Thundercats CGI test footage!

Could be real or fake, but is still quite cool. This is touted as the test footage for the binned CGI movie.

"Hey gang! I've got an interesting little video to show you today that may or may not be actual test footage from Warner Bros. CGI feature film adaptation of the classic 1980's animated TV series Thundercats. It's got the WB logo on it, but this could still easily end up being a fan-made video. The character designs seem to match up with some concept art from the film that leaked online back in 2009 though.

As of right now the Thundercats feature film is on hold, and there is a new animated series that's being developed in preparation for the film. There's no word on how old this footage is, but if it's real I imagine in was made around the same time the concept art leaked out online.

This isn't top quality CGI animation, this is just some decent concept footage thrown together by the studio or a fan to give us a glimpse of what a CGI Thundercats movie might look like. Watch the footage below and tell us what you think!

Here's the concept art that was leaked in 2009 over at MovieLine"

:Source: GeekTyrant

Batman Solicitations for May

DC The Source have posted a preview of the Batman titles that hit in May. Full solicitations hit on Monday as usual.
I wasn't going to post these, but here are a couple of the more note-worthy ones (see also the Arkham City prequel series announced the other day).

RED ROBIN #23

Written by FABIAN NICIEZA

Art and cover by MARCUS TO and RAY MCCARTHY

The “7 Days of Death” begin with assassination attempts on Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox by the international assassin Scarab – but isn’t she in jail? To find the killer, Red Robin may have to spring the real Scarab from prison! Is this an assault on Wayne Enterprises, or do the first two days of death signal the start of a deeper conspiracy?

On sale MAY 11 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Red Robin started slow, but has been consistantly great since issue #6. Marcus To is a fantastic fit to pencil this book and Fabian Nicieza has taken Chris Yost's seeds and grown them into Redwoods.
I love how Red Robin is a hero who uses his brain before his fists and tries to play chess with his crimefighting. Excellent stuff.

BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM #1

Written by SCOTT SNYDER and KYLE HIGGINS

Art and Cover by TREVOR MCCARTHY

1:25 Variant cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN

When a mystery as old as Gotham City itself surfaces, Batman assembles a team of his greatest detectives – including Red Robin, Owlman, I-Ching and others – to investigate this startling new enigma. As clues are discovered and the mystery deepens, Batman’s team soon finds itself on a journey that explores different eras in Gotham’s history and touches upon notable Gotham families including the Waynes, Kanes, and Elliotts.

This miniseries spins out of recent events in the Batman titles and sets the stage for several exciting storylines in 2011. Additionally, this limited series touches upon mysterious story elements introduced in Grant Morrison’s RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. Featuring many exciting Batman Family guest stars!
BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM bridges Gotham City’s past to the overall future of BATMAN. Pick up issue #1, on sale May 25.

This looks really interesting. Hopefully it will be a really tight mystery that wraps up nicely. 6-8 issues tops. Remember, its not a superhero team, it is a team of the world's greatest detectives!

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic probably remains my favourite ever video game. The sequel KotORII: The Sith Lords, was good, but they rushed it to meet a deadline and so the story suffered. The comic book series, whilst not outstanding, was definitely a fun read.
When I heard about The Old Republic (about two years ago - has it been that long?), I was at first excited and then immediately turned off. It was to be a PC only MMORPG.
Problems:
1- I bought my PC in 2002 and I've pretty much done all I can to it to keep it going, but bless the little 1.5GHz processor is starting to slow down.
2- I'm not convinced that I would enjoy playing a MMO. Do I really have to play with other people?
3- How will being an MMO affect the strength of the story?
4- I have a real problem with paying for a game and then continuing to pay for it every month that I use it.

Why am I posting about it now? Well it looks like I'm going to be getting a new PC in the next three months. So have been thinking that I might have to have a deeper look into the details of the game and weigh up whether or not it's going to be a rip-off.
I've had a similar thought about DCU Online for PS3, but decided that I'd give it a miss purely because I don't want to play alongside Green Lantern, Batman and The Flash. I want to control those characters directly. Especially at £40-50 retail and then £10+ per month.
Star Wars though comes with the built in beauty of Jedi being plentiful. I could easily be a Jedi, with 3000 other Jedi running around. I couldn't be Batman with more than one other Batman running around.

Whether you are getting the game or not, these trailers from Blur Studios will rock your freaking socks off.

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters and Animated Series

Update!:

The Official Facebook page for the game is now up. There isn't much there at the moment, but I'm sure that will change in the next month or so.

Original Post:

Even though there is next to no information on how the game will actually play, I am looking forawrd to this.

I think it could work, even if the gameplay is as simple as this, it will be enjoyable.
By the end of Justice League Heroes you could play as John, Kyle and Hal, so it was almost like playing a Green Lantern game anyway!

I have previously posted this on arkhamcity.co.uk:

8th Jan:

          Found this article, nothing really new except for the cover art.

HMV have listed the game on PS3, Xbox360, Wii and NintendoDS, due for release 3rd June 2011.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Jan:
This game was announced a while back, but here are some of the first real details:

Here is some cool information that Warner Bros. released about the video game that will accompany the release of The Green Lantern. Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is planned as a multi-platform game set for release on June 1st. Ryan Reynolds' voice and likeness will be used for the game, but at this time it is not known if the other stars of the film will be in the game.

Here is what Warner Bros. said about the games storyline:

"An android race, originally created by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as the first interstellar police force. The Manhunters became more obsessed with administering punishment than serving justice, forcing the Guardians to dissolve their ranks. The few Manhunters that survived fled into exile and the Guardians founded a new elite police force called the Green Lantern Corps and armed its members with specially crafted power rings. Now the Manhunters are back and out for revenge, readying their forces for a war against the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps. Faced with destruction, the Corps is looking to you as the newest recruit, gifted but cocky test pilot Hal Jordon, to protect peace and preserve justice."

Here is what you will need to do to combat the Green Lanterns' mortal enemies:

Master the Ring: Wield the Green Lantern Power Ring to create a spectacular range of “hard-light” constructs including a gatling gun, giant fists, and much more, all of which can be linked together to form an endless number of combinations.
Stand Together: Join forces with a friend to play as Hal Jordan or Sinestro to battle the Manhunters, with the ability to drop in or out at will.

Take Flight: Dodge, blast, and destroy legions of enemies as you soar across the universe in battles of intergalactic foes."

Also, very excited about the CG animated series that starts in November. Bruce Timm, creator of the Emmy award winning Batman the Animated series is involved. It's going to be good. The test footage is entertaining - how often is test footage entertaining?!?

They have said that it will focus on Hal, but there may be opportunities for Kyle and the other Earth-based Lanterns to show up as well later down the line. The main villians? Atrocious and the Red Lanterns.

X-men: First Class trailer

On the way back from the pub, so can't link video directly yet. In the meantime, here is a link to the video. I don't know if it works or not, as it wouldn't play via my 3G connection, but I'll update tomorrow with an embedded video.



Having watched it again, I must say that I'm a bit disappointed. It didn't fill me with any kind of excitement and the text at the beginning ("Before he was Professor X, he was Charles.") just seemed really, really childish. Hopefully future trailers will fill me with more confidence.

Gordon-Levitt as Alberto Falcone?

I'm not sure about the validity of this one, but the rumour may be found below:

"It seems like Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the new go-to guy when looking for a villain. The rumor is that he may play gangster Alberto Falcone in The Dark Knight Rises. CBM has reported this from an anonymous source so we'll see if it holds up or not.

If Nolan is adding Falcone to The Dark Knight Rises, the character will fit right in seeing as the first two movies have involved the crime ring in Gotham. Alberto Falcone is the son of crime boss Carmine Falcone, played by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins. Falcone also has ties to Selena Kyle aka Catwoman and has played key roles in several of the Batman mini-series comics. So this kind of makes since doesn't it? Batman has gone in hiding, everybody is looking for him, good guys and bad guys alike.
So, what do y’all think if Gordon is actually cast in this role?"

Source: GeekTyrant.

Green Lantern movie prequel comics announced

Prequels to the Green Lantern movie have been announced. They will arrive in comic form in May. The really exciting part is that they are going to be written by both regular Green Lantern writers and the movie's writers, as well as featuring art by experienced comic industry pencillers. Joe Bennett and Karl Kerschl alone are enough to be plaesed about.

"Written by the creative talents behind the highly anticipated motion picture, these exclusive one-shots tell the tales of the movie characters before the events of the film. What were Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Kilowog, Abin Sur and The Guardians all doing before the curtains rise on June 17?

Experience it all in these one-shots, as told by the superstar Green Lantern movie team including producer Geoff Johns (GREEN LANTERN, THE FLASH), screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, producer/screenwriter Greg Berlanti, producer Donald De Line, screenwriter Michael Green (SUPERMAN/BATMAN) and screenwriter Marc Guggenheim (JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA). Each issue will be available day-and-date digitally for $2.99.

GREEN LANTERN PREQUEL SPECIAL: SINESTRO #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and MICHAEL GOLDENBERG
Art by FERNANDO DAGNINO
Movie art cover

GREEN LANTERN PREQUEL SPECIAL: KILOWOG #1
Written by PETER J. TOMASI and ADAM SCHLAGMAN
Art by JOE BENNETT and FABRIZIO FIORENTINO
Movie art cover

GREEN LANTERN PREQUEL SPECIAL: ABIN SUR #1
Written by MICHAEL GREEN
Art by KARL KERSCHL
Movie art cover

GREEN LANTERN PREQUEL SPECIAL: TOMAR-RE #1
Written by MARC GUGGENHEIM
Art by CLIFF RICHARDS
Movie art cover

GREEN LANTERN PREQUEL SPECIAL: HAL JORDAN #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS, GREG BERLANTI and DONALD DE LINE
Art by JERRY ORDWAY
Movie art cover

Each issue is 32 pages / Color / $2.99 US / RATED T "

Source: The Source

Red Robin v Deathstroke

Tweetpic

Arkham City Mini Series in May

I'm grabbing coffee in the middle of parent's evening appointments, but this is AWESOME news! Bring on May!
I was really hoping that this kind of story would be released as a playable DLC mission, but a mini written by none-other than Paul Dini is fantastic news. Think that I'll buy digital and then buy the collected edition after the game has come out.

Here is what DC: The Source has to say about it:

Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of the most successful video games of 2009, and earned a Guinness World Record for the “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever.”  This May, find out what happened between Batman: Arkham Asylum and its highly anticipated sequel in BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY, a six-issue miniseries that bridges the gap between the two games, and leads into the game’s release this fall.

Written by Batman: The Animated Series writer Paul Dini (who also penned both Arkham games) and drawn by Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City concept artist Carlos D’anda, BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY picks up one year after the original game, where former Arkham Warden turned newly elected Mayor of Gotham City Quincy Sharp has decided to close down the infamous institution. In its stead, he establishes “Arkham City,” the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds.  Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, inmates can roam free and do whatever they want as long as they don’t try to escape. To run this urban prison, Sharp has appointed Dr. Hugo Strange, a man who knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman.

Each issue of the miniseries will be available day-and-date digitally worldwide for $2.99 each. These releases will alternate with 8-page digital-first interludes that will expand on the story included in the miniseries. Written by Dini and drawn by a variety of artists, these digital stories will focus on The Dark Knight’s many enemies as they vie for power in this new city within a city. Each eight-page digital-first interlude will be available for .99 cents, releasing in between issues of the miniseries, and will later be included in print in the BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY collected edition.

“The digital first stories offer a unique incentive for fans to experience interesting and exciting stories beyond the pages in the printed comic,” said Jim Lee, DC Comics Co-Publisher, “The additional pages will serve as interludes within the regular issues and won’t be necessary to follow the main story of the miniseries. Fans will also be able to read these interludes in print later, when we publish the collected edition.”

Read the comic before you play the game, and keep an eye out for the issue #1 variant cover, utilizing in-game graphics.

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY will double-ship in its first month, with issues 1 & 2 landing in May

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Idiots have opinions

CVG have posted this summary of a FoxNews article that promotes idiotic scapegoating over the video game rating system.
Warning, you will feel your blood rise as a 'doctor' claims that video games play a large part in the increase of rape. I would say that a lack of upbringing, the availability of violent pornography online and/or a history of childhood abuse is what causes rape, not video games. But, hey, I'm no psychologist.