The top war game on the xbox 360 has earned some high marks on the reviews front.

Check them out:

1UP - 9.0 Outstanding
Call of Duty 2 [is] the complete package. Online and off you get swept up in visceral thrills as good as any summer blockbuster movie. And like those, you won’t come away impressed by its thought-provoking drama or brilliant character portrayal…but you will have a big smile on your face. Review

GamePro - 5.0/5
Frankly put, Call of Duty 2 is simply breathtaking. The game runs standard in 720p with strikingly realistic detail on weapons and walls, emphasized by normal mapping, exceptional shading and lighting, specular highlights, and some absolutely phenomenal particle effects. Review

GameSpot - 8.8 Great
Call of Duty 2 is just about everything you’d hope for and expect from a next-generation first-person shooter. Its varied campaign, excellent sound and gameplay design, and generally good AI make it a worthy successor to the original game on the PC. Review

NextLevel Gaming - 92/100
This is a must-have game, bottom line. Unless you so despise shooters that you’re willing to buy every other launch title but this simply because it’s an FPS, you must pick this up when you get your system on Tuesday. Review

TeamXbox - 9
Judging by the overall package of Call of Duty 2, the Xbox 360 will have a long life as the alternative to high-end PC gaming. Infinity Ward has created a PC game for the 360 (with better graphics than the PC version to boot) and managed to include not only next-gen sounds and graphics, but also gameplay features that were basically impossible on the old hardware. Review

This title definitely looks like a winner. War is one of my favorite genres, I can’t wait to get my paws on this one.

< ---Buy it here

or rent it online at GameFly.

(10 day free trial - games sent to you via mail for free)

More news about MTV in HD this week.

In a rare attempt to put music videos back into MTV, the new channel will carry, believe it or not, actual videos and music.

The channel will have “hip hop, rock, country, pop, reggaeton, soul and other music, original music-based programming and other content.”

Hmmm… “original music-based original programming” and “other content.” Let’s hope it’s more about the music videos this time.

The channel is due to launch on January 16.

Source

InFocus IN76 - new photos.

This is the new InFocus 720p DLP projector. Not many specs are available yet, but on the back panel we can see the following inputs:

* Composite
* Component
* S-Video
* M1-DA
* HDMI
* 12v Trigger

This thing looks sweet, I’ll post more info as soon as it’s available.

InFocus 720p DLP Projector - Gizmodo

The latest and greatest under 3 grand for DLP projectors is the new Mitsubishi HC3000.

This machine just started shipping, and some reviews are starting to trickle in.

So, what’s the buzz all about? This thing has a native 720p resolution, the first DLP projector at that resolution to retail under $3000.

It’s also the first front projector to use the all new BrilliantColor tech from Texas Instruments. BrilliantColor uses a new chipset and color wheel design for, well you guessed it, more brilliant color. (tough stretch, that)

Being brand-spanking new, you won’t find this gem much less than the $2995 retail right now, maybe 100 bucks off. The other consideration, is this is a new machine with new tech - there may yet be some gemlins to indentify and eliminate from this product and its manufacturing.

Projector Central’s Review Conclusion:
“The Mitsubishi HC3000 may be viewed as a breakthrough product in the world of DLP technology for having pushed 1280×768 resolution to the lowest price points yet.

The pixel matrix of 768 lines, which is rare at this time in home theater projectors, adds a valuable dimension for those who wish to use their projector for both video and data display, as XGA and WXGA computer signals can be viewed in their native unscaled, and/or uncropped formats.

The BrilliantColor feature brightens up the picture and is an added benefit for most types of viewing material.

Overall, the HC3000 is a solid, impressive projector. We would have liked to see a longer zoom range and physical lens shift, features that would make the HC3000 more adaptable to a wider array of installation challenges and less dependent upon ceiling mounting.

Nevertheless, for those who have a room and seating layout into which the HC3000 can be accommodated with ease, it is an excellent product that will be able to deliver years of beautiful home theater entertainment.”


Mitsubishi HC3000 Full Review

[Via HD Blog

LG’s DVB418 is the big brother to the DVB318, which I have on a personal install. I love the DVB318, it upconverts to 1080i over component and the output is great, offering more detail than standard 480p.

Let’s see how the DVB418 fares under the eyes of designtechnica:

“Pros
High end appearance and styling
Rich features and audio/video output options
Excellent picture quality

Cons
No indication of resolution or HDMI mode available remotely.
Memory card picture playback is extremely slow
No video enhancement from the up-conversion processing
Does not come with a cable (HDMI)

Conclusion
The LGDVB418 DVD player is feature rich, very attractive, and intuitive to operate. The picture quality was excellent with both Component Video output and HDMI output. However, we were not able to discern that resolution up-conversion added anything to the video quality. This may be due to the high quality of the Hitachi plasma display in all resolution modes or it could simply mean that the LGDVB418 does not use any signal processing tricks to enhance the video quality during the up-conversion.”

Bummer, too bad it didn’t live up the the 318’s reputation. I fully recommend the 318, it can still be found at retail:


Full Review - DVB418

While Plasma and Rear Projection sale prices remained generally stable, LCD prices have been falling in October, especially the larger sized models.

LCD TV models are now being advertised at the same price points as PDP TV models in the 42-inch segment, and both technologies have narrowed the price gap with RPTV models of similar size, according to PMA (Pacific Media Assoc) Vice President Rosemary Abowd. The aggressive pricing in all three segments may make it difficult for retailers to cut prices further as we lead up to Black Friday and head into the holiday buying season, Abowd said.

“The biggest advertised price movements in October were for larger LCD TVs. In the 40-to 42-inch category, advertised prices continued to challenge 42-inch HD (high definition) PDP technology. An Olevia-branded 42-inch model appeared at J&R for US$2,299, and Best Buy offered a 40-inch JVC LCD TV for US$2,999, down US$500 from September.

Prices for Sharp LCD TVs declined across-the-board, with its 26-inch model offered at US$1,199 (Circuit City, CompUSA); 32-inch model falling several hundred dollars to around US$1,500 at several retailers; and 37-inch model priced at US$1,999 (6th Avenue Electronics), which is US$800 lower than the September advertised prices.

In the 26- and 27-inch LCD segment, models from Maxent (US$688 at 6th Avenue Electronics), ViewSonic (US$750 at CompUSA), Westinghouse (US$800 at Best Buy & The Great Indoors) and Syntax (US$800 at CompUSA) mirrored September’s prices and remained several hundred dollars below similar-sized top-brand models.”

News Source

Tired of your DVD player spewing moral truth at you? Is God talking to you through your DVD collection?

Would you prefer a more palatable moral media machine? From the East, we give you, the Religion Free DVD Player.

Order now, supplies limited!

There is nothing like an ad gone wrong, lost in translation…

From Gizmodo

In the big screen LCD sector, the competition is heating up. Both Samsung and LG-Philips are moving ahead of schedule for mass production of 40, 42, 46 and 47 inch LCD HDTV models.

Look for this battle to be one by who is first in with consumers.

Market watchers say LG-Philips and Samsung advanced their schedule for the new factories in a bid to seize control of the large-LCD market segment. LG-Philips focuses on manufacturing 42-inch and 47-inch LCDs, Samsung on 40-inch and 46-inch LCDs.

Source

The hot new release this week is Madagascar, another animation feature from the digital powerhouse DreamWorks.

This is a family-friendly flick with adult humor along the way, similar to everyone’s favorite ogre, Shrek.

The story goes like this: Spoiled by their upbringing with no idea what wild life is really like, four animals from New York Central Zoo escape in search of their friend and find themselves on route to Madagascar…

Madagascar - rent it from Netflix (free 2 week trial)

Here is a decent review of Panasonic’s popular 50″ plasma hdtv. It lacks a tuner and aspect ratio control, but has great image quality.

Available under 3 grand (see “Best Deals” tab below), this set is a great choice.

“The good: Relatively inexpensive; excellent black-level performance; accurate color decoding; solid video processing with 2:3 pull-down; independent memory per input; versatile PIP function; extensive picture adjustments; customizable inputs.

The bad: Does not include a stand, a tuner, or speakers; sparse input selection; doesn’t include a digital input; cannot change aspect ratios with HDTV sources; floats blacks.

The bottom line: Although it’s missing a couple of inputs, the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK surpasses any 50-inch plasma we’ve reviewed in terms of image quality and overall value.”

CNET Review