New Metal Gear titles revealed at Tokyo shindig

TOKYO--Konami held an event today in Roppongi, near its offices, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Metal Gear series. One part press conference, one part party, and one part stage show, the event was attended by a select group of industry luminaries, press, and a group of lucky fans. Besides offering the obligatory retrospective on the series, the event also allowed Hideo Kojima to shed light on Kojima Productions' upcoming projects built around the respected, long-running franchise.

The event took place in one of the large ballrooms at the Ritz Carlton and got off to a slightly late start due to a lengthy registration queue. An emcee kept things moving along by introducing the various guests, including president of the Konami Digital Entertainment division, Fumiaki Tanaka, who took the stage to discuss the various Metal Gear projects.

The first project, the upcoming Metal Gear Collection that's due in stores this week, is a definitive collection of the Metal Gear Solid titles in the series. The specially packaged compilation contains seven games, from the original PlayStation edition of the game to Portable Ops for the PlayStation Portable. In addition to the previous games, the set comes with a Metal Gear Solid Saga DVD that offers a comprehensive look at the game's evolution.

The next title to be highlighted was Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus, a follow-up to the first Portable Ops title. The game will feature new stages, new playable characters including Raiden and Old Snake, a new gameplay mode called infinity mission, and visual cues to offer support for newcomers to the series. Next up was Metal Gear Solid 2: Banne Desenee for the PSP, a digital comic in the same vein as last year's Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel for the system. The digital comic will feature a story told from Snake's point of view.

The next portion of the presentation focused on various aspects of MGS4 that culminated in a live demo of the game. Besides showing off the trailer we saw at E3, Kojima revealed two members of the voice cast in the game, who happen to be well-known Japanese celebs Tsukamoto Shinya and Marina Tasuki. Once the announcement was done Kojima moved on to the live demo, which was very close, if not exactly the same as, the demo he gave at the recent PlayStation event in Japan. The lengthy demo highlighted many of the new features in the game that expand on the familiar Metal Gear gameplay in some interesting ways.

Kojima followed up the MGS4 demo by speaking more about Metal Gear Online, a brand new Metal Gear title, first revealed at the PlayStation Premiere 2007 event last week. Kojima called out some members of the development team to show off the upcoming online PlayStation 3 title, which is the evolution of the online mode seen in MGS3: Subsistence. The demo of the game showed the way Kojima Productions is expanding on the online experience in Subsistence in a number of significant ways. At the end of the demo the audience was told that a closed beta would be held shortly in Japan. A registration period will run from July 24 to August 6 to allow up to 3,000 people to get a chance to participate in the beta. The actual beta will run from August 7 to September 3 in Japan.

The final announcement for the night was conveniently segued to when Kojima's cell phone rang. When he answered he pulled out a red Metal Gear-branded cell phone that featured a black stencil of Snake. Turns out the Metal Gear-branded phone will also play host to the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Mobile, a 3D game based on the original.

Following the formal presentation in the ballroom, the assembled guests shuffled out into the foyer while hotel staff set up for the second portion of the evening, which was essentially one big party. A broad range of faces from the Japanese game industry were spotted, including Kaz Hirai from Sony, Toshihiro Nagoshi from Sega, Keita Takahashi from Namco, and Hiroyuki Kobayashi from Capcom to name just a few.

In addition to those who attended, video messages from Phil Harrison and Stan Lee wishing Kojima well were shown, and helped underscore the franchise's reach. In between video messages, the ballroom stage featured live musical performances of signature Metal Gear themes, and a "talk show" with Kojima and other notable folk chatting on stage. All told, Konami's 20th Anniversary Metal Gear Party was a lively way to celebrate the franchise and offer a tantalizing glimpse of its future.

Metal Gear Online First look

Kojima Productions unveils the newest online Metal Gear experience for the PlayStation 3.

By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot

Posted Jul 24, 2007 11:20 am PT

Having proven with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence that it can take the Metal Gear series online with style, Kojima Productions is building on its previous success with Metal Gear Online for the PlayStation 3. The upcoming game was shown off at the recent 20th anniversary celebration, and expands on Subsistence's online experience by offering 16-player support, refined gameplay, and a strong team emphasis. Though the version shown was an early work in progress and there was no hint of a release date, the game showed a hefty amount of potential that has us excited to see how it shapes up.

The MGO demo showed off a six-on-six match between members of the development team. The battle took place in a large, weathered camp setting that offered plenty of places for players to hide or lay in wait. From the looks of the demo, the core gameplay sticks pretty close to what you'd expect out of an online Metal Gear, although a number of new additions make the action considerably more interesting.

The new SOP system--the meaning of which we're currently unsure of--is a neat, high-tech way to promote teamwork. Basically, SOP revolves around the nanomachines that are injected into all the soldiers on the battlefield. This links you to your teammates and lets you keep tabs on their location and physical condition. In addition, you're able to benefit from their discoveries on the battlefield. For example, if one of your team has spotted landmines on the field, you'll see their outlines on the ground when you approach them. This tech serves especially handily when you manage to hack an opponent's nanomachines and get all the info they have on their teammates, which you'll then share with yours.

We also saw some other, slightly less dramatic gameplay refinements that should nevertheless come in pretty handy. You'll now be able to stop yourself halfway up a ladder, which is useful for lobbing grenades over the top of a wall if you keep yourself just out of sight. Of course, you can also rely on old standbys such as cardboard boxes and nudie magazines (now in high-res) to help you deal with your enemies. The action seems pretty hectic, but the team element is going to require some strategy to make the most use of it.

The visuals in Metal Gear Online pop out, thanks to the game's use of the MGS4 engine. As such, there's a respectable amount of detail to be scrutinized, and, most importantly, a ton of little touches to complement the main action. We saw clouds of dust kicked up when bullets tore into the ground as gunfire began to focus on a player. Explosions and chunks of objects went flying nicely, obscuring the field of vision for players, which will allow you to maneuver in for kills. The battle took place in an environment that looked to be about the right size for 12 people to run around in. There seemed to be enough room to let a player run off and catch their breath, but not so much that they could just run and hide. The animation varied, given the game's early development status, but things were looking pretty good already.

Based on what we saw, Metal Gear Online is looking like an appealing new branch on the Metal Gear family tree. The gameplay, in terms of individual mechanics and team emphasis, seems like a good fit for an online game. Though a Japanese beta has been announced, there's no word on a US one at this time, although Konami reps stated they would very much like to have a wide beta that would include other territories. The same vagueness suits the game's release date, which is yet to be determined in Japan and the rest of the world. Look for more on Metal Gear Online later this fall from the Tokyo Game Show.

Biostar's 'New-and-Improved' P35-DDR3 Motherboard

When Intel first released its P35 chipset, a few firms stepped forward seeking quick publicity through the review process. To make it fair we had to invite everyone else, but with a warning: Every board submitted would be held to the same standards as retail parts. We didn't have time to review each model independently, while we made it clear that we'd certainly do a later article if enough companies were willing to wait.

But none of participating brands could afford to miss the opportunity to show off their wares, and many took a great risk by submitting pre-release samples that were supposed to be identical to the retail units, save for a few external details, such as sinks, boxes and accessory kits. The risk paid off in early exposure for several models, but a few failed to meet expectations.

Make no mistake, this update isn't meant to favor a particular brand: The only reason this particular board was chosen for an update when so many others were not is because of its previous failure. Biostar's TP35D3-A7 Deluxe Revision 0.51 was unable to boot whenever any clock speed change was made in BIOS, and Revision 5.0 was released to address this issue.

Biostar had delivered its earlier TP35D3-A7 Deluxe Revision 0.51 prior to receiving its heatpipe assemblies, substituting two standard sinks instead. Because Intel's chipsets run moderately cool, the early board suffered no heat problems using the substitute parts, but still wouldn't overclock. The production sink found on this retail board revision covers the Northbridge, Southbridge and the transistors of all eight power phases.

Improvements

Before testing overclocking improvements, it's important to make sure that the changes between motherboard revisions haven't caused a significant decrease in performance. Hardware and software configurations were carried forward from our earlier P35-DDR3 motherboard comparison, but the board itself was updated to BIOS version P35AA615 (6/15/2007).

Revision 5.0 of Biostar's TP35D3-A7 Deluxe clocked an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 normally capable of 3.46 GHz at 1.50 volts to only 3.33 GHz. Dropping the multiplier to 6x allowed the board to push a maximum stable FSB clock of 351 MHz (FSB1404), which is a relatively low result that only seems impressive when comparing the board to its previous revision.

Sony Ericsson P1 review: A smart sharp-shooter

The Sony Ericsson P1 is an exciting new smartphone that is to undoubtedly reign in the current Sony Ericsson portfolio. Powered by Symbian OS and featuring a QWERTY keyboard, a touchscreen TFT display with QVGA resolution and a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus, it represents the next level of the development of UIQ smartphones. As such, it seems that the Sony Ericsson P1 will be the flagship of Sony Ericsson smartphone line overrunning even the Sony Ericsson P990 and we were more than curious to find out how it performed in real life.

Key features:

• Symbian 9.1 OS with UIQ 3 user interface
• QWERTY keyboard
• 2.6" 262K colors TFT touchscreen display
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus
• Memory Stick Micro M2 memory card slot
• UMTS, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, USB, Infrared
• Secondary camera for video calls
• Walkman-grade MP3 player and FM radio with RDS
• Jog Dial navigation

Main disadvantages:

• Awkward keyboard
• No HSDPA support
• No EDGE support

A P-series or a M-series one?

The Sony Ericsson P1 bears the design line of the already available Sony Ericsson M600. The same form factor but without a QWERTY keyboard was used in the music-oriented Sony Ericsson W950, too.

Naming the device P1 seems rather logical, since the next SE super smartphone should have come as P1000. But 1000 sounds really trite, so choosing the device model to be P1, is a good move. Rumors had it that the device would be called P700, and even our test handset reported being P700. We guess that the decision must have been taken in the last moment. The Sony Ericsson P1 seems more of an upgraded M600, but then again we suppose that the wide range of features it boasts motivated including it in the P-series. So the P1 would definitely be the flagship among Sony Ericsson smartphones, but hardware wise, it seems to be powered by the same 208 MHz processor as seen in M600, W950 and P990.

We were very excited when we got the opportunity to make a review of the eagerly awaited Sony Ericsson smartphone P1. It turned out though that the test handset is obviously a rather early prototype since we experienced frequent crashes in various situations and applications. Nevertheless, we have a great deal of confidence that these will be fixed in the final version.

The retail package will include a desk stand, a USB cable, a stereo headset, a protective pouch, a spare stylus, and a 512MB Memory Stick Micro M2 card. Of course, as with any other mobile phone, the contents of the retail package remain strictly market and country dependant.

SMS Malam Pertama

SMS Malam Pertama

Alkisah ada 3 orang saudara, sebut saja mereka Vira, Voni, dan Veni yang dinikahkan secara masal oleh orangtuanya. Setelah itu mereka pergi berbulan madu bersamaan. Kalau Vira pergi ke Pulau Batam, Voni pergi Ke Kepulauan Seribu dan Veni si bungsu pergi ke Bali.

Namanya orang Tua sayang sama anak, selama mereka berbulan madu kedua Orang Tua mereka minta dikirim kabar tentang segala yang terjadi selama mereka berbulan madu.

Tapi agar berita yang dikirim singkat dan tidak terlalu Vulgar, mereka menggunakan Kode/Sandi tentang moto-moto Iklan. Supaya praktis dan murah, berita dikirim lewat SMS.

3 hari setelah kepergian anak mereka berbulan madu, diterimalah sebuah SMS... yang rupanya dari VIRA di Pulau Batam. Isi beritanya cukup sederhana, "STANDARD CHARTERED". Setelah membaca berita tersebut mereka mencari Iklan Standard Chartered di koran dan terbacalah tulisan besar berbunyi, "BESAR, KUAT dan BERSAHABAT!".

Tersenyumlah kedua orang tua mereka membaca berita dari Vira. Hari ke 4 datang SMS kedua, yang rupanya berasal dari Voni di Kepulauan Seribu. Isi beritanya juga cukup singkat yaitu, "NESCAFE". Setelah membaca surat tersebut, dengan tergesa-gesa kedua orang tua mereka mencari koran dan membaca Iklan NESCAFE yang berbunyi, "NIKMATNYA SAMPAI TETES TERAKHIR".

Maka kedua orang tua mereka pun tersenyum bahagia sambil sedikit haha.. hihi.. Hari ke 5 ditunggu tidak ada berita/SMS yang datang. Hari ke 6 begitu pula tidak ada sebuah SMS pun. Hari ke 7 begitu pula tidak ada kabar dari anak bungsu mereka si Veni yang berbulan Madu...

Memasuki hari ke 8... akhirnya kedua orangtua mereka menerima SMS juga dari Veni yang berbulan madu di Bali dan isi beritanya cukup singkat, "CATHAY PASIFIC".

Segera kedua orang tua mereka mencari Iklan penerbangan Cathay Pasific yang ada dikoran, dan dijumpailah iklan penerbangan dengan tulisan besar, "7 KALI SEMINGGU, 3 KALI SEHARI, 5 JAM NON-STOP".

Tetangga Yang Mandul

Tetangga Yang Mandul

Disebuah komplek rumah susun, ada dua tetangga bersebelahan. Sebut saja Pak Asep yang bertubuh atletis dan berparas tampan juga mempunyai istri yang sangat sexy dan cantik tetapi belum dikarunia anak. Sedangkan tetangga yang satunya bernama Pak Hasan yang bertubuh pendek bulat, berparas seram, dan mempunyai istri yang biasa-biasa saja, namun dikarunia 12 anak.

Satu ketika Pak Asep bertanya kepada Pak Hasan.

Pak Asep : Pak Hasan, apa sih rahasia kejantanan bapak sampai dikarunia anak 12 orang, sedangkan saya berbadan atletis dan istri saya sangat cantik & sexy namun belum juga mempunyai satu anak pun.

Pak Hasan : (Sambil tersenyum simpul) Begini saja Pak Asep saya kasih tahu rahasianya, nanti malam bapak buatkan satu suasana romantis dengan menggunakan satu lilin di meja makan, dimulai dengan makan malam bersama dengan istri bapak dengan berbusana super tipis, kamar dihiasi dengan wewangian yang harum dan diiringi musik yang mengalun romantis. Boleh juga sediakan sebotol champange. Setelah semuanya dilakukan, bapak boleh panggil saya. Saya jamin istri bapak akan hamil.

Pak Asep : !!!!???????????...

Google Adsense New Referrals Unit

Google Referrals allow you to choose specific products or groups of products to advertise on your site, allowing you to match ads to your content.

Choose up to 15 products or specific ads to rotate in the referral unit. You can also choose categories and keywords to ensure you get newer ads as they become available.

Each category has one or more product.
Here is the list of category :
1. Automotive
2. Business
3. Computers & Electronics
4. Entertainment
5. Finance & Insurance
6. Food and Drink
7. Games
8. Health
9. Industries
10. Photo & Video
11. Recreation
12. Shopping
13. Telecommunication
14. Travel
15. Google product

We can choose the product manualy which is offer more profit.
For example : In Automotive category has 11 product. Click detail to see what is offer more benefit to you.

Or if you don't want waste your time to see all product, you can simply add Automotive category and make sure you check "Pick best performing ads. Your chosen ads may not always show". With this option Google will take the best performing ads for you.

Here is the official announcement from Google Adsense

This past March, we launched a referrals beta to test the feature and iron out some wrinkles. Now that we've finished our testing, we're pleased to announce that referrals 2.0 will soon be available to all AdSense publishers in referrals-supported languages.

While some of you may already be familiar with referrals for Google products, this launch will greatly expand the inventory and functionality of referrals for AdSense publishers. Below we've highlighted a few of the key benefits of referrals 2.0:
Expanded product inventory: While many of you have had success referring one of our Google products, some of you weren't able to find a product that fit the context of your site. Referrals 2.0 offers products from thousands of AdWords advertisers, so you can find the right ads for your sites.

Category and keyword targeting: With thousands of products available, it can be difficult to decide which ads will perform best on your site. That's why we give you the option to refer products by category and keyword. You can narrow down the types of ads you want to display and let AdSense figure out which ones will perform best on your site. Whether you want ads for a specific category, advertiser, or product, referrals 2.0 will give you the control to decide.

Ad unit optimization: It can be tricky picking the best ads for your site, so we've included ad unit optimization for referrals. When you create a new referral ad unit, simply select the Pick best performing ads option. We'll then compare your selected ads to other relevant ads, and serve the ads we expect to perform best on your site.

Better targeting for pages with multiple themes: With standard contextual targeting, ads may not match up directly with the text around them if there are a number of themes on the page. With referrals, you can select unique “keywords” for each ad unit to narrow the targeting directly to the theme you want. Better targeting means higher earnings for your site.

Greater compensation for high-quality traffic: Since referrals are paid on a cost-per-action (CPA) basis, your traffic matters. If the traffic you send to advertisers is more likely to turn into a completed sale or lead, you will earn more with referrals.

Add your seal of approval: Unlike AdSense for content ads, our program policies allow you to make specific references to referral ads on your site. If you endorse the product that you are referring, feel free to let your users know. By adding your personal review of the products you refer, you can help your users make more informed choices.
To get started with referrals, click the AdSense Setup tab in your account, then click Referrals. If you don't see referrals 2.0 right away, please check back in a few days, as the feature will gradually become available in all accounts over the next few weeks. Please also keep in mind that for some languages, advertisers are just getting started so ad inventory may be limited at this time. We encourage you to check back frequently to see new offers.

If you have any questions about how to add a new referral unit to your site, be sure to check out the updated referrals section of the Help Center.