It won’t be out on this side of the ocean until June 22nd 2007 but this movie was released in Australia and many parts of Europe last year. Here’s a look at what we can expect from what will surely be this summer’s greatest blockbuster.

If you really can’t wait to check out this great movie you can go ahead and import the Dead or Alive DVD from Amazon UK. Note that this movie is region 2 and PAL encoded so it won’t work in all DVD players. If importing’s not your thing then you should just get yourself in the mood by buying a Dead or Alive video game from the normal Amazon and help support the site.

Learn about how Hitomi is technically a guy and other trivia about this movie after the jump.

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Instead of simply porting over Unreal Championship 2004 on the PC, Epic Games (you know them from “Gears of War”) decided to take a different approach to the next Xbox iteration of its Xbox FPS fragfest. From Doom’s chainsaw to Halo’s energy sword, melee combat has always been a part of FPS combat. This time however, hand-to-hand combat skills are just as important as your l33t sniper skills. Shooting at your opponent isn’t enough, now you have to learn how to pull off combos, reflect shots, and use special attacks just like in a fighting game. There are several characters to choose from, each with different abilities and techniques. Along with the standard deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag modes, there is also the new nali slaughter mode, in which you have to kill more Nali creatures than your opponent. Single player modes include tournament ladders for each character, challenge mode, and the story based “Rites of Ascension”, which tells the story of Anubis, one of the game’s characters. Of course, you can also take the game on Xbox Live as well, and you can even grab the free downloadable content (including new characters and arenas) while you’re at it.

Ever since the original Xbox was developed, one of the most anticipated games for the system was Project Ego, a game being developed by Peter Molyneux’s Lionhead studios. This game promised an evolving world and character development system. Your character (who you decided would be good or evil based upon your actions), would age over time, even retaining scars that he earned in battle years ago. You could even marry, settle down, and have a family. You would even compete with other heroes in the world for fame and recognition, and a multiplayer mode would allow other player’s heroes to travel about in your world.

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Due to the holiday (and becuase I’m feeling lazy), I’m gonna skip this week’s $20 Game of the week and lost classics columns. Don’t worry though, I’ll have twice as much content for next week. Until then, check out this review.

In 1983, director Brian DePalma created a film starring Al Pacino that would forever change the way we would think about drug dealers, cocaine, Cubans, immigration, and pelicans. This film would be known as the story of a man named Tony Montana. It was the chronicle of his journey from yet another Cuban refugee looking for the American dream to the biggest drug dealer in all of Miami, all the way to his violent end as a desperate man consumed by a coccaine-fueled blind rage. This film would be the stuff of legends, serving as inspiration to entire generations of rappers, actors, gangsters, and other entertainers. This film is called Scarface. Nearly 2 decades later, Tony Montana’s story would continue on as a video game courtesy of Vivendi Universal.

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The Xbox 360 wireless headset came out yesterday, despite being delayed several days, much like the Live Vision Camera before it. It comes in a rather large box (roughly the same size as the camera) and similar to all the other packaging Microsoft as made for their accessories. This is the first official headset that Plantronics has NOT made for Microsoft (someone correct me if I’m wrong) as the official wired headset still is.

The headset is built relatively solid and feels a lot like many of Motorola’s bluetooth offerings. In fact, if you wear a bluetooth headset, you’ll feel right at home here. The design is fairly simplistic and like a bluetooth headset, it features a minimal amount of buttons. You’ll find a ‘power’, ‘find’, ‘volume up’ and ‘volume down’ button on the piece, nothing more, nothing less. It has a padded earpiece and a rubber loop that goes behind the ear. It’s very light, about the same weight as your standard bluetooth headset and it features an adjustable boom mic. I know I keep saying “bluetooth”, but this headset apparently runs on an RF signal, just like the controllers. [Read the rest of this entry…]

From the “people will buy anything” file we bring you a video game about guys who ride lawnmowers.

Not to be confused with the mid-90’s video game “The Lawnmower Man” based on the movie of the same name, this is a simulation where you race lawnmowers. Not only that, but it’s officially sanctioned by the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association.

I can barely contain myself thinking about this game, so I’ll let this passage from the website describe it:

What happens when you turn a household chore into the wildest mowtorsport to hit the nation in years? Grab your helmet, bore out your cylinders and get ready for the ultimate MOWdown!

Lawnmower racing is sweeping the country in a grass-roots movement that brings all the excitement of open wheel racing to a dirt-in-your-face, spine-jarring new level.

* Race against legends like Bobby Cleveland, George Herrin, Mr. Mowjangles and Sodzilla.
* STA-BIL Circuit, Free Mowin’ and multiplayer modes.
* Unlockable upgrades including engines, chassis, jerseys and more!
* Learn more about real lawnmower racing in the “Mowpedia.”

It’ll be available this tuesday for XBOX and PC for only $19.99, making this an ideal future candidate for the $20 GOTW.

In 2000, Capcom and it’s biggest rival SNK combined thier forces together to make one of the biggest fighting game crossovers since, well, Marvel vs Capcom.  The result had lots of potential, but the point system made the gameplay painfully unbalanced.  Thankfully, it was followed up upon a year later with what to this day remains the biggest 2-d fighting game ever.  Lots of cast members joined from both companies’ various catalogs, from Fatal Fury and Street Fighter to Samurai Showdown and Darkstalkers, and even lesser known games like Rival Schools and Last Blade.  Capcom adopted SNK’s playing system well and managed to integrate it’s own.  With the 6 grooves, players could play thier favorite characters how they wanted.  In short it was fighting game bliss.

A side note, the Xbox version is the only version with online play, and it was one of the first games on Xbox Live.

Becuase I’m late and it’s the holiday, I’m gonna break you off with two 20 dollar GOTWs this week. So happy 4th of July everyone!

For all of you whining about original IPs dying out, here ya go. An original IP from the creators of the phenominal Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic. Jade Empire is a nice take on the old RPG conventions. It’s set in a mythical land not unlike Ancient China, and you take the role of one of several customizable characters, each with thier own abilities and attributes as you try to find out the secret behind your past. You’ll gain several abilities throughout the course of the game, such as magic, weapons, and th eability to change your form. Just like in KOTOR, you can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy, but soon, the choices won’t be that easy. You can also enlist the help of several followers who will add thier own might and muscle to yours. The combat system is thankfully all real time, with the ability to preform basic strikes, power attacks, blocks, dodges, and even combos.
I can’t understand for the life of me why this game didn’t take off as well as it should have, but it’s still solid. I found a copy of the limited edition at gamestop for 12 dollars! This is an excellent game for RPG fans looking for a break from the same old conventions. WIth Bioware exclusive to Microsoft, this game is a sign of things to come, particularly thier upcomming 360 sci-fi RPG Mass Effect.