Halo fans would do well to hop on Xbox Live Marketplace and get the new video documentary on the role of the Brutes in Halo 3. For those of us without access to the 360’s video download service, its also on GameTrailers.

At seven minutes, Bungie staff speak of the shortcomings of Brutes in Halo 2, and the masive overhaul the species will get in the sequel. With the Elites no longer in the Covenant, Brutes will become the dominant enemy in Halo 3’s campaign.

Much of the video is concept art and early animation tests, but we do see about 2 minutes of gameplay an in game graphics. Bungie.net is quick to point out everything is a work in progress and while there are new weapons in the video, they may look and/or function differently in the final game.

I got to hand it to Bungie on this one. As secretive as they continue to be, they are offering more access than many other developers do to the process of forming the game. It doesn’t come close to what fans have been clamoring for, but its more of an inside look than other AAA titles for 2007 like Mario Galaxy or Metal Gear Solid 4.

The hotly anticipated trailer for the 2007 Transformers movie from director Michael Bay is now online at Yahoo UK.

At 1 PM EST, this trailer will be available in multiple formats on the US Yahoo Movies site.

Joseph Barbera now joins his partner William Hannah in history. They formed the production duo Hannah-Barbera, responsible for the most recognizable and loved cartoons outside of the old Disney and Warner Bros vaults.

In 1940, their first short for MGM “Puss Gets the Boot” had the dual distinction of being the nominated for an Academy Award and the first in many, many Tom And Jerry cartoons. In the 60s, they went solo and created The Flintstones, Jetsons, Jonny Quest, and Scooby Doo. And even into the 90s working under Turner Broadcasting, they produced Cartoon Network’s earliest breakout hits.

William Hannah passed in 2001, but just last year Joe Barbera wrote and produced a new Tom and Jerry short. It is a testament to his talent and longevity that he return and finish his career with the characters that made him famous 65 years prior.

read more: Wikipedia, AP Obituary

thanks to Sindra and Matt

Thanks to forum member spooie, we have this blurb in the most recent issue of Nintendo Power:

“Based on the upcoming Michael Bay flick, Transformers will let you play as either the heroic Autobots or evil Decepticons. Each ‘bot will come equipped with unique weapons, moves, and transformations. Activision is planning a Wii version and two DS versions of the game.”

Hmm, game based on a license published by Activision? This sounds like a job for Raven Software.

Our coverage of BotCon 2006 has Powet’s very own Zac Shipley registering for more information at the Activision table (5:45). Activision made a point of showing up to the convention, despite not being able to release any information about their upcoming Transformers games. As Zac says in the video, all they could confirm at that time was there would be an Xbox 360 version. Hmm, I wonder why the Nintendo article failed to mention that…

Atari did a great job with the Armada-inspired PS2 Transformers game. If Activision makes a game that’s even half as good, it should be quite enjoyable.

So why two DS games…? Why haven’t we heard anything about a PS3 version? Come join the discussion at the forums and share your theories!

TrekMove.com, a site I can only assume was founded to unearth information about the still hazy JJ Abrams movie, has some news on a possible new animated (!) internet(!!) series.

Under the headline “CBS Considering New Animated Trek Series For The Web” Trek Movie reports:

The idea for a new animated Trek started back around the time that Star Trek Enterprise was cancelled. David Rossi and his partners didn’t buy into the notion that Star Trek ‘needed a rest’. “We wanted to spark a little life into Star Trek and to keep it alive in people’s eyes,” explains Rossi. They knew CBS and Paramount weren’t going to be keen on a new (and very expensive) live action show so they decided that animation was the way to go. Their first notion was to do a show set in the Original Series era (but not on the Enterprise), however that notion didn’t sit well with the people at CBS. Rossi then took the advice he got from LeVar Burton on how ‘Star Trek should always be about moving forward and what is next in the human adventure.’ So the team came up with the notion of taking a big leap forward and setting a show 150 years after the time of Picard and Star Trek Nemesis, but in a very different and somewhat dark Trek universe. CBS were more open to that idea and over the last year and a half have asked the team (now formed into Zero Room Productions) to flesh out their idea. Although CBS have not committed to the series, they have asked the team to develop test artwork and scripts for 5 mini episodes.

I always liked LeVar Burton.

No more prequels, no ancient history, no revamps. Taking a big leap into a “Next Next Generation” will give them lots of room to play around while not abandoning the races and planets we know.

So I’m firmly in the camp that loves the concept. Why am I nervous? Because they’re going for “mini-episodes” meaning all stories will have to be low character development but high action. This is not Trek’s strong point. At the risk of comparing to Star Wars (cue groaning), All the characters there were defined by actions and broad dialog, where as I didn’t feel like I knew a character like Picard until the show had been on for years, and they still managed to surprise me for years afterwards. Star Trek may be overshadowed by Battlestar, Stargate, and other sci-fi series these days, but lets not forget that the character based sci-fi drama began with Trek and its only fair that Trek come back to reclaim it. I don’t think they’ll do it with cartoons for the YouTube audience.

Best case scenario: The ‘toons take off and a real new series is developed to flesh out the new timeline. Worst Case scenario: we’re pretty much already living it, so we’ve got nothing to lose.

Thanks Shiv’Kala

To quickly sum up, John Woo came up with the concept for a comic, called 7 Brothers, and Garth Ennis got tagged to write it. What exactly does that mean for Woo’s involvement? Well, as Ennis has said, “I got a two-paragraph outline of the original Chinese legend and the broad strokes of the characters, and after that it was up to me.” Amusingly, it speaks volumes that the actual press release from Virgin Comics has one of Woo’s people saying, “We see creating SEVEN BROTHERS as a comic book first, which is in turn the perfect springboard to take this title into films and games.” Might want to try a little less corporate planning, and a litte more heart, guys.

But, despite the snide comments, I really do hope for the best for the book. Garth Ennis is a solid writer, and John Woo’s name should be something that brings legitimacy to the table. You never want a quality names like those being associated with crap. So here’s the news – If you missed the book when it first came out, today Virgin handed over the entire issue to Newsarama. And I’m definitely one of those that missed it, as I never even saw the first two issues show up at my local comic shop. Seriously, if even Virgin can’t buy any rack time at the comic shop, it’s time to ask – Has the buy-in to this industry gotten a little too high?

[Read the rest of this entry…]

Live Free or Die Hard’s trailer is boring as hell. And Justin Long is a poor follow up to Die Hard 3’s sidekick, Sam Jackson.

Frank Miller’s epic graphic novel is being turned into a experimental film using digital sets. Nope, not a rerun of Sin City, its a new trailer for 300

SHREK THE THIRD! DOES ANYONE CARE? NOT ME. The clip prominently features “Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio?” by the Ramones for no reason what-so-ever, and lists Justin Timberlake as a cast member. I missed the first two movies. Can I three-peat?

iFilm collects what they call The Best Trailers of 2006. I’ve seen all of them, but only half of the movies.

Before God of War, one game successfully managed to integrate Greek mythology into video games.  Broderbund software, better known for the original Prince of Persia and the Carmen Sandiego games, crafted this tale of Orpheus, a Greek lad who adventures to Hades in order to save his love Helena.  You’ll recieve items from the gods and encounter enemies such as the Cyclpos, Medusa, and others which have been ripped from your Greek mythology textbook.  The gameplay is inspired by Zelda 2, so fans of that game should definently track this game down.