Loaded: Swine flu, the game Video

Loaded: Swine flu, the game Video Transcript

WE HAVE GAMING NEWS ABOUT THE PLAYSTATION, XBOX, AND THE WII, MINT HAS SOME NEW FEATURES TO HELP YOU STICK TO A BUDGET, AND A NEW PC GAME WILL LET YOU CURE THE SWINE FLU. ITS TUESDAY, AUGUST 18TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED. [*] WE ARE ANTICIPATING THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PLAYSTATION 3 SLIM TODAY. SONY IS HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE THIS AFTERNOON IN GERMANY AND THE WORD ON THE STREET...OR THE BLOGOSPHERE... IS THAT SONY WILL CUT THE PRICE OF THE PLAYSTATION 3 FINALLY AND ANNOUNCE A SMALLER AND LIGHTER PLAYSTATION 3 CALLED THE PS3 SLIM. WE WILL STAY ON THE STORY AND LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE HAVE CONFIRMATION. [*] MSNBC INTERACTIVE NEWS HAS ACQUIRED EVERYBLOCK. EVERYBLOCK IS A START-UP THAT PROVIdES HYPERLOCAL NEWS DOWN TO THE BLOCK. IT ALLOWS USERS TO INPUT THEIR ADDRESS OR ZIP CODE TO SEE LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE, BLOG ENTRIES AND OTHER INFORMATION. MSNBC SAID IN A STATEMENT THAT EVERYBLOCK WILL STAY AN INDEPENDENT BRAND, BUT DID NOT DISCLOSE FURTHER PLANS. [*] SPORE IS COMING TO THE WII. THE GAME WILL LAUNCH ON THE NINTENDO CONSOLE ON OCTOBER 6TH IN THE U.S. AND ON OCTOBER 9TH OVERSEAS. THE NINTENDO VERSION WILL BE CALLED SPORE HERO AND IT WILL ALLOW PLAYERS TO GO ON A MISSION TO SAVE THEIR HOME WORLDS FROM DESTRUCTION. [*] YESTERDAY TOMTOM FINALLY RELEASED ITS IPHONE APP. THE TURN-BY- TURN NAVIGATION APPLICATION COSTS $100 AND USES THE IPHONE'S BUILT-IN GPS TO PROVIDE REAL TIME NAVIGATION DIRECTIONS. $100 IS PRETTY STEEP FOR SOMETHING YOU CAN GET ON GOOGLE MAPS BUT IF YOU NEED PRECISION, IT MIGHT BE WORTH IT TO YOU. I'LL LET YOU INVEST YOUR $100 AND LET ME KNOW. [*] TWITTER IS REPORTEDLY WORKING TO STOP COMPANIES THAT SELL HIGHER FOLLOWER COUNTS. A MARKETING COMPANY CALLED USOCIAL OFFERS DEALS LIKE 1,000 NEW TWITTER FOLLOWERS FOR $87. IT WAS REPORTED THAT TWITTER HIRED A BRAND-MANAGEMENT FIRM WHO CONTACTED USOCIAL, BUT CNET HAS NOT HEARD BACK FROM EITHER. BUT HONESTLY, WHY DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO FOLLOW YOU WHO HAVE NOT DONE SO OUT OF THEIR OWN ACCORD? IT IS LIKE BUYING FRIENDS. OR DATES. [*] ACCORDING TO TECH CRUNCH, MYSPACE IS CLOSE TO ACQUIRING THE SOCIAL MUSIC SERVICE ILIKE. THE DEAL IS REPORTED TO BE FOR $20 MILLION. ILIKE ORIGINATED AS ONE OF THE FIRST APPLICATIONS ON FACEBOOK AND IT ALSO JUST LAUNCHED A MUSIC DOWNLOAD STORE OF ITS OWN. MY GUESS IS THAT ILIKE WOULD BE INTEGRATED INTO MYSPACE MUSIC IF THIS RUMOR COMES TO FRUITION. [*] MINT HAS ADDED SOME NEW BUDGETING FEATURES. THE PERSONAL FINANCE WEB APPLICATION ALLOWS YOU TO TRACK PRETTY MUCH ALL OF YOUR MONEY FROM ALL OF YOUR ACCOUNTS. THE NEWEST FEATURES INCLUDE THE ABILITY TO SET UP AND MANAGE SPECIFIC BUDGETS FOR CATEGORIES OF PURCHASES, MONITOR OVERALL EFFECTS OF BUDGET CHANGES, BUDGET FOR SPECIFIC EXPENSES, LIKE TAXES, AND TRACK ALL OF THIS IN REAL-TIME. IT ALSO GIVES YOU SOME GOOD LOOKING CHARTS AND GRAPHS TO HELP YOU WITH A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF ALL THIS DATA. SOMETIMES THE PRETTY COLORS HELP. [*] EUROPEAN GAMERS WILL NOT BE TOO HAPPY WITH MICROSOFT'S RECENT NEWS THAT THE COMPANY WILL RAISE THE PRICE OF THE XBOX 360. THE XBOX ARCADE WILL GO FROM 129.99 TO 159.99 EUROS, AND UNFORTUNATELY WILL NOT COME WITH FIVE XBOX LIVE ARCADE GAMES AS IT PREVIOUSLY DID. THE PRICE HIKE WILL REPORTEDLY NOT ONLY AFFECT THE ARCADE AND RUMORED ELITE SYSTEM, BUT ALSO APPLY TO ACCESORIES. THE NEW PRICE CHANGE BEGINS SEPTEMBER 1ST, SO IF YOU'RE THINKING OF PURCHASING ONE- DO IT NOW. [*] NASA COMPLETED THE FIRST NEW TEST ROCKET IN OVER A QUARTER CENTURY. THE NEW ARES I ROCKETS WILL LAUNCH ON OCTOBER 31ST IN A TEST FLIGHT TO SHOW THAT THE ROCKET IS CAPABLE OF CARRYING ASTRONAUTS INTO ORBIT. NASA PLANS TO RETIRE THE AGING SPACE SHUTTLE FLEET BY 2011 AND REPLACE THEM BY 2015 AND RETURN ASTRONUATS TOT HE MOON BY 2020. WHICH IS GOOD BECAUSE THE SPACE SHUTTLE IS LOOKING PRETTY HAGGARD OR AS CAROLINE MCCARTHY SO ELOQUENTLY SAID ON BUZZ OUT LOUD, THE SPACE SHUTTLE IS LIKE A JALOPY. [*] DUTCH RESEARCHERS HAVE CREATED A GAME BASED OFF OF THE SWINE FLU PANDEMIC. THE GREAT FLU GIVES PLAYERS ANY GIVEN EPIDEMIC AND THEN CHALLENGES THEM TO MONITOR AND CONTROL IT. YOU SET UP SURVEILLANCE, MONITOR VACCINES, AND CLOSE DOWN PUBLIC SYSTEMS TO STOP THE VIRUS. IT MAY SOUND LIKE GOOD CLEAN FUN BUT REALLY IT IS AN EFFORT TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT VIRAL DISEASES. THIS IS AN ONLINE PC GAME AND THANKFULLY IT IS FREE. NO ONE WANTS TO PAY FOR THE SWINE FLU. [*] THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.