This months DLC is Castle Crashers, an extremely entertaining side scroll beat em’ up. I bought Castle Crashers at the request of multiple friends and I must say, I love it. Castle Crashers uses that old school formula of bright colorful characters and funny action that made Battletoads or TMNT games so fun.

Content: Tons! There are many weapons and animal orbs to collect throughout the game and your character leveling up is done by you. Combine this with the fact that there are a whole mess of unlockable characters to max out and you have a game that can last you a while, and that doesn’t even include the two DLCs that gives you more of all of this!

Cost:1200  Microsoft points without the two 160 points DLC to extend the game even further. That’s only 1520 points total, less than $20 U.S. Well worth the cost when you take into account the amount of $50 games that don’t give you merely enough value.

Overall Rating: 10/10. Hands down the best DLG on Xbox it lets you play with up to four players and has replay value with all the different characters. A must buy.

The poster is OK, but hey Danny Trejo art! Who wouldn’t want to hang that on their dorm wall. The Trailer is not as good as the fake one that was in Grindhouse, but it shows a Gatling gun motorcycle being driven by Trejo! I say WIN.

With no real competition this should do well, I can even see it being number one for this week.

ATR 6

-          TV (Emmy Extended Edition): With special guest Jane Boursaw. In which we look back at the 62nd Emmy Awards broadcast, examining the winners, the host, and everything in between. Plus, Will Forte leaves ‘SNL’ and where’s the buzz for the fall season? And lots more!

-          More: This week’s challenge was to cast our own buddy cop movie. You won’t believe some of our choices! Plus, ‘Fantastic Four’ Thing casting, and more!

Dear Kevin Butler,

You are involved in some pretty good commercials, you know? It doesn’t make me want to play the PS3 any more than I already do (which isn’t a lot, but it is some), but they certainly leave me smiling at something Sony made… and that is a pretty big feat in itself.

Geekly Yours,

Rachel

The event started with Jobs talking about some of the (beautiful) stores that have opened in major cities outside of the United States and gave a basic update about the retail operation, and used some numbers to segue into more numbers—iOS 4 numbers.

iOS 4.1

iOS four dot one will include some fixes for commonly reported bugs, add HDR photos, HD video uploads, rentals and fully implement Game Center, Apple’s social gaming network. It will be free though iTunes for all iOS 4 devices.

What are HDR photos? Basically, they are photos that balance shadows and light by taking three photos (underexposed, correctly exposed, overexposed) and putting them together. See the illustrations below.

As a photographer, I’m slightly aggravated and happy about this. (It’s a long explanation, not for this place.)

Game Center is purported to have an incredibly easy multi-player function, for those who have friends to connect with and for those who don’t (auto matching). As previously reported, there will be achievements and high-score leader boards, etc. Jobs demonstrated the player match ups, and they looked very user friendly for those new to multiplayer options.

Jobs introduced Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, who showed a preview of “Project Sword” (code name), a beautifully rendered multiplayer RPG for iOS 4 devices, available this holiday season. The screenshots below do it no justice.

Lesson: Don’t go against a game designer playing his own game.

He will win every time.

iOS 4.2 and Air Play

Coming later this year, especially for the iPad, will be iOS 4.2. It will bring everything the iPhone has (multitasking, folders, etc) to the iPad, plus wireless printing and Air Play. Air Play is the new name for Air Tunes, the program used to wirelessly stream music from iTunes to Air Tunes ready devices. Air Play will include audio, video and photos between devices that use Air Play.

This update will be coming in November for all iOS 4 devices.

iPods

Arguably, the most exciting thing about the conference: redesigned iPods. (Unless you’re an AppleTV person, look for that below.)

The iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle are all getting new looks.

The old Shuffles.

The new Shuffle.

It’s harkening back to the second generation Shuffle and has all the features of the third generation Shuffle. It will be small and wearable, has buttons (once again), uses playlist, can incorporate genius mixes and uses VoiceOver. The tiny battery has 15-hour battery life and will come in 5 different colors, the four (in their packaging below) and the silver shown above. They will be $49 for 2GB players.

The old Nano(s)

The new Nano

… Surprise? There will be no more buttons, now it has a multi-touch screen, dedicated volume buttons, and is a lot smaller. It too has a clip, VoiceOver, and is packed full of features. It has a 24 hour life for audio playback. It also has this neat little rotating screen feature. Look at the screenshots below.

It will come in a variety of colors, including a red model, which will benefit the charity (Red).

The 8gb model will be $149, and 16gb model will be $179. Mr. Jobs seemed to really push this one as a great tool for health and fitness, with its clip and rotating screens and pedometer. It’s an interesting design, and we’ll see just how well this one is received whenever they come out.

iPod Touch

The iPod Touch is now the number one portable gaming system, outselling both Nintendo and Sony combined. Apple has made the Touch thinner, included a front facing camera with Face Time and will be using the retina display. iPhone users and iPod Touch users will be able to use Face Time with each other, it is not device exclusive. Obviously, you still have to use it over WiFi.

iTunes, Ping and Apple TV

iTunes is getting  a new logo, and a new version (iTunes 10, available at Apple.com for download now). The program itself hasn’t changed much, but there is a new feature that might catch on wildly or fail miserably.

Why the new logo? Because iTunes has almost sold more songs than physical CDs have been sold, or something like that. (If a conference went more than five minutes without some kind of self-back-pat, it wouldn’t be Apple.) It looks good, I like it.

The new feature is Ping, a social network that works hand in hand with the iTunes store. It’s Facebook meets Last.FM for Apple enthusiasts. The conference had about 10 minutes devoted to all its features, and it can be boiled down to a few simple things:

• Friends connecting with friends and artists who sign up for the service
• Being able to access text posts, videos or songs loaded onto profiles
• Being able to 1-click buy songs, videos, etc through the service if you find something you just have to have while browsing other people’s profiles.

Jobs said that privacy options are simple, easy and effective. That’s great. (I’m still not going to use it.)

Now, onto Apple TV…Jobs admitted that Apple TV never took off, not like the iPods or iPhones. They took their set, shrank it considerably, and have turned Apple TV into an Apple rental service. There is no more storage, the device is tiny and silent, uses Air Play between Air Play using devices (computers, iPads, etc) and is Netflix ready. And don’t worry, it comes with a remote. There’s no more syncing between Apple devices, only streaming.

The old price of Apple TV: $299

The new price: $99

Look at how cute it is! And we even get to see its behind.

Now, that $99 price tag is great, but like I mentioned above, the new Apple TV is now a rental service. There is no more data management, no more storage and no purchases on the Apple TV units. While the lower prices are a welcome sight, some people might miss being able to keep anything you watch through the Apple TV service. Movies and television will stream in HD when available, and will be quite cheap, but you have to pay. It wasn’t stated whether you get a 24 hour rental period or if this was a pay-per-view price. If it goes off their current rental guidelines, it’s a rental period.

First run (new releases) HD movies: $4.99

HD televisions, single episodes, commercial free: .99 cents

As movies get older, their price will go down. If you’re someone who uses iTunes to purchase any media, you will be able to use Air Play to play these purchases on your television set. Personally, I would not be happy with shelling out a dollar every time I wanted to watch an episode of some TV show or movie, since I’m someone who usually watched them multiple times over the course of time. This service will find its customer base, excluding this geek.

As of right now, only ABC and Fox are willing to let Apple have access to episodes. Jobs hopes that the other networks will see how successful the program is and jump on board. That may or may not happen. You will also be able to access Youtube (regular and HD streaming) and Flickr through the tiny black box. Look below at the screen shots for a look at some of the menus.

Let’s have a bulleted list of what all happened today at Apple:

• Retail is doing well, and their stores are prettier than anybody else’s stores
• iOS 4 updates are coming fast and furiously
• Apple wants people to use Game Center
• iPods are getting some really new looks
• iTunes is getting a version 10
  • Will probably still run like crap on older computers
• Ping, the social music network, is introduced and debuted
  • They really want you to use Ping, okay.
• Apple TV is looking to expand its user base
  • (I would consider getting one now.)
• Apple is breaking into the digital rental service game
  • Side note, Jobs said that the Apple TV netflix screens are the “easiest and nicest” to use.

Any questions? Email me, or comment here.

You can also watch the event at Apple’s site.

First they said that efuse would brick your Droid x if you tried to reflash it. When that didn’t work and we started to reflash our, more than willing, droids they had to change their strategy a bit.

Now Motorola is not only suing and sending cease and desist letters to all of the sites hosting the leaked froyo update for the Droid x, but they are warning users that if they update to the leaked Rom they won’t be able to update to the official version when it releases.

While I understand that a company wants their devices to operate a certain way, I don’t understand the sudden “do it our way or screw off” aditude that some companies have taken (ahem, AT&T).  HTC recently had the same basic issue with the leaked froyo update for the Evo 4g, however, HTC told Evo early updaters that while their handsets wouldn’t update when the official Rom came out they would be working on a fix for the issue and had that fix out in a matter of weeks.

It seems to me that Motorola is trying to make a platform that is inherently open and ready for this kind of customization more closed off and like that other “closed system” that we all love to talk about.

The only piece of advice I can give Motorola is this: any time you create a prohibition you create an underground.  I hope that as Android gets more popular that more people get brave and start making their phones do what they want them to do instead of what the maker or carrier wants them to do.  Also, before any of you say it in the comments, I do not expect phone makers to cover your phone with a warranty once you start messing with it. You break it doing something it wasn’t originally made to do and that is your problem.  Just don’t tell us we can’t do it.

November brings Kinect (a controller-less playing experience!) and a newly remodeled wireless controller. This controller will be available for $64.99 in a Play and Charge kit on November 9 in the US and in February in Europe.

The D-pad now goes from a disc (flush with the controller) to a plus when twisted. The raised position allows for cardinal direction moves (up, down, left, right) while the disc position allows for sweeping moves. The controller has 2.4 GHz wireless technology with a 30-foot range. As per usual, up to four controllers can be synced to one system at once.

Cosmetically, you can see the buttons are shades of grey instead of red, green, yellow and blue. There is also a concave design on the analog sticks and the controller is a matte silver. These will look pretty good with the new 360 units.

[Source: PC Mag]

Starting November 1, the price for a 1-year Xbox Live Gold membership will be $59.99, $10 more than the current price. If you have an automatic renewal that will kick in after that date, it will renew at the new price.  The $10 price increase doesn’t apply to every place that has access to XBL. Anything not on the table below is staying the same.

XBL Gold – USA	Old Price	New Price
1-Month Gold Subscription	$7.99	$9.99
3-Month Gold Subscription	$19.99	$24.99
12-Month Gold Subscription	$49.99	$59.99
XBL Gold – UK	Old Price	New Price
1-Month Gold Subscription	4.99 GBP	5.99 GBP
XBL Gold – Canada	Old Price	New Price
1-Month Gold Subscription	8.99 CAD	9.99 CAD
XBL Gold – Mexico	Old Price	New Price
12-Month Gold Subscription	499 Pesos	599 Pesos

Microsoft is justifying this price hike by “giving” us Hulu Plus (a paid service, on top of the XBL membership), ESPN features, Kinect features (video chats, etc), and they’ll keep all the current features they offer.

From the fancy schmancy email I received this morning:

Netflix unlimited subscription required, sold separately. ESPN on Xbox LIVE provides great content from ESPN3.com and ESPN.com. For access to ESPN3.com content, including live sports, you must have an ESPN3 affiliated broadband provider. See ESPN3.com for details and providers. Hulu Plus membership will also be required. Video Kinect requires Kinect sensor.

Xbox.com is offering a $40 one-year renewal, but it’s limited to one per gamer tag. Other retailers, like Amazon and NewEgg.com and others, is offering the same price for a one year renewal, but you can get as many as you feel like paying for.

[Source: My Inbox | Joystiq | MajorNelson]

Take a look at the 50 Achievements, worth 1000 points, for Fallout: New Vegas on the XBox 360. They were just recently posted over at Xbox360Achievements.org. I could be lazy and tell you to go there, but I’d feel bad about that. Have a copy and pasted list! This is something else to make you look forward to October 19th if you’re a fan of the games.

New Kid – 10
Reach 10th level.

Up and Comer – 20
Reach 20th level.

The Boss – 30
Reach 30th level.

Ol’ Buddy Ol’ Pal – 10
Recruit any companion.

The Whole Gang’s Here – 25
Recruit all companions.

Crafty – 15
Craft 20 items.

Mod Machine - 15
Install 20 weapon mods.

Walker of the Mojave – 10
Discover 50 locations.

Master of the Mojave – 25
Discover 125 locations.

Globe Trotter – 25
Discover all snow globes.

You Run Barter Town - 15
Sell 10,000 caps worth of goods.

Blast Mastery – 15
Cause 10,000 damage with Energy Weapons.

Love the Bomb – 15
Cause 10,000 damage with Explosives.

Lead Dealer – 15
Cause 10,000 damage with Guns.

No Tumbler Fumbler – 15
Pick 25 locks.

Stim-ply Amazing – 15
Heal 10,000 points of damage with Stimpaks.

New Vegas Samurai – 15
Cause 10,000 damage with Melee Weapons.

Jury Rigger – 15
Repair 30 items.

Hack the Mojave – 15
Hack 25 terminals.

Artful Pocketer – 15
Pick 50 pockets.

Outstanding Orator – 15
Make 50 Speech challenges.

Desert Survivalist – 15
Heal 10,000 points of damage with food.

Old-Tyme Brawler – 15
Cause 10,000 damage with Unarmed weapons.

Know When to Fold Them – 10
Win 3 games of Caravan.

One Armed Bandit – 10
Play 10 spins of Slots.

Little Wheel – 10
Play 10 spins of Roulette.

Double Down – 10
Play 10 hands of Blackjack.

Caravan Master – 30
Win 30 games of Caravan.

The Courier Who Broke the Bank – 30
Get banned from all the Strip’s casinos.

Hardcore – 100
Play the game from start to finish in Hardcore Mode.

Ain’t That a Kick in the Head – 10
Complete Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.

They Went That-a-Way – 25
Complete They Went That-a-Way.

Ring-a-Ding-Ding – 25
Complete Ring-a-Ding-Ding.

The House Always Wins – 30
Complete The House Always Wins.

For the Republic – 30
Complete For the Republic.

Render Unto Caesar – 30
Complete Render Unto Caesar.

Wild Card – 30
Complete Wild Card.

All or Nothing – 15
Complete All or Nothing.

Veni, Vidi, Vici – 15
Complete Veni, Vidi, Vici.

Eureka! – 15
Complete Eureka!

No Gods, No Masters – 15
Complete No Gods, No Masters.

Come Fly With Me – 20
Complete Come Fly With Me.

Talent Pool – 20
Complete Talent Pool.

Return to Sender – 20
Complete Return to Sender.

Arizona Killer – 20
Complete Arizona Killer.

You’ll Know It When It Happens – 20
Complete You’ll Know It When It Happens.

G.I. Blues – 20
Complete G.I. Blues.

That Lucky Old Sun – 20
Complete That Lucky Old Sun.

Volare! – 20
Complete Volare!

The Legend of the Star – 20
Complete The Legend of the Star.

by

(Founder) Christian Fundin and Pontus Madsen

Little Gamers is usually a gag-a-day comic, but there have been occasions where a short storyline has been presented. Sometimes there are special comics (for holidays or events). The comic has been around since December of 2000 and has released three volumes of print material so far. You can see it all on the site.

Updates three times a week.

Start from the beginning: Here

Archives: Here

In this episode we talk about:
- The Apple Press Conference
- Blockbuster is flat busted
- A radio in your cell phone and not the cellular kind
- Video game movies are the new comic book movies
- And much, much more.

Break Music by Kevin McLeod http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Rock

ATR 5

-          Movie: In which an examination of the underwhelming Top 10 this week at the box office goes completely out of control and dominates the segment. Plus, the Hellfire Club and the ‘60s for ‘X-Men: First Class.’

-          TV: In which the ‘Lost: The Complete Collection’ Blu-Ray makes us wonder which TV shows we would actually go back and sit through in their entirety. Plus, the problem with serialized dramas and our Emmy picks!

-          More: Find out our thoughts on this week’s challenge: ‘Cloverfield.’ Plus, a Speidi sex tape … but do we care?

ATR 4

-          Movie: ‘The Expendables,’ ‘Eat Pray Love’ and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ battle at the box office. ‘X-Men: First Class’ and ‘Ant Man’ casting and speculation. ‘Looney Tunes’ and CGI animation of classic cartoons and comics.

-          TV: Lots of casting news, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Betty White, Brian Fuller developing ‘The Lotus Caves’ on Syfy, Hulu, and… for some reason… ‘Jersey Shore.’

-          More: Lobo joining ‘R.E.B.E.L.S.’; DC building toward a new big space epic, the Ultraverse (yay!), Marvel bringing back dead characters, and the end of ‘Cathy’in the newspapers … yes, they still make those, and the return of ‘The Kids in the Hall.’

There are a ton of power ups in video games,  and everyone has their own opinion on which one is the coolest, but I don’t care. These are the top 8 coolest power-ups in videogames!

8. Fire Kirby (Kirby games)

Being a pink ball of fluff is hard, especially when your main method of attack is the fact that you suck so hard. Having a crown of flames and being able to unleash a deadly inferno on your enemies makes life as Kirby a little easier.

7. Fast Shoes (Sonic games)

If I ever found a pair of shoes that gave me cool theme music and let me run at super speed, I would never wear a different pair. Except during dates.

6. Lava Clothes (Zelda games)

Sure, Link’s pretty bad ass, but can he stroll through a volcano like nothing’s going on? Now he can. A sweet red makeover and the ability to make molten lava your bitch guarantee these new threads a spot on the list.

5. Invulnerability (Various)

Whether it’s just a star that give you cool running music, a sparkly force field that allows you to run on spikes, or just the abilities to be shot by all the cops in Vice City without dying, everyone loves Invulnerability.

4. Power Pellet (Pac man)

What could be better than being invincible? How about being invincible then eating ghosts followed by crapping out their eyes as they run back home in shame.

3. Spread Shot (Contra)

Man these bullets are huge, but I wish there was a way to destroy every living thing in front of me… OH! The spread shot was the best power up in contra and led to many a fist fight between my older brothers and I during co-op.

2. Tanooki Suit (Mario)

Flying is pretty sweet, but I wish that I had some other ability though, like telepathy or laser eyes. Or how about turning into a statue? Sure, why not?  Not only was this statue armed with a spear you never had, but it also somehow seamlessly blends in with any surroundings. Bad guys after you in a castle? “Just another statue no good guy here.” In the middle of the woods? “Sure, that statue seems normal here.” How about while swimming around? “Why wouldn’t there be a statue in the bottom of the ocean?” The Tanooki suit made little sense but much awesomeness.

1. Snake Gun (Megaman)

Guns are deadly; they shoot deadly bullets that can kill instantly if aimed correctly. Snakes are deadly as well, some snake bites can paralyze you instantly while you slowly die over the next hour or so. What if you were to combine the deadly force of a gun with the lethality of a snake? While we’re at it, let’s strap on a crime fighting robot. Only one word could describe such a combo: EPIC. And to quote the Scott Pilgrim Trailer, “It’s an epic of epic epicness”.

The Last Exorcism is the newest Exorcism flick and although it’s being pitched by Eli Roth and had an amazing Ad campaign, this will be another horror flop.

The poster is great, and the trailer is interesting, but I can’t help but to be pessimistic about this movie. The ad campaign had a clever approach as well, On Chat Roulette, no ghost penises, just a cute girl looking into the camera, but before you can ask to see her boobs her eyes roll into the back of her head and she lunges at the camera. Very clever, and very viral.

Centurion is the Michael Fassbender action movie about, you guessed it, Roman centurions. It looks like a decent action film, but with a poor marketing campaign and a horrible release date this movie will join the ranks of the other year end movies, and most likely fail.

The poster has been done, but still displays a neat telling of the story and the trailer is a bit boring, but fun. I want to see this movie, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch it in theaters.

What do you think?

by Ryan North

A comic about talking dinosaurs. Really. It can be geeky, nerdy, random, or just weird. Ryan North is very tall, and his height inherently scares me. He is also Canadian, which does not inherently scare me, it inherently intrigues me.

Dinosaur Comics shows up mainly online, and in print in some (lucky) areas.

Archives: Here

About: Here

Let’s start with the poster, I know this is the French version, but the American version is really bad. The Jaws parody is obvious, but it works for this really well. I enjoy this poster because it doesn’t try to sell it’s self like it’s some type of intelligent commentary, just a gory horror movie with lots of boobs. The trailer is below and it’s fairly boring, but what I hate more than anything, is that they ruin a possibly important death by showing a main character being killed by an “adult” piranha. Luckily the studio pulled that trailer and it hasn’t been seen anywhere since.

This movie will most likely do well.It won’t do great, but with the love of 3D and cheesy horror being particularly strong of late it will make it’s money easily. I really don’t have much to say about this movie, the cast is semi-impressive, the graphics are descent, and it has no real competition.

My hopes are that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which had a super weak opening weekend, will pick up in the second week. It’s major problem is that it sold itself as an action movie up against The Expendables and a love movie up against Eat Pray Love. A horrible choice in opening weekends, especially when you could of waited a week and your only competition would of been the less than exciting Piranha 3D.

GamesCom 2010: Bringing more good news! Portal 2 will be out on February 9, 2011. Valve made the official announcement today. Wheatley, the cheeky british-accented personality sphere, is going to stay british. Stephen Merchant, of The Office (UK) and Extras, will be the official voice.

While I liked the Wheatley test voice a lot, I’m looking forward to the change, and the game.

[Source: GameInformer]

Take a look at a conductor, old man, and gothic Snow White-lookin’ female character–I think it’s the hair.

This month’s Last One Standing is between the two most ruthless urban heroes out there. Rorschach, the no holds barred, do anything Vigilante from Watchmen VS Batman, the peak of human perfection billionaire who uses the rage of his murdered parents to protect his city.

Batman

Secret identity: Billionaire play boy Bruce Wayne.

Trained by: Depending on version, Ra’s Al Ghul, the best martial artist money can offer, and the street.

Motivation: Death of parents by a criminal and watching while his city is slowly destroyed by crime.

Gadgets: Batarang, Bat-rope, Bat-Grappling gun, Bat-bola, Bat-Mobile, Bat-shark repellent.

Overall look: Dark and simple yet fantastic, pointy eared cowl and a jagged ended cape.

Cool line: “I’m the God damn Batman!”

Embarrassing secret: Keeps adopting little boys in short shorts, one of them got beat to death with a crowbar by a clown.

What’s he doing now: Time traveling and creating a Batman force.

Recurring Villains: The Joker, Ra’s Al Ghul, Catwoman, Two-Face, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, etc.

Most violent act: Once broke a man’s neck by crushing it against a window sill with his bat boot.

Rorschach

Trained by: The street and old friend Owlman

Motivation: Disgust in humanity fuels him to destroy those plaguing it with crime.

Gadgets: Grappling hook gun, coat hanger, pepper, bug spray and a match, deep fryer.

Overall look: Urban, almost normal with his trench coat and fedora, until you see his constantly moving mask.

Cool line: “Give me the smallest finger on a man’s hand and I’ll produce information, no computer necessary”.

Embarrassing secret: He’s pretty short, his mask is made out of an old dress, and he’s a ginger.

What’s he doing now: Still a large bloody stain on the snow.

Recurring Villains: Moloch the Magician, The Top Knots, Captain Carnage (he pushed him down an elevator shaft).

Most violent act: Giving a saw to a man who murdered a child while handcuffed to a boiler and setting the place on fire giving the man a choice cut off his arm or burn. If you watched the movie, slamming a meat cleaver into a man who murdered a child’s head until just pulp was left. Oh and killing two child eating dogs who belong to a man who murdered a child. Did I mention the man murdered a child?

Winner: Batman, the superior training and discipline beats out Rorschach’s chaos.

Our Xbox 360 dashboard selves will change slightly in the coming months. The cartoonish, squat proportions of the current avatars are not working well with the hand/eye coordination that Kinect will require, so Nick Burton, senior programmer at Rare (avatar creators), says they’re going with a more realistic design with Avatars 2.0.

This isn’t a hardware issue, but rather an issue with player perception in the software. Frankly, that sounds a little strange, but basically it plays out like this: Kinect is having trouble converting our (the human gamer) proportions to the avatars stylized bodies in some games that use on-screen action replications. The end result is seizure-like spazzing avatar parts on the screen and “broken” hand/eye coordination.

The update will most likely come close to, or around, the Kinect release.

[Source: OXM]

Original Life

by

Jay Naylor

Going to keep this one short and simple. This webcomic is one of my guilty pleasure comics. I’m not a big fan of the anthro fandom, but I started reading Jay Naylor’s comic Better Days at a friend’s suggestion in 2006 , which came before Original Life, and it made sense to keep on reading once  Better Days ended.

Original Life follows the lives of the characters (and their kids, if they have any) that grew up in Better Days. I’m a fan of the crisp lines in the art and I’ve grown to like Naylor’s particular style of anthropomorphic characters. And it’s pretty funny, with a few geek/nerd culture references thrown in every once in a while.

Updates Monday and Friday

Page 1: Here

(Porn bonus!: There’s an adult catalogue on the site if you’re into buying furry porn.)

I never read the Scott Pilgrim comics so I went into this movie with no expectations and was literally blown away from the very beginning (literally – the Universal theme was in frickin 8-bit style).  Michael Cera has suddenly found his balls.

This movie is a two hour long love story + music video + Gamer fight scene (comedy).  Scott Pilgrim delivers when it comes to a movie that gamers will like and their girlfriends/boyfriends won’t mind either. Fight scenes are beautifully choreographed with plenty of comic book / video game touches.

Plenty of up and coming actors and actresses litter this movie with amazing acting. I can’t wait to see them in more movies. (There is a cameo that makes you laugh out loud, but its so good that I refuse to say anything about it)

If you’re a gamer or a fan of manga style comics go see Scott Pilgrim. Don’t think; just go see. If you are the girlfriend/boyfriend of a geek, take them to go see this.

PS. The soundtrack is a must have for fans of the movie… you’ll see what I mean.

The score of Doom: 8 out of 10

So now it’s my go. This movie was, in fact, Epic. The fight scenes were so over the top and crazy it made me want to see a superhero film with these kinds of choreography. Cera was a bit unrealistic as this total ass kicker, but he worked in the role for some strange, awkward reason. Much like Cera… strange and awkward.

The cast is great; everyone plays their role perfectly, especially the cameo Pen of Doom mentioned earlier (Laser Fingers). Kieran Culkin as Wallace, the cool gay room mate, made me laugh more than a dozen times. If you try to count all the pop culture references from Seinfeld music to receiving coins when you kill enemies your head will explode.

Lots of comedy, lots of love, lots of shiny,lots of music, lots of fights, and a gratuitous shot of Mary Elizabeth Winstead in her underwear. Something for everyone I’d say.

I’m afraid as a realist that this movie won’t be number one. I’m afraid it will be too strange for a wide audience, but who cares, I loved it! Go see it!

Lobo score: 8 out of 10

But wait! October 5 brings yet another Fable product. There’s a book, a real book, not an in-game book, featuring an original story based in the Fable universe, Fable: The Balverine Order. It comes with a code for a currently unrevealed weapon you can use in the game. Hopefully this will be better than the drivel that is The Elder Scrolls novel. It’s written by Peter David, who has plenty of experience in the literary world, including game fiction (Halo) and comics (The Incredible Hulk), so there’s a good chance it is.

It is listed for $9.99 on Amazon and is available for pre-order. I imagine that for some, it’s a $10 book, and others, it’s a $10 weapon for the game.

Product Description

The days of magic and adventure are fading away, giving way to the age of industry and science. As the aged last Hero sits upon the throne of Albion, two friends-the privileged Thomas and his loyal servant, John- set out for the East in search of a legendary beast: the vicious, rarely-seen balverine. But their desire for adventure may be their ultimate undoing-because their quarry has just found them…

Thomas and John? Boring names! This is Albion, you can be a little more creative than that. For any fan of Albion and the Fable franchise, this might be worth looking into once a chapter preview is released.

[Source: Joystiq | Amazon]

Rambo + Drago + Whiplash + President Camacho + John McClaine + The Terminator + The Transporter + …Jet Li?(sorry little guy couldn’t think of any iconic roles) + ex-heavyweight champion of UFC + Mr. Bright side + Stone Cold (or Stunning, whatever you prefer) X Guns X Explosion / Violence + Humor = The Expendables

I saw this movie with dear friend and co-worker Pen of Doom and we both loved it. We also both grew carpet like chest hair and we each have grown a new testicle. As our new more manly selves, we have decided to do a dual review of the movie in one post. Crazy, I know.

The movie starts with a ton of action and a little character building. We learn things throughout about each character and the role the play on the team. The story is a little lacking sure, but this isn’t a movie you go into hoping for an amazing story. The visuals, violence, humor and performances will keep you watching.

The CGI for the blood was a little corny, and the physics of everything was a little off, but hey, you get to see Randy Coutre vs. Steve Austin around a river of fire. Dolph Lundgren vs Jet Li was an awesome fight as well. There are a ton of classic fight scenes that I’m sure will be talked about for years to come.

The movie does have heart, not just balls. Mickey Rourke has a very heart warming and emotional speech about what all the violence has done to him on a physical and an emotional level. Stuff like this is why Rourke deserves the praise he gets as a great actor.

If your a guy or you love action then you MUST see The Expendables, it has what’s been missing in action movies for a while.

Now its the Pen’s turn:

I shaved before I went to see this movie and as soon as I walked out of the theater I had a full beard.  I am a fan of over the top fight scenes in movies and because of that The Expendables really hit home.  Let me just say this…

More than one person in this movie gets blown in half by a grenade launcher.  While I could have used some more building up of each actor’s character, I also think that having that building would have slowed down the nonstop action buffet that was The Expendables.

Normally when you watch an action movie you get one good guy that never fails and saves everyone else’s butt; this isn’t the case.  Sly has put together a great story where everyone looks out for one another. (Sly doesn’t win every fight.)

One of the highest ratings I can give a movie is saying that I would buy it on bluray and watch it multiple times… This is exactly what I am saying about The Expendables.  Don’t take your girlfriend to see it unless she likes A LOT of action, but this can defiantly make for a fun “man date” with your buddies.

Score of Doom: 8 out of 10

-          Movies:  ‘Green Lantern’s Kilowog, ‘Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter,’ ‘Quantum Leap,’ ‘Nemesis,’ and George  Lucas giving half his wealth to charity

-          TV: ‘Glee’ casting, ‘Zombies vs. Vampires,’ Jane Badler joins ‘V,’ ‘Torchwood,’ ‘The Colony,’ Brandon watches Syfy Original Series, and our take on ‘The Closer’

-          More: ‘2010 Teen Choice Awards,’ and theatrical movies that need Syfy Original Movie sequels

Episode 5

In this episode we cover topics like:
- Google and Verizon talk  net neutrality
- Goodbye Google Wave
- Wikileaks  you bad site you
- McNuggets for breakfast?
-  Fallout New Vegas
- and much, much more.

Break music by Kevin Mcleod http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

Bioshock Infinite is definitely not a sequel in the traditional sense–more like an addition, or a re-imagining, for the franchise. It’s due to come out in 2012 on the PC, XBox 360 and PS3.

Instead of getting punched in the face with the dark mood of the art deco, corpse-filled Rapture, we’re getting a good look at a whole new art style: the idealized Normal Rockwell America. Everything looks clean, perfect, in its place. As the lower depths of the city are explored, the style goes more art noveau.

In this game your character has a name and a backstory, no mysteries there. Since this is a living, thriving city, you’ll be walking around in structurally sound places, but you won’t be running into a fight every time you see someone; although, consider the fact that it’s a weapon-filled city, you will get into plenty of fights. Columbia was a city built on ideals (much like Rapture) that floated around the world until it was caught up in a violent incident (much like Rapture), and then it disappeared, with its location only known to few people on the ground.

SYNOPSIS

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter currently in development at Irrational Games, the studio behind the original BioShock (which sold over 4 million units worldwide). Set in 1912, BioShock Infinite introduces an entirely new narrative and gameplay experience that lifts players out of the familiar confines of Rapture and rockets them to Columbia, an immense city in the sky. Former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt has been sent to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned in Columbia since childhood. Booker develops a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky. DeWitt must learn to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harness the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.

From the information put out so far, it looks like the folks over at Irrational Games are keeping the overall feel of the franchise in this game. Once you get past the initial shock that this isn’t Rapture yet still retains the title “Bioshock” in its name, it looks like this will be a really interesting game. When some of the gameplay footage gets out we’ll really get to speculate on what kind of connections the two cities have. For now, take a look at the trailer. It feels like Bioshock, just doesn’t really look like what we’re used to.

Visit the official Bioshock Infinite site for something pretty to look at. You can download the trailer from there. I highly suggest you go to the official Sony Playstation blog to read an in depth interview with Ken Levine, creative director of Irrational Games, in which he talks about details of the game, and some of the inspiration behind it. And, one last interesting note, Irrational Games was the studio behind Bioshock 1, but not involved in Bioshock 2, so it’s nice to see the studio that brought us the amazing original is the main player behind this game.

Fable 3, due out for the 360 in October, the PC release date has yet to be revealed. Below are five screenshots and the video, which has a nifty tab directing you to the other dev diaries and videos

The Expendables looks like a crazy fun ride through the giant veins that are Sylvester Stallone’s brains. I have a soft spot for this movie since I am the kind of guy who loves the 80/90 hardcore action movie. This one mixes about twelve of those into one testosterone filled extravaganza.

The posters are many, yet this one stood out to me, it has the floating head gimmick used way too often and the mosaic effect that is also very used, but with a movie that is banking on cliche shlock, it works perfectly. The trailer shows that this movie will be full of muscles, bullets, explosions, and (my personal favorite) sweet one liners.

I’m fairly sure this movie will beat out The Other Guys (which I was wrong about last week) and it’s only real competition now that Inception has been de-throned is the next movie in the forecast Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

This has got to be the most fun looking movie I’ve seen since The Hangover. The idea is pulled from a series of manga-esque comics and sculpted beautifully by one of my favorite directors, Edgar Wright. This is the number one or two movie of this weekend second only to maybe The Expendables.

The poster is brilliant in it’s simplicity. Not going over board was a smart move considering the movie is chock full of the absurd. The trailer falls victim to that very annoying scheme that studios love by revealing way to much. Having read Scott Pilgrim, my views are slightly biased, but hey, that why you read my crap, right?

So I break it down like this: guys, if you going out with the fellas or just want to see a flick by yourself, then see The Expendables. Ladies, if you are looking for the right movie to see with your man or lady friends, see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

Kingdom Come is the rare comic that comes along makes you actually think. I am the first to admit that I’m not a huge Superman fan, I think he’s very two dimensional and way too overpowered.

Kingdom Come actually does the impossible and makes me care about Superman; this book helped me realize his importance and his affect on the DC universe. A book that is as beautiful as it is epic, Kingdom Come is an absolute must when it comes to anyone wanting to get into comics.

Alex Ross puts small hidden gems in each painting he does for this book making it so you stare at the art well past the time it takes to read the words on the page. What is this book about? A possible future for the DC universe where after the Joker kills Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Superman decides to retire since the Jokers murder at the hands of a new violent hero named Magog. Years pass as the line between hero and villain begin to blur and soon there is a catastrophe that kills thousands when Magog and his team cause a nuclear blast that destroys most of Kansas.

Superman comes out of retirement and with the aid of Wonder Woman, a very Aged Batman, and any other hero who fights the good fight, decides to stop all of the rogue super humans. As the story progresses friendships are tested and powers are combined until one of the greatest endings of all time.  During this story we follow Norman Mckay, an elderly and tired preacher who is our everyman narrating things we could only imagine. The greatest story ever told by DC and in my top 8 of Comic geek must’s.

[Source: I Can Has Internets]

Bethesda announced the voice cast of Fallout: New Vegas and it is packed with awesome voices. There are repeats from the series, like Ron Perlman (as the narrator) and Michael Dorn (as the super mutant from Fallout 3), and then there’s Wanye Newton (a current Las Vegas fixture) to look forward to, along with one of my personal favorites… Señor Danny Trejo.

(All links go to IMDB.)

Ron Perlman – Narrator

Mathew Perry (Friends) – Benny, a leader of one of the main gangs

Wayne Newton – Mr. New Vegas, an everpresent DJ

*Danny Trejo (Everything Ever Made, Machete) – Raul the Ghoul, deformed mechanic and gunfighter

*Zachary Levi (Chuck) – Arcade, member of the The Followers of the Apocalypse

*Felicia Day (The Guild, Dollhouse)- Veronica, member of the Brotherhood of the Steel

Micheal Dorn (Star Trek!)- Marcus the super mutant

Kris Kristofferson (Blade trilogy)

Rene Auberjonois (Boston Legal, voices for Archer, Xiaolin Show Down, Justice League.)

John Doman (The Wire, Damages)

William Saddler (The Pacific, Shawshank Redemption)

*One of the more frequent companions you’ll encounter in the game.

(Midlife crisis?)

An adult in the life of one of the boys found nude pictures of the woman, Christine Shreeve Hubbs, on a cell phone and contacted the police. Upon securing a search warrant, officers found sex messages between Hubbs and each of the boys, and pictures ranging from sex acts to nude photos.

Right now she’s being held in prison with bail set at $4.3 million. Hubbs procured an attorney immediately and isn’t speaking with anyone about the charges. Authorities said the boys were victimized, and that they were confused and manipulated into the relationship with the gifts Hubbs gave them.

In her hometown she is known as the “Mormon Mom” who drives a large black hummer, dresses like a teenager herself, and looks much younger than her 42-years. The two boys who came forward admitted to having sex with her in her vehicle and hotel rooms.

[Source: KTVU | HBG]

by

Paul Taylor

Started in September of 2001, still going strong in 2010, Wapsi Square is one of the best examples of webcomics that feature a variety of strong and interesting female characters.

Most of the time the story concentrates on Monica, the busty lady in the middle panel, but considering there’s about 9 years worth of comic in the archive, she’s definitely not the only one you’ll be reading about. This is a fantasy story set in modern Minneapolis, in a world that is basically like the one we all live in, with the addition of psychics, demons… maybe a few gods.

The comic starts out with the mundane, but it doesn’t last too long. When Monica, an anthropologist working with artifacts in a museum, stumbles upon a tiny Aztec deity, the supernatural elements of the world are introduced and she finds out the not-so-great things in her childhood are linked to forgotten civilizations and the potential end of the world.

There’s comedy, drama, suspense and some sexy times. (How can you not have a few sexy times when you are Monica?) Overall, one of my favorite comics, and a great read. This isn’t one of those simple gag-a-day comics, it’s got some depth.

Well, it’s a got a lot depth. Give it a try!

Updates Monday through Friday

Start from page 1: here
Archives: here

Episode 2 Outline:

-          Movie News: ‘Thor,’ ‘Yogi Bear,’ ‘Suckerpunch,’ ‘Arthur’ remake with Russell Brand,’ ‘Dr. Strange,’ ‘Boilerplate,’ ‘Rambo’ prequel

-          TV News: ‘American Idol’ judge questions, Television Critics Association Awards, ‘Cougar Town’ name change?, Paul Lee new head of ABC Entertainment, The CW looking for more DCU properties, ‘Terra Nova’ scheduling, Syfy development

-          Other News: Marvel Comics to publish CrossGen, CBR’s Top 75 Moments in 75 Years of DC Comics, ‘Oregon Trail’ trailer

Episode 1 Outline: Comic-Con Special Edition! This special edition of ‘All the Rage Entertainment’ delves deep into the mecca of all things geek. From big movie and television announcements, to the latest news from the world of comic, it’s like being there only much less crowded.

-          Movie News: Joss Whedon on ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Judge Dredd,’ ‘Green Lantern’ and ‘The Goon,’ ‘Saw’ wins a Guinness World Record

-          TV News: ‘Human Target’ adds women, ‘Chuck’ gets a mom, ‘Smallville’ speculation, Marvel anime and other superheroe series,  ‘Teen Wolf,’ US ‘Being Human,’ ‘The Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff’

-          Comic News: ‘Batman, Inc.’ by Grant Morrison, ‘Flash: Speed Force,’ Chloe Sullivan joins the DCU, DC animated shorts, ‘Suicide Squad’ video game, ‘Brand New Day’ Spider-Man story ends, ‘X-Men: Generation Hope,’ ‘Axe Cop’

The premise for The Other Guys is as followed: New York City cop Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) is a forensic accountant who loves paperwork and hates fieldwork. Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg)is a tough cop who has been stuck working with Gamble ever since a mistaken shooting. They constantly try to impress top cops Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson). Gamble and Hoitz get a chance to redeem themselves and hilarity ensues. Directed by Adam McKay, who brought us some of the best comedies ever.

What I worry about is this movie being forgotten about like Cop Out, a similar buddy cop comedy. This one has Michael Keaton as the Cheif though, so maybe I’ll enjoy the side characters as much as I enjoy Ferrell and Wahlberg. This movie should do fine, beating out Salt and Despicable Me, but losing to Dinner for Schmucks and, of course, Inception.

The trailer does a good job at setting up the characters and poster is original and funny, with it’s spoof on the flying gun shot view we see way too often.

Let’s learn about porn with Luke Wilson.

So, what’s Middle Men all about? Let’s ask Wiki.

In 1995, straight-and-narrow businessman Jack Harris (Luke Wilson) who founds the first online billing company dealing exclusively with adult entertainment, finds himself in the middle of a whirlwind filled with starlets, con men, Russian mobsters, federal agents, and international terrorists. Caught between a porn star and the FBI, Harris learns that even becoming one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of his generation may not be enough to keep him out of trouble. It is based on the experiences of producer Christopher Mallick.

Hmm, this movie has Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht, and James Caan! Cameos by Terry Crews and Kelsey Grammer! This sounds great and it’s all about online porn. Who doesn’t appreciate a good true story to inspire. Unfortunately, this movie will do bad. It may be a top 10 for the weekend, but very little advertising and no hype make this a hard sell.

The trailer makes it look interesting and borrows a lot from other true story movies such as The Social Network. The poster isn’t very original, but it definitely sells the movie for what it is: a movie about the behind the scenes adventures in porn.

Hawkman – Sam Worthington

Having Hawkman as more of an Indiana Jones type would be the way to portray him. Carter Hall is an archaeologist and adventurer who fights crime to protect the valuable artifacts that he has in his museum. Have him find the Nth metal tools in a crypt of the previous bearer and you could even use the whole Reincarnation idea of the Hawkman comics. Sam Worthington is definitely the guy for some great action/adventure flicks and I think his tough guy looks yet quiet demeanor will work perfectly in this “incarnation” of Hawkman

Hawkgirl – Olivia Wilde

Hawkman’s wife and crime fighting partner, she is the historian and adventurer who is also the reason Hawkman does what he does to keep the things he loves safe. Olivia Wilde has a great exotic look about her that would carry over into Hawkgirl very well.

The Shadow Thief – Michael Emerson

The Shadow thief was a two bit burglar until he found the equipment which gave him his abilities. ST’s new target is the Amulet of Northwind, an ancient jewel that is said to give the wearer the powers of the Egyptian gods. ST is not the main villain of this film just a setup character who will show us the power of Hawkman and Hawkgirl and tip off the main villains, The Royal Flush Gang. Michael Emerson is a great creepy actor who could portray the power addicted Shadow Thief very well and if there is a second movie could easily be the main villain after he sold his soul to Charon for power.

The Royal Flush Gang

King – Hugh Laurie

The Royal Flush Gang is an extremely wealthy family who commit crimes together to fund their lavish living. The father of the family is King who will one day be replaced by his son, Jack. The RFG are looking for the next big score and when Shadow Thief offers them $100,000,000 for the Amulet of Northwind they accept. Hugh Laurie can portray regal and pissed off more than any other actor I know, a perfect fit for King.

Queen – Elizabeth Hurley

Queen is the Matriarch of the RFG and a bitch; I’ve always liked the Batman Beyond version of the RFG better so that’s why I went with them. Plus, they fly around on cards. Elizabeth Hurley is still smoking hot and has the perfect attitude to play Queen.

Jack – Bradley James

Jack is a spoiled brat and a formidable opponent. Jack believes he is entitled to whatever he wants because he was born into the RFG when his father was still Jack of that incarnation. Bradley James hasn’t done much in the states, but I believe he can do the spoiled super brat very well.

Ten – Kiera Knightly

Ten is the youngest member and still not sure if she wants to be a thief. Constant pressure from her parents make her stressed and unreliable during heists, stealing the amulet is a test for her and she feels she must accomplish it. Kiera Knightly plays strong women very well, but she has a sense of class about her that works perfectly for the privileged daughter of the RFG.

Ace – Roland Kickinger

The mute Ace is just muscle, he has never let down his parents and is rarely seen without his mask on. During a robbery gone wrong while he was a child, training to become the new Jack, he was severely hurt causing him to be disfigured and mute. Queen and King treat Ace like hired help even though it’s their first son, knowing that their second son was the one who caused the accident so he could be Jack. Roland Kickinger has the body to portray the hulking Ace.

What do you think? This is my Hawkman cast and storyline.

Is it good, bad or ugly?

You tell us.

You might notice a few changes as the site settles into its new look, but it won’t be anything drastic. (Not as drastic as this, anyway.)

Molyneux and Microsoft has graced us with the opening cinema to (arguably) one of this winter’s most anticipated games, Fable 3. Keeping in theme with the birds, this one features the adventure of the above chicken. Poor pollo, that is all I have to say.

The Fable franchise’s treatment of Chicken alone sort of makes me want to go vegetarian, but they’re only digital chickens. Maybe I’ll just be a digital vegetarian. Oh, the video. Click! (And there’s a quest trailer below it.)

-

If your DVD firmware does not match up with what Microsoft has on file, you will be banned from XBox Live. This will detect the currently undetectable iXtreme LT firmware. If you pirate games for the 360, think twice about updating your console after the fourth of November.

I guess it could go without saying, but I’ll put it out there anyway: no need to worry about anything if you buy all your games.

[Source: Gameolosophy]

AT&T, along with RIM, held a press conference today to announce the new Blackberry 9800 Torch and to tell customers a little more about Blackberry OS 6.

First we’ll talk a little about the Torch.  Keeping with the styling’s of the previous year, the 9800 sports the same keyboard as the 9700 Bold, however, that keyboard is hidden under the main display.  That’s right, the new blackberry is a vertical slider.

The 9800 sports a 3.2-inch touch screen, but while 800×480 is quickly becoming standard resolution for most higher quality phones, the 9800’s screen is a mere 480×360.  Having such a low resolution makes this blackberry feel a bit outdated (which is a very bad thing when it comes to a phone that hasn’t even released yet).  The CPU in the 9800 (624MHz) along with the 512MB of flash and 512 MB of RAM make the 9800 slightly less amazing than most would have expected.  The 9800 does have 802.11n WIFI, a 5MP camera w/ flash, and a funky rubber back. (You won’t be dropping this phone.)

Could it be that we need not look at the vessel which carries the secrets to salvation, but instead we need only to look at its contents?  Well, if it’s Blackberry OS 6 that are the contents, then lets take a look shall we.

BB6 is a much better UI improvement than BB5 was to BB4 and that can truly make a difference.  Little changes are things like the ability to press and hold the screen for a context menu, much like BB5 gave you when you pressed the Blackberry menu button, and an Android-ish pull up/down menu system.  The big changes and cool features include:  a UI overhaul that is “fresh, but familiar”, the new webkit browser which is said to be among the fastest on phones today, a lot of baked in social networking magic, and the ability to sync media over your WIFI network (hint hint Apple).

Overall I see the 9800 Torch and the first child of Blackberry 6…
It’s not the fastest, it’s not the most gorgeous, but it is the first child and you always baby it just a bit more.  I do like the styling of the phone, but I am disappointed in some of it’s specs, mainly the screen resolution.

The Torch will be available from AT&T on August 12th for $199 with the usual two year blood oath.

What do all of you think?  Is this the horse that will carry RIM triumphant into the sunset or are the specs (or lack there of) going to make it go the way of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

You can access the NPC maker with an XBox Live Gold account to experiment, and then pre-order the game and you’ll get a code that allows you to import a character of your very own design. You’ll be able to do whatever you want with him, or her. Marry ‘em, kill ‘em, beat on ‘em, make ‘em laugh, drag ‘em, bone ‘em. Whatever.

Your NPC will give you a quest in the game, and depending on if you make the NPC good or evil, that will decide the morality of the quest at hand. You’ll make a 1,000 gold and as mentioned, have the opportunity to use them, or abuse them, as you see fit.

The Villager Maker, launching today in the U.S. and U.K. and worldwide later this week, is available for everyone to access and experiment with at www.xbox.com/fable3. Fans can utilize the tool to create a male or female villager with more than 2,000 different variations, including an enthralling backstory for the character, unique personality traits, clothing, accent, hairstyles and the region they hail from. Whether you create a valiant ally, an evil villain, or perhaps the perfect spouse, let your imagination run free as you make your mark in the fantastical world of “Fable III.”

And!

“Fable III” will be available in a Standard Edition ($59.99) and Limited Collector’s Edition ($79.99) for Xbox 360.The Limited Edition offers unique collectibles that true “Fable” fans won’t want to miss, including downloadable content that Windows gamers can also access. Wrapped up in the likeness of a book from “Fable III,” the contents include an exclusive quest, dog breed, outfit, playing cards, a Guild Seal Coin and more.

A list of retailers giving out the pre-order codes.

A tour of the NPC maker on Live.

[Source: Joystiq | Press Release]

Breaking news!

Sprint and HTC are begining to role out the Android 2.2 Froyo update to the HTC Evo.  Check for a firmware update and cross your fingers.

There will be a review of the update on the site soon.

Episode 4 “Green, Zombies, Zombies, and Cowboys”

In this episode we cover:

-Facebook
-Magic Trackpad
-Twitter
-DMCA
-The Avengers
-Green Lantern
-Loads of Comic-Con news

We are having issues with our on site player.  Hang with us and we will try to fix the problem.  Till then you can still download the podcast via the link above the player and also open that link in your browser to stream the file.

Thanks for listening.

Discuss the podcast in the forum.

Break music provided by Kevin MacLeod http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

I had no Idea that this was the second season of this show, the first took place in the outskirts of LA. This season takes place in Louisiana in a small area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Just seeing what happened to all these houses is enough to evoke some emotion, but when you see stuff that they are finding discarded in rubble, such as a wedding dress or children’s toys, it makes you remember the horrible disaster which helps put you in the mindset that the show tries so hard to sell.

So much more after the read more tab.

I watched the first episode and I have to say, I loved it. The show has everything a good reality show needs: A good mix of characters, an interesting plot, clever twists, and lots of insight on the situation from the contestants, the narrator, and some talking head experts.

My favorite character was Robert Deville, the retired contractor. He worked hard and never bragged… unlike Reno Ministrelli “the foreman,” who was physically a huge help, but seemed very arrogant. Each character has an interesting history and personality, and they are worth watching.

The creators test the survivors with harrowing tasks with little supplies, and if thats not bad enough, there are other “survivors” who violently attack the survivors for supplies. They play some spiritual music and use interesting camera shots to help sell the emotion of the situation.

If you like:

• Survivorman
• Man vs Wild
• Man Woman Wild
• any post apocalyptic story

You’ll enjoy The Colony. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

I think this looks really funny and has a great cast (except for that hack Jeff Dunham). I hope this doesn’t go the way of Role Models or Sex Drive, genuinely funny comedies that are ignored because they are comedies. Having Galifinakis as a wannabe psychic should help this movie since he gained some super stardom from The Hangover. Plus, I love Jemaine Clement. (Rachel adds: Who doesn’t?)

The trailer is strong, but the poster is the same boring stuff. (Do Steve Carell’s teeth look super fake to you).

The other 2 movies I’m focusing on are the depressing sequel to Cats & Dogs, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore, and Charlie St.Cloud, the new drama starring Zac Efron.

Cats & Dogs 2 makes me hate humanity. How could this horrible piece of crap deserve a sequel? I understand that kids movies are a different animal–they don’t need to be good, just entertaining. Every once in a while you see a Shrek or Up or The Incredibles and you think “I guess these kids movies are all right.” You then see things like this and want to punch every kid in the face for liking this crap.

This movie will do pretty good, sadly, and in a couple years there will be another one.

Charlie St.Cloud looks like your average drama. I saw Me and Orson Welles and thought that maybe, just maybe, Efron is a good actor not just a singing one hit wonder. I hope this does well, and I hope Efron doesn’t make me look like a 12 year old girl for saying he’s a decent actor.

This movie will make its money and hopefully be noticed by directors and studios. After all, my masculinity is on the line.

Main Attack: A flying punch with super human strength

Main Weapon: His powers as Earths Mightiest Mortal

Battle Cry: SHAZAM!

Captain Planet

Main Attack: Nature Themed attacks

Main Weapon: Children with powerful weapons, which he supplied

Battle Cry: The power is yours!

Captain Morgan

Main Attack: Incapacitating his opponents with drink.

Main Weapon:A delicious spiced rum

Battle Cry: Is there a little Captain in you?

Captain Falcon

Main Attack: Falcon Punch!

Main Weapon: Falcon Punch!

Battle Cry: Falcon Punch!

Captain Ron

Main Attack: Bar fighting

Main Weapon: Fists or empty bottles of rum

Battle Cry: Don’t Worry boss.

Captain Hook

Main Attack: Eye gouging

Main Weapon: A hook hand or his pirate sword

Battle Cry: I hate that Pan!

Captain Kirk

Main Attack: Phaser blast or a karate chop

Main Weapon: Phasers, charm

Battle Cry: Can I F&%K it?

Captain Kangaroo

Main Attack: Hitting is bad

Main Weapon: Love

Battle Cry: Here comes Captain Kangaroo!

Captain Crunch

Main Attack: When the corner of the little yellow nugget stabs the roof of your mouth.

Main Weapon: Crunch

Battle Cry: Crunch-a-tize!

Captain Hammer

Main Attack: Face Punch

Main Weapon: Fisticuffs

Battle Cry:My penis is the hammer.

Captain America

Main Attack: Shield throw

Main Weapon: Round shield

Battle Cry: Avengers Assemble!

—-

Winner: Captain Crunch. No one can deny Crunchberries. NO ONE!

Mark Ruffalo is the Hulk, Edward Norton is out. Jeremy Renner is Bullseye, and Whedon is directing the avengers movie.

So much more after the jump!

A trailer for the new animated show Young Justice on Cartoon Network

Karl Urban is Judge Dredd in a soon to be announced movie.

Image comics Chew, about a man with psychic abilities derived by eating what he wants to learn about, is being made into a TV show.

Abin Sur, who gives Hal Jordon his ring in Green Lantern, is on display at comic con. Well, his corpse is. Hee hee… Green Lantern Corpse hee hee

World War Z, a fantastic book detailing the history of the fictional war on zombies, is being made with Bradd Pitt starring.

A trailer for the animated Goon has been released, I’m mega happy for this.

Do you like aliens? You better! Next year we’ll see:
Battle:LA, Skyline, Falling Skies (with Noah Wyle!), and Cowboys & Aliens

The trailer for the new Disney XD Avengers cartoon has been released, I’m mega excited! Why? because Constrictor!

Sucker Punch, a movie that can only be described as “Alice in Wonderland, with guns” has had some images released.

This is the new Angelina Jolie action thriller that has everyone asking “who is Salt?” Great tagline, since I have no idea what this movie was about based on the trailers alone. Turns out, this movie is about a CIA operative who is being accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. Sounds boring, sorry.

My opinion on this movie was summed great by a poster I saw on Listal.com See it below.

How will it do? It will fail hands down. Inception, Despicable Me, Twilight, even Predators, will tear this boring movie apart. Sorry, I like the director’s past work and I like the actors, but how many times have we seen this movie? Do we really need another? No, and hopefully after this movie crashes, we won’t see another until the next Mission Impossible, James Bond, or Bourne movie comes out.

Well… at least a couple of people will get to see Valhalla Rising which looks cool.

These guys are assholes with no respect for human life. Below are some pictures of the signs they carry to events, for real, I didn’t change anything. These are real signs the crazy douches use.

This time they are picketting Comic Con Why? read a quote from the WBC below

” If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here. They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do! Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it. The destruction of this nation is imminent – so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry.”

Does anyone else think this as crazy as I do? I know a ton of comic fans, and a lot are religious as well. There is no reason these two things can’t be appreciated by the same people. I hate these people, and I’m pretty sure if I ever gained super powers there would be a real problem on the WBC’s hands.

What do you think? Are they going too far, or are they just trying to gain some more fame by going to one of the largest gatherings in Hollywood?

Microsoft confirmed today that the Kinect price is officially $149.99 (US). This really isn’t a surprise since this is the price most online and store retailers have been using in for pre-orders. What’s more new here is the fact that a game will definitely come with the sensor, Kinect Adventures.

Also available in stores, there will be a $199.99 4GB XBox 360 slim model that comes with Wi-Fi N and has the ability to use USB flash drives to store memory out of the box. For the upcoming holiday season, there will be a 4GB bundle that includes a console, Kinect and Kinect Adventures for $299.99.

And there you go, folks! Does the Kinect sensor kinda look like the ninja version of Wall-E to anyone else? Hmm.

[Source: MTV]

Votes for Carmine to live, and for his family to be grateful they don’t have to pay for another funeral, are attached to the “Save Carmine” shirt. Votes for Carmine to die (in a humiliating way, probably) are attached to the “Carmine Must Die” shirt. All proceeds from the shirts go to the charity Child’s Play.

Do you want Clayton to join Anthony and Ben in Carmine Heaven, or is Clayton the one that finally makes it to the end of a game without getting his head blown off? I know my vote. (Oh, by the way, my XBox Live tag is TiniestCarmine. If you would like to see my ridiculous game history, look me up!)

Look at the beefiest Carmine the family has to offer (so far) below.

[Top Image: gearsofwar.xbox.com | Screenshots: Joystiq | Source: Joystiq, VG247]

Did you like Avatar: The Last Airbender? Well, there’s going to be a new Avatar in town, and her name is Korra. Series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko  are working on a new series, The Legend of Korra (working title), that will premiere on Nick in 2011.

“Mike and Bryan have imagined a compelling new story inspired by the Airbender mythology that they so brilliantly crafted when the TV series began. This new avatar is not only a girl, but also hot-headed, independent and ready to take on the world.” – Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group.

The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after the events of The Last Airbender. Korra is the next  avatar in the cycle, a waterbender, and is described as a passionate, rebellious and fearless teenage girl from the Southern Water Tribe. (There seems to be a lot of those in the Southern Water tribes).

In the beginning of the series she has already mastered three of the four elements. Korra has to find a teacher for the final element, air, which leads to her Tenzin, Aang’s son. She ends up in Republic City, the most modern place in the Avatar world run by steampunk technology where benders and non-benders live. Korra finds that the city has a growing anti-bending revolution and has an ever-growing crime rate.

The series will follow her as she learns to master airbending and deals with the crime and situations around her in Republic City.

Here’s a question for those that have watched the original series, or know a few things about it. Seeing as this series is based 70 years after the original, what do you think has happened to the original cast?

Well, we’ll see in 2011.

[Image/Information Source: prnewswire]

I know it sounds corny, but this is a great book. I suggest the Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray series where U.S and his team use deadly force to help America. This is a series that was created in 1940, revived by D.C in 1973, and still continues to have new and original stories.

The Freedom Fighters consist of characters such as Black Condor, Doll Man, The Human Bomb, and The Ray, among others. If you are a fan of Americana and can deal with a cheesy idea to read a beautiful story, pick up Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.

I recently saw Inception, the new mind bending action thriller from the director of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan. What did I think? I thought it is a must see. click read more to read the review.

I loved it, opening on a foreshadowing scene of an aged Ken Watanabe sitting across from Leo Dicaprio asked the first question; how did we get here? The movie moves along quickly showing Leo build his team and describe what consists of extraction (stealing an idea during a dream) and Inception (putting an idea into a dream). The we then see some great visuals as we explore how deep you can go into a dream. I didn’t explain much of the plot because its important to go in with an open mind.

The cast looked like Nolan went to Sundance and took all the best Indie actors and asked if they wanted a job, they ALL said yes.

Leo’s character has depth, but Leo put nothing new into the role, which doesn’t matter since his worst acting is still some of the best acting ever. Dom Cobbs is the best at extraction and his story is actually mixed throughout the film.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was super smooth in this, I really think he’s going somewhere and this just strengthens my views. Arthur is the point man or info guy if you dont watch oceans 11,12,13 movies. The action sequences showing Gordon-Levitt fight in a rolling hallway (makes sense in the movie) are among the coolest scenes I’ve ever seen.

Ellen Page does Ellen Page, she is an important part of the movie, for the story and the fact that her character dumbs everything down for the audience.

Ken Watanabe is a great actor, but his role is surprisingly small for a character, especially a character who is in the entire movie.

Tom Hardy is such a bad ass in this movie it’s ridiculous. I think he would be an awesome James Bond. He has some great scenes some great lines and his job as the “forger” Eames, he has the coolest job of the team he shape shifts in the dreams to trick the targets. Plus, at one point in this movie he kills like a thousand guys on a mountain.

Cillian Murphy is the man being targeted by the Inception team. He switches from villain to friend to ??? and it all makes sense!

Was this movie worth sitting in a cold dark theater crowded with pre-teens waiting for the next Twilight? YES! Visually stunning, a great and interesting story and an ending that will not disappoint, or will it? that’s kind of the point.

The first time I saw a Wes Anderson movie (The Royal Tenenbaums), I sat in front of the television with my head cocked to the side for an hour and a half. I had the same reaction with this, but only for the few minutes the trailer played.

This is the very definition of parody. (And a good one, if I may say so. I have a weakness for movies with catchy music from bands I don’t know and on-purpose flatly delivered dialogue.)

[source: gamervision]

The short-notice press conference from yesterday (July 16) discussed what we thought it was going to discuss… the problem that isn’t a problem, according to some at Apple, the iPhone 4 antennae.

Click below to see the youtube video Apple started the conference with, and details on what was discussed.

(ilu, man.)

 Lex Luthor Steve Jobs takes the stage after the catchy tune (above) and starts off saying this:

Okay. Good to know, I guess. But you know what immediately follows? Some numbers that once again show us how great Apple is.

3 million units sold since it’s come out.

And this.

Now, to something sort of resembling press conference bullet points!

Apple started seeing antennae problems 22 days ago and immediately started pinpointing the exact problem on the iPhone 4.

They tested other phones from other carriers and companies and found a similar problem in each when the Death Grip is executed. (Well, this makes sense since the antennae design is in the same area for most smartphones.)

“Phones aren’t perfect…every phone has weak spots."

Jobs goes on to talk about the 100 million dollar reception facility where they test the devices. They have smart people working there. (I get the feeling that if a Half-Life/Black Mesa event were to happen, it would originate there.)

To some numbers: .55% of iPhone 4 users have called AppleCare about the reception problem. (I say: Keep in mind, though, not everyone may realize it is a problem with the phone itself and won’t think to call AppleCare.) Return rates are low, 1.7% so far, and when compared to the 3GS…

AT&T reports less than a 1% difference between the 3Gs and iPhone 4 concerning dropped calls.

"We think this has been so blown out of proportion… it’s fun to have a story, but it’s not fun on the other side. So here’s what we’re going to do to make our users happy. The first part is the software [iOS 4.1] update, that fixes the way the bars report and other bugs, that’s out now. Second, people said the bumper fixes everything… ‘why don’t you give everybody a case’? Okay — we’ll give you a free case."

One free case per iPhone 4 buyer, and a refund if you already bought one for the phone. The bumper will go around the phone and relieve the pressure the weak spot of the phone, more or less fixing the Death Grip antennae problem. This applies to everyone who purchases an iPhone through September 30.

Because Apple cannot produce enough cases on its own, they will be outsourcing for some of the cases and you’ll get a choice of which one you want. Apply for the case on the Apple website later next week.  Third party cases will not be refunded if you buy them outside this deal. The free case deal will apply outside of the US.

After you get a case, if you’re not satisfied…

"And if you’re not happy, you can bring the phone back. We’ll give you a full refund within 30 days. No restocking fee. We want to make everyone happy, and if we can’t make you happy we’ll give you a full refund."

Want your iPhone 4 in white?

Want your iPhone in other countries?

Jobs waxes on about how Apple loves its users, and I’m inclined to believe them. Otherwise, they would have said “screw you, deal with it,” when it came to the iPhone 4 and its problems. Despite their many faults, I keep on liking Apple because they tend to do the right thing by their costumers.

Finally, we learned that right now there is no hardware redesign coming for the iPhone 4 and the case will be your best friend when it comes to weak spot in the design. This weak spot is present in all current day smartphones, and Apple will be more than glad to try and conquer this problem and save us from our first-world problem… at a later time.

[Image Source/Information Source: Engadget | Source: MTV Multiplayer]

Tonight is a two for one! “I’m a Marvel and I’m a DC” is a take from the (classic) “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials. The guy who does these? I might love him. This is one good way to put action figures to really good use. You can see two of my favorite (of many favorites) down below. And one is a musical number.

Sign up for the forum (if you haven’t already) and discuss the podcast there.

Episode 3 – Please Excuse My Geek Rage

This week Inception hits theaters and I believe it will do well. Why? Two words, Dark Knight. I’m excited and I believe from what I’ve seen that this going to be an intelligent movie, maybe too intelligent. I’m worried that it may suffer the fate of great movies like Nolan’s previously released non-Batman movies The Prestige and Memento.

The trailers for Inception look amazing and the plot of a group that goes into your mind and steal dreams is very interesting, the idea that they are tasked with the mission of putting a new memory in to the head of a business rival. The movie really sells itself as a smart Matrix, which should help it.

Below is the trailer and if you haven’t seen it, its visually beautiful and has a great cast.

Will this movie be number one? most likely. will it get the detention it deserves? unfortunately not. At least Hollywood will give it some love come Oscar season.

I know that the people who made the film have no power over the movie poster but this poster is highly un-original and looks just like the Dark Knight poster showing the joker

Inception is a 2010 science fiction action film written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo Dicaprio, with a supporting cast that includes Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine. Inception comes out in both conventional and IMAX theaters on July 16, 2010.

I have not seen this movie yet, all opinions are based purely on speculation.

Cloud Strife – Alexander Skarsgard

For the spiky haired hero I went with True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard. Why? He’s blond, has a very good look and is a great actor. Cloud is one of the most iconic video game characters, so I had to go with an actor who could properly display the wide array of emotions that Cloud goes through.

Sephiroth – Luke Goss

Sephiroth is another one of those Iconic characters, but in all honestly he was a dick, and kind of a bitch. Luke Goss’ portrayal of Prince Nuada in Hellboy II helped me chose this role with ease.

Tifa – Summer Glau

Tifa has to be sexy, peppy, and a complete bad ass. Firefly’s Summer Glau is perfect for the main love interest in this movie.

Aeris – Alexis Bledel

Aeris is confusing. She’s supposed to be beautiful– yet have an aura of kindness around her that you can almost feel. Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel fits this role better than any actress in Hollywood.

Barret – Ving Rhames

Barret is a tough as hell bad ass who has a gun arm. Strap a mini chain gun to Dawn Of The Dead’s Ving Rhames and you have a perfect Barret

Vincent – Jared Leto

Vincent was ahead of his time: a brooding young vampire-esque man who is basically the worlds first emo. Fight Club’s Jared Leto does emo like a champ, and even though I’m not a huge fan of the actor, he would nail this role.

Red XIII – Ian Mckellen

All you need is an epic voice for Red, the rest can be done in CGI. No voice is more epic than Gandalf himself, Ian Mckellen.

Cid – Matthew McConaughey

I know I’m gonna get hell for this, but Cid is my favorite FF7 character. Southern charm and a bad ass pilot all wrapped up in one rugged package, Ol’ Matthew McConaughey from Sahara will own this role.

Yuffie – Brenda Song

For Yuffie I wanted a cute girl who can do cool ninja stuff, since Yuffie is a cute girl who can do ninja stuff, so Brenda Song of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior is my choice.

Caith Sith – Steve Buscemi

Another voice, only this time we see the face in cameos. Steve Buscemi’s voice is perfect for the fast talking spy. Con Air’s Buscemi can easily fake a Scottish accent until it is revealed he’s actually Reeve of the Turks.

Zack – Karl Urban

Zack would only be in cameo flashbacks throughout the movie until (spoiler) it’s revealed that all of Cloud’s memories were his. Karl Urban (Star Trek, Resident Evil, Chronicles of Riddick, Pathfinder…) would do great as the awesome warrior and Aeris’ lost love, Zack.

Reno and Rude – Justin Chatwin and Christopher Judge (Respectively, pictures left to right Rude then Reno)

These guys are kind of the comedic relief for the evil side. The straight laced and quiet, yet strong, Rude would be portrayed by Stargate’s Christopher Judge while the sporadic,  loud and quick Reno would be portrayed by Dragonball: Evolution’s Justin Chatwin

There you go Final Fantasy Fanatics. I’ve casted 7 and 8, tell me what you think!

From Ben Marsh’s website:

[images: ilikedoodles.com and © Ben Marsh | source: gizmodo]

Anders Loves Maria is a completed (mostly NSFW) comic, and it’s what a lot of people call a “slice of life” story. Even though I’ve known about this comic for a couple years now, I didn’t read it until it ended earlier this year.From the name you can figure out it’s about a guy named Anders that loves a girl named Maria in modern day Sweden. Early on it’s established that Maria and Anders are going to have a child together. The comic begins with the conception and ends with the birth. Each character’s history is told in the comic through flashbacks and stories, so the comic constantly jumps from current day to the past.

There’s nudity, sex, adult situations, adult language, and a varied art style, some of it being computer generated and some of it being watercolor or more sketchy. This particular story can go from light-hearted to serious in a matter of one page, and it works. Anders is not the perfect main character, he’s full of screw ups and kind of a bastard at times, but in the end you mostly want to like him.

Start at the first comic here: Page 1
Or look at the archives here: Archives

If you go to the main page of the website you will see the very last page, and it’s a bit spoiler-ish of the end.

Tonight brings you a video that I didn’t think I could finish, but there was Spock! And Kirk! And even though the music in this video is Tik Tok by Ke(dollarsign)ha, it’s still a good video. Trekkies, click for more.

Anthony Damien Smythe, 23, was found dead in his seat in the Reading Cinema complex on Courtenay Place by a security guard at the end of the 6 p.m. screening of the latest Twilight film, Eclipse, on Sunday night. Click on the read more tab to hear what may have caused it and what local police are saying.

Ambulance and fire officers attended the scene and tried to resuscitate him.

“Preliminary results of the post-mortem examination conducted yesterday show there are no suspicious circumstances regarding his death,” Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Miller said.

Police are now investigating on behalf of the coroner who will determine the cause of death.

I don’t like to make fun of the death of such a young person, but he WAS watching Twilight all by himself.

My guess? He was really rootin’ for Team Jacob, or he was bored to death. Honestly, though, the most likely scenario is that after watching Kristen Stewart try to act for a couple hours his body said “F*$K IT!” and just gave up on life.

To me, the scary thing is that a security guard found him, meaning no one else in the theater thought it suspicious that he didn’t get up to leave when the movie ended. Sure, they could have thought he was sleeping, but common courtesy says you nudge the guy and at least tell him the crappy movie he spent $20 on is over.

8. Citizen Steel

Pictured here is the third in the “Steel” line Commander Steel, a similarly dressed WWII hero is his grandfather while Steel (not the black superman or shaq) was his cousin. he has enormous strength that is tempered by wearing a suit made of — you guessed it, steel.

7. Patriot

Although in the amazing comic Rising Stars patriot is bad guy he redeems himself by sacrificing himself to save the series hero after taking all but one nuclear weapons away from the Earth. Turns out he was being mind controlled by the real bad guys.

6. General Glory

Created as a parody of Captain America the General here outranks him. Under that mask hides a secret, an elderly man with a bowl cut who can become General Glory.

5. The Shield

The corny Archie comics hero, The Shield was technically the first to wear the red, white, and blue as a super hero. With invulnerability and the ability to jump really far I would use my face as shield too.

4. Uncle Sam

Didn’t know U.S was a super hero didja? Well he is and he leads the Freedom Fighters, an all American team with real life problems. U.S is the embodiment of the American spirit and has greater strength and resilience based on how patriotic Americans are.

3. Fighting American

A Kirby creation (comic nerds know what that means) some consider this a Captain America rip off, and although the character was much more light hearted in the early days of the cold war, in the 90′s he was turned into a bullet chewing bad ass. The comic failed in both eras.

2. SuperPatriot

Originally a Captain America like hero with enhanced attributes SuperPatriot got all kinds of bad ass after Mako the shark man bit off his arms legs and half his face. reborn as a super cyborg the once values centric character became much more serious and dark.

1. Captain America

The most famous American in comics, Steve Rogers was a scrawny artist before being turned into the Marvel worlds greatest leader. Not the motorcycle riding bad ass in easy rider, or the most modern hero, many have tried to copy him, but no one comes close to the popularity of Cap.

Have you ever wondered what Conan the Barbarian would be like as a musical? Well, that’s a silly question. I’m sure all of you have asked yourself this question daily: “What would [insert media here] be like as a musical?”

Look no further, your question has been answered.

Click below to hear the lamentation of the women.

Andrew Garfield! I am so exc–wait, who is that? Oh, that’s better. This 6 foot tall 26-year-old will play teenage Peter Parker in the new series. He’s relatively unknown in the US, as he’s grown up in the UK, but the good news is, he’s regarded as a successful and good actor across the great pond, and that could mean good things for the character of Peter Parker.

For a couple other pictures of the actor and official Sony press release, click below.

Sony Pictures Press Release:
After a comprehensive worldwide casting search, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker when Spider-Man swings back onto the screen in 3D on July 3, 2012. The new film will begin production in early December directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Today’s confirmation culminates what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated casting announcements in recent memory. Bloggers, pop culture speculators, and everyday fans have pored over and analyzed every conceivable online rumor in an attempt to discover the identity of the next actor to play Peter Parker. Garfield will immediately begin preparing for the coveted role.

The Spider-Man franchise is one of the most successful in film history and the three previous motion pictures have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion in worldwide box office.

On selecting Garfield, director Marc Webb said, “Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.”

Commenting on the announcement, Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, President of Columbia Pictures said, “Spider-Man is a classic superhero — a young man who balances his responsibility to serve humanity and crush evil with the shyness and normalcy of someone struggling to find himself. The role demands an extraordinary actor. You need someone who can magically transform himself from Peter Parker into Spider-Man. An actor who will depict the vulnerability of youth and the strength and confidence of a legendary figure at the same moment. We have found that actor in Andrew Garfield. From the first time we saw him in the upcoming film The Social Network, to his glorious screen test, which floored all of us, we knew that we had found our new Peter Parker.”

Producer Avi Arad added, “I’m incredibly excited about Andrew Garfield. In the Spider-Man tradition, we were looking for a smart, sensitive, and cool new Peter Parker who can inspire us and make us laugh, cry, and cheer. We believe we have found the perfect choice to take on this role and lead us into the future.”

Producer Laura Ziskin said, “We are thrilled to have Andrew Garfield for this new incarnation of Spider-Man under Marc Webb’s direction. We were fortunate enough to meet with a group of fantastically talented young men. In the end, we all agreed that in addition to being an extraordinary actor, Andrew had the right mix of humor, youth, and pathos, along with an underlying sense of strength and power necessary to bring Peter Parker and Spider-Man to life on screen.”

The selection of Garfield was revealed at a press event in Cancun, Mexico for international journalists attending a media tour promoting upcoming films from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Garfield is fast becoming one of the most respected and sought-after young actors working in the industry today. In a short career, spanning only five years, he has already been directed by, and starred alongside, some of the greatest names and received a BAFTA for a role that won him international praise.

Garfield most recently worked with director David Fincher on the upcoming film The Social Network. He previously starred for Spike Jonze on his robot love story I’m Here, which premiered at Sundance this year. He plays the lead male opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, due for release later this year.

Other notable screen credits include Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus playing opposite Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law and the late Heath Ledger, Robert Redford’s Lions For Lambs, where he starred alongside Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; Revolution Films’ “Red Riding Trilogy – 1974″ directed by Julian Jarrold, where he lead a stellar cast including Rebecca Hall and David Morrissey, and his unforgettable portrayal of a young ex-con in John Crowley’s “Boy A,” for which he earned the best actor BAFTA in 2008.

Garfield’s career began in theatre and in 2006 his performances in “Beautiful Thing” (Sound Space/Kit Productions), “The Overwhelming,” and “Burn / Chatroom / Citizenship” (Royal National Theatre) won him the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard awards and the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards. Other notable theatre credits include “Romeo and Juliet” (Manchester Royal Exchange) and “Kes” (Manchester Royal Exchange), for which he received the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the Manchester Evening News Awards 2004.

[Source: THR]

Debuting in issue #600… a new costume! Lament, rejoice, whatever. (I like it.) Click more for a better a view and … more!

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

In 1942 Wonder Woman is introduced to us in this little number. She’s sexy, she’s functional, she kicks butt.

And many of us have grown up with this image, more or less. And a new generation will grow up with…

Hey-o! I’d consider dressing up as this Wonder Woman. Look at her in action, she seems to like it. What about you?

[Source/Photos: Comics Alliance | Covers: CoverBrowser]

Plastic Man – Johnny Knoxville

Patrick “Eel” O’Brein was a small time crook who, after a freak accident gains powers and decides to fight crime, mostly for publicity. Plastic Man is kind of dumb, an ex criminal, and always wears sunglasses. In Hollywood Knoxville is the closest equivalent around, he has proven himself as athletic and it’s about time he got in on the sweet superhero cash.

Wolfgang “Woozy” Winks/Hula Hula – Jorge Garcia

Woozy Winks is Plastic Man’s goofy sidekick and best friend. I had to change the character to best fit Hollywood so Wolfgang “Woozy” Winks got his nickname since he is bigger and anytime there’s any running away he gets out of breath and Woozy. I paid Homage to the cartoon equivalent of Woozy by making him wear Hawaiian shirts all the time. In the Hollywood version he is a small time crook, but he’s also a computer wiz who decides to help his best friend with his crime fighting.

Penny – Anna Faris

Penny is a beautiful, though slow witted, blond who is Plastic Mans love interest. I chose Anna Faris because she does hot and dumb really well.

The Weed – Jason Mewes

The Weed is a recurring Plastic Man villain who was a sentient plant who wanted to take over the world. In my version The Weed was another crook who worked with Plastic Man and got drenched in chemicals as well, but instead of gaining stretch powers he began to turn into a plant and had control over other plants. The Weed takes over crime in Plastic Man’s city and it’s up to Plastic Man and Woozy to stop him.

Dango Sunshine stars an emo samurai. Yup. I like a comic about an emo samurai. While I like the story of this comic, it’s the art that I love. It’s the character design, references to pop culture and old culture, the character design… I pretty much like it all. I’ve been following the Crabapples writer/artist duo for a while now, and tend to like about everything they create together, no matter the genre, so my opinion is biased when it comes whether or not this is Good or Bad. I’m on default for Good.

Read the comic and judge for yourself whether you like this one or not. It’s normally black and white with a few color pages, and updates sporadically. As of now, there are two complete chapters up. Start with chapter 1.

Ok, so it’s been a week since I bought my HTC EVO 4G and I have a few things I want to tell you.

Firstly the phone is big,  beautifully big.  Having a touch screen usually meant that people with big hands were in for a lot of frustration; not with the EVO.  The keyboard on the EVO makes two thumbed calling very comfortable.  When typing one handed the keyboard still works but I found myself hitting the search button at the bottom of the phone.  With such a big screen and a kickstand what’s to keep you from watching movies anytime you’re bored…
Absolutely nothing.  The screen makes it rather enjoyable to watch movies.

To the camera we go. Below are some basic shots and a video that I shot using the EVO’s camera.

EVO Test Footage (Click here to watch it)

What about battery life?  As with many smart-phones today, the EVO will last you a day but not much more.  There have a very large amount of people who complain about the EVO’s battery life, but with a few simple steps and some battery management I am getting about 8 to 9 hours of steady use before I hit 50%.  Under extreme use (wifi hotspot while showing the phone off to others) I only got about 5 hours of use before 20%.  Before you complain that those times aren’t enough for you let me ask you this…
Would you buy a Maserati sports car, enjoy driving at hundreds of miles an hour, and then complain about how often you need to fill the gas tank?  Not really.

With the EVO rocking out the Android OS 2.1 and HTC Sense, you’ll get the eye candy of iOS with the freedom of Android.  You can take the EVO back to the standard Android launcher if you want but I don’t think that you’ll want to.  The EVO also has Sprint’s WIFI hotspot software that will (for $30 a month) allow you to turn your phone into a portable wifi network for all of your wifi toys.  A few people are probably asking about the lack of 4G talk in this review,  I don’t have 4G anywhere near me so I can only speak to the 3G network which is very nice.

How about a little overview:
Camera: Good quality on auto and with some settings tweaking it can take ok low light photos as well not to mention it records 720p video.  The front camera is 1.3MP and is great for video calls.

Screen: Mine eyes never knew beauty till they beheld thee.

Battery: Takes some TLC to make it through a 16 hour day, but overall it works as advertised.

Software: Android 2.2 would be better but 2.1 is ok until HTC releases 2.2 later this year.  The WIFI hotspot (even on 3g) is a life saver on log trips or in hotels with no wifi (yes they do exist).

Things to remember:
I don’t have 4G around my area so I wasn’t able to test it at any point in the review.
I also don’t have the HDMI cable that the EVO uses to connect to your tv so that test was missing from this review as well.

Final Thoughts:
I love this phone. There I said it.  With it’s monstrous screen, speedy cpu, Android, and HTC Sense;  I haven’t been able to put it down.  Battery could be a tad better but its not an issue with my usage.  If you are on Sprint this phone should be on the top of your want list.  If you’re not then it should be on the top of your envy list.

Does anyone out there have an EVO that they want to talk about?  Leave some comments to let people know what your experience is with it.  Also any questions you have that I didn’t answer in the review I’ll answer via the comments section.  Thanks for reading.

The girls don’t have slingshots, but they do have a regular bar and a talking cactus. Not a comic for youngin’s, but certainly a comic for anyone with a sense of humor, and who doesn’t care about a bit of profanity. There’s a great about page at the website that will probably answer all your questions about it. Go, read, be merry!

The comic updates five days a week, and sometimes more. Start with page 1!

Happy Fathers Day to all those geek dads out there. For your special day I created a list of the most bad ass dads in geek culture comics, television, movies and video games. Enjoy!

8: Noah “HRG” Bennett

From: Heroes

Starting off strong with the indestructible Claire’s bad ass dad. This guy is so bad ass he takes out people with powers even though he’s a regular human.

7: Lone Wolf

From: Lone Wolf and Cub

Ogami Itto was once a powerful executioner, but after being falsely accused of crimes he didn’t commit, he takes his young son Daigoro and walks the path of the assassin to avenge his murdered wife and regain his honor. One of the most bad ass and influential dads of all time, if you haven’t read this, please do.

6: Dr.Light

From: Megaman Series

The “Father” of Megaman, Roll, and Protoman, Dr.Light is a bad ass in the scientific way. Whether light is helping his “son” by inventing new armor and weapons or he’s planning the next attack on his maniacal ex-partner Dr.Wily, Dr.Thomas Light is a bad ass.

5: Mr.Incredible

From: The Incredibles

Robert “Bob” Parr is your average dad. He works a quiet job, has three beautiful children and a loving wife. Did I mention his job is saving the Earth from super villains and he and his family all have super abilities? No, well, they do, and thats bad ass

4: Commander William Adama

From: Battlestar Gallactica

Now here’s a Frakkin bad ass. Adama has the all the grit and skills you’d expect from a war hero and then some to boot. The Father of two sons Zak, a viper pilot and Lee, a celebrated soldier and Vice Presidant.

3: Darth Vader

From: Star Wars

If your dad was the second in command to the most powerful army of all time and had a special helmet removing chair inside a giant death ray that can destroy a planet, you’d think “he’s bad ass.” The father of the whiny Luke and the bitchy Leia, Anakin Skywalker was once thought to be the most powerful Jedi ever.

2: Bowser

From: Mario Series

If my dad was a fire breathing dragon turtle who flew around in a clown head while letting my siblings and I hang out in castles covered in fiery death traps you’d be wondering on how good of a father he is. Bowser has 8 children and no one knows the mother, unless it’s Peach. That’s weird… never mind?!? He’s a bad ass!

1: Batman

From: Batman

When you think of Batman, rarely does the word father come to mind, but he has had 3 adopted children, one of which was killed by the Joker and one son with Talia Al Ghul. All four of Batman’s son’s have the same bad ass karate and detective skills of their father, which is bad ass. KARATE FAMILY! Batman will always be number one bad ass dad as long as he lives because this non-powered man goes toe to toe with supervillains everyday and leads a team of heroes next to one of the most powerful people in his universe.

Benjamin Walker, who’s mostly done theater work, will play a young Beast. Pre-fur most likely.

Joystiq has a system spec sheet and guess what? The new Xbox 360 250 GB Elite models will no longer use a red ring to tell you it’s sick. Instead, it will use a green one. Sort of. These new models will inevitably have software or hardware problems, but now you can look forward to a nice, soothing green message with a big red dot in the middle (where the power indicator light is) instead of a blaring red circle telling you to drop to your knees and scream toward the heavens. Yeah, so it’s a dot. A red dot.

Instead of a red ring telling you you’re messed up, it’s a 360 pimple.

Thanks, Microsoft? Discuss.

[Source and Image: Joystiq]

In this podcast we introduce ourselves and talk tech, games, and comics for the first time on the air.

Topics include:
Sony Move
“Slim” Xbox 360
Rock Band 3
iPhone 4 and the AT&T security leaks
Microsoft Kinect
The new mac minis
and much more.

Host:
Jesse Miller (Editor in Chief)

Guests:
Brandon Williams ( Senior Editor)
Rachel Lebo (Senior Editor)

Del Toro backed out of directing the Hobbit for several reasons, but says he’ll announce his new project soon.

Blue Beetle TV Series

Some stills have been released showing some early concepts of what the suit may look like if the series gets picked up. Head over to Bleedingcool.com to see more stills.

Tons more news after the jump!

Ghost Rider

Nicholas Cage is pretty sure he’ll reprise his role, new directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (the directors of Crank) want a darker take on the character which could only mean good things for the Spirit of Vengeance.

Predators

A ton of images have been released from the new movie and you can see them all at Collider.com

Chronicles of Narnia: The Dawn Treader

A trailer has been released of the newest movie in the Narnia series

Black Panther

BET is going to be airing a Black Panther animated series soon and some amazing stills were taken from the sneak peak music video available at Itunes. Head over to Bleedingcool.com to see more stills.

Thor

New pics have came out this time showing Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Thanks ET.

Walking Dead

Some stills have been released of hordes of Zombies for the new AMC Walking Dead series, but this particular shot is a classic from the comics and makes me believe they are sticking to the original story pretty close.

Captain America

Dum Dum Dugan has finally been cast and its Neal McDonough!

And that about wraps it up!

Portal 2 is coming… next year. Along with the announcement that Steam will be coming to the PlayStation, it was said that Portal 2 will look the best on the PS3. This probably means it will be developed on the system and ported to the others.

Whatever. As long as Gla Dos is back, I’ll be happy. See the teaser below the cut.

You can welcome a remote with a ball on it into your American home on September 19 or your European home on September 15!

The PlayStation Move system will be packaged alone, and in a bundle. The wand (snicker) alone is $49.99 and the bundle (which includes the wand, EyeToy system and Sports Champions) will be $99.99. The Navigation Controller (nun-chuck) will be $29.99. The PS3 bundle will be $399.99.

Now Wii can all Kinect and Move together. Yay?

[Source: Wired | Photo: Sony]

Sony is going to introduce a new charge service for its PlaysStation Network and the end of this month. Don’t worry, it will stay free and nothing from the basic accounts will get taken away, now you have the choice to upgrade the account.

12 Month: $49.99
3 Month: $17.99

Sony will gave away 3 months of the service for free to get you hooked, and then you pay for it. I’m not sure if you have to provide a payment option to use the demo, but knowing Sony, you probably do.

PSN Plus will give you access to some free** stuff as well as the regular PSN services. With PSN Plus you can get early demos, access to some betas, themes, automatic downloads of upcoming demos you might be interested in (probably based on your game history) and discounts on PlayStation Store games. You’ll also get access to free full games, which change monthly, and exclusive in-game DLC.

The first month of service (July) will feature Wipeout HD, free themes and avatars, a trial of Infamous, Fieldrunners, Age of Zombies, and Rallycross. In August, Sony is adding Qore support.

**If at any time you choose to stop subscribing from Plus, the content downloaded to your HD that was available only through Plus will go away. Sony has mandated you only to keep the “free” stuff if you stay with the service. This might be to avoid people ripping them off, but it’s probably mostly because they just want to be jerks.

[Source: Destructoid]

Hey there, Creepy, you got a name!

World, meet Kinect. Kinect, meet the world. This news came out prior to E3, a day before, actually. Leaky news. Click more for more  and a list of some of the games that will be compatible with this thing.

Available for purchase: November 4

Price: Unknown at this time

It will probably come in a bundle, and you’ll probably be able to buy it as a stand alone accessory. This is a guess on my part. The new Slim 360 has a port specifically for the device, but doesn’t come with the device, so…

And in case you don’t remember what it does…it’s a creepy camera/mic combo parading as a controllerless controller that uses body language and voice commands.

A list of games from USA Today.

•Kinectimals lets you train and play with 20 different virtual cats, including a lion, cheetah and tiger.

•Joyride, a racing game, lets players use their hands to hold an imaginary steering wheel — pull your hands toward you and push back out for an acceleration boost — and their bodies to execute jumps and tricks.

•Kinect Sports has six activities including boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis. To serve a volleyball, you mimic the real motion; in soccer, you can kick the ball or do a header.

•Kinect Adventures includes a river-raft time trial and obstacle course, playable by up to four players. On the raft, playing as a duo, you and a partner must lean one way or another to steer. Jumping helps the raft reach special areas for extra points.

•Dance Central, in development by MTV Games, incorporates immersive, full-body dancing without the need for a controller.

•Star Wars characters and iconic Disney favorites will be featured in separate new games being developed at Microsoft in conjunction with LucasArts and Disney.

[Photo: Destructoid]

The System: Nintendo Wii
The Game: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
My Reaction: I want to be excited.. but I can’t. I won’t play this if there’s not an option for a classic controller. If it’s strictly motion-based, I’m out. And that saddens me to say. I love me some Link. Love.

Shiny, small, and wifi oh my.  In true Microsoft fashion the big “M” has beat E3 to the punch by announcing their new Xbox 360 console which is smaller than the original along with a new cooling system, shinny finish and a hard drive that slides into the system itself.

Microsoft announced that the new design will be shipping to retailers by the time you read this so expect to see them in store real soon.  Here are some of the bullet points of the new system:

- "Much quieter"
- Different power supply—it’s still big but nearly weightless 
- 250GB internal hard drive, which is still swappable.
- There are five USB ports now, with three in the back and two in the front 
- A custom Kinect port (not a standard USB port—it’s a USB port that can feed more power)
- Touch sensitive on/off and eject buttons (like the PS3) (audio feedback when you turn it on.)
- Internal components that have changed: two small fans changed into one large fan for quieter operation, 45nm integrated CPU and GPU 
- AV cable included,  HDMI and optical audio ports (no HDMI cable yet)
- External Xbox 360 hard drives and memory units are NOT compatible with the new Xbox

You can buy the data transfer cable that was used to transfer data from your 20gb drive to the new 120gb when they released for $20 or you can use a thumb drive and do it one piece at a time.

At first I was a little bit turned off by the lines of the new design, but I must say that this new take is beginning to grow on me.  What do you think?  Will any of you be buying this new system?

(Picture courtesy of Microsoft)

Just look at the art in this comic, it’s amazing. I’m not usually drawn to anthro-themed stories and art, but this is too good to pass up. Set in prohibition era St. Louis, where the city is populated with anthropomorphic cats, the story concentrates on the Lackadaisy speak-easy and its management/employees.

The webcomic updates irregularly, at least once a month. Start from the beginning: Page 1.

Race: Grey Elf

Speed: 7

Power: 6

Magic: 4

Swordsmanship: 6

Archery: 9

Special: Magic cloak and special longbow given to him by elf queen

Link

Race: Hylian, a forest elf

Speed: 6

Power: 8

Magic: 7

Swordsmanship: 7

Archery: 6

Special: Magic sword, magic gauntltes that increase strength, some magic, and an arsenal of weapons

Drizzt Do’Urden

Race: Drow, Dark Elf

Speed: 9

Power: 5

Magic: 9

Swordsmanship: 8

Archery: 5

Special: Magical swords Twinkle and Icingdeath, magical knowledge, and magicaly augmented speed.

The battle starts off with Drizzt charging Legolas who is shooting rapidly at Link and Drizzt. Drizzt gets hit by one arrow, but they keep bouncing off Links mighty shield. Link fires a blast of energy from his magic sword which shatters Legolas bow. Drizzt charges Link with his sword drawn and with one slash from icingdeath freezes Links shield, and another hard hit from Twinkle shatters the shield. Link uses his grappling hook to escape the super fast drow and land next to Legolas, after some hand to hand combat Link blows into a flute and a bird carries him off. Legolas hears a sizzling sound and as he turns see’s a bomb left by Link >BOOM< Legolas is out. Drizzt’s immense speed and knowledge of magics keeps Link at bay, and as Drizzt charges Link he draws his sword and runs it through Links chest. As Drizzt walks away victorious he hears a sound and see’s a fairy ressurect Link and before he knew what was happening he’s hit in the face with a boomerang, giving Link the time he needs to finish off Drizzt with the Master Sword.

The Winner!  LINK

It’s the Real Paper Mario!

A school in Japan converted a few floors into a set for a Mario stop-motion adventure. It took two weeks to film and is a clever little piece, so I’m going to go ahead say it was worth all the work. Video below the cut.

Source: Hot Blooded Gaming