Now here’s something hilarious! Well, at least for us political junkies.

Wagner James Au, a writer from Gigaom, paralleled the presidentiables with game consoles. The comparison are hilarious and somewhat surprisingly accurate.

Obama, according to Au, would be the Wii:

[Obama] was first dismissed by Washington insiders for not having enough power or third-party backers — but has gone on to draw immense popularity… Instantly appealing like the Wii, Obama is popular not because of his library of policies, but because he is changing the way the game is played.

Hillary Clinton as the Xbox 360:

Backed by the most money, seen as a reliable and established brand, Hillary appeals most to the Democractic base, much the same way the 360 is most popular with hardcore gamers. Transitioning from her husband’s Xbox era, she offers not revolutionary change but steady, reliable content.

John Edwards for the PS3:

Formerly the Democratic frontrunner of the previous generation, Edwards now offers a greatly enhanced library of positions with far more ideological power — which few except Edwards’ die-hard fanboys seem to be buying.

W-h J: Wow, I never knew you could compare them with consoles, and they’re not derogatory at all. Good job by Wagner! These descriptions will surely help some of the gamers decide who to vote, now that they’ve been defined in gamer-layman’s term.

(Source: GamePolitics, Gigaom)

The Return to Castle Wolfenstein film won’t be coming anytime soon.  Already delayed to 2010 due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, the production has received a tragic blow when its writer and director was involved in a fatal auto accident.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Roger Avary, 42 was arrested after a car crash early Sunday morning outside a lumberyard.  The accident resulted to the death of Avary’s passenger, 34-year-old Andreas Zedini and “seriously” injured Avary’s 40-year-old wife Gretchen after she was hurled from the back seat.

Avary was reportedly booked at the Ventura Country Jail and was released on bail for $50,000.  According to the Associated Press, Avary faces felony drunk driving and maybe even manslaughter charges.

Pooch: Roger Avary has had a bright career and its a shame that it would be marred by such a crash.  He has won an Academy Award in 1995 for co-writing the screenplay for Pulp Fiction and has most recently executive-produced and co-wrote the script for Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf.  Avary also wrote the movie adaptation of Konami’s Silent Hill, which in my opinion is one of the best game-based movies released. 

Alcohol and driving are like water and oil, they don’t mix.  In the wrong hands, cars are probably the greatest weapons of mass destruction created by man. 

[Source: Los Angeles Times]

Resistance: Fall of Man has its shares of ups and downs.  Even though they did get in trouble with the church for staging a gunfight in one of the most iconic cathedrals in the UK, it has garnered some of the highest reviews for a launch title for the PlayStation 3. 

Following its relatively good reviews, the game sold fairly well with around 791,000 copies sold in the US alone.  Good reviews and good sales usually mean one thing: sequels. 

In the February edition of Game Informer, they revealed that Insomniac is indeed working on a sequel.  Tentatively coined as Resistance 2, the game is reported to support two campaigns, multiplayer battles of up to 60 players and eight-person co-op play. 

Rumor has it that the game will also support three character classes.  These will include a heavy weapons, special operations and medic classes.  Vehicles will also be implemented such as the Stalker, which will also have cloaking abilities.

[Source: Gamespot]

If these new screenshots won’t leave you with an “awww…” reaction, then we don’t know what will.

New screenshots from Devil May Cry 4 released by Famitsu comes with a familiar setting for those who played God of War II (the part where Kratos and the Colossus fought that is found in the early stages of the game). Thought it’s unclear if DMC 4 will copy the same game play as GOW II, every hardcore gamer knows this one will definitely be bad ass. 

One of the good things about these newly released screenshots is Dante’s gatling gun. One word: WICKED

Sweet! I actually got this from Ebay for only $7.95!

Say hello to my leeetuul friend!

What can Dante or Vergil do to me?!

I can do THIS to you! Hayaaa!

And this!

Woohoo! Now you’re down!

Don’t bully my dad you big bully!

Dante: …

(Sources: Famitsu, Kotaku)

It has been a turbulent start in the year for Toshiba in its fight for the next-gen format war against Sony’s Blu-ray.  Already slightly behind, HD DVD suffered a huge blow with Warner Bros. surprise announcement that it would be abandoning HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray.  Shortly after, it became apparent that Paramount may be following suit and capitalize on an out clause in its exclusivity contract with Toshiba causing Toshiba stocks to drop overnight.

Paramount has since denied that they are leaving the HD DVD camp, but even that has not removed the doubt over their continued loyalty to the format.  Even Microsoft, which was one of the developers behind the format, has conceded that they may implement Blu-ray support for their next-gen console, the Xbox 360.

Now it seems the knock-out punch is coming.  Variety reported that Universal Studios has just ended its HD DVD exclusivity deal.  To put this to perspective, Universal Studios is among the last of the large Hollywood studios along with Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.  As its stands now, HD DVD has around 20% of Hollywood’s total output, and a huge slice of that is coming from Universal Pictures.

Toshiba is not giving up.  At the Consumer Electronics Show, the manufacturer restated their commitment to the format, saying that their sales are strong coming into the end of 2007, and that they will continue to market their product.  Similar to Paramount’s stand, Universal Studios has also stated that they will support the format for now, and will continue to support the next series of HD DVD promotions set in the coming months.

Even if Toshiba and its backers keep pushing on, the market may be the one to eventually deal the final blow.  Retailers are unlikely to keep devoting valuable shelf space for the dying format.  Recently, Blockbuster also began to support Blu-ray almost exclusively with only a handful of HD DVD discs remaining in their stores.

Blu-ray is Sony’s bid to become the next generation high-definition video player.  It is also one of the real draws to getting their next-generation console, the PlayStation 3.  Not only is the PS3 a platform to play games on, it is also the cheapest Blu-ray player in the market. 

Blu-ray is currently backed by Warner Bros, Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate.  Time Warner subsidiaries New Line Cinema and HBO have also revealed at the 2008 CES that they will be Blu-ray exclusive.

[Source: Variety]

And I kid you not.

Aside from the fact that you can play with four of your friends and act as a band, Rock band doesn’t stop there as they also want your setting to be smokin’ hot.

With Rock Band’s new stage kit, gaming experience is enhanced with its ability to produce smoke and lights. for only $100, your rock band will turn into an instant “Rock Band on stage!” LOL! get it?

…Ahem!

Apparently, this news wasn’t supposed to be out yet but it seems like GameStop already posted the box’s image that spilled the beans. Though the image was already pulled out from their site, a screenshot was managed to be saved by Engadget.

The Rock Band Stage Kit will be rocking on store shelves on June 23.

(Source: Engadget)

Try searching Copper Innovations Group. E-mail us if you find a website about them.

12 years ago, CIG claims to have a patent for something that “covers a method for connecting devices to a system and sorting their inputs by means of hardware identification numbers tied to each transmission”. This is their stand as they sued Nintendo and Sony for putting their technology into the Wii nunchucks, the sixaxis controllers, and the PS3 Blu-Ray Remote.

CIG demands damages and legal costs, and is trying to prohibit both companies from infringing the patent any longer.

W-h J:

Phoenix: This evidence contradicts that statement, your honor!

Judge: it does?

Phoenix: Umm…er…I thought…

Judge: I’m sorry Mr. Wright but I have to penalize you.  Although I don’t see the contradiction, the evidence present is vague.  So I’ll just pass my verdict.

NOT GUILTY!

Judge: Court is adjourned! This has to be the fastest case I got involved with.  Five minutes!

(Source: Kotaku)

Good news for PS2 owners! If you’re a fan of either Dynasty Warriors or Gundam, then this port is definitely one to play before actually packing up your PS2.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam, originally for the PS3 and Xbox 360, features Gundam Mechs with a Dynasty Warriors gameplay. What’s good in this port is that it would include an additional scenario, Musha Gundam (which needed to be unlocked in the original version), and a brand new mech called the Musha Gundam Mk-II.

The game would be released in Japan on February 28 while the english version is still to be announced.

(Source: 1up)

A lot of gamers were happy to see not only five games included with Valve’s Orange Box but a playable demo of the game Portal.  The first-person puzzle game impressed many with its clever portal mechanic and witty story.

Now Valve has struck a collaborative deal with Nvidia, the makers of the popular Geforce graphics cards.  Because of this, users of any of Nvidia’s cards will be able to download a free extended demo of Portal through Valve’s online distribution service, Steam.  The download will be packaged with Nvidia driver updates.

Nvidia and Valve’s collaboration will see improvements on the development and distribution of their games and create better competitive gaming events for their popular FPS, Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2.

[Source: Gamespot]

LittleBigPlanet has been much awaited since it was first unveiled at the 2007 Game Developers Conference.  Developed by Rag Doll Kung Fu developer Media Molecule, the cute platformer allows you to rapidly construct your own intricate levels and customize some really cute cuddly characters complete with goofy costumes and accessories. 

Numerous trailers have popped up all over the net sparking a lot of enthusiasm on the game.  The Consumer’s Electronics Show was no exception as they demonstrated how you can create and customize your own character and create your own gameplay elements.

Initially slated for release early this year, no specific date has been released for the release of the game in North America even if Sony Europe confirmed that LittleBigPlanet will be released in Great Britain this September.

[Source: Gamespot]