So you’ve had all the family togetherness, awkward dates, spoiled sports stars and overrated high-brow writing you can take this weekend? We’ve compiled The Favs, some of the best connected entertainment stories from this past week to feed your need for intellectual growth short of going back to work tomorrow morning. Some of it’s original reporting, and some of it is the work of others. [divider] Xbox [/divider]
Is the world ready for an always on Xbox 360 successor?
With the Xbox reveal just two whole days away now, everyone is tripping over themselves to ask the existential questions that they think everyone will be talking about in the lead-up to the next Xbox. This week, GamesRadar took a huge comprehensive look at whether consumers are ready to make the leap to a console that’s always connected to the internet. We’d argue the current Xbox is next to useless without it already, but what do we know? Would We Ready for an Always On Xbox?
Here comes ‘the gamers’?
We’re not exactly thrilled with the constant need of “real gamers” to criticize the dual entertainment nature of the Xbox 360 as if that’s some kind of weakness. In all reality, without entertainment users, the Xbox 360 wouldn’t be anywhere near the success it is today. We won’t rehash the same arguments here. What we will do is clearly acknowledge that The Penny Arcade Report didn’t get our memo. The Next Xbox: What Ben and Andrew Want to See at Microsoft’s Reveal
[divider] Culture [/divider]Star Trek Into Darkness
We’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for the art of the movie review and there’s nothing that pleases us more than when one of our favorite publications, The A.V. Club, absolutely nails the format while reviewing a Star Trek movie. Sure we’re not fans of the J.J. Abrams universe or anything -we’d argue it’s more of a Star Trek-themed action film, but still. It’s a great review. Don’t forget that you can get behind-the-scenes shorts for free this weekend before heading out to see the movie! Review: Star Trek Into Darkness
[divider] Windows Phone [/divider]
The Proliferation of Xenon Flash
We won’t pretend that we’d heard of Xenon flash before Nokia announced that it would be including the technology it’s new Lumia 928 flagship for Verizon. We also won’t pretend like we’re connoisseurs of quality picture taking either. Seriously, we’re terrible. What we will do is encourage you to check the folks at All About Windows Phone‘s in-depth look at what the year might be like for those looking to pick up a Windows Phone with the enhanced flash technology. Perhaps 2013 is the Year of Xenon Flash