Now you can play the movie!
All you have to do is whip out your dvd copy of The Matrix. Press play and grab a video game controller. Whenever a fight scene or something exciting happens, mash the hell out of the buttons.
In between scenes, pause the movie so the next level can load.
When lots of bullets and stuff are flying around, put the movie on slow-motion so you can witness the frame rate drop.
OK, so this isn’t exactly like the PS2/Xbox action game, but trust me its a remarkably similar experience. I realize not very many people like Enter The Matrix (I thought it was OK…), but Shiny really assed up this game. Its clumsy, ugly, and broken.
Not even worth a rent. I played less than an hour before my mind drifted off and I started thinking about candy.

I got into a little argument with some Firefly fans a while back. Not believing that there would actually be a wide release Firefly movie I made a vow that, should such a thing get widely distributed in theatres, I would drink a bottle of salad dressing… oops! Being a man of my word and a big whorish ham I have documented this gut wrenching event. Be entertained by my pain!

Forget for a minute about the reasons why the US sent it’s troops to a foreign country, and think about what happens when they get there.  Full Spectrum Warrior does this exactly.  Created as a training simulator for the US army, this game allows players to direct two squads of military soldiers in combat.  You’ll learn how to flank, supress, and outwit the enemy, and keeping your men alive is a crucial part of the game.  It has two downloadable levels via Xbox live, and the actual US army version, with even more complicated tatics is hidden on this disc as a secret code.  A sequel is due out later this spring, so check this one out and get your practice.

In what could only be described as a strange alignment of timing in auctions for rare items, some auctions have gone up or are going up soon for some incredibly rare Transformers figures.

First up is an auction for two rare Japanese release only Cassettes that transform into dinosaurs, Dial and Zaur. They can combine to form RegOut (which wouldn’t be too far a stretch to be called LegOut in the japanese and actually make more sense.) I’ll be honest. I like to think I’m highly knowledgable when it comes to Transformers, but before this past week, I didn’t even know these existed. I was only aware of the similar cassette pair, Gurafi and Noizu, that form Decibel. I have personally seen these at a previous Botcon and watched them be sold for over $300 as a pair (which in hindsight was clearly a great deal since this auction is over 800 already with 2 days left.)

Next up is the supremely rare G2 Protectobot, First-Aid. The Protectobots and the Stunticons never made it to release for Generation 2, but samples were made and are regarded highly in the collecting community. This piece is from the Hartmans’ personal collection. The Hartman’s (Jon and Karl) have been a pillar in the Transformer fan community having a pivotal role in Botcon’s inception and are still active to this day working on the convention and collectors’ club. They have a set of both the G2 Protectobots and G2 Stunticons and will be putting eight of the ten figures up for auction (Silverbolt and Motormaster excluded). According to the auction, this First Aid is one of six known to be in existance. That puts its rarity on par with the likes of Lucky Draw Six Shot and his Lucky brethren, whom I have seen on sale at Botcon for over $6,000. The Stunticons and Protectobots will be put up for bidding one at a time. So watch Jon Hartman’s ebay id, Elrich, for more to come.

Instructions for Gurafi and Noizu were from tfracetrack.com.

In what might be one of the strangest import deals ever, Craig McCracken’s anime inpired Cartoon Network his Powerpuff Girls is going become an actual anime.

PPG already runs (successfully) in Japan and this new show will start airing in July with a 52 episode run, according to Toon Zone. No plans for a US release yet, but a dub release of an anime based on a US show that is inspired by anime is surreal.

Someone has got some (kinda poor) early footage from the show, but you can get a good idea of what we might be in for with this.

It appears Blizzard, the makers of such hit games as Warcraft series, Diablo series and Starcraft series, has put the latest title in the Starcraft game family on hold indefinitely. We have continually heard less and less about Starcraft: Ghost and with the next generation consoles coming to market, it seems they want to reevaluate its relevancy and where to go with it.

“Like many in the industry, we’ve been impressed with the potential of the new consoles, and we’re looking forward to exploring that potential further,” stated Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to allowing us to determine the best course for StarCraft: Ghost, this review period will help us lay the groundwork for our future console games.”

I have cut ‘n pasted the press release from here. You can read it by clicking to read the rest of the article.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

A long while ago I heard about this little guy and thought it might be neat. They certainly seemed to have some cool specs, and if Microsoft Game Studios was working on it, then it might’ve been the portable x-box.
But not really. It sank so fast, I never even saw one in stores. N-Gage at least made it to market. Gizmondo was a massive disaster, and now Game Trailers has been nice enough to piece together what happened in the last year, from the announcement of the portable to the destruction of the CEO’s Ferrari.

Our friend Logan dropped by and showed me this. Apparently Michael Jackson was a ghost writer for some of Sonic 3’s soundtrack.
And while I’m not fully convinced, his appearance in other Sega titles like Moonwalker and Space Channel 5 do indicate some kind of relationship. Jackson’s admission to penning “The Bartman” for the Simpsons album a decade after release also tells us he’s no stranger to odd score deals.

For more Jacko fun, check out Michael Quest, Michael Fantasy, and Michael Forever.