andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

The latest title in the Forza Motorsport series introduces a slightly different selection of vehicles than what we’ve seen before – and your parents probably wish they had one.

Yes, SUV’s and luxury cars are the autos of the day in FM3, with such land-yachts as the Porsche Cayenne or the BMW M5.  As with all racing games, the tried-and-true template stands with plenty of… racing.  The XBox 360 title also features a wealth of customization for all vehicles involved.  Perhaps child-locks or kiddie seats for the SUV’s are in store.  Who knows?

I, for one, am anxiously awaiting Forza Motorsport 4: The Moped Edition. Yay Vespa!

Cheers.

THQ has released the Xbox 360 version of the game Cars, based on the popular animated movie from Pixar, alongside the much anticipated release of the DVD movie.

The game follows earlier releases for Playstation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP, Windows PC and Mac. Gamers can buy Cars nationwide for US$49.99.

“With the Cars video game having already shipped more than four million units worldwide, we’re excited to make the leap to the next-generation systems in order to offer more gamers a way to experience this popular interactive racing adventure,” said John Ardell, director of global brand marketing, THQ. “Our record sales numbers to date are a tremendous achievement; Cars is on-track to become the top selling kids game of 2006.”

Nintendo Wii owners can expect a version of Cars on November 13th.

“Cars” continues to lap its competition.

In its second week of release, the Pixar-Disney computer animated cartoon took the number one spot again in box office revenue, taking in $31.1 million, E! Online reports.

Jack Black’s new comedy, “Nacho Libre,” took second place with $27 million, followed by “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” in third with $24.1 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were “The Lake House” taking in $13.6 million, “The Break Up” taking in $9.5 million, “Garfeild: A Tail of Two Kitties” taking in $7.2 million, “X-Men: The Last Stand” taking in $7.1 million, “The Omen” taking in, $5.3 million, “The Da Vinci Code” taking in $5 million and “Over the Hedge” taking in $4 million.

The Cars are back, but with a new frontman and a new name.

The New Cars will tour this summer with Todd Rundgren behind the mic. The return of the band is the worst kept secret in rock, as news of Rundgren’s addition to the band was reported in November of last year.

Cars members Elliot Easton (guitars) and Greg Hawkes (keyboards) will be part of the revised line-up, joining new members singer/bassist Kasim Sulton and drummer Prairie Prince.

Ric Ocasek, the original Cars singer, doesn’t want anything to do with this band, but apparently gave his former bandmates his blessing.

The New Cars will release an album, It’s Alive, on May 9.

Three days later, the band will begin a tour with Blondie that will take them across North America.

Dates:
May 12: Robinsonville, Miss. (Grand Casino)
May 13: Grand Prairie, Texas (Nokia Theatre)
May 17: Phoenix (Dodge Theatre)
May 19: Las Vegas (Aladdin Theatre)
May 20: Universal City, Calif. (Gibson Amphitheatre)
May 23: Alpine, Calif. (Viejas Casino)
May 25: Saratoga, Calif. (Mountain Winery)
May 26: Reno, Nev. (Events Center)
May 27: Kelseyville, Calif. (Konocti Field)
May 30: Englewood, Colo. (Coors Amphitheatre)
June 3: Highland Park, Ill. (Ravinia Pavilion)
June 4: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (Blossom Music Center)
June 6: Vienna, Va. (Wolf Trap)
June 7: Boston (Bank of America Pavilion)
June 9: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)
June 10: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
June 13: Orlando, Fla. (Hard Rock Live)
June 14: Clearwater, Fla. (Ruth Eckerd Hall)
June 15: Hollywood, Fla. (Seminole Hard Rock Hotel)
June 17: Atlanta (Chastain Park Amphitheatre)
June 18: Charleston, S.C. (Oyster Shell)
June 21: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre)
June 23: Montreal (Bell Centre)
June 24: Atlantic City, N.J. (Borgata)
June 25: Uncasville, Conn. (Mohegan Sun)
June 30: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)