Activision has formally announced some of the details of the forthcoming game based on the Transformers movie. IGN reports the Xbox 360, Wii, and DS will be joined by Sony’s systems as well: PS3, PS2 and PSP. Oh and theres a PC one too. So, just about anything you’ve got.

Better yet, the console developer has been revealed as Traveler’s Tales, who are responsible for LEGO Star Wars, arguably one of the best movie games in the past few years. They’ve confirmed seperate Autobot and Decepticon campaigns, along with massive destructable environments, and on-the-fly transformations. IGN has a short interview with producer Andy Burrows, who hints that they’ll mix in some non-movie bots inspired classic Generation One characters. Confirmed playable characters right now include Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Megatron, and Starscream.

Transformers on DS will be handeled by Vicarious Visions, who have a massive catalog of successful ports for Activison, including Doom 3 for Xbox, Tony Hawk and Marvel Ultimate Alliance for portables. Savage Entertainment(developer of Star Wars: Battlefront II) takes the PSP, and is promising a very different game with over 20 (!) playable Transformers spanning further into the movie’s extended universe.

A playable demo of the game will be available at Toy Fair in New York City this weekend. Since this is an industry/press affair, we’re hoping to see a video come along soon. We’ll keep an eye on the official site.

In the meantime, here is the first screenshot from the game. It’s a picture someone took of a catalog of Transformers merchandise that just happened to have a tiny page advertising the game. If you can’t make it out, it’s Bumblebee fighting the Decepticon Barricade in the first shot, and then a single shot of Barricade. Its not much, but we’re starving for info here, so give me a break.

UPDATE! IGN has added lengthy impressions of the demo, but still no screens. Read it all here.

I should really know better than to get excited about a video game based on anime, but Lupin is one of those characters and shows I have an endless supply of affection for. Look Inspector Zenigata is playable!

I should really grow my sideburns out again.

A skillfully done video edit, if I may say so. National Lampoon, which hasn’t been funny since Chevy Chase was, is apparently responsible.

The Game Developers Conference is right around the corner, and with it the industry’s awards ceremony. Unlike embarassing Spike and G4 Productions, the GDCA’s academy is made up only of developers and not 13 year olds with access to the internet.

With that in mind, a lot of the same names are still garnering praise, with Okami and Oblivion each earning 4 nominations, including best game. Gears Of War, Twilight Princess, and Wii Sports round out the list. Tim Schafer, the mad genius behind Psychonauts, will host the event along with performances from MC Chris and Mega 64. Why can’t they televise this show?

Visit the GDCA site for the full list of nominees. The awards will be presented on March 7th at the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco’s Moscone Convention Center.

The legendary 1959 Cadillac ambulance that became the vehicle for the Ghostbusters is on the auction block.

Hemmings, an automotive auctioneer and marketplace, has the car listed as on sale starting at a reasonable $149,998(with no money down!). Currently residing in Volo, Illinois at the Volo Auto Museum, this car is not the actual car used in the filming of Ghostbusters or its sequel. This is the beat up vehicle Dan Akroyd’s character Ray purchases early in the first film and comically lists its shortcomings. It was simply leased for that scene to be filmed, and only after production of the movie had been completed did the studio go back and fund the conversion of the classic Miller-Meteor to the specifications of the ECTO-1.

Listing says everything inside is completely restored with leather seats, vintage air conditioning, and all the lights and the distinctive siren heard in the movie are working.

So… who wants to co-sign a car loan for me? I’m totally good for it.

The internet has gone absolutely crazy with toys leaks in the past couple weeks, but I won’t waste your time with all of them. Instead, I’ll cherry pick the best, and relevant news, and leave TFW2005 to gobble up every scrap.

First up the comics: The Movie “prequel,” which will be a 4 issue series set before the events of the live action movie. TFarchive has a nice review of the book, which is due on February 21st.

Cover B is something special, showcasing non-movie characters, Arcee, Inferno, and Shockwave (at least one of the hundred one-eye bots HAS to be Shockwave). Don Figueroa is handling the pencils, so it should be pretty interesting to see how the fans’ favorite artist handles some of the fans’ least favorite designs.

Speaking of designs, its about time Dreamworks, ILM, Paramount, or Michael Bay himself fired somebody. Not because the designs are bad (I personally like the fresh approach), but because we have even more spec sheets. This has to be the worst kept secret in Hollywood.
Here are Starscream, Frenzy, Bonecrusher, and Ironhide.

Ok, enough of this concept art, its time for merchandise. [Read the rest of this entry…]

It was the biggest security scare in the United States since September 11, 2001. Officials stopped traffic on a major highway, and cordoned off areas after “suspicious devices” were found under a steel beam and in other areas around Boston.

Boston law enforcement leapt into action after “suspicious devices” were reported bearing magnetic lights. In the shape of a Mooninite. Waving a middle finger. Boston bomb squad detonated 8 of them before someone from Turner called up and explained it was an ad for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, not some elaborate terror plot. A terror plot from the Moon.

Heroic Boston police have captured Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, employees for the marketing company Interference Inc., under a law declaring it a crime to place a hoax device that causes a panic. Turner has also issued an apology. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino calls the situation “outrageous” and has not ruled out a lawsuit to Turner to pay for the millions in stupidly wasted man-hours.

Why was there a panic? New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia all had these same exact signs and no one lost their crap in those cities. I mean, just look at the sign! Aside from Ignignokt flipping the bird, theres nothing remotely threatening. Its a sign, posted to a beam. It lights up.

I’m surprised Turner and the marketing company are catching hell for this. Boston police should be ashamed for being so damn jumpy and sicking the bomb squad on a bunch of LED signs bearing the visage of a cartoon character.

Video of the signs being posted after the break

Full CNN report
CBS 4 Boston TV report
[Read the rest of this entry…]

I’ve been a loyal GameFly subscriber for several years now. I love being able to try out something new without spending $50 or putting up with ill-tempered EBGameShlub employees. It’s made me a better gamer, and more open-minded.

So, it’s with sadness I mailed back the last game I’ll ever get from there today. You see, I have 15 Xbox 360 games in my queue. All of them have “Short Wait” or “Long Wait” next to them. I tried looking in at the full list of Xbox 360 games and of 127 titles listed, not a single one is available for rent right now. What the hell? I understand a lot of people got X-boxes for X-Mas but this is X-treme.

Then it hit me: Gamerscores. So many people are renting games to up their gamerscores that it’s rendered the service useless to a weekender like myself. I could probably leave those 15 games at the top of my queue for months and still get fed random DS games sitting at the bottom of the list. I was lucky to get Chromehounds one time, though unlucky when I fell asleep during the training level. If the best I can get is that slow moving snoozefest, my money is not being well spent.

So, I’m cancelling. Prices are still sky-high on even used 360 games; but by saving my $22 a month, I might be able to afford them. Or at least I can enter a brick-and-mortar shop and get a game in hand right away. GameFly does share the blame here though, when launch titles are still in high demand, they should be upping the stock to meet that demand, instead of letting me sit and wait for a good game.