With Halloween quickly approaching, it’s commonplace to expect some big-news action being spewed out from Hollywood, and the past few weeks have been no exception. However, even with Saw IV having been released to theaters this past Friday, it looks as if the holiday season doesn’t have nearly as many horror-based films being shown as some might like. (with the exception of Nightmare Before Christmas 3D being re-released again this season, and “30 Days of Night”)

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TFW2005 points us to this auction. Up for auction is a pre-production mock up of Transformers Animated Prowl in packaging. A disclaimer on the package reads:

This is a pre-production sample package. This sample package is for illustration only. Size and design may vary slightly.

While keeping that in mind, the packaging looks remarkably similar to the same size and, for the most part, coloring of the packaging from Transformers Cybertron. The shape of the packaging more closely resembles the Transformers Classics packaging with the more box-like bubble containing the figure itself.

 

Here are samples from Cybertron (white) and Classics (red):

 

I featured this game’s sequel as this week’s $20 GOTW, so with Halloween less than a week away and Dracula X Chronicles hitting the PSP this week, lets take a look at this classic but overlooked installment of Konami’s signature horror series. While it had the look and style of earlier Castlevania games, Bloodlines introduced some subtle changes in the formula that made it stand out from the rest of the series.
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Later this month, Konami will be bringing Dracula X to the US for the first time ever as a PSP remake of the original PC Engine game. The original version of the game, as well as Symphony of the Night, will both be available as hidden extras on the disc. No time like the present to look at the most recent entry in the series. This follow up to 2005’s Dawn of Sorrow, sticks closely to the franchise’s more recent “Metroidvania” style of gameplay while adding in some new twists of its own. Not the least of which is that you’ll be controlling two characters at once, each with their own skills and abilities. Features such as this help keep the formula as enjoyable as it has been in the past several entries in the series.
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Look! Soul Calibur!

OK so thats Ivy and Mitsurugi slicing their way through various ninjas, dragons, and cement walls. When can I play?

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Keep reading for the show notes which include the corrected version of page 12 as well as Greg Weisman’s comments on the problems.
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People who feel burnt out by Electronic Arts’s monopolizing of football may soon have another alternative to turn to this November. Nerjyzed, an African-American owned gaming company, is bringing the Historically Black College and University football (possibly the only football league besides the Canadian Football League that has yet to be bought out by EA Sports in an exclusive contract) experience home to PC this November with the aptly titled Black College Football Xperience. Seeking to introduce gamers to the atmosphere of this severely overlooked part of football, the developers are featuring over 40 official HBCU teams, mascots, marching bands, and their fight songs (in fact, a halftime mini game will allow players to take control of the drum major and participate in the halftime battle of the bands). The game will also include ragdoll physics, online play, and commentary by Donal Ware and Jonathan Coachman. The game will be the first sports title to make use of Unreal Engine 3. The developers hope to both revolutionize football gaming and create good games that can shed light on other cultures without reinforcing negative stereotypes. A huge goal to set, but if they can get the gameplay right, then it can become an easily obtainable goal. At the very least, with the proper marketing, it can become the alternative to Madden that All Pro football was supposed to be.

Capcom was releasing some major teasers at their Gamer’s Day event yesterday, including a new Bionic Commando, and announced that their stellar Xbox 360 game Lost Planet would come to PS3 next year with all the downloadable content on disc.
But the announcement that takes the cake is Street Fighter IV. Its been a long time since Capcom made a new 2D fighter, and the last time the Street Fighter crew appeared was on the less than great Neo Geo game SVC Chaos.

But now we have A New Beginning, and a teaser trailer to go with it.

We don’t know who is making it, what system it will be for, or even if it will be a true 2D fighter, but if its not, why bother? Capcom knows their hardcore audience is still playing Alpha 2 Gold and 3rd Strike like they’re new games, so it makes the most sense to keep the legacy in tact. I hope for a limited arcade release followed by versions on every console that can run it. HD, 16×9, all that stuff.

If you’ve been wondering what happened to all the characters from Street Fighter II, you may want to look up The Later Years…