2006.08.16 10:16PM EST
These two images have magically appeared at TFW2005. The first is the fist, arm and shoulder of what many are saying it the CG model for Optimus Prime for the forthcoming Transformers movie. The second is has a black bar censoring the middle third of the image, but it couldn’t be more clear that it Optimus Prime’s face.
You’ll recall we’ve already seen Optimus Prime’s movie truck mode, and insiders at TFW2005 have thrown their reputation toward legitimacy for that image as well as these.I’m left wondering if this is a legit leak or another Dreamworks marketing move to let us see a tiny little bit to gauge reactions and get us hungry for more.

If so, you guys win. I’m ready for this movie more than ever.

Remember, Peter Cullen is Optimus Prime, and the movie will be released to theaters July 4, 2007. 11 months to go!

[Update 2006.08.17 1:40PM EST – Crazy: It seems the Movie Blog has verified that these renders are indeed authentic. ]

For those of you just joining us, the Buried Treasures section is where I spotlight a game that, while it may not be as well known as the Mega Men, Final Fantasies, and Contras, it’s still a classic in it’s own right.  This week’s entry is the Parasite Eve series from Squaresoft years before they merged with Enix.  These two games strayed far away from the norm as you can get, eschewing the mideval/fantasy plots of other games and placing it within a Modern day setting with guns and a heavily laden sci-fi plot.  The first game was an RPG with Resident Evil-esque survival horror elements.  You play as Aya Brea, a New York police dectective attempting to prevent a catostrophic outbreak while discovering the secret within her own genetics.  The series deals with the origin and purpose of mitochondrial DNA (Yeah, I’m lost too, you’ll just have to play the game to understand).  The first game introduced a strange, but innovative targeting system which would allow players to target any part of thier enemy.  (This targeting system would later show up in another Square title, Vagrant Story.)  Also, you could upgrade your weapons, attaching any adjustments you could find on it.  When you beat the game the first time, the New Game+ opened up, allowing access to a secret area and the true ending.  The only bad part of this game was that there were no shops, so you had to rely upon whatever you found in chests or whatever was dropped by enemies after battle.

Parasite Eve 2 was a Resident Evil-esque survival horror game with RPG elements.  The combat was real time, and the weapon sphere and upgrade systems were unfortunantely gone.  Thankfully, by earning credits from defeating enemies, you could buy things at any one of the game’s shops.  The plot was designed so that players didn’t have to play through the first to understand the second game.  There were a number of hidden modes and weapons (including Squall’s gunblade) you could unlock in the game, and the plot was as science-heavy as in the first.

You should be able to find these games used at about any decent gaming store, so you might want to check them out especially if you’re a fan of Resident Evil. or are just tired of the same old RPG conventions.  Also of intrest is the movie and novel of the same name.

2 years ago, Tecmo released what was not only one of the most anticipated games on Xbox, but an addition to one of thier most beloved franchises, Ninja Gaiden.  It had some of the finest graphics of the current console generation, a deep weapon upgrade and combat system, a large variety of enemies, and an insane difficulty level which makes even easy mode a challenge, it became an instant classic with many gamers.  Tecmo also released two ‘hurricane pack’ downloads over Xbox Live.  The first of these two downloads added new weapons, new bosses, and an adjustable camera while the second pack added a challenge mode.  Last fall, Tecmo released this update with both of the hurricane packs, a new mission mode, a new difficulty mode, new cinemas, and an unlockable version of the arcade ninja gaiden.  In short, it’s heaven for an action gamer.  You know a game is great when it’s hard as hell, but you still keep trying to play it just to get to the next part.  I have to warn you though, if you wimp out at a high difficulty, then THIS IS NOT THE GAME FOR YOU!

THE BOYS #1
written by Garth Ennis, art by Darick Robertson

This Wednesday Garth Ennis delivers unto us another dark, deviant look at superhero comics, and he’s dragged Darick Robertson into doing the art chores. They’ve done some work together on some little book called The Punisher. You might’ve heard of it.

Here, ‘The Boys’ refers specifically to our five main characters, who all share a deep, personal hate-on for superheroes. And while it’s not clear what exactly they’ll be doing to fight the heroes of their world, based on the preview available at DC’s site, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they’re out for blood. Nothing like the comforting visual of hands without a body attached.

Ennis has a solid track record at delivering a fantastically dark take on superheroes, so if you’ve enjoyed any of his work before, this is definitely one not to miss.