Flixens: Movies, DVDs, TV, comic books and pop culture for women. The boys shouldn't have all the fun.

I'm just as excited as the next Marvel fan about the Marvel Universe Online news, since I've played City of Heroes while pretending I was already in the Marvel Universe.  I know, it's sad... I'm a grown woman, mother of three... pathetic.  But still, it's so much more fun than going out to the meat market bars to meet drunken men who spout really bad pick-up lines while breathing their beer breath on you and digging into the munchies bowl after they came out of the bathroom and you just KNOW they didn't wash their hands...

But I digress...

For those DC fans out there suffering from hero-envy about the Marvel news, don't fret... your day in the sun will come, and sooner than Marvel's game too.

SciFiWire has an article about the new Justice League Heroes video game, saying how the producers, Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment have designed the next generation of role-playing games, so much so that they've stopped referring to this as an RPG.  The game will also feature all of the major DC characters, such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Zatanna, as well as the unlockable superheroes Aquaman, Green Arrow and Hawkgirl.

Some of the recognizable voices in the game come from Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as Batman, Crispin Freeman (Slayers) as Superman, Michael Jai White (Spawn) as Green Lantern and Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911) as The Key. In the game, a meteor plummets toward Earth, sending messages to Brainiac and encouraging him to attack. There is a secret message hidden in the watchtower of the Justice League headquarters that Brainiac needs to find.

The game will be released in October for Playstation 2, Xbox, PSP, GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS, and a prequel comic has already been released, and offshoot titles on the Nintendo platforms are being developed as well.

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. today announced that game developer Cryptic Studios will be bringing the Marvel Universe online in a MMORPG exclusively for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista users.  The press release says:

Today Marvel Entertainment, Inc. announced further details around its eagerly awaited project based on the Marvel universe of Super Heroes. Marvel Entertainment confirmed that Cryptic Studios has been named the developer of "Marvel Universe Online," the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online (MMO) video game exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows Vista and to be published by Microsoft Game Studios.

"The huge Marvel fan base has been eagerly awaiting new information on our massive multiplayer online game," said David Maisel, Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive, Marvel Entertainment. We are proud to have a premiere developer such as Cryptic Studios who has had such incredible success in the online gaming world developing this game. Marvel, Microsoft and Cryptic are committed to creating the definitive interactive Marvel universe experience via this massive multiplayer online game."

"The vision behind the alliance of Microsoft Game Studios, Cryptic Studios and Marvel is to expand the MMO genre and create an epic gaming experience exclusively for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista gamers to experience together online," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Cryptic Studios is widely respected for their established track record of innovation and understanding of the MMO space, and they are a perfect fit for the creation of the best possible experience in 'Marvel Universe Online.'"

"As an independent developer, Cryptic Studios has the freedom to make games and forge partnerships that we are truly passionate about," said Michael Lewis, president of Cryptic Studios. "Cryptic Studios and Microsoft Game Studios share a common vision for online gaming and commitment to quality titles. Together with Marvel we will create a new exciting game that captures the uniqueness of the Marvel IP."

Cryptic Studios brings a history of excellence in MMO design and best-of-breed community support to the development of "Marvel Universe Online." "Marvel Universe Online" will unite gamers in a cross-platform experience, allowing for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista users to play alongside one another.

Marvel's repertoire of Super Heroes have evolved from the pages of comic books to become driving forces in entertainment, from the silver screen to television shows and best-selling video games, including "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "The Hulk" franchises. As part of an MMO gaming experience, "Marvel Universe Online" players will be able to interact simultaneously in a truly unique atmosphere featuring all their favorite Marvel characters, creatures and villains.

So the Assocated Press is reporting that Electronic Arts' upcoming Need For Speed Carbon will feature real-time ads on the various billboards that you race by during the game.  Ads for movies, soft drinks, TV shows, clothing lines, music, etc.

Wait until Jenny from Canada gets a load of this.

Static ads in games are nothing new of course, but if your PC or XBox 360 is connected to the internet, the games will now download real-time content to hawk whatever products the highest bidder wants to shove into your face.

AP reports that EA has partnered with Microsoft's Massive, Inc. to deliver ads in up to four games this Fall, and made a separate deal with IGA Worldwide Inc. to include ads in the futuristic sci-fi shooter Battlefied 2142.  Yep... nothing says sci-fi action like seeing an ad for Hitch 2.

As far as NFS Carbon goes, EA's vice president of online commerce, Chip Lange says that "in a racing game, advertising is not only nice to have, but it's an essential component to create the fiction of being there."

Right.

I blame society.  Or rather, the software pirates.  You brought this on yourselves, kiddies.  Hell, our family PC is loaded with games I know my son downloaded off of some torrent site.  I always ask him "if everyone else does this, how will the gaming companies make any money to develop new games?"

Well now we know.  As the "gamerz" like to say... PWND.

Lycaeon, one of our readers, sent me an email to let me know that Tony Jay, a very talented voice actor, passes away last Sunday.  This was news to me, and it did make me very sad to hear it.  Tony was born circa 1935 (I'm unable to find the exact date) and died on August 13, 2006, after failing to recover from endoscopic surgery to remove a benign tumor in his lung.

You might not know his name, but you certainly know his voice.  Jay was a popular voice actor for Disney film and television animation projects, including Monsieur D'arque, the insane asylum director in Beauty and the Beast, as well as Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (for which he also did the character's singing).  He has voiced numerous characters for various TV shows, including Galactus in the Fantastic Four, Chairface Chippendale in The Tick, and Dr. Lipshitz on Rugrats... and that's just a handful.

If you're a gamer like Jenny, then you most certainly know him as the voice of the Elder God in the Legacy of Kain series... His voice in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, for example, is pure bliss.  You'll never hear the word "Raziel" the same way again.  You may also recognize his voice from World of Warcraft, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, or the Bard's Tale.  Again, just a handful.

Take a look at his IMDB page to take see his body of work.  He's gone, but certainly not forgotten.

Say what you will about William Shatner... the man IS Captain James T. Kirk, and he embraces the role with zeal, even after all these years.  Despite having a successful, Emmy-winning Post-Trek career as lawyer David Crane on Boston Legal and The Practice, he seems to honestly like Star Trek and still likes to sit in the Captain's chair from time to time (even if it's at a celebrity roast in his honor!)

Which is why he will be lending his voice to Kirk in an upcoming video game, Star Trek: Legacy, due out in October.  The game will allow players to control over 60 different starships, from all five of the television shows various incarnations, into combat with Klingon's, Romulans, and of course, the Borg.

Shatner says that he hopes the game will reinvigorate the fans' love for the show, and fears that interest in Star Trek is fading. Judging from the deteriorating ticket sales of the last few Trek films and the quick demise of Star Trek: Enterprise, which had SO much potential, I'd say he's right.

Which is a shame, considering the show had such a rich heritage and foundation.  I was lucky enough last month to get to see the first four Star Trek feature films on the big screen at a local theater where I live, each one accompanied by a matching episode from the original series.  Seeing the original episodes again made me realize just how great the chemistry between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy was, and how good the supporting cast was.

I'll admit though, by the time I started watching Trek on TV, it was during the ST:Voyager run... and despite having a woman for the captain of the Enterprise... the show didn't have much going for it... as evidenced by the fact that they dumped Kess and brought on Seven of Nine.  And then with ST:Enterprise, they had to sex it up with, of all things, a Vulcan.  Come on.

But I do love the original.  I even appreciated Shatner's Trek film, The Final Frontier.  Universally derided among fans, it does feature very important character development for the reincarnated Spock, accepting his emotional side, which helped to explain his later decisions and behavior in Spock's ST:TNG appearance.

Anyway, look for the Star Trek: Legacy in October, and keep your eye out for a MMORPG set in the Star Trek universe.  THAT seems like a brilliant idea... I'm amazed it has taken them this long to do it.

My son plays Worlds of Warcraft all the time, or "WoW" as he likes to call it.  "Online Crack" is what I like to call it.  The grass is always greener though... on the one hand you think "he should get out more, meet some people"... but on the other hand, you think "at least he's not out drinking and doing drugs."  Sigh... it's tough being a mom.

But I will say this... I had never given the whole Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG, for those NOT in the know) much thought, until my son installed City of Heroes.

I actually dabbled with that game.  It took me forever to "initiate" myself in the culture of these games... I grew up on the arcade games of the 80s, so the idea of a MMORPG was completely foreign to me.  But I learned, and had some fun in the process... until the "grind" as my son says became boring.

But, if MMORPG and Pirates are your thing, then have I got news for you.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney Online has plans to bring the world of the Pirates of the Caribbean to your computer via a MMORPG next year.  Apparently Disney Online Virtual Reality Studio vice president Mike Goslin had plans to make a game from the world of the ride BEFORE the movie ever opened, but once it did $654 million in business, he decided to adapt the movie into the game.  Smart move.

Goslin said that after the success of "Black Pearl," Disney took a step back and developed the two new films from even more of a long-term franchise perspective. A core team went back and created a mythology around the world of the films, in addition to the stories of the two sequels, from which the books, video games and other manifestations of the intellectual property could be drawn.

"When you start to look at this mythology, we were able to realize just how rich this world is," Goslin said. "There's a lot going on with the characters and enemies in this world. We became familiar with the direction that the two films were going and embarked on an original, parallel story that will encompass hundreds of hours rather than the two to three hours each film takes up."

That bodes well for both the movie franchise and the game, if Disney has given the mythology such attention.  Goslin says that he hopes to get all of the principal actors to voice their characters in the game, and negotiations are underway to make that a reality.  Familiar elements from the movies such as Captain Jack and cohorts, the Kraken, Davy Jones and his scurvy crew, Port Royal, Fort Charles, the Flying Dutchman, and the Endeavor.

Jolly Roger, a new villian created for the game, is based on the pirate at the beginning of the Disney theme park ride... the one who warns people to turn back right before the waterfall plunge.

No release date has been finalized, but it's expected that the game will be ready to go by the time the third movie in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, hits theaters!

(as in World of Warcraft... I'm not saying, "Wow! A kid commited suicide!")

I don't know what to make of this... Seriously... I'm stunned...

From The Hollywood Reporter:

BEIJING -- The parents of a 13-year-old Chinese boy who they say jumped to his death from a tall building after playing one of the popular "Warcraft" online games for 36 hours straight are suing its Chinese distributor, a news report said Friday. Zhang Xiaoyi died on Dec. 27, 2004, leaving behind a suicide note saying he wanted "to join the heroes of the game he worshipped," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Snip

The suit says Aomeisoft failed to include a warning that the game's U.S. maker rates it as suitable only for players above age 13, according to Xinhua.

Right, so if the BOX had read, "only for players above the age of 13" the boy would still be with us.

How about this?  If the parents didn't leave their 13-year-old son alone in a room playing video games for 36 hours straight, the boy would still be with us?

People are idiots.