"Watchmen": The End Is Nigh- Episode 2...

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Take a look at the new screenshots from "Watchmen: The End Is Nigh"- Episode 2, to be released in July, timed to the release of the Vancouver-lensed"Watchmen" Blu-ray/DVD.

Episode 1 of the video game was released in March.

In Episode 1 of "The End Is Nigh", 'Rorschach' and 'Nite Owl II' are vigilantes during the 'Crimebusters' era, before the 'Keene Act' of 1977 outlaws masked crime-fighters.

After hearing a police bulletin, Nite Owl and Rorschach make their way to 'Sing Sing' to help quell a prison riot, only to discover the riots were a ruse to cover up the escape of 'The Underboss' crime lord.

Making their way to the 'Rumrunner' bar, the duo question a patron to find out who orchestrated the Underboss' escape. Chasing down apparent mastermind 'Jimmy the Gimmick' to an abandoned amusement park, they corner him on the tracks of a rollercoaster. Just as Jimmy blurts out that the Underboss is hiding in the sewers, a sniper shoots a cable, causing cars to careen into Jimmy knocking him off the roller coaster.

After calling for an ambulance, Nite Owl and Rorschach head for the sewers where they find missing government agent 'Mark Felt', tied up and bleeding. Felt tells them that the Underboss is at a construction site, looking to kill 'Watergate' investigative reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Exiting the sewers, Nite Owl and Rorschach are suddenly ambushed by the police. They fight their way through and race to the construction site where they confront the Underboss and see the two dead reporters.

The Underboss claims he he was framed for the murders as Rorschach and Nite Owl chase him though the construction site, before the 'Comedian' shoots the Underboss dead, revealing that he was the real mastermind behind all the events.

Sneak Peek the new screenshots from Episode 2 as well as 8 minutes of game-play from Episode 1 of "The End Is Nigh"...

Universal Targets "Asteroids"...

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BigGameHunter reports that Universal has picked up film rights to the Atari arcade video game "Asteroids", with Matthew "Race To Witch Mountain" Lopez developing a screenplay for a feature adaptation.

Producer is Lorenzo "G.I. Joe" di Bonaventura.

Originally released as an arcade game in 1979, "Asteroids" had a single player control a space ship, while shooting and destroying incoming obstacles.

Universal is currently adapting other game properties into films, icnluding Hasbro's "Battleship", "Monopoly" and "Candyland"...

Happy Canada Day !!!

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July 1 is "Canada Day", celebrating the founding of the world's second largest country.

The land was originally occupied by aboriginals, but starting in the late 15th century, British/French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. France eventually ceded all of its North American colonies in 1763 following the 'Seven Years War'.

July 1, 1867, with the union of British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of provinces.

A parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, Canada is a bilingual/multicultural country, with both English and French as the official tongues at the federal level.

Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy reliant on natural resources, trade and a creative, highly skilled workforce...

"Star Trek" Launches A "Monopoly"...

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Space may be the final frontier, but the newest "Monopoly" collector’s edition boldly goes where no one has gone before, as "Star Trek" fans get a chance to travel through the 'Star Trek Continuum', while exploring generations of 'Starfleet' history.

Players buy, sell and trade memorable Trek locations from founding 'Federation' homeworlds 'Andoria' and 'Vulcan' to 'Bajor', 'Cardassia Prime' and the 'New Founders’ Homeworld'.

Made by USAopoly under license from Hasbro and CBS Consumer Products, the game board features historic locations 'Argus Array', 'Cardassia Prime' and 'Remus', while 'Boardwalk' and 'Park Place' have been replaced by the 'United Federation of Planets Headquarters' and 'Starfleet Command'.
Players can take a voyage around the board as one of six pewter tokens including the 'Vulcan Harp', 'Phaser', 'Communicator', 'Klingon Blood Wine Goblet', 'Shuttlecraft' and 'Captain's Chair'. Images around the board feature Starfleet Captains 'Kirk', 'Picard', 'Archer', 'Sisko' and 'Janeway'.

Properties are purchased with specialized "Monopoly" money, featuring gold-pressed 'Latinum' bars, while custom title deed cards feature location data about all 22 properties including the 'U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D', 'Klingon Bird-of-Prey', 'Romulan Warbird' and the 'U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656', which take the place of 'Railroads' in the game...

Warner Bros. Sole Bidder For Midway Games...

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Warner Bros. has emerged as the only bidder for Midway Games Inc., the bankrupt video game publisher previously owned by Viacom Inc. chairman, Sumner Redstone.

Midway is a well-known brand with a rich library of titles that Warner will be able to exploit as games, movies, TV shows and animation.

Integrating Midway will significantly expand the scope of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the studio’s small but growing video game division.

Should the deal go through, the studio will take control of most of Midway’s assets, including "Mortal Kombat", "Joust" and "Spy Hunter", in addition to two production houses in Chicago and Seattle.

Creditors in Midway's bankruptcy include Larry Kasanoff’s Threshold Entertainment, producers of two “Mortal Kombat” films, claiming it still has exclusive film/TV rights to that series and Vin Diesel's Tigon Studios, said to be owed $200,000 for the actor's work on the "Wheelman" game...

Rainmaker Produces "Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction" Trailer...

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Vancouver-based Rainmaker Entertainment created/produced the game trailer for Ubisoft’s "Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction", the fifth video game in the "Splinter Cell" series, an action 'stealth' game based on author Tom Clancy's novels, following lead character 'Sam Fisher'.

"We approached this project as storytellers," said Catherine Winder, Rainmaker's President.

"When the 'Splinter Cell: Conviction' development team at Ubisoft Montreal came to us and wanted a 'wow' factor for this trailer, we totally immersed ourselves in the game and developed the overall concept and script. We then edited together various footage with character tests, and when we pitched the concept and reel, Ubisoft liked what they saw..."

"Ubisoft wanted to give 'Sam Fisher' more character and emotional depth", said Shea Wageman, Rainmaker's Director, Producer on the project.

"They wanted us to create a fully realized cinematic character in order to put him on par with the complexity of 'Jason Bourne' or 'James Bond'..."
Rainmaker was responsible for the trailer's concept/design, art direction and storyboarding. Primary characters were provided by Ubisoft, with motion capture facilitated at Rainmaker's motion capture stage. The Rainmaker team also rebuilt the geometry, created the shading, textures, rigging and facial movements for primary characters, as well as create all sets, secondary, background characters, animation, lighting, visual effects and compositing.

Concept and creative required three months and production five months.

Ubisoft's "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction" will be released on various platforms, fall 2009...

Columbia Maps Out "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune"...

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Columbia is adapting the action adventure video game "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" as a feature film, with Kyle "Hitman 2" Ward writing the screenplay.

In the game, treasure hunter 'Nate Drake', a descendant of English sea captain 'Sir Francis Drake', believes he knows the location of 'El Dorado', a mythic, South American golden city, deduced from a cursed golden statue. A rival hunter joins the fray, along with mutant creatures that are descendants of Spaniards and Nazis.

The Sony Computer Entertainment video game sold 1 million copies in the first 10 weeks of its release in 2007...

Montreal's Ubisoft Collaborates With Cameron...

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Montreal-based French video game publishers Ubisoft are collaborating with Canadian film director James "Aliens" Cameron on a new game crafted as an extension of his upcoming feature "Avatar."

"Ubisoft didn't want to just put something flashy on the screen...they wanted a soul behind the videogame," Cameron said. "The world of the 'Avatar' game is, in some ways, considerably richer than what you are going to see in the film."

"We are learning from the best," said Yannis Mallet, head of Ubisoft's Montreal studio. "The film and videogame industries are on lines that are not quite parallel, so let's anticipate that the talents are converging and build collaboration so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

Ubisoft was free to create its own characters, vehicles and weapons for the video game, as well as embellish settings on the fictional moon 'Pandora' where the film story takes place.

"Ubisoft challenged themselves to set the bar pretty darn high," said Cameron. "We are all pretty passionate about making 'Avatar' the coolest new game out there; I can stand here now and tell you the guys at Ubisoft have done it."

Inspired by author Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter Of Mars" fantasy book series, "Avatar" is set during the 22nd century on a small moon called 'Pandora', inhabited by the tribal 'Na'vi', ten foot blue humanoids that are peaceful unless attacked. Humans cannot breathe Pandoran air, so they genetically engineer human/Na'vi hybrids known as 'Avatars' that can be controlled via a mental link.Cameron said he wrote "Avatar" 14 years ago but the technology to realize his vision didn't exist until now.

In 2008, Ubisoft bought Montreal-based Canadian special effects firm Hybride, which worked on animated action films "300" and "Sin City."

"We started a year ago developing tools that will let us create games and movies at the same time," said Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot.

In the film, a paralyzed Marine named 'Jake Sully' (Sam Worthington) volunteers to exist as an Avatar on Pandora, falling in love with a Na'vi princess and becoming caught up in the conflict between her people and the human military that is consuming their world.

According to Cameron, the film is composed of 60% computer-generated elements, 40% live action and traditional miniatures.

To create the human mining colony on Pandora, production designers surveyed the 'Noble Clyde Boudreaux' drilling rig in the Gulf Of Mexico, June 2007. They photographed, measured and filmed every aspect of the rig, which is replicated on-screen with photorealistic CGI.

Music score for "Avatar", is composed by James Horner, his third collaboration with Cameron after "Aliens" and "Titanic". Horner recorded parts of the score with a small chorus singing in the alien language 'Na'vi', March 2008. He is also working with Wanda Bryant, an ethnomusicologist to create a music culture for the alien race...

Ubisoft also revealed that the company will also be working on projects with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg on a new "Tintin" game, timed to the release of that upcoming feature in 2011...

"MIMOBOT" Brings 'Sith Lords' To USB Ports...

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Mimoco's "Star Wars" 'Mimobot' line of designer flash drives 'explore the dark side' with an all-new collection, featuring the 'Sith Lords'.

In addition to the previously announced 'Darth Maul' design, the fourth installment of the popular USB devices will also include a re-imagining of the original MIMOBOT series' centerpiece, 'Darth Vader'.

The new 'Darth Vader Unmasked' MIMOBOT features a removable helmet, revealing the scarred countenance of 'Anakin Skywalker', as played by actor Hayden Christensen.

One in six Darth Vader MIMOBOT drives will unveil variants of Anakin's face from "Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi", looking "...older, paler and at peace, having come to terms with his estranged son Luke..."



Completing the cycle later this summer as a San Diego Comic Con exclusive, Mimoco will release a third, limited-edition version of 'Darth Vader Unmasked'. When the helmet is removed, the unmasked visage will be the face of 'Luke Skywalker', as Luke imagined himself on 'Dagobah' in "Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back".



Only 500 Darth Vader Unmasked Luke Skywalker MIMOBOT drives will be produced and they will only be available at Mimoco's Comic Con booth #2913 in the STAR WARS Pavilion on July 22 - 26.

Rounding out "Star Wars" MIMOBOT Series 4 is one of the stand-outs from Lucasfilm Animation's "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated TV series, 'Clone Captain Rex ', leader of the '501st Clone Trooper Legion's Torrent Company', Anakin Skywalker's right-hand officer. When removed, Rex's MIMOBOT trooper helmet reveals the Captain's face beneath.

MIMOBOT designer USB flash drives are available in 1GB to 8GB memory capacities and are bundled with preloaded digital extras...

"The Sims 3" Sell 1.4 Million Units In One Week...

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Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that "The Sims 3", released June 2nd has sold more than 1.4 million PC/Mac units within the first week making it the best-selling PC launch in EA’s history, with fan intensity evidenced through more than 7 million downloads of player created content including Sims, houses and stories.

"With more than a dozen press awards, strong reviewer scores and positive feedback from The Sims community, we are thrilled with the success of The Sims 3 launch and the early sales indicate that we have another hit on our hands," said Rod Humble, Head of the EA Play Label.

"The volume of items created with The Sims 3 and downloaded online is a testament to how passionate The Sims players are. It’s their world now, we can’t wait to see everything players create and share."

"...In 'The Sims 3' on PC/Mac you can create lifelike Sims with a unique personality and take them anywhere in the neighborhood. The powerful Create-a-Sim tool allows you to create Sims that are more realistic than ever. Select from dozens of personality traits such as brave, artistic, kleptomaniac, clumsy, paranoid and romantic.

With Create-a-Sim, you can create a limitless number of truly unique Sims. The Sims 3 allows for infinite possibilities to design the interior and exterior of your Sims’ surroundings using the Create-a-style feature. Additionally, you can enjoy the challenge of short-term and long-term goals and then reap the rewards!

Based on personality traits, skills and career choices, your Sims have short and long term Wishes that provide constant fun challenges and so many things to do and achieve. You have the ultimate freedom to choose whether to fulfill their destiny, giving them lifetime happiness and rewards or not!

Be the director of your Sims’ movies by capturing clips during your gameplay, visiting the official site, and editing the soundtrack, story, and transitions, then share it with the world..."