News Sound Bites - WHOLE TON o STUFF

Yep. There's a lot of news to cover today.

Apple finally gives in on custom ringtones for the iPhone. A not so mysterious "Share ringtone with iTunes" button has popped up in Garageband. It's about time. The ringtone lock down was a stupid, ill advised, arbitrary way to milk customers for extra revenue, while simultaneously providing little to no benefit.

Seibertron.com interviews Frank Welker! Yup, the REAL Megatron. Not to say Hugo didn't do a good job in the movie, but if you grew up in the 80's, this man's voice represented everything that was evil.

It never even occurred to me that they would bother, but apparently they did get "names" for Alvin and the Chipmunks. Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney voice the rodents in the up coming movie. Why? Really, I mean, why bother? No one cares. They weren't used to promote the movie. You can't recognize the voices. The performances wont be "better" than using true blue VO people. There's no benefit. I don't get it...


The Cincinnati Post takes a look at narration in TV series. I finally saw Amelie for the first time, and Pushing Daisies totally nails the quirky yet emotion tone of that film. Good times.

CNET News has a photo gallery up of Skywalker Sound, a totally drool-worthy look at one of the most advanced post production facilities in the world. Careful clicking on the link, because if you're anything like me, there's going to be a LOT of gear lust...

And lastly (i know right?), Do you own a Wii? Have you noticed an increase in the cockroach population of your abode after your acquisition of said Wii? There's a rumor floating around "teh intarwebs" that the Wii emits a sonic frequency that attracts the little buggers. I don't think it'll stop me from trying to grab one to rock some Mario Kart.

GPHORIA Awards 2007 - RESULTS!

G4's viewer voting is done.
A few surprises, but pretty much what I expected.
Here's the run down:

System - XBox 360
Best New Character - Marcus Fenix (Gears of War voiced by John Di Maggio)
Hottest Babe - Kasumi (DOA XTREME 2 voiced by Kari Wahlgren)
Best Strategy Game - Command and Conquer 3
Best Sports Game - Wii Sports
Best Action Game - Gears of War (XBox 360)
Best RPG - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Most Original Game - Dead Rising (XBox 360)
Best Multiplayer Game - Gears of War (XBox 360)
Best Downloadable Content - Elder Scrolls 4: Shivering Isles (XBox 360)
Best Voiceover - The Mighty Rasta as Augustus "Cole Train" Cole
Best Graphics - Gears of War (XBox 360)
Best Soundtrack - Guitar Hero 2 (PS2/XBox 360)
Most Deserves a Uwe Boll Movie - Red Steel (Wii)
Longest Lasting Game - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Game of the Year - Gears of War (XBox 360)

Yup, Gears of War pretty much swept the voting.=, though I was surprised to see not ONE token PS3 award.

I was stoked for C&C3 though, as our agency had several voices in that game (Billy Brown, Peter Giles, Peter Jessop, and Kari Wahlgren), and Jennifer Morrison was an FMV actress.

I dig G4's awards (over say Spike's) as it's a "viewers choice".

Here's G4's official page!