I had some happy news in my inbox this morning in the form of a press release from Shout! Factory and Rainmaker Entertainment (formerly Mainframe Entertainment). It appears that the first fully CGI animated series, Reboot, will finally be released as a complete series set. Currently only seasons 3 and 4 are available on DVD and go for ridiculous sums of money on e-bay. It looks like we’ll see the complete series box set sometime in 2011, followed by some sort of ‘digital distribution’. That sounds to me like they may put individual episodes up for sale on iTunes/Amazon/Netflix, but thats pure speculation.

You may recall that we covered Reboot in our weekly Powet Alphabet feature here:
R is for Reboot

Press release after the jump
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Zack Snyder, director of comic adaptations 300 and Watchmen will take on Superman as soon as he’s done Sucker Punch. Exclusive report came in tonight from Deadline.

Christopher Nolan, successful director of the last two Batman films will produce with a script by Batman Begins and Blade writer David Goyer.

If the selection of the next director of Superman isn’t enough, Snyder’s direction is slowly being revealed. He told Variety that Brandon Routh “isn’t likely” for the lead role, which is described as a reboot.

THR casually mentions that General Zod, the protagonist from Superman II, will be the primary villain. In the same sentence they call it a “connection” to Richard Donner’s 2 Superman movies staring Christopher Reeve.

Get the whiskey, because if we’re buckling in for another redo of the Donner years, we might as well have kept Routh and Bryan Singer as director. I fully support all the stuff they talk about in these interviews about “Modernizing” and “Staying true to the character” but that does not include remaking a movie from the 70s. Superman is a classic, but its a product of the era and duplicating it is as silly as remaking the Tim Burton Batman from 1989.

When people bring up Zod in articles about another Superman movie, they always act like he’s some classic villain. Well he’s not, and stop fooling people into thinking so if you’re one of those bloggers. He’s a b-level Silver Age threat popularized in Superman II. He’s largely absent from the DC canon since, with more reboots and history changes than Power Girl. I still hope that Superman can face a worthy villain in either Lex Luthor who can fight in a powersuit or Metallo who can match Superman’s power. You don’t have to go to Doomsday or Darkseid, in fact Superman alone is enough aliens for one movie. Skip Zod, give us a human who works.

Snyder is a highly skilled director, who can and will deliver a stylized action epic. I just hope its right for Superman and not a disaster all over again.

Remember back in the 90s after Mortal Kombat? Like any good gaming movement, developers and publishers sought to imitate MK. If it wasn’t the gruesome fatalities, it was the digitized graphics, and in many cases, it was both. Often times however, the characters would look ridiculous and the gameplay would suck. Who could forget ‘classics’ such as Way of the Warrior, Survival Arts, and Shadow: War of Succession? Well, Creative Edge Studio’s Bikini Karate Babes brings back those good old days. While the eye candy is only slightly more attractive than those great games of the past, the game control is the definition of clunky and unresponsive.
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Turba is a puzzle game that uses your music as the basis of its gameplay. You create and clear clusters of blocks as the game vibrates to your music. There are several unlocakbles, including new modes and special abilities. The Ascend mode in particular is a real challenge, especially when played on one of the higher difficulty levels. You can create an account in order to post your score to online leaderboards. While the game isn’t as mind blowing as Audiosurf or even Beat Hazard, it’s still a fun and cheap way to listen to your music

The Nintendo 3DS will be available in Japan on February 26, 2011 for 25,000 yen ($300). That may seem like a lot of money, but look how much these colorfully dressed people like it! North America and Europe will see 3D in March, but no price announced.

Sadly, in the demonstration of Super Street Fighter IV, someone still picked Ken, showing the portable version of the game is not immune from the malady that affects its console brethren. I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re on XBox Live, or PSN, or on a fantasy colorless street in Japan, people still pick Ken all the time.

In the image at left, you can see the 3DS final design has the larger widescreen for the top, an SD card slot on the side, the addition of a “home” button below the touch screen between select and start. The SD card slot isn’t just for holding pictures, 3DS will have a fully functional Virtual Console that will be able to download classic Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance games.

You’ll also be able to make a Mii for your 3DS, but I didn’t see anywhere if you can import them from your Wii. You can automate the process by taking a photo of yourself and then letting the 3DS decide on a Mii that looks like you.

Here is some more gameplay footage:
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Discovery Kids will become “The Hub” in a few weeks, and preview advertisements like this are already running.

In addition to a selection of new original programming, these ads also indicate some classic shows as well. Fraggle Rock, which originally ran on HBO in the 1980s, will rerun on The Hub with all its Muppet goodness. In addition: Batman Beyond, a spinoff of Batman The Animated Series will be running on the network.

These are the only out of left field selections on the network. Look forward to Doogie Howser, Family Ties, Wonder Years, and Laverne & Shirley to be regular night time programs. Looks like The Hub is going strong against Nickelodeon and Nick At Night.

Early reports of the schedule indicate that the original Transformers and GIJOE animated series will air along with their modern updates.

You can see the first two days of programming here.