Those console guys have it easy.  All this fuss about Playstation 3 being way too expensive, but have they ever had to spend almost a thousand dollars on just one piece of a new console?  Seems like NVIDIA is just preying on the early adopters with this price point, but with Crysis and BioShock looming large we may all be upgrading soon.

Here's the press release from NVIDIA, and you can see more on the card here.

News Facts:

• Today NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) introduced the world’s fastest graphics processing unit (GPU), the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra.
• The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra performs an average of between 10 and 15% faster than the GeForce 8800 GTX GPU, previously considered the fastest GPU on the planet, across a wide range of top games and applications.
• NVIDIA nForce® 680i SLI-based motherboards for Intel processors provide the fastest and most feature-rich platform for the GeForce 8800 Ultra. NVIDIA refers to these systems as the “definitive gaming platform”.
• Consumers will be able to experience high-resolution, visually rich gaming and high-definition video playback with support for Blu-ray and HD DVD content.
• Definitive gaming platforms built with any nForce 600 Series motherboard are forward compatible with the new Intel processors with support for 1333FSB technology.

Product Facts:

• Graphics cards equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU and 768MB of video memory will be available at e-tailers and retailers worldwide by May 15th. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card launch partners include Asus, BFG, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision, Leadtek, MSI, PNY, Point of View, Sparkle and XFX.
• Prices around €699 inc. tax [about $950 - Travis]
• GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the first shipping DirectX 10 GPUs and are the reference GPUs for Microsoft DirectX 10 API development.
• GeForce 8800 GPUs are the developer’s platform of choice for this year’s top DirectX 10 titles, including Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Crysis, Age of Conan, Hellgate: London, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, World in Conflict, BioShock, PT Boats, and Cryostasis.
• Developers creating next-generation OpenGL titles, such as Enemy Territory: Quake Wars are also using GeForce 8 Series as their development platform of choice.
• GeForce 8 Series GPUs include all required hardware functionality defined in the Microsoft Direct3D® 10 specification, with full support for the DirectX 10 unified shader instruction set and Shader Model 4 capabilities.
• DirectX 10 is included with Microsoft Windows Vista and delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects for games, all rendered in real-time on a GeForce 8 Series DirectX 10-capable GPU.

I just got through with Extraction Point, the expansion pack for F.E.A.R. Yes, it was short; I probably burned through the game in about six hours, maybe seven. But despite its short length, Extraction Point was an excellent addition to F.E.A.R., which has become one of my favorite shooters in recent memory.

Extraction Point picks up right where F.E.A.R. left off. Your Blackhawk helicopter has crashed, thanks to Alma, and left you (Point Man), Holiday and Jin Sun-Kwon stranded and scrambling to make it to the next extraction point. At first, it seems that with Paxton Fettel dead, the Replica soldiers appear to be brain dead and are simply standing unresponsive all over the city. But Fettel returns for some strange reason and soon the Replica soldiers are on your trail again. Worse, Jin is captured and Point Man and Holiday must rescue her while dodging some new enemies lurking around the barren subways, hospitals and other areas of the city.

The gameplay is the same as the original title, but a few new weapons were added to the mix, including chain guns, laser rifles and deployable gun sentries. They help raise the level of excitement and intensity during firefights, which in my mind are the absolute best in the first-person shooter genre.

But what really brought Extraction Point up a level or two for me were the scares. Dare I say, the expansion pack is more frightening than the original F.E.A.R., and that is not an easy feat to accomplish. As I’ve written previously, F.E.A.R. is one of the scariest games of the last 10 years. And like that game, Extraction Point relies almost entirely on creepy sound effect, psychological terror and a sustained atmosphere of almost unbearable suspense. I write almost, because there are a few key segments of the game which are absolutely terrifying and easily rank as some of the scariest scenes in any game or movie that I’ve ever seen.

So yes, Extraction Point is short. But it makes up for its lack of length with the some of the requisite ingredients for an expansion pack: new weapons, more maps and environments, and fresh enemies to battle, not to mention some fantastically memorable moments for the F.E.A.R. franchise. Extraction Point’s plot doesn’t add much to the F.E.A.R. storyline – in fact, it probably opens up more questions than it answers.

But Extraction Point is an expansion pack, and I don’t hold packs to the same standard as, say, sequels. I don’t need a full-length storyline with tons of details. That’s one of the reasons I tend to favor expansion packs over sequels. They cost less, and man times they end up satisfying me more than half-baked sequels that feel like they’re nothing more than expansion packs.

So what makes a great expansion? And what are some of the best? Here’s a few of my choices:

•StarCraft: Brood War
Brood War brings new units to the table for StarCraft fans, but what really drove this expansion pack home was the rich plot and continuing story of Sarah Kerrigan, Queen of Blades. And the replay-ability is simply off the charts.

•Half-Life: Opposing Force
I like this one more than Blue Shift. Opposing Force delivers a different take on Half-Life with more Black Mesa maps to explore, new weapons and better AI. Plus, it gave me something to play while I waited for Half-Life 2.

•Call of Duty: United Offensive
United Offensive is better than the Call of Duty 2 and 3 sequels for the simple fact that both of those games felt far too short with only a handful of missions per campaign. United Offensive has new levels and maps built around such famous events as the Battle of the Bulge and the invasion of Sicily.

The demo for Forza 2 hit Xbox Live early this morning, and after playing it for a while, I'm fairly impressed. The game is much more hardcore (in the vein of Gran Tursimo) than PGR, so you can't just keep the throttle down and hope to slide around corners. As with most driving games, the first thing I do is turn the car around and drive the wrong way on the track to see how it reacts. Either the AI is not programmed to try to avoid oncoming obstacles at that speed or it doesn't have time to react because I was able to stage a head-on crash with almost every car I saw. Head-on collisions at that speed would disintegrate both cars using real physics, but since your car disintegrating and ending the game may not be fun, the cars in Forza 2 just take maximum frontal damage and spin away. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a car upside down, but I'll continue to try.

The demo only features one track, but you can drive 24 different cars in three different classes. None of the customization options from the full game are in the demo (aside from choosing your car color) and it's single-player only but it's definitely worth taking a look.

What will be the bigger blockbuster: Halo 3 or Crysis?

It’s an interesting question, and I’m not sure where I come down on it just yet. THG video producer Ben Meyer and I are schedule to debate the question for an upcoming episode of “Second Take.” As a PC gamer and one who believes that the first two Halo games are good but entirely overrated, I was leaning toward giving Crysis the nod. There are a few reasons for this. First, I’ve played the demo of Crysis in both DX9 and DX10, and both versions look amazing. Second, Crytek has the critically acclaimed FPS Far Cry under its belt, and Crysis looks to amp up the Far Cry formula in a big way.

But now I’m rethinking my position, even though I haven’t played the Halo 3 Beta and am not exactly a huge fan of the series. When I heard recently that pre-orders for the game at U.S. retailers like GameStop had surpassed 4 million, I was shocked to say the least. The Xbox 360 has more than 10 million units sold at this point, so we’re talking about close to 40 percent of 360 owners buying this game right out of the gate.

Second, the Halo 3 hype machine is in full effect; the game has a release date of September 25, and there looks to be plenty of promotions and a mammoth launch event hosted by Microsoft. Third, the early word on the Halo 3 beta has been very positive, and not just from the Halo fanboys.

Meanwhile, Crysis has a couple things going against. First, we don’t really know what system requirements will be needed for the game. All Crytek and Electronic Arts have said is that the game will support both DX10 for Vista owners and DX9 for Windows XP users and a Shader Model 2 or higher is required. Thus, a lot of PC gamers may need to upgrade their rigs before playing Crysis at a suitable performance level. Meanwhile, Halo 3 will be playable right out of the box.

Also, Crysis has no release date as of yet (it is scheduled for a 2007 release) and doesn’t have the hype machine or branding that Halo 3 is enjoying. Halo has become an enormous crossover brand, thanks the huge sales of the first two games and the proposed movie adaptation, produced by Peter Jackson. Mind you, this isn’t a debate on which game will be the better title; it’s simply asking which game will be a bigger success. I personally think that Crysis has the makings of a better game, but at this point it’s feeling more and more like Halo 3 will win the blockbuster crown.

Speaking of Halo 3, the game is in full beta mode, and our friends at Uncle Gamer Radio are giving away Beta codes to two randomly selected listeners. All you have to do is weigh in on the Uncle Gamer forums with your favorite moment of the Halo series.

I read comics. I head to the store every Wednesday and pick up several books. Many of us read comics as kids, but fewer of us still follow the stories. There is some amazing writing and art going on in comics right now, so if ever there was a time to get back in it's now, but I get why people don't. That's why I'll be posting comics news up here. I'll buy them and read them so you don't have to, but you'll still be able to catch up on what's happening by coming here.

Here are my picks from this week.

DC

Action Comics #849 - Superman faces off against Redemption and we learn the secret of his powers. This is the conclusion of “A Crisis of Faith”, but the next issue will not see the return of the “Last Son” story from Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, and Adam Kubert. Geoff Johns posted to his MySpace page saying, “A note to let everyone know that our "Last Son" finale has been moved to ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #11 to accommodate Adam [Kubert]'s schedule and allow us to continue on with our Action Comics run.” Pffftt! Whatever. I’m not sure I’ll stick it out through any more ACTION COMICS with this kind of thing happening, but I do want to read the rest of “Last Son”. Comics scheduling is truly in the toilet these days.

All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #5 - Well well well, look who’s still trying to tell a story! I don’t even remember what was happening in this book. I remember that Frank Miller is writing Batman as a psychotic and that Robin’s parents were murdered. There was a Vickie Vale appearance and a Black Canary appearance, but that’s really about all I remember. This issue sees the premiere of the All Star versions of Wonder Woman (who talks like Magneto), Green Lantern, and Plastic Man. Superman also makes another appearance, but it’s obvious that the Superman in ALL STAR BATMAN is not the same Superman that’s in ALL STAR SUPERMAN, which is a shame. I still like this book a lot even though Miller’s almost off the deep end with the writing. Jim Lee is in top form on these pages, and the art is enough reason to buy it. Reign it in some, Frank. This is the Justice League, not Sin City. I’m not sure Wonder Woman needs to want to cut off Batman’s head.

Batman #665 - Batman got his ass kicked by a giant guy who liked a lot like him (Venom vs Spider-Man anyone?), so he does what Batman does best: he dopes himself up and goes out looking for the guy. Robin’s still trying to get past the arrival of Batman and Talia al Ghul’s son Damian so he heads out to find the guy first in an effort to prove his worth. What’s Talia doing? She’s stalking Bruce Wayne. I think these stories are hit and miss, but I like Grant Morrison so I’ll keep picking this one up for now.

Countdown #50 - Jason Todd saw the Joker’s daughter get killed in the last issue and now Jimmy Olsen is covering the story. Todd sends Olsen to Arkham Asylum to ask the Joker if he knows who did it, but all the Joker seems to know is that something is wrong with the universe. Olsen is in danger of being eaten by Killer Croc when the issue ends so there is that, but the problem with telling a story that takes 50 issues is that it moves very slowly. I really do intend to tough this one out.

Justice League of America #9 - “The Lightning Saga” is being written across JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA comics. My JSA kung-fu is not very good so the story is difficult for me to follow, but it seems that a version of the Seven Soldiers are scattered throughout time and space and the JLA and JSA are working together to find them all. This issue #9 has them finding another soldier in Gorilla City and a lot of really good interpersonal scenes. It’s strange that I enjoy a comic with so many superheroes and so little action, but this one’s working.

Dynamite Entertainment

Battlestar Galactica #9 - Sharon leads her Cylon army and the Returners she’s gathered back to the heart of the Cylon empire and starts asking questions about their origin. This issue starts to get a little Matrix-y, but the characters in the show are so good that it actually helps to carry the comic a little. It’s good writing, but I’d prefer that the stories were a little more relevant (considering where the show is now).

IDW

Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show #12 - This is the last issue of the comic adaptation of the Clive Barker book of the same name. Catching you up on the story to this point would take forever, so don’t buy this unless you’ve been reading it all the way through. In this issue, it ends. Let’s just go with that

Image

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer #2 - If you like medieval stories with lots of sword-swinging and zombies getting smashed, this is a good book for you. The story kind of mixes elements of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow and Ghost Rider with some good old fashioned medieval horror. It’s OK so far, but not a must-have yet.

Marvel

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America – Captain America - Yeah, that’s really the title of the book. Due to his inability to deal with the grief of being kind of responsible for killing Captain America, Iron Man is shopping the shield around and decides maybe Hawkeye (who died and is now back) should become Cap. Hawkeye disagrees. I like these Fallen Son books so far. They usually have some great character moments, and this one is no exception. Jeph Loeb has done a great job of making the Marvel characters feel the weight of Cap's death. This issue also features some Young Avengers action. If only they had their own Eisner nominated book. Oh wait…

The Mighty Avengers #3 - The new girlified Ultron takes over a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and drops it on The Sentry, Bendis writes an opportunity to let Frank Cho draw Tigra in a bikini, and there’s a sign that Tony Stark may be dead. I like this book, although the thought balloons are getting to me. There’s already a lot of dialogue and the thought balloons are just cluttering things up.

Moon Knight #10 - Moon Knight and Punisher discuss morality while shooting at criminals, followed by some searching for Midnight. I really wish David Finch was still drawing this because I’m realizing that the story is not why I was buying it. I may be off this soon unless the arc ends and a better one starts.

Ultimate Spider-Man #109 - Kingpin lays it out for Spider-Man and it doesn’t look good. Basically Kingpin has Spider-Man unmasked, but doesn’t know his name. He also owns his likeness which puts Spider-Man in an interesting predicament. Additionally, Kingpin knows about the little vigilante group and knows that Moon Knight is disguised as Ronin, which he demonstrates by beating the crap out of him. There is much finger pointing when the Knights get back together, but Daredevil realizes that the weak link is Iron Fist and starts the grilling.

Ultimate X-Men #82 - Nightcrawler finds the Morlocks. Morlock stories have always bored me to tears, and so far this follows suit. The good news is that Xavier is still dead.

The Ultimates 2 #13 - A new ULTIMATES 2 and a new ALL STAR BATMAN on the same day? Excuse me while I check to see if the rivers have turned to blood. The big question is was it worth the wait? Well, no comic could be worth that wait, but it’s certainly a great ending to a great arc. THE ULTIMATES is one of the reasons I still buy comics because it has the best action in it bar none. Bryan Hitch’s art really shines in this issue particularly, but he’s been solid through the whole series. For example, here’s the 8-page foldout image of the big fight in this book. THAT is what I’m talking about. This is the same Mark Millar who wrote and fumbled CIVIL WAR, but I guess he was saving the good stuff for the Ultimate U. The fight in this story has lasted about three or four issues now and comes to a close a tad abruptly here, but that’s usually how big fights end. #13 brings closure to a story I’ve been reading for a long time, and leaves plenty of strands for THE ULTIMATES 3 to pick up. I only hope we don’t have to wait a year for it to come out.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was one of the most anticipated PC games of 2007. Part of this was due to the extremely long development cycle for the game, which included several delays and false starts since publisher THQ and developer GSC announced the title in 2001. Another factor was the combination of first-person shooter action with RPG elements and some survival horror flavor thrown in for good measure. And finally, instead of a linear system, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. provides a fairly large and diverse sandbox environment for players to explore.

Personally, I was very intrigued by this title and bought it the day it came out. Unfortunately, I’ve been pretty disappointed for the most part. I should clarify that I’ve only played about six hours of the game so far, but it’s worth mentioning some reasons why this game hasn’t measured up to my – and others – expectations.

First, the graphics look dated and the animation is clunky and ragged; second, the sandbox environment of the Greater Chernobyl Metropolitan Area isn’t all that interesting and involves long stretches of running through fields while dodging mutated dogs; third, there really isn’t all that much RPG elements in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the dialogue options are severely limited; fourth, the weapons are pretty standard; fifth, there have been several bugs in the game and I’m only six hours in.

To be sure, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has improved slowly but surely since its lackluster beginning and provided some high-octane action and seat-jumping thrills. And the game’s story and premise has still got me hooked so far. But I was surprised to see this week’s announcement that GSC has several new “products” based on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe, which the developer plans to unveil at the new E3 Media & Business Summit in July.

“We are very happy of the players' positive reaction to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. all over the world. This fills us with confidence the team is on the right track and adds us strength to go for next exciting accomplishments. It will be very soon that we present our new interesting ideas and solutions,” said GSC Game World's CEO Sergiy Grygorovych in a press statement.

So far, the reviews of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. have been good but not great, with many criticisms of the game being similar to some of my own gripes. Hopefully, GSC will be able to correct some of the flaws and deliver better games based on the promising idea of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Stay tuned for more on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

There's a new HD trailer for "Transformers" up on Yahoo, and this one shows much more action than the teaser did. There is a contingent of people out there who are seriously hating this movie already, and I just don't understand it. I understand if you just don't like this kind of silly action-movie premise, but a lot of guys my age who played with these toys as kids hate this movie (ignoring the fact that they have yet to see it). First off, there are the Michael Bay haters. OK, so not all of his movies are very good, but the man knows how to photograph cars, chases, and explosions. If you're making a movie about cars and jets that transform into giant robots and then blow stuff up, this is the guy to do it. You're almost guaranteed that the story will suffer because there is too much action if Bay's directing. That's exactly what I want. The old cartoons always sucked whenever the humans showed up anyway, so if the movie is nothing but giant robots fighting and transforming with no story at all, that will be great. Remember, this is a movie based on a LINE OF TOYS. You can't expect an R rating, high drama, and compelling dialogue. What you can expect is a lot of shooting but not many bullets hitting anyone (like the G.I. Joe cartoons). Just because we've all grown up to adults doesn't mean "Transformers" has to pass as adult entertainment now.

Then you've got the guys who whine about Optimus Prime having flames and being a different style truck than the original. Guys, listen to yourselves. Count yourselves blessed that someone is making a big budget, live-action Transformers movie at all, let alone using some of the same characters from the show (and Peter Cullen's voice!). You're complaining about painted flames and the semantics of a cab-over design? I won't even get into the Megatron stuff.

I hope the 10-year-old boy inside is kicking the shins of the crotchety-old man controlling these guys. Personally, I can't wait for this movie. Maybe it's because the 10-year-old boy inside of me is the one with the career and the crotchety-old man is the one who got laid off. The Boy gets to decide what we like. There's still a chance it could all go horribly wrong, but I really like what I see so far. I grabbed some hi-res stills from the trailer so click the thumbnails (and the pic above) to get those.

“The Shawshank Redemption” is one of the truly great movies of the last 20 years and a bona fide classic. So when I heard that “Shawshank” screenwriter and director Frank Darabont was going to pen a script for the fourth “Indian Jones” movie several years ago, I was pretty thrilled. But in 2004, word came that Darabont left the project after spending about a year working on a screenplay.

For those that don’t know, here’s what happened. Darabont penned a script that both he and director Stephen Spielberg felt was perfect, but Indy writer and producer George Lucas rejected it (ironically, Darabont was good enough for Lucas to work on the TV series “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” in the mid-1990s). Almost three years later, Darabont is still frustrated about the whole project, which he called a “debacle” during the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention in Burbank, Calif.

Darabont shouldn’t feel too bad since M. Night Shamylan, Steve Gaghan, Tom Stoppard, and the "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” writer, the late Jeffrey Boam, also gave “Indiana Jones 4” a shot and nothing worked out. That is, until Lucas and Spielberg themselves came up with a story with screenwriter David Keopp (the film is now in pre-production for a spring 2008 release).

During a session on his forthcoming movie “The Mist,” Darabont said he was tired of working on screenplays that never saw the light of day or were changed beyond recognition. He referred to Kenneth Brannagh’s 1994 film “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” and accused Brannagh of messing up his script, and also mentioned his extensive work on the fourth “Indiana Jones” movie. “There’s no need to go into that debacle again,” Darabont said. “I’m glad I’m not doing that anymore.”

As a result, Darabont said he intended to only write screenplays that he planned on directing himself. Case in point: “The Mist,” which is adapted from a Stephen King short story of the same name. After directing “Shawshank” and 1999’s “The Green Mile,” which also were based on King’s works, you might think Darabont would be worn out on the ole master of horror.

Think again. Darabont said he had been hoping to make “The Mist” for years and just hadn’t found the right time to adapt the short story. “Finally, the timing was perfect,” he told the convention audience. “I’m glad I didn’t end up making it 10 or 15 years ago. I think I’m ready to make it now.”

“The Mist” actually marks the fourth time Darabont has directed a Stephen King story. His first King adaptation was a 1983 short film based on “The Woman in the Room.” King apparently liked the short movie so much that when Darabont approached him to adapt “Shawshank” in the late 80s, King sold him the rights.

Now Darabont has “The Mist,” which stars Thomas Jane (“The Punisher,” “61*”) as a father becomes trapped with his son and a handful of other people inside a supermarket surrounded by a mysterious mist. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters in late November.

So I guess my question is, if Stephen King is smart enough to recognize Darabont’s considerable talent, then why can’t George Lucas? Wait, don’t answer that…

I wasn’t a big fan of the 2004 Marvel Comics adaptation “The Punisher.” Sure, it was better than the 1989 Dolph Lundgren disaster, but it didn’t live up to the comic book’s spirit that I had come to love, especially in the limited “Punisher: War Journal” series. I didn’t like John Travolta as the mob boss villain, I thought most of the action scenes were weak, and I felt like the script never really delved deep enough into the character of Frank Castle.

That said, I did think actor Thomas Jane did a pretty good job as Castle/The Punisher. And while I didn’t care for “The Punisher,” quite a few fans of the comic book series did enjoy and are eagerly awaiting the proposed sequel.

Well, there’s just one problem with that. Jane says he has no plans to reprise his role as the Punisher. During the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention in Burbank, Calif., on Saturday, Jane appeared on a panel with director Frank Darabont to talk about their new movie based on Stephen King’s short story “The Mist.” An audience member asked if the rumors were true that Jane wouldn’t be returning for “The Punisher 2,” and he indeed confirmed the bad news (Jane had recently sent a letter to Ain’t It Cool News stating he had dropped out of the sequel).

Jane told the convention audience that he had come to care deeply for the character of Frank Castle and wanted to see the Punisher done right. However, the studios and producers behind the sequel wanted to go in a different direction and Jane wanted no part of the movie. He didn’t elaborate on the details of the sequel’s proposed story or any other gripes he had with “The Punisher 2.” But he did say that chances were about as good as a snowball surviving in hell. In other words, don’t hold your breath.

I know many of you will disagree with me about this, but what I've seen so far is not terribly impressive. It's the same three races with some new units, some 3D graphics that look a couple years old, and no sign of any RTS innovation. From the screenshots and movies there doesn't appear to be any dynamic lighting and shadowing, and that cartoon look from Warcraft III may not cut it again. Now before you start construction on your Travis effigy, I'll admit that just being the sequel to Starcraft could be enough to make the game great, but I'd really like to see it shine. We're enjoying an RTS boom at the moment, and I'd hate to see Starcraft II come out to bad reviews because the genre and technology passed it up. Command and Conquer 3 proved that you can pull off an old-style RTS with solid gameplay,but no one knows when Starcraft 2 will come out. What we do know is that Blizzard (much to their credit) absolutely will not rush out a game, so I wouldn't expect to see Starcraft 2 anytime in the next two years. A lot can happen in PC gaming in two years.

There's plenty of time for Blizzard to add another coat of graphics gloss or announce a new faction so I wouldn't condemn the game yet, but I would ask that you temper your excitement with just a hint of skepticism if only to make the long wait more bearable. Click the images and thumbnails below for hi-res versions.

When Rob Wright and I went to last weekend’s Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, which was held at the Burbank Marriott Airport Hilton, there was one panel I was very curious to attend to see what the audience reaction would be: The Rob Zombie "Halloween" remake Q&A.

At first, when Fango head honcho Tony Timpone asked Zombie why he decided to remake "Halloween," Zombie simply said, “Ahhhmmm, we thought it would be a good idea, that’s why we remade it.” A bit later during the Q&A, he offered, “I didn’t really choose Halloween, I just kinda went in to have a meeting with Bob Weinstein at Dimension, and I didn’t know why he wanted to talk to me. I was in the room and he said, ‘Ahhhhh, waddaya think about Halloween?’ ‘I dunno. It’s a good movie, I like it.’ I didn’t know why he was talkin’ to me about it.

“And then he was talkin’ about they had the rights and they wanted to do something with it, a remake, a sequel or a prequel, Michael Myers Vs. Pinhead in Outer Space, that sounds like a joke, but I’m sure there’s a script that exists for that, I basically didn’t want to have anything to do with it, because I thought what’s the point. And I kinda went away for a coupla months, and thought about (it)…and I couldn’t get it out of my head, the opportunity. And when I thought that I figured out a reason to do it, that’s when it happened.”

As far as the swipes an alleged "Halloween" script Zombie wrote got on the ‘net, he said, “I don’t know whatever got leaked to the internet, I’m still not sure if it was ever real, because everything I always read is so far off base that I don’t know what anyone’s talking about. And at certain points, I thought I would respond to it, then I thought it was kinda weird to respond to nonsense, because someone knows they’re posting nonsense, then it seems weird to respond to it, so I just ignored it after a while.”

Although he said remaking "Halloween" “didn’t stir up any problems with anybody, nobody seemed to have problems making the movie,” he added, “If anyone has any questions now, just ask us, because we can see your faces, and we know who you are. You’re not secretly online asking us.”

The question I was dying to ask, but never got to ask Zombie, was if at any time anyone felt a remake of Halloween might be too sacred to go near. Although every question lobbed at him was fan boy softball, not that my inquiry was that hard of a question, I do think he would have responded as honestly as he could.

As he took questions from the audience, Zombie didn’t pull a Shamylan: If you don’t get my movie, you’re an idiot. I met Zombie a long time ago when White Zombie were an underground, indie-label band out of New York, and at the panel he came across as the same low key guy with a dry sense of humor I talked to way back when. If the guy’s a raging egomaniac, he hides it very well.

On one hand, if Zombie’s "Halloween" sucks, it could tarnish the name of a classic horror film. On the other hand, there have been a ton of crap sequels to Halloween over the past two decades, and none of them put a dent in the original’s power or classic status. On one hand, it can be said that Zombie isn’t taking any risks remaking a classic, but you can also say he’s taking a big risk in potentially alienating fans of the original.

Zombie could find himself in a position where he can’t win no matter what he does. If the movie is terrible, of course he’ll get hammered, but fans of the original may also be unable to watch the film on its own merits and slam it, even if it turns out good.

I’m certainly against the whole recent rash of remaking good, or even just okay movies, into unwatchable garbage, and many of the current horror rehashes certainly prove why. I also feel like every remake that gets a green light equals one less original movie that could have been made, and shows that these days, Hollywood isn’t taking any risks whatsoever.

Still, in all fairness, the trailer for the new "Halloween," which they showed before Zombie and the cast hit the stage, was well put together, and much better than I expected. If the size of the crowd who came to his panel, and their reaction to the trailer, is any indication, the film should do very well.

Zombie’s not a hack. I’ve always felt his heart was in the right place with his music, as well as his love of true horror and B movies. And as a filmmaker, he definitely has promise. I guess my feelings will remain mixed until the film comes out in August and the public decides for itself whether Zombie successfully reinvented one of the genre’s modern classics, or created a fiasco on the level of Gus Van Sant’s addle-brained idea to remake "Psycho" in color.

Thankfully, when I attended the panel for another horror classic, ""Phantasm, and the question was asked if there would ever be a remake, Reggie Bannister, one of the film’s stars, thankfully replied, “We don’t need no stinkin’ remake! That movie stands.”

I’ve professed my love for The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay many times on TwitchGuru and the Tom’s Hardware Guide Forumz. I consider it one of the best games I’ve ever played on the console or PC, and I rank as one of the finest first-person shooters of all time. Superb normal mapping visuals. Fantastic environments. Ridiculously good combat gameplay. Excellent characters and voice acting. An exquisite story and unpredictable plot. Oh, and the most incredible stealth action I’ve ever experienced. Quite simply, Butcher Bay is a great game and probably the best example of recent movie adaptations for the video game world.

So you can probably imagine, I was thrilled to see the news this week that Sierra Entertainment and original Butcher Bay developer Starbreeze Studios are creating another Riddick title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 called The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. While not an altogether brand new title, Dark Athena will be a “reinvention” of the 2004 Butcher Bay title for the next generation platform, with updated graphics for the hi-def consoles.

Even better, Starbreeze is adding a couple new elements. First, the Dark Athena will have a multiplayer mode. And second, the game will feature all new content with the Dark Athena level (hence the name). The expansion level will focus on the Dark Athena, a mercenary ship piloted by the evil Captain Revas and her band of merry mercs who are hot on Riddick’s trail. With the two additions, Starbreeze remedies the only two complaints I’ve ever seen about Butcher Bay: the lack of a multiplayer mode and a somewhat short single player campaign (for the record, I didn’t think the game was short and could have cared less about multiplayer).

I was pretty aggravated when I learned that Butcher Bay wasn’t backward compatible with my Xbox 360. The original CoR was pretty much the biggest reason why I decided to lay down the cash for an Xbox of my own back in the day, and not being able to play CoR on the 360 really ticked me off. Sure, I could play CoR on my original Xbox if I really wanted. But that wasn’t the point. Instead, I was upset that a great title like CoR wasn’t getting more exposure. Even though Butcher Bay is an Xbox Platinum Hit, I still don’t feel the game has gotten the attention it deserves from gamers and I had hoped that playing it on the Xbox 360 might change that.

Well, now I know why Sierra and Starbreeze didn’t make the game backward compatible. They were taking CoR one step further. And hats off to them for keeping the spirit of CoR alive and well. Dark Athena will arrive sometime later this year. I just hope they don’t mess with the original content, because if they do, I might just have to break out the shiv…

The Guitar Hero franchise is quickly becoming a video game heavyweight, and RedOctane shows no signs of slowing down. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is due for release on PS2 later this summer and spinoff series Rock Band is looking to bring the complete garage band experience to next-gen consoles sometime later. RedOctane stoked the fires further today with some details about the upcoming Guitar Hero III including a short song list, console availability, and...did they say something about boss battles? I was just telling my wife a few weeks ago how Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" would be the best thing ever and a nightmare from which you might never awake on Guitar Hero, so I'm glad someone at RedOctane agreed. It's disheartening not to see any old Metallica or AC/DC make a list yet, but I have hopes that whatever obstacles are preventing this will be dealt with harshly. "Master of Puppets" would be 8 minutes and 36 seconds of finger-blistering bliss. Read the PR below:

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SUNNYVALE, CA – May 23, 2007 – After warming their amps in the basement garage to rocking sold out shows at Stonehenge, fans of Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) wildly popular Guitar Hero™ franchise will now be able to shred like never before with the next iteration of the game that will be available this fall. The new game will be released on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Wii™ video game system from Nintendo.

Turning it up to 11, Guitar Hero fans will channel their inner rock god using Gibson Guitar’s Les Paul and Kramer models as the industry standard. In addition, players will experience an incredible number of newly added features and explosive content including a new multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a bevy of exclusive unlockable content and authentic rock venues. Expanded online multiplayer game modes will also allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true legendary rock status.

While continuing to retain all the key features from their prior legendary performances, fresh downloadable content will be offered on multiple platforms, and players can now shred to a killer set list from many of the gnarliest rock songs ever recorded. Delivering more master tracks than ever before, strategic partnerships have been secured with all the major and independent music record labels and publishers to allow unrivaled access to their deep history of music catalogs, along with supplying artists’ original recordings for even greater authenticity.

The initial list of face-melting awesomeness includes:

• Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
• Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
• Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
• The Metal (by Tenacious D)
• My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
• Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
• Rock And Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
• School’s Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
• Slow Ride (as made famous by Fog Hat)
• Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
• Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)

For the first time ever, Guitar Hero fans will also be able to thrash and burn with new wireless guitar controllers available for each platform. The exclusive Gibson guitars will include innovative features such as removable faceplates that will allow fans to later personalize their guitars and make it their own, and a new button color design that will be integrated for an even greater authentic feel and rock experience. Gibson Guitar’s Les Paul model will be the battle axe of choice, and an industry standard for all rock gods on the Xbox 360™, PLAYSTATION®3 system, and Wii™. After much anticipation, PlayStation®2 system fans will also be receiving a new exclusive shape as well, the classic Kramer guitar, also a Gibson brand, popularized by hard rockers and known for its body design, pickups, electronics, and construction for furious finger fretting.

“The development team at Neversoft has been exceptional, and we’ve been able to incorporate a host of fresh new online and multi-player game play modes, along with exciting content into this version of Guitar Hero that our fans have been asking for. Also, many of the top bands and songs we’ve tried to get in the past are now on board, and we’ve definitely got some giant aces in the hole to say the least,” said Dusty Welch, head of publishing at RedOctane. “In addition, offering a new line of Gibson wireless guitars for each platform is going to truly add to the authentic rock star experience like no other.”

The next iteration of Guitar Hero, published by RedOctane® and developed by Neversoft, is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero, please visit the dedicated community site www.guitarherogame.com.

This was an uncharacteristically light week for comics with the excellent new issue of CRIMINAL being the best of the bunch. Here are the picks for this week.

DC

Countdown #49 - The DC weekly comic follow-up to 52 continues this week, but I can't help but think that it has yet to start. Like 52, the events of the individual issues aren't all that exciting without the hindsight of the grand picture (which we won't have for many months). Issue #49 has Killer Croc mauling Jimmy Olsen as he's coming out of his interview with the Joker in Arkham Asylum, but Olsen inexplicably demonstrates Plastic-Man-like powers and survives Croc's attack. The guards eventually restrain Croc, but it's clear that something is going on with Jimmy. We also get a scene from a tribunal of the Monitors and the Rogues are still unsure about their new members. Finally Mary Marvel happens across a major player from 52. See what I mean? These events don't stitch together into a very compelling single comic, so I just have to blunder forward blindly with the belief that something worthwhile awaits me. More Darkseid please, thank you.

Wonder Woman #9 - This issue is a tie-in to the AMAZONS ATTACK mini-series where Wonder Woman's mother Hippolyta is currently destroying Washington, DC with an Amazon army. This particular issue is just OK, nothing great. I think it suffers from too much dialogue. When I flip the pages and see that many word balloons, I just know that I'm in for lots of exposition and probably not much action. Writer Jodi Picoult tries to place some of the exposition during the action scenes, but it ends up reading like the wrong text was placed in the word balloons. Wonder Woman and Circe have an exchange while battling, but they might as well be sitting and having coffee. I mean, I would think that superheroes fighting would make a great deal of noise and render casual conversation pretty useless.

Marvel

Captain America #26 - Is it weird to still have a CAPTAIN AMERICA comic running after he's dead? Maybe a little, but most of the Marvel comics seem to be dealing with Cap's death one way or another, and the CAPTAIN AMERICA book focuses on the supporting characters from when Cap was alive. It isn't public knowledge (to the characters) that S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter actually fired the final shots that killed Cap or that she was being controlled by Dr. Faustus and the Red Skull. Issue #26 shows her dealing with the aftermath as well as Falcon attending the wake. Tony Stark also reveals to Sharon that Cap's body appears to be aging. Overall kind of a boring issue. I'm just waiting for them to bring him back.

Criminal #6 - I bought CRIMINAL #1 on a whim because a) it was #1 of a new series written by b) Ed Brubaker who writes CAPTAIN AMERICA with art by c) Sean Phillips who did the art on MARVEL ZOMBIES. The first arc is over and #6 starts a new storyline. From the looks of it you don't have to be familiar with the first arc to understand the second one, but some preview pages I've seen for later issues include characters from it. The new storyline may not be a direct continuation of the first, but I expect them to intersect somewhere. The trade for issues 1-5 was just released (titled "Coward"), and you should definitely pick it up. If you're looking to get on board, #6 is a perfect jumping-on point. We're introduced to our protagonist, Tracy Lawless, right in the middle of murdering someone, so already he's a much different character than Leo from the first arc. Tracy's been buried in a military prison for a while and is just now finding out about his younger brother being murdered. Now he's out and looking for the culprits. If the story sounds cliche, it's because CRIMINAL takes a lot of inspiration from old noir movies (including the art direction and voice over), but without the SIN CITY hyperbole. There are no superheroes, super powers, or extravagant characters. It's just straight-forward crime stories, and some of the best comics writing and cinematic art I've seen in a long time.

Fantastic Four #546 - In the last issue, Black Panther basically ran away from a big fight with the Silver Surfer, Stardust, and Galactus way out in outer-space. Black Panther fans worry not, T'Challa has not turned coward, but was rather just implementing his "Galactus Contingency Plan". If cosmic stories and outer-space weirdness are not your thing, just skip this story. The ending was a little too "feel good" for my tastes, and when Galactus appears in a comic, I'd like him to do more than just speak loudly. Galactus has been turned away from consuming planets so many times he's hardly a threat anymore. Someone make Galactus threatening again. Galactus commands it!

Next week the new issues won't be out until Thursday due to the holiday, so this post will go up on Friday.

At Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention last week in Burbank, Calif., Eli Roth talked about "Hostel II" and a potential follow-up to "Grindhouse," Rockstar Games previewed Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Wii, "Descent" director Neil Marshall talked about his new movie, and the stars of Rob Zombie's "Halloween" took the stage.

Hostel co-stars Vera Jordanova(left) and Bijou Phillips (right) with directo Eli Roth (center).

It's surprising that it's taken Hollywood nearly 30 years to make a comedy about the geek sub-species known as the "Star Wars" fanboy. Well, the good news is that such a movie has finally been made, and it's called "Fanboys." The bad news is, we'll all have to wait a little longer than 30 years because the movie is undergoing significant re-shoots and has been delayed until next year. Here's an updated on "Fanboys" from the Star Wars Celebration IV convention.

One of the highlights of the Star Wars Celebration IV convention last weekend was seeing Irvin Kershner, director of “The Empire Strikes Back,” speak in front of a large audience of adoring Star Wars fans about the making of what many consider to be the peak of the entire series.