The Attempted Review

Daily Dose of Awesome: Storymaster Advertisements

2010-04-22T10:02:00.000+09:30

Today's Daily Dose of Awesome comes from Russian illustrator Kostenko Maxim. His artwork, which parodies both Superman and Spiderman, has something to do with Storymaster Soundproof Windows. The basic idea is that the windows are so good both heroes can't hear the chaos outside, even with Spiderman's spidey sense, and go about their daily lives while the city behind them gets destroyed by huge monsters. Hilarious stuff that combines a great idea, even if it is an ad, with some superb artwork that has crisp colors and beautiful designs.

On a personal note the Spiderman one is my favorite cause, ya know, he's on the toilet and it's just funnier. Although seeing Superman rugged up with his teddy is pretty good too.

Marvel vs Capcom 3: The Epic Game Crossover Continues by Sean Sneddon

2010-04-21T22:10:00.000+09:30

Ask many gamers what is the best cast crossover in a game of all time is, chances are you will hear ‘Marvel v Capcom 2; New Age of Heroes’ more than once. Having been released initially in 2002 on PS2, Xbox and Dreamcast in 2000. It was so popular a re-release on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network occurred in 2009, featuring the classic arcade icon in all its glory. Nearly a decade after MvC2, Capcom and Marvel Games have announced that one of the most epic crossovers will continue in 2011!

Marvel v Capcom 3; The Fate of Two Worlds, is still a work in progress with Capcom. Poster art and even a trailer has been released depicting six characters in Comic book sketch design, which Capcom states will be the in game style. The full 3D of the trailer, is stated also to be in-game footage, but rather it is assumed to be a cinematic at work. Still the game is a work in progress, so many upgrades and changes will most likely occur, and more of the 30 apparent characters will be announced.

Firstly the trailer, depicts 6 of the characters that will be appearing in MvC3 in kickass battles. After sweeping through a cityscape we are treated to seeing Street Fighter’s Ryu in a city top fight against XMen’s Wolverine. CLASSIC. Next, we see an aerial fight between Nightstalker’s Morrigan and Iron Man. AWESOME. Finally, we see the Hulk fling a shadowed figure with a rooftop. It turns out this figure is Resident Evil’s, Chris Redfield. *DROOL.

This 1:17 length trailer makes the game look promising, even at this early stage. So, we can safely assume, that while there will be returning characters from previous games, but also some new comers to the MvC universe with characters like Deadpool, Captain America, Thor and Daredevil all rumored to be in the mix.

Secondly the artwork, shows the 6 characters from the trailer in their 2D comic book styles. The designs are pretty detailed, while maintaining the originality of the characters, especially for the Marvel lot. While the game is apparently going to be 2D art, a part of me wishes to see a 3D art style similar to Street Fighter 4 – which trailer Ryu strongly resembles. In other art works, the six-featured characters stand in front of many silhouettes. The rumors mentioned above are based on these silhouttes as some of these are clear enough to make some safe guesses about who will be also appearing, like Felicity from Darkstalkers, and Captain America. Other figures, aren’t as clear, but resemble artworks from recognizable characters, being Deadpool and Dead Rising’s, Frank West. While no official announcement has been made regarding these extra characters, one can guess and does beg the question, how sweet would it be having Frank West duking it out with Captain America? He covered wars you know?

Marvel v Capcom 3; Fate of Two Worlds, is slated for a 2011 release by Capcom, so many more updates, trailers and announcements are to come. This game is gonna get lots of news and interest when it is released, so in the mean time you can play MvC 2. Personally, I want to know who the other characters are. Who will return from MvC 2? Who will be the newcomers alongside Chris Redfield? An epic game that everyone should watch.

Video Games
Marvel vs Capcom 3: FTW
Captivate 10: Debut Trailer

XBox 360
Playstation 3
Nintendo Wii

This Is Awesome: Production on Hobo With a Shotgun Begins, Set to Star Rutger Hauer

2010-04-19T19:02:00.000+09:30

Seriously just read that title, Hobo With a Shotgun. How does that not sound cool to you? And throw in Rutger freaking Hauer, The Hitcher himself and this movie sounds like it could be a hell of a lot of fun and awesome.

The project came about as a result of a competition in 2007 that coincided with the release of the Grindhouse double feature. The competition called for fans to submit a fake trailer for a Grindhouse style film that would screen before the movie. Nova Scotia filmmakers Jason Eisener, John Davies, and Rob Cotterill won the competition, which starred David Brunt in the titular hobo role. Ever since it debuted their was talk of the trailer being made into a feature length film and after watching it, you'll see why.

Now Ain't it Cool News have the scoop that filming is about to start on Monday and that Rutger Hauer will be replacing David Brunt as the hobo. Hauer is the perfect choice to replace Brunt. In his old age he has developed a rather grizzled look with frayed hair that is perfect for the role while I'm sure he'll easily be able to replicate and possibly even improve the menacing, gravely voice of the hobo from the trailer. Plus he has a track record of playing menacing almost deranged character similar to the hobo. Brunt will reportedly still have a role in the film, this time he'll have a role as a cop and, based on the trailer, he is probably going to be corrupt and on the receiving end of some sweet hobo justice.

Watch the trailer, bask in its awesomeness and just imagine how good Brunt's already memorable hobo role will be when Hauer takes over. Also lets wonder how this trailer, which features lots of violence and vague plot details, will come together as a full feature film. I hope it captures the same feel and has at least a mildly workable and watchable story.

Konami announces Saw 2 Game, much to everyone’s confusion, Technically Saw 2.5 by Sean Sneddon

2010-04-19T17:54:00.001+09:30

Recently, Konami announced and released an in game trailer for their new Saw game. As many probably already know, Konami are the masterminds behind the Silent Hill franchise, and after brilliant works like Silent Hill 2, and the surprisingly adequate Shattered Memories, it shows that they know what a Saw game should entail. With the 2009 release of the first Saw game, Konami didn’t overly disappoint. Being a fan of the film franchise Konami’s adaptation of the Saw universe, with help from the original creators James Wan and Leigh Whannel, added some more content to the world of Jigsaw.

Now while the first Saw game wasn’t perfect, it held it’s own and produced a fan service for the films. Focusing on a major character from the original film, introducing some familiar faces, all while placing new and old Saw traps into the mix that involved puzzle solving on varying, and eventually repetitive scales. It was a good game, that didn’t really divulge anything new to the overall plot, like the whereabouts of Dr Gordon. A cosy fill-in between the first and second movies with extras for the fans. But enough of that, I digress…

Saw 2 – I’m getting confused between the films and game so it’ll be 2.5 from now on – really came out of left field for many, as the first game didn’t really call for a sequel. Screenshots, and the initial trailer, show more of the same of what we saw in the first game, just prettied up and made clearer with improved graphics, which seems slightly odd seeing that Saw is a dark gritty realm and shouldn’t be overly shiny. Konami, hasn’t revealed a lot from their first bunch of media releases, but all signs point to uncertainty.

2.5, according to Konami, has the player in the shoes of Michael Tapp, the estranged son of Detective David Tapp from the first game and film, trying to find out what caused his father’s death. Clearly he must have gotten a bit obsessed about it as he has fallen into a game of Jigsaw’s. The game will apparently traverse numerous locations – similar to Saw 4 – and feature new combat, and new traps. The trailer does show that our ‘hero’ is in the Venus Fly Trap seen in Saw 2, and like the film, the key is under his eye, like the film…sensing a pattern...and if it’s like the first game, it’ll open up the gameplay, like the film…yes definitely a pattern…

While most of this is speculation, initial readings point in the direction of real ‘meh’ material. Most likely, this will be another fan service release, and hopefully isn’t another serving of the first game. Konami believes it should be released around Halloween-ish, but will probably be a Christmas release. Saw 2.5 or “Saw 2 the film with some of Saw 4 and other stuff duct taped to it”, is one for the Saw fans to watch, but not get overly hyped about, to avoid confusion and disappointment.

It will be available on PS3, Xbox360 and PC Download upon release. At such time I will play and review this again with all the pieces together…hehehe puzzle pun.

Kick-Ass Soundtrack

2010-04-19T17:30:00.000+09:30

I loved Kick-Ass. I thought it was a brilliant film that was strongly supported by an equally brilliant soundtrack. The songs worked perfectly to help set the mood for certain scenes and at times it was the song that really gave a scene that extra meaning or emphasis. In my opinion one of the best instances of this was the Big Daddy warehouse scene. Now I won't go into any real detail about the scene but it was certainly my favorite and that was largely due to the song that played in the background. That song was 'In the House In a Heartbeat' by John Murphy. Unfortunately the song does not appear on the soundtrack so I can't relive the awesomeness that was the warehouse scene in my mind right? Wrong! Good old YouTube comes to the rescue as the song has already featured in 28 Weeks Later and has been posted on YouTube for fans to enjoy. Here it is so you too can enjoy it!

Daily Dose of Awesome: Retro Video Game Propaganda Posters

2010-04-18T17:19:00.000+09:30

Everybody loves posters right? They are pretty cool , I mean they cover up holes in your walls and where you accidentally spilled that food that time. What makes a poster even better is when it has something really cool on it like, say, retro 80's arcade games that have been redone to look like wartime propaganda posters. Artist Steve Thomas has just finished unveiling his Arcade Game Propaganda series which includes posters based on games Donkey Kong, Frogger, Tron, Galaga, Joust and Dig Dug. The series is exceptionally cool and the best thing is, you can actually buy the posters and T-shirts with the posters on them.

Check out Steve's site here or if you'd like to buy one then head on over to zazzle. While you're there you can also check out some Star Wars posters that have been modeled on old beverage ads. Seriously, I think I'm in love with this guy. Oh, for the record, I think the Joust poster is my favorite it's just the perfect vision of classic propaganda in my book.

The Attempted Review of Mass Effect 2: Kasumi’s Lost Memory by Sean Sneddon

2010-04-18T15:28:00.000+09:30

Bioware keeps the DLC coming for its arguable candidate for ‘Game of the Year’ with another character, achievement and other stuff.

‘Kasumi’s Lost Memory’ is an expansion pack that brings a slightly different element to the Mass Effect 2 experience. Kasumi herself is an infiltrator class squad mate, using the tactical cloak ability in a slightly different ninja backstab action. Available from the get go like the Zaeed DLC, players venture to the Citadel for the recruitment as they make Shepherd look stupid talking to an advertisement.

The unique mission in this new DLC, brings a few new elements to the table, focusing on infiltration techniques, that a master thief like Kasumi would use in a heist. Ultimately the aim to gain loyalty is to retrieve valuable information to Kasumi in a vault heist. Kasumi’s loyalty mission, is different from other missions in a variety of ways. Firstly, unlike every other mission in ME2, players only have Shepherd and Kasumi to work with, making things slightly harder during combat sequences. Secondly, the entire mission has an Ocean’s 11 feel to it, with classy environments, and Shepherd’s new casual suit outfit. Even our old friend Saren makes an appearance.

Kasumi, like Zaeed, has restricted dialogue while on the Normandy, but is fully integrated into the plot and conversations of Mass Effect 2. As is the new SMG the ‘Locust’, giving more firepower in reasonable clip sizes in combat. In relation to dialogue, there are a few more cultural references – Planet of the Apes and even Michelangelo’s David – and comments towards Ramen and Japanese… weirdness (I am Japanese so it was even funnier).

'Kasumi’s Lost Memory' is an emotional sub-plot to Mass Effect 2, bringing a variety of elements to the existing game play. For players that enjoy the numerous random conversations between different squad members, who simply love the Mass Effect experience, or who are simply achievement whores, ‘Kasumi’s Lost Memory’ is an enjoyable play-through.

With Mass Effect 3 already confirmed to be in the works, how much more DLC will Bioware throw out at us, and how many will be priced and how many will be free? Hopefully more of the latter - woot for stingyness! ‘Kasumi’s Lost Memory’ is available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 560 Microsoft Points.

Sean Sneddon

Fan-boy Fight- Harry Knowles Responds to Roger Ebert Kick-Ass Review

2010-04-18T15:19:00.000+09:30

As any self respecting geek knows Harry Knowles is the founder of Ain't It Cool News. As any self respecting movie fan knows Roger Ebert is one of the better movie critics out there. The two are quite good friends but Knowles has taken a certain offense (?) to Ebert's latest review, Kick-Ass.

Ebert gives the film one star and two thumbs down and believes that the dark territory the film flirted with made him sad. Throughout his review, which actually isn't that great to read and gives away the ending (what the fuck), Ebert admits that he just doesn't get it and can't get over the character of Hit Girl and her extreme violence. He even makes the expected video game reference when talking about the carnage. Knowles, in his rebuttal, seeks to address the points made in Ebert's review and even attempt to enlighten him on the film, and societies modern children.

Really was this needed? Sure Knowles and Ebert are both highly respected and their word is taken as gospel by some but it's just an opinion. If Ebert wants to sit there and feel offended or morally sick after seeing Kick-Ass well, then, that's his decision. Ebert states that he isn't really apart of the crowd that would 'get' this film and he is, in fact, old and grew up with different standards and ideals. There is no reason to debate his view. It's not like he's saying this movie shouldn't be shown or seen by anyone. He just didn't like it. Admittedly he does get a little preachy about 6 year olds seeing the film when it's out on DVD but this is just his opinion.

Click here to check out Ebert's spoiler-rific review and here to read Knowles rebuttal.

Gears of War 3 Details Emerge?

2010-04-09T07:43:00.000+09:30

Edge Magazine has what it believes are the latest gameplay details for Gears of War 3 from a trusted source. The game is set to debut sometime this week or next week so hopefully we won't have to wait long to see if Edge were right.

Edge reports that Epic Games are planning on 'evolving' the combat in their new title by introducing new enemies like a Locust with tentacle-like appendages, that can reach around cover, while giving the COGS of Delta squad some new weapons as well, namely an explosive device that can travel underground, boom.

The developer will also introduce mech suits which the COGS can use for protection and devestation. Finally Edge are reporting that the game will feature new environments and locations. For instance they have been told that there will be underwater locations in the next title.

All of the above gameplay details will reportedly affect both the singleplayer and multiplayer game modes.

The game is yet to be officially announced. Cliff Bleszinski is planning on announcing a game on the Jimmy Fallon show and many believe that Gears of War 3 could be the title he chooses.

While I like the changes the underground explosives and tentacles will make to gameplay, sometimes you can just sit in cover for ages, I'm not that excited for the mech suits, yet. I know tt's just Epic trying to make their game, well more epic and a little bit different but a lot of games use mech suits of some description so they'll need to be done really well and utilized well to impress me. Then again they are freaking mech suits. I hope these are just a few of the changes Epic will be implementing on the Gears series as it is one of my favorite shooters.

Concept Art from New Riddick Film

2010-04-09T07:25:00.000+09:30

An early piece of concept art from the new Riddick film has hit the net today. The piece is the first frame of a 2D Motion Choreography and has the tag "The Furian...left for dead". The image is fairly cool with Riddick emerging/struggling in the sand while a jackal type dog circles him eagerly.
The new Riddick film is once again set to star Vin Diesel, be directed by David Twohy and will come out in 2012.

The Attempted Review of Kick-Ass

2010-04-08T22:55:00.000+09:30

Kick-Ass that comic book movie that's not quite a comic book movie came out today. You know the one, it's the one that family groups are terrified of because an 11 year old slices and dices mobsters, the one that stars a hero with no powers and the one that features Nicolas Cage with a moustache. It's the film that has been endowed with the one liner "Kick-Ass really kicks ass" by so many reviews but really, they are right. This movie is all kinds of awesome and kicks all kinds of ass.

What it's all about: The film is based off Mark Millar's comic book series of the same name. I never read the series but trust me, I'll be one of those fanboys who will go out, buy the series and wish he'd heard of it before the movie. Layer Cake director Mathew Vaughn helms this one with that guy from Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (Aaron Johnson) starring as the titular hero Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass, the alter ego of geeky kid Dave Lizewski, is born out of Dave's desire to help people. He wonders why no one has ever tried to be a super hero in real life and after what is not a lot of convincing he dons a costume and mask. His exploits soon garner him the attention of the news, the public and YouTube as he becomes an overnight phenomenon. That's also enough to attract the interest of fellow super heroes/vigilantes Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz). All roads end up leading towards local mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) and his son Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

What it did well: As I said I haven't read the comic book so I can't tell how well it adapted it but, overall, this film did a lot of things well. I won't go in to too much detail because I don't want to spoil things for you but the action was brilliant. It was brutal and varied and I liked the way Kick-Ass responded, with absolute shock and fear, to witnessing Kit-Girl carve up some guys for the first time. Every time I saw a new violent scene it felt fresh and different from the last which is always a good thing.

The acting was solid across the board while the dialogue was hilarious yet thoughtful when it needed to be. Strong was his usual evil self, Mintz-Plasse was awkward and almost ignored like his usual self, Moretz pulled off a creepy mix between cold blooded killer and sweet little girl who likes butterfly knives and chocolate sundaes and Johnson also pulled off the awkward, stuttering loser act who is actually not that bad quite well. The film also had some great lines like "Is that a bazooka? Yeah. Okay" and "It's okay everything's fine (picks up bazooka). Everything's fine? Your holding a fucking bazooka."

The pacing was good, the soundtrack well suited to the film and the story was more interesting and full of a few twists I didn't expect. It's more than just a guy becoming a super hero. It's about wanting to be acknowledged and noticed and trying to somehow fit in. I won't detail the story very much so you can experience it for yourself but I will say that the comedy in the film really makes the serious, dramatic scenes standout and feel like they have some serious weight and emotion behind them.

In the end Vaughn has managed to put together a very entertaining film that will certainly live long in the memory. Speaking of living long in the memory Hit-Girl was everything I expected from the hype. She was a whirlwind of guns and knives who just kicked so much ass it wasn't funny (okay really it was). The relationship between her and her father was an interesting one and you could almost see the reason behind their actions when you know their back story.

While Kick-Ass isn't your ordinary super hero film it certainly has enough elements from super hero films to make it more than just senseless violence. The character seriously considers the ramifications of what he is doing when he finally has someone to care for. He realizes why super heroes have such a hard time of things when they have someone to care about, someone who might miss them. It also asks several moral questions about the death of the community and the willingness of people to help and look out for each other. Johnson does a good job of channeling the inner turmoil of Kick-Ass and Dave. He slowly begins to realize that he could die doing what he is doing and questions whether helping the people he has helped is worth dieing for. The film also manages to make several humorous comments on popular culture and comic books that shows a great awareness of the type of stuff the people who see the movie will be interested in.

What it didn't: I only had a few issues with the film which were fairly minor. I found, at times, the sound editing to be a little dodgy, either that or it was the cinema I saw it in (quite likely). There were times when I couldn't really understand Big Daddy or Frank and Chris D'Amico so I missed some of their dialogue and had to assume some things for myself. I've noticed this happening in a few films lately, like Alice in Wonderland.

Also the special effects in two scenes didn't seem quite right to me. The scene were (spoilers from here) Hit-Girl is using the night vision goggles and the scene is like a first person shooter didn't seem right to me. The gun and the hand seemed too skinny and small compared to what they should be like in real life and, considering she's a little girl, the height of the camera and the gun didn't quite seem right. I'm glad that point of view was only used a little bit as it was starting to remind me of Doom. The other scene were the special effects didn't seem up to scratch was the jetpack scene towards the very end. The scene just looked a little bit too fake and superimposed.

The final thing that didn't work for me was the scene were you find out why Big Daddy and Hit-Girl have a beef with Frank D'Amico. The actual way they told it, through a comic Big Daddy was writing, was very cool but the fact that the cop, and former partner of Big Daddy, just happens to swing by one day was a little random. It just seemed a little out of place and the explanation that he is a cop and therefore capable of awesome detective work seemed weak and the whole scene felt like a weak plot device. I would have preferred maybe Kick-Ass, when he reaches the safehouse with Hit-Girl, to find out why she still wants to kill D'Amico then. Also the cop seemed to break into that safe house really easily. Wasn't there a keypad to get in? How could he use a standard lock pick? Maybe I don't know enough about locks and security as I should.

Memorable Moment: There are really quite a few memorable scenes, pretty much all involving violence, and a scene involving Hit-Girl may be an obvious choice (shotgun epic fail was just hilarious) but I'm going to go for the bear cam scene with Big Daddy. I thought the song chosen to accompany the scene was perfect as it really helped set the mood and the feel for the scene. Also Daddy was a man on a mission, and a deadly one at that. It was really our only example of Big Daddy kicking ass and he certainly didn't disappoint.

What it all means: In my book Kick-Ass lives up to all the hype it generated. Vaughn has created one thoroughly entertaining film in Kick-Ass that delivers laughs, action and a good story with good characters. It really is quite close to being the perfect package and is a super hero film that will certainly change your view of super hero films.

8.5 out of 10

Transformers War for Cybertron Multiplayer Customisation Trailer

2010-04-08T13:27:00.000+09:30

Yes that's right, you read the title correctly. The latest trailer from High Moon Studios shows off the fact that you can customise your Transformer, to an extent, in their upcoming game War For Cybertron. The trailer shows the ability to choose your weapons, abilities and upgrades as well as the color scheme of your Transformer. Fans shouldn't get too excited though, the vehicle your Transformer transforms into seems tied to its class.

Those classes are Soldier, Scout, Scientist and Leader. Each has a unique ability like invisibility, healing and hover. Each class then has it's own kill streaks. That's right kill streaks are coming to Transformers. The Soldier has three kill streaks at 3, 5 and 7 kills. They are Ammo Matrix (refills your teams ammo), Electromagnetic Pulse (jams enemy abilities for a period of time) and Omega Missile (a guided missile capable of mass destruction). The Scientist has kill streaks including Health Matrix (teammates receive health for every kill), Overshield Matrix (teammates receive an overshield) and Nucleon Shock Cannon (spawns a usable rocket turret). The Scout has kill streaks including Orbital Beacon (displays enemy location), Energon Recharger (health recharges consistently for a period of time) and Orbital Beacon 2.0 (causes a level wide EMP blast and tags all enemies with a target marker). Finally the Leader class has kill streaks including Intercooler (ability recharge time is decreased), P.O.K.E 2.0 (melee attack that causes enemies to explode) and Thermomine Respawner (spawns a trail of Thermomines).

Video Games | Transformers: War for Cybertron | Multiplayer Classes Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The trailer certainly makes the multiplayer look fun and frenetic. Having a whole bunch of people transforming on the fly, jumping in an out of battles certainly sounds awesome and epic as long as the servers don't suffer from too much lag. The kill streaks also seem quite well balanced and I'm kind of glad you are limited to only three for each.

The game is seriously shaping up to be one of my most anticipated games. Every bit of footage I see impresses me and makes the possibility of a good Transformers game seem that much closer. The wait is almost over as the game is set for release on the 22nd of June 2010.

E Online Article Has Awful Title and Captain America Gossip

2010-04-08T13:04:00.000+09:30

The title of the article is "Captain America is Thinking About Having Some Sex". Really, that's what you decided to call your article E Online? Smooth. The title is meant to be a witty play on words as the article refers to actress Alice Eve, who has a role in the upcoming Sex and the City 2, becoming the front-runner to play Peggy Carter in Joe Johnston's The First Avenger.

The E Online article reports this:

Also up for the Peggy Carter part is fellow Brit Hayley Atwell, 28. I'm told both actresses are screen-testing for the second time for the coveted role tomorrow in London. I also hear that Keira Knightley is no longer in the running.

So it looks like we are down to two, as far as I'm aware, relative unknowns for the role of Peggy Carter. Atwell is a new addition to the list as far as I'm aware. I've heard even less about her than I have about Eve.

With Knightley supposedly out of the running it looks like the execs could pretty much toss a coin between Atwell and Eve. I'd tip Eve to get the nod because she's in the public eye at the moment with She's Out of My League and Sex and the City 2. She'll be someone audiences can go "oh yea I've seen her before" to. Tell ya what though, Atwell seems to have a bit of mixture of Rhona Mitra and Catherine Zeta Jones in her looks.

Harrison Ford IS Joining Cowboys & Aliens, BOOM!

2010-04-08T10:01:00.000+09:30

I reported a rumor from Latino Review the other day that movie god Harrison Ford might be joining Jon Favreau's new film Cowboys & Aliens. Today that rumor has been confirmed.

Director Jon Favreau confirmed the rumor himself on Twitter this morning. He posted this update:

"Please stop asking if Harrison Ford is in Cowboys & Aliens. Okay? He is. Please don't tell anybody."

This makes me super excited for a movie I know nothing about apart from the fact it has cowboys, Native Americans, aliens and Daniel Craig in it. I've read through a decent part of the comic which can be found online here and apart from Zeke there are two other main male characters so far, the Father and Mayor Cross. I would quite like to see Ford play the lieing, cheating, seedy Mayor Cross. Other than that I have no idea who he could be. Hopefully we'll find out soon.

Green Lantern Set Shot Abin Sur's Spaceship?

2010-04-07T23:26:00.000+09:30

Production on the Martin Campbell directed film started several weeks ago and a few shots have hit the web but nothing as interesting as what was sent to CBM. A Mandeville local (the location of the shoot in LA) took the photo and sent it to CBM.

The image is believed to be an alien spaceship and that would lead one to believe that it is the spaceship of Lantern Abin Sur. Sur, who will be played by Temuera Morrison, crash lands on Earth and is integral in the story of Ryan Reynolds Hal Jordan becoming a Green Lantern. No one as yet can confirm whether the ship shown is Sur's but it would be a fairly safe bet.

In another bit of Green Lantern news Mark Strong, who is set to play Sinestro, spoke to USA Weekend about his role in the film. Strong had this to say:

"For anybody who's familiar with the Green Lantern and the origin story, the film closely follows the early comics," Strong said. "Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan's mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who's made into a Green Lantern. He's certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern."

Strong added that "[Sinestro] is a military guy but isn't immediately bad. It's the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he's quite a heroic figure."

Strong doesn't really shed any new light on the character and the direction the film seems to be going, in terms of story. Instead Strong's comments seem to confirm something director Martin Campbell said back in January. At that time Campbell said fans may be getting ahead of themselves in thinking Sinestro will immediately be the bad guy and they should remember that he was a Lantern who went bad. Campbell didn't exactly say this was the way they were going, he just said fans should keep it in mind.

So there's a few updates on Martin Campbell's epic comic book movie Green Lantern which is in production at the moment.

New Kane & Lynch 2 Trailer With 20 Extra Seconds of Footage

2010-04-07T22:47:00.000+09:30

A new extended trailer for IO Interactive's upcoming game Kane & Lynch 2 Dog Days has hit YouTube and it supposedly has 20 seconds of extra footage. It's the same trailer that was released a few weeks with a few new scenes, as far I could tell, tacked on at the end and 10 seconds of black screen with Kane & Lynch 2 plastered over it.

The trailer still contains lots of guns, blood, swearing and general chaos along with that shaky, raw YouTube style which IO hopes will get the sequel a better score than it's predecessor. The general vibe of the trailer is very similar to the original that I can't pick out the new scenes off the top of my head. It still makes the game look rather interesting and worth a look when some solid gameplay footage comes out.

New Releases 5-8/4/10

2010-04-07T17:18:00.000+09:30

Back with another look at what's coming out this week in movies, video games and comic books.

Film
Date Night- Stars Steve Carrell and Tina Fey star in this romantic comedy with a bit of a twist. They play a married couple who try to inject a bit of romance into their lives by going out on a date night. A case of mistaken identity turns the night into something a little bit more thrilling and dangerous than a romantic dinner. Features a huge supporting cast like Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Ray Liotta. 71% on Rotten Tomatoes from 7 reviews

Kick-Ass (AUS release)- Stars Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moertz, Mark Strong and Chris-Mintz Plasse. Based on a comic by Mark Millar it's the super hero film that's not like any other super hero film. It's crude, violent, sexed up and completely super power free. Johnson plays the titular hero Kick-Ass, a comic obsessed teen who becomes a masked vigilante. He meets fellow vigilantes like Big Daddy (Cage) and his eleven year old daughter Hit-Girl (Moertz) along the way to riding the streets of crime. Watch out for Hit-Girl to be the new love of fan boys everywhere and the poster child for family rights groups everywhere. 88% on Rotten Tomatoes from 41 reviews.

The Square (Limited US release)- Stars Joel Edgerton, David Roberts and Claire Van der Boom. An Aussie film that came out in 2008 and directed by Nash Edgerton that's managed to score distribution in the States. It's a crime thriller that has drawn Coen Brothers comparisons as it follows a businessman (Roberts) as he tries to run off with his mistress (Van der Boom) who has taken her criminal husbands money. Unfortunately things aren't easy as they seem and the two quickly find themselves in way over their heads. 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from 15 reviews.

Video Games
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West (Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, PC)- The online third person shooter from Fat Shark Studios has been receiving considerable buzz and praise from the media. The game takes the sort of classed based online gameplay of games like Modern Warfare 2 and transplants it in a third person, Western world. The game is more than just that as it has striking visuals, fun gameplay and a good price point.

Comics
Batman and Robin Vol 1: Batman Reborn HC- Written by Grant Morrison. The series that got rave reviews from IGN and Ain't it Cool News is collected in a hardcover graphic novel. Read about how a new Batman & Robin team, complete with flying Batmobile, deal with a group of villains called the Circus of Strange and investigate the Domino Killer.

Captain America/Black Panther- Flags of Our Father #1- Written by Chris Ungar. Ever wonder how Captain America, the embodiment of America, and Black Panther, the embodiment of Wakanda, two of the Marvel Universes biggest heroes met? Well now you can as Ungar tells the story of how the two met amidst the backdrop of World War II. Look out for Nick Fury, the Howling Commandoes and some of the Marvel Universes nastiest Nazis.

World War Hulks #1- Written by Jeff Parker, Scott Reed, Paul Tobin and Harrison Wilcox. The story of the Hulks continues in this giant-sized story where gamma-irradiated characters like A-Bomb, Cosmic Hulk, Red She-Hulk Doc Samson and even Deadpool find themselves in the spotlight after the Fall of the Hulks special. All will have their stories told as the series builds up to one of the biggest conspiracies in the Marvel Universe. Lets just hope the series is big enough to contain all these characters.

The Shield #1- Written by Jonathan Hickman. This new series looks at the very first agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That's right, modern day heroes like Iron Man and Captain America weren't the first ones. Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo and other geniuses throughout history were S.H.I.E.L.D agents, even defeating Galactus in their time. Find out how their adventures are affecting Nick Fury and the modern day version. Insane story guaranteed.

Star Wars Purge: Hidden Blade (One-shot)- Written by Haden Blackman. Read about everyone's favorite villain Darth Vader as he continues his hunt for the remaining Jedi after the aftermath of Order 66. This one-shot sees Vader on a remote Imperial world that is having trouble with the natives. Just when Vader starts to feel tired with the task a Jedi Master and his Padawan show themselves and allow Vader to hunt his favorite game of all.

Fresh Call of Duty 7 Details, Point to Custom Killstreaks

2010-04-07T16:00:00.000+09:30

This is probably some of the most concrete news we've had about Treyarch's upcoming Call of Duty game. Site Call of Duty Vietnam has combed through the Treyarch forums to find posts made by the developers themselves. They stress that some of this may just be personal opinion, it has mainly come from Multiplayer Design Director David Vonderhaar, but in all likely hood it could point to how the game is starting to come together.

Here's the list CoD Vietnam have compiled of some of Vonderhaar's posts on the forums:

While they’ve tried having custom killstreaks for each class, that seemed to complicate the ‘purity and speed’ of Create a Class.
Consequently, it’s fair to assume that customizable killstreaks are all but confirmed.
At this stage in development, killstreaks stack and carry over if you die, but do not contribute to further killstreaks (hence eliminating the ‘camping for killstreaks’ problem of Modern Warfare 2).
Treyarch are not fans of Commando, the extended melee range perk in Modern Warfare 2, and it is unlikely to return.
They’ve tried a ‘manned’ version of the Sentry Gun killstreak, but weren’t fans.
We may well see a return to pistols as the only available sidearm, or perhaps a choice between pistols and launchers. Vahn and many of the team are not fans of shotguns and machine pistols as secondary weapons – it gives a player ‘too much firepower’.
The knife may well become a secondary weapon – although Vahn didn’t want to say too much.
Finally, don’t expect the nuke to return as a killstreak. Vahn says they are not fans of a game-ending killstreak.

So it looks like custom killstreaks will return but with some modifications to the system Infinity Ward introduced in Modern Warfare 2. The fan response to the CoD Vietnam post seems to be rather positive. The nuke and commando perk irritate many an avid Call of Duty fan due to their overpowered nature and the nuke holds an especially hated place in many a fans hearts for it's changes to online play. Many fans have irritably posted about the game degrading into a camping war where everyone is too scared to engage in open combat because they don't want to lose their killstreak. The fact that Treyarch are listening to what their fans are saying is certainly going to win them some brownie points.

I think having the knife as a secondary weapon is taking things a little bit too far but I do agree that pistols should be the only available sidearm. When that is the case players need to be far more careful when choosing their loadouts, instead of going for the setup that gives them the most ammunition.

Still no word on the rest of the game but these early indicators of where the multiplayer may be headed are good. Treyarch's work on the series is often overlooked and overshadowed by Infinity Ward but maybe this will be the time when Treyarch can go 'hey, we managed to get that right'.

Rumor: Emily Blunt for Catwoman in Batman 3?

2010-04-07T07:34:00.000+09:30

It was reported here earlier that British actress Emily Blunt turned down the role of Peggy Carter in Joe Johnston's upcoming Captain America movie. Her reason for turning down that role was so she could pursue other film opportunities. Site Batman on Film is now reporting that an industry friend of theirs has said "one of the reasons Ms. Blunt turned down the role is because she may have her eye set on playing Selina Kyle in BATMAN 3".

The article quickly covers itself by saying that's if Nolan decides to use Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in his next film. Nolan has not said whether the character will or won't be in the film meaning that, along with The Riddler and the Penguin, Catwoman casting rumors have been floating around the internet for a while and really this one is no different, it's just a big rumor at the moment.

They adequately point out that Blunt would pretty much need to choose between the Captain America and Batman 3 films due to the rivalry between Marvel and DC and the demanding and close schedule times of both films.

With not much to go on, apart from Blunt MAY be keeping herself open for the possibility that Selina Kyle MAY appear in Batman 3, we should really discuss whether she would be right for the role. The short answer is yes. We've heard names like Angelina Jolie, Cher and Rhona Mitra thrown about for Catwoman. Jolie and Mitra could definetley do they sexy, seductive Catwoman that is out to use every man she sees to her advantage because she's been screwed over one too many times. They've just got that look that they are pretty much man eaters whereas Blunt seems more sophisticated and less man-eatery. She would instead work better as a cold and calculating criminal who works for the mob, undertaking the jobs they can't handle themselves. She would be shrewd and to the point whereas the other two could pull off seductive mind games like no body can. So in the end it comes to a) whether Selina Kyle and Catwoman are in the film and b) what story they choose for Selina Kyle aka Catwoman.

Hilarious Online Modern Warfare 2 Ad

2010-04-06T23:13:00.000+09:30

Even though I haven't touched my copy of Modern Warfare 2 for months and I haven't got the Stimulus Package map pack I still follow the comings and goings of the series. The latest thing to catch my attention is the Everyone Is Doing It ad. The ad is deemed too hot for TV and is an online only ad, you can see it on YouTube. The ad features an old guy talking about 'doing it' the entire ad and one would assume he is talking about sex (gasp) but in fact he is talking about Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Hilarious comments like 'some people go into Domination mode...lemme tell ya, that is some freaky-deaky s**t' really make the ad. It may not make you want to buy the game but it will certainly make you chuckle.

Gears of War Movie Downsized

2010-04-06T22:32:00.000+09:30

That's the word from the LA Times blog 24 Frames. A source tells them that wholesale changes have occurred on the New Line Cinema project that has ground almost to a halt.

First up director Len Wiseman, of Underworld fame, has jumped ship to a new project called Nocturne. 24 Frames note that Wiseman hasn't officially left but they believe that, when the project does get rolling again, he probably won't be back.

They also make it seem like it won't get rolling again for sometime. New Line have downsized the budget of the film from $100 million to something far less than that. That budget shift has also effected the story. It was originally meant to be a huge epic that detailed the whole Locust invasion and subsequent war with humanity. It was going to be big and awesome. Now the story is being reined in so it's more inline with the new budget. Apparently it will be a straight-ahead invasion film. That seems like strange wording to me though, as an invasion film still sounds pretty epic to me.

With these changes to the story New Line are now also looking for a new writer to take over Wanted scribe Chris Morgan's original script.

I'd like to seem them, with a smaller budget, try to create something raw and gritty in the vein of the Halo 3 ODST live action commercials. A polished Hollywood Blockbuster style epic action movie could possibly take something away from Gears of War. It should definetley stay away from the first person style of the Doom movie but something that seems raw and frenetic, where the Locust Horde really do feel like they come out of no where would be great. They could really play up the survival, almost horror, nature of the game as the Locusts can burst up from beneath the surface at anytime. The downsize, hopefully, could be a blessing in disguise.

Best Rumor: Harrison Ford in Cowboys & Aliens

2010-04-06T22:10:00.000+09:30

Latino Review have quite possibly the best rumor I've heard in a while. It's only a small article but it certainly sounds cool and if the source is good then the outcome seems probable. Latino Review writer El Mayimbe reports that he got a tip from a source that Harrison Ford was going to be joining a huge comic book movie that has a director who has just finished directing a comic book movie.

The film that looks most promising is Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens. Favreau is coming off Iron Man 2, certainly a huge comic book movie, and Cowboys and Aliens is shaping up to be pretty big. Favreau has also just Tweeted "Some very cool Cowboys & Aliens casting news coming soon..."

So Mayimbe believes that Harrison Ford, the love of some many fanboys lives, may be joining Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens. Seriously I would love for this to happen. Favreaus already has Daniel Craig onboard to play Zeke Johnson, the leader of a group of gunslingers who must team up with the Native Americans to beat a common foe, invading aliens. Cowboys and Indians battling Aliens, that has the potential to be all kinds of awesome.

I haven't read the comic so I'm not sure who Ford might play but the idea of Ford in a comic book movie certainly sits well with me. Let's just hope this gets confirmed soon and Favreau wasn't talking about someone else joining the film.

New Star Wars Animated TV Show

2010-04-06T11:28:00.000+09:30

Star Wars fans have a strange relationship with the property. Over the years it has slowly grown from being creator George Lucas's to something the fans 'own' and every time Lucas dips back into the pool to create something new in the universe fans cry foul of Lucas ruining 'their' Star Wars. With the announcement of a new Star Wars animated show we would normally expect to hear fan boy complaints of Lucas profiteering and the like but this new show could be different, it's a comedy piece from the creators of Robot Chicken Seth Green and Matt Seinrich. That's right, you just read that sentence.

There are very few details so far about how the show will work. Whether it will use the stop motion style of Robot Chicken or, now that Lucasfilm is on board, they'll go for the more a conventional animation style. Also it isn't established as to whether it will be a sitcom focusing on a set group of characters or a sketch show with different people every week. The show also doesn't have a network lined up but it would be sensible to assume Cartoon Network would be a good home seeing as Robot Chicken and the current Clone Wars animated show have found a home there.

Internet reaction so far has been mixed with some people thinking it's just what's needed while others don't like the idea of the show being fully backed by Lucasfilm as it may restrict the comedy in some way. Personally I think they have the right people attached to the project to make it a success as the Star Wars Robot Chicken specials were great but whether you could watch week after week of Star Wars comedy is another thing. Here's the info from the Star Wars website.

Lucasfilm Animation is currently developing an all-new animated Star Wars series, focusing its efforts on the comedic aspects of the "galaxy far, far away." Featuring creative involvement from Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, creators and executive producers of the Emmy and Annie Award-winning Robot Chicken, as well as writing from The Daily Show's Brendan Hay, the series will look at the Saga's characters with a playful and irreverent tone. The series will be produced by Daytime Emmy and Gemini Award-winner Jennifer Hill (The Backyardigans), and directed by Emmy-nominated Todd Grimes (Back at the Barnyard).

"There are so many stories taking place in the Star Wars universe, and they don't all have to focus on the fate of the galaxy," said Grimes. "We're looking at Star Wars from a new perspective; this will be a glimpse at how the rest of the galaxy is affected by the events of the Saga. There's a lot of humor to be mined from that."
"The Star Wars universe is so dense and rich; it's crazy to think that there aren't normal, mundane everyday problems in a world so well-defined," said Green. "And it's even crazier to think of what those problems might be, since it's all set in a galaxy far, far away. What do these characters do when they're not overthrowing Empires?"

Said Senreich, "We're going to pull back the curtain of some of those behind-the-scenes shenanigans. It's going to appeal to all ages, the way Star Wars should -- but there'll be plenty buried under the surface, as well. As Obi-Wan might say, 'it all depends on your point of view'."

Fat Shark Studios Interview

2010-04-05T15:16:00.000+09:30

Hey cool cats if you want to check out my awesome interview with Martin Wahlund of Swedish game developer Fat Shark Studios then you can head on over to the 8th Circuit and check it out. The interview focuses on Fat Shark's soon to be released online third person shooter Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West.

The Attempted Review of Clash of the Titans

2010-04-05T13:04:00.006+09:30

Lois Leterrier's remake of the 80's cult classic is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. This anticipation is partly derived from its epic premise (Greek Gods ya know, Clashing) and partly due to its implementation of post-production 3D brought on by the success of Avatar. The question is does the film live up to the hype?

What it's all about: Clash of the Titans focuses on Sam Worthington's Perseus a boy who is found at sea by Pete Poselethwaite's character Spyros. Spyros raises him as his own, teaching him his trade, fishing. One day the family witnesses the destruction of a statue of Zeus (played by Liam Neeson) by soldiers from Argos, a rebellious city of men. Hades, God of the Underworld (played by Ralph Fiennes), kills all those involved in retaliation and Perseus's family are unfortunately caught up in the crossfire. What builds from there is a story of revenge, betrayal and the Gods as Perseus undertakes a quest to save the city of Argos and seek vengeance on Hades all set to a backdrop of the decline of the gods and the rise of man.

What it did well: Visually the movie was as good as you'd expect from an epic blockbuster. I saw the film in 2D, how it was meant to be seen, and the opening sequence in the stars was gorgeous while all the creatures, especially the Kraken, looked brilliant.

Seriously after seeing this you'll think Pirates of the Caribbean gave Kraken's a bad name. This thing is freaking huge and is quite bad ass. I just wish it would have had some more screen time, possibly at the start where they tell you it defeated the Titans? It almost seems wasted not having it feature more.

Anyway the action is as good as you would expect when you are drawing from ancient Greek Mythology. It's constant, varied, sometimes comical and usually enjoyable to watch. The scene with the giant scorpions was particularly well choreographed and presented.

The gods, Zeus and Hades, and Mads Mikkelsen’s Draco are also quite well portrayed. Neeson and Fiennes bring their usual strong performances to a movie where, quite frankly, I could have seen them phoning it in. Fiennes excels in all his Voldermort like evilness as the villain, with his dry, soft voice sending a chill down your spine while the smoke and brimstone affects used to portray him as God of the Underworld are fantastic. Neeson, to me, portrayed the troubled father role well. The film really focused on Zeus as both a father and a leader who had to juggle the wishes of his fellow gods with his love for those he has created, man. Also I couldn't think of anyone better to play a pimp god who sneaks into people's bedrooms for a one night stand. I mean I'd let Mr Neeson do that to me anytime. Finally, Mikkelsen plays the leader of the Argos legion escorting Perseus. He just oozes coolness whenever he is on screen and his discontent for the gods and mistrust for Perseus are easily recognizable and give his character some depth. I also just generally think he is a quality actor who is rather under used.

What it didn't: Apart from the above mentioned elements the film, to me, felt like a bit of a shambles. I can't comment on the post-production 3D but it has been covered in numerous other reviews and it hasn’t got a glowing reception.

I found Sam Worthington's portrayal of Perseus stale and wooden. He lacked the depth and emotion that would have made him a true hero and instead he seemed a little mechanical and stiff in his actions. He just doesn't seem to act naturally, it all seems very forced. His accent was also annoying, not because it was Australian, but because it wasn't consistent. It was like he'd forgotten how he sounded in the last scene and what he came up with in the next was as good as he could come up with.

The story, while being set during an interesting time, never really advanced past showing promise of being something that was both interesting and engaging. It seemed to branch off into too many side stories that were not really given time to be explored. There was Hades overthrow of Zeus, Perseus's backstory, a confusing romance, a confusing Zeus who never seemed committed to gods or humans and the random religious heretics in Argos and their ‘leader’ to name a few. They all took some of the focus away from the main story without really adding much to it.

The script also contained some terrible dialogue. For instance Worthington is given one modern day action hero line just before they battle Medusa which seemed ridiculous and out of place. Zeus and Hades also repeat themselves a lot which was disappointing as their scenes were generally enjoyable. We get that Zeus survives on their love and Hades survives on their fear, so there is no need to repeat that several times. It was also one of those movies where you found yourself laughing at moments that, necessarily, weren’t meant to be funny (the ferry across the river Styx scene) and moments that were generally trying to be funny felt forced.

The film also struggled with pacing. It started off really slow and you wondered how Perseus would become this great hero and then, all of a sudden, he's on this epic journey where he's kicking ass and taking names. He didn't grow into his role he just realized he was a demi-god (part god part human) and therefore awesome. Also when the journey is taking place a lot of characters die but, because the film moves so quickly and didn’t take the time to really introduce the men of Argos, the deaths have no weight to them and you're left thinking 'who was that guy?' The final battle also seemed over too quickly, like they were rushing to finish it. Considering a lot of money would have been spent developing the Kraken I was surprised it didn’t get a greater role.

Also one thing that really bugged me was the monster hunters. When they arrive on the scene they make this big deal about how they know how to kill all these mythological creatures and that they simply must come along. I'll admit I got a little excited to see how they would deal with the creatures they would come across because they appeared to be specialists. In the end I was sadly disappointed because they do almost nothing. When it actually comes to killing one of these mythical creatures they bail before they get there. I'm sorry but didn’t they sign up for killing mythical creatures not running away from them? They just seemed to serve no purpose in the film apart from a tiny bit of comedic relief.

Memorable moment: It has to be the Kraken. The thing is epic and huge and probably cost a boatload of money to make. As I said before I would have liked to have seen it used more but my god it was impressive when it was on screen.

What it all means: Clash of the Titans is a mostly enjoyable monster mash that struggles from the usual blockbuster issues of story and character development. To me it questions Worthington's credentials as an action star but it brings good performances from Fiennes and Neeson as well as some great CGI creatures. It’s a watchable action flick that should please fans of the genre but didn't quite reach my expectations.

6 out of 10

New Halo Reach Beta and Multiplayer News

2010-04-05T11:45:00.001+09:30

As we get closer and closer to the opening of the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta Bungie are slowly releasing more and more information about the highly anticipated game. This week we find out how Elites stack up against Spartans, what weapons will be available in the beta, what the Armor Abilities are, how Load Outs work and more.

Bungie have made it their goal to make the Elites in Reach bad-asses and, from what they've said so far, they will be. The Elites of Reach will be bigger, stronger and faster than their Spartan counterparts and will come with better equipped shield technology. The Elites normal running speed is the equivalent to the Spartans sprint while both their health and shields recharge significantly faster than a Spartans. They do have the down side of being huge, which makes them a much easier target if you can sight them. Bungie stated that certain maps, like the Arena maps, will only allow you to play Elite vs Elite to avoid balance issues while they are still cooking up some interesting scenarios for the other game modes. I like the fact that Bungie are making the two races different and I wonder if the Elites in multiplayer will be the same as the ones in the singleplayer. If they are then singleplayer is going to be seriously challenging.

One of the things I've been looking forward to most in Reach is the weapons. Whether it be the old weapons that are getting a makeover or the host of new weapons Bungie are adding to the game I'm generally excited. Bungie told Game Informer that at least five entirely new weapons will be available in the beta. These include the focus rifle:

A Covenant really long-range 'reach out and burn your face off' sniper-slot weapon.... you need to hold it on your opponent for approximately one and a half seconds to kill them. It's more about long range suppression than instant death.

There is also the pro-pipe which is the Spartan grenade launcher. It was designed:

To fill a similar role to the plasma pistol and give the Spartans an EMP-capable weapon. It has two modes of fire - manual and auto. If you pull the trigger and release it, a single round will fire and detonate upon hitting a target. If you keep the trigger held, the player can choose when they want the grenade to detonate.

Other new weapons, which have previously been revealed, include "the plasma launcher ("the Covenant's answer to the rocket launcher and Spartan laser"), the plasma repeater ("the Elite answer to the assault rifle") and the needle rifle ("a needler mixed with a carbine")".

Bungie's weekly update also addressed the weapons of Reach in greater detail. It explained that grenades "will still do minor impact damage should you bean another player with a direct shot. Which is awesome. And hilarious." Yes it certainly is.

Bungie explain that you won't have to go up against the Elite Plasma Repeater in the campaign because it is a little too powerful and instead they'll just have the normal Plasma Rifle they've always had. The Plasma Launcher will allow the player to shot from 1 to 4 rounds at an enemy and they act in the same way needler rounds do, that is with a slight tracking feature. Even though it's not a true lock-on Bungie explain that "if you play it right, you can affix an explosive round to some poor sucker’s face." Very cool. Apparently this will be the gun you'll want to know the location of on every map, it's that powerful. They also explain the function of the Focus Rifle a little better:

Zoom in and hold the focused beam on your opponent and you’ll tear through their shields and take out their health pretty quickly. Even if you don’t kill your enemy, you can bet they’ll be encouraged to give up their ground and get behind something that doesn’t smell like burning.

Hmm I always find it best to hide behind things that don't smell like burning as well. The final weapon detailed is the pro-pipe grenade launcher. They largely explain it's delayed detonation feature. Basically when you fire off a round you can hold onto the trigger button after you've fired. The round will then only detonate when you release your finger from the trigger meaning you can set up some nice little explosive traps. The explosions also cause an EMP effect. One thing they don't explain is whether, if you die before releasing your grip, the round will blow up when you die. I would assume it would, meaning death from the grave here I come.

Finally they explain Load Outs and Armor Abilities. Load Outs are similar to classes in other multiplayer shooters. The difference is each playlist will have pre-defined Load Outs for you to choose from which will affect your starting equipment. Players can't customize their Load Out but there will be a sizable amount to choose from. Players choose their Load Out at the start of a match, round or in between respawns if they choose. The Load Outs come with a primary and secondary weapon, grenade and Armor Ability.

The Armor Abilities, another new feature, include Active Camo (for Elite and Spartan use), Armor Lock, Evade, Jet Pack and Sprint (Spartan only). Most of the abilities come with advantages and disadvantages. For instance Sprinters can't use weapons while it's engaged, Armor Lock locks you to the position where you activated it but makes you invulnerable (even destroying vehicles that try to splatter you), Active Camo becomes more visible the faster you move and Jet Packs don't allow you to be evasive. Evade, so far, appears to be full of advantages, like ditching weapon locks, and no disadvantages. It should be noted that Abilities aren't part of the dropped bounty when you kill someone, you have to manually change your load out to access a new ability.

Iron Man 2 "It's Good To Be Back" Clip

2010-04-04T11:55:00.000+09:30

A full 2 minutes from Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2 has the hit the web today. The clip comes from the Stark Expo scene where Iron Man jumps out of a plane and lands on a stage. He then proceeds to exit the armor and greet the crowd by saying "it's good to be back". Part of the scene has already been shown in trailers but it's the first time it's been shown altogether. The scene also focuses on the Iron Man dancers, a group of girls who break it down behind Tony Stark. The scene is accompanied by AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill. Iron Man 2 debuts in Australia on April 29th and the US May 7th. Trailer after the jump.

Kathryn Bigelow's Next Film Coming Together

2010-04-04T11:44:00.000+09:30

If you ever wondered what could possibly top Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow's suspense filled bomb disposal masterpiece The Hurt Locker well just listen to the plot behind her next film the Triple Frontier.

The film focuses on a border zone in South America known as "la triple frontera". The area is a haven for organised crime and specifically drug cartels. The area is also home to a strong Middle Eastern community who have long been suspected of laundering money for Islamic extremist groups. To say it's a crime hot spot is almost an understatement, this place is pretty much death.

The movie is being pegged as an action-adventure flick that will bring the same gritty and tense shooting style of The Hurt Locker to Triple Frontier. What's even better is it is expected to have an ensemble cast and an Argentinian newspaper (via Playlist) is reporting that that cast could inlcude Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Denzel Washington. The article is belived to be taking some liberties with a NY Times article that said the three actors had spoken to screenwriter Mark Boal about future projects but still the possibility of anyone of these three let alone all of them starring in the film is great. I really want to see Javier Bardem in another role like No Country for Old Men.

The film is still in heavy pre-production with the bi-lingual script still being worked on. The film will hopefully go infront of the camers sometime next year and it sounds like Bigelow may have found the story to top The Hurt Locker.

Captain America's Sidekick Cast?

2010-04-04T11:21:00.000+09:30

Deadline are reporting that Marvel have already found the actor they want to play Captain America's sidekick, Bucky. The article was posted on April 1st, and the internet loves April Fools, so I'm not sure whether it is real news or not. The article seems pretty legit and it points to Gossip Girl star Sebastian Stan as the man Marvel want for Bucky.

The article isn't full of details. It just states that the studio has told Deadline that Stan will be in Captain America as Bucky and that the deal he has signed will include multiple film options. This hints at the possibility of Stan playing the Winter Soldier in a future movie because that is the role Bucky takes when he is rediscovered in the present day comics.

I haven't seen Stan in anything. I despise Gossip Girl but it appears to be the Australian version of Home and Away, that is it seems to produce actors and actresses with some desirable talent (whether that be acting talents or physical talents remains to be seen). Thing is, on a physical level, I could actually see this guy following around Chris Evans and hanging off his every word, always looking to impress him. At least Marvel has cast someone that Evans can look and feel superior to. It is also shaping up to be one of the prettiest casts going round, maybe Marvel are starting to think they should have cast someone younger and less menacing than Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull because really, he looks like he could just eat these guys up no problems.

Emily Blunt Declines Captain America Role

2010-04-04T11:07:00.000+09:30

The British actress, who at one stage was set to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2, has declined the role of Peggy Carter in Joe Johnston's Captain America film. Hero Complex reports that the actress was offered as Marvel's first choice but has officially declined.

The British actress has a Golden Globe winning pedigree and would have added a great deal of acting class to the film but it looks like her desire to commit to other projects has prevented her from taking the Cap role. Whether this is another role filming at the sametime as Cap or it's her considering her future is not known. The Marvel heads like to sign their stars to multiple picture deals which restrains their stars from taking many other projects.

Marvel will now have to go back to their shortlist of other possible female leads to play Peggy Carter which includes fellow Brits Keira Knightley and Alice Eve. I would like to see them extend that list to include a few other actresses, who may not necessarily be British. I think Knightley could do a good job but I wonder how likely she will be to sign on for the film.

The casting of Captain America's support roles will be crucial to its worldwide success. A film about an American super-hero that embodies the ideals of America and American culture may struggle if it can't find the right cast of international actors to support Chris Evans and make it seem more than America saving the world (even though that's what it's all about). It will be interesting to see who Marvel ends up signing.

Iron Man 2 I-MAX Experience Trailer

2010-04-02T12:03:00.000+10:30

The I-MAX Experience trailer for Iron Man 2 has hit the web and it is best described as an amalgamation between the 30-second TV spot and the feature length trailers we've already seen. That's okay though because both of those trailers were awesome and now you can enjoy some of the better bits from both those trailers. I was slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see anymore of Whiplash because I'm really liking what I've seen of him so far. The movie hits theaters April 29th in Australia and May 7th in the States. Trailer after the jump.

New A-Team Trailer

2010-04-02T11:55:00.000+10:30

A new A-Team trailer, for the upcoming movie, has hit the web and it is rather awesome. The trailer gives you a look at the plot; how the team gets set up and sent to military prison and must escape so they can clear their names. It has some great action scenes, some great comedy (B.A: "You pancaked my van, I'm gonna kill you fool!" Murdoch: You can't park there that's a handicap zone"), a great hostage sequence at the end and it still has Face shooting down a jet from a tank, mid-air. Watch the trailer after the jump and bask in its awesomeness.

DiCaprio In Talks for Hoover Biopic

2010-04-01T09:40:00.000+10:30

Deadline are reporting that Leonardo Dicaprio is in early talks to play the head of the original FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, in the film Hoover. The film is being directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Dustin Lance Black with Brian Grazer producing. If he signs then this film will already increase it's serious Oscar potential.

The quartet, between them, have won 6 Oscars and been nominated 12 times. It'll be a period drama and a biopic which usually fair well around Award season and it looks set to showcase a few things about the former FBI head that will certainly make for compelling viewing as Deadline describes the movie:

Hoover formed the country's federal jurisdiction law enforcement system with the establishment of the FBI and, while he might have come in with high ideals as a public servant, he increasingly became a manipulative power broker with a closet full of his own secrets. When Hoover is depicted in films, it is usually in unflattering fashion. But I've heard this script described as "peeling back the curtain on the life of Hoover" with no cross-dressing claims.

The film will be ambitious, for all involved including studio Universal, who haven't quite got the adult-drama genre down pact with a few period pieces losing them substantial amounts of money. Hopefully, if DiCaprio signs, and a few other quality pieces come in on the film then Universal will have a winner.

The Expendables Theatrical Trailer!

2010-04-01T09:21:00.000+10:30

The long awaited theatrical trailer for Sylvester Stallone's action fest The Expendables has hit the web. The movie, which is a throwback to the action movies many of us grew up on in the 80's and 90's, has an allstar cast including Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Sly himself amongst a few cameos from the Governator and Bruce Willis. The film is due out the 13th of August. Trailer and plot after the jump.

A group of mercenaries is hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren't quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger, the men struggle with an even tougher challenge -- one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers.

The trailer has everything you'd expect, lots of explosions, fights, guns ,motorbikes, light comedy and then one thing you didn't expect, a glimpse at the scene between Willis, Stallone and Arnie. Seriously did not expect them to show any of that before the movie was released. Personally I was surprised my computer could handle the amount of testosterone that was on the screen in this trailer, it's just unreal. The Expendables is shaping up to be a fun action movie the likes of which we don't see a lot of anymore.

Red Faction 4 An Insane Upgrade, Saints Row 3 Mind-Blowing

2010-03-31T23:41:00.000+10:30

That's the word coming from THQ's Danny Bilson who sat down with CVG to discuss the upcoming titles. The titles are expected to drop late this year (Red Faction 4) and sometime next year (2011). Info after the jump.

Bilson wasn't able to give many details on either game, especially Saints but he did have this to say "The next Saints Row is mind-blowing. New tech; mind-blowing. I can't talk about that too much but it's mind-blowing." Apparently he really wanted to hammer home the fact that it's mind-blowing. He was able to tell us that we'll get a look at Saints 3 this year as the marketing and PR will begin this year.

He went into a bit more detail with Red Faction discussing how the game will be the same as Guerilla but different. He describes it as a combination of the original Red Faction, where the game took place underground, and the new one Guerilla even stating that the game "goes back underground and it's really cool." Bilson almost got ahead of himself towards the end of the interview as he discussed the game.

"I think the story [in Red Faction 4] is way more intense this time and I think the story was way secondary to the gameplay last time. It's more integrated this time and it's a cooler story, it's cooler environments and there are elements in it that have never been in a Red Faction before as far as enemies go and... ahh (laughs)."

I'm surprised that they are already about to release another Red Faction only a year after the last one. It also surprises me that they've managed to put the game through a series of massive changes in such a short space of time. I agree with Bilson that the the story of Guerilla wasn't all that engaging, your brother dies so you become the go to guy for the Mars resistance and pretty much single-handedly free the planet. It wasn't exactly exciting stuff but you could tell THQ had put most of the work into that kick-ass destruction technology. If the 4th one can deliver a better story and tweak the gameplay a little bit, by going underground, then I'll definetley be interested.

As far as Saints is concerned I'm not surprised it's mind-blowing. With GTA going more realistic in the 4th outing Saints has gone crazier with a range of weapons and customization options that are out there to say the least. I can't see THQ abandoning that style when it's really the only game doing what it's doing and instead I can only see them trying to find more ways to make the game more fun and generally outrageously entertaining.

What worries me about both games is whether the development cycles are too short and the releases too soon. Bilson doesn't specify whether Saints will be early, mid or late 2011. Anything before mid 2011 and I'd be worried that the game would feel rushed and underdone. Red Faction seems way too soon. Another release this year? That promises a heap of changes? That makes me worried we'll get a broken and bug field game that shows promise but really needed a few months more development time. I hope I'm wrong and THQ delivers two high quality games because they are both from franchises where the fans have high expectations.

Teaser Trailer for Tomorrow When the War Began

2010-03-31T18:34:00.000+10:30

John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began is held in high regard or hated by many an Australian school student. The book features in nearly every English course at some stage resulting in many people being familiar with the story. That story is now getting the movie treatment with Stuart Beattie, screenwriter for movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, taking the reins. Fans can now check out the first trailer at MovieFix.

The movie features a host of local talent that have honed their craft on TV shows like Neighbours, Home and Away and H2O. While the quality of the shows themselves are questionable they have produced some good talent over the years and hopefully that's the case with this film. The trailer is surprisingly good. I remember cringing when I heard this film was being made and who some of the people were but it actually doesn't look half bad. The accents float between being undeniably Australian and somewhat neutral (?) which means they don't get irritating. The action, or what is shown, also seems well done with that explosion towards the end looking rather impressive. It's interesting how the trailer starts to show the film as a feel good roadtrip adventure with a group of friends and then bam, shit gets real and the country has been invaded.

For those of you who don't know the story follows a group of high school kids who, after returning from a camping trip in the Outback, discover that their town, and presumably the country, has been invaded. Everyone they know and love has been taken by the invading force and it is up to them to form a guerrilla force and fightback. Marsden's original book dredged up questions about how far the average person will go to fight back against evil and was a real survival tale. Hopefully the movie can bring some of these ideas in to the plot and not get too caught up in the romantic relationships and action. A good mix of all these elements should make it an enjoyable film. The people behind this will be hoping it takes off as Marsden wrote a whole series of Tomorrow books which they could possibly make a franchise out of.

The film will be released September 2nd 2010.

Halo Fans Expect Something Big to Drop This Week

2010-03-31T14:32:00.001+10:30

That's the word coming from developer Bungie's Twitter account. The account just posted a message that reads "Just got this mysterious image and word that something big is dropping this week?!". The tweet also has a link to the picture which you can see after the jump.

Speculation ranges from Bungie pre-empting an April Fool's Day joke to an announcement of a new game to some new live-action venture. The image is of a visor and helmet that is typical of the series Spartan's, elite soldiers. Many avid fans have pointed to the helmet being similar to, if not, the helmet of series lead Master Chief or John 117. Even further they have speculated that this looks reminiscent of the opening to Halo: Combat Evolved. Bungie have stated before that Reach will be the story of new Spartans and won't focus on the lone wolf style of the Chief but could he be making an appearance? Or is this another new Spartan? Or is it a shot from a new game? Or some other live-action/CG project? Speculation will continue until Bungie actually announces what the image is in relation to their big news.

New Releases 30/3-1/4

2010-03-31T14:22:00.001+10:30

A look at what's hitting the shelves and theaters this week in video games, comics, movies and DVDs.

Video Games: Just Cause 2 (AUS Release)- The game has hit the other major markets and now it's Australia's turn. It garnered an 81 on Metacritic for it's fun gameplay and beautifully crafted open world/sandbox environment. Take the role of Scorpio and see about freeing Panau. For PC, 360 and PS3.

Prison Break: The Conspiracy- It's a game based on a TV show....Yeah it's probably not going to be that great unless you are a major fan of the series. For PC

Comics: God of War #1- This one comes from DC Comics and looks to delve into the backstory of the Spartan warrior who has defied the gods and is the true God of War. Writer Marv Wolfman is at the helm of this six-part series with Anrea Sorrentino providing the artwork.

Governator #1- This comes from Antarctic Press and looks freaking crazy and kind of awesome. David Hutchinson writes this tale of the Governator, a glorious high-octane powerhouse. "That Governator is out there. It can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with, and it will not stop, ever...until his term is over."

X-Men: Second Coming #1- It's the culmination of four years of X-Men tales. What started with House of M and the near destruction of Mutantkind ends with Second Coming. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost pen this story of the return of Cable and Hope, the possible mutant messiah, from the future. Will Hope be the Messiah they were hoping for?

Movies: Clash of the Titans (Worldwide)- The biggest release of the week. A 3D epic that stars action movie it guy Sam Worthington and god himself Liam Neeson. The film promises stunning visuals and breathtaking action. Release April 1st.

The Warlords (US Release)- Chinese epic finally picks up a US release date. It's got Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jet Li starring in this tale of civil war, politics, deceit and romance. I've seen it and it has some crazy cool fight scenes and battle that are definetley work checking out and the story is interesting to boot.

She's Out of My League (AUS Release)- Geeky guy meets attractive girl. Geeky guy gets attractive girl to like him. Family and friends begin to stress relationship. General hilarity ensues. Jay Baruchel stars in this romantic comedy with Mike Vogel and Alice Eve.

Why Did I Get Married Too? (US Release)- Tyler Perry is back with a follow-up to 2007's Why Did I Get Married? It focuses on four couples who meet up for a vacation in the Bahamas. An ex-husband shows up to win back his ex-wife and intense drama follows. Stars Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson and Michael Jai White.

Hangover 2 Cast Signed

2010-03-31T12:53:00.001+10:30

The Hangover was the sleeper hit of 2009. An R Rated comedy that managed to rake in almost half a billion dollars in box office world wide. That sort of money is always going to create an interest for a second film, a second film that Warner and Legendary Pictures were thinking about before the film debuted. Now Deadline reports the pieces have come together for the second picture.

First film stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms have all signed on for the second movie while director/producer Todd Philips has also signed on. The studio has done the right thing in bringing back the key players from the original although they are coming back to much bigger deals than before.

The three main actors were collectively paid just under $1 million for the first film and director Philips chose to receive 15% of the film's overall revenue for his salary. Warner signed all those deals quickly as they didn't think the film would be this much of a success or they knew it would be a success and didn't want to pay out huge bonuses to the actors. In the end Philips went on to make almost $50 million from the original while the other three were eventually paid a $1 million bonus for the first film.

With the films success the actors had some leverage and were demanding much improved deals from Warner. None of the cast were optioned for a second film so Warner had to offer them new deals. In the end Deadline have reported that each of the trio will get $5 million and 4% of the first dollar gross while director Philips will receive $10 million upfront and 10% of the gross. In the end it means Philips will walk away with close to the same amount of money he got from the first Hangover if the movie can perform as well at the box-office.

The film is aiming for a November 1 film date and possibly a Memorial Day 2011 weekend release (May 26th-28th). Curiously Justin Bartha, the reason for the first Hangover (he was getting married), isn't mentioned in the massive deal. I guess that's pointing to him having another minor role in the second film, if he appears.

Everyone involved will be hoping the film can perform as well as the first. The film has made a good start by securing the original team but they'll have to ensure that the sequel has the right mix of the familiar and the fresh so that it doesn't feel like the same movie just in a different place (there have been rumors of exotic locales like Thailand or Mexico). There is clearly an audience for this type of comedy if it's done right and hopefully, with the same people involved, lightening will strike twice.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Debut Trailer

2010-03-31T11:05:00.001+10:30

Spider-Man fans are kind of like Transformers fans when it comes to video games. The ideas seem like a match made in heaven but the end product never really comes close to satisfying. That is why I've all but given up on Spider-Man games, almost. Enter Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions where the Spider-Man Noir story is just one of four universes at play. Trailer after the jump:

Video Games | Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions | Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The game seems ambitious and very interesting. The trailer shows off the 1930's Noir Spider-Man and the current day Amazing Spider-Man universes. Including Noir Spider-Man is a bold move as the series is only new and not many people would know about it. What it does, though, is allow the creators to show different sides of Spider-Man and create a different feel in the game. The first thing you notice is the two universes actually look distinctly different from each other. The Noir universe looks darker and more dangerous and definetley more realist whereas the Amazing universe has that real comic-book feel with brightly coloured more cel-shaded environments. I'll be interested to know whether the different Spider-Men have different attacks and abilities or if they will be identical. If that's the case that would be a real disappointment.

The game also seems to have a mix between third-person and first-person action. The main issue with Spider-Man games is how to best implement his web-slinging powers. Griptonite seem to be trying the first-person perspective to see how that works out.

The game by no means looks perfect or an instant buy. Some of the animations look a bit dodgy and laggy and some of the character designs are average at best but it does show enough promise to warrant my following of its progress. Just what will the other two universes be?

Metroid Other M Trailer With Gameplay Footage

2010-03-31T10:45:00.001+10:30

Finally all you Metroid fans have something to rejoice about, a brand spanking new trailer that actually shows the game in action and avoids things like story and character development in favor of lots of monsters meeting their untimely demise. Also Samus's suit comes out of her heart..or something? Trailer after the jump:

Video Games | Metroid: Other M | Gameplay Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The action looks fast and frenetic, exactly what I'd expect from a Metroid game, and the transition from third-person to first-person seemed smooth and well implemented. Samus also has some pretty cool take-downs and really ~~man~~ womanhandles some of those monsters into submission.

Finally a reason to brush off the dust from my Wii.

Just Cause 3 a Possibility

2010-03-30T23:53:00.001+10:30

Much to the dismay of explodable red barrels and oppressive Governmental forces everywhere. Developer Avalanche has stated that we "shouldn't be surprised" if we hear of another Just Cause title
soon. Studio Head Christofer Sundberg gave website Develop the goss.

The studio was in a joyful mood as Just Cause 2 secured the top spot on the UK game charts in its first week of release. That coupled with a Metacritic score of 81 has Avalanche breathing a sigh of relief and turning one eye to the future.

Sundberg, in the interview, not only talked about the possibility of a third game but the fact that a third game pretty much has to be made by Avalanche. He said that "the studio lives and breathes the Just Cause franchise, and handing that over to another developer would spoil it. No one has the attachment to this IP as we do." He believes that the studio has developed a strong connection, especially seeing as Sundberg himself pitched the original idea of the game. It is for these reasons that Sundberg stated "we are absolutely interested in working with the Just Cause IP again."

Even without playing the full version of Just Cause 2, I've only accessed the demo, news of a third already excites me. The demo was some of the most fun I've had in a game with it's crazy mix of open world sandbox gameplay and the unique grappling hook and parachute. The stunts and things you could do were, to an extent, limited by what you could come up with as there was a lot of variety, even in such a small portion of the game. If the game can secure a few more weeks in the charts, in the US as well as the UK, then a third will be pretty much a shoe-in. The game would have received enough of a financial and fan success to warrant a third game.

I agree with Sundberg's statement that the IP should stay with them and it will be interesting to see just Avalanche would do with a third shot. They managed to take some of the better elements of the first, like the grappling hook and parachute, and make them more fun and polished to give the game a good core. The driving, gunfights and voice acting were pretty average from my experience so hopefully these would be some of the main areas Avalanche would address in a third entry. In any case another opportunity to perform crazy grappling hook based exploding parachute stunts is fine with me.

Project Arbiter Trailer, Watch It!

2010-03-30T14:00:00.001+10:30

Every once in a while, as a movie fan, you see something that makes you feel good inside. Something that reminds you why you like watching movies so much and that their really is something almost magical to it. Project Arbiter just about gives you that feeling and something a little more. Seriously, watch this.

The trailer is for a 25 minute independent film that hasn't even begun full production yet, that doesn't start till May. It's written, directed and produced by Michael Chance along with a team of filmmakers who strive on making the highest quality films possible on a small budget.

The film is:

A sci-fi espionage story that demonstrates how a small quiet victory tips the balance of power and foretells the outcome of World War II.

Set in 1943 the story follows an experimental O.S.S unit that is codenamed Project Arbiter. The unit comprises the best the Allies have to offer which includes the protagonist, Joseph Colburn. Colburn has access to a prototype suit that can temporarily make him invisble and some experimental weaponry unlike anything that's been made before. Unfortunately those dastardly Nazi's, who they stole the tech from (take that!), still have the upper hand so Colburn is tasked with infiltrating a villa on the Polish border and finding out just what the Nazis are up to.

The trailer looks amazing, even without being in full production, and it instantly brings to mind Neill Blomkamp's Alive in Joburg and Halo 3 shorts in terms of quality and feel. Joburg and the Halo 3 ads are slightly better but remember this hasn't even begun production yet so it's rather amazing for that fact. The story is another interesting mix of real life (World War II, secret weapons) with fiction (prototype power suits) that if done well can be ridiculously entertaining. They could seriously come up with some crazy science fiction stuff because the idea of Nazi's scientist and secret weapons is a big one that hasn't been explored much.

It's also the type of film I'd like to see signed up for a full theatrical production and release but with the crew from the original kept intact. Maybe it'd be a candidate for Paramount's new studio Insurge which will give $100,000 to ten filmmakers and a theatrical release similar to Paranormal Activity. The trailer doesn't even give much a way but I can instantly see myself watching at least 25 minutes of it. The story and the visuals both capture your attention straight away, something a lot of Hollywood films struggle to do. If Captain America, in its first trailer, is half as exciting as this then I'll be ridiculously happy. The two films have a similar vibe and if this has been done on a shoestring budget with a dedicated team and looks brilliant Cap, with a massive budget, should be unbelievable.

It's moments like these that get me really excited about movies and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Red Dead Redemption Achievement List Revealed, Full of Manliness

2010-03-30T11:30:00.001+10:30

The full list of achievements/trophies for Rockstar's upcoming Western Red Dead Redemption has hit the web. The achievements include things like completing missions, winning at cards, finding weapons, breaking horses and killing grizzly bears. Seriously, killing freaking grizzly bears! Do it with just a knife and, well, you'll just feel better about yourself. Full list below:

Austin Overpowered
Complete Twin Rocks, Pike's Basin, and Gaptooth Breach Hideouts in Single Player.

Bearly Legal
Kill and skin 18 grizzly bears.

Buckin' Awesome
Break the Kentucky Saddler, the American Standardbred, and the Hungarian Half-bred.

Bullseye
Get 250 headshots in any game mode.

Clemency Pays
Capture a bounty alive.

Evil Spirits
Complete Tumbeweed and Tesoro Azul Hideouts in Single Player.

Exquisite Taste
Purchase a rare weapon from a gunsmith.

Fightin' Around the World
Knock someone out in melee in every saloon in the game in Single Player.

Friends in High Places
Use a Pardon Letter with more than $5,000 Bounty in Single Player.

Frontiersman
Obtain Legendary rank in any Single Player Ambient Challenge.

Go Team
Be on the winning team for four consecutive victories in any team based game in public matches

Gold Medal
Earn a Gold Medal Rank for a combat mission in Single Player.

Have Gun Will Travel
Complete all Hideouts in a single public Free Roam session

He Cleans Up Well!
Obtain the Elegant Suit.

High Roller
Win over 2,000 chips in a hand of Poker or Blackjack.

Hit the Trail
Get from Blackwater to Escalera before sundown in a public Free Roam session

How the West Was Won
Reach the top rank for multiplayer experience.

In a Hail of Bullets
Kill 500 enemies with any pistol or revolver in any game mode.

Instinto Asesino
Complete Fort Mercer and Nosalida Hideouts in Single Player.

Long Arm of Marston
Kill 500 enemies with any rifle, repeater, or shotgun in any game mode.

Man of Honor / Chivalry's Dead
Attain highest Fame rank and either highest Honor rank or lowest Honor rank.

More than a Fistful
Earn $10,000 in Single Player.

Most Wanted
Maintain a max wanted level for 10 minutes and escape alive in a public Free Roam session.

Mowing Them Down
Kill 500 enemies with a mounted weapon in any game mode.

No Dice
Complete a game of Liar's Dice without losing a single die.

People are Still Strange
Complete 15 tasks for Strangers.

Posse Up!
Create a posse and get the maximum number of members

Red Dead Rockstar
Kill a Rockstar or someone with this achievement in a public multiplayer match.

Redeemed
Attain 100% in the Single Player Game Completion stat.

Slow on the Draw
Get 10 assists in a single Hideout in a public Free Roam session

Strange Things are Afoot
Complete a task for a Stranger.

The Gunslinger
Get a headshot while in Expert Mode in Single Player.

The Quick and everyone else…
Be the top scoring player in any three consecutive FFA games in public matches

Unnatural Selection
Kill one of every animal species in the game in any game mode.

What About Hand Grenades?
Get a ringer in a game of Horseshoes in any game mode.

The game will also come with 13 secret achievements that Rockstar won't reveal till the game comes out on May 18th.

Awesome: Darth Vader Jay-Z Rap Mash-Up

2010-03-30T10:46:00.001+10:30

What happens when College Humor takes one of the best rappers of all time, Jay-Z, and combines him with one of the greatest movie villain's of all time, Darth Vader? Well you get Galactic Empire State of Mind, a combination of Jay-Z's lyrics and music with enough Star Wars jokes and observations to make you want to roll down the window of your car and cruise around the neighborhood, subs blaring.

Seriously, break-dancing Rebel Pilots, a super-fly Chewbacca (because there's no other type really) and Princess Leia playing the keyboard with hair bun headphones equals pure awesomeness. Lines like "He's on Dagobah with some dyslexic Jedi dude, right hand still got sliced through" and "Flying through the trenches blasting Rebel noobies, what happened to the fat one I think he died of heart disease" are just gold. A serious must watch.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Rumor: Rachel Weisz to head Quantum in Next Bond Film?

2010-03-30T10:27:00.000+10:30

CinemaBlend have apparently been given the inside scoop on who will head the organisation known as Quantum, the people responsible for all the death and destruction in Daneil Craig's James Bond life.

The news comes from one of Blend's most trusted sources but, once again, this is only a rumor. Also factor in the fact that MGM, the owners of the Bond franchise, are several billion dollars in debt and that just might affect the project in some way ie someone buying the Bond franchise off of them.

They’re considering Weisz to play the head of Quantum, the secret organization responsible for all the bad guy activity in the last two films. More than just another Bond babe, she’d be the mastermind pulling the strings behind everything that’s happened in Daniel Craig’s Bond movies so far, and the architect of James Bond’s suffering.

What we can tell you in this case is that our information comes from a reliable, proven source who’s broken numerous, since confirmed stories to us over a period of several years. For instance, it was this same source that was the first anywhere to break the news that Black Widow would be in Iron Man 2. But as with all rumors, even when they’re from a proven source like this one, it’s just rumor until it can be confirmed by a second, independent source.

They sight Weisz's friendship with both Craig and possible director Sam Mendes as extra reasons for her inclusion and her many public comments about having a role in a Bond film.

Weisz as a Bond villain? I certainly wouldn't hate that.

Hydrophobia PAX East Trailer

2010-03-29T18:42:00.000+10:30

Hydrophobia, apart from being a fear of water, is an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive game being developed by Dark Energy Digital. The game places a heavy focus on water, with the studio even developing an engine (HydroEngine) to accurately model the water the way they wanted it.

The game is slated for a 2010 release and the official website describes the game as follows:

"HydrophobiaTM is set in the near future when the world has become massively over-populated, and takes place onboard the "Queen of the World", a city sized ship which tours the globe and is home to the wealthy elite. An epic backstory reveals the rise of Malthusian politics as all eyes look to NanoCell, one of the Founding Fathers of the great vessel, who has vowed to develop the technology which will feed the burgeoning human population. As systems engineer Kate Wilson, you must use every tool at your disposal to survive and escape the flooding lower decks of the great vessel."

That is escape the flooding lower decks that have been created by a terrorist group setting off a bomb on the cruise ship. I'm not quite sure why a systems engineer has been chosen as the protagonist when clearly there are lots of terrorists that need killing and I'm pretty sure systems engineering doesn't teach you that (if it does I'm seriously on the wrong career path).

The graphics look good, for an Xbox Live release, but they aren't consistently good with certain screenshots and parts of the trailer looking rather unappealing. The trailer also didn't really showoff the water doing anything worthy of creating a whole new engine for which you'd think would be a focus for the marketing considering it's the games big selling point.

I did like the way the trailer was composed. As the horrible Eastern European voice over described the plight of the Hydrophobia universe the trailer showcased parts of the cruise ship that mirrored what he was talking about. It helped create a desperate mood in the game where creating a feeling of 'everything rests on your shoulders' will be key to its success. The game sounds like it could have some interesting gameplay elements like the ability to control and manipulate the water, engage enemies in and out of the water and use electricity or oil fires to take enemies down.

It at least looks to give Tomb Raider fans something to play or complain about until the new Tomb Raider comes out.

Rumor: Fresh Call of Duty 7 Details

2010-03-29T08:47:00.000+10:30

A fresh batch of Call of Duty 7 rumors have hit the web over the weekend. We already had the rumored release date of October from GAME but now a new release date and some gameplay details have emerged.

The game is apparently dubbed Black Ops as the player will undertake a series of Black Ops style missions in the time between the end of World War II and the present day. These missions, supposedly, will take place in a variety of locations like Cuba, South America, and Vietnam, Cold War hotspots.

The article also reveals that certain levels will see gamers playing as a member of the British SAS. This includes one level based in London where the SAS must infiltrate the Iranian Embassy.

The game is also set to include the popular zombie mode from World at War which sees players taking on wave after wave of marauding undead. If this is true it'll be interesting to see if the mode is given a title like Nazi Zombies had in World at War.

Finally, the game is set to re-introduce dedicated servers for online play and will be released in November. Modern Warfare 2 ditched dedicated servers for the PC, much to the dismay of gamers, but apparently they are going to re-introduce it.

Like I said the article is a rumor as none of this information has been confirmed and it all sounds fairly circumstantial. We know the game is set at least partly in Vietnam due to a casting call and some of the earliest rumors pointed at other Cold War locations while the SAS have been a COD favorite for some time. Zombies and dedicated servers also seem like givens so while this information may be true a lot of it is information that was already out there or at least suspected by gamers.

That being said the idea of going on Black Ops missions around the world would certainly be interesting and give Treyarch a chance to close the gap between it and Infinity Ward. The game would have various locations and settings, different enemies and possibly different weapons giving it a fresher feel than some of the other Treyarch games. Also zombies is just a given, it was the most addicting thing I have ever played. I'm expecting to hear Activision say 'we don't comment on rumor or speculation' anytime now.

Dead Space 2 Footage Emerges from PAX East

2010-03-29T08:28:00.000+10:30

The PAX East convention is taking place as we speak and it's a chance for many developers to set-up discussion panels for their games. The team at EA who are developing Dead Space 2 used the opportunity to sneak-in some gameplay footage of their highly anticipated Dead Space 2.

The quality is pretty poor because someone has just captured this off the screen but you get the general idea that this is going to be good. The graphics look good even in this poor quality and the game certainly has the horror feel of the first. The footage has you on top of a moving train, using some sort of hover tech and jumping from one train to the next. The background noise of the trains is also creepy as hell, I couldn't help thinking something was behind me and I wasn't even playing. Hopefully EA will release a proper trailer soon as I'm very interested in seeing more.

Rumor: Leaked Released Dates

2010-03-28T22:21:00.001+10:30

Gamers awaiting news on Activision titles like Call of Duty 7 and DJ Hero 2 may be in luck as VG247 has uncovered an internal memo from GAME that details some release dates for Xbox 360 titles. I say it's a rumour because most of these release dates haven't been mentioned before and are likely to change even if they are close to being on the money.

The list, of some of the more interesting titles, is as follows:

Band Hero 2 – October
Brink – September
Call of Duty 7 – October
Crysis 2 – September 24
Fallout: New Vegas – October
Guitar Hero 6 – September
Lego: Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4 – May 28
Singularity – June 28
Yoga Natal- October
Metal Gear Solid: Rising – Sept. 24th

It's interesting to note that DJ Hero 2 hasn't actually been officially announced it's just been stated that there will be another game in the series at some stage. Also the fact that the memo lists Max Payne 3 as having come out in May 09 and Mafia II as coming out in May 2010, when we know it's not, makes any release dates mentioned highly suspect but it's the weekend so there's not really a lot of other news going around. You check the list out at VG247 or head to Eurogamer if you want to read the standard PR responses of 'we do not comment on rumor or speculation'.

Last Airbender Trailer and TV Spot

2010-03-28T19:58:00.000+10:30

A few new trailers for the M. Night Shyamalan directed film The Last Airbender have hit the net. One of the trailers debuted during the same Kids Choice Award show that the Iron Man 2 TV spot aired on while the other one is the Japanese trailer for the film.

The trailers both show off a fair bit of the films element based action, which looks rather impressive. The Last Airbender world consists of four different nations: fire, water, earth and wind. The Fire nation are waging a war on the other nations in an attempt to control the world. Aang (the bald kid who is the focus of the film) is the last of his kind, an Avatar, who has the ability to use the power of all four elements.

In my opinion the Japanese trailer is so much better and begs the question, is everything better in Japanese? The trailer gives the movie a darker tone and the voice over is far more imposing and impressive in Japanese. Both trailers, though, make me rather interested in seeing this film even though I never watch the cartoon it is based on. It opens on July 2

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Live Action Trailer

2010-03-28T17:21:00.000+10:30

The live action trailer for the Ubisoft developed Ghost Recon: Future Soldier not only tells us that we should expect awesome things from the full 20 minute live action short film, but, that the words Russian and Ultranationalist are never going to end well for a large group of people.

The trailer showcases some futuristic looking technology that, surprisingly, isn't far from becoming reality. Those cloaking devices the Ghosts use are actually in the prototype phase at the moment with Ubisoft explaining that the current prototypes are used "to disrupt the enemy's vision using an array of cameras to film the direct surroundings and project it onto your body armour and clothes."

As far as the trailer goes, it's freaking epic and oh so cool. It could easily work as a promotional trailer for a film or a game as it really sets the tone and feel of the world. The action is well done and well paced due to the slow build up of radio messages back and forth resulting in lots of action happening very quickly. Also that tech they've got, like miniature shoulder mounted rocket launchers, is just beyond cool.

All in all it's quite possibly the best video game trailer I've ever seen and lets hope the game, when it's released in late 2010, lives up to the huge expectations the trailer is sure to create.

Video Games | Ghost Recon: Future Soldier | Ultranationalist Coup Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

New Iron Man 2 TV Spot

2010-03-28T17:06:00.000+10:30

Paramount Pictures have aired a new 30 second TV spot for Iron Man 2 during the Kids' Choice Awards. For only a 30 second trailer it manages to sneak in a few new scenes from the movie and generally enhance your excitement about seeing it on the 7th of May. It also contains a line you never thought you'd hear in a movie "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut". Pure awesome.

Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson while it is directed by Jon Favreau.

Attempted Review Is Back

2010-03-28T16:57:00.000+10:30

And not due to popular demand, wait that should probably say back due to popular demand. Anyway I've finally decided to get off my lazy ass and start writing things on here again and hopefully I'll have a little bit of help this time (fingers crossed). Things will probably be pretty slow to begin with and I will still be writing for the 8th Circuit but hopefully there will be some stuff posted on here every now and then.

Even More Other

2010-03-25T14:36:00.002+10:30

Fat Shark Studios Interview

New Releases 30/3-1/4

Videos

2010-03-25T11:02:00.013+10:30

Transformers War for Cybertron Multiplayer Customisation Trailer

New Kane & Lynch 2 Trailer With 20 Extra Seconds of Footage

Hilarious Online Modern Warfare 2 Ad

Iron Man 2 "It's Good To Be Back" Clip

Iron Man 2 I-MAX Experience Trailer

New A-Team Trailer

The Expendables Theatrical Trailer!

Teaser Trailer for Tomorrow When the War Began

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Debut Trailer

Metroid Other M Trailer With Gameplay Footage

Project Arbiter Trailer, Watch It!

Awesome: Darth Vader Jay-Z Rap Mash-Up

Hydrophobia PAX East Trailer

Dead Space 2 Footage Emerges from PAX East

Last Airbender Trailer and TV Spot

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Live Action Trailer

New Iron Man 2 TV Spot

Rumors

2010-03-25T11:00:00.007+10:30

E Online Article Has Awful Title and Captain America Gossip

Green Lantern Set Shot Abin Sur's Spaceship?

Rumor: Emily Blunt for Catwoman in Batman 3?

Best Rumor: Harrison Ford in Cowboys & Aliens

Rumor: Rachel Weisz to head Quantum in Next Bond Film?

Rumor: Fresh Call of Duty 7 Details

Rumor: Leaked Released Dates

Second Clash of the Titans Trailer Debuts

2009-12-17T19:10:00.000+10:30

After viewing the wickedly awesome Iron Man 2 trailer on Apple you might want to stick around. See the site is also the spot for the official debut of a second, longer Clash of the Titans trailer which you can view here.

Like the first trailer, this trailer uses a hard rock track as its backing and the mixers have to be commended as it really gets your heart pumping and your excitement up as you watch the trailer. It starts off light in the background as some of the key characters try to explain a bit of what's going on. Then as the action in the trailer starts to build up the music gets louder, faster and more intense to reflect this.

I'm pretty sure I saw glimpses of Danny Huston as Poseidon and Ralph Fiennes as Ares, we saw Liam Neeson as Zeus in the first trailer, but they were very quick glances so it was hard to tell. In addition to another look at the Medusa, giant scorpions and winged harpy creatures we saw in the first trailer there was a disfigured giant, a Pegasus (I'm not sure if there was only ever one in Greek mythology but there was a winged horse all the same) and finally, the mother of all crazy ass creatures, a huge ass Kraken monster. This one made the Pirates of the Carribean Kraken look like a baby, it was freaking massive. That will certainly be one epic battle between Perseus and the Kraken and was the highlight of the trailer. At least we know there will be some variety to Perseus's enemies in the film.

A Clash of the Titans and Iron Man 2 trailer in the same day is almost too much awesome for one day. Luckily Apple didn't think so and we can sit back, relax and enjoy two kick ass trailers. Clash of the Titans is in cinemas March 26, 2010.

Iron Man 2 Trailer Online

2009-12-17T18:36:00.000+10:30

It seems that footage that Entertainment Tonight had of Iron Man 2 was all from the trailer that will air with Sherlock Holmes when that film is in cinemas. How do I know this? Well the good people over at Apple have a fancy smancy dedicated to Iron Man 2 which has the films trailer on it. Head on over now and check it out.

The trailer runs for 2:28 and it is just jam-packed with awesomeness. Mickey Rourke's Whiplash seems to have a vendetta against Stark for all the wrongs his company has done and I'm thinking there could be some connection between the two characters fathers, both seem to have issues with their fathers who were both famous men of science and industry, who knows? Those whips certainly looked cool in action, the sound was just amazing, and I certainly wouldn't want to make any 'Whip It' jokes when he is around. Stark (Downey Jr) has certainly embraced his public hero role hosting a Stark Expo which he rocketed into in the Iron Man armour but this makes him a very public target for anyone with a grudge, evidenced by Whiplash attacking Stark not Iron Man at a car race. Black Widow and Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel Jackson respectively, appear briefly and give nothing away as to their part in the film. The trailer ends with Iron Man and War Machine going back to back as they take on a slew of robot enemies, possibly minions of Justin Hammer rival business man (?), and War Machine unloads with several mini-guns, that's right several, pure awesome.

All I can say is watch the trailer, get excited and start counting down the days till May 7 2010.

New Alice In Wonderland Trailer and Iron Man 2 Footage

2009-12-17T08:56:00.000+10:30

Over night some pretty cool new footage for two highly anticipated films hit the net. Firstly there was some new footage for the Iron Man 2 movie that aired in an Entertainment Tonight TV spot. The footage showed a glimpse of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash and we also got to see War Machine in action!! Let me just say that the two of them looked freaking amazing. Favreau promised there would be more action in the sequel and this footage certainly showed a bit more action.

The other trailer that hit was a new trailer for Alice in Wonderland. This trailer, to me, was to serve one purpose and that was to distance this version of Alice in Wonderland from all existing versions. It seemed far more epic and dark than any Alice movie I'd see and resembled more of what I've seen in video game and comic book adaptations than in movies. Also is that war that I see in Wonderland? Man that certainly has me excited.

Gibson+ DiCaprio+ Vikings= Win

2009-12-14T22:45:00.000+10:30

Seriously there is no other way that equation can work out. Mel Gibson, the current period epic specialist, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Viking enthusiast and one of the best performing actors of the time (Shutter Island is getting rave reviews as we speak), together on a Viking epic can only work out well for us, the audience.

Early reports from Variety are light on details but they do believe that Gibson will direct DiCaprio in a Viking period drama that will be every bit as unforgiving as Apocalypto and Passion of the Christ were. Departed writer William Monahan is writing the script for the film which is supposed to begin filming next year and Departed producer Graham King is also attached to the project.

Empire aren't so sure Gibson will direct as he is supposedly scouting prison sets at the moment for an unknown movie so Gibson's role could be seen in more of a producing capacity or who knows maybe we'll get lucky and see Gibson and DiCaprio take on the roles of Vikings.

Anyway regardless of whether Gibson directs or not producer Graham King has pretty much promised it will have the same feel as Gibson's other period pieces saying that "This will be an awe-inspiring story, created with some of the industry’s finest cinematic talent, and I am just over the moon to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill.”

I've been waiting for Gibson to return to the period epics he seems to excel at. I loved Apocalypto, I thought it was an amazing film with purely awe inspiring imagery and remarkable performances from some unknowns. I feel giddy thinking about Gibson getting to work with another fantastic culture with a penchant for amazing imagery and throw in some actors we actually know and this could be a brilliant film.

I'll keep you posted on any further details like plot or Gibson's actual role with the film.

Spike TV Video Game Award Premieres

2009-12-13T19:22:00.000+10:30

The Spike TV Video Game Awards were a popular event but not just for the awards. The event saw a slew of debut trailers for new and existing games which will have gamers excited about the future.

First off there are some trailers for a few new modern warfare games. No I'm not confused and stating there'll be new Call of Duty games (although we all no there will be), I'm just talking about some new games that are set in the modern theater with a Middle Eastern focus. There's EA's long awaited return of the Medal of Honour series which had already been announced earlier but without a trailer. The game is set in Afghanistan and players control members of the Tier 1 Operator group a real life unit, which is literally made up of the best of the best. Unfortunately the trailer made the game seem ridiculously the same as Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare yet not as impressive. There was a black and white scene from a gunship, ATVs that you could perform knife kills on, lots of sand, explosions and bad assery except it didn't seem as polished and looked graphically inferior to Activisions popular but in a nice finish which actually sparked my interest the team members booted a hostage out of a window because he was rigged with explosives. It was a nice end to the trailer but EA will have to show something spectacular to distance itself from Modern Warfare.

Video Games | Spike TV VGAs 2009 | Medal of Honor Exclusive Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The other shooter set in the 'modern' period that debuted at the VGAs was Spec Ops The Line. This trailer seemed to blend more actual gameplay in the trailer as well as some cinematics. The game is also a third person shooter which is a change of focus from Call of Duty and Medal of Honour. The game takes place in post apocalyptic Dubai were the remnants of great skyscrapers dot the land and the ever changing sands are just as dangerous as those who are trying to kill you. 2K studios are publishing the game for the 360, PlayStation 3 and PC and the games site describes it as a challenge to "players' morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations where unimaginative choices affecting human life must be made."

This trailer really impressed me with its gorgeous graphics, use of Gears of War style cover and destructible environments. This means players will have to be mindful of their surroundings as things can change on the fly, either through destruction or through a shifting in the sands. Given the voice over and the imagery portrayed the game also seems to have an interesting and as they say morally challenging story. Few other details are known but the trailer is certainly worth watching.

Video Games | Spike TV VGAs 2009 | Spec Ops: The Line Exclusive Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

A couple of sequels to successful titles were also announced at the show. They were both sequels to games I have purchased, played and loved so I am very happy. The sequels are to Batman: Arkham Asylum and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Arkham Asylum hinted towards a grander scale in the sequel. The Joker has survived the first game and returned, this time he's on the loose in Gotham City. With Harlequin at his side The Joker is seen weary and hooked up to a blood pack and after laughing manically at the carnage his goons are wrecking in Gotham he coughs and splutters. There are also hints that Two Face, aka Harvey Dent, will make an appearance in this game as there are modified Uncle Sam posters in the trailer and on the official website. The grander scale is a nice touch as the Asylum felt a little cramped at times. Managing a bigger backdrop will prove difficult for Rocksteady but will also give them the chance to implement new features like possibly some of Batman's vehicles and give him plenty of new hiding places. I also hope they improve on the fighting system because while it was impressive to watch it was kind of boring to implement. No word on a release date but a game like this will require a long production time which fans are sure to appreciate as it will ensure, to a degree, that the game reaches and possibly excels the success of the first game.

Video Games | Spike TV VGAs 2009 | Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Exclusive Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The other sequel, Force Unleashed, did not have as impressive a debut trailer as the original did. It focuses of Starkiller who has somehow managed to survive the incidents of the first game. He is seen walking down a corridor as the voices of Toda and Darth Vader fill the air. They appear to be two sides of an internal struggle which is plaguing Starkiller and obscuring his future. He is then startled at the end by Juno Eclipse's voice and her questioning of whether she'll see him again. He appears to focus after this and then enters a huge gladiatorial arena. He stops in front of a huge, and I mean huge, door where the body of a Rancor is thrown out of. After the Rancor body makes the trademark squeal from Return of the Jedi an even bigger Rancor, possibly 5 or 10 times bigger than a normal one, appears and it is angry. Starkiller then takes off his black robe and charges up his arms and hands with electricity ready to fight. The screen turns black, we hear Yoda again and then Starkiller is seen with dual lightsabers launching himself at the Super Rancor. Like I said it's not as impressive as the original games debut trailer, the guy took down a Star Destroyer just with the force, but it is still an impressive trailer and the promise of dual lightsabers is great. I'm also really interested to find out some story details on this one. The first games story was very good in my opinion, the idea of the Emperor and Vader starting the Rebellion was very cool and unexpected and now it will be in full swing. Meanwhile Starkiller will be seeking out Juno, who as I recall is expecting a baby, and revenge against Vader.

Video Games | Spike TV VGAs 2009 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Exclusive Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Finally the most anticipated announcement was surely the revealing of a new trailer for Halo Reach. So little was known about the game as the announcement trailer gave away nothing except that it was on the planet Reach and would feature Spartans. The new trailer, which hasn't officially been released, seems to confirm that squad gameplay will be the focus as the lead Spartan says "No more of that lone wolf stuff" and another Spartan asks if this is the "new #6". Looks like you will play a new edition to a squad of Spartans who had acted alone like Master Chief up until now. The trailer also showed off some new armour, Reach is the research planet so there could be a lot of cool new stuff, what is believed to be a Hornet helicopter (the Halo equivalent of a Black Hawk in my opinion) and one bad ass Spartan with a skull decorated helmet ala Army of Two with a freaking huge knife. Could this be a hint at knife based melee combat in Reach? Here's hoping as it is a feature which is surely missing, especially given the fact that knives are visible in the game but unusable. The trailer finished up with a snarling Elite wielding an energy sword and left me wanting more. The graphics did look like an improvement on Halo 3, which is a good sign, and seemed to hint at a change in style from lone wolf to squad based that could revitalise the series.

Video Games | | Halo: Reach VGA Reveal

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

So there you have it, the best bits from the Spike Video Game Awards and its impressive array of new game footage.

New Transformers Game Actually Good?

2009-12-12T12:53:00.000+10:30

More Transformers: War for Cybertron News & Previews

The game, dubbed Transformers: War for Cybertron, is being developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC by High Moon Studios and will be published by Activision. The game is set for release in 2010 and has people excited about a Transformers game for the first time, well ever.

The game, in its design, is a cross between the classic 80's TV show and the Michael Bay live action movies. As far as gameplay the developers are seeking inspiration from the highly successful Gears of War franchise, utilizing the third person over the shoulder shooter style that the Gears series made popular. Where War for Cybertron differs from the Gears series is in its reliance on cover. The Gears series places huge importance on cover. The run and gun style, which many first person shooters rely on, is fairly ineffective in Gears and using cover is vital to staying alive. War for Cybertron will place less importance on cover due to the Transformers ability to transform. If a battle gets too intense just transform and get on out of there, taking the battle to a new place and shifting the focus from patient brute force battles to a focus on agility, speed and careful timing of transformations.

As the trailer points out the game takes place before the Transformers have landed on Earth and High Moon have developed an entirely new storyline, one which hasn't appeared in a TV show or comic before, for the game. This also explains the designs of the Transformers, as they haven't reached Earth yet they can't transform into Mac trucks and Abrams tanks so they resemble the Cybertron equivalent whilst keeping their classic colour scheme. Players will be able to play two different single player campaigns, one for the Autobots and one for the Decepticons, which will have intertwining storylines. I'm guessing the Decepticons will be trying to make some weapon or something and the Autobots will be trying to stop them and you'll play both sides of the story. There are also promises of online co-op, a staple of the industry right now, and various other modes, I'm assuming online multiplayer.

Like most people I'm itching for a good Transformer game. The idea, giant battling robots who can transform into vehicles, just screams video game but so far we have been disappointed. High Moon's trailer looks promising, Optimus Prime slicing a Decepticon in half with a battle axe is just pure awesome, but until we see some actual gameplay footage and get a few more details I'm skeptical. I don't want to be sucked in to the hype to then find out the game is terrible but here's hoping it'll be good. Currently the website just has a countdown and a sign up button to receive further details when they become available.

Whip It, Whip It Good With New Iron Man 2 Poster

2009-12-11T11:42:00.001+10:30

Check out the debut of the new Iron Man 2 poster which gives us another look at Mickey Rourke as the villain Whiplash. The poster lets us see Whiplashes weapons which remind me of the beam from the Ghostbusters weapons. They also look rather formidable and Whiplash looks like he'll be a handful for Iron Man.

Whiplash also seems to be a little bit obsessed with Tony Stark and Iron Man with all the articles on the wall. I'm not sure about the story but quite possibly Justin Hammer, a rival businessman, supplies Whiplash with the armour and weapons so Whiplash can assassinate Stark/Iron Man. It'll be interesting to see whether this obsession is part of the movie or just used in the poster to show that Rourke is the villain to Stark.

The movie opens May 7 2010 and has an all star cast including Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling, John Slattery, Kate Mara, Clark Gregg and Olivia Munn.

'Red Dawn' Like 'Call of Duty', 'Gears of War' Like 'Cloverfield'

2009-12-09T00:24:00.000+10:30

Everyone loves a comparison, it lets people imagine what a prospective new movie could possibly be like while raising interest and expectations among fans. Two projects have just been given some pretty big comparisons today.

Firstly, MGM honcho Mary Parent, speaking after the THR Women in Hollywood Power 100 breakfast, had an interesting take on the first footage she's seen of the 'Red Dawn' remake. She believes that first time director Don Bradley, who had previously been a stunt coordinator, "has really outdone himself" and created a film which plays like "a live-action Call of Duty" film.

Now that is a pretty big comparison to make for the film, which hits screens next November. The two Modern Warfare games are regarded as some of the best games ever and to compare a movie to those games will create some high expectations for that first bit of footage we get to see. If the film truly is like a live-action Call of Duty then it is going to be insane and only fuel the fires for a proper Call of Duty movie but if it tanks these lofty expectations could be part of the problem.

Gears of War producer Wyck Godfrey has set his comparative heights a little lower than Parent. He believes that the Gears of War movie could be a lot like the sleeper hit Cloverfield, with a focus on surviving the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event (in this case Emergence Day).

Godfrey goes on to explain why Cloverfield is the best comparison, "I think we really want to focus on the idea of a world that's running well and then [clicks fingers] it's Emergence Day. And make it impactful and immediate and [about] those 48 hours as people survive Emergence Day. It's more like Cloverfield or something like that, because trying to tell the epic story of an alien planet that's living in a horrific environment just feels like the wrong mood right now."

This sort of comparison sounds cool and they've clearly put some thought into how they want the movie to look and feel. Setting it around Emergence Day and giving it a immediate, horrific catastrophe feel instead of a war feel sounds interesting and will help to distance the film somewhat from the game so people won't be able to say "That's not how it happened in the game." The Cloverfield comparison makes me think of the rough, jerky, handheld style filming which I actually like but I can't see them implementing that style as much as Cloverfield did. Anyway it'll be interesting to see what Underworld and Die Hard 4.0 director Len Wiseman does with the project.

So there you have it, two comparisons for two new projects. Are they over bold statements on a movie that won't deliver or are they the sort of comments that have made this a must see movie for you or at least aroused your interest?

Tarantino On Comic Book Movies

2009-12-05T23:18:00.000+10:30

Quentin Tarantino, one of the most creative and imaginative directors of our time, has long been the focus of studios looking to set up a mainstream tentpole franchise. Over the years he has been offered numerous projects and in the wake of DC's Green Lantern project finally getting off the ground Tarantino has broken his silence about his connection to the project.

"I was offered the 'Green Lantern,' " Tarantino told MTV News. "Not since it's been a script, but just like, 'Hey we own the 'Green Lantern.' Would you like it?'"

Obviously he denied the chance to direct the project which is now being helmed by Martin Campbell and will star Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern. The idea that Tarantino would be interested in helming a comic book film is not too farfetched. In the MTV interview he elaborates on his earlier life, during his 20s, and at that stage, while he worked at a video store, comic book movie were the only thing he wanted to see,

"there's a little part of me that's like, 'Wow, if I was in my 20s, this would be the genre I'd want to specialize in, but they weren't making them then, or at least not the right ones. But there also is an aspect where I've kind of outgrown that a little bit."

That comment about outgrowing comic book movies does not spell the end for a possible Tarantino comic book film. On the contrary he goes on to say that while he is now in his 40s and the idea of developing an already established franchise is less appealing than in his younger days due to having "to fight with geeks' memories of how this character should be and, 'Oh, I cast an actor as opposed to a bodybuilder' or it's not as good as the way [DC Comics artist] Neal Adams drew him,'" the idea of a superhero movie still interests him. Tarantino says "It wouldn't be an existing comic book character," because he's a writer and would want to use his own imagination so he could "have the fun of coming up with the superhero myself."

I think a Tarantino created superhero and corresponding supervillain would be amazing. He has already given us so many memorable characters like Bill, The Bride, Aldo Raine, Mr Blonde and Col Hans Landa proving he has a knack for character creation. Then think of a memorable character like that with freaking super powers or at least some mad skills. Plus it would probably be the most violent and darkest super hero film, giving us something decidedly adult along the lines of Sin City which would be a nice change from the tentpole hero pics which are trying to cater to the biggest audience possible (The Dark Knight being the exclusion here). Once again this is just an idea, Tarantino musing on past offers, but to me it sounds like a very cool idea and certainly one that he should explore a little bit more.

This Is Just Getting Old

2009-12-04T21:14:00.001+10:30

The practice of banning highly anticipated games here in Australia due to the failed video game ratings system is becoming commonplace. We all know about Left 4 Dead 2 getting butchered by the ratings board due to excessive violence and gore and now the Australian edited version is a hollow skeleton of its former self, garnering 5 out of 10 from sites that also reviewed the original American version and gave that one a 9.

Now the ratings board has struck again this time hitting SEGA's Aliens vs. Predator. The game, which allows players to control 3 different races with 3 unique fighting styles (I can't remember if I read that the Predalien hybrid was playable or not so there's at least 3 races), is one of the most anticipated games of the New Year due to its multiplayer potential and varied campaigns. Unfortunately the games depiction of the violence, horror and gore which made the films the games is based on so popular has resulted in it being refused classification due to its failure to fall within the MA 15+ classification, the highest we've got due to

"first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat, or eyes,"

SEGA Australia have stated that "We will continue to investigate all options available to us, including the possibility of appeal."At least this time Australia isn't the only one missing out as SEGA haven't even bothered to release the game in Germany as they believe the game will require far too many alterations to get a salable rating there. The game was set to be released in February and from what I'd seen it looked freaking awesome due to its blending of the 3 distinct styles of gameplay from the Aliens, Predators and human Marines to create a unique gaming experience. Seriously how cool would that multiplayer be, 1 player a Predator the rest Aliens to see who is the best hunter or a survival mode where Marines have to fend off waves of Aliens. Freaking sweet, Check out the gameplay footage to judge the awesomeness for yourself. Unfortunately this is all I'll have to go on depending on how much is cut from the Australian release and once again the gamers lose out to nanny politics.

Video Games | Aliens vs Predator | Teaser Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The Future of Sports Video Games

2009-12-04T21:04:00.002+10:30

....or at least this bloggers pipedream.

I enjoy both sports games, especially Madden and FIFA, as well as many other genres like first person shooters and real time strategy. The sports genre is a lucrative one due to its guaranteed fan bases and yearly sequels but as a fan I think some changes could be in order. While my enjoyment is unquestioned, the ability to live out your greatest sporting fantasies is always pleasing, I have a few suggestions for how the genre, especially the American sports like ice hockey, baseball, basketball and the Madden juggernaut could be improved.

My main point is that the career modes in the respective codes should be an adequate representation of a career in that sport. By that I mean games like NCAA Football and Madden should be combined to create one game. While this idea will be poison to companies like EA who churn out the college and pro versions of several sports, increasing their ability to make money, it would certainly, in my opinion, be a hit with fans.

My overall idea, which by no means is perfect, would see the player chose to become either a coach or a player within the game world. If they chose the role of a player then they are immediately thrust into the final stretch of the high school football season, the last 3 games or something. The player would partake in the games and would be allocated experience points and attribute points ala traditional RPGs and the raft of online massively multiplayer role playing sports games like Goal Line Blitz, Blue Line Attack and 11 Strong. In that career the player would be given one shot at these games, against tough opposition to determine there college interest; play well you garner more attributes and make yourself more attractive to scouts, struggle and your interest will go down and your starting college attributes won't be as high. The player will then be given a choice of interested colleges but if the school you'd like to attend is not interested then you can forgo a scholarship and play as a walk-on. This will affect your status on the team as you could give up a starting position on a lesser team by attempting to make it on a more prestigious team. The game here would then implement elements of FIFA's Be A Pro feature. If the player is not first string then they would play on the scout team and in training scrimmages instead of in the weekly games. This way the player would continue to gain experience, although not as much as playing in actual games, and attributes and eventually good performances would lead to a starting role. Sit around too long and you can transfer out to another program but incur the penalty of not being able to gain any match xp just training xp.

Once the player becomes a starter or if they were a sought after recruit and were always a starter elements like pre and post game interviews would come in to play ala the Football Manager series. Comments the player makes in the media would affect team and player morale. For instance demanding to be the centre of attention would boost your morale, possibly affecting performance, but affect the teams morale and chemistry. Conversely shunning your star status and praising the team would result in better team morale and chemistry and a better team performance. These media interactions would also affect your non-physical attributes like temper, composure and teamwork. In this respect flying off the handle in interviews would raise your temper, resulting in a higher chance of being ejected from a game and a decrease in composure during games. These mental attributes would play a major role in your players performance when you elect to sim a game instead of playing it yourself and could also result in study violations or other penalties/benefits depending on their makeup.

Bonus xp games could also be unlocked through all American nominations etc and the combine, draft camp or equivalent would also be a place to gain bonus xp. At the camp/combine a standard amount would be determined but an exceptional leap or agility result would grant you extra xp, like some Madden titles, which could be vital if you were a walk on with low draft prospects.

The pros would work much the same as college in regards to your roster status ie training games instead of actual games and also your xp gains would start to shrink as your player gets older, once again similar to FIFA's Be a Pro. Mental attributes here could once again affect your personal life with drug and other elements seeping into your players lifestyle if their mental attributes are in a certain setting.

On the coaching side of the game the player would be given an option of creating a new unique coach or continuing on the player you created in the game. I realise this would be a stretch for the engine creating a game that would sim and create, what could be 50+ seasons but I think the next gen tech could do it if given the chance.

Players who play through a players career and then coach would be given some benefits for their commitment. In the pros the last team they played for would give them a chance, a prolonged chance (yes you could get fired) compared to other teams and the player would have greater connections at his alma mater ie a better scouting report on potential draftees. If they choose to coach in college the same benefits would apply, the coach's alma mater would give them more support and a longer chance during tough times and the coach would have an advantage in recruiting players from his high school. Former team mates, who are now coaches, would also be more inclined to accept contracts from you depending on the status of your team morale and chemistry while you were on the team.

The usual coach roles would also be included like recruiting (players would choose what games they scout for players), trades, training etc. The main change to coaching would be interviews which would once again affect your player's morale and chemistry. Player interaction, which would be especially important in college as you could talk to a player who is thinking of transferring and attempt to persuade him to stay, would be another new feature while coaches would be given the opportunity to offer up extra money (from their career earnings) for better coaches ala Sean Payton or improvements to facilities and coaches would have the ability to move between coaching in the pros and in college.

Finally everyone's favourite feature from the NCAA series, create a school, would also be included opening up a whole bunch of other possibilities.

Players, in these sorts of games, would be given the greatest depth possible a sports game could offer and would experience a level of engagement and involvement that would make other games jealous. I'll admit that the idea of a career spanning 50+ years/seasons is ambitious and some of the flow on effects could be hard to implement and some players may not be attracted to it but the prospect of completing an entire sporting career from relative start to finish is rather cool in my opinion. It would be a revolution in sports gaming in my opinion and certainly much more than a roster update.

Iron Man 2 Poster With War Machine

2009-12-01T23:51:00.000+10:30

It's a freaking Iron Man 2 poster, the first Iron Man 2 poster, that not only shows us Iron Man in his fancy new suit but gives fans something to salivate over with the inclusion of War Machine aka James Rhodes Tony Stark's friend and fellow armour wielding super hero. War Machine just looks freaking sweet with his shoulder cannon and hopefully we'll see plenty of instances where the two of them are battling it out against the bad guys. The poster also confirms the release for the movie, May 7 2010. Look on in amazement!

Comic Book Movie News

2009-11-26T11:49:00.000+10:30

With the success of Iron Man and the rebooting of the Batman franchise comic books have become the hottest property in Hollywood with producers and studios racing around to snap up the next big thing. This has seen Hollywood enlist mainstream, well known characters like Thor, Captain America and the Green Lantern along with some of the lesser known, independent or underground characters like Jonah Hex or The Goon. What it means is we can't go a day without some piece of comic book movie news hitting the web and today I've got a bit of a collection of information for you.

Ryan Reynolds Interview- First up there's an interview with Ryan Reynolds over at MTV. The bulk of that interview happens to be about the actors roles in not one but TWO comic book films, DC's The Green Lantern and Marvel's Deadpool. Read the interview to see what he has to say, apparently the Green Lantern costume is pretty damn cool.

MTV: When you take a look at this year, does it feel like, in the scheme of things, it's a landmark year, personally or professionally?

Reynolds: It's been probably the most unbelievable year of my life. Starting with setting some goals that I didn't think would be possible several years before, running a marathon, getting married -- the year has been incredible, all across the board. The fact that "Green Lantern" is something that's about to get going full-steam pretty soon, and then there is "Deadpool" on the horizon as well. If you asked me if this would be happening three years ago, I would have kick-f---ed you back to where you were from.

MTV: All these things we're talking about are things you set in motion. You pursued them, you kind of went after them. Does that make it a little bit more gratifying?

Reynolds: It's incredibly validating and gratifying when you can see that you can manifest something that you desperately want or a goal that you have. This is a difficult industry to get anything made, let alone a passion project, so when you see people understand what your vision is and come aligned with that common goal, it's pretty cool. I'm including all the creative types that are actually involved with "Deadpool" and "Green Lantern," because those guys want to make an authentic movie, and that's something a few years ago studios disregarded.

MTV: You have done everything from a publicity tour with Betty White to trying on the Green Lantern costumes. So, in looking back at the year, is there a moment that sums it up, that encapsulates what 2009 was about?

Reynolds: I think, seeing the prototypes for the Green Lantern costumes was a huge moment. It was a moment when I was like, "This is happening, and it's happening in the right way." That's a pretty cool, definitive moment for me.

MTV: Were you happy with the incarnation of Wade Wilson and Deadpool in "Wolverine"? Do you think you captured what you wanted to in the first look at Wade?

Reynolds: Yeah, I think the initial moment of the sequences that involve Wade, I think it did. It's always difficult to fully embrace something that isn't perfect, in terms of staying true to the source material. So it was a little bit frustrating. I really wanted to play Wade, and I really wanted to play Deadpool, and it would kill me to see someone else play them. I had a kind of ham-fisted attitude that it had to be perfect, but it doesn't. The movie's called "Wolverine," it's not called "Deadpool" or "Wade." I thought it was a nice little wink and tip of the hat to things to come. Finding the tone of that character alone is such a difficult prospect. I've been in so many meetings lately about "Deadpool" and meeting all these writers. Everyone is always looking for that one line, "What is that character?" and for me it's kind of like, "There's a guy, and he's in a highly militarized comedic fame spiral." That's not an easy thing to write -- an entire screenplay, let alone a franchise. I had a blast playing Wade. Every line I had in that was stuff I thought he would say. It wasn't something that a writer said to me. It was fun to really create that character, including everything he spits out of his awful mouth.

MTV: Does your love of "Green Lantern" and Hal Jordan go back far?

Reynolds: I've known about "Green Lantern" my whole life, but I've never really followed it before. I fell in love with the character when I met with [director] Martin Campbell. When I sat down with him, I really got what it is that this guy is all about. When you have a guy like Martin Campbell, part of his charm is that he has ba--s of titanium, and the other part is that he's slightly crazy, and you have to be to take on something with the scope of "Green Lantern." He's less of the director and more of a general. He just really knows strategies, he knows the intricacies, and his attention to detail! It's infectious. I sat down with him, and I could not even believe what he was saying. When I went to the meeting, I was entirely cynical. I thought, "What the hell, I'll see what they have to say," and I left the room with a completely different perspective.

Thor- Come on you knew Thor was going to be in this post somewhere, the movie is clogging up the newsrooms with it's many casting rumours and confirmations and this tidbit once again has to do with a character from the film. For once, though, it's not a case of who is playing the character but whether that character will even be in the film. Variety, today, reported that ""Thor," scripted by Mark Protosevich, Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller, centers on a partly disabled med student who discovers his Norse god alter ego, the hammer-swinging Thor." In Marvel history that disabled med student is Donald Blake but through sources at Ain't it Cool News it's believed that Blake will not be in the film. Surely they wouldn't create a new character with the same description and story as Blake? Ain't it Cool News also have a heap of potential spoilers from an as yet UNTRUSTED source who claims to have seen the script for Thor. They confirm Blake's role while also dishing out other spoilers from Thor and some details on The Avengers. Remember, while this is an UNTRUSTED source, there could still be spoilers so read on at your own discretion.

* The film starts with the 6 warriors (Thor, Loki, the Warriors 3 and Sif) in Asgard, OdinHopkins on the throne, etc.
* Loki is adopted, hence the black hair.
* Loki kills his dad, usurping the throne, Thor is cast out to Earth.
* Thor lands in a desert, and is promptly run over (literally) by Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgard, a PhD cosmology student and her Norwegian professor, who have gone out to study though telescopes a strange cloud in the cosmos.
* When they realize that Thor is who he says he is, Stellan, who has grown up with Norse mythology, can't quite deal with it and goes out on a drinking binge.
* The script closes with a 5-page battle. The fighting styles for Thor and Loki are, as you'd expect, markedly different, Thor being very much about raw strength, Loki being much more about motion, grace and intelligence. The closing battle will be the first thing they film.

Avengers:

* Loki is one of, if not the key [“Avengers”] bad guy.
* The [“Avengers”] film opens with 20 minutes of Loki basically entrapping/brainwashing Banner, and in so doing gaining control of the Hulk for his own nefarious deeds. This spurs the Avengers into existence.

Like I said this is an UNTRUSTED source so think what you will of the 'spoilers' here. I do like the idea of a couple of the villains teaming up in Avengers, Tim Roth stated Abomination may make an appearance, and without going the alien route The Hulk would be something that would be big enough to require a team of heroes. Then they could blast him off into space and they could do a Planet Hulk film and then a World War Hulk film....Okay so they are just my crazy dreams for the character but hey, it could happen. The naming of Skarsgard in a role is interesting because while it was rumoured a few months ago he would star nothing has been said since. AICN, and I would have to agree, believe this could be a measuring stick as to how trusted the source is. If we hear Skarsgard confirmed as a professor then there could very well be something to these spoilers.

Hex and Losers Photos- Finally we just have few pretty, okay the Hex one isn't so pretty, pictures from two comic book movies The Losers and Jonah Hex.

Both films are set to come out in 2010 and will give some lesser known comic books a chance at the big screen. Personally I'm far more interested in Hex, the story of a disfigured bounty hunter in the deep south.

Youth In Revolt Trailer Features Double the Cera Action

2009-11-25T23:04:00.000+10:30

That's double the Michael Cera action, the undisputed king of the geeky, awkward yet somehow cool and funny teenage males who manage to get the hot, sometimes equally geeky and funny teenage girl.

In Youth in Revolt, based on the novel by C.D Payne, Cera continues to play the geeky, awkward teen he is known for. This time round it is Nick Twisp a teen who enjoys Sinatra and Fellini while everyone around him, including his divorced, seem to be getting some action. Nick, as it usually goes, finds the girl of his dreams in the free-spirited Sheeni Saunders played by Portia Doubleday who is making her biggest appearance in a film to date. Thing is Sheeni has a boyfriend and among other complications which keep the two apart. To win Sheeni over Nick creates a rebellious alter ego called Francios who sports a moustache, cigarette and penchant for mayhem along with a desire to do anything to make Sheeni his girl. The film has a great accompanying cast including Justin Long, Zac Galifianakis, Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta.

I liked seeing Cera as Francois because it is something different for him, he's able to act differently and show that he's not just the awkward, funny teen. Personally I love all these coming of age comedy/romance films. They are good for a few laughs, you don't have to think about anything, they usually have an amazing soundtrack and are generally just enjoyable to watch. Youth in Revolt looks to fit this formula and it will certainly be a film I'll end up seeing. It's released January 15, 2010.

Interview with a Developer Part 2

2009-11-25T20:57:00.001+10:30

The long awaited second installment of my interview with Igor Hardy aka Hardy Dev, an independent games developer, is finally finished. Igor is currently busy with several projects, hence the delay, but I'm glad he has finally been able to finish the interview we started. Igor's answers are very in-depth and interesting and I thank him for his time. Check out his site, "A Hardy Developer's Journal", after you've finished reading the interview.

8. What are the game/games you are most looking forward to? Why?

This will be a bit tough as there are very few upcoming releases that I ever think about in any way. There is only so much thinking about you can do, and I prefer to focus what is going on in the now.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the new games that Deidra Kiai, Johnathan Blow, 2D Boy are currently working on. I simply liked their previous titles. Plus, they seem to be doing something a bit different than before.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to when Vince Twelve will be finished with his adventure game Resonance (he recently submitted a rough version to IGF). It is meant to bring some really cool innovations to the adventure game genre (collecting hotspots in memory deposits etc), and judging by the author's previous works it will be not only experimental, but also very professionally crafted. I'm also expecting a lot from The Cat Lady by Remigiusz Michalski as I was highly impressed how his premiere game Downfall manipulated the player's mind with things like choices to make etc. I want to experience something similar again.

I'm also a sucker for sequels that continue a story so I'm eagerly waiting to see what happens in: Tales of Monkey Island Episode 5, A Second Face 2, the next chapter of the Blackwell saga, and Life of D. Duck 3.

When it goes for the big budget titles, it seems there wasn't anything particularly interesting for a long time now... since Prince of Persia: Sands of Time I think. Nevertheless, I'm not losing hope yet.

9. How did you become a games designer?

Oooh, that's a long and fascinating tale. I'll tell at least a half of it.

Probably it was when I got exposed to my beloved adventure games genre sometime in early grade school that I first started to wonder about the design aspect of games. Previously I got to play some of the classic platformers for the first Nintendo (Famicom), shooters and beat-em-ups on my friends' Amigas and in video arcades, but those games didn't really fascinate me in the same way that "Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis" could. I mean for me this was an Indy experience deeper and more fun than watching the movies and I was really curious what went into making something like that.

I've got the opportunity to find out some time later - when we started learning computers at school. For some reason the lessons centered around LOGO - an educational programming language that was already pretty ancient at that point in time. Soon I've started spending hours with it at home (on a crappy, pirated... err... PC emulator that I run on a Mac) and in effect created my first "game" called "Street Blighter" which as the title suggest was a Mortal Kombat parody. It is probably the only beat-em up ever to be controlled by a text parser, although it was less of an action game and more of a Choose Your Own Adventure kind of thing with animated cutscenes. Later, I did an almost whole sequel for it, started something of a text adventure etc, but I never really found a versatile enough engine to build games on (probably there weren't any at the time, but I didn't have Internet access to check that properly), so I lost my enthusiasm soon.

Anyway, these experiences convinced me I knew what a game designer is. A real game designer is a programmer - one who knows exactly how the code translates into the final player experience. I also thought that proper games are created only in huge companies on the other side of the world and that it's really fun to work in such a place. Because of the distance I didn't see much chance I would get to become a professional game designer, but I seemed to enjoy programming anyway, so that's what I decided would be a smart thing to do in the future when I was leaving grade school. I went in this direction a bit, but... let's just say that eventually this (seemingly) very sensible young boy didn't start a career this way. However, shortly thereafter I did learn to code all kinds of things in Turbo Pascal.

Other than that, many years later I suddenly started getting lots of ideas for games. And for the first time in my life I saw my ideas as actually good and fairly complete. I figured that something should be done with them or they'll go to waste, so I did. Currently I'm in the middle of my first game Frantic Franko which I'm doing mostly by myself (with the important exceptions of music and voices) and I'm also at the pre-production stages of a commercial project. Based on my design, but with several people involved.

10. What type of games will you be involved with?

Who can know for sure? But I know what I would LIKE to be involved with...

For as long as I remember I can't shake the feeling that there are many many more terrible secret things you can subject the player to than it has been already revealed. As a result I'm really interested in trying out different interfaces, applying my knowledge about logic and language, and all kinds of illusions of freedom within the game in such ways as to make the player feel very miserable... I mean, different than ever before.

In other words, my games will be mostly story-driven adventure games, possibly with elements of other genres - such as RPGs. But I would gladly make a nice bit of a platforming puzzler from time to time as well.

11. In five years time what type of games would you like to be involved with?

Games I can be proud of. I'd like them to have meaningful gameplay and storytelling concepts. I actually laid down plans for quite a few projects - the next year will be very telling for me concerning what pace in realizing them I can expect from myself.

12. Do you think innovations like Xbox Live, Facebook and the iPhone have made it easier for independent games designers in terms of distribution and profitability?

Yes, but I would still generalize these things as the growing power of the Internet and of the quality of content that the users put there, often for free. The industry is wisely adapting to the mindsets, interests and energy deposits of people surfing the net - attempts are made to provide new creative outlets for as many of them as possible. Seems all extra-great so far.

13. The big question, as an independent games designer if you were given the opportunity to either be taken over by Microsoft, Sony etc or employed by them would you do it? Why/Why not?

It's difficult for me to consider this as a big question as there isn't even anything to overtake right now. :) And I highly doubt, that even if I was successful in my own right, Microsoft or Sony would notice my indie undertakings. Of course I'm not saying I wouldn't be interested in being employed by them - it would be a really good job opportunity and probably a very instructive experience.

However, if the point of the question is to test me if I would give up all my fun projects and sign a contract for life to spend all my energy on some generic fps titles and be given huge piles of money in return, then I would probably answer that I wouldn't like doing that too much. This is just the way I am.

14. From a games designer perspective where do you see the future of gaming heading ie nonlinear storytelling, 3D, virtual reality etc? How will independent games designers feature/cope in the future?

I don't expect virtual worlds and nonlinearity in games to grow beyond what we are offered now. It doesn't pay off to invest in them - a newly released, short and/or simple, but "catchy" game can rob you from all your audience before 1% of what you have offered in yours is tried out. In fact, games seem to have a shorter and shorter lifespan, which reflects how many titles are out there to choose from. The studios will always prefer to spend their time and money on perfecting the aspects which are supposed to grab people's attention. There will be some long and reasonably complex games on occasion (definitely MMOs), but the race for how big and full of features your game is is pretty much over.

Anyway, virtual reality in terms of trying to make a world that contains everything and has no limiting playing rules would be boring for most people. These kind of things work only in the form of simulators focused on very specific experiences - and that very focus provides the rules of the game, like in racing simulators.

Virtual reality in terms of plugging ones brain directly into a machine to play games a'la the Matrix (the one in the movie, not the movie itself) is only viable if we assume there's nothing more to our minds than simple electric impulses we can physically generate ourselves in all possible patterns. But even then there would be needed so much experimenting to fully comprehend the language of the mind that we shouldn't expect this to happen in the current millennium.

Controls that work through capturing motion might become something interesting soon. But only if they can be designed into games in such a way as to not alienate the majority of the audience, because when you are supposed to use your whole body, the amount of skills required of you to play games rises dramatically. And if to compensate for that you take out all the challenge, the new features become rather useless.

The gaming press will continue to change. The only writers who will be able to make money from it, will be designated by gamer communities. Most of those chosen few will be modders and creators of tribute games. The popular press outlets will become highly specialized. The behind the scenes dealings of press with the publishers will become even more worrying and out of control than it is now.

Independent gaming will probably continue to be the most fun part of it all as long as people will see the importance of providing different experiences and reflections than the mainstream. The moment people stop striving for something different and it becomes only about making a game with one's own hands is the moment being independent loses its meaning.

Family Guy: Something Something Something Dark Side Full Trailer

2009-11-25T12:50:00.001+10:30

The next installment of Family Guy's Star Wars series, which began with Blue Harvest, is due to be released just in time for the holidays. The Star Wars special sees all your favourite characters like Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland, Chris, Stewie and Brian take on the roles of Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3P0, R2 D2, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from the Star Wars Universe. The focus of Dark Side is the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back and will see some new characters thrown into the series like Mort as Lando Calrissian and an appearance from Yoda.

Trailer Addict has a full trailer, previously the only footage I was aware of was a short that accompanied the X-Men Origins: Wolverine DVD. There was never any doubt I was going to get this when it comes out, I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but I would have liked to of seen Mort in the trailer as Lando. I guess they are leaving his role a surprise as it could possibly be the best thing in the special. Check out the trailer and see what you think for yourself before the December 22 release.

Another Thor Cast Member Announced and Silver Surfer Update

2009-11-25T10:22:00.000+10:30

Right now it looks like we can't go two days without hearing about another casting update on Kenith Branagh's Thor movie. The epic tale of the Asgardian hero who falls from grace with the gods and ends up on Earth has recently been in casting overdrive with the Warriors Three and Heimdall, aids to Thor in Asgard, announced last week.

Now Natalie Portman, who will play the character Jane Foster, has announced that her good friend Kat Dennings, who starred as Norah in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, will also have a role in the Thor movie. Portman told MTV earlier this that "Kat Dennings is going to be in it with me and she's a good friend and an amazing actress, so I'm looking forward to that."There was no word on who Dennings would play from Portman but now Variety are reporting that her character will be "Darcy, who works with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster character." I just saw Nick & Norah I like Dennings as an actress, she's a bright and bubbly thing on screen who can handle dialogue well and she seems like a good fit, considering her real life friendship with Portman, for a character who is obviously going to Portman's friend in the movie.

While things have generally been pretty good of late on the Marvel movie front there was some inevitable bad news last night. It seems the planned Silver Surfer spinoff, which came about in the wake of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, has hit a bit of a wall. J. Michael Straczynski, who penned the about to be released Ninja Assassin, spoke to Collider about his involvement with the Silver Surfer movies script. He said that "What happened was when Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer didn't do as well as they hoped it would do, it caused them to call into question a Silver Surfer movie." Straczynski goes on to describe the vision he had for a Silver Surfer movie, "We would have seen Galactus, his home world, what happened and him trying to get back there, because now that he’s betrayed Galactus, he’s concerned his home world might be in jeopardy", which I'll admit sounds interesting especially with the final comment he makes. He says that while his script picked up right were Rise ended, and now any new film will have to be different, the story he had in mind "It was definitely adult fare. I wanted to tell the origin of the Surfer and get into that whole thing." The thing that annoyed me the most about the Fantastic Four films, apart from them just being terrible, was the reluctance to be a pure kids film or pure adult film, it didn't know, and that made the movie clunky and painful to watch in some scenes. I am of the opinion that all Marvel films should be primarily adult based and hearing a writer echo those views is reassuring even if he thinks the project is dead.

Delorean Crysis Mod

2009-11-23T22:53:00.000+10:30

The Delorean from the 80's film series Back to the Future is one of film's most iconic the cars. The vehicle, which is powered by garbage, has the ability to travel backwards or forwards through time when it reaches the speed 88 mph.

Crysis is one of the most well received PC games ever. It's visual presentation, which punished and exhausted the computers it would run on, was a revolution in the industry setting a precedent for graphics quality and once again vaulting developer Crysis to the forefront of the gaming industry.

Now a gamer by the name of Tirido has built a mod for the Crysis game which combines the Delorean and its time travelling powers with the world of Crysis. All I can say is sit back and marvel at the marvelous mod Tirido has created, which obviously has taken a lot of effort to get the details of the Delorean and it's time traveling ability into the game. My interest for a Back to the Future game has certainly piqued and now if only someone could actually make a modern, next gen Back to the Future game I would be very happy.

Banhammer Illegal? Not Bloody Likely Says Microsoft

2009-11-23T12:48:00.000+10:30

In the wake of Microsoft's decision to ban several hundred thousand gamers from the Xbox Live network a law firm by the name of Abington IP has announced that they are considering a class action suit against Microsoft and are seeking the help of any gamers who were banned.

When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was gearing up for it's Holiday release Microsoft was also gearing up it's own Holiday release, a worldwide ban on modified Xbox 360 systems. While the reported number of bans differs, original reports pegged it at anywhere between 600,000 and 1 million systems Microsoft has since stated that that number was false and "It wasn't a million people", the bans have no doubt affected a lot of people. What Microsoft has done is ban consoles and accounts from their Xbox Live network which allows gamers from all over the world to play against each other. Members were banned from this service due to a breach in the "Terms of Use" Agreement which all players must accept when they sign up for Xbox Live. The agreement states that members agree there systems:

"have not been modified in any unauthorized way ... and that we (Microsoft) have the right to send data, applications or other content to any software or hardware that you are using to access the Service for the express purpose of detecting an unauthorized modification."

And Microsoft states that:

"any attempt to disassemble, decompile, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, modify, further sublicense, distribute, or use for other purposes the Service, any game, application, or other content available or accessible through the Service, or any hardware or software associated with the Service or with an original Xbox or Xbox 360 console is strictly prohibited and may result in cancellation of your account and/or your ability to access the Service, and the pursuit of other legal remedies by Microsoft."

This "Terms of Use" Agreement formed the basis for Microsoft's planned banning of members and appears legally sound. Microsoft clearly state that they can take legal action against those caught pirating and modifying systems and software and they are also able to search your system to discover any of these modifications. There stance remains that "Microsoft is well within its legal rights to ban these users from Xbox Live."

Some gamers may be drawn to the class action suit, though, because they may have modified there hard drive purely to increase its size. Legally you can purchase bigger hard drives but these are currently very expensive and in an attempt to get around the small, original hard drive and avoid the costs of purchasing a new hard drive there are ways to modify the hard drive and increase it's size considerably. While still being in breach of Microsoft's agreement these gamers are not using the modification to pirate games but to just access more content ie download demos, videos, arcade games which they can store on their hard drive.

Personally, it is situations like this which make me glad I don't partake in the modification of my system. While piracy is usually one or two steps ahead of the industry, whether it be movies, music or video games, eventually enough money is lost through piracy that the industry heads say enough is enough and invest considerable time and money into developing counter measures to prevent or punish piracy. In June a Minneapolis jury ruled that a 32 year old mother of four must pay $1.92 million dollars in damages for downloading 22 songs from Kazaa, a peer-to-peer file sharing site. $1.92 million!! It is an outrageous figure and there is still some ambiguity over the current laws and punishments and quite possibly there will be an appeal but piracy is becoming a serious issue for the entertainment industries. You always think they won't target you, they will target the site or company you go through but as you can see individuals are being targeted more and more, and really, is it worth it?

It'll be interesting to see whether the class action gets off the ground but in the meantime I'll be hitting up Xbox Live on my unmodified, free to play Xbox 360.

Iron Man 2 Trailer and Thor Updates

2009-11-21T12:59:00.001+10:30

Ha ha tricked you there the Iron Man 2 trailer hasn't been released yet, but that hasn't stopped fans from asking director Jon Favreau when we'll see it. Last night on Twitter a fan Tweeted this:

RT @Ann_Howard: @Jon_Favreau PLEASE tell us the trailer is coming soon - w/Sherlock Holmes, perhaps??

Favreau, in his response, retweeted the question and that was it. Now the web is taking that as Favreau confirming that the Iron Man 2 trailer will be released with Sherlock Holmes, which means we will see it on Christmas Day. Obviously Favreau is not in a position at the moment to release any details about the trailer which would explain why he just retweeted the question or he just wanted to cause a stir on the web. Right now this is in the rumour category but I imagine we'll be hearing about an Iron Man 2 trailer soon enough.

Speaking of Marvel and Twitter, Kennith Branagh's Thor movie (which has been burning up the internet with its casting and general hype) has been getting a bit of Twitter love and ANOTHER cool cast member. Brian Bendis and Joe Quesada started the Thor Twittering last night with both men tweeting about the film. Quesada, editor-in-chief at Marvel had this to say:

"I could listen to Branagh talk about Thor all day long. Cast is in place, sets are being built and screenplay is brilliant. Marveldom rules!"

While Bendis, who is a comic book author, had this to say:

"Broadcasting live from marvel west. Thor movie meeting with Ken branagh was over the top amazing. Visited the sets! I was in Odin's chamber!"
"U should get in line for the Thor movie today. Just saying."

Obviously both men are going to be very excited about the movie, it's a big thing for Marvel, and they'll need to give it all the good press they can but from the casting and the general buzz around the film it sounds like it could actually be a very good film, but the issue of how they will tie in (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor) still bugs me but hopefully the guys at Marvel will make it work.

Meanwhile the awesome cast of Thor just got a little bit more awesome. Idris Elba, it has been reported, will play the role of Heimdall the guardian of Asgard who protects the city from intruders. Elba played Mumbles in Rock 'n' Rolla, starred in The Wire and is no stranger to comic book films due to his involvement in the to be released adaptation of The Losers. I loved the guys in Rock 'n' Rolla, they were just so cool and I'd have to say I'm happy with Elba's inclusion in Thor. Branagh certainly has an all star cast which now includes Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgard, Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson and Tadanobu Asano. Look out for Thor in May 2011.

Joel Silver Interview from Latino Review

2009-11-21T12:28:00.000+10:30

This is not my interview but one from Latino Review. It's with Joel Silver whose latest producing effort, Ninja Assassin, is just about to come out. It seems that Mr. Silver is going to be a very busy boy with several films in the works and the guys over at Latino Review quiz him about as many as they can. Read on to see if you like the sound of anything he's working on. The reassurance there won't be another Speed Racer is comforting, it's too soon.

Do you think we'll ever see another Speed Racer?

Silver: No

What happened with He-Man? Last time I talked to you a script was being worked on.

Silver: We let that one go. We couldn't really figure out how to do it. Sony has it, it's not with us anymore.

Just too difficult?

Silver: Eh, it was a weird one. I'm sure somebody could figure it out. But you know, the studio didn't know really what they wanted from it and we kept trying to figure it out. But it wasn't going anywhere. For us.

I'm really excited about Sherlock Holmes coming out.

Silver: It's fantastic.

Have you guys talked about turning that into a possible franchise?

Silver: We would love for that to be a franchise. There are plenty of Sherlock Holmes stories. But let's get the movie open, let's see how it goes and we'lll see what happens.

I've heard nothing but positive things about it.

Silver: It's great. It's really great.

And what about Lobo?

Silver: We're working really close on that. It's close, ya.

Because the online buzz for that is really good.

Silver: There is a good shot we can make that happen.

Has there been any decision on if you want to go CGI with him, or have a guy in a suit?

Silver: There's been some interesting tests. It's pretty spectacular. So that's gonna come about soon I think.

What about someone like Jeffrey Dean Morgan possibly playing him?

Silver: Well, he's in The Losers. I love him, he did a great job for us. He's very talented.

I know you like to work with a lot of the same people. I think he'd be a good choice. I think a lot of people would like him.

Silver: [inaudible. I think he said he's a good actor. -Ed.]

Forbidden Planet. Any movement on that at all?

Silver: Well, we've got a writer writing. J. Michael Straczynski, who wrote Ninja, he's writing Forbidden Planet now. We'll see a script before the end of the year and that's exciting too.

And Gamekeeper. How are things going with that?

Silver: That's something that Guy Ritchie's involved with and it's in development.

Trailers and Other Awesomeness

2009-11-19T20:36:00.000+10:30

Kane & Lynch Dead Men was a successful outing for Eidos in 2007. While the game had it's faults there was enough about that enabled it to become a favourite with fans and executives. The game now has a film adaptation planned and will star Bruce Willis while today Square Enix, who picked up the game from Eidos, officially announced the sequel everyone knew was coming. The sequel, dubbed Dog Days, takes place in Shanghai's criminal underworld and will be released in 2010 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. To go with the announcement two flashy trailers have been released.

Video Games | Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days | Bowling for Shanghai Viral Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Video Games | Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days | Burger Joint Viral Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The CCTV footage is very cool, creating an amateurish but real look and apparently the game will reflect this more real style as it will provide a new user experience based around documentary style filmmaking. Plus the Bowling for Shanghai trailer is so cool, presenting a new way to open a door when you've forgot your keys or really need to get inside, quick.

There are also a couple of rumours flying round the web today. One stems from a job ad on Gamasutra. It's an ad for Sucker Punch studios, most famous for inFamous, who are looking for a:

Network Programmer

We are evaluating focused, easy to work with, and professional candidates to implement the on-line component for our forthcoming AAA title. We seek bright, energetic, and talented individuals who share our love of videogames and our passion for creating innovative and fun experiences. This job will involve both client-side and server-side work, and will be done primarily in C++.

The ad goes on to say that this position will be for a Playstation 3 game leading many to believe that this is an ad for inFamous 2 and will see the game implement an online component. This is still a rumour and we'll keep you posted.

Lastly everyone's favourite female bad ass Samus, from the Metroid Prime series of games, has neglected Nintendo's handheld of late. Metroid Prime: Hunters came out in 2006 and since then the DS hasn't seen any Metroid love. All is not lost though as Kensuke Tanabe, head of Metroid development, said that "we are always planning to make new games in the Metroid Prime series. Depending on the timing and the situation, we cannot deny the possibility of realizing it on the DS or DSi." So this means that in the future you could be once again battling it out in the Metroid universe on your handheld and this admission that they haven't given up on the DS will surely please series fans.

Call of Duty Universe to Get Bigger?

2009-11-19T10:36:00.000+10:30

The Call of Duty universe is already an exhaustive one with a heap of games set in both World War 2 and now the Modern era plus the popular, new character Ghost also has his own comic book miniseries. Now that universe could be set to expand in two different ways.

The brilliant Call of Duty games are headed by two completely different studios. The two Modern era games are developed by Infinity Ward while games like Call of Duty World at War are developed by Treyarch. The studios take turns in releasing a Call of Duty game annually. Now, if reports are to be believed, Activision (who owns both studios) are looking to bring a third studio into the mix to create Call of Duty games. There is speculation as to whether this studio will come in to help develop the massively multiplayer online Call of Duty game that Activision has been teasing for over a year. On the other hand the studio could be coming in to solely develop games for handhelds like the iPhone or the DSi because every major studio seems to be trying to cash in on the iPhone and DSi craze at the moment. At the moment it's just a rumour going round but I'd like to see another Call of Duty studio thrown into the mix working on console games. Whether they are there to do the MMO game or even a real time strategy game, that could be quite cool in my opinion. They could take cues from Halo Wars, World In Conflict and Warhammer 40K Dawn of War developing a squad system that gets some kick ass support options and then for levels when you are Marines you can call in reinforcements. A different style of Call of Duty game could be very cool.

Meanwhile what is gearing up to be the biggest selling entertainment product ever, Modern Warfare 2 (made $US550 million in its first week), is slowly building some momentum for a live action movie adaptation. This bit of speculation hit the web a few months before the game came out but now with its huge success in only its first week of release the hype is building for a live action movie. Kevin McKidd, who voiced Captain 'Soap' MacTavish in the game, has spoken about the possibilities of a live action movie. McKidd said " I had no idea it would be so huge, and now there are talks of a feature film," and when asked if he would like to reprise his role in the movie he replied with "if the script is good...then absolutely". It seems a no brainer that Modern Warfare 2 would get a film made out of it when many lesser games are already penciled in for their own movie adaptation. For some reason though I just picture the somewhat average Sum of All Fears whenever I try to think what a Modern Warfare movie would be like and obviously the two games would need to be combined for one movie or made into two separate movies for it to make any sense.

Keanu Reeves Digs Japan

2009-11-18T12:25:00.000+10:30

At least that's how it appears seeing as he is set to have starring roles in a live action Cowboy Bebop movie and a movie about the legendary 47 Ronin, both highly successful entities in Japan. Reeves involvement in the Bebop adaptation was revealed way back in January and the Lebanese born Canadian-American actor will play the series title character Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter in a future where space travel and space crime are actualities. Bebop, based on the popular anime series of the same name, is set to be released in 2011 by Fox and the series writers and creators are being courted for collaboration on the project. Right now I'm skeptical about the films ability to be a success but the fact that Reeves seems so enthusiastic about the project and Fox are trying to get as much collaboration as they can from the animes crew there is a slight possibility it could be good.

News surrounding Reeves other Japanese adventure, 47 Ronin, have hit the web today. It appears that Universal are set to nail down a director for the film based on the legendary story of revenge by a group of loyal Samurai in 18th Century Japan. Carl Eric Rinsch, so far most famous for almost being the guy to direct the Alien prequel, is set to sign a deal with Universal which will see 47 Ronin become his first feature film. While Chris Morgan has been bought in to write the script for the fact based legend Variety are reporting that fantastical elements inspired by the Lord of the Rings will be added to the story and the fighting will mirror the awesome, highly stylised work of 300 and Gladiator. Reeves has reportedly been given a starring role in the films story but as yet no other castings have been confirmed or hinted at. Personally, I think Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha) and Tadanobu Asano (Mongol) should be locks for the film while Nakamura Shido (Fearless, Red Cliff) would also be a good choice. Universal should look to cast Japanese actors whom Western audiences may recognise and currently these three are some of the most recognisable in the industry.I'm surprised this story has taken so long to get a Western film made after it. It's mentioned in so many films and TV shows like The Simpsons episode where they go to Japan and the Robert De Niro film Ronin. Mixing it with fantasy is an odd decision and may alienate Japanese people who have grown up on the tale, maybe Universal feel that a simple revenge story on its own will not attract audiences? Either both these projects have caught my interest and it will be interesting to see how they pan out.

Aragorn Wants to Return for The Hobbit

2009-11-10T11:42:00.000+10:30

That's what Viggo Mortensen told ComingSoon.net,

"My character is around at times--in the middle, but it would only be if they made a second movie or connecting movie that connected 'The Hobbit' to 'The Lord of the Rings' that I might appear, which would be great."

It was relatively well known that when Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson first started working on their two Hobbit films they wanted to secure as much of the original cast as possible and feasible (for story purposes). The reason for this; the second film was going to be a bridging film between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, what Mortensen eludes to in the above quote. It was assumed we might find out some back story on some of our favourite characters, possibly act as a bit of fan service, and this would add to the original Lord of the Rings experience. With that in mind hearing Mortensen say he was interested in a role in the second film would be great and wouldn't sound ridiculous, as his character Aragorn certainly had a lot of mystery surrounding him and he was probably many a fan's favourtie (mine included).

Thing is, in recent weeks, Jackson and Del Toro have expressed their desire to change the focus of the second film. Instead of the first film focusing solely on the book, The Hobbit, and the second bridging the two stories they have now decided to use both films to tell the story of The Hobbit, which means it's unlikely we will see Aragorn again as he does not actually feature in the book. The only way we might see Aragorn is if they write him in. While The Hobbit takes place 50 years before The Lord of the Rings Aragorn would certainly appear much the same as he did in the original trilogy. From what I remember of the extended second movie and from what I've read from devoted Rings fans Aragorn is part of a special race, a mixture of man and elf, that have the gift of extended life. Basically they age way slower than anyone else. So while he lets it slip that he is 85 in the second film, and looking good I must say, it would make him 35 during the time of The Hobbit.

So what do you think of existing characters, like Aragorn, returning to the series? Is it a ridiculous idea that will ruin the integrity of the books? Or will it provide enough recognition for peripheral fans of the original series to see the new movies? Personally I'm happy with Sir Ian McKellen returning as Gandalf and would be happy to see Christopher Lee as Saruman but outside of seeing Aragorn in a bridging movie I think it might ruin it if he was in the actual Hobbit and I think Mortensen realises that.

Say What?

2009-11-09T14:32:00.000+10:30

Aliens are trying to take over our seas!!!! Well at least they are in the Battleship universe Peter Berg is creating for the Hasbro board games big screen adaptation. According to Latino Review, no confirmation on where the story actually came from, the international five vessel fleet that will be the focus of the movie will have to do battle with aliens.

Seriously, aliens??? I will say this, I did not see it coming but I don't know if I like it. I wrote in an article on the 8th circuit that it would be hard for the studios to keep the integrity of the toys we grew up on, trying to create movies out of them while still remaining faithful to the original material. In all my years of Battleshipping I never remember my opponent being an alien. Why are the aliens attacking our seas? Maybe their planet has been screwed over even more by green house gases and what not and they are trying to steal our water.

Obviously Hasbro are smiling at this prospect though, they get to release a fancy new Battleship game complete with alien battleships. Hooray for merchandising. Seriously, could this be good? Even in the slightest? Possibly I mean everyone loves to see aliens, especially new alien races (ie Avatar, District 9) so there will definetley be some curiosity and interest as to what the new race is. I also imagine it will have a hefty budget so we will see some impressive, and different battleships, I mean who hasn't wondered what an alien navy would look like? Airforces have been done to death so at least they are trying to be different. The plot, though, will probably equal shit.

The movie comes out on August 5 2011 and so far this story hasn't been confirmed so it could just be complete bullshit....still aliens?????

Jurassic Park 4 News

2009-11-08T17:13:00.000+10:30

It's been a long time between drinks for the popular Jurassic Park franchise. The third film, which was not based on one of Michael Crichton's books, came out in 2001 and while it was not as successful as the other two in terms of critic, fan and most importantly financial response there has always been enough interest around the franchise to warrant the discussion of a fourth film. In fact as early as 2002 Steven Spielberg, director of the first two films, told magazine Starlog he would produce a fourth film that would see Joe Johnston, director of the third film, return. Since then the production has been hit with a mirade of issues, primarily over the script. One idea this writer remembered hearing involved the US Military capturing the dinosaurs from the island and turning them into beasts of war, ala Dino Riders. These script issues have seen a film that was supposed to be released in 2005 not even begin production. It appeared these issues were so great that back in 2008 series producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy apparently put the movie to bed when asked about whether production had begun : "No... I don't know. You know, when Michael Crichton passed away, I sorta felt maybe that's it. Maybe that's a sign that we don't mess with it."

Now loyal fans, like myself, have had their spirits raised due to an interview with Joe Johnston conducted by Ain't It Cool News. They were speaking to Johnston about his upcoming film The Wolfman, starring Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro, when the discussion moved to Jurassic Park and whether the fourth film was Johnston's next job.

Harry: Speaking of JURASSIC PARK, are you thinking of heading into that fourth one after this?
Joe Johnston: Well, there is a great story for the fourth one that I would be interested in getting involved with and it’s nothing like the first three. It sort of takes the franchise off in a completely different direction, which is the only way I would want to get involved.
Harry: Another movie about a group of people struggling to survive a dinosaur attack is…
Joe Johnston: We’ve done that and it’s been done three times and I figure it’s…
Harry: Stay away from that island. Don’t go there!
Joe Johnston: Why would anybody go back to that island? It was hard enough to figure out the second and third reason for them to go, but it would take it off in a whole other trilogy basically, but when it gets to that level it’s sort of about studios and Steven’s thing and who knows. I think we are at that point where we are due for another one if we are going to do it. They had what four years between them? 1992… 1996 or 1997, and then 2001, so we are past due. I don’t know, but we will see.

So apparently there is a great story out there for Jurassic Park IV that is potentially going to take the series in another direction, if it gets made. I for one think it would be good if they made a fourth and stayed away from the island. Like he said it's ridiculous trying to find reasons why these people would keep going to an island where they know their chances of survival are very slim. Maybe to bring it off the island InGen's, the people who created the dinosaurs, main rival could have finally gotten their hands on an embryo and undertaken the reverse engineering process they are so good at. Okay that's probably a terrible idea but frankly I am very interested in a fourth film. While Crichton unfortunately passed away and only wrote two books in the Jurassic Park world his books were full of enough depth, history and side story that the world he created could support a fourth film. Anyway in this age of reinventions, reboots and franchises why the hell not make another Jurassic Park movie, at least it might give me another chance to see Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough in a movie.

Gamers 4 Croydon

2009-11-06T13:07:00.000+10:30

It's finally happened, someone out there amongst the video gaming community of Australia has finally said enough is enough. David Doe, who grew up in Adelaide but now lives in Melbourne, has established the political party Gamers 4 Croydon. The party, established due to the banning and censoring of Left 4 Dead 2, looks to cotnest the seat held by SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson who is currently the only outspoken opponent to an R 18+ rating system for video games in Australia.

The party are not yet officially registered and recognised as a political party. They require 150 membership signatures so he can officially register the party. If they are registered the party plans to run for the seat of Croydon in next years elections. The main focus of Doe's party will be the overhaul of the Classification Board, specifically focused around the implementation of an R 18+ rating for video games. Atkinson has long been the thorn in the gaming industries side in Australia, staunchly protecting the current system which he believes is the best one to prevent children and at risk adults from accessing extreme content like violence and sex in video games.

The party also have other policies they would like to implement which are based around local, State and National issues like the Murray River and electric cars. You can read further about them here. From a first glance and limited political knowledge Doe may need to seek the advice of some political advisors if his aprty is registered as currently they read more like a list of demands rather than a list of proposals. That's not to say his ideas outside of the rating system aren't good. They are geared towards clean energy and optimising water consumption but they just need a little more polish and thought.

Doe's party will face a tough task of ousting Atkinson from his seat in Croydon. Atkinson won the 2006 election with 76 percent of the vote and will obviously face competition from the other major party in the area, the Liberals, who will also seek to win the seat. The party will need to run a good campiagn and avoid basing it around trying to smear Atkinson for his opposed views. Atkinson has proven to be a popular politician and any attacks should be well thought out as to sway voters instead of alienating them.

All of this though is a positive step for the video game industry in Australia. For too long people, like myslef, have sat around complaining about the ratings system but aside from a few petitions and emails haven't really done anything proactive. Doe is giving people a legitimate chance of changing the way things are run in regards to the video game industry and his efforts, even if they are in vein, are commendable. Doe's actions also echo some of the points made in an article over at Eurogamer. It was written in response to the Violent Video Games Drive in Germany a few weeks ago where gamers were urged to throw away their violent video games at a public rally. The rally failed but the issue of violence, especially school shootings, and their supposed link to video game playing still lingers. In the article the issue of the government and the people getting together, in a civil manner, and discussing the issues of video games instead of constantly engaging in slinging matches between pro and anti gamers. Doe's party will hopefully provide some sort of platform for this discussion to take place, open up a dialogue between those in power and those who play so they can make a decision together for the good of the people instead of jumping from one extreme to the next.

Anyway all of us in Australia, and possibly a few people around the world, are watching this development eagerly. The first step for Doe is getting the party made official and then trying to get it's voice heard so it has a chance of succeeding in the election. The ABC, free press and university publications may be the parties best friend in the beginning as they are always open to expressing a mulititude of opinions on any issue and supporting local movements.. Good luck Gamers 4 Croydon.

Gaming Gets Arty?

2009-11-05T22:17:00.000+10:30

The debate over whether games are art has raged even more fiercley since the next generation of consoles hit the market. They have offered developers greater freedom in story telling and art design, allowing them to produce beautiful, grand and epic games that some believe deserve a place next to those films, books and symphonies that are classified as art. Currently this debate is young and over time it will intensify as more and more games present themselves as candidates for furthering the game's as art debate, presenting a more complete package of amazing art design in terms of soundtrack, design and storytelling instead of only currently excelling in one of these aspects.

One development which is sure to help the video game industry as it strives to be recognised as art is the magazine Amusement. The French based video game magazine, which is only in its 6th issue, is helping to develop an art culture surrounding video game culture. The magazine's website states that:

AMUSEMENT redefines the video game magazine with style and precision. Cultural and political references as well as surprising artistic connections.

It is these artistic connections that are causing a stir, and great interest, in the video games community. The magazine undertakes several photo-shoots each issue that are related to gaming culture. The best part about it, the photo-shoots are actually really good. My personal favourite is the latest shoot called 'Overheating'. It features a girl throwing popular media devices through walls and glass to showcase the frustration consumers feel when they experience bugs and problems with their technology. The shot of the Nintendo DS, in two parts flying through the air after coming through a wall, is particularly cool.

Meanwhile other shoots like Fair eTale and God Game tell little stories about people's experiences with technology or how they act when playing a game and I particularly liked the effect of the guys cigarette ash turning into meteors in the game world. They are all very cool and definetley arty and if you look at the people in the photos they also say something about the industry. There are lots of men, not children, in the shoots reflecting the average of gamers and they also have lots of women in the shoots which also reflects another growing demographic in the game industry.

Basically these are some seriously cool pictures which show that gamers and gaming culture isn't all about geeky guys sitting in their basement owning noobs online. It can be sophisticated, cool and dare I say it arty in its depiction to the world and is certainly a positive step in trying to get games recognised as art.

What Caught My Interest 27/10/09-1/11/09

2009-11-02T15:00:00.000+10:30

You know the drill by now.

Bigger Is Better- First it was rumoured, then denied, then confirmed that Nintendo would release a bigger, badder Nintendo DSi. Dubbed the DSi LL in Japan and DSi XL in Europe and North America the new handheld will feature a 4.2" screen and a bigger stylus pen while increasing the battery life of the unit over the current DSi. Apparently the reason behind this new unit is Nintendo want groups to be able to sit around the one DSi LL and all be able to see what's going on. The bigger screen allows this through being bigger and allowing greater viewing angles. The DSi LL comes out in Japan on November 21 this year while the XL will ship to Europe and North America in the first quarter of 2010.

Back to Sin City- Finally we have had some positive news on Sin City 2 the sequel to the hugely popular Sin City film which was based on Frank Miller's graphic novel series of the same name. Producer Stephen L'Heureux let it slip this week that Sin City 2 will start production in the second half of 2010. He also said that the sequel will be based on an original script from Miller. This is interesting as the first film's script and storyboarding were based on the existing comics. One would assume that this means we'll be seeing some new stories from the world of Sin City or at least some variants of existing stories. Interesting move. Miller will once again co-direct with Robert Rodrigues.

I Make This Look Good- Why the hell would anyone think of making a Men in Black III? Because Will Smith wants to apology for the second Men in Black film and make a lot of money. Smith has been quoted saying that a 3rd film would be made to apologise to fans for the disappointing Men In Black II. That was a while ago and even after the new filmw as announced earlier this year not a lot had been happening. Now it appears that Ethan Cohen, who scipted Tropic Thunder, has been hired to write the script. The article, by Variety, says that while there are no deals currently in place for Tommy Lee Jones and Smith to star in the third film they believe, like everyone else, that the film wouldn't be made if they didn't think they could get those two. A third Men In Black film, man I'm just really not interested in that at all.Sure the first one was fun and different but now it's going to take something remarkable to get me interested.

Gimli, Son of Gloin, MIA- Okay so we all know that Gimli isn't actually in The Hobbit but the dwarf race he is from makes a much bigger appearance in the book and that will transfer over into the films. Specifically Gimli's dad appears in the book and it had been speculated that John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli, may return as his characters dad, a prospect many a fan would be happy about. Unfortunately Rhys-Davies squashed those rumours in an interview this week. Rhys-Davies said this when asked by Empire: "I've already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn't. I have already completely ruled it out. There's a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more." Interestingly he didn't completley rule himself out of the movie, saying that it would be nice to play something different like an elf. So maybe Rhys-Davies might make a cameo as a rather large elf? We can only dream.

"Liberty City, It's Over!"- The hype machine has been in full swing after a page from the manual for Rockstar's Episodes from Liberty City was leaked online. The full page 'ad' in the manual says "Liberty City, It's Over! Next Stop" and then there's a tear on the ad which reveals some colours and such and everyone is trying to figure out what it means. The fact that it also says "Opens March Everywhere" has also got people speculating whether this is the first hint for the next Grand Theft Auto game. Rockstar have said there will only be two extra chapters for GTA IV so all the speculation is headed towards GTA5. One of the other main theories is Rockstar are screwing with us, creating some movie/broadway poster that is part of the in-game art and means nothing. If they are creating a new GTA5 thought and details will come out in March, a new game then is highly unlikely, I'd like to see Rockstar create a new city, something we have seen before.

Also check out my Geek Tease post which has a few other interesting news articles from the week.