In 1999, Warner Brothers and the Wachowski Brothers made a film like no other. It told the story of a future in which humans were enslaved by technology gone mad. The film’s combination of special effects and martial arts were unlike anything ever seen before. At the end of the film, fans would eagerly anticipate what would happen next. For four straight years, fans have yearned for a sequel to the film, and gamers craved a video game tie-in which would allow the to take control of all the high velocity action shown in the films. Indeed, since the film was released, many games have incorporated the Matrix’s slow-motion action into their own gameplay.

By 2003, the Matrix was set to become the new millennium’s answer to Star Wars, taking its place as the primer Sci-fi franchise. Thus, for the film’s upcoming sequel, the Wachowskis knew they had to do it big. To that end, they recruited scores of anime artists, actors, CG graphics experts, and game developer Shiny entertainment (Earthworm Jim, Messiah, MDK). Not only would we be getting a sequel, but we’d also be getting the first video game, along other cool stuff. Not only would we see the next evolution of the franchise, but we’d also see a breakthrough in storytelling across different forms of medium Or at least it would have been had the Wachowskis and the people at Shiny entertainment had the slightest clue of how to do this properly.
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As expected, the US House voted on Wednesday to move the digital TV conversion date to June 12th, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief right?

Not exactly. In fact, many stations will still shut off their analog transmitters on February 17th as planned.

This is because the language of the legislation is such that broadcasters are not required to go Digital, but merely to vacate the analog frequencies by February 17th. Even though that date has been extended four months, many stations will still stop broadcasting in analog because of the cost issues.

The legislative decision is going to cause more confusion than it aimed to solve.

(Get an in-depth explanation after the jump!)

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Weather they have you hunting down the city’s most dangerous serial killers or being stalked through hallways by a demonic little girl, Monolith knows how to pile on the scares just as good as any Silent Hill or Resident Evil title.. Bloodshot is the sequel to one of the Xbox 360’s earliest games, and it improves greatly upon its predecessor in almost every way. You once again step into the shoes of investigator Ethan Thomas. However, due to the events of the last game, you’re a mere shell of your former shelf. Having left the SCU, you drown your sorrows in the bottle until your former employers notify you of a mysterious call from Ethan Van Horn, a friend of yours who has gone missing. Soon, you once again get pulled back into a world of evil and mayhem, as it seems that Serial Killer X, who met his end at the end of the first game, has seemingly returned and has gone back to his old ways. Along the way, you’ll come to terms with your personal demons, your origin, learn the true nature of the mania that has gripped the streets, and get up close and personal to the cult that has hinted at in the last game.
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This video turned into a more overly ambitious review than I first thought.

Show notes after the jump
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Man, Square sure diversified after leaving Nintendo….oh wait, I said that last week didn’t I? Anyway, this fighting game (and collaboration with Namco and Dreamfactory) was as far away from the company’s RPG roots as it gets. It was also a departure from other fighting games around the time as well. Characters are allowed full 3-d movement, and don’t even have to face each other, not unlike Capcom’s Power Stone. The arenas contained interactive elements such as destructible crates that can be used as weapons. However the arenas are a bit on the small side, and the camera doesn’t track as well as it should sometimes. Even so, it’s still a fresh and fast-paced approach to the fighting game genre. The story (as with a good majority of other fighters) is that some mysterious conglomerate is holding a fighting tournament, and fighters from all around the world arrive to compete. Okay, so the story isn’t that original, but the characters are. On the surface, they look like your usual Tekken/Virtua Fighter archetypes, but their physical features and backstories make them something else. For instance, Ken ‘Godhand’ Mishima may look like your average fighting game main character, but he was a former assassin whose arm was replaced with a canon. Lee Shuwen may look like your typical old man kung-fu master, but he is suffering from a reverse aging disease. Not only do you get to play as these guys, several characters from a little known game called Final Fantasy 7 are also among the cast! Why would you want to play as any of the original yahoos, when you can play as Sephiroth?

Beside the main game, there are several minigames that can be played as well. There is a racing game and a board game, but the one you will be spending the most time with is the dungeon mode. Here, you take control of an archelogist as they explore a seemingly endless dungeon. Not unlike Diablo 2, you go through the dungeon building stats and gaining items and weapons to help you on your journey. The dungeons are even randomly generated, making the experience different each time.

Ehrgeiz may not have been be Street Fighter, but it introduced several unique concepts that were further refined in other games. The original disc has gone out of print, and was never re-released as part of SOny’s ‘Greatest Hits’ line. Thankfully, Japanese PS3 owners can purchase it at the PSN store, so hopefully this game will be available in the US PSN store as well. Gamers deserve a second chance to experience this classic, if for no other reason than the fact that gamers can control Sephiroth and his planet-destroying awesomeness.

What Would Madden Do?

Oh snap! We’re tackling this year’s Super Bowl commercials.

Get it?
These are football jokes. Also; the news and what we’re into.

Final Crisis spoilers ahead:

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An annual tradition in the United States is being held tonight. You see, all the big marketing geniuses make commercials for their new products, and in between those commercials there is an American football game.
Movie studios are now pulling out the big guns, and a lot of their teasers are already online.

UPDATE: Many of these ads have been pulled from youtube, but you can see them all on Hulu.com/superbowl as they air in the game, or using the viewer below!

Apologies to international readers, Hulu only works in the States. Transformersmovie.com has TF2, and Coming soon has GI JOE.