300 is a movie about guys who look cool doing things that are awesome, and as such it's hard not to like it. It leverages swank technology in the service of its cinematic mission. Also, there is a portion of the film given over to a creature, equal parts goat and man, who plays a flute inside of a golden tent. So it's the sort of movie that really has something for everyone.

Merely liking the movie is apparently not sufficient for my counterpart: I must swear oaths by it, or belt out anthems re: its timeless power. It is a perfectly fine movie, and your investment will not go amiss, but I have not been altered by the film at the molecular level.

Gabriel was angry with me when he was drawing the strip, this happens sometimes and it can't be avoided. If it were about something interesting, I would tell you. It's rare for us to actually fight unless Duke Nuke Them 3D is involved - typically one or the other just seethes, guttering and frying like a tallow candle. In any case, his complex inner life was captured in this instance - you can bear witness, if you like. That's what the strip looked like when he sent it to me initially.

There was always going to be a black version of the Xbox 360 with HDMI, as soon as the idea was presented it seemed to resonate at the proper frequency. Everything else about it - from the price to the amenities to the size of the hard disc - was cloaked in mystery. It might still be, depending on who you ask, but there are "confirmed" tales out there offering this or that detail. Engadget (in particular) is suggesting that this new version of the system, called the "Elite," will be a limited edition prospect, sold alongside the existing models. Before these semi-official pieces, I'd heard that this product would just bump out the "premium" model - something that always seemed a little wishful to me, a heartwarming story with a happy ending for everyone.

Most places are calling the price of the machine (which comes with a 120 gig hard drive) at $479, which is interesting tactically. The five hundred dollar model of the PS3 was exceedingly rare when we went on our little field trip earlier, and I don't think this will change much going forward: low supplies of this model made this SKU more of a rhetorical device. That explains the pricing, at least to me, because putting a $480 dollar Xbox 360 against that 20 gig PS3 is suicide, from a raw features perspective: it only makes sense if a) they truly see themselves in a position of strength here, which is premature, or b) if they think that true competition at the five hundred dollar level doesn't exist.

I've also heard (as you may have) that the standalone version of the 120 gig drive is going to clock in at around two hundred dollars, which reveals a company in the throes of brain fever. The machine is locked down so hard that virtually all you can do with a drive this large is load it to the brim with premium content! They should be subsidizing the Goddamn things, not raising them overhead to scourge early adopters.

They chose not to incorporate the wi-fi adapter they currently sell as an add-on for a hundred bucks, and the reason for that is revealed earlier in this very sentence. They also chose not to make a larger play on HD-DVD, possibly because the rout is beginning, but I don't know that they were never terribly invested to begin with. The HD-DVD/Blu-Ray "Conflict" is largely illusory, the mindless twitching of an industry in the sure grip of a predator. HD-DVD is perfectly acceptable technology, but Sony's substantial trove of cinematic IP is simply insurmountable. They can't claim victory in a format war simply by fiat, but they may absolutely deny victory to another party, which I'm prepared to call a functional equivalent. I was under the impression we had laws to protect consumers from this sort of thing, but who knows?

(CW)TB out.

does your heart echo like a hall

I had a number of topics to write about, this having been a crazy week for news. For some reason, an extended discussion of the 360's "Zephyr" variant took root in my mind. Together with a mysterious "Spring Update," the features of which have been only dimly illuminated, these items represent Microsoft's newest campaign in the Console War.

The rest of it will get its due on Friday, but Devil May Cry (and Air Combat) jumping over to the 360 seemed worth mentioning.

Before the first blows of this conflict had been struck, I expected this generation to dismantle the large preponderance of title exclusivity.  It was a bad bet last generation to spurn valid platforms, and as a policy it's only grown more deranged.  I've been surprised, actually, at how much has remained, and when the titles mentioned above went multiplatform (verifying the long-whispered heresies) the universe became a more reasonable place. I don't know if Dante still represents A-List talent, but he'll certainly be welcome: the soul-deep hunger of the Xbox owner for Japanese content has no limit, and even Capcom might have been startled by the response to their experimentation with the platform.

First and second party exclusivity is always going to be with us, but it's nice to see publishers outside the walled compounds starting to understand that no-one, at any echelon of the console ecosystem, is especially well served by it.

(CW)TB

We got a huge delivery last week from Nintendo for Child’s Play. Kiko snapped some pictures once we had everything unboxed.

We’ll be sending these out to the hospitals right away.

I don’t know if this video made the rounds on news sites and I just missed it but I just found this trailer for Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix.

Kingdom Hearts 2 is probably my favorite game of all time. With all the side quests and mini games and secret shit, I probably sunk more time into KH than I do most FF games. KH 2:Final Mix is a Japanese release of the game that contains all the extra shit they added to the US version. If that was all it did that would be fine but it also includes a full remake of Chain of Memories.

Now I’ll forgive you if you never played about Chain of Memories. It was a KH game for the GBA. The cool thing about it was that they introduced a really awesome card battle system. Everything from regular attacks with your Key Blade to magic and summons was based on playing cards. Playing the right cards in the right order could even earn you combos. I'm a sucker for card based battle and combining it with KH was almost too much to take. In the trailer for KH:Final Mix you’ll see a big chuck of footage that shows Sora drawing on a deck of cards, that’s Chain of Memories. Apparently they have completely remade the entire game in 3D! I’ve also read a couple reports on the game that seem to say you can use the chain of Memories card battle system to play back through the original KH:2 storyline. I’m not sure even I’m crazy enough to try that but it’s a cool feature. Honestly I’d buy it just for the Chain of Memories content.

The problem is that I haven’t seen anything saying the game is coming to the US. I don’t know if it just hasn’t been announced yet or if Square isn’t planning on bringing it over. If anyone knows more about this title and the chances of seeing it in the US, I’d love to hear from you.

Speaking of YouTube, this is a pretty cool fan made video. They took our Armadeaddon storyline and set the entire thing to music. Some of the cuts are sort of quick but overall I think it’s pretty classy.

Also I updated Gabeart recently with a few new sketches if you like that sort of thing.

-Gabe out