Originally released in 1991, this is beat-em-up gaming at its best. Shortly after being released in the arcade, it was ported to the SNES. The Sega Genesis got a similar game Hyperstone Heist.

This Xbox Live exclusive follows the arcade title, rather than the SNES version. The turtles also received a face lift for this release. Some may argue that it wasn’t necessary and hurts the nostalgia factor a bit, but I think its for the best. You can now attack in any direction, rather than left and right while strafing up and down (this includes jump attacks!) as well as the ability to play online.

The 3D graphics are a fun addition. I also welcome the voice acting used with all the bosses. A particular boss fight with Krang in the future is a lot more fun with him taunting you.

Sure, the game can be repetitive as shell and lasts only last about an hour. Who the hell cares?! It’s TMNT: Turtles in Time for God’s sake! Get three of your buddies, some Fruit-by-the-Foot, Sunny D (not to be mistaken for that purple stuff) and enjoy the nostalgia that ensues.

Photos courtesy of IGN.

Last week IESB posted a “scoop” saying that Spielberg was interested in tackling the Halo movie:

IESB has learned exclusively (believe me this is solid and I’ve confirmed it three times over with studio executives and our close ties to CAA) that one of the biggest producers in Hollywood history is currently in active negotiations to develop the feature film adaptation and no it’s not Jerry Bruckheimer or Peter Jackson. It’s the man behind Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones and Transformers, Mr. Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg is blown away by writer Stuart Beattie’s take on the game in his script entitled HALO THE FALL OF REACH. This coupled with the fact that his Dreamworks umbrella is looking for a big tent pole to help launch their newly independant studio with distribution over at Walt Disney Pictures after losing Transformers to Paramount in the separation, it’s the perfect combination.

Well… it seems as if IESB may have jumped the gun a little bit here, as Kotaku is disputing this rumor with a “confirmation” of their own:

Responding to questions we had over the Spielberg rumour (and indeed the future of the movie itself), a Microsoft spokesperson told Kotaku:

“We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.”

Upon further questioning, Microsoft added that they had “nothing further to share with respect to plans regarding a Halo movie”.

So, it seems after a brief stint back on the interwebs, the Halo movie slips back into the dark on hold.

Now, I wouldn’t want to leave you completely high and dry, but as you all know, Neil Blomkamp, director of the forthcoming District 9, was attached to direct the Halo movie, and he even did a live action test scene back in 2007 in a landfill that I have embeded for your viewing pleasure (if you haven’t seen it already). I give you his vision -with the help of WETA- of what the Halo movie should look like:

It was announced today that over the next month, the three Super Star Wars games originally published for the Super Nintendo will be hitting the Wii Virtual Console.

From their release:

Fans of Star Wars and classic Nintendo games will want to keep an eye on their Wii Shop Channel for the next month. Nintendo will be releasing multiple LucasArts favorites for Virtual Console, starting today with Super Star Wars. In the coming weeks, both Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi will be added to the Virtual Console lineup. All three Super Star Wars games were originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and will be available at 800 Wii Points each.

The arrival of the first three games will be accompanied by additional Star Wars-themed content on other Wii channels throughout the week. The Check Mii Out Channel will invite people to submit their best Mii character renditions of classic Star Wars characters. On the Everybody Votes Channel, users can cast their votes to help settle old debates, such as the proper order to watch the six Star Wars films, and who fired first — Han Solo or Greedo?

Additional classic LucasArts games for Virtual Console will be announced in the future.

This makes me extremely happy.  As a fan of both Star Wars and side-scrolling video games, these were perhaps three of the best games ever made.

For updates about new announcements on the Star Wars virtual console front, be sure to subscribe to our facebook or on our twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Examiner.

After some digging and looking, this looks to be the final track list for Beatles Rock Band,

• “I Saw Her Standing There”
• “Twist and Shout”
• “All My Loving”
• “I Wanna Be Your Man”
• “She Loves You”
• “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
• “A Hard Day’s Night”
• “And I Love Her”
• “Can’t Buy Me Love”
• “I’m A Loser”
• “Baby’s in Black”
• “I Feel Fine”
• “Help!”
• “Ticket to Ride”
• “I’ve Just Seen a Face”
• “I’m Down”
• “Drive My Car”
• “In My Life”
• “If I Needed Someone”
• “Day Tripper”
• “Taxman”
• “She Said She Said”
• “And Your Bird Can Sing”
• “Paperback Writer”
• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
• “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
• “Good Morning Good Morning”
• “I Am the Walrus”
• “Hello Goodbye”
• “Revolution”
• “Back in the USSR”
• “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
• “Birthday”
• “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey”
• “Helter Skelter”
• “Hey Bulldog”
• “Come Together”
• “Something”
• “Octopus’s Garden”
• “Here Comes the Sun”
• “Don’t Let Me Down”
• “Dig a Pony”
• “I’ve Got a Feeling”
• “Get Back”

Lets hope it is!

UPDATE: I hear word from a reliable source that this list is only mostly right.

Ever dreamed of flying? We all have. Whether it be jet propulsion boots, wings on your back, or cape in tow, we’ve all dreamed of flying like our favorite super heroes.  And why stop there?  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to lift cars over your head and throw them hundreds of yards? How about shooting beams of raw energy from your eyes, or getting all matrix with some crazy acrobatics while holding a high powered rifle? How about all of the above? Cryptic’s new Super hero MMO, Champions Online offers all of the above and so so very much more.

Now, this isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to superhero MMOs. I played City of Heroes for years (Triumph server represent!),  but lets not confuse the issue here. City of Heroes had an awesome costume creator and I was able to do what I wanted to when it came to looks, but the system for picking your powers was very linear. Once you picked a character archetype, there was no way to deviate from their power sets, so what you’d basically end up with is the same stack of hero archetypes in different costumes. Needless to say the fun of City of Heroes eventually got stale and I turned in my cape thinking I’d never care to pick up an MMO again.

Then Champions online decided to rear its beautiful and malleable head.

For Champions, Cryptic has literally broken the mold of City of Heroes. The difference between your standard mold breakings and the Cryptic style newfangled superhero MMO mold breaking, is that they want you to put the mold back together, and make something new. In Champions Online. I could make a hero with super strength, flight, laser eyes, ice breath, and all the other Kryptonian fixins’, or go for something more original and make a hero that controls minds but also has a gun fetish. Stack the flexibility of making a hero with the powers you want on top of a character creation tool that’s even more extensive and customizable than the ridiculously groundbreaking character creator in City of Heroes, and you’ve got a game that I will play enough to make my girlfriend break up with me!

I’ve been tinkering around in the BETA version, and I’ve built and made more than 10 characters of different types now and I have yet to make one that feels like a reskinned version of a previously made one. This is mostly due to the fact that there are no archetypes in champions, at least not in the conventional sense. You can select from prebuilt powersets when you initially create your character and follow that build all the way to level 40, or you can deviate anywhere along the lines if you decide that your arcane mage needs a shoulder cannon.

This ability to choose is what is going to keep me coming back to this game. To not be tied down by an archtype and instead create a character that has the powers you want them to have in the colors you want them to be makes this game something every comic book nerd should try. If you’ve got a character concept in your mind right now, I’m willing to bet you could make said character 80% accurate, if not greater.  I’ve seen some great character concepts in BETA and can’t wait to see what people come up with when the game hits stores on September 1st.

I would say that the biggest draw for me is actually that I can purchase a lifetime membership to Champions. that way i won’t have to worry about a monthly fee. Cryptic is only doing this for a limited time, but if you Click Here you can purchase a 6 month or lifetime membership. Both come with some other free perks as well.

If you want to taste test before taking the dive into an eternal relationship with Champions online, you can always just preorder the game to get some cool perks and try it out for a month.

I will be doing both.

Hope to see you all there! Thanks for reading!

You can also preorder Champions Online on Amazon by clicking the link.  And be sure to check out the trailer below!

Editor’s Note: Sk8tron will be back with regular updates about Champions Online from the BETA test and will be covering some more video game and nerd news for us here.

Few people have had a larger or more lasting impact on the Batman mythos than Paul Dini.  From the creation of the Animated Series in the 90s with Bruce Timm, to Batman Beyond and more recently his tenure on Detective Comics and the newly launched Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens.

He’s helped shape the character over the last 20 years in ways that will be felt for the foreseeable future.

Though the purpose of this interview was to discuss Batman: Arkham Asylum, and it was, indeed, discussed. We talked about why Catwoman wasn’t in the game, the development of sub-plots, the way they were able to sneak the back-stories of the villains in the game without disrupting the story, among many other things.

He also spoke to us about the 60s TV series, Superfriends, his relationship to the character and his work on the comics. The topic did turn to Marvel Divas vs. Gotham City Sirens for a bit as well.

All in all, it’s a great interview and you really should check it out.

To listen to this and other interviews like it on iTunes, you need to subscribe to The Geek Show Podcast. Paul Dini isn’t the only interview we got. Kevin Conroy, Steve Sansweet and Anthony Daniels (among others) will be available soon. And The Geek Show is really good, too. Click here for their iTunes feed.

There were two other video interviews in this particular series, click the links to check them out: Kevin Conroy and Game Director Sefton Hill.

There have been a few little snippets about this game popping up for about a week but this one comes directly from Bryan Lee O’malley.  I’ve included the press release below. Head over to O’Malley’s blog to check out his thoughts and you’ll see why this game will definitely be bad ass.

SAN FRANCISCO – July 28, 2009 – Ubisoft today announced the development of a video game based on Universal Pictures’ upcoming action-comedy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Co-written and directed by genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), the film stars some of Hollywood’s leading young talent, including Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad), Kieran Culkin (Igby Goes Down), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Live Free or Die Hard), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four series), Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Mae Whitman (Arrested Development), and Jason Schwartzman (upcoming Funny People). The game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal through a licensing agreement with Universal Partnerships & Licensing and is expected to launch worldwide with the film’s 2010 release.

The live-action Scott Pilgrim vs. the World film is based on a series of award-winning graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The series has earned numerous awards including: Entertainment Weekly’s Independent Comic of the Year, Wizard’s Indie Book of the Year and the Harvey Award for Humor in Comics. Published by Oni Press, the sixth and final volume in the series is set to debut in 2010 – also timed to the film release. In the film, Scott Pilgrim (Cera) has just met the girl of his dreams (Winstead), but the only catch to winning her is that her seven evil exes are coming to kill him.

“We were hooked on Scott Pilgrim from our first read of the comics and script,” said Bill Kispert, Vice President, Interactive, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “The storyline mirrors the escalating structure of a video game, and it is filled with clever homage to video game culture. We are thrilled to be collaborating with Ubisoft to bring fans a thoroughly entertaining interactive experience.”

“We’re excited to work with Universal to create a video game experience based on the Scott Pilgrim universe,” said Christian Salomon, vice president of Worldwide Licensing at Ubisoft. “Scott Pilgrim is a special property, one that is both nostalgic and completely original. The game will provide a fun and unique experience to players and combine all the important elements seen in the film—action, romance, irreverent pop culture references and rock-n-roll.”

“Video games have been a huge influence on the characters and world of Scott Pilgrim,” said Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of the original graphic novels. “As a gamer myself, it is a true pleasure to work closely with the talented team at Ubisoft to bring Scott to life on video game screens worldwide.”

One of the walls on the Capcom booth.

I stopped by the Capcom booth at this years Comic-Con and I noticed that a very long line circled the booth. I inquired about it, and was told it was a line to play the upcoming Resident Evil title, The Darkside Chronicles. I decided not to wait in line because of the sign that said the wait would be well over an hour.

So I went first thing the next day, I got there about 30 minutes after they opened the exhibit hall, and it was already booked for the full day. So I went back even earlier the next day, and was finally able to get on the list to try the demo out.

The Darkside Chronicles is a direct sequel to the Umbrella Chronicles, it just follows the other games. The Umbrella Chronicles followed RE 0, Re 1, and RE 3. The Darkside Chronicles follows RE 2, and RE code veronica (which are my favorites.) Apparently they are also going to follow another secret title that has yet to be announced. The guys at the Capcom booth said they didn’t even know what the secret title is yet.

Anyway, It was indeed similar to the Umbrella Chronicles. The changes that I noticed were that it was more from the 1st players perspective. Meaning sometimes the second player can be seen on camera. (When they are opening doors, etc.) Also it is more like you are looking through the first players eyes, so you can see your own hands come up when you reload the gun. It’s really not that big of a difference.

The next thing that seemed to vary was that it seemed like it was a little grittier, like they were going for more of a horror feel. The menu system seemed to change quite a bit, but my memories a little hazy of how it was in the first one. You can use herbs in the menu, and it seems to me they added the danger bar, like the one you would see in all the traditional games.

Based on my experience in the fifteen minute demo, I would guess that they go a bit more into the details of the old games. So the story might be a bit more comprehensive than the Umbrella Chronicles.

They still use the cross hair aim system, which I don’t really care for (Not that it stopped me from enjoying the last game, and I think this one is going to be even better.) But talking to the guy at the booth he said they might have an option to turn it off when the game is complete so that it will be more like a traditional FPS.

Sadly, he didn’t sound too sure.

It wasn’t in the demo I played, but the guy at Capcom said they are also adding a feature so that you and your partner will share ammo, and you’ll both be able to use the same guns at the same time, just with the same source of ammo.

I don’t think these chronicle games are the cream of the crop but they are highly enjoyable, turn your brain off, shoot zombie in the head, relaxing video games. So I have to say, I am excited for this games release.

Oops I almost forgot to mention, they also gave a really cool Darkside Chronicles T-shirt when you played the demo, that has a zombie print on the inside, so that if you flip it, you will have a zombie head. Really cool!

Derek Hunter, the infamous creator of Pirate Club, flaunting his zombie shirt

The Website for the game residentevil.com/darkside Also you can follow Leon and Claire on twitter @Leon_Darkside and @Claire_Darkside

King of Fighters XII launched this friday, and I wanted it, I wanted it bad enough to make my zombie fingers fall off, climb up my leg to re-attach themselves and fall off again..  The game was drawn in High-Definition, frame by frame the thought of a group of artists slaving over the game like this made me want it more…

And playing it led me to only one question..  Is High-Definition code for Play Station sprites?  The backgrounds were vibrant, exciting, explosive even.  The combat felt fluid and fast, the counters made me excited, but the character models looked like vintage PS1 games.. You can imagine how torn I was enjoying such fluid combat, and having to see the victory pose with a pixelated arm pointing shamefully at the losing opponent. Since when were biceps and karate gii’s made from squares?

Deep breath…. on-line play will save it.  I played three rounds before the lag and frame dropping was too much to handle.  KOFXII is a beautiful concept delivered poorly.  If it was going to be just another KOF game they should have marketed it as such, and not slapped on a 59.99 price tag.

Final thoughts is a 7.5
The disappointment in visuals still can’t overshadow what a great fighter KOF really is. If they could fix online, and make the models as pretty as I dreamed, and as pretty as they said they would be, the game would be at the top of any fighting gamers list. Over-all any fighting enthusiast will drool over this game for months..

And Zombietron, will just go back to Street Fighter.

This one is for all your gamers either heading over to the Con tomorrow or there already. Microsoft has released their schedule for all things Xbox 360 at Comic Con, including events surrounding Halo and Gears of War.

For those of us not lucky enought to be attending this year, Microsoft has promised that there will be some sweet content from the Con coming to Xbox Live, including celebrity interviews, behind the scenes footage, and daily wrap-ups! You can check out their full schedule below and be watching Xbox Live for exclusive Comic Con content!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Thursday, July 23

Panel: The Halo Franchise: What’s Next

Time: 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Location: SDCC: Room 6BCF

Description: Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director for Halo, will be joined by a number of special guests to discuss how “Halo” is evolving into a robust entertainment franchise and what’s coming in the future.

Game with Bungie

Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Location: Hall G – Xbox booth: SDCC Booth #5225

Description: Feeling the itch to blast some Covenant? See if you have what it takes to join Bungie’s ps! You can check out their full schedule below and be watching Xbox Live for exclusive Comic Con content!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Thursday, July 23

Panel: The Halo Franchise: What’s Next

Time: 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Location: SDCC: Room 6BCF

Description: Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director for Halo, will be joined by a number of special guests to discuss how “Halo” is evolving into a robust entertainment franchise and what’s coming in the future.

Game with Bungie

Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Location: Hall G – Xbox booth: SDCC Booth #5225

Description: Feeling the itch to blast some Covenant? See if you have what it takes to join Bungie’s ODST squad and fight alongside them at the Xbox booth. Paul Bertone and Brian Jarrard from Bungie will be randomly selecting Comic-Con attendees to join their squad in what promises to be some very memorable Firefight matches.

Friday, July 24

Booth Signing with the “Shadow Complex” Team

Time: 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Location: Hall G – Xbox booth: SDCC Booth #5225

Description: Meet the creators of the upcoming side-scrolling action thriller game, “Shadow Complex,” including creative director Donald Mustard, renowned comic book author and “Shadow Complex” scriptwriter Peter David and Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski. Fans will get the opportunity to play the game and receive a “Shadow Complex” poster exclusively available at Comic-Con International 2009 (quantities are limited).

Panel: Meet the Guild

Time: 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Location: SDCC – Room 5AB

Description: Come chat with the creators and actors from the hit online video series, “The Guild.” Join Felicia Day and other members of the cast as they talk about the series and answer questions from the audience. They’ll also give attendees a sneak peek at Season 3 coming to Xbox LIVE this fall, plus a bonus, Comic-Con exclusive video!

Booth Signing with The Guild

Time: Noon – 1:00 p.m.

Location: Hall G – Xbox booth: SDCC Booth #5225

Description: Get up close with the cast of “The Guild” after their panel discussion.

Game with Fame: The Guild

Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Location: Hall G – Xbox booth: SDCC Booth #5225

Description: Test your gaming skills against the cast of “The Guild” on “Marvel vs. Capcom 2.” Leave your staffs at the door, warlocks!

Booth Signing with Epic Games

Time: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Hall G – SDCC: Booth #5225

Description: Come meet the acclaimed talent behind the “Gears of War” franchise: Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski, senior producer Rod Fergusson, Microsoft Game Studios writer Joshua Ortega and “Gears of War” comic book artist Liam Sharp. Fans will receive a “Gears of War 2” poster exclusively available at Comic-Con International 2009 (quantities are limited).

Saturday, July 25

Panel: From Chainsaws to Renegade Spies: 101 Ways to Save the Universe Only on Xbox

Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Location: SDCC – Room 6DE

Description: Xbox 360 has established itself as the home of the best action games in the industry, bar none. Join Ubisoft’s Alexandre Parizeau (“Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction”), Valve’s Chet Faliszek (“Left 4 Dead 2”), BioWare’s  Casey Hudson (“Mass Effect 2”), Bungie’s Paul Bertone (“Halo 3: ODST”), and Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski (“Gears of War 2”) as they discuss developing their blockbuster franchises exclusively on Xbox 360. Room 6DE

Panel: Save South Park One Snowball at a Time

Time: 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Location: SDCC – Room 6A

Description: The first South Park video game in 10 years is coming this fall exclusively on Xbox LIVE. The game is the first for the newly created South Park Digital Studios and was jointly developed with Microsoft, that crazy little band of outlaws who brought you hilarious products like Microsoft SQL Server Management Express 2008 Service Pack 1. Is this a sign of the apocalypse? Come find out as South Park Digital Studios and Microsoft Game Studios world premiere the game and talk about the development and what it’s like to work at South Park Studios.

Panel: “Gears of War”: The Gearsiverse

Time: 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Location: Hilton Bayfront Hotel – Indigo Ballroom

Description: Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski, “Gears of War” movie scriptwriter Chris Morgan, “Gears of War” comic book author and “Gears of War 2” scriptwriter Joshua Ortega and “Gears of War” movie director Len Wiseman present a preview of what’s next in the 11 million selling “Gears of War” franchise. Get in on all the action, including an exclusive sneak peek at the deleted scene from “Gears of War 2: Dark Corners” as well as an insider’s glimpse into the highly anticipated “Gears of War” motion picture. Whether you play the g