Rocky comes out of retirement after seeing a video game simulation say he could beat the current champ in a fight.
Honestly, if this weren’t the 6th installment in the series, more people would be excited. The trailer looks good. I’m guessing they didn’t call it “Rocky VI” because they don’t want people thinking the franchise is as tired out as Rocky himself is.
I’m going to save the hate for the supposed “Rambo vs al Queada” movie Sly wants to make next, but Rocky Balboa, at least from this preview, gets my vote of approval.

We previously reported on a contest being held by Activision for the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Basically the contest gave anyone the chance to the voice of a hero in the game. For the guys, Bruce Banner, the Hulk’s alter ego. For the ladies, Jean Grey, the telepathic mainstay of the X-Men. Casting has closed for the voice of Bruce Banner, but tryouts for Jean Grey remain open. Meanwhile, a new character is now open for tryouts for the men, Namor the Sub-mariner.

Grand Prize winners will win a trip to Los Angeles to record their dialogue and meet the producers of the game, and receive an X-Box 360, a copy of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance the game, a pack of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance playing cards, and a poster signed by Stan “The Man” Lee!

Submit your auditions soon because entries end July 23, 2006. For the official contest page with full entry details and rules, along with information on Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, head to: www.MarvelUltimateAlliance.com.

Following in the trend of Zac’s review of the Nintendo Power mints here’s an in depth review of Game Boy Advance Gummies!!!

These gummies were bought at Toys R Us in the R Zone near the cash. The cost was 1.49$ Canadian.

2006.07.11 13:41 EST: Huge news for Marvel Legends fans! ToyFare has gotten their hands on a picture of one of the new figures along with a listing of the rest of the assortment, which is sure to be on display at next week’s San Diego Comic Con.

From the Wizard site:

The first series of Marvel Legends to be released by Hasbro, who takes over the Marvel license from Toy Biz in January, will feature Planet Hulk [pictured], Banshee, Hercules, Movie Beast, Emma Frost, Ultimate Iron Man, and Annihilus as the build-a-figure! Check out ToyFare #109, on sale Wednesday, for more images of the figures, as well as images of movie Ghost Rider toys and new Spider-Man figures from Hasbro!

 

 
It looks like build-a-figures are here to stay as they clearly have gotten collectors to buy entire waves far more eagerly. Of note, is the presence of Ultimate Iron Man, not to be confused with the Modern Armor Iron Man of Toy Biz Wave 8. I’m sure his presence is due to the impending movie release. Rememer that there are still a few more waves of Toy Biz figures to go before these ever see the light of day.

Let the speculation on variants begin.

[Update – Crazy: 2006.07.12 12:33 EST ToyFare has posted a picture of Banshee on their forums after great speculation on the quality of the line based on the Hulk figure. They also reminded us that these were very early prototypes so some results may vary. I added the Banshee picture next to the Hulk above.]

[Update 2 – Crazy 2006.07.13. 12:00 EST I found some scanned in pages from the latest ToyFare that reveals the line up. The images came from here. Images added above. Again.]

Toys R Us stores in Canada have a sale this week, from Saturday July 8th to Friday July 14th, on Gameboy Advance games. Buy 1 game and get another of equal or lesser value for free. The sale does not apply to stores in the United States. This is a great oppurtunity for you to get those games you’ve wanted but have put off buying.

Naturally the selection is not the best but with this kind of deal it’s worth checking out.

Thanks to “Wonko the Sane?” for pointing the sale out.

The surprising success of this hit from last year (as well as the failures of 25 to Life, FInal Fight Streetwise, and many others) proves that not everyone who plays Grand Theft Auto plays it for the sex and violence, but for the way it implements it’s open world design.  Pick one of three mercenaries, each of which with thier own special talents, and blaze across North Korea in an attenpt to dethrone a dictator, capture the deck of 52, stop a nuclear strike, and get paid beaucoup dollars while doing it.  You take missions from 4 different factions, playing each side and staying on good terms with them to gain special advantages.  The Russian Mafia for instance, gives you access to the “Merchant of menace” website where you can purchase weapons, vehicles, and anything else you need in your missions.  The main draw of this game is the ability to blow up pretty much anything standing.  You are also free to go about the missions however you choose.  Pandemic, this game’s developer is also behind another solid open world sandbox game, “Destroy all Humans”.  A sequel is also on the way, for PS3 and hopefully Xbox 360.

The Seattle Times is blowing the lid of Microsoft’s new portable, positioned to compete not only against the PSP and DS, but also the iPod. This is what happens when you have this many competitors.
Endgaget provided the picture of the supposed device. While the design certainly looks like it could do the media player functions of iPod and PSP very easily, its hard to think of it as a games machine.
But, oh yes, a games machine is coming, whether this is it or not. Millions in R&D are already spent, and J Allard, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Launch poster boy is leading the charge. We’re hearing its compatible with XNA, and with WiFi standard on the unit, its a good bet Xbox Live Anywhere will play a part as well.
Major movie and music publishers are lining up to offer content to loosen Apple’s grip on the download market.
A big annual meeting is scheduled for July 27th, where the Xboy or xPod or whatever ridiculous name kids want to call it may be revealed and dated for a fall/Winter launch.
Does MS have what it takes? They’re years behind in the portable market, and the portable market is pretty well satisfied right now, even if it does lack a good all-in-one device. And will the buying public be able to stand new DRM standards that may render Apple, Sony, etc downloads incompatible with the new unit?
I don’t know, but it’ll be fun to watch, pass or fail.

Retro Gaming with racketboy has graciously decided to share some classic game magazines with those of us who missed them or just want to remember good times.
PDF: Sega Visions Magazine – Summer 1991
PDF: Nintendo Power #1 – Jul-Aug 1988
PDF: Playstation Magazine #1 – September 1997

Update: While we all thought the magazines would be a fun read, who knew they would yeild this kind of pertinent info–
Kotaku: Sony Pulls Rumble… from the Playstation! Apparently, Sony announced they were going to not included rumble in their original Playstation Dual Analog pad because of a patent dispute with Immersion Technologies. Sony went ahead with the DualShock anyway, the rest is history.
Joystiq: CliffyB, the retro gaming god. A sharp reader spotted the name Cliff Blezinski as the having the top score in Super Mario Bros on NES, and one email later confirmed that it is in fact Cliff Bleszinski aka “Cliffy B” now of Epic Games and lead for Microsoft’s winter tentpole, Gears Of War!