Endangered Gamer

yeah, sometime today, this site passed 250,000 hits. awesome.

the halo movie has been cancelled . As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.

HA!!! this really made my morning. this kid tried to hijack someone's Steam account over MSN, and got royally pwnd. check out this forum thread for the whole IM transcript.

Here's a video from a UK band, kinda sounds like a sleepy Radiohead ( more sleepy than they usually sound) it's chock full of retro-atari images.....am i the only one getting burned out on these 8-bit inspired videos?!?!?!

i'm trying to get a podcast out soon, and hopefully some updates.....yah, i was lazy all weekend.....

Xbox360fanboy has the scoop on the shitty scans of some eurotrash mag...... Weapons Spiker - a new Brute weapon Spartan laser - a laser that tears vehicles apart Nail Grenade - sticks into walls and sends nails everywhere Vehicles The Mongoose is in! This is the ATV that was cut from Halo 2. It seats two and has no weapons. Designed from recon and quick travel. Multiplayer goodies The "Man Cannon" - Spartans do their best Human Bullet impersonations for some extremely rapid transport. Players can still shoot in the air, and can be shot down. Controls The X button has a new, still secret feature. Reloading has now been allocated to the bumper buttons. Right bumper reloads the right weapon, and the left bumper reloads the left. Genius. Miscellaneous You can now see your secondary weapon when it's not in use. In other words, it's actually slung over your shoulder instead of magically appearing out of thin air. Also, a 4 DVD "Legendary" edition is planned that ...

it's not totally jarring to hear such a sad, melencholy song in a commercial for such a hardcore, ultraviolent game like Gears of War, but sometimes opposites attract.......the more i hear it, the more i like it......the song is from the donny darko soundtrack......and it's directed (as much as you can direct a machinema commercial) by Mr. Fight Club, David Fincher......

from Xbox360fanboy.com Microsoft has just sent word that Gears of War has officially gone gold, which means the game is ready to be pressed, boxed, and shipped. To mark this occasion, several Emergence Day activities have been announced. Set to begin at 12:01 a.m. on November 12th, the activities range from tournaments to gaming with Megadeth. * A 24-Hour Leader board Tournament. The tournament winner receives a one of a kind "Gears of War" branded guitar as well as an automatic bye to the finals of a Global "Gears of War" Tournament planned for 2007. * Hourly sweepstakes drawings and prize giveaways including the chance to win one of several Samsung HT-P29 Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound Systems * An exclusive free "Gears of War" Gamer pic and theme only available on Emergence Day * Game with Fame sessions with legendary heavy metal band and "Gears of War" fans Megadeth, the game's lead designer Cliff Bleszinski and other members of the Epic Gam...

yes sir, Wes Anderson has gotten back on the saddle to direct a new film, "The Darjeeling Limited," beginning principal photography sometime at the end of this year. I liked The Life Aquatic , but i LOOVED The Royal Tenenbaums . It stars the usual suspects Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody(???) Here's a clip of a AMEX commercial he did this year, in lieu of a trailer....

I just came across this display from a Joystiq post. it's for the Wii promotional stands that will go up in Best Buys and probably Circuit City's too.... Waaaay nicer than the Xbox 360 shelves that they have now... seems like they're marketing the Wii to parents and grandparents more than the standard gamer stereotype....

Normally, I'd refrain from mentioning anything to do with emo bands, but today i got word from Nintendo that they're sending me some tickets to the Chicago stop on the Nintendo Fusion Tour. i guess there will be a few Wii consoles to play, just a week before the launch.. of course I'm going to go, just cuz I've heard that they'll have Metroid Prime: Corruption and Red Steel playable....hell yeah, Nintendo keep on giving me some loving, and i appreciate it!!!!!!!

yeah, i played through the demo a few times this weekend, and I've got to say, it's the prettiest FPS I've played on the 360 in a while. the controls are tight, with a new cover/blind fire mechanic tied to the r trigger. it makes shooting around corners almost identical to how it worked in G.R.A.W., except that when you pull the R trigger, you go into a third person view, and when you release, it jumps back to a first person view. very nice. and the rope-rappel stuff is cool, but a little hard to get used to. and the new snake-cam functionality ( you can designate targets with 3 degrees of priority) is the bee's knees. all around, it seems like a solid entry that might just flush out that nasty-ass taste that Rainbow Six: Lockdown left in my mouth.....but don't take my word for it, check out the Dec issue of OXM for a demo, or jump onto the Xbox Live Marketplace ( in U.k.) for a demo. ( for some reason,it's not available in the U.S. probably OXM's ...

Joystiq had the skinny on a bizzare Youtube vid with a slice of pepperoni (?) kicking ass on Guitar Hero......i'm hungry......

i would have totally gave this guy the tix to the wii party i hosted to this guy. so much pain and time, for a worthy cause........yeah, right!!!!! don't get me wrong, i like the tat, but this is just a tad bit beyond staying up for a game console launch, and even beyond a Nintendo themed wedding.....oh well.... it's colorful, at least......but where's chubby cherub!@!!>!!!!?!!?!?!

According to Variety , Universal and Fox have both pulled out of the Halo movie adaptation. the reason they gave was a supposed lack of confidence in rookie director Neill Blomkamp , and the budget that was edging closer and closer to $200 million. Peter Jackson and Co. don't seem too worried, cuz they could just shop the project around to other studios, just not at the price Micro$oft is demanding. Let's hope they get their shit together, and decide on a deal before my summer 07 plans are shot to shit........

I totally stumbled upon this video, i guess Lady Sovereign's the new hot shit on TRL. anyways, this video sounds vaguely 8-bit and has some visual elements ripped straight off of Tetris. wot a pottymouth, though!!!!!

so you know when you're getting old when you start shopping for fiber tablets...... Hey, there's some new demos out.... OXM has the demo for the new Rainbow Six: Vegas, and Tony Hawk's Project 8 demo comes out on XBL tomorrow.... Here's a link to a Mario-themed Halloween game, it's cute, and fun to boot..... J is going to be pissed off, but it seems like the Gamecube Zelda: Twilight Princess won't be making a retail stop in the U.S. Just like in Japan, it's going to be available only online....... Lumines on XBLA sucks the big one.... the controls are worse than on the cellphone, which was my only previous exposure to it.... I hope they release that XBLA arcade stick I've been hearing about soon, cuz the 360 controller sucks for some of the really retro Live Arcade games....... Speaking of Xbox Live, it's hit the 4 million subscriber mark.....and i can't find someone to play Unreal 2 with?!?!?!?! ( just kidd...

i'm taking this fucking post down because all it's done is cause me massive headaches. here's some pics of puppies and kittens instead.

I haven't even finished the core quest in Oblivion yet, but here comes an expansion!!! it's what the PS3 was supposed to have as "exclusive content". Bethesda Softworks Announces Knights of the Nine™ for Xbox 360™ and Windows New Faction and Quests to be available for Download and at Retail on November 21 October 17, 2006 (Rockville, MD) — Bethesda Softworks® today announced plans to make its new Knights of the Nine™ content for The Elder Scrolls IV®: Oblivion™ available for the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows via download and a new retail Windows product. Knights of the Nine will be available through Xbox Live® Marketplace for Xbox 360 and www.OblivionDownloads.com on November 21st.

As promised, Nintendo sent me the Wii party photos today. check out my Flickr site for all 112 of them! !!!

When i was a wee lad, i remember staying up on Friday nights to watch WWF wrestling and jumping off the couch, living and dying with the exploits of Randy Macho Man Savage, Hulk Hogan, and my personal fav, The Ultimate Warrior. Now that I'm older and have a sense of what some of those guys must have gone through ( check out the doc Beyond the Mat to see what i mean), I feel even worse when i see this video. The Ultimate Warrior was a insanely intense guy, no doubt fueled by whatever drugs he was consuming to maintain those obscene biceps. This video shows how just about everyone around him thought he was a raving lunatic. I think his intensity resonated with me, or maybe i was just watching his every move just so i can say i saw the moment his head exploded. Anyway, in this video he looks particularly batshit insane.

Well, after reading Bethany's post over at GoNintendo.com, I'm a little hesitant to continue, but here it goes anyway..... Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Looked just so-so, a direct port with the Wiimote functionality tacked on. you attack by swinging the Wiimote. i spent about 30 sec. on this game and ran back to Wii sports when i saw that the boxing game was going to be played..... WarioWare: Smooth Moves Just like all the other WarioWare games, this one was a zany-crazy game with hilarious minigames coming at you fast and furious. Most involved waving the Wiimote around or swinging it. and the driving minigame was like the Excite Truck driving. The game lets you know right before the game starts how you should hold the Wiimote, and the single...

Bethany from GoNintendo .com has a waaay better rundown of exactly what went down on Friday , and her impressions on all the Wii games we played are better written than my crappy writing. like i said before, this is why I'm a blogger and not a writer. check out her post here, and leave a comment!!!!!

So here we go..... I'm going to try to keep the buildup to a minimum, since the games are what I'm sure everyone wants to read about. like i said in the earlier post, pics will be available to attendees on Tuesday. So, were were picked up at about 6:30, by Megan and Catherine from Nintendo, and after sweating the last 10 min, for Bethany and Lara from GoNintendo.com to show up ( traffic on the Ryan) we were taken by 3 vans to a location in wicker park. like the other Wii party's I've been blogging about, it was decked out in retro paintings. i remember backgrounds from Mortal Kombat, Desert Strike, Pole Position, Outrun, and Metal Slug ( i think). The 2x2 Mario blocks were here also.... They had drinks ( beer and pops) and six Wii units, hooked up to Samsung 36"(?) LCD monitors. If they were all set the same, the displays were running at 480p. (when they swapped games out, the display flashed the resolution) Games Of course, as soon as i entered, i made a ...

I'm just about to get off of work so any updates to the totally AWESOME Wii party last night will have to come tonight, after i return from apple picking. Pics will come after Tuesday. Sorry, but I WILL update you guys sometime tonight......

Yeah, i know it's not the most PC thing to title this post, but after waiting in line, i finally preordered my Wii and Zelda: Twilight Princess. The Gamestop i was at only had 5 available preorders , which is really weird, since Nintendo recently doubled their launch quantities from 2 million to 4 million. anyways, i got mine and best of all, i spent only $50 cuz i traded in a crap load of games and DVDs !!!!! Tonight is the big night, and I'll post some early impressions of the Wii party as soon as i can. I almost forgot, there was some shyster guy who got really pissed when he was told he wouldn't get a preorder . he tried to insist that he was the 3rd one who got there, but since he wasn't in line, he was shit out of luck. too bad, so sad.......

Listen to the new podcast and watch for album art, you monkeys. Or visit the odeo feed.

ha. i bet she regrets THAT!!!!!!

it's official, says Kotaku.com and GoNintendo.com Wii preorders are going to begin on Friday, Oct 13 ( the same day as my Wii party, how convenient!!!!) Here's a few excerpts from a leaked scan GoNintendo was able to get their dirty little hands on.... We need to be consistent with our store opening times in order to insure that all customers are given a fair opportunity to line up and reserve their system. All stores will open at their NORMAL opening time on Friday, 10-13-06, for their Wii reservation customers. Do not host 'mightnight' or 'early openings' for the Wii reservation program. If you do arrive at your store and have a line already assembled, you should let your customers know that you will fill their reservations in order once you open. You should also let your customers know how many units you have to reserve so that your customers at the back of the line don't feel compelled to wait if units won't be available.

the gaming blog with the freaking coolest name EVAR: bits,bytes,pixels & sprites, has a post up about a new documentary on the evolution of 8-bit culture. it seems well intentioned, but there is sooo much to cover ( machinima, 8-bit rockers, performance art, graffiti, cosplay, real "art") and countless other weirdo-fringe things that I'm afraid 90 min isn't enough. expect a few sequels. it's playing now in new york, not sure if it'll play anywhere else in theaters. From the site: 8 BIT is a hybrid documentary examining the influence of video games on contemporary culture…A mélange of a rocumentary, art expose and a culture-critical investigation, 8 BIT ties together seemingly disconnected phenomena like the 80’s demo scene, chiptune music and contemporary artists using machinima and modified games…Produced in NYC, LA, Paris and Tokyo, 8 BIT brings a global perspective on the new artistic approaches of the DIY generation which grew up playing Atari an...

This song always gave me the hint of D&D nerd-fantasy intro song, and the video is a insane mash up of Battlestar Galactica, spaghetti westerns, cheesy kung-fu, and poo-flinging kids. oh, and unicorns and swedish models. and gay cowboys. not that there's anything wrong with that......

Yes sir, a Guitar Hero 2 demo just landed in my mailbox, courtesy of the Official Playstation Magazine. although i LOOOVE Guitar Hero, the PS3 will still suck ass. and this time next year, I'll be playing Guitar Hero 3 on my Wii !!!! I'll post some impressions after i go a few rounds with it.... The magazine also has something about Oblivion on the PS3, blah blah...... [Update] Sorry Kevin, here is the info The songs are as follows Kiss - Strutter Van Halen - You Really Got Me Rush - YYZ all the songs are available to play at the easy, medium,hard,and expert difficulty. unfourtunatly, i wasn't able to play very well, since in the demo you can't change the orientation of the guitar for lefties. i did play a few times in front of a mirror, that did help. the game itself is almost exactly as before, with a few visual upgrades to the star power meter. i just want to play "Woman" from Wolfmother WOOOOOMANNNNNNNN!!!!!!

Isn't it a pain in the ass, dear readers, to have to go to the xbox live marketplace ( and all the tedious button presses) to check for new content??? pretending we're in a universe that has no Major Nelson , XboxLivePipeline would be your only way to find out if that demo of Gears of War that you've been waiting for is finally up ( get hot, CliffyB !!!!) Which brings me to this curious image. Lumines Live will be free, you say?!?!!? Now i know there's a chance someone at Microsoft fucked up, and this will be corrected by tonight, but it's still fun to imagine..... freee Lumines ..... goood ....... [Update] yeah, it was a typo rats.

Wiishlist.com is a site that tracks all the major online retailers for info on when exactly they will begin to take preorders for the Wii. Considering how quickly the Playstation 3 preorders sold out , this might be a good idea. then again, the ps3 is a over-priced piece of shiny shit...... Yeah, i said it!!!!!

Destructoid reports that all is not well when it comes to the Nintendo Wii sensor and it's weakness to sunlight.... apparently, the wii motion sensor can be made to go crazy in the presence of direct sunlight or halogen lights. while this doesn't really qualify it as being a vampire, it does throw out a red ( blood splattered) flag as to why it's vulnerable. " We know that the sensor bar goes all wonky when halogen lights are in the room. But did you know that natural sunlight messes it up too? That’s right, if you have the sun beaming right onto the sensor bar, it doesn’t work. For about an hour or so, the sun shone right into the store, the two MP3:C kiosks had to have curtains above them, and the Wii Sports Tennis and Shooting Game kiosks were unplayable since they were “shrouded” in sunlight. Later the sun went behind a building, and everything was in working order again. So when you get your Wii, don’t play it in the sunlight. Or keep the sensor bar and TV away fr...

Engadget has the scoop on the floor displays for the launch of a certian new console with motion sensing controllers....they even have the cost for retailers for the console and accessories. swing over to engadget and check it out ....

better late than never, here is a flickr set from the Wii Party in Miami last week.... they also have a set of pics from the Gears of War event here...

yeah, the chaps over at 2Old2Play.com have put up a WAYYYY better review and detailed explanation of the controls and stuff from last night's Gears of War playtest. it puts my pitiful post to shame. this is why i'm a blogger, and not a writer....

So i just got back from the Gears of War/Texas Chainsaw Massacre event here in chicago. The movie sucked ass, so i won't bore you with details on that. we waited for about 2 hrs outside the AMC theater in downtown, and were shuffled off to see the movie. after that tripe-filled poo fest, the REAL action began. after a 10 minute demo of the first level, we were set up by order of apperance and assigned to teams, the cog or horde. 4-on-4 multiplayer matches ( 3 rounds to win) took place on a map ( don't remember the name) with a series of low bridges and a shallow river in the middle. the games were elimination style, you lose, you go home. you win, you keep playing. (that's me on the left) Controls I felt immediatly comfortable with the control scheme, since the game controls eeriely like GRAW. LT to zoom, RT to fire, A to take cover and dive (hold A to combat run) y to zoom in on objectives (don't r...

This is too funny not to post......

wow. My gamerscore (on the right, there, buddy) is nothing to brag about, but i HAVE noticed that among the peeps on my friends list, I'm the second to the top. it's stalled recently, due to the wedding, moving and other stuff (Wii party, wOOt!!!). But this is just ridiculous. the site Levelmy360.com has introduced WoW-like Gamerscore boosting. i guess they access your Xbox Live account and log ungodly hours to boost your gamerscore. 3000 points goes for about 300.00 smackers. (shakes head in disgust) i guess it would mean more if there was something at stake, like real money, tied into your gamerscore. who the hell would actually do this??????

Yeah, i know it's the 3rd Gears of War post in the last few days, but i just couldn't resist posting this Gametrailers video of some hawt chainsaw-shotgun action. i'm hopefully going to play this game tomorrow, so I'll post some impressions then.....

Yeah, i know it's old, but Joystiq had a flash version of what will be the Wii's avatar-creation feature which will "live" on your Wiimote. This seems a little bit cheesy, but the potential is definitely there. for a more detailed video of the creation process, check out the video below.

I'm about as tech savvy as a lump of coal, so it's no wonder that i've been staring at error messages at work all day today. Our power lines were zapped at work last night, due to some hellacious storms that rolled through. so our printserver is down for the count, and i don't have a clue how to get it back up. oh well. the Geeksquad guy is coming tomorrow, and we'll see how good they are...

Ugh.... sometimes, you gotta take the good with the bad.....i came across this kotaku post with info on how to get to play Gears of War early.....but you have to sit through the crapfest known as Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Fuck it, I'm down with THAT!!!! I just hope GoW don't suck the big one. Go here to sign up ( Chicago, L.A., New York and San Francisco ONLY) Oops, they're all out. that's what i get for snoring on this for the weekend.

I loved Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. for anyone who's played it, it represents the ultimate hardcore achievment to have compleated it. The frustrating boss battles and unrelenting enemies had me coming back for more, even after i beat it to get all of the old-school Ninja Gaiden games as unlockables. anyways, this recently released PS3 vid is a bit of a letdown, cuz it just looks like a high-rez version of the last few Gaiden games on the Xbox ( Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black). just another reason to NOT spend 600+ on a system without a marquee title in it's launch. Here's the vid, so you can see for yourself. ( props for the Minibosses on the vid)