After a brief closed beta, the Steam Mobile app is now available for all.  This Valve made app will now allow you access to the full steam catalog so you can buy PC games on the go (say for example there is a limited time 80% off sale on something you want), Chat with your steam friends, PC news and social profile and communities. Check out our video walkthrough  here: LINK

News broke yesterday that Don Cornelius of Soul Train (allegedly) committed suicide. Sad day.

Love, Peace and Soul, Mr. Cornelius.

Beastie Boys

Chubb Rock

Stevie Wonder

The DC Comics Blog The Source announces that a series of Watchmen prequels is officially going to happen—something that everyone already knew, it seems. Still, drooling over covers is fun, and if you’d like to read interviews with Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, J. Michael Straczynski and Len Wein, you can do that:

• LA Times Hero Complex: MINUTEMEN – Interview with writer/artist Darwyn Cooke
• The New York Times: THE COMEDIAN – Interview with writer Brian Azzarello
• Entertainment Weekly: SILK SPECTRE – Interview with writer Darwyn Cooke
• The Hollywood Reporter: NITE OWL – Interview with writer J. Michael Straczynski
• Wired: OZYMANDIAS – Interview with writer Len Wein
• Comic Book Resources: DR. MANHATTAN – Interview with writer J. Michael Straczynski
• Associated Press: CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR – Interview with writer Len Wein and artist John Higgins

Images collected by Dan of Digital Collage. Thanks buddy.

“Irritable Bowl Syndrome” by Bill Maher. Happy Super Bowl Weekend!

One of the masters of European comic erotica (that means he draws sexy naked girls), Milo Manara is getting his due from Dark Horse Books. In the fall, The Manara Library Volume 1 came out; today Volume 2 goes on sale. In case you’re not familiar with Manara, here are some interior panels from El Gaucho, featured in Volume 2:

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady’s solo album Clear Heart, Full Eyes, comes out today (it’s been available for pre-order for a good while).

Listen to the first single on SoundCloud: Craig Finn – Honolulu Blues

Label site: Vagrant Records

“Immigrant Song” by Trent Reznor and Keren O

The sequence’s creative director, Tim Miller, explains it all at i09: “We wanted to tell the story of all three books in these 2 and a half minutes.”

Dave Thriston and Warren Pyle at an unlicensed boxing match at Oceana, In Kingston Upon Thames. From Jocelyn Bain Hogg, The Family, 2008-2011

Mickey at home with Maria and Chanelle. From Jocelyn Bain Hogg, The Firm

Charlie Kray's funeral, 19 April 2000, Chingford. From Jocelyn Bain Hogg, The Firm

The Pyle brothers (Mitch, Warren, Joe, Alan and Teddy "Bam Bam"). From Jocelyn Bain Hogg, The Family, 2008-2011

Photographer Jocelyn Bain Hogg documented London gangsters in a photo book called The Firm, published in 2001; he’s back with The Family, a new collection of pictures of some of the same likely lads, now older and somewhat mellowed. The pictures recently showed at Foto8 Gallery (see Meet the Family) and the book is available from the Foto8 store in softcover and superdeluxe hardcover editions.

See the big gallery of the first chapter at Jocelyn Bain Hogg’s site: The Firm.

Via We Make Money Not Art.

LG was honestly the best booth to visit during CES 2012 for the sheer fact that their TVs had a brilliantly crisp, vibrant, and bright display. Their 3D displays were the most immersive I had seen throughout the convention floor and I honestly hope the images below are able to showcase how freaking awesome the world’s thinnest 55 inch OLED really is. LG’s booth not only showcased their TVs but a few really cool products for both casual and hardcore gamers alike.

 For the hardcore gamers, LG had a lot to offer. Not only will their Smart TV line offer a massive line of apps at your fingertips but you will be able to have two players play simultaneously–in full screen. Yes, I did happen to see other people offer dual screen playing but, again, LG’s display was so clear. It did suck to have to put on glasses but the idea of being able to get the first TV screen real estate again was super exciting! Best part is that it will be built in to every Smart TV, so no need for a new peripheral and it will work with any console. Any. Console.

Additionally, LG is working with Gaikai to bring cloud gaming to consumers. While details were scarce, it was clear that the product was ready for our greedy little hands. The gaming was seamless. Lag was a thing of our imagination, it’s just something that didn’t exist. This was one of the few demos that didn’t have a single hiccup when we reached it. The only questions we had were “When will this be available?” and “What’s the pricing structure?” Both questions that neither Gaikai or LG could answer at the moment. Whatever the outcome may be, if they go with a subscription based approach, this might be an interesting battle with GameFly. However, I don’t see how you can compel folks to run out and buy a new TV just for access to games that they may never actually own. It’s still an interesting concept for anyone thinking about grabbing a new 3D TV. If that sounds like you, then perhaps may want to wait a bit till your next purchase.

And for the casual crew, there was a new peripheral that looked like a Kinect but wasn’t. LG’s 3D Magic Motion Remote is a camera that works with the Smart TV line, mimicking Microsoft’s Kinect while enabling it’s functionality with an numerous apps. The app that was pretty popular for demos of this kind was “Fruit Ninja“. It was cool to see the game being played in 3D but I’m still curious about how this and other Kinect-like peripherals will do. Everyone had one but most, like LG’s, could only work with one person in front of the camera. A serious drawback when the Kinect can handle up to four with most games now. Like always, I’ll stay open-minded but right now this seems too gimmicky, even for the most casual of gamers.

With that said, I still think LG has some interesting stuff down the pipe this year. It all depends on their execution. The cloud gaming is what I will be keeping my eye on. It’s the most innovative thing I saw when it came to gaming that if done right could revolutionize how and where we game.

Let’s be honest, folks…

When Nintendo announced at last year’s E3 that they would rolling out with a new tablet-like controller before a new console, we were all more than a little confused. To me, it totally looked like an iPad skinned with Nintendo controllers but honestly after getting my hands-on the new controller I know that I was totally wrong. Nintendo is well aware that the only way this new device will work is if the developers create games that tap into the uniqueness of the controller. But as always, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Allow me to try to do my best to walk you through my hands-on demo during CES 2012…

The demo was set up to highlight the multiplayer opportunities that could be available when you have multiple Wii Remotes connected along with the new Wii U controller. The first demo was a simple game of Hide and Seek. The player using the Wii U controller was “it”. Their Mii ran around the stage while the other players chased after them using their Wii Remotes. Cooperation was key during this demo. Every player was yelling out colors to signify which quadrant they spotted the “it” Mii. Everyone just used the D-pads on their respective controllers to play. Totally fun and totally simple. No?

The next game upped the difficulty a bit by transforming the Wii U controller into an FPS controller. For this game, the person playing on the Wii U controller was once again “it”. However, this time they were in a spaceship where they were able to fire back. This portion of the demo featured the built-in accelerometer which meant moving the Wii U would move your camera. It felt silly at first but definitely got you immersed into the game since the other players were unable to screen watch to find where you were. Therefore finally creating a level playing field for a multiplayer FPS game! It was free-for-all match where the players on the Wii Remotes hunted and tried to shoot down the spaceship while the player in the spaceship tried to shoot all the players on the ground before their lives run out.

The last few bits were showcasing what could be done through the Wii U controller. Illustrated in the photos below is the potential of using the Wii U‘s screen for alternate controls. Imagine if you could play around with camera or controller settings while there’s a cut scene going on on screen? What if you can send the game to the Wii U controller so you could continue where you left off from while freeing up the TV for someone else? Or how about even viewing a city map and taking a virtual city tour while using the Wii U controller as your camera. The possibilities of the controllers  applications are limitless.

Just playing through these small demos and I could see that the future is bright for the new Wii U controller, it just needs the right games to help it along. Hopefully Nintendo learned a lesson from it’s botched 3DS launch: New products deserve a stellar line up of launch titles. Bundle the Wii U controller with a bunch of games that showcase what it can do and maybe a Wii U specific Mario or Zelda launch title and you are as good as golden…