Rockstar Games history is the kind of tale you’d expect to hear about an up and coming band, complete with pitfalls and successes on the way to making it big. The name really does fit them.

WIRED‘s Dave Kushner takes a deeper look into the rise and fall of Rockstar this month. It might seem ludicrous to claim the company is sliding now unless you consider the last 3 games they’ve release have sold poorly, and they’re in such financial trouble even a million selling Manhunt 2 on Wii may not save them. Hot Coffee can still be enjoyed, but backdated stock options could close the doors for good.

Whatever the case, its a good read about a group of developers who got more than they bargained for when they wanted to turn games into controversial social commentary. Read on…

The new title from Petroglyph Games is looking better and better, especially after seeing the new screens posted at jeuxfrance.com. Published by Sega, and developed by RTS veterans from the former Westwood Studios,“Universe at War: Earth Assault”, puts the player in the middle of a galactic conflict between three warring factions. This title will be Petroglyph’s first original Real Time Strategy IP and is scheduled to release sometime in 2007.

Petroglyph’s first foray into the PC market was Star Wars: Empire at War

Check out the new screens here.

New Avengers/Transformers #1 may come out in July, but the first glimpse of the interiors has just been made available for your viewing pleasure – just click on the thumbnail on your left. It’s the pencilwork for page 19 (of the 32-page book), as drawn by Tyler Kirkham.

I realize it’s not much, but at least we’re getting an idea of what the interiors will look like. And hey, we even get to see a glimpse of the two groups standing face to face. More or less. I kind of hope this isn’t the first meeting though – otherwise, what are the first 18 pages being spent on? I guess if that’s mostly Doctor Doom and Decepticons running around together, I could live with that. Personally, I’m loving that Doom is the Marvel equivalent to ALL of the Decepticons. That’s a lot of sneaky bastardliness to fit in one human being.

As previously announced, the book goes on sale Thursday July 5th (not on Wednesday the 4th as it’s a little local holiday) and will cost $2.99.

Hellboy: Darkness Calls #1 (of 6)
written (and covers) by Mike Mignola, art by Duncan Fegredo

No, I didn’t forget that World War Hulk kicks off this week. The prologue book hitting shelves tomorrow is written by Peter David and will be drawn by John Romita Jr. Those two are always awesome, and just in case you need proof, just check the image on the right. Now, I’m confident the decision of whether or not you’ll be buying this thing has already been made, so let’s get back to Hellboy.
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From the Powet Forum:

So I’m catching Adventures in Babysitting on Oxygen, I’m sure few of you guys frequent this particular channel, and reliving this part of my childhood. I never really liked the little girl when I was a kid because I thought she was bratty but when she’s in her room arguing with her brother who’s pissed cause she used his Clearasil to color yet another picture of her hero Thor I knew I needed her as my avatar with the caption “THOR’S NOT GAY!”.

When I hit up google I came across this that made me vomit in my mouth a little. Just because of the fact that Raven Simone came up in my results unexpectedly.

Brace yourselves.

Curiousity got the best of me and I clicked it to discover that Disney is getting started to put out a remake of Adventures in Babysitting with Raven taking place of Elisabeth Shue’s role (pictured right). My thoughts? Oh, heellll no. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Courtesy the good folks at Video Gaiden, a video game show on BBC Scotland. Rab leads a rant on gamer stereotypes, the truth behind them, and what you can do to break them.

Did you know BBC Scotland had a video game show? Its quite good, and you can find many segments online. I don’t suppose a US channel would step up to import something like this, or maybe show it on BBC America?

David Goyer, known more for writing movies like Batman Begins and the Blade trinity, will be flexing his directing muscles when he goes to work on the upcoming Magneto movie. There’s not a lot of concrete details about the film, but ICv2.com tells us, “The story will focus on the early life of Magneto with his parents in Aushwitz, and hunting down Nazi war criminals after the war.”

Don’t let Goyer’s presence make you think this movie is a guaranteed winner though – the only completed movies we’ve seen from writer Shelden Turner are 2005’s The Longest Yard (starring Adam Sandler) and 2006’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. I remain optimistic, but very, very, very wary.

Criterion and EA have just revealed the title for the Burnout 5, Paradise. The above trailer shows very little, in fact the crashes the series is known and loved for are nonexistant. Wake me when something interesting happens.

Burnout Paradise will be out this winter on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Press Release follows…
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