Coheed & Kevin

For those who argue that playing rock band won't help you improve on your real-life drum skills, I'll let this video speak for itself. Watch G4 and Attack of the Show's Kevin Pereira play the drums (very well) with Coheed and Cambria on their song "Welcome Home". He credits his skills towards playing Rock Band, thus helping him improve his coordination. Just one of the many reasons why Rock Band is such a great game... even if it is a rip-off of a game made over 9 years ago.

GR/-\Y5I-IOT

For fans of the movie Cloverfield, you'll be glad to know that a video game is on the way, in more ways than one. Fans of the film and video game developers, Planet X Fiction Interactive and Twigs Inc. have begun development on a Cloverfield-inspired video game for the PC and Mac. Originally intended to be a fan-made Cloverfield game, Grayshot has since spun off into its own more original project after a discussion and agreement with motion picture company Paramount. Surprisingly, Paramount was very kind and excited about the fan-made Cloverfield game, but had to inform the developers that they were actually planning on developing their own version. While they didn't ask that the site be taken down or that the game cease to exist, they did ask the developers for their previous domain name, cloverfieldgame.com. Of course, the developers were very pleased that Paramount was so kind about the whole situation and now fans of the Cloverfield movie will be getting two games that they can enjoy based on their cinematic experience. Grayshot no longer has anything to do with the Cloverfield storyline or monster, but the inspiration and gameplay experience the developers originally planned is still being kept intact. You can check out the official website for the game at:

grayshotgame.com

Grayshot is set to be released via the internet on November 30 of this year.

No word yet on the status of the official Cloverfield game. All we know is that it is currently in development. Stay tuned. In the meantime, lets show the Grayshot developers some support for their enthusiasm and appreciation of one of the most intense cinematic experiences ever captured on film.

James Marsters is really excited about Dragon Ball.

Former residential spiky-headed blonde vampire and all-around badass James Marsters recently talked to many of his fans about the upcoming Dragon Ball movie. There is plenty of good news in this video that comes straight from James himself and it shows his integrity on a whole. Enjoy!

First Quality Dragon Ball Set Photo

Today /Film (slashfilm) posted a great photo from the set of the upcoming live-action Dragon Ball film, which recently wrapped. Apparently the picture has to do with baby Goku's landing in his Saiyan spacepod. In other news, the Dragon Ball sequel will go into production in late 2009, just a few months after the release of Dragon Ball in Summer '09. There is a trilogy planned. Geez, trilogy's seem to be the big thing in fashion nowadays... We even got a new Terminator trilogy coming. What's next, another Bad News Bears trilogy? Click on picture to enlarge.

Some Biohazard 5 Gameplay Footage Unveiled

Recently the latest edition of printed Japanese game coverage publication Famitsu's packaged-in DVD, Famitsu Wave, has revealed a few bits of actual gameplay from Resident Evil 5. Of course, there isn't really anything interesting in the footage, and it looks exactly like RE4 with better graphics. Thanks Famitsu, for showing us absolutely nothing new. If you're curious about what the gentleman is saying, he is speaking of the theme for the game which is "Light and Shadows". Being in the sunlight for a long time will blur your vision once you enter a dark room and vice versa. I'm sure Capcom has a lot more in store for this installment of the series than is being shown, so don't worry. The footage still underwhelms me though... You can thank GameVideos.com and a YouTube user who will remain anonymous for the footage.

Dead Fantasy I & II

Last year, the work of an individual who calls himself Monty Oum turned up in the form of a fan-made short film named Haloid. It pit a female Spartan from the Halo universe against Metroid's Samus Aran, who then promptly teamed up upon discovering that they were outnumbered by a large amount of The Covenant. A few months later, Monty Oum turns up with another short film, this time pitting the girls of Square's Final Fantasy series against Tecmo's DOA girls. It was cut short however, by a "To be Continued" message at the end just as a fan-favorite female character shows up to even the odds. Today Monty Oum has released what happens next. Enjoy.

Part I:


Part II:

Has Sega finally gotten 3D Sonic right again?

Coming straight off of my previous story about the next next-gen installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Sonic Unleashed, is actual footage of the gameplay. Looks like Sonic is still going to be 3D, but played from a 2D perspective, occasionally switching to a 3D view to make it look more cinematic, while still remaining on rails. Think Sonic Rush for the DS and you'll get the picture, or you could just watch the footage below. I think I'm actually a little excited for this one. Sega is one to crush hopes and dreams though. We'll see later this year.

Mortal Kombat Vs. Street Fighter

My fanboy dream came true about a year ago. I got to see Mortal Kombat's Scorpion duke it out with Street Fighter's Ryu. Thanks to a very talented individual who goes by the name of Proxicide, all are able to enjoy two of the greatest fights that never were. Just watch for yourself below how smooth and well animated his work is.


The sequel:

Sega unveils "Sonic Unleashed".

Today Sega has released first official screenshots of their next next-gen installment of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, called Sonic Unleashed. It seems like Sega is finally scrapping the whole Adventure-theme and focusing only on Sonic and more stream-lined levels. Then again, they said the same thing about the last Sonic game for PS3 and 360, and look what happened... You can view the new screenshots of Sonic Unleashed below. Nothing special, if you ask me. A release date and platform have yet to be announced.

See Ray Park as Snake Eyes!

I love G.I. Joe. It was one of the greatest American cartoons ever made and still stands the test of time today amongst a world full of crappy cartoons and anime-influences. One of my personal favorite characters was Snake Eyes, the silent ninja who carried a gun and kicked Cobra ass. Hard. A couple of days ago images of his live-action iteration, set to be played by Ray Park in the upcoming live-action G.I. Joe movie, surfaced on the net. They were promptly taken down, but have now been officially released. They really nailed the look of the character. I hope they do the same for the others. You can view the pics of Ray Park as Snake Eyes below. By the way, if you're unaware of the badassness that is Ray Park, just know that he was the only good thing about Star Wars Episode I besides Liam Neeson as Qui-Gonn; Darth Maul. G.I. Joe is set to be released Summer 2009, directed by Stephen Sommers of "The Mummy" fame and its first sequel, "The Mummy Returns".

Activision sued by Gibson Guitar Corporation

Recently guitar manufacturer Gibson Guitar Corporation has filed suit against game company Activision. The reason being that apparently Gibson filed a patent for a musical performance simulation game 9 years ago. Well, its funny how Guitar Hero has already gone on through to its 4th released iteration, counting "Rocks the 80s", and they're just now getting upset about it. I guess they've seen how much success the Guitar Hero franchise has conjured up and now they want in on a piece of the action. Besides, there is a Gibson guitar controller packaged with the special edition of Guitar Hero III. But, I remember a while back Activision said that they were no longer interested in using the Gibson brand for their guitar peripherals in future installments. Looks like a case of stolen thunder and sour grapes to me. Activision was quick to respond saying they felt Gibson's claims were "disingenuous and lack any justification". Gibson responded by saying they had tried to settle the issue as soon as it was discovered. However, apparently "Activision chose to initiate litigation without notice to Gibson", forcing them to pursue enforcement of a patent they filed for years before the original Guitar Hero was launched. Hmmm... I wonder what Konami has to say about this issue? After all, Konami's GuitarFreaks was already released by the time Gibson's patent had been filed back in 2000. And since GuitarFreaks came out in 1999, I'm sure a patent had been filed by Konami years prior to this.

Behind the Scenes with Quantum of Solace

Nothing major to report on this film in particular, as of yet. But, Reelz Channel recently went behind the scenes with a few of the actors and filmmakers regarding Bond 22. You can watch the footage below to get a look at some of the amazing set locations for the film and see the lovely new Bond girls, Gemma Arterton and Olga Kurylenko, both in character as MI6 Agent Fields and the mysterious Camille.

The Dark Knight gets animated... again.

Set to serve as the companion piece to the upcoming feature film, The Dark Knight; Batman: Gotham Knight will chronicle the origins of Bruce Wayne's full transformation into the Dark Knight. Batman: Gotham Knight will be comprised of six short animated films directed by Bruce Timm and a set of prominent Japanese filmmakers who have worked on anime masterpieces such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tokyo Godfathers, Tekkon Kinkreet, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Kevin Conroy, the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman: The Animated Series and any other animated Batman-related project from 1992 to 2003, will be returning to the role. Look for Batman: Gotham Knight in stores on DVD and Blu-ray this July 8th, just over a week before The Dark Knight is released in theaters on July 18th. Check out the preview of the DVD below.

Sonic X-treme. No, seriously, Sonic X-treme.

Back in 1994, the next installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise was getting ready to make its jump to the next-gen platform, the 32X. Then called Sonic Mars, an homage to the codename of the 32X, Sega Mars, the project was scrapped due to the desire for more powerful hardware in the form of the Sega Saturn. The game was later unveiled to the public in 1996 at the second E3 trade show using the NiGHTS game engine and under the new title of Sonic X-treme. However, due to programmer/game director duo of Ofer Alon and Chris Senn dropping out of the project doubled with the growing, more advanced competition in the forms of Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64, Sonic X-treme was ultimately canceled Christmas of '96. A PC version was attempted before the project was completely put back in the can, but by that time a majority of the faith in the project had been lost. To make matters worse, Chris Senn came down with pneumonia, forcing them to miss their Christmas deadline for the project's completion. The world would not see Sonic in his first full 3-D outing until 1999 in the form of Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast. However, videos from both beta testing and a near-final version of the game have been recently distributed on the web. I don't want you to have to go through 3 to 4 videos, so I decided to post a nice compilation courtesy of craenerX at YouTube. No joke, I'm seriously impressed by the footage, especially for the level of hardware at the time. It looks like Sega was really trying to push the Saturn on this one. And as most Sega fans know, the Saturn was fairly weak in the 3D department when compared to the N64 or even the PlayStation. Bravo to the team that worked on this ill-fated project.

Guitar Hero on DS?

Yes, ladies and gentleman, the Guitar Hero franchise has officially revealed its first installment for the Nintendo DS. Dubbed "Guitar Hero: On Tour", it will sport over 20 exclusive songs and an optional fret button add-on. You can thank IGN: Yahoo Games for the image since they were able to nab the picture exclusively. Sorry to say that I'm not digging the peripheral. It just doesn't look very comfortable, but we'll see. I much prefer the mock-up below done by the guys over at Kotaku.The video below is a demonstration of how the peripheral, the "Guitar Grip" will be used; courtesy of the guys and gals over at Jeux-France.

What up, BigDog!?

This is truly amazing. A quadrupedal robot named "BigDog" that is capable of navigating multiple types of terrain, including slopes of 35 degrees and even jump across gaps if necessary all while carrying over 100 lbs of items or gear and running at 3.3 mph. BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics and is funded by DARPA, the central research and development organization of the US Department of Defense. I can see this going in so many different directions; everything from healthcare to construction. The following are two videos of this amazing machine. A friend and associate of mine highly recommended the second one.


If you'd like more information on BigDog and it's developers, then please visit their website at:

http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

Cloverfield DVD Release Officially Announced

The flick that has undoubtedly been movie-goers greatest thrill ride so far this year, Cloverfield, is finally getting a set release date. Expect Cloverfield to drop on DVD and Blu-ray on this April 22nd with a handful of extra features including: behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, alternate endings and more.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This past week, George Lucas made an appearance at the annual movie convention, ShoWest to show show off some footage from his latest installment into the Star Wars mythology. Known as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, not to be mistaken with the previous 2-D animated TV series similarly-named Star Wars: Clone Wars. The all-new 3-D animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set to kick off with a full-length feature film set be released in theaters this August and then fully developed into a syndicated television series later this Fall. The story is set to take place between episodes II and III of the prequel trilogy and so far only Anthony Daniels and Matthew Wood are set to reprise their roles as C-3PO and General Grevious. Hot on the heels of this Star Wars fan-service is a live action series set to appear in 2009 with an emphasis on galactic bounty hunter Boba Fett. Characters from the previous films are also set to make appearances, including the likes of Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, Senator Bail Organa, Yoda, and Chewbacca played by their actors from the prequels. Never-before-seen in live-action anti-hero Quinlan Vos is also set to play a role in the story. I have to admit that I feel that the Star Wars franchise is being milked dry, but the live-action series does intrigue me. Apparently it will have the same quality as the prequel trilogy, let's just hope they're only talking about the special effects... We'll have to wait a few months before we hear anything solid on the live-action TV series, but in the meantime, take a look at the following preview that was shown at ShowWest:

Star Wars - The Clone Wars TV Series
Uploaded by pingouin-grincheux

"This is Snake. Do you read me, Otacon?"

With Hideo Kojima's final installment of the long-running Metal Gear series coming in just a little over 3 months, I figured it was as good a time as any to say a few things about the previous and upcoming installments. The first time I ever played a Metal Gear game was in Target back in 1997. There was a demo up in the PlayStation kiosk and being curious, I decided to check it out. The screen was dark, but I could still see the images necessary to get across what I was experiencing. The second I heard the subtle, beautiful soundtrack swell up, vocals and all; I was hooked. I had never seen any game that gave the same experience I felt as when watching a good piece of cinema. Then the gameplay starts and I'm led through the story by voice actors who actually sound like real actors. Wand of Gamelon and Sewer Shark this was not, these guys were the real deal. Then I hear what has to be one of the coolest voices ever come from my player character. His name was Solid Snake, he had a mission to complete and I was in complete control of him... aside from some awesome cutscenes. Then the demo suddenly ends with no words of when it was to be released. I should've asked a clerk of when it it was set to drop, but back then I was just a naive little boy who loved games and didn't care to ask; I just wanted. I collected every magazine I could muster the money out of my parents to buy with Snake somewhere on the cover or within an inside feature. I had to know more about this game. Then the year 1998 came and Metal Gear Solid is unleashed on the world. I beat the game within a week and afterwards probably could've used a smoke. What a ride from beginning to end. The dialogue wasn't cheesy or outrageously ridiculous, the story itself kept me on the edge of my bed and I never knew it could be so fun to sneak around in a virtual world. I was an MGS fan through and through from that moment on, eagerly awaiting the next installment of the series as they came and went. MGS2 was great, but I felt some of the dialogue was a bit to outrageous for my taste and MGS3, while incredible and took the franchise into new territory, still lacked something that was all over the original MGS: A tone of utter seriousness. I'm a huge fan of Kojima's work and I love the humor in his games, don't get me wrong. But, once you've played the original Metal Gear Solid and can't remember a single goofy thing aside from a few subtle in-jokes, then go play the sequel and its prequel only to find them both laced with them, you'll see what I mean. But, I'm not complaining, the stories and the gameplay are still great and that's what counts. After all, they are games, not flicks and games are all about having fun, which I did through and through with every installment of the series I owned. Now, the year is 2008 and a new and perhaps last Metal Gear installment is on the horizon. This time we'll follow our old hero Solid Snake aged by the imperfections of his cloned DNA. But, don't think for a second that that's gonna slow him down that much. From what other fans and myself have seen of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Snake is still in fighting shape and has a new suit and more gadgets to back him up. The coolest of these I've seen so far is the Metal Gear Mk. II, a little robot and homage to previous Kojima game "Snatcher", remotely operated by old fan-favorite Hal "Otacon" Emmerich. Plus, if you know Kojima like his fans do, then you lnow that there are plenty of secrets and plot twists in store as well. If you haven't dropped the dough to buy a PS3 yet, then I suggest that you wait until June 13th to pick up the PS3 bundled together with MGS4 and the brand-new and highly anticipated Dual Shock 3 controller. It's about damn time if you ask me... In the meantime, enjoy the video below of the gameplay from the latest installment until Sony and Konami decide to place the demo on PSN, at which time I'll give you my first impressions.
This video was brought to you by Gaming-Age:

"LET'S MAX!"

You know, the first thing I thought about when I got up this morning was Konami's 2nd Bemani series Dance Dance Revolution. I used to play this game religiously in high school. Those were some of the best years of my life so far. Without the success of DDR and other Bemani games such as GuitarFreaks, DrumFreaks or BeatMania you wouldn't be playing games like the Rock Band or the Guitar Hero series today. Back in 2001, I was 14 and arcades were still in the process of slowly dying. However, they could still be found if searched for in the right place. The right place for me at the time happened to be the "Shockwaves" arcade at a mall my family and I visited on the city outskirts. Every time we'd take the trip I'd always run into the back of the arcade just to see people play this game. There'd literally be people just camped out around this machine. Cute girls, rappers, rockers, break dancers would all gather to play this game. It seemed like such an underground thing to do and that's what made my attraction to it so strong. The first time I finally got up to try the machine, I wasn't even nervous like I thought I'd be. I just got up placed my tokens down on the screen, waited in line and when it was time to "get down"... Well, I got down... badly. But, I still had a blast and you had to expect to look stupid playing a game like this. That's what I thought until I saw Michael play. Michael was about a year younger than me, Asian and with a stocky build, but boy could this kid work that machine. I never saw him miss a single step and he always pulled off some kind of dance move. He even made me aware of the game having secret step codes to unlock other songs and special modes. I was in heaven and had to get this guy to teach me how to fly with the other angels. So, we started to play together and every time I came back to this mall, Mike would just so happen to be there and we'd play a few songs. After 2 months of playing together, Mike had found his rival in me. It felt like going from Padawan to Jedi to me. It was awesome to be playing on equal playing ground with somebody I used to really admire for his own skills. Unfortunately, about a year later, the arcades were pretty much dead in my area and I never saw "Shockwaves" or Michael again since we never exchanged numbers and liked to just into each other when we ran into each other. But, I'll never forget even to this day how much I learned from him about DDR. I got the chance to finally use my new skills when I discovered a DDR machine at the "Tilt" arcade in my local mall. Though it was the very first version of the game, the rules and play mechanics were the same and I was the first around town that people were seeing actually play good... or so I thought. I met so many new people that were surprisingly just as good at and enamored with the game as I was. By the time I was driving on my own, myself and a few others had formed a DDR group that would meet up occasionally. We never went to any tournaments in the area though, since there were hardly any other machines or players around. So, we just had fun hanging out and playing DDR, while talking about nothing but other games in between food and drink breaks. But, now everyone who I played with has moved off or stopped playing. I'm supposing that they just grew out of it. Well, I'm fully ready to get back into the fray. There's a few nice hidden arcades in the city that I plan on visiting, even if I get completely stomped the first time. I tried to play again a while back and while I still hit most of the steps, whilst not as good as I used to, I was nearly out of breath after 1 song on Heavy Mode. Dude, I remember playing 13 Heavy Mode song sets of 3 with friends on this thing in under an hour. We were monsters and it was so much fun! Below is the actual show segment from good ol' TechTV's Extended Play that made me aware of DDR back in early 2001.

Has "Persia" found its prince?

I was initially quite worried about the idea of Ubisoft and Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia being adapted into a live-action feature. There were even early rumors of Michael Bay being in talks to direct, which just about put the nail in my coffin. Well, finally it was revealed that model, actor and producer David K. Zandi is the front runner for taking on the role of the Prince of Persia in the upcoming film. Not only does the guy have a resume longer than my arm, but he's also proficient in sword fighting and is a professional horseback rider. And get this, the guy is actual royalty in Persia. He is a descendant of the Zand dynasty, founded by the chief of the Zand tribe of Lors, Karim Khan. Jerry Bruckheimer and crew couldn't make a better choice. Bruckheimer's production company Jerry Bruckheimer Films conducted a survey of which one of the questions was "Who would you like to see play the Prince?" The list of 8 names consisted of up and coming Hollywood superstars and heartthrobs such as Orlando Bloom, James McAvoy and Cillian Murphy, each of whom received a less than 10% vote with Zandi beating them all with a whopping 70% in his favor. With Mike Newell of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire fame directing and the great Jerry Bruckheimer producing with The Walt Disney Company distributing, this flick could very well be worth the wait until next year. Then again, this is a video game-based movie. Anyways, if you thrive on the feeling of video game nostalgia, then enjoy the following video of a gamer playing through the Japanese version of the original Prince of Persia in under 10 minutes. Yeah I know, where do they find the time to practice for these kinds of playthroughs? Oh that's right, social retardation and a swelling disgust for real life probably help.

"PK THUNDER!"

Nintendo is reportedly considering a North American release of all 3 Mother games on a single cartridge for the Nintendo DS. While it is good news to know that Nintendo is considering such a thing, until I see or hear an official statement, I take this news with a grain of salt. President and COO of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime has already stated that there are currently no plans for the rest of the Mother series to be released in the States "yet". The Mother series made RPGs feel quite fresh for a time when fighting mythical monsters was more commonplace. But, instead of fighting goblins, demons, giant worms or dragons; I was fighting space aliens, possessed toilets, and even the KKK. My arsenal consisted of nearly anything that could be used as a practical weapon, from baseball bats to frying pans. And to top it all off, my player character and silent protagonist, Ness, had latent psychic powers. Now, tell me that isn't awesome! I just recently came in possession of the 3rd game in the series, released for the GameBoy Advance a little over 2 years ago. While I can't read Japanese, there are fan-translations of the script available to aid in the enjoyment of the story. Without even knowing exactly whats going on, I've already found myself awash in a feeling of wacky, formerly inanimate object-slaying nostalgia. Unfortunately, the games' creator and famous Japanese copy writer Shigesato Itoi says that there are currently no plans for a Mother 4. I can understand his resistance to jump back on the bandwagon so quickly as Mother 3 had been in development for the Japan-only Nintendo 64DD since 1996. The project was then canceled in 2000 and moved to the GBA in 2003 with a final release date of April 20th, 2006. It is to my knowledge that 10 years in game development can pretty much suck most of your life energy away, transforming you into a workaholic vampire. With nearly 600,000 copies sold within 3 months of its Japanese release, Itoi had earned a well-deserved break to finally see the outside world again. Below is a preview video for Mother 3 released back in 1999 shortly before its cancellation at the now defunked Nintendo Spaceworld. Its hard to believe that this is what we thought looked amazing back at the time. If only I had a De Lorean time machine. I would prefer the time displacement equipment from Terminator, but since nothing dead will go through, my Wii would be vaporized, thus leaving me with only one other kind of "wii" to show the world.

Go, Speed Racer, GOOOOOOOO!!

Seriously, back in 1997, would you have watched reruns of an outdated 60s character who drives around with a monkey and and boy is his trunk? Or would you rather watch super warriors fly around at super-sonic speed, beat the crap out of each other, and above all; scream the name of whatever attack or transformation they were about to pull off? Being only 10 at the time and full of still developing testosterone, I picked the latter. I was ultimately disappointed later down the road by the time I turned 19 and had mixed piss and gasoline with my fully developed testosterone. So, now I'm glad I finally get the chance to make the hopefully better choice thanks to the Wachowski Bros. Honestly, I was never a fan of Speed Racer, but the more I see of this flick, the more I want. Not only does it seem to be staying true to the source material, but the technology being used to create all the images looks astounding. I still don't have any specific expectations for this one, but let's just hope it doesn't end up like the 2nd and 3rd Matrix. And where's my Bound sequel, you bastards? Check out the latest trailer for the Wachowski's Speed Racer below.

WALL•E

In what I'm sure to be Pixar's greatest masterpiece since The Incredibles, we'll follow the adventure of a lonely little robot's search for his love. The really interesting thing is that this story is practically told with barely any dialogue. I'm not ashamed to say that I have been completely charmed by WALL•E already. The latest trailer is below.

"I get by with a little help from my friends."

To help wash out what I'm sure must be a horrific taste in the mouth of every Sega fanboy in the States; I've decided to present to you the loveliness of Ukranian beauty Miss Olga Kurylenko aka my only reason for watching the Hitman movie. Hell, to tell you the truth, even she couldn't save that one... By the way, below is one of those weird, artsy, yet incredibly captivating European commercials. You know, the kind that starts off with an orgy and then you find out at the very end that its a commercial for hair gel. But, dammit if I don't love 'em... Plus, this one's got Olga in it.



You can also check out Olga's page at Fashion Model Directory:

http://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/models/olga_kurylenko/photos/

Talk about a slap in the balls...

Apparently, the entire situation with Sega planning something special for the Dreamcast fanbase has been officially shot down as a typical extreme fanboy hoax. Japanese publication Mainichi Shimbun has reportedly said the new website is nothing more than some fan illegally using Sega's domain names and logos. Can't say I didn't warn you not to get your hopes up. At least Sega isn't completely dead as a company and they're still making games for us... once every decade. But, hey, didn't they bring us so many great memories from the past? Let's take a look at so many, if not all of those great moments in the following video courtesy of the old TechTV's Extended Play, now known as X-Play on the the incredibly horrid G4. This video was recorded by YouTube user and fellow Sega fanboy Toad64.

SUPER... SMAAASH BROTHEEEEERRRS!!

After so many years, it seems that one of Nintendo's best-selling franchises has made its triumphant return back into the foray. I finished a 4-hour play session yesterday after purchase and still haven't even scratched the surface of this game yet. I was a bit underwhelmed by Smash Bros. Melee as I was a late adopter to the GameCube and Melee had been over-hyped like crazy by the time I finally got the chance to play it all the way through. However, I absolutely adored Smash Bros. on N64. Brawl brings back many feelings of nostalgia from the original Smash Bros, but that isn't at all the reason why I enjoy this game so much. Talk about polish; you can tell Nintendo put months of play-testing into this one. There's an actual story to adventure mode this time around, the music is absolutely amazing, the new pre-set stages don't feel like simple rehashes of older ones and even though you don't have to use it, the Wiimote works surprisingly well. Top it all off with an incredible roster of characters from Nintendo, Konami and Sega, a mode to create your own levels, plus the ability to finally play online with people all over the world using what you've created and you've got the first truly great party game for the Wii and any Wii owner's first must-have title of the year. The literally over 1000 pieces of fan service aside, Smash Bros. Brawl is truly smashing!

"Dreamcast was defeated, but the soul still burns..."

Apparently Sega has decided to update its Dreamcast website for the upcoming 10th Anniversary since the release of its ill-fated, but highly respected last console. Sega has also recently filed a patent for new hardware, which involves everything needed for a successful home console today. When compared to the old patent for Dreamcast, they were completely different and with no hardware specifications listed as of yet. This could potentially rule out new peripherals or a mere re-release of the old hardware. Could this be a sign of Sega's recently rumored attempt to finally enter the console business again? Well, we haven't exactly seen many Sega games lately outside of their publishing office ala The Club and Condemned 2: Bloodshot. In the meantime, you can visit Sega's newly updated Dreamcast website and tell them whether or not you still own a Dreamcast and even sign up for a brand new account. Sega definitely has something up their sleeve. It would seem that pieces of a certain puzzle are beginning to come together. Remember, "Patience is a virtua." Take my word for it though; I wouldn't get my hopes up until some solid information from Sega themselves is stated or made available. In the meantime, you can watch the history of Dreamcast courtesy of the older, less crappy G4's "Icons". You know, back when they actually had decent programming most of the time. Well... maybe just sometimes. OK. Once a month.


And don't forget to show the Dreamcast some love and support and its new website:

http://www.dreamcast.com/

I must be in a dream...

Admit it, Sega hasn't exactly been in the best of shape lately. It seems as if though they hardly ever release any new titles and when they do, they're mostly so small that they don't even show up on the radar. I never had the pleasure of owning a Sega Saturn as its popularity was wiped out by the sheer number of games coming to Sony's PlayStation. I suppose you could say it was also a foreshadowing of things to come ala PS2 and Dreamcast, Sega's last and undoubtedly greatest system since the Genesis, albeit short-lived. However, I also have to be thankful towards Sony at this time, because they have recently given me the opportunity to fully enjoy one of the Saturn's and Sega's greatest games: NiGHTS into Dreams, originally released for the Sega Saturn back in 1996. The game's recent remake was released for the PS2 on February 21st. I'll be completely honest, I wasn't expecting all that much, just some game I'd probably pick up and play for about an hour and tell my fellow gamers and colleagues about how beautiful it was for being so dated. Boy, was I completely wrong. NiGHTS into Dreams literally had me tearing up at how incredibly fun and polished it was. This game immediately became in instant classic after only about 2 minutes of playtime. Its so hard for me to put it down that I have it running on my PS2 next to me as I type this. Surprisingly, it looks great on my plasma running at 480p and in 16:9 widescreen, which the remake was upgraded to handle. It even includes the original Sega Saturn versions of NiGHTS and Christmas NiGHTS for the old fans. Unfortunately if you want to get your NiGHTS fix in America, you're gonna either have to run out and get its inferior sequel NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams or import the PS2 remake from Japan, as their are currently no plans to release it in the States. That is a stupid move on Sega and Sony's part. But, I have faith that they'll change their minds considering that Sony plans to keep the PS2 around for a couple more years and with a few new titles to continue support. Let's just hope that this instant classic is on the list for the non-importers to finally enjoy. If you have a Japanese PS2 or the software capable of running Japanese PS2 games on your system, then I highly, I mean highly suggest that you import the NiGHTS into Dreams remake. Don't go on Mininova and download it; show this game some support by legitimately and legally purchasing it. Maybe if Sega sees how popular the remake is to importers in America, then they'll plan a US release. I haven't included a video of this game because honestly, no video does this game true justice, its something that you have to play and experience for yourselves.

Lego Portal = Actually Awesome Nerdom

Coming right off the tail-end of my quick post involving the supremely geeky adventures of Lego Link is a little Lego project that just screams "awesome" for fans of Valve's Portal. Bravo to the lady, gentleman or Wookie over at the Brickshelf Gallery who constructed this little masterpiece. However, I do wish they would have at least put pink hearts on all sides of our best of friends, the Weighted Companion Cube.

"The cake is a lie."

An actually decent video involving Legos and Zelda? No way...

Apparently some gentleman in France took time out of what I am assuming to be his extremely busy life, full of busty bodacious women and made us a fairly decent version of Legend of Zelda using only Lego blocks. As Randall Graves would sarcastically say, "Wow, you're gonna be rollin' in the pussy, man!"

Lego zelda
Uploaded by Inglis93

"Damn girls shakin' their little behinds for the men-folk..."

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"Get away from her, you bitch!"

Not too long ago, Texas-based game developer Gearbox Software acquired the rights to the classic "Alien" franchise. Of course they had the opportunity to go with some pretty twisted survival horror, following along the lines of Ridley Scott's original "Alien" film, which would have been a cool concept. But instead they chose to go with what is undoubtedly the most popular installment of the franchise: James Cameron's super bad-ass sequel, "Aliens". Say what you will about James Cameron, but this man knows how a sequel should be made. I think both Aliens and T2 can vouch for that. I remain confident in Gearbox Software's ability to do Cameron's vision justice, especially after pioneering the popular "Brothers in Arms" series and having a good relationship with the Half-Life series' Valve Corporation. The reason I don't say they'll do the "franchise" justice is because I saw Alien: Resurrection and we all know how well that turned out. Talk about a nail in the coffin... Thankfully, Gearbox has showed up ready with crowbar in hand, courtesy of their good friend, Dr. Gordon Freeman. While much hasn't been revealed on the game as of yet, we do know that it is set to appear on both the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year. In the meantime, enjoy the screenshot slideshow below courtesy of GameTrailers.com member 2reee.