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.
“You”: Time’s Person of the Year December 16, 2006 11:21 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Magazines, News.add a comment
That’s right, you. As in me, yourself, your friends, your family. You name a person, they’re the person of the year.
From Time: “Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.”
Read the story about the person of the year here and be sure to pick up the Person of the Year issue on newstands this month.
“Pursuit of Happyness” appears to be Friday winner December 16, 2006 12:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News.add a comment
Early estimates (courtesy Deadline Hollywood Daily and Box Office Mojo) show that the Will Smith powered “Pursuit of Happyness” and “Eragon” were in a tight race Friday for the number one spot, with ‘Pursuit’ taking in about $9.05M in receipts and “Eragon” around $8.62M.
Those two openers were followed by “Charlotte’s Web” at number three ($3.43M), “The Holiday” ($2.58M) holding well from the week prior at number four, “Apocalypto” (last week’s winner) dropping to fifth ($2.245M), “Happy Feet” ($2.07M) at number six, “Blood Diamond” dropping to seventh with $1.805M, “Casino Royale” ($1.575M) at number eight, “The Nativity Story” ($1.20M) at number nine and “Unaccompanied Minors” ($1.015M) at 1oth.
If those numbers hold firm, expect weekend takes of around $27M for “Pursuit of Happyness”, $24M for “Eragon” and $14M for “Charlotte’s Web”.
Box Office for Friday, December 15, 2006
1. “Pursuit of Happyness — $9.05M
2. “Eragon” — $8.62M
3. “Charlotte’s Web” — $3.43M
4. “The Holiday” — $2.58M
5. “Apocalypto” — $2.245M
6. “Happy Feet” — $2.07M
7. “Blood Diamond” — $1.805M
8. “Casino Royale” — $1.575M
9. “The Nativity Story” — $1.20M
10. “Unaccompanied Minors” — $1.015M
Top DVD sales for the week ending December 10th December 16, 2006 12:36 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in DVD, DVD Sales, Movies, News, Television.add a comment
As was expected, and mentioned here a few days back, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” the second of an expected three films in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise, was the number one best selling DVD for the past week.
Dragon Quest IX Exclusive to Nintendo DS December 16, 2006 12:06 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Video Games.add a comment
In a somewhat surprising move, SquareEnix has decided to release their next game in the successful “Dragon Quest” RPG series exclusively on the Nintendo DS handheld.
The game, now titled Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito (translated to Protectors of the Sky), was originally expected to be released for the Sony Playstation 2, Sony Playstation 3 or the Nintendo Wii.
The game has a tentative release date set for December 31, 2007 in Japan with an international release to other territories, including the U.S., also expected sometime in 2007.
ABC pulls “Day Break” and “Show Me the Money” from schedule December 15, 2006 5:51 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Cancellations, News, Television.add a comment
ABC has pulled both struggling shows from their lineup, effective immediately.
“Show Me the Money” had actually just recently been given an additional six episode order, but ABC has canceled that order and ended production of the program.
“Day Break” will be replaced with an hour block of comedies to be named in the future, while “Show Me the Money” will be replaced with an airing of “America’s Funniest Home Videos”.
Teaser trailer for “Live Free or Die Hard” released December 15, 2006 3:10 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Trailers, Movies, News.1 comment so far
The teaser for the next movie in the Die Hard franchise, “Live Free or Die Hard” has been released.
Head on over to Yahoo! Movies or MovieHole.net to catch the short teaser.
“Dead Man’s Chest” sets one-week sales record for 2006 December 15, 2006 2:57 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in DVD, DVD Sales, Movies, News.1 comment so far
As was mentioned on Entertainment Now a less than a week ago, first day sales of the second ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise were in excess of 5 million units. Experts were expecting when it was all said and done, “Dead Man’s Chest” would become the best selling one-week DVD of 2006.
Well, the movie accomplished the feat selling a 2006 one-week record of 10.5 million DVD’s. The previous record was held by Disney/Pixars “Cars” which sold 9 million units in its first week.
“With the incredible success of the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, it is evident that the home entertainment industry continues to flourish,” BVWHE president Bob Chapek said in a statement. “It also further illustrates worldwide phenomenon of everything Pirates of the Caribbean.”
The mark was just a tad short of the previous film in the franchise “Curse of the Black Pearl” which sold 11 million DVD’s and VHS tapes back in its first week in 2003.
The DVD continues to be a huge success worldwide as well, as it sold 1.5 million units in the U.K. (a first-week record) and 1 million units in Japan (the live-action release of all time).
Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, December 14, 2006 December 15, 2006 2:36 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, News, Nielsen Ratings, Television.add a comment
CBS, once again, wins another night in all three main categories. A repeat of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” took the top spot in households and viewers, while “Survivor: Cook Islands” was the top rated show for the evening among adults 18-49.
Nathan Fillion gets attached to “Drive” December 15, 2006 1:04 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in New Show Orders, News, Television.1 comment so far
Nathan Fillion (of “Firefly” and “Serenity” fame) has been tapped by Fox to star in the midseason drama series “Drive”.
The series is executive produced by Tim Minear, Ben Queen and Greg Yaitanes and is from 20th Century Fox TV.
“Drive” chronicles an underground race across America and Fillion wil play the role of Alex Tully, a roque landscaper who is forced into joining the race to search for his kidnapped wife.
New japanese inspired game show on the way to NBC December 15, 2006 12:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in New Show Orders, News, Television.1 comment so far
Executive producer Vin Di Bona (“America’s Funniest Videos”) is preparing a one-hour pilot for NBC titled “Comedy Colosseum”, based on a popular japanese game show.
The program will be hosted by Saturday Night Live alum Dean Edwards and Olivia Lee (from Britain).
The format of the program has comics going head to head for $10,000 in the arena of a Colosseum, where the audience decides on the winners and losers. Each comic will be judged on the laughter they are able to generate from the audience.
U.S. edition of FHM suspended December 15, 2006 12:49 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Magazines, News.add a comment
Emap Consumer Media, publisher of the U.K. based FHM, announced this morning that it is ending publication of the U.S. edition of the magazine.
Emap Consumer Media CEO Paul Keenan had the following to say about the decision, “Trading conditions in the U.S. market have deteriorated over the past 12 months and we do not expect an improvement in the near term. In these circumstances we do not anticipate that the title would be able to trade on a profitable basis going forward.”
Circulation for the magazine fell 3.2 percent in the first half of 2006 to 1.25 million compared to an increase of 1.9 percent of rival Maxim magazine, which had 2.58 million in the same period.
FHM U.K. is unaffected by this move.
‘Tarzan’ set for bigscreen return December 15, 2006 12:44 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News.add a comment
Warner Brothers studio and producer Jery Weintraub intend to bring Tarzan back to the bigscreen.
The studio is eyeing several people for roles on the film, as they are negotiating with Guillermo del Toro to direct and John Collee (‘Master and Commander’) to pen the screenplay.
“I’d love to create a new version that is still a family movie, but as edgy as I can make it,” Del Toro said. “There are strong themes of survival of a defenseless child left behind in the most hostile environment.”
Del Toro is also very excited at the opportunity to work with John Collee.
“John will be writing it alone, as I’ll be in production on ‘Hellboy 2’ and pursuing writing projects of my own,” Del Toro said. “He’s got a great sense of adventure and the wilderness.”
Del Toro’s most recent film, Pan’s Labryinth, opens December 29th.
Source: [Variety] — ‘Tarzan’ on vine for Warner Bros.
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