News Sound Bites - there's a lot today...

Gizmodo helps you sing and play drums at the same time in Rock Band. They didn't think of a regular Mic stand though...

Outi earphones are out now for $110. Bone conduction is interesting to me. Without a speaker to blast sound into your ears, these could be better for your ears (unlike earbuds). They just look really uncomfortable...

MusicThing has the scoop on Chimera, a CD sized analog mono synth, with patch points and MIDI. It looks really cool.

Into recycling electronics? Check out Plink Jet! It's a robotic musical instrument made from inkjet printers. They also have movies of the bot in action!

Creative has released the 32GB flash memory Zen. It's an iPod Nano on steroids, featuring 32GB of built in storage, upgradeable storage (with SD memory cards), support for Tivo to Go, and an FM radio. SOunds like the perfect alternative to those not digging the new iPods or Zunes.

One year ago today, Lifehacker helped you digitize your cassette tapes.

Radio Head and Weezer are coming to Rockband.

X-Play names Bioshock game of the year. COD4 wins best shooter and sound design. Oddly no voice acting category...

LA Times has a great write up of the current animation situation. With a lot of production getting shut down because of the wga strike, quite a bit of animation will be untouched, as it's done under an IATSE deal. Check it out.

Dreamworks Animation stock is up, pretty much because of Shrek the Third.

John Barrowman (Dr. Who, Torchwood) will be narrating his autobiography, titled 'Anything Goes'. The audiobook should be out February 2008.

Downloadsquad has the scoop on Voice Thread. It's a compelling web app that gives people the ability to record commentaries for pictures, documents and videos. It's kinda like bringing story telling and oral history to web 2.0.

And lastly (whew) Gamevideos has footage of the Spike VGA's red carpet:

Shrek The Third The Game: Voice Acting Just OK

Again, very frustrating, I've written about this before. If you'd pay a little more, you'd get a better product, and you could use the voice acting to help sell that product.

"Unfortunately for everyone else, the glaring problems
that reside elsewhere in the game are more than enough to turn off even
the most stalwart of gamers. The first problem you'll notice is the voices.
Normally, the one thing I really enjoy about movie tie-ins is the phenomenal
voice acting, usually provided the actors themselves. However, Shrek
the Third chose a different route by hiring impersonators who
border on grating. The voice acting isn't bad, and most of the actors
deliver their lines well, but they don't quite have the sound-alike factor
down; they're off by just a little bit, but it's enough to remind you
that they're not the original actors. The only shining spot here is Monty
Python alumnus John Cleese, who does not reprise his role of King Harold,
but does provide the narration in between levels with ease and perfect
comedic timing."

SEE!!! OF COURSE JOHN CLEESE IS AWESOME!!!

Sigh ... Gaming voice production should be getting better by now...

Read the rest @ WorthPlaying

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Paramount and DreamWorks Animation Announce Exclusive Support for HD-DVD

I was not expecting this.

Apparently the war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray just got a little more interesting.

"The companies each said that the decision to distribute exclusively in
the HD DVD format resulted from an extensive evaluation of current
market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD,
particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs.
Paramount Home Entertainment will launch its exclusive HD DVD program
with the release of the blockbuster comedy hit "Blades of Glory" on
August 28th and follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the
year "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third". These three titles alone
represent more than $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide."

I'm stoked for this. More competition equals better products. Already we're hearing about increased interactive content from the HD-DVD camp including video PIP commentaries and web content. I also think that the HD-DVD camp will probably break the $200 barrier for players first (prolly around Thanksgiving). Whether or not that's enough to combat the immense lead of the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player, and the size advantage of the Blu-Ray disc.

Read the rest here @ CNN

I really have no love for either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray per se, but I'm not doing anything high-def until someone wins. This fight is fun to watch though...

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