After a self-proclaimed “difficult time”, Chicago publisher Devil’s Due’s comic books are back in stores. With economic troubles facing several Chicago Nerd organizations (see Midway Games), it is now more important than ever to support your local nerdery. And with books like the soon-to-be-a-movie Hack/Slash and Heroes‘ Milo Ventimiglia’s Rest, Devil’s Due makes it easy. Buy D.D. @ Chicago Comics.

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.

Our friend Item has just unveiled new images of these prints that, along with his custom AT-AT’s, will be available at his upcoming HERD show.  According to Item, the official word is that HERD will happen Spring 2009 (April 17-May16) in Edmonton at Latitude53.  It is also with great excitement that we are able to reveal that the show will feature a limited run of Suckadelic bootleg figures made specifically for it by the Sucklord, himself.  Nice!

Keep up on HERD updates and other good stuff at Item’s blog here.

There’s only one week to go until this guy goes on sale!  Until then, tide yourself over with this great picture-packed review from The Fwoosh. From the sound of the article, MOTUC is going to be awesome.

NECA has some really cool looking Street Fighter 4 figures coming in early 2009. As seen here, you will get Ken and Ryu in wave 1. Not pictured but also slated for release in the first wave is Crimson Viper.
Images used without the blessing of TNI. Sorry.

This week has seen most Xbox Live user getting updated to the new Xbox dashboard called “NXE”. This redesign totally changes the look of the previous dashboard while adding new features such as avatar creation (it’s totally not like Mii’s), individual channels for companies and games (once again totally not like the Nintendo channels) and Netflix use that will allow download and streaming of movies through your Xbox. One of the cooler things to come out of this upgrade is Street Fighter II HD Remix has it’s own channel and a suprising release date on it of November 26th, which if this is true we could be playing this game next week (note PS3 would be on the 27th as PSN updates on Thursdays). Right now Microsoft hasn’t rolled this out to everyone yet, but most should have this update if not already but by the end of the week. Below are the top 10 things to do with the new NXE according to Xbox Live guru, Major Nelson.

1. Create (or Customize) your Avatar – You can spend as much (or as little) time as you want in the Avatar Editor to personalize your little guy/girl

Bonus: When you are done with #1, be sure to take a Gamer Picture of your Avatar. In the Avatar editor, choose Gamer Picture. You can use the controls to move your avatar around, zoom in and out or even change the background color (press Y)

2. Explore the all new dashboard. (hint: use the trigger and bumpers to quickly scroll up and down or left and right)

3. PAR-TAY! Check out Xbox LIVE Parties and chat with up to seven of your friends. Go to the Friends channel…choose a friend who is online and press Y to get the party started. You can also hit the Xbox 360 Guide button > Party >Start a Party. Once you do that, send off invites to your party (since one does not make a very good party…does it?)

4. Themes. While any themes you work will NXE, check out some of the new themes via My Xbox and select your profile (second slot) and then change theme. Xbox 360, Spectrum, Day and Night are new themes that available as part of your NXE upgrade…check them out.

5. Marketplace on Xbox.com. This new feature lets you search, browse, and purchase games and videos while you are away from your console. You can also perform account management functions like changing your billing information, viewing your purchase history, and downloading items you already own.

6. Netflix – Xbox LIVE Gold Member and you have Netflix? If you are in the US you can stream thousands of videos (some in HD) directly from Netflix to your Xbox 360. Not a member? Sign up for a free trial at Xbox.com/netflix

7. Install to / Play from Hard Drive. With the game in the tray, return to your dashboard. (pressing the guide button then Y works as always) then go to My Xbox. From here press Y, which will bring up a new menu which will allow, among other things the ability to install a game to your hard drive.
Hint: You can still use the Xbox 360 guide while installing a game to keep in touch with your friends or start a Party.

Bonus: Before you do #7, be sure to set up what happens when you turn on your Xbox 360. My Xbox->System Settings>Console settings. Then choose Start up to to choose Disc, Xbox Dashboard or Windows Media Center. Once you are done there…check the option right below it: Autostart. This tell your Xbox 360 what to do when you insert a game. The choices are enable or disable. I have mine set to disable so I can easily use install to hard drive.

8. Delete Zero Gamerscore games. You can remove any games from your games played list that you have earned no achievements or gamerscore. Press the Xbox 360– guide button, navigate left to the games section and choose Achievements. From here choose the game with zero gamerscore you want to remove and press X (Delete Game History.)

9. Press the Xbox 360 button on your controller to see the all new Guide. The team has added more functionality than the old guide, while making it more responsive. It’s a quick way to check your messages, see who is online or start a party.

10. Take a look at Community Games in the Games Marketplace. For the first time in the history of console gaming, thousands of games developed by the creative community will be available to the public.

All photos courtesy of Microsoft.

3-Man, Triclops Studios’ submission to the Suckadelic show @ Munky King is now available for purchase.  You can buy him for me here.  While you’re at it, go ahead and pick up a couple of the other entries for yourself.  You deserve it.

Perhaps you recall a post I did a while back about Item’s upcoming HERD show. Well, here are a few more images of the amazing custom AT-AT’s in the show:

Check out more images (even high-res ones!) at Item’s blog here.  You can also see some of his “daily doodles” there, such as these:

Nice.

Chicago T-shirt company Threadless.com is looking for scary t-shirt designs in exchange for cool prizes including Halloween and Hack/Slash TPB’s from Chicago comic publisher,  Devil’s Due. Get all the spooky details here.

Item has just unveiled these preview images of custom AT-AT walkers that will be part of an upcoming 2009 show.  Although his work is great (he does furniture/ housewares, too!), I’m equally a fan of Item’s blog. Item’s page deals with all aspects of art and design.

Check it out here.

Well that didn’t last very long. After it was decided for E3 (The biggest video game convention/show) to be shut down to the public last year, that decision has been reversed. The Entertainment Software Association announced today what has been rumored this week, that E3 next year will be open to the public once again. E3 will be taking place June 2nd through 4th at the Los Angeles Convention center.
Official Press release is as follows:

Entertainment Software Association Announces 2009 E3 Expo

Los Angeles to Host Video Game Industry Event in June

Washington, DC – October 22, 2008 – The 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) will take place from June 2-4, 2009, at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today. The expanded E3 will welcome all qualified computer and video game industry audiences, including international and U.S.-based media, analysts, retailers, developers and business partners to preview the latest in interactive entertainment and technology.

“Video games are the fastest growing and most compelling sector of the entertainment industry. And, this upgraded event will reflect the growth, innovation and excitement of our industry,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents US computer and video game publishers and organizes the annual event. “The breadth, scope and quality of the changes made to the show will make E3 the must-attend event of the year.”

“The E3 Expo will be the pre-eminent North American gaming show next year. The new, larger event is better for industry leaders and for serious gamers,” commented John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts.

After conducting both qualitative and quantitative research, ESA officials stated changes were necessary to better meet the needs of both exhibitors and attendees— these changes include increased booth sizes, increased qualified audiences, and an intensified focus on reinforcing the high-octane growth, innovation, and captivating entertainment that are driving the computer and video game industry.

“The video game business will be twice as big in 2009 as it was in 2006 when we had the last real E3 Expo - so get ready for some fireworks!” said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America. “The changes made will ensure that the 2009 E3 Expo conveys the best of what makes us proud as entertainment leaders.”

ESA also said IDG World Expo, whose principals have operated E3 since its inception in 1995, will produce the event with the ESA.

The event will be open to ESA members and non-members alike. Organizers noted they are expanding the list of companies eligible to participate. Companies involved in console, PC, online, and mobile game publishing and developing, qualified business partners, as well as makers of video game hardware and peripherals can exhibit.

Additional details, including registration, hotel and travel accommodations, and media credentialing, will be forthcoming in the next few weeks and will be available at www.e3expo.com.

The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. The ESA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), business and consumer research, federal and state government relations, First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts. For more information, please visit www.theESA.com.

Apple sent out invites to their next big event on Thursday to the media.  After their (somewhat) big iPod update of last month, this one is taking aim at their notebooks.  Rumors are that the Macbook is going to join the Macbook Pro in style with a aluminum case and that both models will be somewhat slimmer. Apple.pro has provided some interesting photos of what the new 13 inch case might look like. It’s important to know that these are unofficial, but with the announcement so close it makes sense that they are probably the real deal. The other big rumor of the event is pricing. Inquisitr.com reports that retailers have received 12 price points for the new laptops with one being in the $800 range marking the first sub $1000 Apple laptop if it is true. More info to come on the 14th!

Two words: Incredibly difficult. But isn’t that the best Mega Man experience, one where you curse till you are red in the face and swear off the game forever? Just to preface, I have been playing this for multiple hours a day from Monday till now and I’m still not done with the game yet; but I am finally on Wily’s level. Ok onto actually talking about the game. If you have played any of the 8-bit games you know how this one will play out. You control Mega Man through numerous side scrolling levels, with some going vertical instead of horizontal, fighting a different robot master at the end of each level. Having played Mega Mans 1-8 I am putting 9 at the 2nd most difficult (right behind the original). The level design in this game is so fantastic but difficult at the same time you end up loving and hating the game simultaneously. For instance, the standard disappearing/floating block level took me at least 10 times to go through as learning the pattern was a pain in the ass. But once you get past them you have pits with spikes to avoid and will take you back to the beginning of the level if you die. The bosses are not the most difficult to beat if you know what order to go in (once again taking multiple deaths to figure out) but once you have it figured out the boss battles are very easy. I do like how there is a store available to purchase items in such as energy canisters, extra men, new costumes, etc which helps out quite a lot in the later levels when you need those extra men. Outside of the fantastic difficulty of the game, you are also treated to a fantastic midi soundtrack, bland but colorful backdrops and to top it all off you can play in Legacy mode where there will be sprite flickers and slow down if too many enemies make it to the screen. And finally there are multiple achievements in the game which will definitely lend to the replay value of the game, one of which being to beat the game without taking a hit of damage (good luck on that one). It’s hard to let you in on anything new as this is your standard tried and true Mega Man game with no problems that I have come across yet. So download it, enjoy and prepare to be yelling alot.

The Portman Group, a drinks marketing watchdog in the UK, has declared that SkullSplitter from the Orkney Brewery is in violation of the drinks industry’s code.  The name implies violence; and at 8.5%, the strength of the beer will have a negative impact on the drinker.  However, Tesco and Asda are still able to sell cheap, high strength lager at below-cost prices so students can defile local parks and the emergency rooms are full of people that don’t know when to shut up.

This beer has been around for 20 years, and is presumably the root cause of alcoholism and domestic violence in the UK.  Seriously, though, a well-made winter ale is too heavy and too expensive for lager louts to purchase and consume en masse.  This is another case of some stu