How terrible and how geeky am I that I nearly shed a tear reading this. I got as excited as I did when one of our own got married.
PvP, for those who don’t know, is a very popular webcomic about the staff of a video game magazine.

Shit Sandwich.

This game is terrible. I’ve played some dumbed down crap games, but never had an excellent, barnstormer game like Burnout been lost so completely.

The blame lies entirely in the DS hardware. It can’t support Criterions’s “RenderWare” engine. The game engine in its place is some kind of Ridge Racer knock off, very slow, with the added ability to explode on any crash. But with the limited DS capabilities, the crashes don’t entertain or amaze like the Xbox version or whatever.

I don’t even want to talk about it. Its been out for months, but I finally rented it. I really loved Burnout Revenge. I really hate this. I had to post this just in case someone out there might find it in a bargain bin and remember how well reviewed the console versions were.

Its now being hailed at the most anticipated movie of 2007, and its production has been a long time in the making and the subject of much fan speculation, cheer, and frustration.

I have read John Roger’s script, “Pime Directive.” I am going to let you know right now I am a Transformers fan. I’ve read virtually every issue of every comic series, spent thousands on toys, and can recite the 1986 movie word for word. But I’m also a movie fan, and would rather have no new Transformer movie than another terrible summer action movie, and I recognize how even the best adaptations end up shattered promises, failing to deliver on the origins of a great source.

New elements do not puzzle or needlessly change the history of the franchise, but enhance the narrative, allowing the introduction and origin to be told in a more accesible way. The military presence in the movie is felt throughout, and not only does it work, it makes me wonder why the army never took up arms against Transformers before. This does not take away, this does not change, this adds to the story.

Not to say its perfect. In fact, theres 2 characters I don’t really care for at all and could be taken out completely and even losing their expository dialog we’d still have a functional plot and movie. But I do like what I have read. It will not win any academy awards, but it will satisfy a summer movie audience.

Weighing in at 112 pages, this would make the movie, if shot directly from the page, a little less than 2 hours. Fans might not like that it takes a while to really get any Autobots, but the first half of Spiderman and Batman Begins are decidedly without the title hero, so its not that big a deal. It is felt right away this is a movie for Michael Bay when action sequences come with little down time within minutes of the films start. This will be a spectacle film, and I have high hopes the fights suggested on the page translate into elaborate brawls and firefights.

I’m also happy to report the new characters Blackout and Barricade are really cool. Blackout (called “Vortex” in script) is a military attack helicopter, and one of the largest Decepticons. He’s involved very early on in the film, and is interesting enough to make you wonder why any helicopter Transformers of the past had been this well utilized. Barricade (script name “Brawl”) is a high powered police car, and while theres no corny “bad cop” stuff in his dialog or actions, it all really works when put together.

Thats really a ringing endorsement if there ever was one. This movie is not corny. It is not Scooby Doo. Its not Spy Kids. It takes itself seriously whenever possible. The Bumblebee & Spike stuff is bordering on stupid, but Shia LaBeouf is a good comedic actor and he may be able to pull this off. Everyone involved openly says they want to start a new movie franchise, and Michael Bay is anxious to direct a movie kids and parents can both enjoy. I’ve got to have faith they’re not interested in ruining it for the existing fans, and really trying to make new ones.

Continue on for a spoiler-enhanced review.
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While were still recovering from our first look at the “movie Prime,” Remy has a gallery of Transformers Classics Optimus Prime available. Theres shots of him in and out of box and comparisons with Primes from the past.
Remy, if you didn’t know, is the man behind TFkenkon, and frequently takes pictures worth making you change your mind about a figure. Take a look at his collection, and try not to lose your mind wanting all the toys pictured.

Sorry to interrupt the actual news reporting and editorials we usually do around here, but I clipped together this charming little video, and the least you can do is watch it.

Audio is provided by the Halo 3 trailer, and video is entirely footage from Transformers: The Movie. Since it feels like I can’t go a day without doing stories about Halo or Transformers, its only fair I end up putting both tags on the same story at least once.

Outkast’s long awaited movie and new album are less than a week away. Hip Hop’s most celebrated duo are releasing the new album to stores on August 22, but they’re currently playing the record in its entirety at myspace.com/outkast.

The movie, and its soundtrack album, are set in prohibition era south, where a speakeasy owner and his piano player (Big Boi and Andre 3000) have to overcome not only the illegality of alcohol for their club but also a gangster (Terrence Howard) who will take everything they’ve got. The setting makes Outkasts already weird and unique sound even more out there, putting the sounds of the day (jazz, swing, and blues) into modern hiphop and synth pop.

You can see the trailer at the official Idlewild movie page.

Click after the jump for the music videos for “Morris Brown” and “Idlewild Blues”
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First the bad news…

By way of Joe, we find out Civil War #4 and #5 have been delayed over a month from their original ship date. As if that wasn’t bad enough, all the tie-in books like Fantastic 4, Frontline, Punisher, and Spider-Man have been delayed too. Newsarama has the full run down.

I don’t think it would be unfair to be upset with Marvel for not only the delay but the last minute notification. I mean a lot of fans aren’t going to find out this has slipped until they walk into the shop tomorrow and find their pull box bare. Given the magnitude of the slip and the number of titles involved, I’d say Marvel knew this was going to happen and didn’t want to tell us. For shame.

On a comparitivly optimistic note, the revamp Justice Leage of America #1 has only been delayed until next week, August 23rd.

Writer/Mastermind Brad Meltzer has posted on his blog. That DC informed him of the slip but didn’t provide an explaination. Eager to not disappoint, Meltzer informs fans “One more week. They promised. If not, we revolt and I send out the scans online.”

JLA readers do get a bonus, the first chapter from Meltzer’s new novel “The Book of Fate“

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. ]