As I reported on back in the fall, the sequel to the cult-classic horror-adventure film The Lost Boys dubbed “The Tribe” has been released by MTV and has since been distributed to many other various video hosts since.

As can be seen, Corey Feldmen indeed reprises his role as Edgar Frog, “Surf Board Shaper and Vampire Hunter”. Reports also state that Corey Haim is back as Sam Emerson, and Jamison Newlander as Alan Frog. Gerard McMann, who recorded the song “Cry Little Sister” for the first film, recently announced he has recorded several new songs for the sequel’s soundtrack. The flick as a July release date, and hopefully won’t suck (no pun intended) as much as it may appear at first glance.

This is pretty much a companion piece to my Final Fantasy I – VI special from two weeks ago. What makes this funny is that the Final Fantasy Legend series is actually the English translation of what is known in Japan as the Saga series. When Square released it over here, it changed the name to Final Fantasy Legend to capitalize off the growing popularity of the series. It has nothing to do with Final Fantasy, but then again it’s just as well, as none of the Final Fantasy games have anything to do with each other. Besides, these three games have managed to become excellent role-playing games in their own right.

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Aside from being one of the Powet Editors here, I’m also a sometime journalist, keeping tabs on local games news for the Madison, WI free newspaper The Isthmus and its web counterpart The Daily Page.

This past weekend I wrote about the Smash Bros midnight release and the turnout of local gamers, and thought you Powet readers might be interested.

Read On: Super Smash Bros. Brawl release ends in midnight melee

Castlevania fans and action figure collectors alike may not be getting anything new to look forward to in the Castlevania Player Select figure line for the future. In a Myspace Question & Answer session with toy distributor NECA, when asked if there would be any new figures to be produced in a second series of released toys, NECA didn’t look on the prospect favorably and gave the impression that there would not be a continuation of the line.

Questions:
1. Any plans for a 12 or 18-inch Alucard from Castlevania? If there may be one, I would love to see additional swords packed with it.

2. What’s up with news if any on a second Castlevania line? I suggest Richter..(and a MUCH better whip and improved paintjobs for all involved figures. The sculpts from the first line were great but the plastic used was VERY poor quality.)

NECA Response:
1) no plans for this at all

2) no news on more Castlevania – I don’t think we will be re-visiting this license

Some Castlevania fans speculate that this revelation comes as no big surprise, after complaints of less-than-excellent workmanship on the quality of the figures may have contributed to lack of sales in the first series line. Regardless, a cancellation of any additional series releases in the Castlevania line would prove disappointing and unfortunate, as series fans (myself included) have awaited a toy line for the long-running video game series for many years now, only for it to now seemingly be nipped in the bud soon after it’s debut. However, that may be how the cookie crumbles in this situation, if NECA truly decides to cut it’s losses rather than improve on past mistakes and trudge forward.

Zac posted a listing of some of the various galleries from this year’s ToyFair in New York. This is one of the big events each year where toy companies like to reveal new product offerings for the coming year. Many rumors are confirmed. Others are quashed. Every once in a while there is also a pleasant surprise. Lets take a deeper look at what this year has to offer toy collectors .

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I can’t review the second entry in Mad Doc/Sierra’s RTS series without bring up comparisons to Microsoft/Big Huge Game’s Rise of Nations. Both games merge Civilization-style world building with Warcraft-style RTS gameplay, let you choose from several different civilizations, and require epoch advances and research to give you an edge. However Empire Earth II has a much steeper learning curve than Rise of Nations. In addition to managing armies and conducting diplomacy, you also map out war plans for your allies, deal with the weather, and research tech trees. Going through each of the tutorial scenarios is a must when starting a new game. Empire Earth II features a new picture-in-picture interface which allows you to set bookmarks and view the action from afar. You can even direct units and production. The citizen manager allows you to manage idle citizens and assign them to various tasks, such as gathering a certain resource. These new features are complicated to use, but mastering them will make it easier to coordinate the action. The game includes three campaigns: the Koreans, the Americans, and the Germans. There are also several campaigns known as ‘turning points’ which recreate key points in history such as China’s Three Kingdoms era and the World War 2 Normandy Invasion. Also part of the package is the Art of Supremacy expansion pack. It features new civilizations, campaigns, and a campaign maker. It wasn’t well received as the main game when it was released on its own, but as part of the package, it’s a pretty good value. For fans of Age of Empires who want something even deeper, Empire Earth II will reward patient players with a solid RTS experience.

Freezepop are a favorite musical institution of many gamers, due to their inclusion in many music games.
Game satirists and pranksters Mega64 were hired to direct their latest video, and it appears here and above. Enjoy.

“Brainpower” is from the 2007 album Future Future Future Perfect and is also featured in the game Rock Band Special Edition for Xbox 360

The world of gaming and fantasy has lost one of its fathers. Gary Gygax, creator of the Dungeons & Dragons, has died. He was 69.

News comes down from Troll Lord games, a small company Gygax was devloping games for. You can read more about the man at Wikipedia.

Farewell, Dungeon Master. Though I wasn’t much for your game, it is because of your games that the world of sci-fi fantasy and videogames are what they are today. You will be missed.