Even with the many innovations in television over the past five years -  H.D., streaming, interactivity- an upcoming and bizarre invention known as Dog TV may be the most out-of-the-box development for the tube yet. Dog TV boasts that it will be the first cable network made exclusively (and scientifically) for man’s best friend.

Originally launched in February on local networks in San Diego, Dog TV was pushed mostly as a cure for canines with separation anxiety. With the backing of certified veterinarians and canine experts, Dog TV uses a series of techniques to make mentally and emotionally stimulating programs for dogs to watch while their masters are away.

“For years, pet owners have been leaving a television or radio on when they go out so their pets have company,” said Dr. Nick Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at TuftsUniversity. “However, with analog television, dogs could only see a flickering screen. Dog TV uses HD screens in order to allow dogs to see the picture more clearly.”

Alterations have also made to color and sound of the programs to make them more accessible to dogs. “Dogs can see blue and yellow, but not red or green,” Dobman said, “so colors are altered for Dog TV, too. Also, because high frequency sounds can be very irritating to dogs, they’ve been removed, and music is written and tailored for their hearing.”

According to Dog TV’s website and press releases, the channel’s programs will be divided into three categories: Relaxation will reduce stress levels with calming music, sounds, and visuals; Stimulation will use footage of other animals and fast moving objects in order to stave off lethargic behavior; and Exposure “uses special sounds and visuals to help habituate the dog and make them more comfortable in their environment, by exposing them to different day-to-day stimuli.”

While the channel’s backer, P.T.V. Media, boasts the testimonials of several veterinary experts stating that Dog TV will help improve the lives of dogs across the country, some skeptics remain.

“I think a lot of this is to make us feel better as opposed to making the pet happier,” said Dr. Ann E. Hohenhaus, a veterinarian currently practicing in Manhattan. “Your pet needs adequate exercise and an interesting environment. You cannot just put on the TV and hope your dog is going to get better.”

Despite these objections, the projections for the channel’s success remain positive. After launching an online version in early April, the creators hope to start an add-free, paid cable channel internationally come late 2012 or early 2013.

As the Daily Mail stated, “If you figure more than 46 million U.S. households have dogs and 97% of U.S. homes have televisions, the future looks promising.”

The 2010 death of a New Zealand woman may have been caused by excessive consumption of Coca-Cola, experts say.

Natasha Harris, 30, a stay-at-home mother of eight, died of a heart attack in February 2010 while helping her children get ready for school. According to Fairfax Media, pathologist Dr. Dan Mornin testified at an inquest yesterday that the cause of death was most likely hypokalemia, or low potassium, brought on by her two-gallons-of-Coca-Cola-a-day habit.

Mornin added that poor nutrition and toxic levels of caffeine, an ingredient in Coca-Cola and many other soft drinks, may also have contributed to Harris’ death.

According to the Otago Daily Times, Chris Hodgkinson, Harris’ partner, testified that Harris did not eat much and smoked about 30 cigarettes a day.

“I never thought about it,” said Hodgkinson. “It’s just a soft drink, just like drinking water. I didn’t think a soft drink was going to kill her.”

Hodgkinson also said that Harris had been ill since the year before her death, and would vomit six times a week. She also suffered from tiredness and tooth decay, and was moody when she was without Coca-Cola.

“The first thing she would do in the morning was have a drink of Coke and the last thing she would do in the day was have a drink of Coke by her bed,” he said.

Pathologist Dr. Martin Sage said in a deposition, “It is certainly well demonstrated that excessive long or short-term cola ingestion can be dramatically symptomatic, and there are strong hypothetical grounds for this becoming fatal in individual cases.”

Karen Thompson, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Oceania, argued in a statement that the ingestion of anything in excess is detrimental to one’s health.

“We concur with the information shared by the coroner’s office that the grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water, over a short period of time with the inadequate consumption of essential nutrients, and the failure to seek appropriate medical intervention when needed, can be dramatically symptomatic,” she said.

Always feel like you’re out of the loop when it comes to MMOs, or just don’t care for it? Well, the Weekly MMO Blast is here to change all that. Each week we deliver the screen-shaking headlines that will keep you up to speed on – and maybe even caring for – what happens in this alt-happy gaming niche.

Definitely the highlights of the week were the two simultaneous beta tests for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion.

Guild Wars 2 took on a protective stance of their sequel MMO release, warning unauthorized beta players that breaking the NDA might lead to a publisher-wide ban. Reports are coming in that beta screens are peppered with the e-mail address of the one playing it, allowing for easy tracing on who smuggled out the screenshots and videos. Talk about high security. But it makes sense given that they’re now testing the Guild Wars 2 microtransactions store, whose future revenues can seriously tank under negative early flack.

Meanwhile, World of Warcraft players got a looser leash when it comes to beta testing the new Mists of Pandaria expansion. So don’t be surprised to see a sudden flood of WoW news to flood the interwebs over the weekend, including countless mug shots of newbie pandaren performing kung-fu monk tricks (pandas are the latest to join the existing menagerie of animal-inspired races).

Just for fun, which of the two games are you most excited for? Sound off at the comments below!

Plus here are other notable tidbits you’d want to chew on:

• New video footage of Aion 3.0 also known as the expansion that Aion went Truly Free™ anchored by its head producer Adam Christensen. [LINK]
• Final Fantasy XIV hosts an adorable meta contest: Why is the most interesting Moogle in Vana’diel the most interesting? Confusion and cuteness ensue: [LINK]
• More details on the much-awaited Legacy System in Star Wars the Old Republic, which binds toons under one united surname. Virtual Kardashians anyone? [LINK]

Warner Bros has announced the voice cast for their upcoming zombie slasher Lollipop Chainsaw, and it includes alums from Arkham City, Smallville and several other projects. Tara Strong who you’ll best remember as Harley Quinn from Arkham Asylum and City will voice the game’s main character Juliette Sterling, while Michael Rosenbaum who played Lex Luthor in Smallville  will play Juliet’s boyfriend, Nick. Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead, Linda Cardelleni from Freaks and Geeks and Shawnee Smith from the Saw series will also be featured.

If you’ve yet to hear about Lollipop Chainsaw, it’s an action game where from Suda 51 (No More Heroes) where you slash zombies as a cheerleader. Just think of that for a bit. Here’s a trailer.

The internet has been buzzing lately with talks about Metal Gear Solid 5 possibly being announced soon, so naturally everyone seems really excited. You know who doesn’t seem excited though? The game’s creatorand producer Hideo Kojima. In an interview with The UK’s official PlayStation Magazine, Kojima gave a less than enthused answer when asked about the possibility of a new Metal Gear game.

“I think we’ll probably have to make it at some point, but what that will be, we have no idea,” Kojima told the magazine. The designer also downplayed his role in the project as with any future metal gear game, ” “As far as my involvement in the project is concerned, [it] probably won’t be as much as it was with MGS1 – maybe I can do just one stage! For MGS1 I made the maps myself, laid out the enemy routes myself, did everything hands-on – that level I can’t do again.”

But wait…that’s what he said about Metal Gear Solid 4.

“I intended to take it to a certain point and then hand it off, but that didn’t work,” Kojima said regarding is work on MGS 4. ” It’s hard to convey the concept to other people then have them take the reins and carry on and preserve that vision.”

PopCap games, the studio behind such cult favorites as Plants VS Zombies, Bejeweled and Chuzzle announced today that they’re kicking off an auction to benefit children’s charities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Up for grabs are original artwork, personalized sketches and one of a kind items, and all of the proceeds go to the Starlight Children’s Foundation in the United States and SpecialEffect in the United Kingdom.

“This auction is our way of letting consumers peek behind the creativity curtain at PopCap, but more than that, it’s a wonderful opportunity for us and fans of our games to support children in need,” said Ben Rotholtz, Vice President of Marketing for PopCap Games. “Every piece in the auction is unique and each reflects a facet of PopCap’s history in a whimsical way.”

PopCap is no stranger to the giving; since the company’s founding, the company has donated money and games totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to support children’s charities including Make-a-Wish Foundation, Child’s Play, Children in Need, Childhaven, Drawing Dreams Foundation, and Art with Heart, among others.  Popcap also included the below video to promote the auction.

“PopCap’s games are well known to provide therapeutic effects to adults and children alike, but now consumers have the opportunity to take home a tangible piece of PopCap happiness,” said Elaine Siver of Starlight Children’s Foundation. “Thanks to PopCap’s support, we will raise a lot of awareness and thousands of children will continue to be helped given our mission at Starlight Foundation.”

The auction can be found here and Blast encourages its readers to bid and donate generously.

A Fremont, Calif., man was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison and was fined $20,000 for possessing child pornography and attempting to extort additional child pornography images from a minor, according to an announcement made by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag for the Northern District of California.

James Dale Brown, 28, harrassed the 14-year-old girl via Facebook using the username “Bob Lewis” from December 2008 through April 2009. He was aware of the victim’s age. Prior to contacting the victim, he had obtained a “revealing” photograph of her and told her that he would delete this picture, along with others he claimed to have of her, “from the Internet” only if she sent him a video of herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Brown threatened to expose said images to the victim’s friends, also minors. The victim did not give in to Brown’s threats, and on April 18, 2009, Brown sent one of the victim’s friends, a minor, two Web links to an explicit image of the victim.

On April 23, 2009, FBI agents executed a search warrant on Brown’s residence. Brown was arrested on Aug. 26, 2010 and pleaded guilty on Feb. 2, 2011.

This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. This is the first case involving the attempted extortion of a minor for child pornography via a social networking website to be prosecuted in the Northern District of California.

NEW YORK — Katie Couric is leaving CBS.

The 54-year-old newswoman’s contract ends in June. She told People magazine, “In making the decision to move on, I know the Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future.”

“The bottom line is that I love doing all kinds of different stories. I have a lot of areas of interest and I want to be able to fulfill all of that.”

She said details are still being finalized.

CBS officially issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying, “There’s a lot to be proud of during Katie Couric’s time at Evening News. CBS News, like Katie herself, is looking forward to the next chapter.”

CBS is expected to name Scott Pelley the new anchor of the “Evening News” next week.

According to the latest issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, Ninja Gaiden Project lead Yosuke Hayashi confirmed that the long awaited third installment will feature some sort of multiplayer element. Hayashi noted that the mode will be “complex” but didn’t offer any specifics.

Hayashi also noted that the game will feature it’s trademark difficulty, but still be more accessible for players new to the series. “”We know that many fans feel good about the difficulty level, but we are taking a slightly different approach,” Hayashi said. “It’s not that the game is going to be easier — nothing like that. It’s just that we are trying to make a whole game, a more exciting game that can be enjoyed by anyone, but at the same time, hardcore gamers will be able to feel and appreciate what the series is about.”

In the interview, Hayashi also confirmed that the game will ship at the same time for the PS3 and Xbox 360, unlike previous installments.

Hey, remember Prey? The 2006 shooter that featured Tommy, a native American mechanic turned bad ass alien killer? If you don’t, it’s not a problem, as Bethesda has officially announced that the game’s long anticipate sequel will hit stores in 2012 — just don’t expect it to resemble the original game much.

Reports are that Tommy is long gone from Prey 2 in favor of the character seen blasting off at the end of the original game. Apparently he’s a bounty hunter. Pretty bad ass.

Bethesda is working directly with Human Head games, the studio that created the original Prey to helm the sequel, and the team couldn’t be more excited.

“We are thrilled to be working with Bethesda on Prey 2,” said Chris Rhinehart, project lead. “Prey 2 will provide gamers the opportunity to explore a new facet of the Preyuniverse, one that offers fast-paced action in an open, alien world. We’re excited to show gamers the title we have been working on and hope they will be as excited by this title as we are.”

Further details on Prey 2 are to be revealed in the next issue of Official Xbox Magazine.

In a move that surprised pretty much no one, Apple officially unveiled the iPad 2 to the world yesterday. What may surprise you though is that the new models release date, March 11, is just days away.

While the new model doesn’t feature anything revolutionary, it does feature an impressive feature set that improves on the original. iPad 2 features a 33% thinner frame than it’s predecessor; going from 13.4 mm to just 8.8 mm (which makes the iPad 2 smaller than even the iPhone 4). The iPad 2 also fixes what many thought was one of the original’s biggest flaws by making the unit 15% lighter.

On the tech side the iPad 2 features a brand new dual core processor known as the A5. Accodring to Apple, the new processor is twice as old as the original and allows the graphics performance to run remarkably better. As expected, the new model also comes packed with many of the features that the rest of the iOS family can already claim, including front and rear facing cameras that allow for face time and the ability to shoot videos in 720p (and yes, this iPad will have an HDMI output) along with the gyroscope technology seen in the iPhone 4.

What hasn’t changed? The pricing structure. Just like the original model, iPad 2 will retail for $629-$829 depending on the model.

If you told me a year ago that we’d be looking at Duke Nukem Forever being released within the quarter, I would have punched you in the face. But here we are.

The often delayed Duke Nukem Forever will be hitting shelves on May 3rd of this year,” Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford revealed to Game Informer.

“The moment fans all over the world have been waiting for is almost here,” says Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “May 3, 2011 marks Duke’s return as he unleashes his brash and brutally honest wit on the world. His return is going to be epic and one that will make video gaming history!”

The saga of Duke Nukem Forever is a much publicized one. First announced by 3D Realms in 1997, the title was delayed countless times, which prompted the studio to tell fans that it would be released “when it’s done.”  In mid 2009, 3D Realms was downsized and eventually closed down and the project was presumed dead until Gearbox announced at this year’s PAX that it would be resurrecting and releasing the title.

Editor’s Note: Each week in December we’ll be unveiling another nominee for Blast’s 2010 Game of the Year Award, here’s our this week’s — Bioware’s space masterpiece Mass Effect 2. Keep checking back each week until the final week, when we reveal the winner along with all of the yearly award winners.

The release of Mass Effect in November 2007 was the beginning of a cult following and the birth of a wonderful RPG franchise from Bioware. The major aspects of Mass Effect that made the first title shine weren’t just your typical answers like beautiful graphics and fun gun play (some opinions were the combat was clunky). The story of Commander Shepard and the characters that joined you along the way made this title the epic RPG that it was. The universe that Bioware introduced us to had the depth and creative story to suck gamers in and have them wanting more. The announcement that your game save from the first title would have a direct impact on the sequel left the gaming community waiting in even bigger anticipation.

The level of excitement for the release of Mass Effect 2 made me a little skeptical for a few reasons. The promises that Bioware made in assuring gamers a more developed story and revamped combat for the sequel had me worried. The balance between RPG elements and combat are tricky and I was afraid if Bioware went to much in one direction the franchise would lose its RPG roots and epic story. The announcements of voice over contributors such as Martin Sheen and others had me worried as well. I didn’t want to see Mass Effect go the route of say, the Call of Duty franchise, with huge explosions, big name voice over talent, and a sub-par story (not to mention a new game every 6 months). I wanted my thirty plus hours I put into the first Mass Effect to mean something, and for the sequel to blow me away.

On January 26^th 2010 Mass Effect 2 was released and Bioware delivered on every promise made with a sequel that I can say, is an almost perfect action RPG. The game was an instant game of the year contender for many reasons. There is one fact that had been true since I had been a young lad and even rang true in the first Mass Effect. When you have an RPG, the combat will be turn based and not as smooth as say, an FPS title. That wall has been torn down thanks to Bioware. Mass Effect 2 has a smooth FPS like combat in a RPG setting. The dreams of gamers being able to duck and take cover after blasting an enemy in the face with a rocket launcher, or look down the sights of a sniper rifle in slow motion in an RPG, were answered. This successfully brought in the interest of gamers that have never even purchased an RPG before. The core fans of the franchise like myself didn’t cringe at this new combat system or the FPS elements either, because of the story and in depth character detailing. The universe that Bioware had developed in the first title was back, and better than ever.

The evolved combat, epic story, or improved graphics are not the only aspects that awarded this title a game of the year nomination by Blast Magazine. The choices you made in the first title had a deep impact in the sequel, just as Bioware promised. This was the first time a sequel actually took a game save from the first title and made you deal with the consequences. For example if you (as I did) decided to have Wrex take a bullet in the first title he would not be around in the sequel. The blank slate that is Commander Shepard and the tools Bioware has given you to mold him or her into your own hero or anti-hero are nothing short of amazing. This game keeps you coming back for replay after replay and just playing as a different class warrants another play through.

The main factor that really sets this franchise apart and brings Mass Effect 2 to the top is the characters you meet that join your mission along the way. There are a lot of RPG’s or action RPG’s out there that have characters that join the main character along the way. These characters help you fight or play a part in the story but in most cases you never really get to know their back story, and many won’t hold your interest for very long. This is what sets Mass Effect 2 apart from the rest; I had such a blast getting to know every character in this game, and their back-stories. The team at Bioware did such a great job with these characters. Besides them having special combat abilities, they also have great stories and you feel a real connection to them. My two favorites were Jack the wild, emotionally-disturbed, biotic-powerhouse, and Mordin the scientist who would talk a thousand words per minute, and even break into song at moments.

. The gaming market right now has so many titles out there that have over priced or lack luster DLC. I can’t tell you how many times I have shelled out 800 Microsoft points for a couple weapons in a game and been highly disappointed. The DLC market in my opinion has felt like a way for developers to make a little more cash, not quality additional content for the gamer to enjoy. There has never been a game that offered armor, weapons, characters, and expansions for such fair prices. The sheer amount of DLC support this game received was phenomenal especially since the game is quite large to begin with.

How’s this for a Halloween gift?

The fine folks over at the Black Ops Blog have broken the first details and screens of the zombie mode in next week’s much anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops — and oh yes, its awesome. According to the blog, the mode takes place in the Pentagon with users controlling JFK, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara and Fidel Castro.

I’ll repeat that. The mode takes place in the Pentagon with users controlling JFK, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara and Fidel Castro.

Like World at War, players will either have to play through the game’s campaign to unlock the zombie mode, or wait until its made available on Xbox Live. Check out the first screens courtesy of The Black Ops Blog! And check back with Blast for our official review of Call of Duty: Black Ops when it releases on November 9.

NEW YORK — Heavily armed police officers will greet many Jews observing the Sabbath today, following the discovery of explosives bound for Chicago synagogues on Friday.

Two packages containing the industrial explosive PETN originated in Yemen, but were intercepted in Dubai and the United Kingdom before reaching the United States. President Barack Obama called the thwarted attacks a “credible terrorist threat,” and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told CNN that the plot has the “hallmarks of al Qaeda.”

Police received a tip Friday about potential explosives on a FedEx flight traveling from Yemen to Dubai. Cooperation from the Saudi government allowed officials to track the packages to Dubai and the United Kingdom.

The Transportation Security Administration halted all shipments originating from Yemen Friday, including FedEx, UPS, and DHL packages.

In New York, heavily armed police officers stationed around the city are not in Halloween costume. NYPD’s elite Hercules unit guarded an Upper East Side synagogue on Friday, and the Post reports police continue to patrol high-profile synagogues in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Airports nationwide remain on high alert. Travelers should expect heightened security measures and cargo screenings in the coming days, and allow more time to pass through airport security.

Marino Spirakis, 36, was arrested Friday on the steps of the Boston Municipal Court for allegations of prescription painkiller trafficking.

The Peabody resident, who is employed as a cook at a pizza shop, was reporting to court for an earlier conspiracy case when state police took him into custody.

Spirakis is charged with directing the delivery and sale of 5,000 30 mg Percocet tablets seized Thursday at the Copley MBTA station. The pills have a street value of up to $150,000.

"The evidence suggests an organized, sophisticated drug enterprise with a kingpin at its top," said Daniel F. Conley, Suffolk County District Attorney.

Spirakis’ arrest coincides with the national release of "The Town," Ben Affleck’s new crime drama that highlights Boston as the U.S. city with the most bank robberies per capita.

Now yet another drug kingpin may be added to the city’s movie fodder.

Spirakis is already on federal probation following a 2003 extortion conviction. Judge Edward Redd set Spirakis’ new bail at $250,000. He returns to court Nov. 22.

NEW YORK — Queens may be one of New York City’s less glamorous boroughs. But following the drama of Thursday evening’s storms, Broadway is not the only venue shrouded in a mist of theatricality. With 8,500 Queens residents still without power at noon on Saturday, Con Edison employees handed out dry ice in three locations to ensure residents could keep food cool.

Singing along to "Wicked" when reaching for the milk carton remains optional.

Dry ice is not the only Oz parallel. While Hurricane Earl passed New York City earlier this month not with a bang but a whimper, two tornadoes touched down in Brooklyn and Queens around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The twin twisters are two of only ten tornadoes recorded for NYC in the past 60 years.

FEMA officials are surveying the 14-mile path of destruction, which includes Staten Island, to determine whether the area should be declared a disaster area.

Alfonso Quiroz, a Con Edison employee, told NY1 News that 45,000 city residents were without power immediately following the storm. The 8,500 still in the dark live primarily in the Queens neighborhoods of Flushing, Rego Park and Mayspeth.

Con Edison is advising dry ice recipients use caution and wear gloves when handling the substance, which can cause frostbite at its -109.3°F temperature. Children and animals should be kept away from the substance, which evaporates into carbon dioxide gas.

Barring, of course, the ubiquitous witches’ brew for trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

For more information on handling dry ice, download this New York Department of Health brochure.

Madden 11, featuring cover-boy natural Drew Brees,  is available today after a rather rocky reception to the demo several weeks ago. It features a new ‘Strategy Pad’ that houses all pre-snap options in a single place, but the mechanic was maligned by many faithful for being slower than the previous system and offering no option to revert back. The vintage pre-snap controls will be patched into the game shortly after the beginning if the NFL season, but, for now, players will have to just have to grin and bear it.

This year’s version of the game features numerous tweaks designed to lower the barrier to entry for new players. It has a dummy play-calling system called Gameflow which is supposed to guide you through the game in a hurry without sacrificing strategy. Players are able to dictate the way Gameflow calls the game by using ‘Gameplanning’ as well. This feature allows you to assign plays to certain situations for the Gameflow brain to pull up when those situations arise.

Another notable addition to this year’s game is a new feature called Online Team Mode where up to six players can jump into a lobby and pick sides.  Players decide to be responsible for different components of the game – QB, rushing, receiving, pass rush – and can decide to play free-roaming characters as well. This feature seems like it will be super-fun with friends and has a lot of potential. I play the NHL version of this and it is a very good time. It will be interesting to see how Madden’s take plays and is received.

Finally, Madden 11 will place much more emphasis on the right analog stick, as many of the evasive moves that previously used buttons are now mapped somewhat more intuitively to the stick. It seems to be the way of all things.

So, to the many proud Madden- freaks of the universe on this day, I say, “Have a glorious time with your new toy! And, I hope you don’t get caught by your boss.”

SAN DIEGO – The big news about Halo: Reach to come out of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con? You’ll now be able to play Firefight as the Covenant. There’s a  new armor ability called Hologram, as well as a slick new Halo: Reach 360 Slim model hitting stores to coincide with Reach’s release. Also, not to be outdone, Bungie debuted something truly amazing for the creative crowd called, Forge World.

In addition to the full Firefight matchmaking support previously announced for Reach – a feature which was very noticeably absent from Halo: ODST – fans of wave defense will now be able to slay human characters en masse, feeding their latent alien blood-lust for hours on end without the necessity of knowing 3 other people ready to do the same at any given time of the night or day. This will be part of a 2-on-2 versus mode where a Covenant invasion force attacks lone Spartans with AI troops. Once all lives are lost by the Spartans, the sides switch. The new Firefight gets its icing with a never-ending Grunt-hunt mode called, Gruntpocalypse.

There was also the announcement of  ‘Forge World’ with a mind-blowing ViDoc  you can see here (link also features an unboxing video of the new hardware). In this total re-imagining of Halo 3′s Forge, the geniuses at Bungie have gone out of their way with to make the Halo map-making interface a far more robust and accessible experience. A slew of  locales will be available to tinker with that are actually all interconnected into one immense environment. The new mode features a staggering number of objects to place and manipulate, as well as many new and improved ways to do so. It was mentioned that when putting down a teleporter, for example, the player will be able to decide exactly how big they want it to be and which objects are allowed to pass through it, etc. The detail I found most compelling was that Halo: Reach will include a number of levels that developers created in the very same Forge World that ships with the retail title – a true indicator that users will have exactly the tools they need to make their Reach experience whatever they can imagine it to be.

Think you can handle it?

For their finale of what was likely one of Halo: Reach’s last big reveals before the game hits shelves on September 14, Bungie pulled back the curtain on the Halo: Reach Xbox 360 Slim Limited Edition. It comes complete with 2 custom controllers, all modeled to look like authentic pieces of hardware from the Halo universe. The demo unit was then given away to one sickeningly lucky audience member at their Comic-Con panel. Be assured that it is sufficiently beautiful. The only drawback is you don’t have nearly enough time to save up for it. Price is TBA, but you’re probably ready to steal your grandmother’s jewelry to get your hands on one regardless.

Behold (headset not included)

Source: G4

The first in a recently announced series of DLC packs coming up for the critcally acclaimed Red Dead Redemption, the ‘Legends and Killers’ pack will be released into the Wild West sometime in early August. It will feature 9 new multiplayer map locations – more than doubling the amount of territories in the existing multiplayer modes, 8 new multiplayer characters from Red Dead Revolver, and a new Tomahawk projectile weapon with corresponding Challenges/ Achievements/ Trophies for both single and multiplayer. It will run $9.99 on PSN or 800 MS Points on XBLA.

G4tv.com  and Capcom will be bringing fighting game fans some serious love this weekend when they stream EVO 2010, the premiere fighting game competition in the world, offering over 45 hours of coverage of the event. Fighting games are experiencing a renaissance with the recent success of Street Fighter IV/Super SF4 and some other notable titles like Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and the Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 re-release for XBLA/PSN. The exclusive stream from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas will feature tournament matches between top players from around the world with live crowd audio and expert commentary to explain all the onscreen action.  The stream will run from the start of the tournament on July 9th through the finals on July 11th.

EVO featured tournaments include:

Super Street Fighter IV

Tekken 6

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Melty Blood: Actress Again

To follow up, On Tuesday, July 20 X-Play will air ‘X-Play vs. Capcom:  EVO 2010 World Fighting Finals’, which will delve into the legacy of Capcom’s legendary fighting games, and give viewers an all-access look at the history of EVO as it has developed from a fledgling format to a mega-successful fighting institution.

Although the heyday of blaming the Grand Theft Auto series of videogames for the commission of real-world crimes has mostly passed,  this little nugget has emerged from an incident Saturday night in Raynham. Two youths, a 12 and a 16 yr old, were arrested for allegedly trying to set fire to a garage and an apartment building with makeshift Molotov cocktails. The younger of the pair claims they got the idea from playing GTA 4 prior to their early morning graffiti spree that commenced with a laughable attempt to blow up a couple of buildings.

Quick thinking, kid.

"They appear to have crossed the line from virtual reality to reality," said Police Chief Lou Pacheco, wasting no time in assuming GTA 4 as an absentee co-defendant. Not surprisingly, the Chief had little to say about the fact that these children were given the opportunity by their parents not only to play this very violent and mature game they have no business playing, but also to be driving around at 4am with a head full of bad ideas.

Fortunately, these two are not the most capable of criminals as the boys appear to have made the wicks out of flame-retardant material from a chair cover. They also neglected to realize that a Molotov cocktail only explodes and causes real damage when you break it.

Following the arrest, the boys were arraigned in juvenile court on charges of possession of an explosive device and attempted arson. They were then released to their families, who will probably now sue 2K Games instead of re-evaluating their lives and taking responsibility for what horrible parents they are.

A piece of graffiti from the incident featuring what is presumably one of the kid's real names...

Source: G4/ Enterprise News

Famed Fable creator Peter Molyneux recently revealed some brief details for Fable III’s downloadable  option. While the game will still receive a standard retail offering to come out in late 2011, Xbox LIVE users will have a chance to start downloading it in pieces a few weeks after the official release.

According to Peter, “Soon after the retail launch we’re doing episodic. We break it down in chapters. We give away the first chapter entirely free, the first hour. When you reach a certain point in the game it says ‘thank you for playing the pilot of Fable 3, do you want to spend an extra 2-5 or whatever dollars to buy the next episode, or buy the whole lot?’ Press ‘yes’ and you will immediately continue playing.”

This scenario looks like it should be a real win for players, as you’re not forced to drop the full $60 up front. Now you can try before you buy. If you feel like the game is dragging, you can simply stop paying for it and move on to something else. Fable III will likely be a must-buy, however, so…

Source: Kotaku

LOS ANGELES — David Jaffe, the mad genius behind the creation of Sony’s epic God of War and Twisted Metal franchises, announced this week that he would be leading the charge in re-imagining Twisted Metal for the PS3. One of the best loved games for the original Playstation, Twisted Metal hit a much darker note on the PS2 with Twisted Metal: Black, which appeared very early in the PS2′s lifespan all the way back in 2001.

The new Twisted Metal has aerial combat, snipers, and co-op weapons, which help put a spotlight on team play. It also includes factions for the various lead characters and a great new mode called “Nuke,” in which you are required to drag an enemy team’s leader behind your vehicle to a designated point where, if you can hold him there long enough, you’ll be rewarded with said nuke. You then fire it off and have to protect it from being shot down until it takes out your opponent’s floating, neon, giant pinata-like mascot.

This one will not be as dark as TM: Black, as the team is going for a Teen rating with the new version.

Don’t be surprised if this ends up being tops of E3 for a lot of folks. You can check out Sweet Tooth’s entrance and the live gameplay demo from Sony’s press conference here.

LOS ANGELES – Amid a deluge of new hardware news this E3, Sony unveiled expanded details for their Playstation Move motion control system for the first time Tuesday. Apparently, the Wii style of selling peripherals appeals to them, as it is going to be quite difficult to find everything you want in a single package when Move hits U.S. streets on Sept. 19.

The Move system exists in three pieces – the main controller, which will cost $49.99 standalone:

The PS Eye, which is also required for the system to work at $39.99 standalone:

And, finally, the Navigation controller which will run another $29.99:

While the first two items should suffice for casual Move titles, the more hardcore stuff like SOCOM 4, The Fight, etc. will no doubt benefit tremendously from the Navigation controller. Sony did indicate today that if you are completely averse to buying the navigation controller, you can use your Dualshock 3 with your left hand. However, I can’t imagine this being an ideal or terribly comfortable solution for many game situations.

There are a couple of bundles Sony will be making available: a Move/PS Eye/ Sports Champions (their answer to Wii Sports) bundle for $99.99 and the same package that includes a PS3 Slim for $399.99. Unfortunately, neither of these bundles include a Navigation controller or a charge hub. You’ll likely need a charge hub since the PS3 slim only has 2 USB ports. The charge hub, although not necessary, will cost you another $29.99:

If you’re into it and want to deck your PS3 out right, things will get expensive very fast — especially if you’re interested in more than one set of Move controls. You can use up to four standard Move controllers or two sets of Move-Navigator pairs on a PS3 system at any given time. Obviously, the more controllers you plan on getting, the more charging capacity you will need. Its definitely better than batteries, but it will be interesting to see how Microsoft’s Kinect price for the single device stacks up to all of Move’s various paraphernalia.

Below is the list of Move-supported titles already announced. Sony indicated there will be between 15 and 20 at launch and that the casual offerings will cost $39.99:

First-Party Titles

Sports Champions, September 2010
EyePet, September 2010
Kung Fu Rider, September 2010
Start the Party!, September 2010
Echochrome 2 (PSN), September 2010
Tumble (PSN), September 2010
Hustle Kings, October 2010
Pain! (PSN), October 2010
TV SuperStars, October 2010
The Fight: Lights Outâ„¢, October 2010
The Shoot, October 2010
High Velocity Bowling (PSN) October 2010
Heavy Rain, October 2010
The Sly Collection, November 2010
SingStar Dance, November 2010
LittleBigPlanet 2, November 2010
Beat Sketcher (PSN), Fall 2010
SOCOM 4, Fall 2010
Sorcery, 2011
Heroes on the Move, 2011
Killzone 3, 2011

Third-Party Titles

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, September 2010
Toy Story 3: The Video Game, September 2010
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, September 2010
Brunswick Pro Bowling, September 2010
Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, September 2010
Time Crisis: Razing Storm, September 2010
NBA 2K11, October 2010
John Daly’s ProStroke Golf, Fall 2010
Racquet Sports, Fall 2010
R.U.S.E., September 2010
Kung-Fu Live, October 2010
Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos, November 2010
Tron Evolution, November 2010

LOS ANGELES – Although the device was officially announced in March, Nintendo finally took the wraps off of their new ’3DS’ yesterday. In addition to housing a 3D, glasses-free top screen that has a scalable effect controlled by a slider, the device also contains a gyroscope (indicated to be advantageous for shooter fans), a motion sensor, and a dual-camera setup that will allow you to snap and share 3D photos. It also now uses an analog ‘Slide Pad’ that can be seen just above the D-pad in the image below.

While the 1st-party titles discussed look sufficiently promising, one of the more impressive pieces of the announcement had to be the incredible 3rd-party line-up of games and top franchises that are slated to appear on Nintendo’s new monster mini.You can check out the full spec sheet for the 3DS below the image or at Nintendo’s official 3DS page.

LOS ANGELES — Microsoft unveiled a host of games and details for the exciting new Kinect system yesterday. The details are that it will release Nov. 4th and have 15 launch titles to go with it. The conspicuously absent detail was the price, which might produce a bit of sticker shock. We’ll just have to wait and see how that pans out…

Regardless, the game line-up announced is pretty solid. We’ll start with the surprises and move on to the more predictable stuff:

Forza 4 Kinect:

Not many people expected Forza, a reliably and historically hardcore sim racing franchise, to embrace the new Kinect controls. However, Microsoft showed off some really snazzy functionality that could only be done with Kinect, including full view control that allows you to move your head and look in exactly the direction you are facing. It also features the ability to peruse the interior and exterior of any car in the game from any possible angle and offers hot-spots that offer additional tricks and information. For the actual gameplay demo, there was no control over acceleration or braking, only hand’s free steering and looking around with the player’s head. The computer handled the footwork, but this will likely be optional when the title ships sometime next year.

Dance Central:

Although a dance game on Kinect seems like a no-brainer, it was a big surprise to have music game masters, Harmonix, reveal that they would be the one’s behind Kinect’s new killer-dance-app. Thanks to all the great relationships the developer is privy to through their Rock Band work and connected parents at MTV/Viacom, Dance Central is sure to have a blow-away track list of essential tunes to get down to. The demo was live and really amazingly performed to the classic Bel Biv DeVoe song ‘Poison’ by the Harmonix lead producer who can seriously move.

In order to make the title as authentic and impressive as possible, HMX worked with some of the best choreographers in the world. Some of the dances are actually those performed by the artists for the specific songs featured. It is also accessible and fun for players with little body control, as the difficulty is supposed to scale quite dramatically. This one should ship in Q4.

Star Wars Kinect:

This was a surprise announcement that warmed the hearts of nerds the world around (myself included). Lucas Arts and Microsoft will bring Star Wars Kinect to pass in Q2 2011. The trailer was just a teaser, but it featured a Jedi – presumably Luke Skywalker – moving through a wide corridor dispatching stormtroopers and other enemy hardware by blocking blaster fire, lightsabering and emitting a barrage of cool Force powers. The vid closed with Darth Vader stepping off a transport and preparing to get wild on our young friend.

The potential for awesomeness here is huge, so let’s hope this game can provide the kind of visceral and thrilling experience that the franchise ought to deliver on.

Additional games featured at the press conference were those that you could pretty much see coming. You have Kinect Sports, which is basically Wii Sports that will now involve and track your entire body. Kinectamals – a virtual, high-res petting zoo for the kiddies. Kinect Adventures is a series of Kinect-enabled multiplayer mini-games for fun with the fam or roommates. Kinect Joy Ride is a casual racing title in the spirit of Sega’s Crazy Taxi. The show also featured an Ubisoft fitness title – Your Shape: Fitness Evolved – which looked amazing, but you can easily see where that idea came from. What will separate it will likely be the fact that the Kinect device will sense when your form fails you and instruct you on how to correct it.

There are many more Kinect titles being previewed on the larger E3 show floor, so stay tuned to Blast for more info and hands-on reports as they come in.

LOS ANGELES — EA took the stage at their press conference yesterday and, among many other things, featured a live 12-on-12 demo of Medal of Honor’s multiplayer component which looks to be challenging Call of Duty for the title of top reality-based military shooter. The demo went off without a hitch and word is that it offers a very nice mix of what was good from both Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.The multiplayer component is actually developed by DICE, the studio who made BC2. While the games will have obvious similarities, the focus in MOH is not nearly as vehicle-heavy.

Medal of Honor takes place in modern-day Afghanistan and focuses on a little-known group of military men called Tier-1 Operators. According to the website (where you can also find the E3 trailer), “The Tier 1 Operator functions on a plane of existence above and beyond even the most highly trained Special Operations Forces. Their exact numbers, while classified, hover in the low hundreds. They are living, breathing, precision instruments of war. They are experts in the application of violence. The new Medal of Honor is inspired by and has been developed with Tier 1 Operators from this elite community.”

If you decide to pre-order the game at participating retailers, you will get a Beta key for June 21st for all available platforms: 360,Ps3 and PC. The beta version has two maps: Helmand Valley and Kabul City Ruins, and can be played by 24 players with two game modes: Team Assault mode and Combat Mission. Team Assault is basically Team Deathmatch, while Combat Mission is objective based. VIP members of the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will gain access to this beta version earlier on June 17. You can find out all the details on the Beta here.

LOS ANGELES — While most of the surprises in the new E3 Halo: Reach campaign trailer – revealed yesterday – were trumped by players’ exposure to the public multiplayer beta in May, one thing did indeed stand out: Space Combat. The trailer closes with two Spartans strapping into a fighter that launches triumphantly from Reach’s surface into orbit to do battle with Covanent forces in a scene that looks every but as good as any space battle from the Star Wars series. See the trailer for yourself on Xbox LIVE or check it out here.

Halo: Reach is set for release September 14 and I’m sure we can expect even more surprises before then. In the meantime, don’t forget about the jetpacks. They rule.

LOS ANGELES — Microsoft shocked the world today with news that a new Xbox 360 model will be hitting retailer shelves later this week. In closing a truly blow-away E3 press event featuring a host of amazing Kinect announcements, incredible Halo and Gears presentations, ESPN integration, and more, Microsoft revealed that it already began shipping the hardware update consumers have been frothing for over the last few years.

The new model is smaller, “whisper quiet” (noise with the existing models is a huge issue), includes state-of-the art Wireless-N technology, and houses a 250 GB hard drive — all for the same $299 the existing Elite model costs with only a 120 GB drive and no wireless capabilities. Obviously, they are trying to make friends before Kinect ships Nov. 4 and the Move/Kinect Wars officially begin, but they have succeeded in this case.

For those of you gaming faithful without a chance to attend E3 this year, EA has something nice to keep you busy. Instead of reading about all the fun you’re not having in Los Angeles, you can get download the ‘Overlord’ pack for Mass Effect 2 starting June 15. Overlord reportedly runs about 10 hrs and features a powerful AI villain reminiscent of the shadowy character from Ghost In The Shell. The horror-style adventure spans 5 planets and can be had for 560 MS points starting Tuesday.

Source: Major Nelson

Giant Bomb noticed the prolific rapper/actor/celebrity gamer’s comments during his latest Ustream broadcast in which he mentions his  Gears 3 role followed by, “I didn’t just say that.” If you start the vid at 17:30, you’ll hear the news from the man, himself. Ice-T and Epic Game’s Cliff Blezinski had discussed Ice-T’s inclusion in Gears previously, according to Kotaku.

If you’re looking for a really bad-ass EmmEffer to be in a trilogy-capping blockbuster like Gears 3, you can do a lot worse than Ice-T. If it’s been a while since you’ve heard the unfiltered version of the rap legend, I recommend listening to the entire broadcast because it’s totally hilarious. Epic PR must be thrilled with this for a reveal. Better luck next time guys…

The hard to miss Coco and her man.

For those of you who enjoy a good on-rails, light gun shooter (I know I do), Teyon games may have what you’re looking for. Here is the first official trailer for the very culturally sensitive, ‘Heavy Fire: Special Operations’:

You are able to run missions from the ground, a Humvee or a Blackhawk helicopter with 1 or 2 players. You will get additional points for smashing the environment. No mention if there are any bonuses for excessive civilian deaths.

As you rise through the military ranks, you will  get more and more powerful weapons that differ in features and controls. According to Teyon’s info, “You will need a quick trigger-finger to complete extremely dangerous levels and restore the balance of the terrorized region in the Middle East.” That last part doesn’t make a bit of sense, but it doesn’t have to because you’re about to peacefulize that ambiguous Middle-Eastern setting the only way you know how – with superior firepower, baby!

It is rumored that Teyon originally wanted to title the game, “America: Fuck Yeah!!”, but backed off of it due to  obvious copyright complications. No word on an official release date for Heavy Fire: Special Operations. You can check the website for additional info.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa has predicted that Spain will be the team taking home this year’s honors. If that does turn out to be the case, it will the first time ever for the Spanish who have a reputation for World Cup flops. They have made 12 appearances and never quite gone the distance. EA Sports has predicted reliable upsets before, however, the most recent being that the Saints would beat the Colts in the Super Bowl earlier this year. This, of course, happened and the city of New Orleans was able to enjoy a few months of fleeting joy before the horror show that is the Gulf oil spill came along and ruined everyone’s life there once again.

According to EA:

“The Final itself was an epic battle as Brazil put on a dazzling display of free-flowing samba style soccer early on against the Spaniards, taking a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute with a Felipe Melo strike from just inside the box. It didn’t take long for Spain to level the score after a goalie error that left striker David Villa in the clear. He tapped in his 6th goal of the tournament in the 42nd minute.  The second half saw fortunes turn in favour of Spain, as their disciplined build up play and domination of possession paid off with a goal in the 61st minute when Villa connected for his second goal of the match, off of Andres Iniesta’s driven cross.  Brazil had several efforts on goal in the final third of the match but couldn’t capitalize on its chances as they pushed all players forward in an attempt to draw even, eventually conceding a splendid counter attack goal in the 88th minute from Cesc Fabregas, which delivered Spain the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”

It’s a lot harder to predict the winner of a tournament than it is a single game, so we’ll see how it all plays out on June 11 when the real World Cup opens. EA gets a lot of these right, which speaks volumes about the depth and sophistication behind their amazing sports titles. They predicted in April that the Blackhawks would win the Stanley Cup, but against the Penguins and not the Flyers. Regardless, the Blackhawks are leading the series which means EA has a very good shot at having called the Stanley Cup winner before the start of the playoffs so…

Source: G4

The seminal voice of the Metal Gear series, David Hayter, recently did a guest stint with the MTV movie blog talking videogame adaptations. While there, he revealed a few behind the curtain details on the status of the planned Metal Gear movie. He is a trustworthy source on the subject since he wrote the screenplay for the seemingly lost project. According to what David has heard, Sony has simply never been able to close a deal with famed creator of the series, Hideo Kijoma. The script was written and pre-production began, but unfinished business between Sony and Konami/Kojima have stalled the process indefinitely.

When and if the Metal Gear movie does come out, I’m sure it will be rad. Here’s to hoping these guys can settle their differences before people stop caring about Metal Gear completely…

This weekend, FOX Broadcasting will show a short based in the world of Rockstar Games’ open-world adventure game Red Dead Redemption.

Created and directed by John Hillcoat, the man behind The Road and The Proposition, the short is hardly short, as it’s 30 minutes long.

The entire film was created using the in-game world of Red Dead Redemption as a virtual set, borrowing its assets and harnessing its technology to get the job done.

The film debuts on FOX May 29 at midnight and the publisher has provided a 60-second teaser of it today (embedded below).

For those currently playing the game. What do you think of it?

Embedded in an Associated Press report detailing the success of Bungie’s Halo: Reach Beta and what’s on the proverbial horizon for the company, was a September 14 release date for the final, shipped product.

In addition to the release date revelation came numbers and statistics from Reach‘s Beta.

According to the report, during the Beta’s 18 day length, more than 16 millions hours and over 1.1 billion kills were logged, leaving Bungie quite the happy camper.

“It’s exceeded our expectations,” said Bungie Studios community director Brian Jarrard. “Our only real perspective going into this was the ‘Halo 3′ beta test, which had about 800,000 people. We knew there were a couple million copies of ‘ODST’ out there, but we really didn’t have any specific information that let us know what the population might be like.”

via AP

The series finale of LOST aired last night. Twitter exploded, heads rolled and tears were shed.

Though the show may now be over, it won’t soon be forgotten, as songs from the sci-fi drama will arrive in the Rock Band music store in the near future.

Gaming site and television channel G4 is reporting two original songs, heard only in the show, will make their way to the popular music game. If you’re a fan of the series, you probably have a guess at which songs were chosen, but for those outside the loop, here’s the skinny.

The cast

Driveshaft’s “You All Everybody” and Geronimo Jackson’s “Dharma Lady” are the tunes in question and G4 thinks they’ll show up on the Rock Band Network in the next few days.

Don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty neat when two major mediums: television and videogames, pool their creative essences and end up with a mash-up like this. No mention of price or specific date of availability. But wouldn’t it be great if both songs were free?

via G4

Sony’s worst kept secret, a third Killzone title, was outed today. The June issue of GamePro magazine, due to subscribers beginning June 1, has graced mailboxes early, with readers confirming the magazine’s Killzone 3 blowout and detailing some of the game’s specifics.

Supposed Killzone 3 screenshot

According to a reader, writing on the GameSpot forums, the game will be fully playable in 3D, more deeply familiarize gamers with both Helghast language and culture, incorporate jetpacks to the core game experience among other interesting tidbits found right here.

Killzone 2 remains one of my most favorite PlayStation 3 titles and was actually the reason I picked up a console in the first place. My hopes are high for the third installment, don’t let me down Guerrilla!

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of legendary arcade title Pac-Man, Google has launched its first playable doodle, allowing Internet searchers to play the game, in its entirety right in their browser.

That’s right, all 255 Pac-Man levels, plus the 256th, the Kill Screen, are accessible right now.

Play Pac-Man, in your broswer.

The doodle, what Google officially calls the themed illustrations, is the first playable doodle in Google’s history.

Simply press the “Insert Coin” button and you’re good to go! Also, we’re not liable for your boss’ anger.