The Halo Waypoint previews have come to an end, and now the only way to get your anime-style Halo fix is coming on February 16th in three different flavors. There's the standard, boring DVD with a suggested retail price of $19.98, the two-disk special edition for $29.98, and the shiny Blu-Ray version for $34.99.

The two-disc special edition comes packed with bonus features, including:

* The Making of Halo Legends – An introduction to Halo Legends followed by a making-of segment for each episode.
* Halo: Gaming Evolved – Explaining the Halo phenomenon from its inception as an Xbox video game to a present day entertainment franchise.
* Audio Commentary with directors Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou
* Widescreen (1.78:1)

Yes, widescreen is a bonus feature. I didn't write the press release.

The Blu-Ray version comes with all of that, plus an overview of the Halo Universe called Halo: The Story so Far.

"Halo Legends offers fans stunning, new creative visions of the popular video game's expansive universe, providing added depth and perspective to these beloved characters and thrilling environments," said Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor. "Halo Legends is a perfect complement to the game's growing canon of ancillary entertainment options."

I'll be snagging the Blu-Ray version of Halo Legends myself, simply for the novelty of playing Halo on my PlayStation 3.

I was a big fan of the original Press Start, a direct-to-DVD affair that had a shoestring budget, ridiculous characters, and a great deal of heart. It was essentially a group of fans lampooning classic video game conventions, riffing on turn-based RPG's ("Why'd you let him hit you?" "It was his turn!"), random switch mechanisms (the main character has to push his bookcase over a switch to open his bathroom door,) and just about everything else.

Producer/director Ed Glaser explains, "The great thing about making these movies is that everyone involved loves the games we're spoofing. From the actors to the set designer to the composer, we all live this stuff on and off camera."

The new film reunites the heroes Zack, Sam, and Lin-Ku, and if that teaser poster is any indication, Count Nefarious Vile might be back to exact his revenge on the world that spurned him, or something.

You can follow the production of the second film at the Dark Maze Productions blog. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with next. Can they top the original? Most likely!

If you didn't, you missed dipping into Capcom's endless bar and hanging with a Kikoken of Chun-Li, including that one right there in the center. The one who's eyes say "I really am Chun-Li and I'll kick you in the ear if you disagree with me.

The little post Chun-Li movie release party also included a top-tier Street Fighter tourney which handed out $2,000 in prizes.

If you did go, where the F are our pictures???

Street Fighter Party at the Shadaloo Lounge [Capcom] [Pic via Capcom Unity, via Karaface]

The sales of video games grew 20 percent to US$32 billion while the sales of DVD and Blu-ray slumped 6 percent to US$29 billion. Does that mean more people bought video games?

Nope! With video games carrying a higher price tag, more people bought movies, so there you go.

Video Games Outsold DVD and Blu-ray For the First Time in 2008 [Gizmodo]

The figures were released by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, so they of course are a bit biased, but the numbers certainly look good. The games industry brought in $1.96 billion Australian in calendar year 2008, increasing 47 percent over the previous year. For the same period, box office revenues were $946 million and movies on disc took in $1.4 billion.

What's the reason behind the jump in gaming? Casual family gaming.

Ron Curry, chief executive officer of the IEAA, said gaming had evolved from "the guy sitting in his bedroom with his PC being anti-social" to a "much more social and a whole family event".

He cited recent research from Bond University showing that 68 per cent of Australians played video games and 88 per cent of houses had a gaming machine.

"We've seen a 137 per cent increase in family games - things like music and dance games, party games, puzzle games, that sort of stuff is really making up the bulk of the dollars," he said.

Another triumph for the casual and social gaming sectors! Once we've got them all hooked we'll slowly begin scooting the towards more traditional genres. Perhaps a 3D first-person game where you pet puppies.

Video games thrash movies and DVDs [The Age]

All three editions of Max Payne sport an unrated version of the film not shown in theaters, as well as the theatrical cut. The "Special" edition and Blu-ray disc add digital copies and the bonus features "Michelle Payne" — an animated comic — and "Picture" — a behind the scenes look at the making of Max Payne.

The unrated cut of Max Payne adds footage. Three minutes worth. Of what we're not sure.

We'd advise against camping out. With a current rating of 18% on RottenTomatoes.com, we're thinking there will be plenty of copies.

Which brings us to Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinée, a 'slideshow' movie based on Konami's game and released on UMD for the PSP last year.

Turns out (and - honestly - who saw this coming?) that even movies that resemble violent Powerpoint presentations look better on bigger screens, so Konami have 'ported' the flick to DVD. You may buy it now, if you wish.

Metal Gear Solid 2: The Movie.. I mean Slide Show [nineoverten]

“Own a piece of history! Only buying the DVD will get you the full complete outrageous movie and game, sadly the rental version is edited down and doesn’t include the infamous Postal games-so don’t get beat renting it.” explained Vince Desi. “The Postal Movie on DVD means EVERYONE will have the opportunity to see it, even Usama Bin-Laden from his cave won’t want to miss this."

The DVD version carries an MSRP of $26.99, with the Blu-ray version at $34.99, but Amazon has the DVD for $22.99 and the Blu-ray at an extremely cheap $19.99, plus you get the benefit of not having to show your face in a store.

“POSTAL – The Movie” NOW on DVD!

Vivendi to Release Special Edition of Film on August 26th

Tucson, AZ: After almost two years of anticipation and anxiety, the long-awaited DVD release of “POSTAL—The Movie” is now. Director Uwe Boll’s first film to draw critical raves has fans that both saw the film in theaters or heard the word second hand ready to pick up and treasure their very own copy of the outrageous satire, inspired by Running With Scissors’ legendary videogame franchise.

The film is based primarily on the POSTAL 2 storyline and stars Zack “Scut Farkis” Ward as the Postal Dude along with Dave “NewsRadio” Foley, Larry “Soup Nazi” Thomas and Verne “Mini-Me” Troyer. Fans will also get a kick out of cameos by RWS honcho Vince Desi and Uwe Boll as the lederhosen clad proprietor of a Bavarian, crypto-Nazi theme park.

Vivendi has officially announced its DVD rollout for August 26th, with an MSRP of $26.99 (Rated and Unrated versions). Extras include a Uwe commentary, deleted scenes, special features (“Raging Boll” and an Indiana Jones spoof starring Troyer) along with a copy of the PC version of POSTAL 2 as well as the multi-player POSTAL 2: Share the Pain. A Blu-ray edition (with identical extras) will also be available to play on your PS3 or other Blu-ray DVD for a MSRP of $34.99.

“Own a piece of history! Only buying the DVD will get you the full complete outrageous movie and game, sadly the rental version is edited down and doesn’t include the infamous Postal games-so don’t get beat renting it.” explained Vince Desi. “The Postal Movie on DVD means EVERYONE will have the opportunity to see it, even Usama Bin-Laden from his cave won’t want to miss this."

The POSTAL film and videogames package will be available at a wide range of retail outlets, including Walmart, Best Buy, Borders, Amazon, Hastings and Virgin.

For more information on Postal games and gear, as well as updates on the development of POSTAL III visit our new expanded site www.gopostal.com and be sure to visit PostalNation.net for in-depth coverage of the RWS scene.

Nintendo has been far too busy printing money and dreaming up strange new controllers to actually finish that DVD-on-Wii thing it has been promising for the last couple of years.

Happily, the homebrew community has stepped up and put together a Wii channel that will read a DVD disc and pipe it through the open source MPlayer media player.

It's not quite ready for prime time — the audio can sometimes get out of sync, although this is more a 'feature' of MPlayer than the fault of the hack, we suspect. Worth checking out, though, and it might just save Nintendo the bother of building something that nobody has really been crying out for but would be nice to have for free.

Homebrew Enables DVD Playback On Wii [Gemaga.com]

The folks over at Entertainment Merchants Association wrote to let us know that the $18 billion for "game sales" includes software, hardware and even accessories. While the DVD sales include, you got it, only the DVDs. The actual apples-to-apples comparison has DVD sales at $16 billion and video game sales clocking in at a meekly $8.64 billion. Even if you add that $503 million in sales the industry is no where near toppling DVD sales from its mighty high roost.

One day video games will be bigger business than music and hollywood, mark my words, but that day hasn't come yet.

But if we're reading the fine print correctly, there are two super cool things about this deal. First, you don't need to give up your HD DVD player. It's simply free money. Second, there is no start date to this offer, so if you bought an HD DVD player from them when the technology hit the market, you should still be eligible for the rebate.

Here's the full offer from an Amazon email.

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who purchased an HD DVD player from us before February 23, 2008,* you might like to hear about a special offer available from Amazon.com.

New technologies don't always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com.** Just use promotional code PROMO CODE HERE when checking out. The code is valid through April 9, 2009, so you have plenty of time to use your credit. Purchases from third-party merchants on our site are not eligible.

In addition, we'd like to share some of our top offers on Blu-ray discs, HDTVs and other high-def technology and remind you that the Amazon.com Marketplace is available to sell items you might not want anymore as you upgrade to new ones. Also be sure to check out our monthly Amazon.com Early Adopters Delivers email to find out about the latest technology.

* On February 23, 2008, the last manufacturer of HD DVD players announced it was ceasing production of those players.

** Offer cannot be used to pay for special-order titles, e-books or downloadable e-content, wireless service plans, gift certificates, gift-wrap, taxes, or shipping and handling charges. $50.00 promotional credit is per HD DVD player purchased prior to February 23, 2008—up to 10 units for a maximum credit of $500.00.

Amazon Handing Out $50 to HD DVD Victims [Gizmodo]

In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (R1) in April [DVD Times]

"We are really excited to be working with Film Roman to create an animated feature that will tell the portion of the Dead Space saga between the comic and game," said Glen Schofield, Executive Producer for Dead Space. "With the video game, comic book and now animated movie, Dead Space has become a true multimedia brand.

EA and Starz Media Join to Produce Animated Dead Space Movie

Feature Based on Highly Anticipated Video Game Is First Project Between Starz Media and Electronic Arts

BURBANK, Calif. & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Starz Media announced today the development of an animated movie prequel to the highly anticipated sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space™. The companies also have animation projects in development for two other EA franchises. The relationship kicks off with this Dead Space prelude that will deliver new details on the horrifying tale the game will unleash this Halloween.

The script for the Dead Space animated feature picks up the plot where the original comic book series ends and leads up to the beginning of the Dead Space game. The story focuses on the events aboard a futuristic mining spaceship, the USG Ishimura, after it pulls a mysterious artifact from a remote dig site. The artifact triggers the sudden invasion of a long-dormant alien presence, and the Ishimura's crewmembers find themselves locked in a frantic struggle to survive. The animated feature is slated to premiere at the same time as the game is launched.

This project signals both companies' belief that mass-appeal games provide opportunities for new and exciting programming in a variety of different media. This announcement comes at a time when the video game industry is valued at more than $30 billion worldwide for packaged goods, wireless and online games in calendar year 2007 and game-inspired entertainment is pervasive in movie theaters, on TV and across online media.

Starz Media is currently in discussions with broadcasters worldwide that have already expressed interest in airing Dead Space, which is scheduled to be released via broadcast TV and then on DVD. The company will launch international sales of the animated feature at the upcoming MIP-TV market in Cannes, France. Starz Media will also market the movie through its home entertainment company Anchor Bay Entertainment, as well as via online and wireless distributors.

The deal with Starz Media and its animation unit Film Roman reflects EA's growing commitment to developing filmed entertainment projects based on the company's games. For Film Roman, the venerable animation company behind "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill" and the pre-school hit "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!," the booming video game business is fertile territory for developing new hit movies and series.

"Due to the richness and complexity of stories that have evolved for video games, they have become a type of entertainment that can span generations and provide fantastic inspiration for other forms of media; especially in the realm of animated features," Film Roman President and COO Scott Greenberg said. "We're particularly thrilled to be starting off with Dead Space."

"We are really excited to be working with Film Roman to create an animated feature that will tell the portion of the Dead Space saga between the comic and game," said Glen Schofield, Executive Producer for Dead Space. "With the video game, comic book and now animated movie, Dead Space has become a true multimedia brand. Each of these elements delivers the story to new audiences and tells it from different aspects and perspectives."

Film Roman is producing "Dead Space" in alliance with Digital Tetra Inc., in Korea. The Gotham Group of Los Angeles, a leading animation representation company, helped put the production arrangement together.

Under development at EA Redwood Shores, Dead Space is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB. For more information about the game, go to the website at www.deadspacegame.com.

It may not have had the best response from critics, but the masses and Roger Ebert seemed to like it. And he knows what's what. Any huge Hitman fans picking this one up?

Of the survey's respondents, all of which fall into 18-49 demographic that advertisers just adore, 27% say they are watching less network television, while only 12% of cable series viewers have been turned away by the lazy fare being served up on the airwaves these days. The DVD industry is seeing the biggest benefit from the strike, as 43% of Americans turn to DVD movies for comfort and another 23% prefer to curl up with a TV box set of shows gone by. Another 26%, however, have discovered they suddenly have more free time to fire up their consoles or computers and get their game on.

"The strike makes scripted programming more valuable than ever," Interpret CEO Michael Dowling said. "As top shows disappear from primetime, viewers may go back and view critically lauded TV series they missed the first time around, play more video games or watch more movies on DVD."

The only thing that worries me here is that video game writers are slowly being allowed into the Writer's Guild of America as part of their new media push, which could mean that in the future such strikes could affect the game industry as well. Where then would the game companies turn for witty, borderline attractive writers with a background steeped in video game culture and history? Oh, and tall. They'd have be very tall. *finger-phones to the ear while mouthing "call me"* We'll just have to hope that never comes to pass.
Survey: DVD, games not striking out [The Hollywood Reporter]