DJ Pauly D posed on the red carpet for the 9th season launch of Rehab Sundays in Las Vegas. The Jersey Shore reality TV star was wearing a Famous Stars Straps Stone Pop jersey ($46), cargo shorts, and a pair of Gucci Red Nylon Guccissimi Print and Leather Trim Sneakers ($495). See pics below.
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By Rob Markman
On Monday (April 23), Wiz dropped “Work Hard Play Hard,” the first single from O.N.I.F.C. The new track isn’t as bright as “Black and Yellow” or “Roll Up,” the second Stargate-produced Rolling Papers hit, but it is still as effective.
“It’s crazy. We shot the video in Pittsburgh,” Wiz told MTV News last week on the set of Maroon 5′s “Payphone” video. “It’s wild, just linking back up with Stargate, making another hit and gearing up for the second album, O.N.I.F.C. We’re about to do it all over again.”
Wiz Khalifa has teamed up with Stargate on his latest single “‘Work Hard Play Hard,” after scoring a smash with the 2010 Stargate-produced single “Black and Yellow.” The new track is the first official single from his upcoming album O.N.I.F.C. Continue reading “Wiz Khalifa Releases O.N.I.F.C.’s ‘Work Hard Play Hard’” »
PlayStation Vita has now been available for two months in North America and Europe, and twice as long in Japan. In that time it’s failed to make any sort of significant splash as far as sales go — in Japan, where we receive weekly updates courtesy of Media Create, the system sold less than 9,000 units in each of the first two weeks this month, and it wasn’t as if it was doing gangbusters prior to that. Software has done poorly as well, rarely making the top 50 sales charts in Japan; in the U.S., only MLB 12 has been seen in the NPD‘s top 10, and that is with sales of the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions being combined. All of the Vita’s games are also available through the PlayStation Store, so it is unfair to judge the performance of software purely on sales charts that only account for retail. The amount of hardware that has been moved so far, however, does feel like cause for concern.
Sony is in a less-than-desirable position right now, as outlined in a recent New York Times piece. Vita not exploding out of the gate is relatively low on the list of problems for the company, which hasn’t turned a profit in years. But with new president and CEO Kaz Hirai recently pronouncing gaming as one of the pillars upon which Sony will turn things around, bigger things have to be expected from Vita. A middling success (if it can be called that) is not enough.
Gamasutra‘s Chris Morris has suggested the company consider dropping the system’s price — in the United States it retails for $249.99 and $299.99 for the Wi-Fi and 3G models, respectively. In examining the issue, he doesn’t see it as especially likely, and with good reason, in my opinion. It’s too soon for a price cut.
The most immediate question is whether Sony could even afford to slash the price of the system. While many feel it and its games are overpriced, especially with the 3DS being available for $169.99, Vita is being sold at a loss. In other words, Sony loses money on each and every one it sells. This is nothing new for Sony, as it was also true of previous platforms, including the PlayStation 3. Increasing the hit Sony takes on every piece of hardware it moves, particularly at a time where its television business in particular is struggling mightily, may not be feasible.
As Morris notes, the early days of Vita’s life seem to be mirroring what the 3DS went through last year. Sales were unnotable in the first half of 2011; it wasn’t until an $80 price cut happened and an influx of software was made available during the holiday shopping season that Nintendo turned things around. It’s difficult to say what deserves most of the credit for the shift. The system was lacking quality software, a situation which was largely resolved between the release of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 (and Monster Hunter 3G in Japan). At $250, the price was likely too high, especially for a system with nothing that looked as good as a $7 iOS game (Infinity Blade II) playable on multiple platforms with one purchase. And the holiday shopping season is traditionally where videogame hardware sees a big boost. All three played some role in the turnaround; I don’t think anyone would try to argue it was the price cut alone that was responsible.
Vita had the benefit of a much stronger launch lineup than 3DS. Whereas the best offerings for 3DS were Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars and Super Street Fighter IV (the eShop was unavailable until months after launch), Vita had Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Lumines: Electronic Symphony, Wipeout 2048, and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack to offer gamers. Uncharted was clearly the headliner, and that largely remains true even today, which explains why the system hasn’t made it big in Japan. Since then there hasn’t been a great deal to speak of in terms of original games; Unit 13 is fun but deeply flawed, and it won’t be until the end of May and June that Resistance: Burning Skies and Gravity Rush hit in the United States. A constant flow of software is sure to help the Vita’s case, and in Japan a single Monster Hunter title could turn things around in a hurry.
There is also the possibility that Vita’s lackluster start is due in part to the lull the entire industry is currently going through. Total industry sales in the U.S. in March were down 25 percent as compared with the same period last year; hardware was down 35 percent. That’s continued a recent trend of sales being down worldwide. If and when that comes to an end, Vita may benefit from that. Allowing time to pass will almost certainly help to boost Vita sales, both because more software will be available and because we’ll be approaching the holiday shopping season, the significance of which should not be underestimated.
The impact of a price cut also goes beyond the sales of PlayStation Vita. If it comes too soon, early adopters may feel shafted. And while that’s a risk you run by purchasing any new piece of technology, that truth doesn’t mean gamers will be any less resentful. Nintendo dealt with this by offering 20 free games (10 NES, 10 GBA) to anyone who purchased a 3DS prior to the price cut going into effect in August. Regardless of whether that was enough to satiate early adopters’ frustrations, cutting a new system’s price so soon could cause consumers some hesitation when that company launches its next piece of hardware. Whatever the Wii U’s price ends up being, there will inevitably be those questioning whether or not a slow start will result in its price being slashed soon after. Sony is no doubt aware of this, just as Nintendo was when making its decision regarding the 3DS.
“With regard to the influence on the Wii U, what we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch. I feel greatly accountable for it,” Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said last summer. “Our decision of the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait. Nevertheless, we have decided to cut down the price of the Nintendo 3DS as we consider it as a necessary decision now. What we will be able to do to recover the consumers’ trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us.”
Although it has yet to be announced, there are no shortage of rumors about the PlayStation 3′s successor. Just last month it was reported that the PlayStation 4 could be out toward the end of 2013. That would not be a long time for consumers to forget about how the Vita’s slow start led to a price cut. After the PS3 had trouble initially selling at its exorbitant price tag, Sony would rather not give people any reason to wait on a purchase.
On the other hand, a Vita price cut might convince those who are waiting for its price to drop to buy one to go ahead and do just that, though I think the potential of this is not worth the possible benefits considering all of the negatives laid out above.
The software will come in time; there’s little Sony can that along without sacrificing quality. That doesn’t mean there is absolutely nothing it can do to make a Vita purchase more attractive. Those pricey proprietary memory cards could use with a price cut of their own; as one is all but necessary with the purchase of a system, they automatically increase that $250 (or $300) price by somewhere between $20 and $100. And the recent launch of an open beta for the PlayStation Suite SDK is a good start in trying to convince independent developers to create software for the system; from here it would be wise to do all it can to support such development. For all of the praise heaped upon Lumines and Uncharted, it is Mutant Blobs Attack, a small downloadable game, that many feel is Vita’s best game to date. Encouraging developers to bring more projects of its size to the platform will be important to the Vita’s long-term health. In this age of digital distribution, not everything has to be a $40-plus retail title, and the combination of offering cheaper games and cheaper memory cards could make Vita more attractive to consumers without Sony having to touch the price of the system itself so soon after launch.
What’s so terrible about DmC? People sure were angry when Capcom revealed this Devil May Cry prequel/reboot last year. Not having particularly followed the series myself, I found the outcry a little baffling. Sure, it was being outsourced rather than being developed internally by Capcom, but the studio responsible for it is Ninja Theory, who have yet to make a poor game; on the contrary, their work — particularly the recent sleeper Enslaved: Journey to the West — have been quite nicely received by critics. In the end, the complaints mainly seem to boil down to the fact that protagonist Dante suddenly has dark hair and a coif that look an awful lot like that of Ninja Theory‘s boss, Tameem Antoniades.
OK, so maybe it’s a little self-gratifying. But still, I have to ask: What’s so terrible about DmC? Now that I’ve had the opportunity to play DmC for myself, I have a hard time imagining that any fan of Devil May Cry fan wouldn’t enjoy Ninja Theory‘s take on the franchise. Yeah, Dante has become something of a self-insertion character, and he’s a cocky twerp; but his brashness is offset by a delirious combination of over-the-top silliness and over-the-top action game excess. One moment, Dante is answering the door of his trailer home in the nude; the next, a massive demon is attacking and the hero dresses himself in slow-motion by free-falling through the air into his clothes. (Conveniently placed hovering free-fall objects such as slices of pizza manage to preserve his modesty to the viewer through an increasingly improbable sequence of events.) There’s a real sense of tongue-in-cheek absurdity to it all; were these events to simply flash past in a moment, they’d seem frivolous. Instead, they drag on just a little too long and become just a little too ridiculous, and that clearly deliberate excess amounts to a knowing wink at the audience. It works.
The characters on “Game of Thrones” are so good at what they do you have to figure they learned it all somewhere. You know, like a Hogwarts for “Game of Thrones.” A t-shirt on sale today (April 23) at TeeFury imagines what the crest might look like.
Also, find out what might happen in the next “Anchorman” and watch the actors from “Mad Men” go bowling…against Weird Al Yankovic, all in today’s Dailies!
» Presented without comment: The cast of “Mad Men” bowl against Weird Al. [Vulture]
» LG has created 3D versions of some classic movie posters for their new ads. [First Showing]
» We recommend you check out this wealth of featurettes from the upcoming film “Sound of My Voice.” [Fox Searchlight]
» “The Simpsons” wished Fox a happy 25th birthday in its own special way. [Deadline]
» “How to Train Your Dragon” is becoming a live-action arena spectacular and here’s your first look at the dragons. [/Film]
» Adam McKay says that “Anchorman 2″ will take place at the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle. [Empire]
» If you’ve ever wondered what Hogwarts would be like if it were in Westeros, this shirt has your answer. [TeeFury]
Welcome to the Dailies, where the MTV Movies team runs down all the film and television news, odds and ends that are fit to print! From awesome fan art to obscure casting news, this is your place to feast on all the movie leftovers you didn’t know you were hungry for.
By Rob Markman with reporting by Nadeska Alexis
T.I. is no stranger to rap beefs, but the Grand Hustle CEO has made it clear that he isn’t trying to get into a war of words with rookie female MC Azealia Banks. Still, stating that during a couple of recent interviews prompted the Harlem rapper to take aim at Tip on Twitter with some scathing words.
Banks took exception when T.I.’s new artist Iggy Azalea landed the2012XXL Freshman cover earlier this year. The Harlem rapper had no problem lashing out at Iggy via Twitter, and when Tip defended his new protégé on DJ Drama’s radio in March, Banks fired shots at the King too.
“[Banks] wasn’t the only one who felt funny about it. It was a trending topic people felt so funny about it,” Iggy told MTV News earlier this month about her inclusion on the Freshman list.
Iggy wasn’t chosen to be on XXL‘s coveted cover by the staff outright, instead she won a people’s choice vote held on the magazine’s website. The Australian-born rapper beat out 49 other rookie MCs to earn her spot along other notables like French Montana, MGK and Future. “Out of all those people, I had the most fans, it’s not my fault. You should’ve voted for who you wanted because everybody else did and not to be rude, it was me.”
T.I., however, hasn’t been so diplomatic in his response. “The fact that she’s speaking up on me and mine, I didn’t even see it,” he said about Banks when he appeared on the “Tony Sculfield and the Morning Riot” radio show in Chicago on Monday morning (April 23). “That’s a bitch sh–, I’ma man. You ain’t got no business addressing me. Get your man to address me, if you got a man, get him to address me and he and I can speak on it.”
It doesn’t seem like Banks, whose video for her single “212″ is fast approaching 12 million views on YouTube, has taken heed. “@tip T.i …. Please shut the f— up about this. Like seriously quit it,” she tweeted hours after the Grand Hustle CEO’s interview aired.
Banks continued with a full-on Twitter rant. “@tip funny how you have plenty of time to address me but have nothing to say to the dudes who been calling u at as a snitch forever,” she wrote. “@tip it’s dead… The streets already know what kind of dude you are. Stop making yourself look softer by dragging this out.”
She then proceeded to delete all of T.I.’s songs from her iTunes. “LMFAOO every time I delete a t.i. song from my iPad I imagine him dying in some bloody horror film like being eaten by a zombie,” she wrote.
See the child. Hear her beckon forth, surrounded by the carcasses of men harboring murderous intent. Men you ended. Their last breath whispering about the sweetness of a child, or the satisfaction of killing the interloper that you are. Save the child, who you thought was yourn, but she reveals herself to be Mei lost in the world of dust, not the daughter you left behind twelve months ago. The voice in your pocket sputters forth. The man named Henry asks, take her, take the lost child Mei, take her to the mall. Give her medicine left behind by those who never set foot in Haventown, those who drop foodstuffs and medicines from above and never look back. Not since The Event. The Event that scraped the loam off the earth and turned it into the dust that hugs and holds and kills all who wander within. The dust that chips and gnaws at your very stamina. The Event that dominates I Am Alive.
So you go, ever pressing on to find wife and child. Gone a year, but now you return, to climb and cobble and carry on. You cannot ignore Mei’s bleat for aid, but other survivors of the Event not so much as settle but subsist their meager existences in the dust covered Haventown. A man yearns cigarettes to pass on. Another man in an amusement park needs medicine to heal the leg that’s been crushed by another uncivilized man. Haventown also starves for supplies. Bottles of water, cans of fruit cocktail, a single inhaler, a handful of painkillers, these all turn into precious manna from heaven through scarcity. Give the emergency kit to the woman with the ankle sprain? What these bemoaning folk have to give, besides gratitude and perhaps a precious shotgun, is the Retry. Haventown harbors death by trial, not saves. It does not yield to the checkpoint that others call for. It takes away a Retry from your knapsack for every fall, stab, or shot you suffer. Deplete your store of Retries, and your journey resumes at the beginning of your current episode. A practice that leeches away minutes of your life. A practice that mocks you by depleting Retries and then flings you back to 45 minutes ago. What is worth more, the rat meat that can heal you, or the Retry that you get for giving rat meat to the gurgling man below? Every survivor, like the woman bound by handcuff to a bench, pleads for help while you mind debates.
getty
By Gil Kaufman
The murder trial for William Balfour, the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson‘s mother, brother and nephew is well underway, and the singer was called to the stand on Monday morning (April 23) to testify against him, during a very emotional moment.
According to The Chicago Tribune Hudson choked back tears as she told jurors that no one in her family wanted Balfour to marry her sister. “We didn’t like the way he treated her, and I didn’t like the way he treated my nephew,” she said of Balfour, who has plead not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the October 24, 2008 slayings of Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson; brother Jason Hudson; and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.
Dressed in all black with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, Hudson spoke at a whisper at times and was asked by the judge to speak louder when she became inaudible.
Hudson didn’t offer much insight into the murders themselves, but theTribune reported that her emotional testimony painted a, “heartbreaking picture of a close-knit family torn apart by a violent crime.” The singer had to stop to compose herself at times on the stand as she spoke about her beloved mother and nephew. She said she spoke to or texted Donerson every day and when she received a call from her distraught sister about the murders she flew back immediately to Chicago to identify the bodies of her mother and brother at the morgue.
“We were trying everything, anything we could do to get him back,” she said of the $100,000 reward offered for the safe return of King. “It was always me and my Tugga Bear,” she said, using the family’s pet name for King as she fought to retain her composure. The child was found two days after the murders in an abandoned vehicle that prosecutors claim Balfour stole from the scene of the crime.
Hudson is expected to attend every day of the trial and was accompanied on the first day by her fiancé, professional wrestler David Otunga. She testified for 30 minutes and then joined Otunga in the fourth row of the courtroom.
In opening statements?, prosecutors said that Balfour, 30, undertook the murders because he could not stand the idea of his estranged wife, Julia Hudson, dating other men. “What could have lead to these horrible events that took place? Resentment, anger, jealousy,” said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Veryl Gambino said. “He doesn’t want Julia to have anyone but him.”
Details emerged earlier this year about the incidents leading up to the murders?, including allegations that Balfour had previously threatened Julia because he thought she was having an affair with a co-worker.
Mixed martial artist-turned-action star Gina Carano beat the crap out of more than a few famous faces in her breakout role in “Haywire.” Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, she may be adding Paul Walker and Vin Diesel to that list very soon.
THR reports that Carano is in negotiations to join “Fast Furious 6″ as a member of the team bent on capturing the famed car thieves alongside Dwayne Johnson‘s character, Agent Luke Hobbs. Walker and Diesel are returning for their fourth appearances in the franchise, which found new life with its fifth entry, “Fast Five,” last year.
Justin Lin is returning to direct, and the film is due out May 24, 2013.
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Nicki Minaj has been absent from Twitter for a little over a week at this point, and bit by bit, more details are trickling in about why she decided to temporarily abandon her social media account. Thanks to Minaj’s second to final tweet, it seemed that a tiff with one of her fan sites NickiDaily (over leaked music) triggered the disappearance, but the YMCMB star cleared that up in a new interview.
Nicki Minaj ‘Thinking About’ Returning To Twitter
“It was just funny before my album came out– I followed their Twitter page and I saw them tweeting away exclusive leaks off my album,” Nick told Capital FM. “And I’m like well if you made a fan page, I would imagine that you actually are my fan and you care about me and you wouldn’t wanna do something like that. So, I just unfollowed them. I didn’t say anything mean, I just unfollowed them. Then low and behold I saw that they were rallying people against me and saying ‘she unfollowed us. how mean is she?’”
Still, she insists that the beef with her fan site is not actually what prompted her to deactivate the account. “Let’s set the record straight because a lot of times I don’t speak on things but I don’t want people to think that’s why I deleted my Twitter,” she added. “I just needed a moment to myself. Because some page posted things about me– I mean, I’ve read horrible things about myself. I wouldn’t delete my Twitter over that. “
In other news, she’s now considering retirement from the rap game.
