I don’t know if you’ve used a Windows Mobile powered phone recently, or ever (lucky you!), but Microsoft looks like they might have finally gotten the memo that their mobile OS was a little behind the times.  Unfortunately they’re a little late to the party, and not the fashionably late that makes you cool and attractive.  Microsoft has been on a bit of a role here lately after the disaster that was Vista.  They have a hit with Windows 7 (despite the god-awful commercials); the ZuneHD, while not an iPod killer, is a nifty little PMP; the Surface projects have shown that Redmond has an eye on the future; and of course the Xbox 360 is still holding strong gaming wise.  But their mobile line has been horrible for almost a decade.  RIM took over their business marketshare with Crackberries and Apple destroyed them on the entertainment front.  Yesterday Microsoft finally hung the mobile 6.x series out to dry.  Then shot it.  And then used C4 to put that horrible OS to death, MythBusters style.  We’ll have to wait for Xmas ‘10 for the Windows Phone 7 (and you thought the iPad was a bad name) to officially arrive, but this preview and demo unit should be a wake-up call to Apple, Google, and RIM that the dragon is stirring after a long slumber.  A lot can change in 9 months, like a name for example, but I’m predicting a hit out of this.  The design and UI is so radically different from what Microsoft has been pushing down our throats for the last 20 years that it’s actually hard to believe that it’s really from Redmond.  And unlike Apple, Microsoft already knows how to take on gaming.  The integrated Xbox 360 functionality could be HUGE depending on how it’s pulled off.  If you’re looking to buy a phone in the next year, hold off.  If you HAVE to buy one, for the love of God don’t buy anything Windows Mobile.   Here’s the demonstration video they showed off at the Mobile World Congress in Spain yesterday:

Apple has gained quite a lead from nowhere in the past 3 years, the Android guys from Google are showing a lot of promise, and Blackberry’s rule the workforce…but I’d like to think that Microsoft has been the guy just standing there in the video below.

Microsoft has taken quite a shot in the mobile department lately, but from what Windows Phone 7 looks like they’re just wiping the sweat from their brow.  Hopefully this will get Apple back into the innovative designing that brought us the iPod and iPhone and not just yearly updates to existing products.  Google’s not a direct threat in Apple’s eyes…but Microsoft?

Begun, these phone wars have….

Gizmodo Full Story here.  Hands On Video here.

Check it! Very good friend of Nerd City and insanely talented guy, Adriean Koleric, aka Item, has contributed some amazing designs to the upcoming Star Wars Galaxy 5 Trading Cards from Topps.  You’ve got to love Item’s approach to these designs, which incorporate his now iconic blend of Star Wars characters with super sharp design and fashion imagery. What is really additionally impressive, though, is the decision that he made to give each piece the look of slightly weathered street art, which adds an interesting organic element to the overall feel.  Well played, sir.

From Item:

I was lucky enough to be invited through the almighty Sucklord to contribute to the upcoming Starwars Galaxy 5 line of cards via TOPPS. The task was to customize 56 blank cards to how I see fit.

I opted to go with a gel transfer approach to try and mimic the feel of a sticker or gig poser you’d see on any street corner. Weathered…..peeled…..etc. More images can be checked out over here.

Release date is February 2010.

More pics/links after the jump. (more…)

Through Nintendo’s virtual console, Excitebike: World Rally will be available today as a WiiWare downloadable title. This game was announced a few weeks back with minor gameplay shown, but as we saw this game will play and look (with updated graphics) just like the original. As all my fans out there know, I am a huge 2D game fan so this will be an instant download for me today. For only 1000 Wii points, you can download this game and begin creating and sharing your own levels, race friends on and off line, and just have a good ol’ fashioned time with what should be an exciting and fun game. For those that may not be ready to jump to this new game, you can always download the original NES version for 500 Wii points.

At some point, the tri-wolf tee shirt (original seen HERE) became a nostalgic, hilarious staple for hipster apparel.  Since then, several witty, hipper homage tees have popped up all over the internet (my personal fave being the “Three Keyboard Cat”).  However, this newest release is pretty kickass.  So, if anyone at founditemclothing.com is reading this, the Nerd City crew will take a couple mediums, a couple large, and a small for me.  

I met the gang from Furthermore Beer @ The Autumn Beer Review in Minneapolis, and their product, and company, ruled. For our Nerds in Spring Grove, Wisconsin, they are throwing a rollicking good time ol’ fashioned barn party this weekend. I highly recommend checking it out.

Get all the details here.

After Monday night’s weekly Nerd City podcast, Max and I attended this year’s Lebowskifest which was being held at Diversey Rock N’ Bowl (pics and video to follow). And while we were there we happened to make friends with some pretty cool ladies who perform burlesque around the city under the name Vaudezilla. Now, for those uninitiated with burlesque, it’s basically an old-fashioned variety style show with handfuls of striptease tossed in for good measure. They’re always a great, fun time. And the lovely ladies usually have a killer sense of humor. So we’re pleased to have met a few of the Vaudezilla crew; it only makes sense we’d fall in together. We hope to hear (and see *wink*) more from them in the future.  But for now, here are some upcoming shows and dates!

Thursday, Sept 17 - Red Hot Annie in Redhead Revue @ Redhead Piano Bar

Saturday, Sept 19 & 26 - 11:30pm Shows - “Rollin’ Outta Here Naked: A Big Lebowski Burlesque” - http://vaudezilla.com/biglebowskiburlesque.htm

Wednesdays thru Oct 14 - Learn Burlesque with Red Hot Annie - http://vaudezilla.com/burlesqueclasses.htm

Friday, Sept 25 - BROADZILLA! The Burlesque Beast - http://vaudezilla.com/broadzilla.htm

Saturday, October 31 - Vaudezilla’s Monster Burlesque Academy - http://vaudezilla.com/halloween.htm

I can’t tell you how many times during blackouts in my neighborhood that I’ve gotten a craving for a cocktail.  It happens more than you’d think - but every time it does, I’m pretty much screwed.  You ever try to make a Tom Collins (or Sidecar or Old Fashioned, whatever) in the pitch dark?  It’s impossible!  You know how many Oriental rugs I’ve ruined?!  Too many!  Anyhow, some people (I’d like to think cool scientists) came up with a bottle spout with a built in LED light which eliminates any possibility of an embarrassing spill (unless, of course, you’re suffering from the DT’s.  In that case, this spout is the last thing you need).

Direct Youtube Link

Today saw the release of the trailer for The Wolfman. Starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving, The Wolfman is scheduled to be released in Feb of 2010 and looks fantastic. It isn’t a modern world version or anything “fancy” like the Underworld movies, this is just a good ol fashioned monster movie.

Tom Scioli is my favorite comic book artist.  He takes the style of Jack Kirby and cranks the psychedelia meter to the proverbial eleven.  Tom’s art is dynamically stylish, unapologetically bold, and completely contrary to the bland trends of the status quo of modern mainstream comics.  Nerd City was lucky enough to have a quick chat with Scioli about the upcoming release of The Myth of 8-Opus: The Labyrinth, Godland, and his influences, from Jack Kirby to The Who.

You’re set to release The Myth of 8-Opus: The Labyrinth in August.  What can we look forward to in the next installment of the 8-Opus saga?

You’ll see cosmic romance, danger and excitement! Lots of large-scale epic battles. A lot of planet-hopping. This one is an odyssey, lots of smaller adventures inside one giant adventure. It’s got the types of things people have come to expect from my 8-Opus comics: robotic cherubim, Kirby-esque god-machines, planet-sized monsters, universe-sized monsters, men and women of mystery, morphing metallic bird-creatures. It’s a space opera.

Obviously, your art on Godland is beyond awesome, but the visual designs of many of the characters and imagery in general are equally mind-blowing.  How much say do you have in the visual design of Godland and its inhabitants?

I’m responsible for most of the design on the series. Pretty much every thing in it is reflective of my aesthetic. It varies from character to character. I had sketchbooks full of character designs and environments that I had come up with that I sent to Joe, so some of the characters were refugees from my sketchbook, Basil Cronus being the most famous example. Sometimes Joe will make special requests which run the whole range of we need three aliens for next issue, to more specific requests that pretty much say it all, like wild west gorilla-headed prostitutes. Sometimes we go with the first thing I come up with, sometimes there’s a lot of back-and-forth and revision.

Another big factor in the Godland aesthetic is that we started in a very weird place. Meaning, the character designs were pretty crazy right off the bat. You can’t start out weird and get less weird as it goes on. You have to escalate. Our “earthbound” menaces like Basil and Discordia were pretty exotic-looking, so when it came time to introduce the aliens, we had to get even wierder. The Space Gods had to be stranger than the aliens. When we got to issue 13, we had characters from a different dimension. That issue presented a really difficult challenge because how do you show a strange new dimension when what you’ve shown already has been so out there. I was pleased with what I came up with. One reviewer said about that issue, that it looked like I broke into the Jim Henson creature shop and put things together with the spare parts.

Much has been made about the strong Kirby influence in your work.  Is it frustrating that so much focus is placed upon this?  And, in an artistic era where everyone from musicians to fashion designers wear the influence of their idols on their sleeves, what does the evoking the Kirby style mean for you philosophically and artistically?

The comparison itself isn’t frustrating. I’m proud of the fact that my work is similar to Kirby’s. It’s what I’d initially set out to do when I made the decision to give comics a try.

It is funny to me that some people seem absolutely horrified by it. I’m glad you brought up music, because, yeah, what I’m doing is perfectly acceptable. Most bands, particularly every rock band since Chuck Berry, do exactly what I do. Someone once asked me if I feel like a Kiss tribute band. Looking at that comparison, I’d say no. First of all Kiss isn’t like Kirby. For the Kiss comparison to work, they’d have to be hands-down the best band in the world, the way Kirby is the best comics artist ever. The Beatles would be a better comparison. I’m like a Beatles tribute band because I’m imitating the greatest. But the “tribute band” part doesn’t fit either, because if I were a tribute band, I’d just be telling the same Kirby stories, using the same Kirby character designs, the way a tribute band just plays the same old songs. But I don’t. I write and draw my own unique stories. I create my own unique characters and settings. So I’m like a band that imitates the Beatles in terms of their approach, but writes and arranges all their own original material. I’d say a more fitting comparison is that I’m the Kinks. The Kinks sounded like the Beatles. The Beatles are their main influence and it shows. Yet, as much as they owe to the Beatles, they are their own unique thing, with their own voice, their own point-of-view. There are a million examples like this in music. Not so many in comics.

What comics are you reading at the moment?

Lone Wolf and Cub. Buddha. Dr. Strange stories, Ditko’s run and Colan’s. The new Supermen book. Barry Smith’s Daredevil issue. Kirby Hulks. I just picked up another issue of Heavy Metal with Steranko’s Outland adaptation.

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what are you listening to?

Yeah. The new Green Day. Junior Senior. Ian Hunter’s solo album that Mick Ronson produced. Genesis (early stuff before they got sappy). T-Rex. Pink Floyd. The Kinks. The Who (”I can See for Miles” gets me in the cosmic mood). Apples in Stereo.

What’s on the horizon for you, artistically?

More comics. More Godland, we still have a bunch of issues to go. More 8-Opus, I have a new volume 8-Opus: The Labyrinth which is the first new one in 5 years. I promise the next volume won’t take that long. I’m working on another concept that I’d like to be my next new series after Godland ends. It’s still in the early stages so I don’t want to say too much about it.

Thanks, Tom!

Check out Tom Scioli’s blog here and his official site here.

Fresh from the newly released film, Back to the Future 2, you can now fashion yourself after Marty McFly from the year 2015 by owning your own styleish rainbow hat. Luckily one size fits all on this so everyone can own one. After this you just need the drying coat and fancy Nike shoes…oh and a hoverboard (which by the way, hoverboards don’t work on water….unless you got the power). Anyway you can pre-order your hat at amazon.com for only $25 bucks.

I can’t wait to see what adventures Doc and Marty have in the wild west when part 3 comes out.

From Shocker Toys:

DICK TRACY ATTENDS SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2009 WITH SHOCKER TOYS!

May 16^th, 2009 NJ- Tribune’s Dick Tracy attends San Diego Comic-Con this year as exclusive Black and White action figures brought to you by Shocker Toys. This is a first for Dick Tracy to appear as hyper-articulated action figures in creator Chester Gould’s black and white comic strip style. The world’s most famous detective will be available in two limited run action figures.  Both will be available on-site at San Diego Comic Con, with the standard issue B&W version also available to non-attendees at Shocker Toys Online Store. The B&W variant figure, which features Dick in his trench coat with a Tommy gun will ONLY be available on-site for a lucky few at Comic-Con.

INDIE SPOTLIGHT COMIC BOOK HEROES 6” Action Figures SDCC EXCLUSIVES

* Dick Tracy B&W variant figure is limited to SDCC attendees only.

* Dick Tracy B&W standard figure is available at Shocker Toys Online Store and at SDCC.

Tribune-“Dick Tracy’s inimitable style has secured his place in Americana as the groundbreaking detective who kept the streets safe (and millions of readers glued to their comics pages). Not content to rest on his laurels, Tracy continues to be relevant as he combines old-fashioned values with 21st century innovation to capture corporate crooks, computer pirates, polluters, skyjackers, gang members and terrorists.”

Dick Tracy is also part of the upcoming Series 2 of Indie Spotlight Comic Book Heroes 6” scale action figure line. The line will feature him colorized in both the standard and variant models. Series 2, dubbed “The Tick Series” also features The Tick, Ignacia, Jack Staff and King Zombie.

This is only the beginning of the Shocker Toys offerings this year at San Diego Comic-Con.  Look out for follow up with more news to come on other exclusives, product previews, contests and more.

About Shocker Toys LLP

Ridgewood, NJ-based Shocker Toys LLP current roster includes Indie Spotlight 6” scale independent comic book action figures, Who wants to be a Superhero? Figures, 3” Shockinis, Metalocalypse figures and Mallows. For more product and licensing information visit the Company’s website: http://www.shockertoys.com

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada’s Adriean Koleric is Item, one of Nerd City’s favorite artists and greatest allies.  Item was kind enough to answer a few questions about his artistic philosophies, inspirations, and his upcoming HERD show.

I see a really cool range of homages in your work from nerd pop culture to modern architecture to fashion to music. Stylistically, what influences propel Item?

I think you pretty well summed it up in your question! Ya, i’m a Nerd through and through. I love Industrial Design, Architecture, etc. …but my first love is pop culture, especially early to mid-80’s era. Stuff like comic books, toys, vinyl, cartoons, etc. That shit just gets me going and really helps fuel the creative fire. By the way I have to say, the trailer for the new GI Joe movie looks absolutely sick! I was a little worried with the all leather promo posters, but this really settled things down for me. I’ve been waiting for this flick since 1983, so it’s kind of a big deal to me!

What specifically is the HERD show and how did the idea come about for it?

HERD is my first solo show that’s based on the original Star Wars AT-AT design. The show will center around a dozen refurbished AT-AT’s (aptly renamed to AK-AT’s ) and will also feature some wall graphics, lighting elements and my first official toy based on my AK-AT driver mashup. I basically had 2 objectives for the show. One was to put focus on the actual design of the AT-AT’s and make people realize that someone actually sat down and spent time on this piece which in my opinion is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever made.

The funny thing is we don’t know the name of the Artist behind it like we would with a VanGogh or Warhol piece. According to Wikipedia, the AT-AT Designers name is Joe Johnston who funny enough is supposed to be the Director for the upcoming Captian America movie. Nice little tidbit eh? As for the second objective, I also wanted to show how some of us are heavily influenced by Western Pop Culture and that items such as the AT-AT’s are essentially ‘Art’ to us which then filters into our work today. These are the creations we look fondly back onto and inspire us to do what we do in a creative realm. Essentially what i’m saying is that we’re the HERD that are being lead by this movement called Pop Culture.

You have commissioned some really cool pieces from Suckadelic as part of the show. How did that collabo come about and what was the process like?

It was such an easy process. I have to say The Sucklord is a machine and an absolute professional at what he does. I basically dropped him an e-mail with a sketch of my ‘AK-AT Driver’ to see if he’d take it on as a job, which he graciously did. From there he rattled off a dozen kit-bashed resin figures that were spot on to what I was hoping to get. I felt like a kid again when those bad boys showed up in the mail. The quality is downright criminal. I cannot wait to include them in HERD!

You share the music that you’re enjoying fairly regularly on your blog. What have you been listening to while working on the pieces for the HERD show?

My Nano was on serious shuffle mode through the HERD process. The tunes were all over the place, but if I had to pick something specific i’d say I really got into The Rakes. ‘Strasbourg’ is a bloody masterpiece! Absolute brilliance! I’m also one of those guys to have a ‘background’ movie playing while I work. You know, the flicks that just sound great? Life Aquatic, Snatch, Lock Stock, The Darjeeling Limited and definitely Afro Samurai! RZA rocked the shit with that soundtrack. I wish my theme song sounded as bad ass as that one.

What is your process for custom painting the AT-AT’s.

Well the first challenge was actually getting my hands on them. Thank goodness for E-bay! Otherwise i’d be hooped. Once they arrived, then came disassembly and then a major cleaning as you would not believe the state that some came in. One was actually lit on fire from the inside! Of course no mention of that in the auction description. So after all components were ‘brought back to life’, out came the spray paint and the rest is history.

What else is on the horizon for you, artistically?

I’ve got a couple of shows in the pipeline. One based on Cobra Commander which will be another solo gig and then a group show I’m putting together that will be an all ‘Droid’ program. The mediums will vary for both, but the common is that I’ll still be incorporating some of my Design background to each one. Stuff like this just evolves as the process goes, so it’s always hard for me to know exactly how things will turn out at the end.

Thanks so much for what you’re doing with your art. Your combination of uber modern style and geek culture reverence is exactly what Nerd City loves!

…and I love you Nerd City !

HERD will officially be happening Spring 2009 (April 17-May16) in Edmonton at Latitude53.

Please check out Item’s web site here and blog here for more info.

With the recent release of the game, the Street Fighter 4 property is super hot right now. NECA is handling the action figures for this incarnation of the game in their typically awesome fashion. Last week at Toy Fair, they unveiled series 2:

Akuma:

Chun Li:

and Guile:

Images from Toy News International.

Well kids, they day finally came. We can now enjoy our own fighting tournaments for Street Fighter IV in the comfort of our own homes. Now I have been playing this game for the past few days and I will say that this is the best Street Fighter game I have ever played (Disclaimer: This doesn’t include the Marvel VS Capcom franchise, as MVC2 is still the best fighter). Everything from the character design, balance of fighters, animation style and the attention to detail for the background alone make this a fantastic game that everyone should pick up if you own a Xbox 360 or PS3. The single player campaign is fun as usual with a interesting enough story to keep you involved. Plus there is a high level of replay value for single player campaign as you need to go through multiple times with different characters to unlock all the fighters. Now the best part of course is the multi-player, both on and offline. Playing on the PS3 there is an option to install the game on your hard drive, thus eliminating load times. This makes the game play just like how it would in an arcade setting, instant fighting and retribution if you lose comes quickly as you are not waiting for the match to start with load times (the install should be available on the 360 as well with the new NXE, but I can not confirm). Online play is done very well as Capcom allowed users to see the connection rate of an opponent before starting a match. This helps out quite alot when you are playing a fighting game and can not afford any lag whatsoever. Unfortunately there are a few minor downsides to the game. These mainly come from having to do so much to unlock everything. Now as I stated above you have to do the single player campaign to unlock all fighters, which isn’t that bad because it gives you the option to learn how to fight as some characters you may not have used in the first place. But if you want to unlock all costume colors, phrase plates and character icons for your online profile, that is where the work comes in. You will be required to go through numerous time attack, stamina and combo challenges to get all these rewards. Now they are not bad as it gives you many of easy to difficult challenges for a single player, it just becomes tedious after a while. The final gripe is that there are no online tournaments available to participate in. Street Fighter II HD Remix had the ability to do elimination tournaments, but for some reason that was left out of SFIV. Hopefully tournament fighting will become available in a future patch. Basically there isn’t much bad to say about this game, it is a good ol fashioned Capcom fighter with the 2D feel and what more could you want then that. Now we just have to wait till they upgrade to a new Marvel vs Capcom franchise…..one can dream. So enjoy the game, hit me up on the PS3 (my gamer tag is scotthall187) if you wanna fight and see how Zangief can truly dominate.

video courtesy of gametrailers.com

Wow this wasn’t expected, but Sony has announced that full open beta for Playstation Home will be available for download starting tomorrow, Dec 11th. If you don’t know, Home is Sony’s attempt to bring a more social online gaming experience to their console. In the past if you wanted to meet people to play against you had to meet them in game and add them to your friends list, with Home you will be able to travel through a virtual world meeting new people all over the place. Whether it be in a bowling alley, arcade, clothing store or just the commons square; full interaction with as many people possible is available and will help you accumulate more “friends”. Now I have been in the beta for a few months now and maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really like it. I understand what Sony is going for and will probalby be more enjoyable as more people use the service, but right now it feels like second life and not much is really going on.

It is neat that you get to fully customize your avatars living quarters, looks and how they dress; and of course you will be able to buy new clothes and furnishings for you apartment through the playstation store for real money. So give it a try as it is free, you may get more enjoyment out of it then me. Official press release below:

PLAYSTATION®HOME BETA SERVICE WILL BECOME AVAILABLE TO ALL PLAYSTATION®3 USERS ON DECEMBER 11
Highly Anticipated Service Open For All PLAYSTATION 3 Users

Tokyo, Foster City, London, December 10, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that its highly anticipated PlayStation®Home Beta service for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) will become available for all PS3 users around the world *1 on December 11, 2008. Following the successful completion of the closed beta service, PlayStation Home’s open beta service will continue to evolve with new features and functionality.

PlayStation Home is a ground-breaking 3D social gaming community available on PS3 that allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. By leveraging the power of PS3, PlayStation Home delivers overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform. Within PlayStation Home, users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore the virtual community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice chat. PlayStation Home users will not only be able to enjoy variety of entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events along with their friends, but will also be able to create their own community by using the “Club*2” feature to create clubs with other PlayStation Home users who share the same interests. PlayStation Home also allows groups of users to launch directly into their favourite online games together from PlayStation Home.

PlayStation Home, available as a free download*3 starting December 11, will launch directly from the PlayStation Home icon on the PlayStation®Network column of XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) on PS3. Users will be able to experience basic features and services of PlayStation Home, free of charge*4. PlayStation Home will allow open interaction among users, business partners, and SCE, and will evolve with additional features including dedicated game spaces, special events and exclusive themed items, to further enrich the entertainment experience on the PS3 platform.

“PlayStation Home is truly a promising network community service on the PlayStation platform, made possible with the powerful combination of PS3’s overwhelming computational power and PlayStation Network that covers many countries around the globe,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCE. “We are committed to providing PS3 users with exciting gaming experiences with PlayStation Home and together with our partners and users, expand the new world of interactive entertainment as we move forward.”

For users accessing PlayStation Home in the Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) regions, themed virtual environments will be available to explore. Starting with a themed Far Cry 2 space, PlayStation Home will offer game inspired environments that allow people to discuss the specific games, plan strategies and access content and clues that will enhance the gaming experience. The number of gaming environments such as this will regularly increase, with spaces for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune™, Warhawk™, Motorstorm and SOCOM following very soon. SCEE is working with leading publishers such as: Electronic Arts, UBISOFT, Midway, Sega and Atari to create engaging environments that will provide users with an on-going gaming experience.

“We are very excited to be bringing PlayStation Home to Europe and the PAL territories, offering users an interactive, social, gaming experience,” said Daniel Hill, Home Service Manager, SCEE. “PlayStation Home is unique to anything else in the gaming world and by partnering with both global and regional gaming and non-gaming brands, we are able to offer exciting and entertaining content that will enhance the PlayStation experience.”

SCEE today also announced the first partnerships with some of the world’s most respected lifestyle brands for the Open Beta. Fashion leader Diesel, contemporary furniture designers Ligne Roset, energy drink Red Bull, film studio Paramount Pictures and video content providers Hexus TV and Eurogamer are the first on board. They will offer resident’s virtual clothing for their avatar, virtual furniture for their PlayStation Home apartments, exclusive video content and a virtual flying challenge: the Red Bull Air Race.

Visitors and residents will be able to explore PlayStation Home with their avatar character and, thanks to Diesel, avatars can look great from the start with Diesel offering the latest men’s and women’s designer avatar clothing, with items ranging from free of charge to €1.50. So for those visiting PlayStation Home, they can dress their avatars in the latest jeans and jacket prior to getting out and about.

On the home front, PlayStation®Home gives everyone their own apartment to spend time in and entertain friends - who will now be able relax on exclusive Ligne Roset furniture. At the virtual store, people will be able to choose from a selection of the most popular Ligne Roset designs, including the iconic Togo and Facett upholstery collections. It will be possible to personalise furniture by selecting from a wide selection of fabrics and leathers allowing a unique and individual look. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with Ligne Roset’s cutting edge designs created by some of Europe’s most talented designers.

As the very first consumer brand space, Red Bull has created the Red Bull Island where visitors to the Island can interact and take part in many of Red Bull’s unique events. Initially there will be the opportunity to get inside the cockpit of a Red Bull Air Race plane and compete against the PlayStation community. The real-world Red Bull Air Race World Championship has become a global phenomenon in just four years, attracting millions of spectators. Now those spectators can leave the stands, become a pilot and tackle the Red Bull Island course themselves. The Red Bull Island will continue to expand, adding new and exciting content in early 2009.

Taking full advantage of the PlayStation Home Theatre, SCEE has partnered with various content providers to enhance the cinematic experience. Offering a wide range of content, the PlayStation Home Theatre will provide lifestyle technology programming from Hexus TV, gaming content from Eurogamer and exclusive film content from Paramount Pictures. Starting with the release of the highly anticipated film, Watchmen, Paramount Pictures International will use PlayStation®Home to promote its latest films. Initially, PlayStation®Home residents will be able to view an exclusive video greeting from Watchmen Director Zack Snyder as well as the latest Watchmen trailer. A selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise e.g. T-Shirts with the smiley face logo, Doomsday clocks and character statues, will also be available in the New Year, ahead of an exclusive Q & A event where cast and filmmakers will meet selected press and competition winners fans within the Watchmen themed environment.

PlayStation Home is exclusive to PS3, free to download and easy to join. It’s the ultimate online community – a place where you can meet friends, try the latest games, hear new music, watch videos, relax in the apartment of your dreams and much, much more. With more and more spaces being created and partners like Diesel, Ligne Roset and Red Bull coming on board, the PlayStation Home experience is just getting started.

SCE will vigorously promote the expansion of the world of PS3 by introducing new services that will open up new possibilities and enjoyment in interactive entertainment.

*1 PlayStation Home will not be available in some regions.

*2 To be a “Clubhouse” owner, user will need to buy the entitlement to run the club.

*3 When the service is available, PlayStation Home icon will appear after booting/ re-booting the PS3 system. To enjoy PlayStation Home, users will need broadband network connection and PlayStation Network account in addition to the PS3 system.

*4 Some content and services are charged.