OK, this is the messy part I didn’t want to talk about in my GI Joe update from yesterday. The GI Joe movie has to appeal to an international audience, so it can’t be all US Military. If Mark Wahlberg is Duke, then they need his British counter part, Action Man. Not the most creative name in the world, but its historically correct. The Crank, The Snatch, and The Transporter Jason Statham could be that Action Man according to IESB.

But wait, we’re talking about an adaptation of the old Real American Hero line, right? That was Action Force, and those comics and cartoons were just rebranded by title; Duke, Flint, General Hawk and the rest were still the same guys. Maybe Statham can play Big Ben?

I’ll follow this story to the bloody end, but I’m just going say now that this movie needs fans to speak up and save it like Transformers did. Tom Desanto and Don Murphy understood the rabid fanbase and tried to find some middle ground in Transformers and whether you loved the movie or hated it, they did balance the classic with the new pretty well. GI Joe needs fans to start writing studios and start making ridiculous message board proclaimations now if they want this movie to even remotely resemble the Real American Hero series or comics.

Now that we’ve opened up the casting call, who would you like to to see? Michael Clarke Duncan as Roadblock? Scarlett Johansson as Scarlett? Shia Labeouf as Duke Jr? Leave a comment!

Can lightening strike twice? And by asking that I don’t mean can another toy become successful movie, I mean can a director of critically panned fair win over legions of fans by balancing a mainstream and hardcore audience?

Stephen Sommers, the man behind the Brendan Fraser “Mummy” movies and the absolutely dreadful Van Helsing is now rumored to be the pick for directing Hasbro’s GI Joe.

Now Transformers essentially had its hardest work ahead of the effects team: making convincing characters came easy once you were convinced they could be real. GI Joe has some great characters too, but they are merely human, and it’ll take more than a guy dressed like Snake Eyes who doesn’t talk to get audiences to show up. Theres also that huge problem of this being a military movie and keeping it safe for kids. Transformers got away with all the violence and gunplay because it never showed a drop of blood and most of it was between non-human performers. Lets not kid ourselves, the villains need to be Cobra Commander, Destro, and The Baroness leading thousands of disposable soldiers.

Is Sommers up to the job? I honestly don’t think so, but I’ve been surprised before when Bryan Singer dropped the ball on Superman and Michael Bay surpassed expectations on Transformers. Getting Mark Wahlberg would help, but this needs to be handled very carefully.

From IESB

Having Pikachu on hand and dozens of Pokémon in balls as items just wasn’t enough. Now we’re getting a Pokémon Trainer as a playable character!

True to Pokémon games, he doesn’t do any actual fighting, he merely commands Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard in battle. You can switch out between the 3 characters at will, but they share damage. Balancing the 3 will part of the challenge. Are they still allowed to use Pokéballs?

From Smash Bros Dojo: Pokémon Trainer

Oh, and before I forget, there is a Canadian Best Buy flyer showing Sonic with the cast of Smash Bros. Fact, Fiction, or just Wishful Thinking?

Its a fair assumption that all of the Powet Crew are fans of Michel Gondry. If it wasn’t his films like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, it was his music videos like “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters

This is the trailer for Gondry’s latest movie “Be Kind Rewind” starring Jack Black and Mos Def. These actors from the world of music are video store clerks who through tragic circumstances must recreate classic movies to keep their store open.
Find High Definition verisons of the trailer on Yahoo Movies.

This is an official ad for the November release of Geometry Wars Galaxies, but it looks more like a fan vid, right down the amateur cover of a They Might Be Giants classic. Game looks sweet still.

One publisher’s game list for one trade show shouldn’t be a big deal, but as a fan of several dormant Sega series, I’m making it a big deal. Xbox360Rally has a list of games Sega will supposedly announce and display at Tokyo Game Show.
Stuff we’ll be happy to see again: Space Channel 5, Jet Set Radio, House Of The Dead, and Sega Rally.
Stuff you never expected to see again: Shenmue I, II, and III, Fighter’s Megamix, Virtual Fighter Kids, and Chu Chu Rocket!

Full list after the jump [Read the rest of this entry…]

Smash Bros.com updates daily with news about the new game, but today they let loose some that the game will actually have a full single player game. Super Smash Bros Melee on Gamecube had a single player game that didn’t exactly have a story, it was some light side scrolling with lots of combat.

Lots of screens and some hints for what this mode includes can be found here. I’m getting kind of a Kingdom Hearts vibe off the whole thing: many characters who don’t belong together working and fighting together.

Master Chief is, as ever, mankind’s last hope. But with the Sangheili race no longer part of the Covenant, the Elites have a stake in the battle too. So with this back story in mind, Bungie Studios announced today that 4 players will be ale to finish the fight on September 25th.
Player One will control the Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan 117, the protagonist from the first 2 Halo games. Player 2 will play as The Arbiter, the Covenant Elite disgraced after his unit’s defeat on Halo and then joined he battle with the Sgt Johnson in Halo 2. Players 3 and 4 will be new characters N’tho ‘Sraom and Usze ‘Taham, two new Sangheili fighters. Bungie promises they will control the same and none of the 4 will offer an ability over the others, though start weapons will vary in story missions.

Read more at Bungie: The Tru7h About Co-Op in Halo 3

Thanks to Sparkstalker for the heads up.