controller to bring great gameplay.

Nintendo has always delivered the best out of their systems from their first party games, and allowing third party games to pad up sales. Something like a minimap or position board would really be great for the Wii U's controller, as it would clean up the screen and allow players to focus on more important aspects of the game.

With the release of the Wii U, Nintendo will continue on it's trend of innovation. Hopefully they will also deliver something for "hardcore" gamers. The 3D Metroid games have always filled something for me since I was never a fan of the 2D side-scrolling versions. Something where the Wii U controller acts as different filters like UV or night vision, as well as ammo count or equipment would be a great use of the controller in future Metroid games.

With E3 coming up soon we will have much more information regarding this console and how Nintendo plans to market it. Pikmin has always been a fan favorite since it's inclusion in Nintendo's many IPs, fans have also been begging for a third installment in the series.  If players could add waypoints to to the map it could open up some great tactics in how your pikmin interact with the map. If you want to learn more on this upcoming console and developments stay tuned for further news right here on AnythingGeek.net.

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The AnythingGeek Podcast - Episode 6

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Easter has passed and because of it, it seems that for a while now we have become only an "every-second-week" type podcast. Will this continue? - Who knows. But it's been a big week of news, and especially so for Pokemon fans. Our amazing writer Sean has been keeping us all up to date with Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 and more, and talks about it here in great detail. Also, why I switched to the Blackberry PlayBook from an Android tablet and our guest Andrew discusses his thoughts on the iPad 3 and Apple TV 3. All this and even more tech and gaming news on this episode of the AnythingGeek podcast.

Check out the links below for all the stories we discussed this episode, and be sure to click the iTunes logo to subscribe in iTunes!

Tech News

• Our final thoughts on the iPad 3, led by our guest Andrew
• Why I Ditched my Android Tablet and went to PlayBook

Product Review

• Apple TV 3

Gaming News

• Crysis 3 Box Art Leaked through Origin

Sean is an artist

Pokemon!!

• Pokémon Nobunaga's Ambition Coming to North America
• Pokémon Black 2 White 2: More Details
• Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Large CoroCoro Reveal
• Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Japanese Pre-Orders Launch Tommorow

Pokemon Nuzlockes: The Failure

• Atzunew's Pokémon Black Nuzlocke: Issue 4
• Atzunew's Pokémon Black Nuzlocke: Issue 5

Online Video (An excuse for more Pokemon?)

• Pokémon Black 2 White 2: Gameplay Trailer

Also Featuring:

• Game sales
• Upcoming games
• What we've been playing
• And several other tech and gaming stories we didn't write about

Theme song: Temperence by Matt McFarland

www.mattmcfarland.com

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Atzunew's Pokémon Black Nuzlocke: Issue 5

What is up folks, Atzunew here with you're latest dose of nuzlocke for the week. Firstly, sorry for the lateness of the article but I've lately been slammed by workloads. This issue has some high quality effects in it for pokéball capture animations, some more lax dialogue, and also a challenged is issued. I hope you have been enjoying the series so far and continue to. As always if you have feedback and/or comments on this series please suggest you ideas in the comments below, and check out the previous nuzlocke issues if you haven't already!

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Why I Ditched my Android Tablet and went to PlayBook

The first time I began looking for a tablet was before the iPad was released. All that was available were cheap Android tablets from china running Android 1.5-2.0 - featuring pixelated resistive touchscreens that required a fingernail or stylus -  and a max of 4GB of storage.

Not long after the introduction of the iPad was the release of Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Out of the first wave of these Android tablets there was one obvious winner: the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. At first Android 3.0 was considered to be 'unfinished'. In fact, it took almost the entire 8 months I owned the Transformer for me to find a custom ROM that was perfectly smooth and featured incredible battery life. With the release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich this was all ruined and my tablet was once again laggy.

I had recently played with a Blackberry Playbook and was impressed with how fast and fluid the OS was. It was at this point that I sold my Android tablet and bought a PlayBook - and I couldn't be happier. Here are my reasons on why you should choose a Balckberry PlayBook over an Android tablet, and even over the iPad:

The OS

• Android has always been known to be laggy. Moving from screen to screen there is always noticeable jitter in the transition. Sometimes you can fix this - by installing a custom Laucher or ROM - but it shouldn't be necessary, even for people who love to tweak like many Android users including myself. When you compare the PlayBook OS to Apple's iOS even iDevices have their fair share of lag. Moving to the spotlight search often causes the keyboard to momentarily freeze and it has even been said that iOS apps crash more often than Android's counterparts. The PlayBook has an awesome method of receiving notifications and makes great use of gestures for multitasking.

The Size

• My previous tablet was usual tablet size - 10". It was the same screen size as the iPad, and many other tablets despite it's widescreen aspect ratio. I've used the iPad and tried out dozens of Android tablet and in my opinion 10" is just too big. I've personally decided that a 7" tablet is the size for me, and if that's true it could be the same for many others. The PlayBook's size makes complicated games like first-person shooters and role-playing games easier to control than ever.

The Apps

• What, the PlayBook has apps?! Yes. It does. The PlayBook comes with many great apps already installed - and even an email app (contrary to public opinion). Obviously the Blackberry App World doesn't have as many apps as the iOS app store or even the Google Play store - but it has all of the essentials I need. I got a great Reddit app, Grooveshark, and many more. I also found some great games: Modern Combat, Eternal Legacy, Plants vs. Zombies, and on. What about some other essentials like Skype and Steam? The PlayBook makes it easy to side load converted android BAR files. Just download the DDPB Installer and use it to install any app from the massive list at playbookbars.com.

What else? The PlayBook has a beautiful screen, an amazing solid build, nice loud speakers, and best of all your are supporting a Canadian business in continuing to make great products like this (Unless for some reason you hate Canadians, but you wouldn't be like that would you?). I wouldn't hesitate recommending anyone the $199 Blackberry PlayBook.

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