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.

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

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.

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?

Starting in October, the Peacock will be offering free downloads of some of its biggest shows. 

Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will all be available for download from the network’s new service, “NBC Direct”.  Viewers will have a one-week window to watch the show before it’s locked down.  Additional features, such as HD content, usage on portable devices and “expanded platform functionality” (i.e. Macs) will come down the pipe later on.

Vivi Zigler, Executive VP of NBC Digital Entertainment said the following:

“With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment.  Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience.”

I’m sorry, but how does limiting (a) the length of time I have to watch a show, (b) what device I can watch a show on, and (c) what computer I can watch a show on give me more control?

There are a few shows debuting this season that seem to be targeted to the geek crowd.  One such program is the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory.  I took a look at the pilot episode (which is available as a free download on iTunes now), and reviewed it over on our sister site TV Jab.

Here’s an excerpt:

Many comedies aim for the lowest common denominator, so many viewers with half a brain find themselves scratching their heads and wondering, “How is this funny?”  So I have to give kudos to Theory…it goes in the opposite direction. 

The problem is, it goes too far.

Click here for the review.

Colin McRae, winner of the Scottish World Ralley Championship and namesake for the widely popular Colin McRae: Rally video game racing series was killed Saturday in a helicopter accident.  His five year old son and two family friends were also killed in the crash.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the McRae family during this hard time.  Head over to his official website to leave your condolences.

I will admit, I was absolutely infuriated about the $200 iPhone price drop last week.  Outraged.  I said words I don’t normally say, even.  So when Steve Jobs announced that everyone who purchased the iPhone for $600 would be getting a $100 credit to the Apple Store, I was quite relieved. 

Anyway, the refund went live today.  I’ve had concerns that the refund process would be trouble-filled…primarily because I couldn’t find my receipt.  But this could be the most ridiculously simple thing I’ve ever done.

Step 1: Click here.

Step 2: Enter your phone number and serial number (found on the back of the iPhone).

Step 3: Enter access code that you receive from text message.  Get money.

This seriously took me less than 90 seconds, including waiting on the text message.  Major kudos to Jobs & Co for this smooth refund.

Don’t forget, you can get your daily fix of Apple info at our sister blog Apple Gazette.

Google and the X-Prize Foundation are teaming up to give a $20 million prize to the first team that can put a rover on the moon.

Once on the lunar surface, the rover has to roam for at least 500 meters, and send a gigabyte of data back to Earth.  Eventually, Google wants to have a virtually live feed from the moon to stream on its site.

In 2012, the prize drops to $15 million, and the offer expires completely in 2014.  A prize of $5 million is in place for the second team to reach their objective.  And assuming the team gets there, an extra $5 million prize is available if they travel further than the required 500 m, take pictures of the Apollo hardware (assuming it’s really there, of course), find ice and survive the harsh night. 

Tell you what…I’m feeling generous.  I’ll throw $25 bucks in the pot…you know, just to sweeten the deal.

(Source: BBC and Dispatch)

I can’t tell you how many times I’m sitting around playing Bioshock or Gears of War or Madden, and think to myself, “You know, I’m just too much of a man.  I need to get in touch with my feminine side.”

Luckily, Microsoft has got me covered.  Sorry, fellas, the manly blue controller you see will only be available in Japan.  You can get your dainty, manicured hands on the pink one on October 2.

Man, those things will go great with an army-green Halo 3 Xbox console.

Adobe dropped a little preview at last week’s Photoshop World of the newest addition to the Photoshop family…Photoshop Express.

There’s not just a ton of info about what to expect, save that it’s free, it’s apparently Flash-based (like the recent Premiere Express), and “it’s a new member of the Photoshop family that’s meant to make Adobe imaging technology immediately accessible to large numbers of people.”

One cool feature that was displayed was the ability to scroll over the images at the top, and have the preview image displayed below in full screen.  No word yet on when this is available.

(Source: Adobe)

Let me start by saying that I was not watching the MTV Music Awards…my wife was, I just happened to be in the same room at the time.

Anywho, Shia LeBouf was on as a presenter, and he said that he was sworn to secrecy about Indy 4 news by Speilberg and Lucas, but what the heck, why not?  Then he revealed the title…

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The crowd reaction was hilarious…kind of like “So?  Bring back Fall Out Boy.”

So…Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I think it’s pretty much impossible to say that you like or dislike an Indiana Jones title.  It is what it is.  I think it’s pulpy enough to fit right in with the first three films.

Despite that nagging little feeling I have that says this movie will fail, it does seem like they’re getting it right…they pulled of the trifecta of Lucas, Speilberg and Ford, they brought back Karen Allen as Marion and they’ve got Hollywood’s next big star in LeBouf.  Could KOTCS succeed?

…Property of a Lady.

That was the title of a short story in the book “Octopussy and the Living Daylights”, and it was also dropped by a “close-friend to the current happenings of James Bond” at a recent lecture.

From AICN:

Under further inspection, it shows the plot revolves around a female British double-agent also working for the KGB and the attempted auctioning off of a Faberge egg to make the double-agent a little money courtesy of her Russian employers. Of course, Bond must interfere. Now, whether or not this will be the authentic plot of the film, just a disembodied title or nothing at all, only time will tell. It should be taken with a grain of salt.

I put Casino Royale above the majority of other Bond films, so I’m really looking forward to this installment.  We’ll keep you updated as more information develops.