This might get a little interesting soon. There’s no question that Electronic Arts has a not-so-cuddly reputation at the moment. Most gamers scoff at the very mention of their name and hold hatred toward the way they do their business in the gaming universe. This collective distaste for the company may be about to skyrocket even further after a bit of controversy arose on a BioWare forum recently.

The facts seem a bit up in the air, but here’s the basic idea of what happened: a forum user named v_ware shared that his account had be suspended for “inappropriate content” but was unclear what exactly this meant and why. The suspension was to last 72 hours and would prevent him from being able to obtain the DLC included with Dragon Age II, the new title from BioWare he was anxious to play. But without causing a scene the user went out to grab his Signature Edition of the game and simply play the game as-is until his suspension was up. As fate would have it, however, he would soon discover that he needed to activate his new game, preventing him from even playing that.

So what pure evil did this forum user speak in order to prompt EA to lock down on him so hard that he wasn’t even able to play the game he had spent almost $70 on? [...]

HBO has released a new poster for their upcoming series A Game of Thrones. See it here below.

The poster shows Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) sitting on the Iron Throne, a throne the book describes as being designed to be as uncomfortable as possible, because no ruler should ever sit comfortably. This is just the next step in advertising as HBO prepares to launch what may be one of the most anticipated new shows in years, and I’m sure we will be seeing much more as we approach the show’s April 17, 2011 premiere date.

If you haven’t watched the trailer yet, give it a look. The series follows the dealings of the Stark clan as they try to survive the political intrigue of a medieval style court of a land called Westeros. Eddard Stark is chosen to be the new advisor for the King (Mark Addy) and now he and his family must deal with a host of different forces trying to steal power. The show is based on the novels by George R.R. Martin, of which four have been released, with the fifth book set for release later this year [...]

We’ve seen the teaser trailer that director J.J. Abrams made for his highly-anticipated new movie, Super 8, before he even had a cast. We’ve seen the TV spot that debuted during the Super Bowl last month. But until you’ve seen this brand new full-length theatrical trailer, you simply haven’t seen anything yet.

For those who don’t know, Super 8 is not only produced by the living legend himself, Steven Spielberg, but it’s also a homage to his films of the ’70s and ’80s. That’s how the film was described anyway — you never really know how much words like that are just fluff in hopes of building excitement. Now we can rest easy, as the new trailer shows that even with the usage of some CGI, there is hope that the magic of Spielberg’s classic science fiction films has indeed been captured once again.

You can see the brilliant new theatrical trailer for Super 8 by clicking on over to the other side now. [...]

Since the news came in on Friday March 11th of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, many are finding ways to support various causes and disaster relief organizations. It only takes a quick search on the web to find a way to help those affected, but one cool way to help that I ran across is from Dork Tower writer/artist John Kovalic.

For a limited time, you can buy a PDF version of the first two Dork Tower trades, Dork Covenant and Dork Shadows, for $5 each, with ALL proceeds going to the Red Cross [...]

The Ghostbusters are back in action in video game form this Spring with a new game, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. Game publisher Atari is bringing the franchise back, as they did in the 2009 game, Ghostbusters: The Video Game. This time around however the game will be downloadable, and not feature the original Ghostbusting team. Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will instead feature a foursome of rookies off to save New York City from another paranormal infestation.

You can check out the trailer below to see the action for yourself [...]

Invincible Iron Man 500.1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Salvador Larroca
Colors by Frank D’Armata
Letters by Joe Caramagna
Marvel Comics
$2.99
Release date: February 2, 2011

A couple of months back when Marvel Comics announced their Point 1 Initiative, their stated goal was to get new readers to give some of their books a chance. Not just current comics readers who may not be reading particular series they were releasing, but they also wanted these issues to rope in new readers who had never picked up an issue before. The first of the these .1 issues has been released, with Invincible Iron Man 500.1, so it’s time to see if Marvel will be able to reach their stated goals.

So, is this issue going to bring in those unfamiliar with Iron Man, or maybe those only familiar with the movies? In my opinion, no. This issue is page after page of Tony Stark telling his past during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There is a lot of talking and hardly any action, and while it may be an interesting character study, it is page after page of talking, and I don’t think that is going to get you a lot of new readers. Hardly any mention is made of the current status quo of the book, and if you don’t already know a fair amount about Stark and his past, this issue isn’t going to make a whole lot of sense to you. Writer Matt Fraction clearly has a handle on the character, and he shows off his understanding in this issue, but that doesn’t make it an enjoyable read [...]

Marvel will be launching a new five-issue miniseries in May called Marvel Zombies Christmas Carol.

That’s right you read it correctly, it’s Zombies in the Marvel Universe, retelling the classic Charles Dickens story. Artist David Baldeon and writer Jim McCann are teaming up to bring this story to life. Apparently they plan on telling something more horrific than silly like you might expect from a Marvel Zombies story.

“When we started working on this idea, I was amazed at how well the original text worked in with the concept of the undead. We’ve taken a way to introduce ‘zombies’ in a Victorian manner, keeping with the chilling tale Dickens crafted in the 1800s,” said writer Jim McCann. “I think that David’s amazing designs show you how well it will look. We aren’t going for campiness or shoving zombies into a popular story, but for true Victorian horror…and a small glimmer of hope that lies in one man’s cold heart: Scrooge!” [...]

If you’ve never seen Spike TV’s hit series, Deadliest Warrior, it’s a show that takes history’s great warriors and pits them against each other to determine who of them is indeed deadliest. Spartans have battled ninjas, samurai have fought vikings, the Mafia has taken on the Yakuza, and Green Berets have entered into a firefight with the Russian Spetsnaz.

In an exciting event for geeks the world wide, the network has announced a very special episode of the show where horror movie staples, Vampires and Zombies, will face off in an epic battle to determine who is deadliest.

You can learn more about the episode and watch a brief teaser trailer for it by clicking on below now!

The way the show works is, experts from the various warriors are brought in to help test whoever is fighting’s most effective weapons and strengths. With someone like the Spartans, their swords and spears and other weapons are used on ballistic dummies (complete with skeleton, organs, and blood), pig carcasses (which are very similar to a human’s flesh), and scientific data. [...]

Over the past couple of months, I’ve really become interested in art prints. I’m a huge fan of everything Mondo does, but there are some other great prints out there that are worth your attention.

In honor of its first year of selling prints, Fro Design Co is doing one final run of Lost-inspired prints that helped launched its success. Each print reflects a different number in the famed 4,8,15,16,23,42 sequence of numbers while corresponding to one of the six seasons of the television. Each individual season print is 11″ by 17″ and is $25, while the entire set is $120 [...]

Some crafty hackers figured out something interesting recently, and that discovery led to the loss of about $1.2 million dollars.

The hackers worked with the algorithms that Microsoft uses for their codes — randomly generated as necessary — and figured out a way to tweak the codes just slightly in order to keep using them over and over and over. When done correctly about 160 Microsoft points were obtained, but as you might imagine this, done many times over, built up quickly.

When it was all said and done, over a million dollars in virtual goodies were acquired, including some for various avatar props, making it (what’s assumed to be) the biggest virtual points heist of all time…if such a thing existed.

Don’t go getting your hopes up that this is an existing gap in Microsoft’s Marketplace system, though. The company has already put a block on the hacker’s work and anyone else trying to score some freebies will likely be tracked and punished. [...]

The comic book in which your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man debuted sold this week for $1.1 million. That’s a lot of dough for a comic that originally sold for 12 cents. But Amazing Fantasy #15, the issue Spidey first graced comic book pages, is a comic issue of legend, held in very high regard among comic book geeks around the world.

I’ve always been a Spider-Man fan, more so than any other hero and growing up I remember first learning about Amazing Fantasy #15. There’s something enigmatic about that issue, something almost magical. I used to own several reprints of the issue back home in Australia, and while it was awesome to hold his origin story in my hands, it still wasn’t the Holy Grail of Spider-Man Comics: an original copy.

I recall snapping up Marvel’s spin to release Amazing Fantasy #16, #17, and #18 many moons ago. Clearly, it was an effort by Marvel to make more bucks off the character’s name and legend, but the storyline was a transition of what happens to Peter Parker from the closing frame of Amazing Fantasy #15 to the opening page of The Amazing Spider-Man #1. Call me a sucker for buying into it, but I loved the connection and transition the Marvel crew made — if anything, it paid tribute to the enigma of Amazing Fantasy #15, without tarnishing the reverence fans have for it [...]

x

Sigh.

Since 2008′s Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo del Toro has been attached to direct some truly exciting movies. Unfortunately for we the fans, the Hollywood machine is a fickle beast and now two of said exciting projects have perished, and we’re hearing about the third movie that del Toro will be directing “next.”

It started with The Hobbit, which del Toro was attached to helm for a long while before constant delays forced him to walk away from the two-part movie. Next up was the thrilling announcement that he would instead be taking on At the Mountains of Madness, an adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story that Guillermo had been dreaming about making. With James Cameron by his side it appeared that this one would be a surefire success, but alas, after whispers of trouble on the horizon, we now know that Universal Pictures has decided not to back the passion project.

So why exactly did this ambitious project fail and what will del Toro do next? Keep on reading to find out! [...]

The Blu-ray deal of the week over at Amazon this week is Lost: The Complete Collection, which is on sale for $167.99 (that’s 40% off the list price of $279.99).

Note, this deal is valid through the end of the week PST on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

This Blu-ray box set contains all six seasons of the popular televisions series Lost, along with over three hours of new bonus features [...]

As we move closer to the first episode of of Doctor Who Series 6, there are more tidbits of information coming out about this year’s season — including returning villains (and the tools at their disposal) and surprising guest stars that are returning from Series 5. The following information could be considered a tad on the spoilery side — so consider to have been alerted!

First off, as the spoiler-hounds have known for some time now, the Cybermen will be returning in Series 6, but what makes things interesting is who and what will also be in the episode [...]

After nearly three months without new programming, Doctor Who will return for a new season beginning April 23, 2011 on BBC America.

The first episode, penned by showrunner Stephen Moffat, kicks off a two-part story that reunites eleventh Doctor lead Matt Smith and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) after a special summons takes them on an adventure that starts in a Utah desert and leads all the way back to the 1969 White House in Washington, D.C. [...]

Today’s Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the The Sound of Music – Limited Edition Collector’s Set Blu-ray/DVD Combo for only $39.49 (that’s 56% off the list price of $89.99).

Note, this deal is only for today, Thursday, March 10, 2011, until midnight PST while supplies last.

This Sound Of Music limited-edition Blu-ray/DVD collection includes behind-the-scenes images, on-screen lyrics, a parody with Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews, an interview with the real Maria von Trapp, a trivia track, and a location quiz. Check out the full box set bonus features [...]

Director Dan Trachtenberg, who you might know from his online television show, Totally Rad Show, has a new short film out with BlackBoxTV called More Than You Can Chew, which you can watch right here below.

Apparently, BlackBoxTV is a Twilight Zone-like anthology series that’s put out on YouTube each week, which sounds pretty cool. More Than You Can Chew, which Dan co-wrote with Mark Walker, runs just under 5 minutes. The short centers on a rookie paramedic and her partner who respond to a 911 house call of a most unusual nature. At first it seems like a less-frantic episode of something like CSI, but then the eerie begins and that’s where you get your Twilight Zone feel [...]

As you can see above, a lovely new banner featuring Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has been released by Disney for their upcoming blockbuster, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Along with the banner, the studio has also sent out a veritable collection of fun facts about the movie, including nuggets of information about this fourth film in the franchise, the production, the various cast and crew, and a bunch of other interesting little bits you might be interested in knowing.

You can see a larger version of the banner by clicking above, and you can read all of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides fun facts by clicking on over to the other side now!

FUN FACTS
In “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” Johnny Depp reprises his iconic role of Jack Sparrow in his greatest adventure yet—a quest to find the legendary Fountain of Youth.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the previous three films in the “Pirates” franchise, and is directed by Rob Marshall of “Chicago” and “Memoirs of a Geisha” fame. [...]

We’re all aware of the fact that Hollywood ran out of fresh ideas a long, long time ago and have come to terms with this unfortunate fact, correct?

It’s being reported that IAM Entertainment’s Scott Glassgold and Raymond Brothers have acquired the rights to and will be developing a movie based on the legendary Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade millions of people watch each holiday season.

The duo are currently chatting with multiple writers in hopes of figuring out the perfect way to approach the movie, with one idea being the obvious: the floats somehow come to life. Fitting to this idea, Glassgold explained that they’re “aiming to make a four-quadrant, family-friendly film somewhere in that Night At The Museum, Elf sweet spot.”

Speaking of Elf, Macy’s was offered the chance to be part of that movie but turned it down, so now they’re out to find a future family favorite to represent. [...]

Do you love yourself some Angry Birds action? Would you be thrilled to pull a brand new Angry Birds t-shirt over your head courtesy of 80s Tees and your friends here at Geeks of Doom? Well then…you, my friends, are in the right place.

Our latest contest is for a trio of Angry Birds Shirts you can see by heading over to that link.

There will be three lucky winners, each of whom will win the shirt of their choice. If you’re selected, you can pick your favorite of the bunch and it will be so.

Once again, you can see the Angry Birds Shirts right there, and you can read the dirty details and enter the contest by continuing on below now! [...]