HALO 3 REVEALED.

Despite a stern warning from Bungie, the first scans from swedish game magazine “Level” have appeared online. All details, screenshots, etc are taken from Bungie’s first ever Multiplayer test of Halo 3 with the media. EGM already promised a full cover story for their next issue, but thatwon’t be in the mail for another week or so.

Video Games Blogger has published the scans and compiled translated info from members of the NeoGAF Surround yourself in the hype!

Some of my favorite bulletpoints:

• 4 Disc Collectors Editon, filled with documentaries, Red VS Blue, and HD cut scenes from all 3 games
• Valhalla is the new name for Blood Gulch
• 3 new weapons: Spartan Laser, Spiker, and Nail Grenade
• Weapons not in use will be visibly strapped to the players back. No more hiding the sword or Rocket Launcher!
• Two words: MAN CANNON

UPDATE: Bungie Weekly Update says they successfully test Halo 3 Matchmaking last night online with real testers on the regular internet. Wheee! They also mention the movie is going forward, and that EGM will publish more info and hi-res screens will be on 1UP and Bungie very very soon. so no need for me to go mirroring this swedish magazine photo.

UPDATE AGAIN: 1up.com has their Halo 3 mini site up and will be updating 3 times a week starting November 6.

UPDATE ONCE AGAIN: Looks like we’ve got some high res scans of this Swedish magazine right here and a more thorough translation of the article over at Geezer Gamers. These maps look incredible. – Ernie

Movieblog reminded me theres a new animated Hellboy movie coming on Cartoon Network TOMORROW NIGHT.

Hellboy: Sword of Storms, the first of the animated Hellboy movies, debuts Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network.

Sorry we couldn’t get enough advance warning here on the front page, but set your Tivos and VCRs to record for whats sure to be some good pre-Halloween viewing. Miss this and your next chance won’t be until the February 6 DVD release.

Theres another Hellboy movie on the way called “Blood & Iron” next year. Best part is these animated flicks star Ron Perlman and Selma Blair from the fantastic Hellboy live action movie a couple years back.

Loads more info at the Hellboy Animated Production diaries!

Ever since 2000, Activision has made good use of the licencing rights to Spiderman, putting out some of the best games based on the webslinger. The video game adaptation to the second movie is no different. Taking a page out of Grand Theft Auto, Spiderman 2 features an open world design where players can websling thier way around New York city and stop crimes. (Although at times some of them can get pretty repetitive and lame) Players can earn hero points, which are spent on upgrades and new attacks. In typical gaming fashion, the game follows the plot of the movie while adding additional material from the comics. Along with Doctor Octopus, you’ll also run into Mysterio (the final battle with him ranks as one of the funniest moments in video games) Shocker, Rhino, and the Black Cat throughout the course of the game. Only bad spot is the lack of real unlockables, considering how much extra bonus stuff Activision has packed in the past. Instead you earn badges for doing a certain amount of tasks, which do nothing, except maybe as act as a precursor to Xbox Live 360 acheivements. Even so, Spiderfans owe it to them selves to check out this game.

Tecmo’s Deception series is one of those games that refuses to be piegonholed into a single category. Is it an action game? Is it an RPG? Is it a puzzle game? It is varied enough to compete in any genre. This is the third installment of the series. Instead of killing enemies with swords and magic, you use specalized traps that you set up before entering the level. You can even create new ones between levels by combining certain objects found during the game. This new game tells the story of a girl abducted alongside her adopted family on her birthday, and forced to use her newfound powers to survive and gain revenge on the king and queen responsible for her predictament. It’s funny as hell to watch a body fly through the air after stepping on a catapult. There is a sequel of sorts out called “Trapt” on PS2. Although this is a pipe dream, a next-gen installment of the serie making use of Havok physics and realistic gore effects would be awesome. Until then, pic this up and satisfy that inner sadist in you.

Mark your calendars, He-Man fans! The New Adventures of He-man are coming to DVD December 26, 2006.

He-man.org brings us details about the set. It will be a 6 disc set and will feature 33 episodes.
The set will be Volume 1 of 2.
The bonus features include

• Two all-new half hour documentaries; one featuring interviews with members of the New Adventures of He-Man production team, and the other featuring the history of Masters of the Universe comics (both classic and 2002) and interviews with their creators
• 50 Detailed Characters and Location Profiles with Bios, Images and Clips
• Trivia Fun Facts
• Art Gallery
• Easter Eggs
• DVD-ROM features including scripts for multiple episodes and the series bible (PDF format, PC/Mac readable)
• Ink & Paint trailers for many other cool animated releases

While this is far from the most beloved series of the Masters Of The Universe franchise, it definitely has its place. I remember watching it everyday before leaving for school. Also, the spine of this set adds on to the spine art picture of the previous sets and the She-Ra sets. See the picture below for a picture!

Also, don’t forget Volume 1 of She-Ra, Princess of Power comes out November 7th.

Wolverine and Magneto review the disastrous DVD release for the latest in the X-Men movie series by talking about some discs accidentally containing extra scenes, Fox’s double dipping plans and the already released European DVD with all the features we should have gotten in the first place.

Listed below are the special features we’re missing:
– 11 additional deleted scenes
– ‘X-Men: Evolution Of A Trilogy’ featurette
– ‘X-Men: The Excitement Continues’ featurette
– ‘X-Men Up Close’ interactive gallery
– ‘Anatomy Of A Scene: The Golden Gate Bridge’ featurette
– Pre-viz animatic gallery
– Brett Ratner’s production diary
– Character gallery
– Concept art gallery
– Models galleries
– Storyboards
– Vignettes
– Blogs
– Easter egg

Thanks to forum member spooie and powet.tv enemy Dave for educating me on some of these problems and for the sexy Janine for running into a wall for me.

Action Comics #844
I rarely buy Superman comics. So when the new issue of Action Comics hit the stands today, I completely forgot why it was THE book to buy this month. It took someone in the shop to remind me, and as soon as he did, I was ashamed at having forgotten. See, this arc of Action Comics is being co-written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. That’s Richard Donner, as in, director of the first Superman movie. The one who was recently granted the opportunity to re-cut Superman II with old, lost footage he shot way back when, just before he got unceremoniously kicked to the curb. This alone is reason enough to make a person sit up and take notice.

But then I bought it.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

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