Daily Archives: May 18, 2012

Your Retro Reference Guide to Community’s "Digital Estate Planning"

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Community creator Dan Harmon isn’t a stranger to video games; he’s been public about his love for the medium, so it wasn’t surprising to see the first episode of last night’s season finale hat trick devote itself completely to old-school gaming references. What would have been a throwaway gag in any other sitcom took over most of “Digital Estate Planning’s” 22 minutes, as Jeff, Britta, Pierce, Shirley, Abed, Annie, and Troy found themselves participating in a multiplayer platformer in an attempt to wrest the Hawthorne Wipes fortune from the grasp of a bastard child. This episode overflowed with visual gags devoted to the blocky roots of gaming culture, most of which flew by at a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace; but, thankfully, your friends at 1UP are here to comb over this chunk of comedy gold to dig out the purest pieces of retro gaming nostalgia. Read on, and be sure to let us know if any references slipped past our intricate knowledge of gaming’s past.

Your Retro Reference Guide to Communitys "Digital Estate Planning"
“Digital Estate Planning‘s” title sequence doesn’t seem to point to any specific title; it’s more of a pastiche of retro games that gave the player a brief preview of all the playable characters and their awesome abilities. Though Gilbert‘s fake game offers a resolution and color depth the NES could only dream of, the opening credits feel a lot like the intro to the NES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Your Retro Reference Guide to Communitys "Digital Estate Planning"
Jeff and company beam into the Greendale study lounge from an impressive skyline, similar to how Mega Man made a dramatic exit at the beginning of his first sequel.

Your Retro Reference Guide to Communitys "Digital Estate Planning"
Again with the beaming. We can only assume that the cast of Community can’t check their inventory and climb ladders at the same time. It’s a terrible side effect of this particular mode of transportation.

Your Retro Reference Guide to Communitys "Digital Estate Planning"
Yes, here’s yet another nod to Capcom’s forsaken series. Jeff Winger strikes a very Mega Man-ish pose while jumping, even if he looks very unimpressed by the act in question.

Your Retro Reference Guide to Communitys "Digital Estate Planning"
This scene brings us an assortment of references, with a very Super Mario Bros. 2 waterfall, a raccoon leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3, and some Guts Man-style blocks to Abed’s right (which Jeff tries and fails to break through later in the episode).

Your Retro Reference Guide to Communitys "Digital Estate Planning"
Gilbert crafts his way to murderous success with a very Minecrafty system. Notch’s masterpiece might not be retro, but it sure looks old — and that’s what really counts, doesn’t it?

Supra Wrap Up "Utility"

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After getting a look at the Utility variation of Supra’s Pilot model earlier today, we now see that the brand has also awarded its newly-released silhouette, the Wrap Up, with the same treatment. The minimalistic set notes a black upper, comprised of twill and microfiber. A contrasting white midsole has been placed underneath, matching the one hit of branding. Tonal laces then complete the pair, as you can cop them now through Supra.

Tags: supra, supra-wrap-up, wrap-up

Nike SB Dunk Mid "Khaki/Light Stone"

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With Nike SB‘s latest range now making its way to SB dealers, we get a look at a new colorway of the Dunk Mid. The skate kicks see suede covering the upper, while a contrasting leather Swoosh has been placed alongside. A white midsole matches underneath, as you can purchase these Dunks now through Premier for $90.

Tags: nike-sb-dunk, nike-sb-dunk-mid, dunk, dunk-mid, nike-sb, nike

Welcome Jordan Brand to Instagram

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If Mark Zuckerberg invests in a company, they must be doing something right. Instagram has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 30 days and even with just a photo and a caption people and companies are finding another way to sell themselves. Enter Michael Jordan — okay his brand, not the man himself. Jordan Brand has now signed on to the IG community, so follow and stay tuned for the latest and greatest from Mike’s camp.  

Tags: michael-jordan, air-jordan

EA to Piggyback Origin on Popular Kickstarter Games

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EA to Piggyback Origin on Popular Kickstarter Games

As Electronic Arts continues to work toward having Origin reach feature parity with Steam — and hopefully finding something unique it can offer in the process — it also is focused on getting the software installed on as many computers as possible. Bundling it with EA‘s own computer games has proven to be one effective way of doing this, whether it be with Battlefield 3 or Mass Effect 3, as has exclusively offering the digital version of its big MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, through the service. Now it’s extending a helping hand to independent developers who have turned to crowd-funding to get their games made in a move that will further help to increase the size of Origin’s userbase.

The publisher today announced it will waive Origin’s distribution fees for 90 days for any developer wanting to bring its crowd-funded, downloadable PC game to the service, just so long as the game is ready to publish. Develop notes the only costs developers will be subjected to are those pertaining to transactions, such as the fee charged by credit card companies. Even with that small caveat, this is still a potentially great deal for independent developers who will be able to receive a significantly larger portion of revenue on each game it sells in the three months following release. Particularly when you consider many of the games that have been funded by Kickstarter are unlikely to ever be multi-million unit sellers, that extra money could prove to be a major boon.

“The public support for crowd-funding creative game ideas coming from small developers today is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Origin senior VP David DeMartini. “It’s also incredibly healthy for the gaming industry. Gamers around the world deserve a chance to play every great new game, and by waiving distribution fees on Origin we can help make that a reality for successfully crowd-funded developers.”

Only one such game has been confirmed for release through Origin so far, but it is one of Kickstarter’s biggest to date: Wasteland 2. The game far exceeded developer inXile Entertainment’s funding goal, raising over $3.3 million by the time its April deadline was reached.

EA to Piggyback Origin on Popular Kickstarter Games

“I have had a long relationship with EA and it is great to see them recognize and support the crowd-funded games model,” said inXile CEO Brian Fargo. “Having Origin waive their distribution fees for 90 days for fan funded games is a major economic bonus for small developers. We look forward to bringing Wasteland 2 to the Origin audience.”

The savings being passed on to inXile by Origin may prove to benefit more than just the game’s developer. Fargo announced an initiative in March called Kick it Forward which will see five percent of Wasteland 2′s profits be given to other Kickstarter developers. Origin not charging any distribution fees means there should be more money to distribute through this program, which has to be welcome news for developers hoping to launch a Kickstarter campaign following Wasteland 2′s release later next year.

It’s a generous offer from EA, which gets to look good, help support indie games that the public has demonstrated an interest in supporting, and build a relationship with these developers. The one potential downside I can foresee is potential Kickstarter backers who are averse to using Origin being hesitant to support any project that proclaims it has plans to release through Origin. Developers may be able to avoid this if they commit to giving backers a DRM-free copy that does not make use of Origin. In fact, offering this exclusively through Kickstarter may be a way of encouraging backers to pledge to a project.

The benefits for the publisher go beyond those mentioned above, too, as distributing these games through Origin (and presumably including its in-game overlay) means increasing the number of computers the service is installed on. This may not help it to suddenly topple Steam, but any advantageous move it can make is going to be a welcome one, particularly if it’s something like this that won’t prove to be costly. EA is sacrificing revenue, but with transaction fees being covered by the developers that should be no big deal, especially since sales made after the first 90 days of availability will be treated like those of any other game — which is to say, EA will start to get the sizable cut that digital distributors take.

What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse: Eight Games Where Danger Lurks After Dark

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Before the advent of electricity, mankind rightly feared the darkness and the thousands of hungry wolves lurking within. Now that we live in a world where eternal daytime can be summoned with the flick of a light switch, the lessons taught by every fairy tale put to print — stay out of dark, spooky places — can safely be ignored, since our smartphones alone can easily cut a swath through the blackness of night. Still, crushing the anxieties of our lizard brains often proves impossible, as a simple evening power outage can quickly turn us from rational human beings into quivering masses who refuse to take candlelit trips to the bathroom alone for fear of wandering House Draculas. And we’re not even safe in retreating to the escapist fantasies of video games; over the years, savvy developers have learned to exploit these primal phobias by designing worlds that turn from bad to ugly with the setting of the sun. The following games serve as fitting proof that — as the popular Nickelodeon show once posited– yes, we are afraid of the dark. Or if we’re not, maybe we should be?

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Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

You’d think Simon Belmont earned a well-deserved siesta after vanquishing Count Dracula in the original Castlevania. Well, think again. A double-dose of bad news quickly turned Belmont’s underdog victory over the dark lord into a hollow one at best. Not only would Konami’s vampire hunter have to tackle a second tour of duty against Drac’s finest, he’d also have to cope with a curse that threatened to end his young life . Add insult to injury in the form of distrustful villagers who often lied about where to go next, deadly creatures that became more powerful and took over formerly safe areas at night, and the task of reassembling Count Dracula simply to murder him all over again, and you’ll realize that poor Simon Belmont can’t get a break from slaying the undead.

e91f9 360 What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse: Eight Games Where Danger Lurks After Dark

Minecraft

At first glance, nothing can hurt you in Minecraft. Not the blocky chickens that cluck as they strut by, or the boxlike cows that aimlessly meander. Initially, the sunny skies of Minecraft sell the idea of a utopia untouched by the presence of evil; a place where you can mine materials and be free to build whatever obscene monument strikes your fancy. How could any mean-spirited enemies exist in such a simple and playful-looking world? Then, as the sun slowly fades into the distance, the real freaks emerge from the darkness of night, taking the form of a blocky horror picture show. After a few shameful deaths, the terrible truth is finally revealed: to properly survive in Minecraft requires shelter, or at least a really deep ditch to hide from the abominable things that come out at night.

e91f9 362 What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse: Eight Games Where Danger Lurks After Dark

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time blew the doors open, exposing a 3D-rendered world of adventure and possibilities. While the towns of Hyrule typically bustled with activity during the day, at night, most of the residents fled to their homes, making Young Link‘s adventure a slightly lonely one. Thank goodness for the Stalchildren. While it’s true that these Stalfos offspring could give any young adventurer a case of the heebie-jeebies (from the prospect of skeleton reproduction alone), at least they kept you company before a swing of your sword smashed them back into the ground. So stop and hug a Stalchild today; without them, Hylian nights would feel a lot more boring.

e91f9 366 What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse: Eight Games Where Danger Lurks After Dark

Deadly Premonition

Agent Francis York Morgan’s got a pretty sweet gig; sure, he’s been assigned to solve the grisly murder of an innocent teen, but the seemingly bottomless per diem given to him by the FBI allows York to fish, play darts, nap in random locations, and eat dozens of canned pickles on the clock. This freedom ends at midnight, though, as the transition to a new day fills the streets of Greenvale with phantom and Clifford-sized dogs until 6:00 A.M., effectively rendering exploration too much of a hassle until York smokes or slumbers on a filthy mattress until daybreak. When the sun rises, the undead citizens of this sleepy Pacific Northwestern town return from whence they came, leaving Morgan with a bright, full day of shaving and commenting on the quality of biscuits.

Peter Berg Explains The Reference To ‘Battleship’s’ Famous Line

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Spoiler alert: No one says “you sunk my battleship” in “Battleship.” But director Peter Berg has a very good explanation for that. No one said it in the movie because the Regents didn’t sink the Navy’s battleships.

But before you get all up in arms about the omission, there is an homage to the famous admission of defeat from the Battleship pencil and paper game in the feature film. Fans just might miss it during their first go around.

“We have a version of it though. There was a reference to the line,” Berg promised in a recent interview with MTV News.

According to Berg, the reference is something along the lines of, “Ain’t gonna sink this battleship, no way.” When asked why he didn’t just say the classic line anyways, he said, “They don’t sink our battleship. Sorry.”

That’s not to say that there never was a version of the script where “you sunk my battleship” was said. It just didn’t end up working in the final cut of the film.

“We played around. I mean, we’ve said the line, we didn’t say the line, and then I sort of had this idea that maybe we should come up with a different way of respecting the line but, you know what, they didn’t sink the battleship,” Berg said. “There are a lot of ways you could have done it. We chose our way.”

Do you approve of Berg’s reference to the Battleship board game? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

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Eminem To 50 Cent After Hospital Scare: Dont ‘Die Over A Burger’

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By Rob Markman with reporting by Ade Mangum (@HollywoodAde)

50 Cent was hospitalized earlier this week when he began to suffer from severe stomach pains, and during his stay in the hospital the G-Unit CEO–notorious for surviving 9 gunshots-received a call from Eminem who had a firm message for his longtime friend and collaborator.

“I’m in a dead serious moment like, ‘Damn, I don’t believe this is happenin’ right now,’ ” Fif said recalling the moments before Slim Shady phoned him. “He goes, ‘Yo Fif, you were shot nine times man if you die over a burger, this sh– ain’t gonna go right. People ain’t gonna be feelin’ this.’ “

On Wednesday, Fif tweeted a picture of himself in a hospital bed and sent a public message to his boxing friend Floyd Mayweather that read: “I don’t want to go into surgery.”

Lucky for him, he didn’t have to. When MTV News checked up on 50 at his NYC G-Unit office on Thursday, just hours after he was released from the hospital, he said he was able to avoid going into surgery to remove blockage in his small intestine.

“I’m feelin’ better; I’m in good spirits,” Fif added.

DJ Drama, who is in New York to promote his upcoming mixtape with 50, The Lost Tape, told MTV News he was worried about his boy. To lift the gangsta rapper’s spirits Drama sent three stuffed animals to 50: a giraffe, an elephant and a lion.

They say it’s the thought that counts, but Drama’s get-well gifts didn’t go over so well. “That wasn’t cool. That’s all you get,” 50 told Drama jokingly while our cameras rolled. “You get 15 tracks, you damn near have to die to do a Gangsta Grillz and this is the thanks I get?”

Stay tuned to MTV News’ Mixtape Daily for more on 50 Cent and DJ Drama’s The Lost Tape, which will be released on May 22.

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Raven Symone Addresses Rumors About Her Sexuality

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e915f ravensymone Raven Symone Addresses Rumors About Her Sexuality

By Jocelyn Vena

Raven-Symoné‘s personal life has become a hot topic in the past week thanks to a story from the National Enquirer which reported that the actress, who is currently starring in “Sister Act” on Broadway is gay. The paper reported that Symone is dating “America’s Next Top Model” contestant, AzMarie Livingston and on Friday the star took to Twitter to address the rumors.

According to the tabloid, “Raven has lost almost 30 pounds, has done a whole image makeover, and now she is the star of ‘Sister Act’ on Broadway. She’s at a point now where she doesn’t care what her family thinks, and she’s in love with AzMarie. She’s a lesbian and wants to live that way.”

The tabloid further reports that the 26-year-old’s family does not approve of her lifestyle, however, “she told her parents she loves them, but her home — especially her bedroom — is nobody’s business, and she was not going to back down, so they needed to accept it, period.”

While Raven-Symoné neither confirmed nor denied the speculation on Friday, when she took to Twitter to open up about the rumor, she did make it clear that whatever she does in her personal life is her business.

“I’m living my PERSONAL life the way I’m happiest,” she tweeted. “I’m not one, in my 25 year career to disclose who I’m dating. and I shall not start now. My sexual orientation is mine, and the person I’m datings to know. I’m not one for a public display of my life.”

She continued that “however that is my right as a HUMAN BEing whether straight or gay. To tell or not to tell. As long as I’m not harming anyone. I am a light being made from love. And my career is the only thing I would like to put on display, not my personal life. Kisses!”

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Meek Mill Gets A Gold Grill From Trae Tha Truth At Club Paradise Houston Stop

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By Carter Maness

Grills! They may no longer be at the top of hip-hop’s trends list anymore, but still, no trip to Houston is complete without getting a new one. Meek Mill, currently on Drake’s “Club Paradise” tour, got a couple new pieces last night as a treat from local rapper Trae The Truth.

MTV’s Sway Calloway was there to capture the magic moment. “Just got my move made. Trae Tha Truth treated me to a grill – a gold one,” the Maybach Music Group rapper said during a lighthearted backstage interview. “End up gettin’ a rose gold one, too.”

Paul Wall, the master of grills, fitted and advised Meek on his purchase. When pressed, he said that he would make sure Sway got his own grill in a style that had never been rocked before. “When we be in Houston, too, we really be in Houston,” Meek said pointing around the room at the local rap royalty. “We really f— with the grills. Somebody might really be on the lean. Trae Tha Truth is in the building. Paul Wall!”

Check out Wall at work as Meek Mill and French Montana get fitted right before they hit the stage for their “Club Paradise” performance last night (May 17).

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