Halloween is only a couple of weeks around the corner, kiddos, so you’ll probably start seeing a lot more stuff like this.

Michael Barrera from Ai Presents did some work on the Darth Vader Unleashed figure, transforming the Sith Lord into an undead.  Head on over to the site for more pics.

For those interested, the newest issue of Toyfare also has a step-by-step guide to transforming the Slave Leia figure into a zombie as well…for all you people with a twisted Star Wars/zombie fetish.

So I was watching Jimmy Kimmel last night, and he showed this clip that had been making its way around the tubes. Back in the late 1970’s, from the looks of it, Stacy Hedger was competing in a Nebraska beauty contest, and she chose to play a trumpet solo from the biggest movie at the time…Star Wars.

I can’t decide what’s worse, the “playing”, the “acting”, or the “costume”. *Shudder*

If you follow games much, you probably know that we are heading into what will probably the biggest video game holiday season in history, especially on the 360.  With the mega-launch of BioShock a month ago and the uber-launch of Halo 3 a week or so back, and with the long litany of games coming soon, it’s a great (and bank-busting) time to be a gamer.

In an effort to drive their customers (myself included) even further into debt, companies have begun to offer some pretty sweet Collector’s Editions for their games.  BioShock had a Big Daddy statue along with a music CD, and Halo 3 came with a ton of extra content on an enclosed DVD, as well as a nifty Master Chief helmet replica.  And I’m proud to say I own them both.

This one, though, I won’t be getting.  The forthcoming Mass Effect Collector’s Edition will contain an art book, a second DVD with behind-the-scenes documentaries about the making of the game, and a fiction book, Galactic Codex: Essentials.  So if you want to give your thumbs a break from the game, you can pick back up in the paperback.  Books…whoopty-poo.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to read, but…come on, that just ain’t that cool.  Mass Effect hits stores November 20.

We want action figures.  And that’s where the Assassin’s Creed Collector’s Edition comes in.  Not only will it contain the obligatory BTS videos, but it comes with a cool 12-inch figurine of the game’s hero.  It’s due November 13.

Now…I’ve just got to take out a second mortgage to pay for all this stuff.

You know the signals are always flying around you.  However, have you ever found yourself frustrated that you can’t find a wi-fi signal strength at those times when you don’t have a computer with you?  Yeah, me neither.

Regardless, if you are looking to add to your geekly wardrobe, look no further than the Wi-Fi Detection Shirt.  It will show the signal strength of surrounding 802.11b or 802.11g signals, and will run for hours off of 3 AAA batteries.  This astounding garment can be yours for the low price of $29.99!

Bungie Studios is set to become an independent company, according to this press release issued by Microsoft today.  As you may or may not know, Bungie became a part of Microsoft Game Studios back in 2000.  They went on to create that Halo series that there has been so much hooplah about.

“Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in ‘Halo’ becoming an enduring mainstream hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “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.”

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft^® platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios; and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”

Even though the Halo movie is supposedly dead, it’s interesting to see Peter Jackson’s name still being thrown around.  And is that new interactive series the forthcoming Halo Wars, or something entirely different?

Serenity, the theatrical follow-up to the gone-too-soon Fox drama Firefly, may have a sequel in its future.

In an interview with, Moviehole, Alan Tudyk, who played Wash, had the following to say:

“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. [...] Everybody in the Firefly crew – and that includes the ones who died in the movie – are excited about the prospect of doing another.”

First Showing verified this, saying that the matter is in Universal’s hands, and they are “very interested”.

I regret that I didn’t jump on the Firefly/Serenity bandwagon until after the movie came out.  I was very pleased with the time I had with it, though.  Hopefully, we’ll see something come of this.

On Tuesday, Microsoft will hold a press conference in Redmond.  This much is confirmed. 

The speculation, though, is that we’ll get our first official word on the much rumored sequel to the Zune.  Billy Gates and J Allard are said to be attending this press conference.  Don’t look for them to follow Apple’s model, though…the new bricks Zunes probably won’t ship until November.

(Source: BetaNews)

Apparently, AT&T’s new policy is “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words may ALSO hurt me.”  From their newly updated Terms of Use:

In addition, AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes (a) violates the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) constitutes a violation of any law, regulation or tariff (including, without limitation, copyright and intellectual property laws) or a violation of these TOS, or any applicable policies or guidelines, or (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.

I would say that this article itself damages the name and repuation of AT&T, so I’m in a bit of a conundrum.

In a move that should shock no one, Microsoft is apparently no longer going to be offering the Xbox 360 Core System.

Kotaku is reporting that GameStop has just gotten notice from Microsoft to pull all signage regarding the baby version of the console, saying that what they have in stock is all that they’ll be getting.

It’s tough for me to understand how these things lasted this long, anyway.  Much like the case with the 4GB iPhone, if someone was going to be paying the amount of the severly limited Core System anyway, why not just go for the Premium for $100 more?  Ah, well…it’s not something we’ll have to think about for much longer.

Apple has released iPhone Software 1.1.1, which contains, most notably, the brand spankin’ new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store.  Users of the iPhone or iPod Touch can now remotely download, according to Apple, every song that iTunes offers.

I haven’t gotten to try it out yet, but Michael over at our sister site Apple Gazette has applied the update (despite a bit of a rocky start).  He confirmed that the store won’t work over EDGE, only over wi-fi…hence the Wi-Fi part of the Wi-Fi Music Store.

Here’s the full list of updates:

• Louder speakerphone and receiver volume
• Home Button double-click shortcut to phone favorites of music controls
• Space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
• Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape
• Stocks and cities in Stocks and Waether can be re-ordered
• Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
• Support for TV Out
• Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally
• New Passcode lock time intervals
• Adjustable alert volume

Besides the store, I’m excited for the double-tap shortcut, and possibly the TV Out.

Is there anyone surprised that Halo 3 broke a few records?  I haven’t gotten nearly as much time as I’d like with it, but there is zero doubt that it is a phenomenal game.

Xbox 360 Exclusive “Halo 3” Registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment History with $170 Million in Sales

Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive game “Halo 3” has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like “Spider-man 3” and novels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

[...] 

More than 1.7 million copies of “Halo 3” were preordered in the United States before a single store opened its doors at midnight, Sept. 25, making this the fasting pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of “Halo 2.” Well beyond just a U.S. phenomenon, the launch of “Halo 3” was a worldwide celebration that released in 37 countries and available in 17 languages.

DreamScene, the Windows Vista Ultimate add-on that changes your background from a static image to a full-motion video, is now available. 

In conjunction with Stardock, we’re pleased to also offer a number of cool, new animated DreamScene desktops, including “Aurora”. Additionally, you can use your own videos as DreamScene desktops or visit Stardock’s Dream.WinCustomize.com website to download Stardock’s DeskScapes (an add-on to DreamScene) as well as a collection of fabulous content created by Stardock and members of the Ultimate community.

I’m really interested to see how the public responds.  I can’t decide if it will be very cool, or if it will get very annoying after a while.

If you have $500 and about three years of your life to give up, consider picking up the new LEGO Millennium Falcon set.  This sucker boasts 5,000 pieces and a four-pound manual. 

I would think about getting this, but, I could barely make it through the little 6 piece LEGO sets they used to give away at McDonalds before my ADD kicked in.  This thing would drive me nuts. 

(Source: Gizmodo)

Today, Amazon launched their new DRM-free music store, called Amazon MP3.

Amazon boasts a collection of over 2 million songs, all DRM-free, and priced at a pretty little $.89 or $.99.  Albums will go as high as $9.99.

Though I know that there are many out there who feel very strongly about it, I’ve never been a huge hater of DRM.  Sure, it’s an inconvenience if you want to use other devices (although there are workarounds), but I’ve yet to find a device that would really make me want to switch from my iPod.  Regardless, for those of you who have adamant feelings about DRM, this is a big day.

The LA Times (and Michael Bay’s blog) have confirmed that Dreamworks has scheduled the sequel to the surprisingly non-sucky Transformers to bow in the summer of 2009.

This is a great move…if they can get LaBouf back.  Transformers was good, but Shia was the one who sold it.  Hopefully, he’ll step back into the role for the sequel.

Anybody else been singing the Halo theme all weekend long? Yeah, me too.

Dum-da-DAH da-da-da Dum-da-DAH da-da-da Dum-da-DAH da-da-da Dum-da-DAH da-da-da-da-da-da…but I digress.

Anyway, to stoke your appetite for what will be the best-selling video game of all time, here are the great promos that we’ve been seeing for Halo 3.

Museum

The first glimpse we got to see is, understandably, the most lackluster. This was merely a set up for what was to come.

Two Soldiers Reminisce

This is set up kind of like a History Channel documentary, interviewing a couple of old troops about their memories of the war.

Believe

This one gave me shivers in all my happy places (if you were curious). One day, when I’m rich and famous, I will have this set piece on my coffee table. Mark my words.

Being Hunted

I literally saw this as I was preparing to hit “Publish”. Here we have an interview with another soldier who had to lay in complete darkness as his group waited on Master Chief.

It’s an interesting choice to run no advertisments with actual in-game footage. I guess the brand is popular enough that Microsoft feels like they don’t really have to win anyone over with gameplay. What do you guys think?