videogames

I've never interviewed Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and don't know him personally, but he sure seems like one classy guy. He recently posted a note on his web site, giving readers his thoughts on more Babylon 5 DVDs.

In short, he's against it. He feels that offerings like the TV movie, Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, and the straight-to-DVD story, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, take away from the strength of the original TV series.

He writes that The Lost Tales was commissioned at a $2 million budget, and they did the best they could with it. Apparently, the studio wasn't sure there was an audience for Babylon 5. Silly studio.

Too many anguished nights have I spent watching Showtime's Dexter, wondering aloud, "Why can't I control Dexter's actions through my Xbox like so much Lara Croft?", and I know you have too. Believe it or not, we freaks are in luck, because it looks like there's going to be a Dexter video game. Finally! Another few months without it and I would have killed someone.

Okay, I think I have reached my sarcasm quota of the day, so let's get serious here. Dexter is a fantastic show and I have watched it faithfully through its run so far. However much I enjoy it, I cannot imagine it becoming a video game, let alone playing it. The show is built around blood, self-tortured deception, and internal monologue.

Would you play a Meerkat Manor video game? I sure would--I would love to play as Flower leading her massive group of offspring around. I'm sure the fight scenes would be good too. Those meerkats have some pretty sweet moves.

Well, if you love Meerkat Manor and you love video games, you're in luck because Activision (the same people who brought you the immensely-popular Guitar Hero 3) has teamed up with Discovery Communications. The two companies are in talks to produce a series of video games based on cable network's shows.

They decided on Meerkat Manor for the first game (it is Animal Planet's highest-rated show) and more titles will be released in early 2008. I wonder what other shows they will turn into video games? Discovery Communications has several cable networks so they have a wide array of shows to serve as the basis for a multi-media project (i.e. Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel). I have a few suggestions: Man vs. Wild (or Survivorman if you like him better), Orangutan Island and Deadliest Catch.

(S11E13) After seeing the title of this episode, I'm more embarrassed than I already was to admit that I'm a fan of Guitar Hero. In fact, I own all four versions of the game. There. I said it.

Thankfully, I will say that I never have, nor will I ever, play in my underwear. As far as you know.

This was a strange episode given what we've been seeing the past few weeks. We barely got anyone other than Stan and Kyle this time, but what we got was, as always, pure gold. Oh and by the way, one of our sister sites, Joystiq, liveblogged the episode tonight.

It seems we're hopping all over the weekdays recently to make room for more giveaways. Oh come on, who's complaining? Anyway, today we've got something a little different. How about winning a copy of The Simpsons Game, which just came out in stores on November 1st? We've got one copy for the following three platforms: Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii. All you've got to do is leave a comment below mentioning which platform you want this game for (out of the three mentioned) before next Wednesday, November 14, and we'll pick three random people, one for each platform.

Some other details:

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating what platform you want The Simpsons Game for (Xbox 360, Nintendo DS or Nintendo Wii).
• The comment must be left before November 14, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
  
• You may enter only once.
• Three winners will be selected in a random drawing, one for each platform (Xbox 360, Nintendo DS Lite or Nintendo Wii).
• One winner will receive a copy of The Simpsons Game for Xbox 360 (valued at $59.99), one winner will receive a copy of The Simpsons Game for Nintendo DS (valued at $29.99) and one winner will receive a copy of The Simpsons Game for Nintendo Wii (valued at $49.99).
  

Click here for complete Official Rules.

Does anyone out there remember Starcade? I sure don't. However, I've been getting up to speed by watching full episodes of the '80s game show. Starcade pitted two contestants together to answer trivia questions about video games and then play different arcade games for points. If you were a child of the '80s as I am, it's cool to remember all the games you used to play. They even have an episode that features Dragon's Lair, which I remember as being the most frustrating arcade game I ever played.

Reruns of the series popped up on G4 from 2002 - 2004, and according to both IMDb and Wikipedia, the second unaired pilot of Starcade was hosted by Alex Trebek. I assume he was taken off the show for asking contestants questions about both Kierkegaard and Frogger.

The episodes are worth checking out not just for the cool retro look, but also for the great "prizes," such as the portable record player pictured on the right.

Yes, the headline would usually include the "at (age)," but I can't find anything that says what his age was. Nothing on the IMDB, and nothing on his site either.

You would recognize Jay's voice as much as his face, as he voiced an incredible number of cartoons over the years, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Reboot, Spiderman, Teen Titans, Superman, The Mighty Ducks, Gargoyles, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as a massive number of videogames: World of Warcraft, X-Men Legends, Lionhearts, various Star Trek games, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and just about every other video game ever made that used a voice. But he had live action roles in TV and movies too, including Lois and Clark, Newhart, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Mr. Belvedere, Twin Peaks, Beauty and the Beast, Eerie, Indiana, Matlock, Murphy Brown, Picket Fences, and The Golden Girls. He was also a Royal Shakespeare Company actor and a singer.

He died earlier this week after surgery for removal of a non-cancerous growth on his lungs.

Should I know what this Dance Dance Revolution thing is? I mean, I feel really out of touch. I mean, the Wikipedia page for it is bigger than the one for poker.

And now CBS has announced that they are making a TV series out of it. It will air on Saturday mornings, so I'm assuming it's a kids show? It's going to be part of the network's "Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party," which, to be honest, sounds kinda creepy to me.

[via Boing Boing]