For Apple fans in the U.S., today is like Christmas. If Santa charged you $599 plus $60 per month before he handed over any presents.

After months and MONTHS of the kind of unrelenting hype that usually turns people off a product more than it turns them on, the iPhone is finally on sale today south of the border. American Apple fetishists, gadget whores and technofashionistas with money to burn were camped outside Apple stores this morning in order to be among the first to snap up the new cellphone/video iPod/PDA/Web browser gadget, which retails for $499 US (for the 4 GB model) and $599 US (for the 8 GB version.) With service plans starting at $60 US on a mandatory two-year contract, they'll be paying a minimum of almost $2,000 for the privelege of owning this year's most sought-after gadget. Man, and I thought video game consoles were expensive.

Is it worth it? I haven't held one in my sweaty mitts yet, but like most Apple products, the iPhone looks svelte and sexy yet elegantly simple. I love the idea of a massive touchscreen (made of scratch-resistant glass no less), particularly when paired with 8 GB of memory -- I might even leave my beloved Archos portable media player behind when going on trips, since the iPhone could hold enough movies for a cross-country flight. But I can't imagine it's easy to type out text messages and e-mails on the thing, even though Apple claims to have come up with a way to make touch-screen typing feasible.


So pretty. You want to touch them, don't you? Don't you?

I guess we'll have to wait and see. But we could be waiting for some time yet, as Rogers has been very mum on when the iPhone might make its way to the Great White North. Speculation suggests that Apple's desire to control virtually all aspects of the iPhone experience, from what content will be available for it to not allowing carriers to brand it with their own logos (oh the humanity!), could be stalling the talks. Considering how gung-ho Rogers is about selling their own content through their phones, it doesn't surprise me that this might be a sticking point. It's Teddy R. vs. Stevie J. -- let the battle begin! (Then again, AT&T gave in to Apple's demands, so maybe it's just a matter of time.)

If you're considering picking up an iPhone while in the States -- assuming you'd even be able to find one, which is unlikely -- don't bother. There have been reports of T-Mobile customers trying to get the device working on their network (the iPhone is AT&T exclusive for now) with no luck, so it's sure as heck not going to work if you pop a Rogers SIM card in there. And since the phone has to be linked to an iTunes account (ugh), which are also region-specific, you might not even be able to use it as a media player.

So for now, we wait. Which might have its advantages, if there are kinks to be worked out with the hardware or software. Let our American friends beta test the iPhone, run it through its paces, and tell us if it's worth the steep price. Santa may live here in Canada, but that doesn't mean he's going to give us a discount.

Grand Theft Auto IV is right around the corner. And apparently it's about to get shot.

Well, it didn't break the Internet this time. But the release of the second Grand Theft Auto IV trailer today did give us a glimpse of what appear to be snippets of actual gameplay from the free-roamin', crime-spreein' epic due out on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this October. I have to say that the slightly janky framerate in the new trailer has me a little worried, and somehow the game doesn't look quite as good as I'd been thinking it did. Still, it's a GTA game, it's next-gen (or is that now this-gen?), it's got an intriguing new protagonist, a more semi-realistic style and the ability to hang onto moving vehicles, apparently. YEEEEEHAAAA!!!


Not the safest way to travel, but it beats sitting next to the smelly guy on the subway.

The trailer is available at Rockstar Games' website as well as the usual gaming sites, Yahoo, YouTube and both the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace and the PS3's PlayStation Store. Curiously, the Xbox 360 version of the trailer appears to be in 5.1 surround sound while the PS3 version isn't.

Or maybe it was just the blood rushing in my ears thanks to my ongoing frustration with PS3 firmware updates. May I go off on a tangential rant for a sec? Thanks. I'm so, so very fed up with Sony's incremental updates to the PS3 firmware. Not because they're not useful -- some of them have added truly valuable features, like background downloading of online content, or allowing you to access PS3 content with your PSP over an Internet connection -- but because they take SO DAMN LONG. In order to power up my PS3 and watch the GTA IV trailer today, I had to sit through more than 15 minutes of compulsory downloading and installation (not including the time it took me to find a USB cable to plug in the PS3 contoller -- isn't the thing supposed to be wireless?) And I have a blazing-fast Net connection, too. I feel sorry for anyone with "broadband lite".

The problem with Sony's PS3 firmware updates, or so I'm told by those in the know, is that you basically need to re-download the entire operating system every time there's a new version, no matter how minor the updated features might be. Compared to the twice-yearly Xbox Live update (which tops out at 5 MB and takes roughly a minute to download and install), it's a truly teeth-gnashing experience, especially when the damn things seem to happen every other week now.

OK, rant over. The new GTA IV trailer is short but slick, and Oct. 16 can't come soon enough. Although at least that allows for some time to save up for the $99 Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition, the most over-the-top deluxe version of a game this side of the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. The super-sized GTA IV will come with a duffle bug, safety deposit box-style case, a book of GTA IV art, a soundtrack CD and a keychain (for the safety deposit box keys, natch.) Oh yeah, and the game itself. In case you want to, you know, play it or something.


The Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition for PS3 (an identical version -- aside from the game format -- will also be available for the Xbox 360.) Start saving your pennies now.

Having blasted, impaled and heart-chomped my way through Starbreeze Studios' The Darkness this past weekend, I can safely declare that the game kicks a significant amount of ass. It has the odd problem (I don't wanna scoop my own review of the game in this Sunday's ENT pullout in the Sun newspapers, so I'll say no more than that right now), but overall it does some great things with storytelling in game form.

But one of the biggest problems with the game, and one I didn't have space to address in my review for this weekend, is that the multiplayer mode is a tacked-on afterthought. It has one really cool thing going for it, in that you can shapeshift back and forth between human and Darkling form... humans can carry guns and absorb more damage, but Darklings are fast, can leap insane distances and can clamber along walls and ceilings like spiders on crack. Morphing between the two on the fly adds a bit of novel tactical depth.

Beyond that, it's plain vanilla deathmatching and capture the flag, with a standard-issue arsenal of weapons and a handful of uninspired maps. (And no, you can't use the Darkness powers from the single-player game in multiplayer.) So my question is: why bother? If developers can't commit the time and resources to making the online component of their game exceptional, would it not make more sense to just leave it out entirely, and funnel that effort into polishing the single-player experience?

The Darkness is the second game in a row I've reviewed (Call Of Juarez was the other one) that has a pointless multiplayer mode that doesn't enhance the overall product in any meaningful way, and it joins a long and growing list of similar titles. There are exceptions, of course -- pretty much any of Ubisoft's Tom Clancy games, for instance -- but too many first-person shooter developers seem to think they need to offer some sort of multiplayer component in order to appease gamers.

I say that's stupid. It takes a lot of time and tweaking to get multiplayer right, which either lengthens the development cycle or draws resources away from the single-player game. Do it right, or don't do it at all. Either way, gamers will be happier.


Never ask a Darkling for a haircut. They don't really grasp the concept of "a little off the top."

The "shades of Betamax vs. VHS" war between HD DVD and Blu-ray could be nearing an end. And it looks like HD DVD might end up keeping Beta company in the graveyard of failed formats.

The writing's been on the wall for a few months now: Availability of movies on Blu-ray disc continues to outpace HD DVD offerings, Blu-ray penetration has a solid leg up on HD DVD thanks to the PlayStation 3's ability to play Blu-ray movies, and prices on stand-alone Blu-ray players are falling rapidly (so much so that the PS3 will soon no longer be the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market. Hopefully by the time that happens there will be some compelling games for the thing.)

But the final nail in the HD DVD coffin could well be Blockbuster's announcement today that they'll limit their selection of high definition DVD rentals to the Blu-ray format only. (Blockbuster veep Matthew Smith was speaking only of the U.S. stores, but it's safe to assume Canadian outlets will follow suit.) When the continent's biggest video rental chain backs one format over the other, it's the beginning of the end.

This is good news for just about everyone except Toshiba, Microsoft and the handful of other companies that were backing HD DVD. Sony bet the success of the PS3 on Blu-ray becoming the standard, and had it failed, it would have been a serious blow to the PS3's long-term appeal. For consumers, having two competing formats just muddies the waters and slows adoption of either. The sooner one goes away, the better.

This doesn't mean your HD DVD player (or HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360) is suddenly obsolete. But to me this signals that the wind is strongly blowing in Blu-ray's sails, and I think it's only a matter of time before the last couple of HD DVD holdout studios like Universal start releasing movies in Blu-ray too. If I were planning to take the high-def DVD plunge any time soon, I'd be heading into the Blu.

Viewers' choice awards are always a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they do represent the common will of the masses. On the other hand, sometimes you have to wonder WTF said masses are thinking.

Last night's 2007 SPACEY Awards on SPACE (not Space TV, not the Space Channel, but SPACE) are a perfect example. While it was great to see movies like Casino Royale and Pan's Labyrinth honoured, some of the other choices were baffling. Smallville's Lex Luthor as character you love to hate over Gaius Baltar or Caprica Six from Battlestar Galactica? Stargate Atlantis as favourite TV show over Battlestar Galactica? Stargate's Dr. Rodney McKay as favourite TV character over Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica? (Sensing a trend here? BSG done got screwed.) At least Kevin Spacey finally won a SPACEY, though it's unfortunate that it had to be for the somewhat disappointing Superman Returns.

The SPACEYs are a mix of awards chosen in-house (which is how Pan's Labyrinth won best movie) and via viewer entries online (hence the love for all things Stargate, and the craptacular Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest being picked "favourite" -- as opposed to best -- movie.) So I was very curious to see how the votes for favourite video game would go down. The nominees were The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (I'm 130 hours into that game and counting), Gears Of War (naturally), The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (ditto), Rainbow Six: Vegas (wouldn't have been in my top five, but at least it was made in Canada) and... Company of Heroes? Well, every category needs a dark horse I guess. Great game though.

The award was presented by SPACE's Jonathan Llyr and "Solid Snake", aka X-Men scribe David Hayter, who voices Snake in the English language Metal Gear Solid games. Zelda took home the hardware, presented to Nintendo of Canada's Ron Bertram (who was flanked by a life-sized Link statue and backed by a wall of Wii boxes. Geez Ron, can I buy a few of those off you? Still can't find the damn thing in stores anywhere.) I had suspected Gears might squeak out a win in the popular vote, but Nintendo fans are nothing if not loyal and motivated. Thank goodness there aren't any Stargate Atlantis games.

Now Pac-Man isn't just a game you play / It's a crispy corn cereal that's comin' your way / New Pac-Man! / Chomp chomp de-licious!

God, what has had to be deleted from my brain over the years in order for a breakfast cereal commercial jingle from my childhood to remain intact like that? So very frightening.

Anyway. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Pac-Man World Championship in NYC this week, but I know what I wasn't expecting: that it would be a lot of fun, oddly educational and deeply nostalgic.

The tournament was held using the Xbox Live Arcade version of Pac-Man (which seems like kind of a heresy, but it was Microsoft organizing the thing), bringing together the top 10 competitors out of the 30,000 entrants who tried to qualify. Alberta's own Dwayne Richard, who is something of a legend in the classic gaming community, finished a respectable third.

What I found really cool about the event was the glimpse it gave into the still-thriving classic coin-op subculture, which is getting some attention right now thanks to the much buzzed-about Slamdance documentary The King Of Kong. (Billy Mitchell, one of the subjects of the doc, competed in the Pac-Man event but was eliminated in the second round.) Walter Day of Twin Galaxies was also there in his trademark referee's shirt, and he kindly showed myself and the Globe & Mail's Scott Colbourne his newly published and monstrously thick record book of pretty much every arcade game high score ever recorded.


Classic coin-op legend (and documentary subject) Billy Mitchell and his pal, Canadian arcade game champ Dwayne Richard, at the Pac-Man World Championship in New York City.

Speaking of Colbourne, we went head-to-head in the five-minute tournament mode of Pac-Man Championship Edition for some newspaper bragging rights, and I handily trounced his ass -- payback for my poor showing at Pain at Sony Gamer's Day in San Diego. Not only that, after he went to bathroom (to cry, I suspect) I played one more game and got 99,520 points, which would have put me ahead of the first two guys eliminated from the tournament. I'm a freakin' Pac-Man prodigy!

Oh yeah, and the required plug: Check this Sunday's ENT section in your friendly neighbourhood Sun newspaper (if your friendly neighbourhood happens to be in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg or Ottawa) for more on the Pac-Man tourney and the new Pac-Man: Championship Edition.

There are some odd quirks to writing about video games that you don't find in any other form of entertainment journalism -- and baby, this weary soldier has seen all sides of that particular trade. F'rinstance, game publishers can and often do require writers to sign non-disclosure agreements before showing them games in development, and embargoes on publishing any info about those games are common. To add yet another layer of complexity to it, sometimes the embargoes are different for print than they are for online, in order to give magazines (which usually have publication lead times of a month or two) a chance to get their stories to print around the same time they'll show up online.

"Um, yeah? And I'm interested in this why exactly?" you may ask. Well, it's for this reason that you'll find some stories about Halo 3 in today's editions of the Sun newspapers in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa (and it should show up in the London Free Press and some of the 24 Hours commuter papers in a few days), but you won't find any of the tasty info or brand new screenshots online, even though we generally reproduce all of our newspapers' content on the various subsections of Canoe.ca.

I can't even tell you specifically what's in the papers, except to say there's an interview with Frank O'Connor and Tyson Green from Bungie Studios, a list of "7 Things You Didn't Know About Halo 3" (although hardcore fans who have been following the info leaking out via the multiplayer beta code won't be completely surprised, and Bungie didn't spill any details on the single-player campaign) and some new screenshots that are appearing in print for the first time in a Canadian publication -- or possibly any publication. But because of the split print/online embargo on this information (it'll hit Canoe.ca on July 2), you'll need to buy a copy of the paper to check it out. Or be patient. Quirky, no?


Hot Mongoose-on-Mongoose action on Halo 3's High Ground map. Where's a Cobra when you need one?

I'm not sure which is more shameful -- that I own a copy of Canadian History For Dummies, or that I've never actually read it. (Probably the latter.) Bombarded as we are with American media and culture, it can be tough to retain all that Canuck history stuff we learned in school, like the Fathers of Confederation and the Red River Rebellion and, uh, didn't we burn down the White House or something? Yep, shameful.

Fortunately, future generations may not have to suffer so. A Toronto company called Bitcasters has developed a Canadian history-based Civilization III mod dubbed HistoriCanada, and Civ III publishers 2K Games is teaming up with them to distribute 100,000 copies of Civ III and HistoriCanada to high schools in our fine nation. If I had a heart, the cockles of it would surely be warmed by this goodwill. And also if I knew what a cockle was. Heh. "Cockle."

Edutainment games tend to be a litle stiff, but given that this is built on the foundations of Civ III gameplay, it's likely to be engaging and educational. If you own Civilization III Complete or Civilization III Conquests, you can download the mod for free at HistoriCanada.com and play through the period from 1525 to 1763 as the French, English or one of seven aboriginal groups. And hopefully it will recreate the Great Hockey War of 1666. There was such a thing, right?