March 10, 2000 is widely regarded as the peak of the “dot com boom” with the Nasdaq hitting an all time high. This is an interesting historical foot note as its the day tech giant Microsoft announced they were getting into home video game business.

Going back a long time, its kind of interesting to look at how the game business evolved, or more accurately grew up. Atari and the NES were for kids. 16 bit era added a layer of complexity to keep older kids interested. In the mid 90s, Sony’s Playstation kept teenagers playing with more mature games. As the Atari and NES kids grew up it would take a big evolutionary leap to keep games in their lives and into the dorm rooms. Thats what I think of the original Xbox: the first console built for dorm rooms.
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Thanks to Bentheo on our forums for sharing this link.

Entertainment Tonight recently filed this behind the scenes fluff from the set of Marvel’s Thor movie. In it Chris Hemsworth talks more about being on the Australian version of Dancing With The Stars more than being the god of thunder, but hey, thats the ET audience.

Still we get some look at the sets and a few characters in costume. I’m still no closer to knowing how this will all end up looking or feeling, but for those curious its worth 4 minutes to watch the youtube video before ET runs in an takes it down.

Director Michael Bay and Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura granted an interview to USA Today to do some damage control over the Revenge Of The Fallen as they actively film the tentatively titled “Transformers 3.”

They make note of the writer’s strike that led to on set improvisation and the “dorky comedy” Bay hopes to keep out of the next installment. Bay also comes down on the villain from TF2: The Fallen who he called a “shit character.” The Twins will be back, but in a much more minor role. Finally, going out of their way to please fans, they announce Shockwave will be the primary villain of the next Transformers movie.

Making note of Shockwave’s cartoon history as the ruler of Cybertron after the Autobots and Decepticons left, it likely that the next movie will deal with the Transformers returning to their home planet, as Bay promises this movie will be the final act of his trilogy with a definitive end. The plot will also involve the secret history of the US and Soviet space race of the 20th century, implying Transformers tech was either behind it or the end prize.

Reversing his previous declaration, Bay does mention the movie will be released in 3D.

Transformers 3 will be released next summer.
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Warner Bros has released a new trailer for the game they’re simply calling “Mortal Kombat” and its a mixed bag. Yep, its super violent, and it promised to be a return to the 2D roots of the franchise after dancing in 3D for the last decade or so.

But I’m kinda disappointed that the “Rebirth” video that took the internet by storm less than 48 hours ago has nothing to do with the actual next game. A bold new direction for the franchise would’ve been cool. Instead the game here looks kinda hokey with the saw blade hat, the ice sword, and Shao Khan’s unaltered appearance. Still looks very 90s, even running in high def.

USA Today of all places is getting us our first real look of Rock Band 3’s Keytar. Looks like putting it in your lap will be the easiest way to play, and the color coded portions of the keyboard will let the novice easily pound away like they’re Ben Folds without actually being super precise. Meanwhile its clear that the hardest level of the game has been beefed up to allow more challenge to those guys who’ve been playing Rock Band 15 hours a week for the past 3 years.

Hit the jump for a peek at a few of the songs to be included in the game. Spoiler Alert: “Rainbow In The Dark” made the cut! This one’s for you, Dio.

Source USA Today (Thanks Ernie!)

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En route to see Ashes Divide at the Viper Room, noble reader and fan RJK snapped this photo of a billboard. Four familiar icons, one unfamiliar, and one giant number “3”

The billboard is just a mile away from LAX, it appears Harmonix is gearing up to make the big announcement of the next Rock Band. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) starts next week in Los Angeles. We already have heard early reports that we’ll see keyboards added to the mix, and this ad pretty much removes all doubt.

UPDATE: Jeri Ryan has chimed in via her twitter account:

Okay, so… Mortal Kombat. It’s not a game trailer. Actually was made for the director to sell WB on his vision for a reimagined MK film. I did it as a favor to a friend. No idea yet what WB’s reaction to it was. And I’m not sure how you can contact WB to push them to make it. But you guys are resourceful…!

So that’s it folks, nothing to see here. At least not yet. The near unanimous fan reaction will hopefully get Warners to at least move in this direction if not actually use this particular pitch. Original post follows…
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Robert Downey Jr now has 2 appearances as Iron Man done and will be teaming up with Captain America, Thor, and other heroes in The Avengers in 2012. How does such a respected actor prepare for a huge role? Research.

Celebrity photo site JustJared published photos of Downey at a comic book store grabbing issues of The Avengers as well as Iron Man. Here he is standing behind some dude in a Dharma Initiative shirt waiting to ring up his selections.

Comic Book movies have been the rage for the last decade and theres been a lot of actors who’ve done well in them while still admitting they don’t read comics. Its pretty nice to see Downey not only reads, but goes to his local comic store and buys books himself rather than having an assistant do it or have Marvel send them over directly.