Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The World We've Built


If you express desire for a beautiful woman, you're a pervert.

If you express discomfort around a homosexual man, you're prejudice.

If you express reservation around another culture, you're racist.

If you're reading this and it rings true, you're a young Caucasian male living in North America, and you know as well as I that expression is dead because you are a second class citizen in your own home.

Thank you, for the world that we've built.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky (Xbox 360) Gameplay Module Review


When I got my new refurbished Xbox 360 console from Xbox Support some weeks ago, I had an issue where Golden Axe would not recognize as the full version whether I was connected to Xbox LIVE or not. I ultimately had to go through three tiers of Support to get this resolved, and after the second tier tech was unsuccessful, he was kind enough to re-imburse me the 400 Microsoft Points I had used to purchase the game.

Ultimately the problem was resolved, and I was so impressed with the level of customer service that Xbox Support had bestowed to me that I decided to use those 400 Microsoft Points to purchase something published by Microsoft Game Studios, sort of giving back as was given to me, in a sense. So, I purchased the first Mass Effect gameplay module, Bring Down the Sky.

Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky extremist group from crashing a mobile asteroid, X57, into the largest human colony, Terra Nova. What's unique about this sees the crew of the Normandy attempting to stop a Batariangameplay module is that it introduces the Batarians to the game itself, a species that played an important role in the prequel novel Mass Effect: Revelation.

When all was said and done, I enjoyed Bring Down the Sky, though it's not without its hitches. Bring Down the Sky is, for the most part, another Uncharted World. You're treated to a beautiful backdrop, and it's a fair size and more involving than most Uncharted Worlds offered in the retail game, but it is another Uncharted World non-the-less. This means you're dropped in the God-awful Mako, driving around a barren, mountainous area and entering the same cookie-cutter structures that every Uncharted World has. In brief, that's really the bad about it.

The good, however, is that there's a lot of new dialogue recorded for this gameplay module, and while there's no new Squad Member dialogue, there is new dialogue for Commander Shepard, as well as a host of new supporting characters and the Batarians themselves. The story for Bring Down the Sky is well written with an exceptional moral choice towards the end that had me cursing for a good, interesting reason that I can't spoil here. While the module does feature the cookie cutter structures we're used to seeing, at least the interior had a good bit of extra cover and platforms to use adding a little variety, and the module's final area was very unique and well designed, featuring one of the most intense fire fights I've had with the game as a whole.

Speaking of fire fights, I played through it with my current John Shepard, a Sentinal, on the Hardcore Difficulty, and the Batarians were supposed to feature some new, challenging, advanced AI. In truth though, I didn't notice much difference save that they seemed to be a bit more aggressive and made slightly better use of cover. Otherwise, they were the standard humanoid enemy with a different skin.

The game's Codex also now features an actual render of a Batarian for their entry instead of a piece of concept art, and I also noticed that the icon for Mass Effect on my HDD changed from the standard picture of Saren's menacing visage to a Batarian. Sadly though, no new weapons or armour where featured, which would have been a nice, unique bonus. There is a new Achievement to earn, however it also only grants Gamer Score points, and no other in-game reward.

Now, as I mentioned, I got Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky for free, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but would it have been worth my own 400 Microsoft Points ($6.20)? Based on how fun I found it, I'm going to have to say yes, simply because I've purchased full Xbox LIVE Arcade games for that cost that were much shorter with a lot less depth and story.

Though its not essential to the Mass Effect experience, Bring Down the Sky is a very nice addition and a solid start for more gameplay modules to come. What I would like to see, however, is the Batarian story continue with a full fledged world to explore like one of the game's primary worlds. That would be awesome, and well worth a larger fee in Microsoft Points.

TTC Strike 2008


For those of you who live in the GTA, you no doubt know that the TTC is on strike. For those who don't, the Toronto Transit Commission is the public transportation system that the city of Toronto relies upon.

On Friday evening, at approximately 10:30 pm, TTC workers rejected a tentative offer from the previous weekend and walked off the job at 12:01 am yesterday, stranding many people in downtown Toronto who were relying on the TTC to get home from a night of clubbing and enjoyment.

Previously, the worker's union ATU Local 113 had promised 48 hours notice before a strike, however when they gave said notice last weekend, Bob Kinnear, Local 113's president, stated that TTC employees had been met with a great deal of abuse from misguided citizens. To protect their members this time, they gave next to no notice.

Overall, news coverage on the what and why can be found everywhere, such as City News, so I won't bother going over everything. What I do want to do, however, is to take a moment to offer my own perspective.

Walking off the job with no notice is irresponsible, and certainly hurts the union's chance for sympathy from the general public. They screwed a lot of people early Saturday morning, and while they certainly made a point, it could have been much more effectively done had they waited until around 2:00 am, when the shifts were scheduled to end anyway.

However this irresponsible action has cast light on another view point. While the gears are in motion to legislate them back to work for Monday's rush hour, we have had an entire weekend without the city's primary transit. There are alternatives, such as GO Transit, but GO is really designed to service those living at the edges and outside the GTA traveling to and fro, not the city itself.

The city of Toronto has built itself up around the TTC, relying on it as part of its infrastructure. So why isn't it an essential service? It just makes common sense, doesn't it? If the entire city shuts down because the TTC is not running, why isn't it law that they can't strike? Or, if the city doesn't want to bring this about or for whatever reason can not, why hasn't it long since brought in alternate means of public transit, private or otherwise, as competition to the TTC for the people to choose from?

This is not the first strike, legal or otherwise, that the TTC worker's unions have conducted, and the results are easily predictable and ultimately preventable with a little hard work and planning. But that's the whole catch, isn't it. It would have taken work for our "overburdened" politicians to do anything about this long before hand.

So while you're busy cursing the union for screwing you this weekend, don't forget that all of this could have been prevented with some proactive foresight from our esteemed government. Instead, as usual, they're left dropping the ball, and when the dust settles, I place the blame squarely on them and the city of Toronto itself.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Boll vs Bay? Priceless.

Saw this on ActionTrip this morning, and Vader's right, the footage does speak for itself. Sad, really.




Who needs Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe?

The PlayStation 3 has Reached it's Limit


Found this rather funny. The PlayStation 3 has been out for a year and a half, and Hideo Kojima, lead designer on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, has said that he's not happy with the graphical quality in the game because they've used the PlayStation 3's Cell Processor to its limits.

"I remember saying three years ago that we wanted to create something revolutionary, but in reality we couldn’t really do that because of the CPU. We’re using the Cell engine to its limit, actually. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing the PS3 machine, it’s just that we weren’t really aware of what the full-spec PS3 offered – we were creating something we couldn’t entirely see."

Taken from this interview here, and the original story found on ActionTrip here.

Now the reason I find this amusing is because the PlayStation 3 is such a new console, and yet the lead designer of one of its most anticipated exclusive titles is already saying that that's it, this is the best it can do. That's rather discouraging for PlayStation 3 owners, now isn't it.

In contrast, the Xbox 360 is 2.5 years old, and lead developers like Epic Games are still discussing how their unlocking its potential and that they're constantly able to improve their game engines.

Well, at least the PlayStation 3 is a fancy looking paper weight...

300 (Widescreen Edition) DVD Review


A little while ago, I found 300 (Widescreen Edition) on sale, and decided to pick it up. It's the single disc edition, and there's no real special features to speak of save for commentary, so in terms of a DVD, it's mainly just the movie which you can read my review of here.

I did find there was a good bit of grain when viewed on an HD TV, but otherwise it looked fine. Oh, and it has pretty menus to, though not as pretty as, say, the Star Wars Saga's.

That is all.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Halo 3 Series 3 McFarlane Figures Revealed, Exclusive Content coming to Xbox LIVE


Missed this one a bit ago. McFarlane Toys has revealed their upcoming third series of Halo 3 figures to be released this August. You can check them all out here.

There's also some exclusive Gamer Pics and a Theme coming free to Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Not sure when or if it'll be available in Canada.

Anyway, the figures look cool, especially the Combat Form.

Gears of War Series 1 Action Figures Packaging


In a few weeks the first series of the Gears of War action figures will ship to retailers, and TeamXbox is hosting pics of the final packaged figures.

You can check them out here.

Awww... now I want to play Gears of War again... Stupid suggestability.

StarCraft II - The Story So Far...


Blizzard Entertainment has updated the Features>Game Universe section of the StarCraft II site with the story summary of the events from Starcraft: Brood War. This generally leads right into StarCraft II, so if you missed out on Starcraft: Brood War, it makes a good read. Also reminds me of how long it's been since I played through the game. Fond memories.

They've also released some additional Artwork.

Enjoy!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Unveiled

Well it took about a decade, but it looks like Midway's finally come up with a rival to Capcom's successful Marvel vs. Capcom series of fighting games. Just announced, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.

I'm not a huge fan of fighting games anymore, though I loved Mortal Kombat, and I admit watching the below trailer of Sub-Zero going toe-to-toe with Batman is really cool. Performing Fatalities on DC characters should be awesome.

Toasty!

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Announced

A new Spider-Man game has been announced for the usual round of platforms, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. The game takes place in the mainstream Marvel universe, and allows players to guide Spider-Man's path as heroic or anti-hero in a free-roaming New York. There's supposed to be a good amount of cusomization in your combos and aerial combat also comes into play.

A title to watch to be sure. Check out the announcement trailer below or on the main site. All those tentacles look very symbiote-like to me.

Mass Effect PC System Requirements, Bring Down the Sky for Free on PC


Earlier this week, BioWare revealed the system requirements for the upcoming PC version of Mass Effect:

Operating System:
Windows XP or Vista

Processor:
2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMD

Memory:
1 Gigabyte Ram (XP)
2 Gigabyte Ram (Vista)

Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 6 series(6800GT or better)
ATI 1300XT or better (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)

Hard Drive Space:
12 Gigabytes

Sound Card:
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers
----------

Recommended System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC

Operating System:
Windows XP or Vista

Processor:
2.6+GHZ Intel or 2.4+GHZ AMD

Memory:
2 Gigabyte Ram

Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or higher.
ATI X1800 XL series or higher

Hard Drive Space:
12 Gigabytes

You can check the official post out here and the original story was spotted at ActionTrip.

BioWare has also announced that Bring Down the Sky will be released for the PC version as a free download, and they've also released a few new PC Screenshots.

Aliens vs Predator: Requiem - Unrated (DVD) Review


On Tuesday, Fox released their latest iconic monster-fest, Aliens versus Predator: Requiem, to DVD in three different versions, and I decided to pick up the Aliens versus Predator: Requiem - Unrated version. The next and final DVD version up, the Special Edition Unrated, features several short "making of" featurettes and a digital copy of the film that I simply couldn't justify an additional $4.00 for.

When I saw the film in theatres this past Christmas, I generally enjoyed it. It was simple gory fun that wasted no time in showing us idiot rednecks getting slaughtered by movie monsters, and that was certainly entertaining enough.

On a second viewing, however, I found the film a good bit less enjoyable. It seemed even cheesier than I remembered, with a few plot elements that really didn't make a lot of sense. Sure the gore was there and the characters were still just as one dimensional, but the lack of any real plot featured in Aliens vs Predator: Requiem really makes the simple set up of Alien vs. Predator look like stellar storytelling. Again, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem isn't a bad film _so long_ as you go in simply looking for a monster slaughter-fest.

Aliens vs Predator: Requiem - Unrated comes on one disc, and features 7 additional minutes of unrated content that was "too shocking for theatres." And you know what, Fox was right. It would have been way too shocking for theatres because most of it was extra character development moments of plain dialogue that wasn't any good at all, and really should have been left on the cutting room floor. Sure, you see one extra head get popped off and some slight extra gore, but this was 7 minutes of unimpressive, and one new scene even adds a slight plot hole in the habits of Wolf (the predator) himself.

Special feature wise, the disc comes with some commentary and the film's theatrical trailers, nothing special or anything to care about.

So is Aliens vs Predator: Requiem - Unrated worth it? If you're a huge fan of the franchise like myself and need to complete your collection with all 8 films, then yes, though you probably won't watch it too much. If not, and you only purchase that which you truly like, than you'll want to rent or pass this flick altogether.

Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack Now Available, Play & Win Contest on Now


On Tuesday, Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie released the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack for another ridiculous 800 Microsoft Points. That's right kids, it's another overpriced map pack that I'm hoping you're all too smart to pay for.

If you're not and you just have to line Microsoft Game Studios' pockets so you can play some silly maps that will likely be released for free in several months time, then you might as well register for the Play & Win Halo 3 Legendary Weekend taking place now. There's lots of prizes and merchandise to be won, so hopefully you'll win something of value and get your money's worth back.

Friday, April 11, 2008

DRM Fixed


So, have I mentioned how impressed with Xbox Support I am these days? A tier 3 support rep called me late this afternoon and informed me that all DRM has now been transferred to my new refurbished console, and that my issues with Golden Axe have been resolved.

I go and test and sure enough, though I needed to redownload almost all my content again, everything is fixed. I can now use all my content in offline mode again, and Golden Axe seems to be working just fine.

This was a process that was supposed to take a month, and it took Xbox Support only 2 days.

So, I got Golden Axe for free now, but re-invested those Microsoft Points into Bringing Down the Sky.

Thank you Xbox Support!

Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky Gameplay Module Purchased


I know what you're thinking: What's he doing buying DLC after ranting about how paying for DLC is retarded. Well, two reasons:

1) As I mentioned, so long as the cost is small, I have less of an issue when its actual creative, single player content that involves additional dialogue (and therefore would have required paid voice talent).

2) The real reason I decided to purchase Bring Down the Sky is because Microsoft was kind enough to refund me the 400 Microsoft Points for Golden Axe since I'm having issues with it, so I decided to buy 400 Microsoft Points worth of Microsoft Game Stuidos' content. Bring Down the Sky fit that bill to the letter.

You see: Give a little, get a little.

I've started up a whole new character, so it's going to take me a bit to get to the additional content, but I'll discuss it once I finally get through it.

You're mom's hot.

Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest (DVD) Review


For those not in the know, Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest is Fox's Family Guy rendition of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Unfortunately I missed it's original airing, but the Staff happened to pick it up on DVD and lent it to me a few weeks ago.

If you've ever seen Star Wars, you'll know the plot of Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest, but of course, its brought to you in Family Guy style with all the characters and gags you'd expect from a Family Guy episode.

Weighing in at 48 minutes, you'll follow Luke (Chris), Leia (Louis), and Han (Peter) as they battle the Empire and attempt to destroy Darth Vader's (Stewie) ultimate weapon, the Death Star.

I don't want to ruin the jokes for you, as the gags are the main reason you'd want to watch the show, but suffice it to say most of them are good, and a few are just plain wrong. And I mean that in the nicest, most twisted way of course. I did find a few of the gags over done or a little tacky, but you'll certainly get your laughs worth _if_ you're a fan of Star Wars. If not, I can see you completely not giving a crap.

The DVD special features contain a nice documentary on the making of Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest, as well as a rather boring discussion with George Lucas. The entire episode is also presented in animatic format (with some different cut or altered gags from the final version), and every single Star Wars skit from the Family Guy series has also been compiled.

For Family Guy and Star Wars fans alike, Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest is a must watch, though not necessarily a must own.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Possible Console-Breaking Issue for the PlayStation 3


Saw over at TeamXbox that a number of customers are posting all over different forums about a fatal hardware issue with their PlayStation 3 consoles, specifically to do with the Blu-ray Disc drive Sony's always raving on about.

If true, that would mean Sony's "amazing and clearly superior console" has a serious hardware issue, and it'll be interesting to see if a) the problem is true and if so b) what Sony will do about it, especially if it gets RRoD bad.

And if PlayStation's Support is anywhere near the quality of everything else they've done so far with the PlayStation 3, than I pity those poor PlayStation 3 owners even more.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Very Impressed with Xbox Support


Wow. Can I say how very impressed with Xbox Support I am right now? It's like complete night and day compared to my experience with them last year.

As mentioned, I'm having issues with Golden Axe, where my new refurbished Xbox 360 console does not want to recognize it as the full version of the game, even when I'm connected to Xbox LIVE.

At about 11:00 am this morning, I contacted Xbox Support regarding this issue, and the tier 1 rep was unable to solve it so he escalated it to tier 2. He gave me a ticket number and told me to expect a call in 24 to 48 hours.

I just got off the phone with the tier 2 rep; he called me about 11 hours after my initial call, 13 hours early. Very nice.

Unfortunately, he was unable to resolve the issue, however he has confirmed that I have indeed purchased the game and it should be working fine when connected to Xbox LIVE. The tier 2 rep has escalated this to their tier 3 support, whom I should hear from in 24 to 48 hours, and he also completely refunded me the 400 Microsoft Points I used to purchase Golden Axe.

Basically, Xbox Support is going to continue to try and resolve the issue. Should they succeed, I've just gotten Golden Axe for free. Should they fail, I have my Microsoft Points back for an additional purchase of something else at a later date. That is a very unexpected and courteous gesture.

I also spoke to the tier 2 rep regarding the DRM of my other Xbox LIVE Arcade games, game films, premium content, etc. He told me that it would be transferred over to my new refurbished console, and the process would take about 30 days, maybe a week earlier, maybe a week later.

In about 20 days, he's asked me to try re-downloading some content that won't work offline and retest it. If it doesn't work, try again in 30 days. If it still doesn't work, to call them back to inquire about the status.

Very impressive.

Product Design in the Simplest Terms

Supporting my Axe


I just got off the phone with Xbox Support relating to the issues my new refurbished console is having with Golden Axe, and the rep has opened up a ticket with me and is escalating the issue to their tier 2 support.

In a nutshell, my Xbox 360 Console does not like the full version of Golden Axe. Whether I'm connected to Xbox LIVE or offline, it refuses to acknowledge that its anything other than the trial version of the game. What's even weirder is that every time I access the game or re-download it, my console will no longer give me any notifications until I reboot it.

In truth, I'm more curious as to the why than as to a fix; this bug is just plain crazy!

I've tried re-downloading the game, deleting it from my HDD and redownloading it, unlocking the full version from within the game, downloading the trial version and unlocking the full version from within the game, and I've performed maintenance on my HDD. Both the support rep and I are out of ideas, thus the escalation to tier 2.

He suspects it has something to do with the download rights management, and for some reason its not unlocking it properly when I log into Xbox LIVE. Unfortunately, do to Microsoft's DRM, all my Xbox LIVE Arcade games will only function in trial mode if I'm offline, and any content packs and some game films I've downloaded will also not work unless I'm connected to Xbox LIVE.

This is a piracy prevention measure, and I'm sure glad I can't watch the 30 second BioShock TV Spot when I'm offline. Think of the piracy!

Anyway, the tier 2 rep is going to look at that as well, and see if they can transfer ownership to my new console. They should be able to, seeing as they did so before last May.

Well Somone's Gotta Protect the PlayStation 3


In Iowa, a woman came home to find her house being robbed by a 16 year old kid, who bolted carrying the loot, including her PlayStation 3. She took off after him and assaulted him with an ice scraper, forcing him to surrender and wait for arrest.

Full story here.

Well, I suppose if I took out a second mortgage to buy Sony's high-powered paper weight, I'd kill anyone trying to steal it to.

False Ad on Xbox LIVE?


Since I got my new refurbished Xbox 360 yesterday, I've noticed a new ad on Xbox LIVE that may actually be incorrect.

Whenever I go to My Games Library on the Games Blade, there's an ad for Fable: The Lost Chapters at the top. Selecting it takes me to the download for the Xbox Original Fable.

As far as I know, the Xbox Original version of Fable does _not_ include The Lost Chapters content, however perhaps they've updated it? If so though, you'd think a) there would have been an announcement and b) people who already purchased the game would be complaining.

Unfortunately, I have no intention of spending 1200 Microsoft Points simply to find out if Xbox Originals is indeed offering the full version of a game I already own.

If anyone else can confirm that it is indeed Fable: The Lost Chapters now on Xbox Originals, feel free to chime in.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Got My Game On


I received my new refurbished Xbox 360 Pro console at about 1:15 pm this afternoon. From the time I placed my repair order it only took Xbox Support a total of 5.5 business days to get me a replacement console. That is amazing service. Especially considering the disaster of last year's Support experience. I am _very_ impressed right now.

I'm even happier that the console hasn't red ringed on me out of the box!

The console they sent me was manufactured just over a month earlier than my previous refurbished unit, but it has a Benq DVD drive, which is rumoured to be the fastest and quietest one, and so far it's true. My current Xbox 360 seems to be very quite compared to the other two I've had, and I can now say that I've had one of each of the three kinds of DVD drives. Hitachi's was the worst since it completely crapped out on me.

The console itself is in excellent condition, with no scratches or scuff marks like on my last refurbished unit. I am going to wait a week before tossing on my Halo Faceplate though, just in case something does go wrong and I need to ship it back.

After plugging the console in, it went through the standard Initial Setup process, and after that everything seems to be more or less fine. I found that a few of my games needed to have their Title Updates reapplied, but I've tried every single Xbox 360 game and Xbox LIVE Arcade title I own, and they all work save for Golden Axe.

For some reason, this console doesn't want to recognize Golden Axe as being the full version; trial only. I tried redownloading it and deleting it and then redownloading it, but nothing. I'll likely need to call Support on this tomorrow. I also need to try some games in offline mode to see if they'll work or not.

Finally, I got a free 1 month Gold Membership card for Xbox LIVE, and my consoles warranty has now been extended until the end of May 2009.

So thank you Xbox Support, it seems you've done good this time.

If I Could Unleash the Force...


... I'd use it to close wheelchair-accessible doors that handicapped people open right as they're about to wheel, hobble, or crawl through.

I'm benevolent that way.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Announcement and Cross Platform WebDoc


So the big announcement this past weekend on Spike TV's Star Wars screenings was the unveiling of Darth Vader as the player character for the first level of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

As Vader, you'll be landing on Kashyyyk to search for your new apprentice, and you'll get to butcher a bunch of wookies along the way. I typed wookie.

LucasArts has also released a new Web Doc which deals with the non-Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The use of the Wii Remote looks really cool, and even though I'm not a fan of the console, the PlayStation 2 version is looking _very_ nice for such an old piece of hardware.

You can check the Web Doc out, as well as footage of playing as Vader, on the official site (click on Media Gallery, then Web Docs / Videos).

Friday, April 04, 2008

Defective Console has Arrived


According to both Purolator and the Xbox Repair Agent, my defective Xbox 360 console arrived at the service centre late this morning.

They now have up to 10 business days to ship me a refurbished console.

With any luck, I'll actually get it in a few business days as many other people apparently have.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Xbox 360 Returned to the King


I received my Xbox 360 return box from Purolator today just after noon, which means Xbox Support got it to me in 2.5 business days since I placed my repair order; 0.5 days early. Not bad at all!

I've packaged up my defective Xbox 360 console and have dropped it off at my nearest Purolator. The repair centre should receive it tomorrow, and from what I understand, they have 10 days to process it and ship me a refurbished unit.

And while I wait, back to my original Xbox to complete the game of Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil I started last year when I had to send my first Xbox 360 in for repair.

Note: My Xbox 360 has a defective DVD drive, and not general hardware failure (3 Red Rings) as pictured.

Alone in the Dark CGI Trailer


A new CGI trailer has just been released on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Alone in the Dark. Looks pretty sweet, though I hope the game itself is this moody.

Check it out.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Official Release Date


Today, LucasArts has announced that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the first non-LEGO themed next-gen Star Wars video game, will hit store shelves in North America on September 16th, 2008.

Details regarding Spike TV exclusive announcements are also contained within. Spike TV will be airing the entire Star Wars saga, and releasing new details and footage regarding Star Wars: The Force Unleashed throughout each screening. For Spike TV's Star Wars details, head here.

You can read the full LucasArts press release here.

World of Warcraft Coming to Consoles!

As is their yearly tradition, Blizzard Entertainment released several great April Fools jokes this past Tuesday. Of the four, there were two that tickeled my fancy:

The first is a new unit for their upcoming StarCraft II, the Tauren Marine.

The second, and by far my favourite, is the announcement that World of Warcraft: The Molten Core is coming to consoles! Best. "Announcement" Trailer. Ever.

If they ever released that to, say, Xbox LIVE Arcade. I'd buy it. Ironically, it'd probably be more complex than most retail console titles released today that are only meant to please the masses.

Starcraft 10-Year Anniversary


This past Monday marks the 10th Anniversary of the release of Blizzard Entertainment's ground breaking real time strategy game, Starcraft.

To celebrate, Blizzard Entertainment has released a short retrospective here.

I did my spring cleaning all day yesterday and came across my old high school year books. My senior years were filled with two kinds of comments: Friends talking all about Starcraft, or other friends telling me to lay off the Starcraft. Ahhh, memories.

It's Like She Knows my Every Move!


This both creeps the shit out of me and excites me in ways you don't even want to read about. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Looks like it's from this company, Motion Portrait. News originally spotted at ActionTrip.