Nintendo Announces VC releases for Christmas Day December 21, 2006 11:57 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Video Games.add a comment
The Virtual Console is a part of the Nintendo Wii videogame system that allows users to download, for a fee, classic video games from past Nintendo systems (Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64) and former competitors Sega Genesis and Turbografx-16.
The VC currently has a catalog of over 30 games to download which range in price from 500 Wii points for NES games (100 Wii points = $1 U.S.) , 600 Wii points for Turbografx-16 games, 800 Wii points for Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games and 1,000 Wii points for Nintendo 64 games.
Nintendo has been adding to the console every Monday and this Christmas morning will be no different as the console is set to get an additional 5 games: Super Mario Bros. (NES), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES), Super Castlevania IV (SNES), Toe Jam & Earl (GEN) and R-TYPE (TG-16).
All games will cost 800 Wii points, with the exception of Super Mario Bros. which will sell for 500 Wii points.
Nintendo has also let slip that the following Monday (New Years morning) they will be releasing Baseball (NES) and Urban Fighting at 500 (NES) Wii points each.
Burger King Xbox games enjoy strong sales December 21, 2006 11:49 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Video Game Sales, Video Games, Xbox 360.add a comment
According to a statement from Microsoft, more than 2 million of the Burger King-related Xbox 360/Xbox games have been sold in just four weeks since their November 19th launch in North America.
The three games (developed by Blitz), “Pocketbike Racer”, “Big Bumpin” and “Sneak King” cost only $3.99 with the purchase of a BK Value Meal at the U.S. food chain.
Russ Klein, president of global marketing, strategy and innovation for Burger King had the following to say:”We created the BK Xbox games as a unique form of all-family interactive entertainment, and we’re thrilled with the response thus far. Most video games are considered a blockbuster when they reach the 1 million mark in sales, and this collection has achieved twice that.”
Wii Browser Live in Europe and Australia; U.S. Friday [UPDATE] December 21, 2006 11:23 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Video Games.add a comment
The Wii Browser (powered by Opera) for the Nintendo Wii (currently in beta) has gone live in a few regions such as Europe and Australia.
It will go active in the U.S. Friday and the download will be free of charge. A final version of the Opera Browser for the Internet Channel is expected by March 2007. It will continue to be free of use until June, when it will cost users 500 Wii points (100 Wii points = $1).
UPDATE: The Internet Channel (browser) is now active in the U.S. I’m actually typing this on my Nintendo Wii right now.
First of two Stargate SG-1 movies set to begin filming April, 15 December 21, 2006 8:53 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Science Fiction, Stargate, Television.1 comment so far
According to an interview he gave to IGN.com, Michael Shanks announced that the first of two Stargate SG-1 films will begin filming April 15, 2007, while the second will start shooting June 1.
The first movie will follow the current 10th season Ori storyline, and the second one will involve time travel.
The entire cast is signed up for both movies.
Movie 1 will be executive produced and written by Robert C. Cooper (who will also direct it), while the second movie will be executive produced by Brad Wright and directed by Martin Wood.
Head on over to IGN.com to check out more details and read the full interview with Michael Shanks.
Source: [tv.ign.com] — IGN Interviews Michael Shanks
Voice cast of TMNT released December 21, 2006 8:05 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News.add a comment
USA Today reported that Sarah Michell Gellar, Zhang Ziyi, Chris Evans and filmmaker-actor Kevin Smith along with Patrick Stewart have all been cast in the CGI movie.
Ziyi will voice “Karai”, leader of the evil Foot Ninjas, Gellar will voice April, Evans Casey Jones, while Smith will make a cameo as “a greasy-spoon chef”.
Patrick Stewart will voice the villian of the movie: Max Winters, an industrialist who is amassing an army of monsters in the city.
The turtles will be not voiced by celebrities.
Source: [USA Today] — Slow to return, teen Turtles are back!
New trailers released for “Transformers”, “Ocean’s 13” and “Grindhouse” December 21, 2006 5:30 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Trailers, Movies, News.add a comment
You can check out the new trailer for “Transformers” (set for release July 4, 2007) at Yahoo! Movies here.
And the trailer for “Oceans 13” (set for release June 8, 2007) is available to watch at AOL’s Moviefone site here.
There is also a new trailer posted over at Yahoo! for the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez film “Grindhouse”. You can check that out here.
J.K.Rowling reveals title of final “Harry Potter” book December 21, 2006 5:03 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Books, News.4 comments
The seventh and final “Harry Potter” novel, will be titled “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.
Scholastic, Rowling’s U.S. publisher, announced the name in a brief statement this morning. No other details (whether that be plot or publication date) have been released.
If they wish, fans can head on over to J.K. Rowling’s official website (jkrowling.com) to play a game of hangman to reveal the name.
Click the eraser in the middle of the website to be taken to an image which shows a window, a door and a mirror.
In the mirror, click on the doorknob at the end of a hall. A Christmas tree will appear.
Click the center of the door (near the top) in the middle of the image and a wreath will appear.
Click the mirror (near the top) and a garland will appear.
Click a cobweb (either at the top right above the light switch, or towards the bottom right, just under the window sill). The cobwebs will disappear.
Next click the second chime to the right, which will turn into a key.
Click and drag the chime (which will turn into a key) and move it to the keyslot on the door.
The door will then open.
Open the Christmas gift and click the envelope inside.
Play Harry Potter hangman to discover the title of the book! (Play the game by just typing a letter with your keyboard.)
CBS makes scheduling changes on Monday nights December 21, 2006 4:52 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
Setting way for its new midseason comedy “Rules of Engagement”, CBS has decided to tweak their schedule around, moving two of their current.
‘Rules’ will premiere February 5, 2007 at 9:30 PM. The timeslot is currently occupied by “The New Adventures of Old Christine” which will stay on the same evening but be moved to the 8:30 PM timeslot after “How I Met Your Mother”. ‘Old Christine’ will air its last episode in its current timeslot on January 29th and return March 12th in its new slot.
The move will be made possible because “The Class” will have its season finale March 5th.
Also included in the schedule change is “The King of Queens” which is in its final season. In order to give the show a proper sendoff, its remaining episodes (starting April 9th) will air on Monday at 9:30 PM after “Two and a Half Men”.
All times are eastern.
“These scheduling moves enable us to program more original episodes of comedy in targeted time periods for the remainder of the season,” said CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler. “It also provides an opportunity to give The King of Queens a proper send-off in a high-profile time period in the Monday-night block it helped build.”
CBS Monday Line-Up (Febuary 5 to March 5)
8:00 PM – “How I Met Your Mother”
8:30 PM – “The Class”
9:00 PM – “Two and a Half Men”
9:30 PM – “Rules of Engagement” (Series Premiere)
10:00 PM – “CSI: Miami”
CBS Monday Line-Up (March 12 to April 2)
8:00 PM – “How I Met Your Mother”
8:30 PM – “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (Time Period Premiere)
9:00 PM – “Two and a Half Men”
9:30 PM – “Rules of Engagement”
10:00 PM – “CSI: Miami”
CBS Monday Line-Up (April 9)
8:00 PM – “How I Met Your Mother”
8:30 PM – “The New Adventures of Old Christine”
9:00 PM – “Two and a Half Men”
9:30 PM – “The King of Queens” (Time Period Premiere)
10:00 PM – “CSI: Miami”
“Rocky Balboa” has strong opening day December 21, 2006 4:32 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News.1 comment so far
“Rocky Balboa”, the sixth and final movie in the ‘Rocky’ franchise, earned an estimated $6.2-$6.4M from 2,752 theaters on Wednesday.
The film will add more theaters on Friday (expanding to 3,017) as it tries its hand at taking the box office crown over the weekend.
Analyists are expecting “Rocky” to place somewhere in the top three, possibly being surpassed this weekend by the “Night At The Museum” (opening Friday) and “The Pursuit of Happyness”.
But a third place finish would not be considered a poor showing for the movie, as its budget stayed fairly low at around $24M.
Word of mouth also appears to be strong as audiences (77% at RT), and critics, are saying the movie is better than expectations.
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