The weapon-based off-road vehicle combat game Vigilante 8: Arcade is coming to X-Box Live, here is the first trailer. The game is
coming November 5th.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to play Gin Rummy. Sierra Online has brought one of the most famous classic card games to Xbox LIVE® Arcade with Gin Rummy. First introduced to the world almost 100 years ago, Gin Rummy comes to life online, where players can ‘knock’ out opponents with big scores and bonus points for endless hours of casual card game fun.

In Gin Rummy, players strategically select the right cards to create combinations of sets and runs to complete their hand, and in turn cleverly discard to minimize the risk of getting caught with a handful of high cards. Featuring six popular game modes, including Classic, Speed Gin, Hollywood Gin and Three-Hand Gin, players can also create their own rules for a truly unique experience. The game comes with rapid automatic scoring at the end of each match to get a detailed breakdown of each player’s points and bonuses. Gin Rummy features multiplayer for up to four players, with Xbox LIVE Vision support that lets players build up the atmosphere as the games progress. In addition, players can select from numerous game themes, including game skins, card decks and entertaining music selections. Gin Rummy is available now for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points. To help us noobs along they also released a tips and tricks video. 

It’s almost time for me to go back to War. Oh, the stories I can tell about my experience using modern weapons to take out some middle eastern despot. Or the time I had to make it through a village without being spotted. Or the time I thought I rescued that downed chopper pilot and got nuked instead. Good times, good times. My favorite game from last year, Call of Duty is returning this fall. Boot camp will soon take on a new meaning, as  Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and developer Treyarch, have confirmed plans for Call of Duty: World at War multiplayer betas in October for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and separately for download on Windows PC. These betas will serve as an early chance for players to practice the tactics needed for survival in the intense chaos of Call of Duty: World at War’s Pacific and European theaters. Players will experience the game’s new squad system, as well as fan favorite perks and kill streaks.  All preparation for the full battle will commence on November 11, 2008 when Call of Duty: World at War is released to retailers nationwide. “We are excited to share a sneak peak of Call of Duty: World at War multiplayer with the community,” says Mark Lamia, Treyarch Studio Head. “The team has worked hard to build upon the great history and foundation of Call of Duty multiplayer and we can’t wait to go online to ramp up for our November launch.”

Last week I gave you a look at the first footage from Tomb Raider: Underworld, now take a look at the new trailer.

One of the first signature games for X-Box Live Marketplace was Geometry Wars. Now several years later the long awaited sequel is finally available for a reasonable 800 points. I have to admit that I love XBLA but all of the games are starting to be the same. Geometry Wars is the best shooter on XBLA, but I’d like to see more diversity in my market. Get it while it’s hot. You can check out the official Press release after the break.

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After a couple of painfully slow weeks, we have a nice group of strong, diverse titles.  Starting with a trio of movie games Lego Indiana Jones, The Bourne Conspiracy and The Incredible Hulk.  Then we have a little game called Ninja Gaiden II - I personally could never get into Ninja Gaiden the puzzles were too obtuse and the best part is all four titles are available on both PS3 and 360.  These days I’m desperate to have something to play on my PS3 so I may try and get these for that system. Who am I kidding? I’ll be picking up all the 360 versions. I finally gave up on Gamefly’s incredibly lousy East Coast service, so I’m going to have to actually buy all of these games.

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In case you missed it, Codemasters Grid hit the shelves next week.  I checked out the X-Box demo and the game is shaping up pretty nicely. I’m not big on racing games, but I do love to smash up a car. Check out the new Press Release.

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The alien invasion has begun with the announcement that id Software’s Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™ published by Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Set in the year 2065, Enemy Territory:  QUAKE Wars pits the armies of Earth’s Global Defense Force (GDF) against the invading alien menace, the Strogg, in an all-out struggle for the fate of the planet.  Enemy Territory:  QUAKE Wars is slated to arrive on European and Australian store shelves on May 30, 2008. "Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars raises the bar for next-gen console games with its variety and intense combat," said Kevin Cloud, Executive Producer, id Software. “Whether you’re playing online with fifteen friends, or playing a single-player campaign against amazing AI, Enemy Territory:  QUAKE Wars delivers a new level of team play and combat strategy to the PS3 and 360.”

Set within the expansive QUAKE® universe in the year 2065, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is the ultimate team and mission-based multiplayer warfare game offering console gamers distinct classes, vehicles and weapons to choose from, giving players countless ways to join the battle.   Players work as a team to defeat the enemy and achieve objectives either online against other players or battle offline with surprisingly lifelike AI.  Across multi-mission campaigns, players earn experience and promotions while stats are recorded globally for players to track their rank and prestige in the community at www.enemyterritory.com.   Based on the critically-acclaimed game from id Software and Splash Damage for Windows® PC that has received over eighty awards and nominations, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars was developed for the Xbox 360 by Nerve Software.

After spending this weekend fighting with my new Macbook (contrary to what the commercials say, it doesn’t “just work.” But I’ll save my tales of Apple woe until later in the week. I decided to download and watch Warner Home Video’s latest direct to video animated fair Justice League: New Frontier. I downloaded it on my X-Box 360. The download took less than an 1/2 hour so I had instant gratification. When the movie first started, it was weird. The animation was literally just some weird drawings, then the camera pulls back and you see it’s an children’s book author telling a story about the end of the world. But what’s more shocking is, the guy puts a gun in his mouth and blows his brains out. So three minutes into this you know this film isn’t for kids.

But in case you missed the point, a few minutes later Air Force pilot Hal Jordan (voiced by David Boreanaz) is shot down over Russia at the end of the war. He puts a gun to some kid’s face and pulls the trigger. We get to see it in it’s gory detail. I would say this definitely isn’t your father’s Superhero film, but it actually is. The conceit of this piece is that everything takes place in the fifties. At the height of the cold war, McCarthyism, the red scare and more. And our Superheroes are stuck in the middle trying to stick to their convictions when the world around them has turned to chaos and against them. Watching all of this as an outsider, trying to do good in his small way is a Martian - J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter (voiced by Miguel Ferrer).The movie packs a lot of oomph into it’s short 77 minute running time. We really get a sense of the time period and all of it’s turmoil.

Director Dave Bullock and the writers Stan Berkowitz and Darwyn Cooke don’t shy away from talking about some of the racial and political problems of the time period. Mentioning the KKK lynching a black hero, or Superman (Kyle MacLachlan) trying to lecture Diana (Lucy Lawless) about letting enslaved Chinese women murder their former captures after she freed them. The movie pretty relentlessly dark, but there was a great line from Batman (Jeremy Sisto) to the Manhunter “I have a $70,000 sliver of rock that will take care of the one in Metropolis, all I need for you is a Penny and a book of matches.”

The film falls apart at the end when the Heroes finally come together to stop the big bad. It’s some lame living Island thing. It felt a little anti-climatic. But this movie isn’t about big Super Hero battles, it truly is a character piece and manages to juggle it’s large cast really well.

I haven’t watched the DVD, but it looks like a packed affair. The animated adventure is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format. The picture quality is excellent. Its 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is clear with good surround effects. The DVD includes the revealing “Super Heroes United”, “The Legion of Doom” and “Comic Book Commentary” documentaries, two in-depth audio commentaries with filmmakers and comic book writer Darwyn Cooke, three bonus “Justice League Unlimited” episodes (The Dark Heart, Task Force X & To Another Shore), trailers and an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming “Batman - Gotham Knight”.

Final Grade A

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria

In a move that surprises no one, Microsoft has officially put an end to it’s HD-DVD add-on drive.  I actually bought one of these last summer from Gamestop as an impulse buy and immediately regretted my decision but couldn’t take it back because Gamestop draconian return policy. Word of advice - NEVER shop there. So I kept it and it grew on me. I never officially jumped on either bandwagon, preferring to rent from Netflix to starting a new collection. My only regret is I paid $120 for the Harry Potter set on HD instead of Blu.  It was my only real HD purchase so I don’t feel too upset over it’s demise. I hope the inevitable Blu-ray add-on (replacement) is smaller, includes a smaller power cable (the one for the HD-DVD is ridiculously large) and includes HDMI with up-conversion.  Last week I finally broke down and purchased the 120 gig hard drive and a pleasant surprise side benefit is it cut down the noise on my 360 by almost 90 percent!  It’s still loud, but it no longer sounds like a jet airplane.  Anyway, here’s the statement.

"As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD.  Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.  As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace.  HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own."