It’s one thing to try to translate a video game plot and characters into a movie, but movies that are about the culture of video gaming, the people who play them, and what it’s like to be stuck in one are an altogether different animal. Many such movies were released in the 1980s, coincidentally around the same time as the video game crash that threatened to destroy this nascent industry forever. Vinnk and SeanOrange reminisce about Scott Pilgrim, TRON, The Wizard, The Last Starfigher, Cloak and Dagger, and War Games: when we saw them, what kind of impact they had, and if we’ll ever see their like again. And, look — most of them had better reviews than movies adapted from actual video games!

Direct Link: Famicom Dojo Podcast 11: Movies About Video Games

Check out trailers for all the films we talked about, and their RottenTomatoes.com scores at our show notes:
http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/11

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Even wonder what Paul W. S. Anderson, the infamous man behind the movies Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and Dead or Alive would make for a Terminator movie? What about Lost show runner Damon Lindelof? Well wonder no further. No it’s not because they’re actually going to make such movies, but because the fine people at Wired Magazine asked each of them for a pitch for a new Terminator movie, and I’m sold on either!

Paul W. S. Anderson suggested the following:
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So the police kicked a girl out of San Diego Comic-Con for wearing a costume which was too revealing. Oh … and that girl was actually Adrianne Curry, winner of the first “America’s Next Top Model”. Oh yes and she was actually a guest at the convention…

She was wearing a very revealing costume of Æon Flux. How revealing? Well it was more revealing than the one worn by Charlize Theron in the 2005 live action film, but it was actually pretty spot on to the costume from the original Peter Chung animated series that aired on MTV in the early 90s.

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Purchase Nintendo’s latest handheld for $80 less on August 12. Existing 3DS owners will get exclusive Virtual Console games not sold in stores.

With the announcement of the PSVita at E3 2011, sluggish sales both in and out of Japan, and the possibility of having their connectivity gimmick copied before the Wii U hardware is even released, we predicted Nintendo would need to adjust the price of the 3DS in a big way. It looks like they got the message!

I’m not one to gloat, but– yes I am. We totally called this in our Famicom Dojo Podcast during the week of E3 — not just the need for a price drop, but the exact price point!

For those upset at the severe price drop, Nintendo will automatically enroll all 3DS owners in an “Ambassador” program — if they use the online store between now and August 11. The perks? 10 free NES titles on Virtual Console which will later be available to the public, and 10 free Game Boy Advance games via Virtual Console that Nintendo does NOT plan on ever making available for public sale.

(This smacks of the “no plans to release” the three games that are the focus of Operation Rainfall.)

So what do you think? Will a price drop of 1/3 be enough for you to buy this machine? $170 is within striking distance of an impulse buy for a 30-something with a college degree, but what about the kids? That’s still more than it costs to buy a Wii, but it looks like people aren’t paying for that that either. Are the 10 exclusive GBA games enough to get you to pay the full $250 before the price drop?

Read the entire press release at Nintendo.com.

If you’ve followed my Twitter, you probably know I haven’t been quiet about how pleased I am with the new Voltron Force cartoon. While slow to begin the new series, and some parts were the new cadets seem forced upon the viewers, the show nonetheless has witty dialogue, good characterization, and definitely a lot of nods back to the original Voltron series, whilst also having a lot of surprises along the way.

So I was happy to come across a exclusive sizzle reel that was shown at the Voltron Comic-Con panel! I will warn those who haven’t watched the show yet, and even those who have, that some major storyline plot hints are dropped in this reel that could be considered rather Spoiler-ish.

You can check out Voltron Force every Thursday on Nicktoons, or can stream the most recent episodes on Nicktoons.com.

I think if you combined the number of all the podcasts we’ve done so far, we hit a hundred episodes with this one. So, we’re doing some creative renumbering and calling this the 100th episode of the Powetcast.

Zac is joined by Crazy, The Captain, and the ever present aDam for talk about beating kids at Pokemon, beating Nazis with a shield, beating ourselves over San Diego news, and finally giving Voldemort a great big hug.

Listen live on this page, or subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
Direct Link: Powetcast 100: Get Physical

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Marvel has just announced another Comics for Comics initiative, offering comic retailers a chance to get a rare variant cover to Fear Itself #6 by Ed McGuinness for every 50 covers they send in from DC Comics Flashpoint books. Read the full press release and list of comics after the jump.
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This might be one of the saddest release weeks of the year so far. The only real new game out this week for XBox 360 or PS3 is this Catherine game I’ve never heard of before. Take a look for yourselves after the jump. There are a couple PC & Mac releases as well including a SIMs expansion.

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