News and Opinions

Kotaku reported today that, Microsoft will be including 2 free games with all Xbox 360 SKUs starting at the end of October. The two titles being included are Forza Motorsports 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. This adds at least 90 dollars in value to the current prices of 360 units. Microsoft made it clear that no changes to pricing would be involved with the bundles. 

Here’s the trailer for the NEW straight to DVD Futurama movie. It releases on, November 27th, everywhere. Also look for the shows upcoming new season on Comedy Central early next year.

Today Shane Kim (VP in charge of the MS gaming division) confirmed (via filefront) that MS and Bungie are evolving for the better.

“While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we will continue to invest in our ‘Halo’ entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the ‘Halo’ universe. We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through ‘Halo’-related titles and new IP created by Bungie.”

Halo 3 which has now officially made 300 million dollars for MS in it’s first week of release, looks to be the biggest hit of the holiday season. This is an unprecedented move on Microsoft’s part. Bungie was bought by Microsoft in 1999. Since then Bungie has made one of the top selling game franchises in history. During the development of Halo 3, Bungie had dropped several hints that they had a couple new IPs in the works. This move will allow them to decide what projects they do over what Microsoft would like them to do.
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Today Yahoo Movies posted the trailer for, “Sweeney Todd,” Tim Burton’s new film which stars Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter. The film is about a barber named Sweeney Todd who returns to his home after being banished by the local government. Unfortunately Sweeney returns to find that his family has been murdered. Depp then of course sings about it and then goes on a murderous rampage. That’s right, Tim Burton has made a musical starring Johhny Depp about a murderous barber. Enjoy in beautiful QT via Yahoo Movies or just watch the you tube below.

In an interview with Moviehole, a former Firefly/Serenity cast member Alan Tudyk (Wash) expressed with great excitement that a Serenity 2 is now very much being considered by Universal. What caused this massive change of opinion in the franchises profitability?

They had to put the new DVD out because they’ve been selling out of the other one and so Universal’s like “So, let’s do another one.” And now, there’s now a chance there’s going to be another movie”. – Alan Tudyk

This offers no guarantee that this project is greenlit or even going to be released theatrically. Even Alan acknowledges that a direct to DVD release would be ideal. Considering the latest Serenity DVD release was considered mostly a money grab (with just another commentary and better cover art), it just may have saved the franchise with positive sales. We will keep an eye out for more news as it comes out. Specifically if the series creator Joss Whedon makes a comment regarding this story.

Vudu is launching a $400 set top box that will let you purchase ($20) or rent ($1-4) high-def movies, which are downloaded to the Vudu box over a high-speed internet connection. It promises a big selection, easily accessible – the long-sought “blockbuster in your living room.”

• Read this review from Paul Stamatiou to get up to speed. [image credit goes to PS as well]
• Now, if you’re interested, read my opinion here. Spoiler: I think Vudu sucks.

Now: please share your thoughts in the comments: is Vudu the future? Would you buy one? Why or why not?

As with many big media announcements, the superficial awesomeness of NBC’s move – offering downloadable versions of popular TV shows (Heroes, The Office, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, etc. [see Last100]) – is dimmed by the conditions that come with them.

• The service will be called “NBC Direct” [from AP]
• It will launch on a test basis in October, expanding outward from there. [from BloggingStocks]
• Plus: Yes, NBC will be offering downloadable tv shows. [originally found on Ars]
• Plus: Yes, they will be free. [from The Marketing Shift]
• Minus: They will be ad-supported, with embedded, unskippable ads interupting playback, presumably like commercials [from: theStreet].
• Minus: Its US only. I won’t be able to use this.
• Minus: For Windows only. Sorry Apple and Linux types. [from Paid Content]
• Minus: It (may) require a propiertary player that needs to be downloaded and installed [from TG Daily]
• Minus: Downloads will only play for SEVEN DAYS from the episode air date. [from Jeff McManus]

So – on the upside, previously you had to pay $2 to download these shows from Apple’s iTunes – now they are free. On the downside – they come with ads and a bunch of limitations and restrictions.

As others have noted, NBC’s offering is more comparable to the “catch up” services offered overseas that let people catch missed shows. At a high level, this service is more competitive with DVR’s than it is with iTunes or piracy.

NBC has noted plans to offer “download to own,” subscription, and rental services over time. I’m looking forward to seeing what ludicrous prices and conditions are attached to those.

Courtesy of the Wong Blogger. I don’t know anything about the Ironman, but Robert Downey Jr., a contemporary plot line, and some killer action are making this look sweet.

If you’re into both movies and graphic novels (“comic books”), you’ll want to have a watch at new web TV show “Bif! Bam! Pow! Wow!.” Hosted by Tom Seymour of Graham Crackers Comics (a store in Chicago), the show is a quirky, interesting, quickly paced, fun tribute to our comic hero’s villains and stories, and oozes graphic-geek cred.

Check out Batman, Spiderman, or Zombies — all good fun and interesting as hell, with more (apparently) to come.

Hmmm… interesting. Looks like there’s a single disc, non-SE version coming too, to complement the 2-Disc SE DVD and 2-Disc HD DVD versions announced yesterday. That’s all I know so far…

Click for super enormous version…

The DVD version is pre-orderable:

• Amazon.com Transformers DVD Pre-order

The HD DVD one is just “sign up for email notification”….

• Amazon.com HD DVD Notification

Wow – finally! My favorite movie of the summer will come out to play on DVD and HD DVD on October 16th. Both formats are OK initial releases, but leave plenty of room for future extended/director’s/collector’s editions – the DVD audio is particularly weak. Anyway, both releases have a slew of features – from chest-thumping Chevrolet goofiness to what sounds like a cool CGI-model explorer that takes up an entire HD DVD disc.

For now, there’s going to be 2 releases. Each is two discs, but the features and extras aren’t remotely similar:

1. DVD “Special Edition” – 2 discs
   16:9, DD 5.1 Audio. 5.1 – is that it? Yup.
   Disc One: Feature, with Michael Bay commentary track
   Disc Two: A zillion featurettes/documentaries – see below for full details
2. Transformers HD DVD – 2 discs
   1080p, DD+ 5.1
   Disc One: Feature, “Head’s Up Display” (see below), web-enabled features
   Disc Two: Transformers Tech Inspector – seems to be an interactive production model browser

Final word? There’s no way I’m not getting the DVD release. Its strong out of the gates, but I’m anticipating a future follow-up purchase with better-rounded audio.

The complete details from the Press Release follow after the jump… and there’s more info to come over time!

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Xbox Live Arcade decided to spring a super secret release on us that was not made public knowledge until it showed up. Poof! Streets of Rage 2, one of the best Sega Genesis Beat em ups hits the marketplace for a mere 400 points. The game besides featuring the same great gameplay featured two new characters; Max Thunder and Eddie “Skate” Hunter in addition to Blaze and Axel. The story can be seen below from YouTube. Yet another *beeping* title for me to get when the Xbox 360 returns from McAllen repair center!
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Venturer Electronics, maker of oddball, low cost consumer electronics, is getting into the HD game – releasing the SHD7000 in time for the holidays. All the basic specs you’d expect are there: 1080i, HDMI, etc.

Featuring 1080i video output and an HDMI connection, the SHD7000 is designed to be compatible with the vast majority of HDTVs already in North American consumers’ homes. With Ethernet connectivity to the network , the SHD7000 also allows users to access bonus features from movie studio web servers and unlock special prerecorded content on some HD DVD discs. Dolby TrueHD rounds out the high definition experience by presenting the HD DVD disc soundtrack as it was meant to be heard, virtually equal to the studio master. In addition to its HD DVD playback capability, the SHD7000 will upconvert standard DVDs to near HD picture quality via its HDMI connection, allowing a consumer’s existing library of DVDs to look better than ever. [from VE]

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