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Halo 3: Legendary Collector's Edition Box Pics

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Well, here it is. The Halo 3: Legendary Collector's Edition Box set. No idea on the pricing or the release date as of yet, but Bungie is rumored to have some "BIG" announcements this week. Coincidentally coinciding with the release of the Wii and the PS3 of course. People are speculating that the big announcement will be the Halo 3 release date. It would be nice to know. Amazon.com has it ready for preorder and has these pics up to get everyone excited.

If you haven't already noticed, the new issue of EGM is out with pics of Halo 3 in it. What does Halo 3 look like? Well, it looks like....Halo with better, more detailed, rendering. This is good because that's what we want Halo 3 to look like, the same, but better. Bungie should be posting the pics on their site soon if you don't want to pay for the mag. Or, you can search online for the leaked photos from a couple weeks ago. The Halo storm is approaching my friends!

The Hobbit and Peter Jackson

New Line Cinema and MGM are closer to beginning pre-production on two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit". MGM CEO Rick Sands has been discussing the matter lately at recent conventions and has responded to fans saying "Peter Jackson's phenomenal success with The Lord of the Rings trilogy makes him the first and most ideal choice for directing The Hobbit. MGM would be thrilled to collaborate with the Academy Award-winning director on this MGM New Line Cinema production".

Hopefully he and WETA will be the ones to bring us the next installment to the universe of Middle Earth.

Halo Movie Cancelled! For Now....

The much awaited Halo movie, which was to be produced by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Microsoft, has been indefinitely "postponed" according to Jackson's rep in Variety Magazine. His exact words were:

"What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungie (the studio that designed the original game), respectfully declined."

The rumors of a hefty $200 million budget have sent studios running to the hills rather than take a risk on a picture with such a high price tag. Jackson's people insist that the budget would be closer to $145 million minus the 12.5% rebate earned for filming in New Zealand, which would put the feature at around $128 million. Does that make studios feel any better about the situation? Apparently not. Unable to gather studio support, Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films has issued this statement:

"As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait."

There is no telling when and if the Halo movie will ever see the light of day. It is a disappointment to both fans and those involved in the film. Pre-production had already started and Weta Workshop effects studio was already creating significant material for the movie. Chalk this up as another game to movie failure. Only time will tell if the loss is temporary or final.

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition

World of Warcraft fans everywhere have been waiting for months in anticipation of the release of the new World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion set. To reward fans for their diligence, Blizzard has announced that they will be releasing the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition. The Collector’s Edition comes in a special box packed with the Burning Crusade game and many exclusive items unique to the set.



The Set Includes:

- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade on both CD and DVD
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Behind the Scenes DVD
- The Art of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Hardcover Art Book
- Exclusive in Game Pet: The Netherwhelp
- Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game Starter Packs – with exclusive cards
- Map of Outland Mouse Pad
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Official Soundtrack CD

The behind the scenes DVD contains over two hours of behind-the-scenes footage of the making of this incredible game, as well as panel discussion footage from BlizzCon. I am personally very excited about the soundtrack CD that comes with the set. I love videogame music and World of Warcraft music is definitely among my favorites. The added bonus of the mouse pad (I’m using a magazine for one at the moment), and exclusive Netherwhelp pet, makes this a must buy item for me. I recommend all WOW fans head out and buy this set when it is released in the coming weeks.

For more information regarding the Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition, head to the official Blizzard Burning Crusade website and take a look!

Burning Crusade Collector’s Ed.

Pre-sale Sellouts

The PS3 and the Wii have been available for pre-sale for about a week now and of course, they are selling out almost everywhere. We can't very well gage these sales as an indicator of how the systems will do however, because 1: They are new systems that haven't actually been released, and 2: The numbers are limited. On the PS3 side, VERY limited.

Gamestop and EB Games have sold out of pretty much all of their PS3 pre-order units. This isn't surprising considering almost all of their retail locations throughout the US were only allotted 8 PS3 units per store with two of these 8 being purchased by store employees. This leaves only 6 PS3 units per store that are available for purchase by the customer and these have already been bought by customers utilizing presale orders. So, virtually nobody in the US will be getting a PS3 this year. Did they really want one anyway?

On the Wii side of things, excitement of Nintendo's new system have caused many gamers to rush to their local retailer and pre-order their Wii little hearts out. Some locations are reporting sell-outs, but there is still quite an abundance of the system available due to the substantial quantity produced by Nintendo allowing a more legitimate release. So, if you still want a Wii this year, there is still hope. There is a lot of buzz surrounding the Wii this year, but now that the novelty and excitement of the unit has dissipated, hardcore gamers are questioning whether this new way of playing games will be worth the risk Nintendo has taken in the long run. Yes, it seems fun to wave your hand around and emulate slashing a sword, but how far can this go? Will controller motions like this always translate into great game play? Or will we start to feel like were just swinging around a gimmicky toy a year or two from now? Anyway, that's what gamers are talking about. I'm quite skeptical myself.

On the Concept of Pre-sale:

Personally, I never pre-order anything. The whole idea of partially paying for something that isn't out yet or in stock baffles me. If you check the details of any pre-order or pre-sale clause, you are NOT guaranteed the item. There are several outs for the retailer that do not bind them to the deal. All it does is help them gauge their potential sales for the item and saves them money on accurately predicting inventory needs. Also, they are making money off of you right away.

Sony is Bleeding. Can It Heal Its Wounds?

Well, the rumors are really flowing with November creeping closer everyday. The industry is still very weary of the PS3 and many are forecasting its impending doom. Whether it be long-term or short-term, the PS3's probable failure is looming in the distance. Amid these rumors and poor sales of the PSP, Sony's stock dropped another 3% due to fears of its failing game division. The situation was made worse when PS3 units kept overheating at the Tokyo Game Show causing several re-boots and disruption of demos as well as overall atmosphere. Sony assures us that there was nothing wrong with the units and that they were just too close together. Uh, ok...but, that's sort of REALLY BAD Sony! This is all bad news considering launch is only about a month and a half away. Can Sony's game division get their act together in time?