Halo Legends is an all-new anthology of seven stories that expands the universe of Halo, one of the world’s most popular video games. The Blu-ray and DVD will be available from Warner Home Video on February 16, 2010. Warner Home Video will distribute Halo Legends as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as single disc DVD and available On Demand and Digital Download. If you haven’t reserved your copy of Halo Legends you can do that today at Amazon.com!

Warner Bros. was kind enough to provide an interview with Frank O’Connor – one of the major driving forces behind the Halo universe! Being a big Halo fan, it’s good to know that someone like O’Connor is a major player in the production of this new feature set!

Courtesy Warner Bros.:

The Halo universe expands into anime this spring via Halo Legends, a DVD anthology of episodic films based within the popular game’s mythology produced by 343 Industries, a unit within Microsoft Game Studios. One of the key orchestrators of Halo’s morphing from interactive entertainment to on-screen magic is Frank O’Connor, the Halo franchise development director.

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, O’Connor is renowned throughout the gaming industry for his insightful expertise and innovative direction working with Halo. After a long career as a journalist for several gaming publications, O’Connor has parlayed a keen sense of the gaming industry – and a devout love for the games therein – into a career as a creator of content and story lines for the worldwide phenomenon that is Halo.

For Halo Legends, O’Connor worked directly with Japanese screenwriters on each of the seven stories – spread over eight episodic installments – that include all the elements familiar to Halo fans. Exploring the origin and historical events of the Halo universe and its intriguing characters. Halo Legends has been created in the same breakthrough format as The Animatrix and Batman Gotham Knight with each individual episode imagined by a cutting-edge, renowned Japanese anime director/animator.

Most of the individual episodes fall within Halo’s 26th Century mythology as the battle between humanity and aliens rages on in an attempt to protect Earth and mankind’s ever-dwindling collection of space colonies. The dramatic, action-packed stories feature characters and locales familiar to Halo fans, and episodes range in length between 10 and 17 minutes – resulting in nearly two hours of animated adventures.

O’Connor took a few moments from his busy schedule to discuss the exciting production and offer a glimpse behind the scenes in the creation of Halo Legends.
QUESTION:
Halo Legends not only shifts from interactive game to animated film, but also to a variety of anime styles. Was there any worry that going anime would make the production unrecognizable as a Halo brand?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
The Halo brand is strong enough to survive and even thrive through interpretation. Halo iconography is recognizable in virtually any form. When you look at a Warthog that’s drawn by a Japanese artist or a Spartan that’s animated in a way you’ve never seen it before, it’s still intrinsically Halo. The brand really lends itself to comics and animation beautifully. It withstands all sorts of interpretation and is still recognizable Halo, rather than just diluting and becoming generic sci-fi.

The wonderful thing about a completely immersive world like Halo is that it’s not just the visuals that are instantly recognizable. There are so many elements involved in playing the game, including the audio, the music, the sound effects – it’s all part of the experience. When you’ve played these games for six or seven years, and you hear a Warthog engine, you instantly recognize it. So in an episode as distinctly different visually as “The Duel,” it may take a while before you actually see that energy sword and it’s apparent that this is Halo, but the sounds might bring you into this story much earlier as being from the Halo universe.

This is a world that people come to know with great, detailed intimacy. You might’ve watched Star Wars 20 times, but Halo fans have played the game hundreds and hundreds of times. Most of our mid-level
players, say those at Level 33, have logged more than 2,000 games just on Halo 3. If you’re a Level 50 player, that number goes up geometrically.
QUESTION:
How did you decide which stories to tell in Halo Legends?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
There are really two driving forces behind our creative development. First, there were things we were curious about. We wanted to investigate what shaped the Elite civilization, their solidifying of the Covenant, and their place in it. The second, but equal part of the equation was that we wanted to provide backstory about what fans are curious about. Our story for “The Package” fits that neatly – fans want to see more about the Spartans, and they wanted to see them fighting in a group. Normally you see one Spartan in battle – the question came up, “What happens when you have that force multiplier?”

We came up with dozens of topics, but these were the hot button stories. For “The Babysitter,” we were interested in the rivalry between the ODSTs and the Spartans, so we wanted to put them together and see what happened. “The Duel” gave us the chance to delve into the pure civilization and the futile aspects of that society. We used “The Package” to present a story that not only featured the Master Chief but had multiple Spartans fighting together.
QUESTION:
Can you give a quick breakdown of what fans can expect in the other Halo Legends stories?

“Prototype” is very Japanese in style as we worked with Bones and director Yasushi Muraki – both the studio and Muraki are huge in Japan right now. He has created an anime sub-genre called Muraki Circus, which features a lot of flying, mecha fighting, weapons, explosions, dog-fighting – and that fit perfectly with the creation of a Halo prototype weapon. Still, we really wanted to make it a human story, so we worked with Muraki to blend those two ideas. Ultimately, it’s the introduction of a prototype of Spartan equipment that’s never been employed, and played out in the very pure anime style of Muraki Circus.

The Halo universe is big and expansive, and “Origins” gave us the chance to take Halo newbies through that universe one step at a time. At the same time, for Halo fans, we wanted to go really deep and show them things they’ve imagined but never seen before. Part I of “Origins” is the forerunner of civilization, and the advent of the flood threat that led to the creation of the Halos. “Origins Part 2” deals with the current Halo universe and everything from the advancement of human space travel to contemporary Halo fiction.

“Odd One Out” is just flat out fun. We worked with Toei Animation to create an episode that Halo fans and responsible parents could show their kids. It’s all fun, lots of parody and no gunfire, along the way poking fun at all the macho archetypes that inhabit the Halo universe.

You’re going to have to see “Homecoming” – it’s about Spartan origins, and it’s just too spoiler-filled to describe it. I will say this, though – it’s got the cutest poster of any of the stories, and that’s ironic because it’s a really dark story.
QUESTION:
How did you balance giving the Japanese artists balance specific instructions vs. creative freedom?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
We didn’t try to control their every pen stroke. There were some things that needed to be maintained – a Warthog has to look like a Warthog. But we gave them a lot of creative freedom. “Prototype” is an excellent example in that the actual prototype is an entirely brand new piece of Spartan equipment. I think the Japanese artists had a good time trying to create new inventions, and for the most part we embraced those creations. There were a few things we rejected or simply worked with the artists until we had them just right. We gave very loose descriptions, mostly emotional threads rather than pinpoint direction. But in many cases, we simply said, “Here’s some goalposts, but we want your interpretation.” In most cases, they exceeded our wildest expectations.
QUESTION:
Why go with anime over animation?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
The funny thing is that the question these days is “What is anime?” It has expanded in so many directions. But still, there’s a distinct way anime deals with the narrative in animation, exploring ideas and ambitious techniques that we don’t often do in western animation. That was one of the things that drew us to anime.

The other difference is that there aren’t that many outfits (in the U.S.) that can produce shorts or an anthology of shorts in the way we saw this project playing out, and yet Japan has a very rich pool of talent and studios that are perfectly suited to this type of production. And we were anxious to work with those talented artists and studios. We made a wish list of the studios and pretty much got everyone we wanted.
QUESTION:
Were there any artists that wanted to work no Halo Legends as badly as you wanted to work with them?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
Shinji Aramaki is sort of a central figure – he works well with everyone. There’s no ego there – he’s a nice collaborative force. We worked closely with Aramaki on “The Package,” and with Aramaki and Bones on “Prototype.” The great part is that he’s a huge Halo fan – he has completed the game on “Legendary” difficulty, which most people haven’t done – let alone a legendary Japanese director. He’d always wanted to work on a Halo project, so he was already well versed on the fiction and was excited about the opportunity.
QUESTION:
How much of a learning curve was there for the anime studios in getting fully vested in the Halo universe?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
Some of the studios had to learn Halo from scratch, so we educated them in the universe and they took that and ran with it – and they became genuine, passionate fans. I’ve spent a significant amount of time in Japan, going over the game, the artwork, the concept art. A lot of the artists were playing the game at the same time, so I played with them. We felt it was important that they were very understanding of the game. As we went along, every single overseas team had someone on their staff that became their resident Halo nerd, their internal expert.
QUESTION:
Does Halo Legends have an overall theme that unites all seven stories?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
These episodes don’t have a rigid super arc beyond the theme of artistic interpretation. The individual pieces are made up of a lot of very universal story themes. It’s the idea of a hero’s journey – every single episode features a heroic archetype. There are the more traditional Achilles and Ulysses types, the clever ones that succeed through craft and guile and wit. Sacrifice and heroism are general themes, but that’s germane to the game of Halo. There’s not much time for romance when you’re shooting at everything. Ultimately, the episodes are like the game in that you’re putting yourself in the shoes of a hero and his or her journey.
QUESTION:
Halo is a very interactive experience. Why will fans embrace the opportunity to sit and watch rather than interact and play?

FRANK O’CONNOR:
Halo Legends does the reverse. I think we have a lot of players that probably don’t fully understand the narrative of the fiction. A lot of people don’t stop and smell the roses while playing – mainly because it’s easy to miss the narrative when you’re surrounded by explosions and Banshees. This gives fans a chance to enjoy Halo in a completely different experience – to sit down on a couch and take in the story without worrying about being shot or how much health you have left. For anyone interested in a preview I suggest they log into to Halo Waypoint on Xbox LIVE to see preview episodes of Halo Legends running through early next year every Saturday.

For more information visit www.halolegends.com!

Nintendo Announces the release of the popular Japanese title, The Glory of Heracles an RPG for the Nintendo DS, Written by, Kazushige Nojima from Final Fantasy fame.

It is supposedly a very classic RPG, using characters from Greek mythology to get the ball rolling. Sounds interesting to me, and Nintendo has already given it a release date, January 18th, 2010.

Additionally it’s the first in the series, so if it is good, it would be wise to show your support by buying it and making sure the rest of the series is released. There can never be too many good RPG’s for the Nintendo DS, because it is literally the best system to play them on.

You can’t even pre-order this item on Amazon yet, but it might be worth a try. You can trust Nintendo right?

Square just released pictures of the actual box art for the North American version of Final Fantasy XIII
(Click the images to make them grow!)

PS3 Version

Xbox 360 Version

Pre-order your copy on Amazon for Xbox360 here!

Since no one seems to be reading this post, I thought I might as well go on a mini-tangent about why I am excited about this release.

The first reason is the most embarrassing, and therefore the best to get out of the way. Anyways, reason #1 because I am a hopeless Final Fantasy Fan boy. I think they’ve earned my trust, not all of the games have been master pieces, but most of them have been for one reason or another. (Even FF XI has some redeeming qualities.) (Although everything I’ve seen about FF XIV leads me to believe it will be an upgraded version of the same thing.)

The next “reason” if you can call it that, would be that I’m going in basically based only on my impressions from FF XII. Which was probably about my least favorite in the series. But the reasons I find it to be the worst hardly make it bad. Just flawed. And the flaws it has, aren’t even necessarily endemic to this game alone. Because my largest complaint was how lame the main boss was. But was Sepheroth even that tough of an enemy? I don’t remember dying on him. (But the dungeon was redeeming in comparison to XII as well.)

It did some things great, like playtime. You can spend over a hundred hours on it easily. I have a feeling that FFXIII will follow in the foot steps of XII in this way. Which is a little scary, because it never feels like I have a hundred free hours to play a video game.

The final reason I’m really excited to play FF XIII is simply because it looks amazing. I think it looks better than any video game I’ve ever played before. I just hope that the story is good, but it doesn’t take from the gameplay……Well I gotta go now…..tangent over.

This title is being released March 9th, 2010

Just because we’re robots doesn’t mean that we don’t like to receive gifts for the holidays. And since we’re all geeks, we thought it would be great to put together a list of things you could get the other geeks in your life. The lists of the editors, Swank-Mo-tron and Kill-tacular-tron, were included in IN Magazine’s issue featuring gift guides from prominent Utah Celebrities, which we apparently are.

We asked all of our robots to participate and here is what we came up with:

Swank-mo-tron

• Jawa Yard Gnome: It’s twice as cool to have a garden with a Jawa as its steward.
• A Replica of The Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda: The road is dangerous, take this!
• Clone Wars Season 1 on DVD and Blu-ray A lot of people bag on what the Star Wars universe has been like for the last 10 years, but this show is proving that Star Wars is better than ever.
• Pirate Club Vol. 1: Written and drawn entirely by Big Shiny Robot!s (mainly Budgetron), this is the perfect graphic novel selection to pass off for Christmas.
• Lots and Lots of DVDs. Check out my weekly DVD columns, I pick out the best movies every week for purchase.

Kill-tacular-tron

• Ghostbusters Minimates: Who doesn’t want some pint sized boys in grey? Plenty of great variants to track down and clutter their cubicle with.
• #include <beer.h>: For the coding geek in your life. Even if you don’t get it, they will.
• ThinkGeek Halo Warthog: Time to wreak havoc and terrorize your pets. Steer clear of plasma grenades, Spartans.
• NES USB Controller: Play all those ROMS cluttering up your hard drive in style. Now you’re playing with power.
• 6 or 12 inch Ghostbusters Figures: Seriously the coolest Ghostbusters collectible to come out in a long while. The 12 inch comes with working trap and lights. Heat ’em up!

Proletariatron

• The Star Trek Bottle Opener: Nerdy but Boozy. And very well designed
• The Kindle DX: Any good geek enjoys reading, why not join it with some tech.
• Bombs Away Shot Glasses: Because they are awesome
• Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit: Going through batteries gets really old really fast. Plug in for a little while and don’t worry about disconnecting mid-zombiepocalypse.
• Retro Duo NES/SNES system: Play all those old games you’ve got hanging around.
• And Just for Swank: A Darth Vader Alarm Clock and The Star Wars Force Trainer.

Zombietron

Assassin’s Creed 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Dragon Age: Origins

Borderlands

NBA 2k10

More-than-a-sex-machine

• Asterios Polyp: Easily the best graphic novel of the year, David Mazzucchelli’s decade-in-the-making formalist masterpiece about an aging architect trying to rebuild his shambled life is expertly constructed and densely layered, inviting multiple readings to fully appreciate, and, like Watchmen and Jimmy Corrigan before it, raises the bar on which future graphic novels are measured.
• Chronic City: Like a hipster version of Seinfeld, Jonathan Lethem’s new novel is about, well, nothing in particular, really, but rather a free-floating, hilarious look at New York through the eyes of a handful of characters, ranging from a former child sitcom star to an underemployed cultural critic, and what it lacks in likeable characters and plot, it more than makes up for in sharp observation and satirical wit.
• The City & The City: China Mieville’s hard-boiled detective novel set in two cities, which coexist in the same physical location, but are separated only by their citizens’ refusal to perceive the other, is one of the cleverest and most metaphorically rich pieces of speculative fiction of this year, and a near-perfect blend of literary value and pure entertainment.
• Criminal: The Deluxe Edition: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ modern noir series is arguably the best periodical that Marvel is publishing at the moment, and this new hardcover edition complies the first three loosely-related storylines of down-on-their-luck men and women and the highly readable things they do for sex, money and revenge.
• The Criterion Collection on Blu-ray: Film lovers tend to associate this series of important classic and contemporary films (usually presented with the highest technical quality and equally great supplements) with quality, and so far, every one of their Blu-ray releases has more than lived up to the expectations of cinema aficionados. Amazon currently has most of them on sale (for up to 57% off).
• Death Note Manga Box Set: The manga on which the currently airing anime series is based is crack in comic book form, as the creators take their admittedly absurd concepts, such as the titular notebook, which gives its wielder the power to kill anyone he desires, and weave them into some of the most suspenseful plotlines ever seen in comics. Contains all thirteen volumes in one convenient package.
• Momitsu BDP-899 Region Free Blu-ray DVD Player: The only Blu-ray player that is region-free out of the box, meaning it allows its users the freedom to choose and view Blu-rays and DVDs from anywhere in the world, and not solely based on the region in which they happen to reside (and where a particular film might be completely unavailable, or only offered in an unsatisfactory edition/presentation/transfer). Seriously a must for any lover of foreign cinema.
• However, since a lot of online retailers have recently discontinued the sale of the Momitsu, for reasons on which we can only speculate, another alternative is the expensive, but otherwise incredible OPPO BDP-83, which plays everything from Blu-ray and DVD to DVDA and SACD at the highest possible audio and video quality, and which can be turned region-free with one easy software update.
• The Prisoner: The Complete Series on Blu-ray: The complete collection of the cult British TV series following the adventures of a former secret agent held captive in a highly secured village intent on breaking him and/or driving him insane is a lovingly put-together and stunningly re-mastered testament to the enduring vision of one of the strangest and most unique television shows in history (whose influence is still felt in series like Lost and Twin Peaks), and well worth every penny.
• The Year of the Flood: A Novel: The long-awaited new novel by critical darling Margaret Atwood is a visionary dystopic masterpiece, following a small community of survivors of a global environmental catastrophe, and the most disturbing post-apocalyptic novel since Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

Brusr-Bot

• Fight Club on Blu-ray: Everyone wanted to join one, most still do, and now you can watch people get smacked around in awesome Blu-Ray clarity, what more needs to be said?
• Amazon $50 Gift Card: Nothing says “I love you” like giving a gift card. Don’t know what to get someone? Are you the type who just returns most of what people give you so you can use all the new big fund to just buy what you REALLY wanted? Gift cards are the way to go, nobody wants to carry cash around anymore, grandma, I’d rather keep it all on plastic.
• The Kindle: Come on, every geek wants the technology that everyone is gushing about, you don’t want to be left in the cold with a serious case of blue balls like you did after prom night. Even with the pricey tag, make your whole family pool in for one mega gift instead of a whole bunch of things you only half wanted.
• Star Wars: Run R2D2 Hoodie: Pointless hoodies are awesome. If it’s a Star Wars reference? Even better.
• Serenity, Vol 1: Those Left Behind: I was late to jump onto the Firefly bandwagon, about 5 years after the show was canceled late. Even though I missed the televised run, I still caught on with DVD releases of the series and the Serenity movie. Every fan of the series would love the books that keep our dreams of being a Space Cowboy alive. Sorry Han Solo, I’m a Browncoat now.

Dr. Cyborg Robot M.D. Attorney At Law- Five

Before going into the list, I’d like to turn the figurative microphone around and ask you a few questions about your potential loved ones. (I say “potential” because a bad Christmas gift can change the tides, like the phase of the moon.)

Question #1: How much do you know about said “receiver”?

Answer: The safe gift. The safest gift of the season this year is the Star Trek 3 disk Blu-ray set. An easy out, because this movie greatly appeals to everyone, men and women alike. Everyone except hardcore Star Trek fans, and we all know that they don’t have friends to buy them gifts.

Question #2: How well do you actually know them?

Answer: The cheap gift, and if that’s what your looking for than this is the best week to look, Amazon is having tons of Black Friday sales, my favorite of which is Space Balls on Blu-ray for $8.99.

Question #3: Are you purchasing with someone with a low attention span?

Answer: The fun but ultimately button smashing video game, The newly released God of War: Collection will do nicely, and when was the last time you were able to buy a new PS3 game for less than forty bucks?

Question #4: Low attention span, but you don’t want them to slip into the pit-fall that is video game? (Not Pit-fall the video game.)

Answer: No problem, Inglourious Basterds (2-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray] and/or Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut [Blu-ray] which would be wise to buy fast, because it’s nearly half off.

Question #5: Do you actually love the person?

Answer: If so, the answer is clear, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

I know it probably feels like I’m flooding the website with Legend of Zelda updates, but I promise this is the last one. (besides the Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks review I’ll be doing!)

Nintendo just released the footage of the actual gameplay of the four player battle mode, it looks really fun! But watch the video, and decide for yourself! It’s a hi-res video, so watch it in HD!

As I’ve stated on the site several times now, this is my most anticipated video game release coming out for the rest of the year, so if you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, do it now! Hopefully we’ll have a full game review up soon.

Also check out my Nintendo Christmas wish list here!

As you all know, The highly anticipated Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks is coming to the Nintendo DS December 7th.

Our friends at Nintendo have been so kind as to put out some new footage of the game that includes the entire opening sequence.

They’ve also released some cool new game artwork! (Click the Images below to make them grow!)

UPDATED PHOTO’S: Nintendo just released screen shots of Multi-player gameplay!

As I’ve stated on the site several times now, this is my most anticipated video game release coming out for the rest of the year, so if you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, do it now! Hopefully we’ll have a full game review up soon.

Also check out my Nintendo Christmas wish list here!

It’s getting to be about that time where you should be asking yourself what your going to buy your loved ones for Christmas so that they shut up for the rest of the year. And since Nintendo offers products for a wide range of audiences, they probably have something for you. (Even if you aren’t holiday shopping and just looking for a good video game to play.)

The first item on the list is The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks!

Coming to the DS December 7th. Following in the footsteps of Phantom Hourglass, this is obviously a must have if your a Zelda fan. It offers up to four player multi-player (I assume online mini-games. But maybe they’ll surprise me.) Watching the videos for this game has got me really excited because it looks like a good blend between the fore mentioned PH, and Wind Waker, in that you traverse the world with a train rather than a boat. Another feature of this game is that you control a phantom (A bulking statue.) by drawing lines on your touchscreen. Honestly this is the game I most anticipate this season, and for 34.49 You’d be hard up to find a better video game for your money. Order Spirit Tracks on Amazon here!

Next up, the newly released New Super Mario Bros. Wii!

Through the years growing up, I’ve received Super Mario Games for Christmas more than five times, and I was never disappointed. I’ve had the honor of already giving this one a try, and I can personally guarantee it’s fun for the whole family. While I do have some gripes with the multi-player, It is still fun to play four player, and the single player game is even better. You can read my full review of the game here. And you can order it at three dollars off from Amazon through this link!

The next item on the least would be a good gift idea for anyone under the age of 80, and especially if they are a fattie! I am of course talking about Wii Fit Plus!

I’ve literally seen this game change robots lives. A boy that never leaves the house aspiring to train himself to do 50 push-ups. A 55 year old woman provoked to touch her toes for the first time in her life. Wii Fit is a really good idea for everyone. And this one surprisingly has a warning on the back for (Mild comic Violence.) so who knows what your getting yourself into. You can buy the whole bundle on Amazon for ten dollars off! Which is an amazing deal, or if you already have the balanced board you can get the updated disk for under twenty dollars!

Despite the fact that this isn’t a Nintendo release, I’m adding it to the list because it’s for the Wii, and looks like a cool game.

Resident Evil: The Dark Side Chronicles

This is a follow up to the Umbrella Chronicles, and it looks like they fixed most of the problems. On top of the fact that this one follows my two favorite games in the series, RE2, and RE4. Although this title was released last week, I still haven’t gotten a chance to play it. But I have to say I want to! You can buy it on Amazon here! And seriously, it’s less than a week old and it’s already discounted four dollars. I’ve never even heard of new video games being discounted before Amazon.

Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story

This is another game that’s been released for a few weeks now, that I haven’t been able to try yet. (Robot doctor’s make a lot of money, but people start throwing around the term “Malpractice” and I have a bunch of law suits on my ass, good thing I’m also a lawyer.) I’m really excited to get my hands on this game, it looks to be in the same vein as Super Mario RPG. Which if any of you had played would instantly perk your ears at the mention of something similar. I am a big fan of the DS system, and Nintendo is about the most reliable company, I’m literally going to buy this the second I get the time and money. You can buy your copy here at Amazon.

The last item up on the list are all the Wii virtual console, and Wii-ware games. Read my Top Ten Wii-shop list here!

Additionally Nintendo is having a special offer for the holiday season, where they are offering you several games that you can download and try them before you buy them! Which is a pretty cool promotion, and they aren’t being stingy either, there are some good games for you to demo on there site today!

The Wii-Ware list includes

BIT.TRIP BEAT

FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a Darklord

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits

World of Goo

And a brand new entry in the Pokémon game series, Pokémon Rumble. (If the kids in your life are anything like mine, they will eat this up like asparagus! Yummy!)

And for virtual console

Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures (SNES)

STREET FIGHTER II’: CHAMPION EDITION (TG16)

And MORE!

UPDATE: Nintendo just announced this big Black Friday offer. To bad you won’t be able to get it on Amazon, but if your up at 5am you might be able to get your hands on one of these little honeys.

BLACK FRIDAY NINTENDO DSI BUNDLES COME LOADED WITH MORE THAN $20 IN SOFTWARE VALUE

Limited-Edition Bundles Include a New Color, Won’t Last Long

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 23, 2009 – Two extraordinary releases from Nintendo are about to give Black Friday holiday shoppers an incredible value – but they won’t last long. Starting Nov. 27, U.S. consumers can purchase Metallic Blue or White Nintendo DSi™ systems that come pre-installed with more than $20 in software value. These Nintendo DSi bundles are priced for the holidays and will be available while supplies last at participating retailers nationwide.

“These limited-edition bundles come packed with some of the great Nintendo DSiWare games and applications that have made Nintendo DSi such a big hit with shoppers young and old,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “The special price and pre-installed titles make the bundles a huge value for the holidays.”

Fans of global gaming superstar Mario™ will be especially eager to get their hands on the Metallic Blue Nintendo DSi, which comes pre-installed with five Mario-themed Nintendo DSiWare™ titles, including:

• Mario vs. Donkey Kong™: Minis March Again: Can Mario and his Mini Marios rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong’s clutches yet again?
• Dr. Mario™ Express: Mario once again dons his stethoscope to battle the forces of illness in this downloadable version of the classic puzzle game.
• WarioWare™: Snapped!: Wario™ returns with more manic action made especially for the Nintendo DSi system. WarioWare: Snapped! uses the built-in Nintendo DSi Camera to make players the star of the show by placing them right into fast-paced mini-games.
• Mario™ Calculator: Mario and Luigi™ take a break from their normal adventures to dedicate their heroic talents to working with numbers.
• Mario™ Clock: Mario Clock includes both analog and digital clocks that use the system’s internal clock or allow you to offset the time however you like.

The White Nintendo DSi bundle is designed for anyone who has a passion for brain teasers. The special White system bundle comes pre-installed with the following Nintendo DSiWare title:

• Brain Age™ Express: Arts & Letters: Test your spelling in Word Attack, enjoy literary classics in Reading Aloud and tune your musical skills in Piano Player.
• Brain Age™ Express: Sudoku: Solve a variety of puzzles at three different skill levels using the touch screen and an intuitive interface.
• Brain Age™ Express: Math: Players can enjoy a mix of new and familiar exercises, including Change Maker, Triangle Math, Sum Totaled and Multi Tasker.
• Clubhouse Games™ Express: Card Classics: Play familiar favorites like Blackjack and Five Card Draw, or test your ability in the fast-paced Last Card, Last Card Plus and President.
• Photo Clock: Experience all the enjoyment of a photo album while ensuring you won’t lose track of the time.

Beyond the pre-installed titles, Nintendo DSi owners also have access to a wealth of additional games and applications in the Nintendo DSi Shop. Owners with wireless broadband Internet access can exchange Nintendo DSi Points™ for the titles and wirelessly download them directly to their Nintendo DSi systems. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations, or Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased online directly through the Nintendo DSi Shop.

The Utah Symphony and The Utah Chorus brought out the gamers Tuesday with Play! a Video Game Symphony. Although the acoustics in Abravanel Hall were nothing but amazing, the show itself lacked in many ways.

Eric Roth stepped in for his father Arnie Roth and began the symphony with a simple fanfare followed by “Super Mario Brothers.”

There were montages above the orchestra that showed selected games from the earliest to the latest versions. As opposed to last year, this years set up was quite disorganized. Some videos began late while others, like “Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross,” were skipped all together.

However, the lack of preparation gave the audience a chance to focus more on the orchestra; which did an amazing job. They played classics stemming from “Sonic The Hedgehog” to “World of Warcraft,” not limiting themselves to play only console games.

Some of the great shooting games such as “Battlefield” and “Halo,” were played, but “Call of Duty” was left out of the show; which was upsetting since the newest version has just come recently.

Timing was off with “Legend of Zelda” during the montage and music, but nobody seemed to mind as the crowd cheered loudly as it is one of the classic games and was one of the final selections.

The last pieces chosen before the intermission and the final selection both ended in epic game names with “Kingdom of Hearts” and “Final Fantasy.” Going out with a bang, the audience stood with applause at the end of the show.

All in all, the music for Play! was amazing and both the orchestra and chorus did very well, but the overall performance was sloppy. There was no interaction with the audience outside of announcing the music selections whereas last year there was a lot of focus on audience participation. Understandably it’s a symphony, but it’s a video game symphony, some interaction would’ve been nice.

This morning 2k Games announced their collector’s edition of the long awaited Bioshock 2. This is available for reservation today, so collector’s get moving. To be completely honest if this game had landed in November as originally promised I wouldn’t have played Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed, or any other game released this month. The Collector’s Edition releasing alongside the standard game will include:

• Vinyl 180g LP with the original BioShock’s orchestral score
• Audio CD with BioShock 2 orchestral score
• BioShock 2 Art Book with developer commentary, 164 pages and hardcover
• Three vintage Rapture advertisement posters (rolled)
• and of course your copy of Bioshock 2

It’s not an action figure, but the vinyl pleases me.

There is anger brewing in Valve town, and all the fans are agitated. After playing Left 4 Dead 2 I’m not sure if this game could have been a patch or not. The character models are an improvement, the zombies look the same, but they have sever points in more areas than just the neck and head. There is also a bigger array of weapons, solid melee, and more interactive environments. I will concede that the colors, tone, and feel of the game hasn’t changed much, and the environment textures are still pretty bland. Yet, I keep playing. I think I’ve been playing for an hour, and I’ve really been grinding away for 3. I know that I wanna go back to playing Assassin’s Creed, but that game doesn’t have hordes of zombies and a fire-axe with their name on it. I can’t pull out my Louis-Ville Slugger and beat an Italian to death. But I can beat a zombie to death, and the primitive half of me loves the violence.

Left 4 Dead 2, much like the first title in the series, leans heavily on addictive game play and lets the graphics take a back seat, it gives you solid-looking characters and waves of zombies to battle, and really doesn’t stress too much over how neatly the zombies’ bodies connect. It’d rather let you knock their heads, arms, faces, and legs off while trying to survive the visceral special zombies that are constantly hunting you. In the second installment we see the return of the Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank, and Witch (who now walks around while crying, and can now block hallways while doing so). These zombies, barring the mild changes to the Witch, can be viewed as cut and paste. The addition of the new zombies, however, adds a new mechanic to the game that I quite enjoyed, and the uncommon zombies thrown into the mix definitely changed the way I play.

• The Charger, which literally kicks the shit out of you if you don’t stop its rampage.
• The Jockey, which climbs onto your shoulders and you wrestle him for control.
• The Spitter (my favorite), an ugly kitchen wench who shoots acid spit and when killed, explodes with acid you cannot stand in.

Adding these to the mix makes the combat that much more chaotic, and then they also added Uncommon infected.

• The Clown – which runs at you with his squeaky nose, attracting more zombies.
• The Mudmen – Guk-covered monsters that hide out in the swampy areas, their muck has the same effect as boomer bile
• The Hazmat Zombie – immune to fire
• Bullet-proof zombies – decked out in riot gear these zombies are immune to bullets… guess that description is kinda repetitive

The melee weapons they added to the game are awesome. Being able to choose which weapon to battle the hordes with – axes, or guns – gives the game 2 different feels, and allows those that would rather hack away the option. I found myself running balls first into the zombie horde while my dedicated compadre Juke-Bot blasted away with an UZI. In my opinion, the melee weapons in most cases work better than the guns, and I wish they would have a mild balance to them. I found myself much happier using a samurai sword, chainsaw, or hatchet against the waves of monsters, and only turning to my shotgun when I had to pick off a boomer from a distance.

Is this game an improvement over Left For Dead 1? Yes, I will most definitely say it’s bigger, better and more thought-out. The environments have more detail (rooms on fire fill with smoke reducing visibility, zombies on fire last longer when running after you, etc..) The achievements are all completely different from L4D1, not just a recycled list, and the new special Infected force you to change your team tactics, and add a fun new element to the game. I loved the spitter, dodging acid and getting burned after killing it was a nice touch. Running around trying to defend against the Jocky taking control of your character, or praying that the Witch wouldn’t block the warehouse hallway when you’re low on life. I guess it could have been patched in, if you wanted to download a 4-6gb patch on your console (shudder at the thought).

Touching briefly on audio, I’m super impressed with the gutteral screams, roars, and moans of the zombie horde, and the great placement of your survivors voice overs. As an audio engineer, I’d love to sit down with Valve’s Sound Designer and hear and see what he does to deliver the great zombie effects he brings to each version of the game. There isn’t really much of a soundtrack, but I don’t feel the game needs it. There are few games that I love the audio from and this is one of them (if any of you sound kids haven’t played BIOSHOCK or Deadspace you’re missing Audio Masterpieces).

After playing this game I have to vote that Valve releasing a sequel was a good move. We could squabble about pricing, delivery, etc., but I don’t see a point to that angle. I like this game, and my wallet and I are both praying for a game to hate. Overall, this is a solid delivery to the Left 4 Dead series, and a good add-on to the Valve catalogue. Read more at my Examiner page.

Loved:

• Addition of melee weapons.
• The squishy turning adds a panicky feeling while the horde rushes you and that adrenaline keeps rushing
• More detail to environmental hazards, rooms on fire are filled with smoke, etc.

Hated:

• The squishy controls get semi-irritating after playing shooters with more accurate controls, it’s a love-hate relationship with those damned things (Modern Warfare 2)
• Still no 4 player split screen…

Score:

• Graphics – 7
• Sound – 9
• Replay – 10
• Controls – 8
• Overall – 8.5

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