In his latest movie, The Woman In Black, Dan traded his Hogwarts uniform for a totally new role as a Dad.
Natalia brings you the latest news on Adele’s interview with Anderson Cooper, Kristen Bell’s interview on Ellen is auto tuned, Ladyhawke’s latest music video and much more!
Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks!
Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.
When The Kooks are in the studio they’re focused and most importantly, sober. Watch Hugh and Luke explain their reasoning below.
The Kooks released a new album called “Junk of the Heart,” and you would think Hugh and Luke would be very excited about it. Well, they seemed rather indifferent to be honest. We spoke about that and why they don’t care about critics.
Natalia dishes the latest in entertainment news on Joan Rivers, Lana Del Rey and a brand new trailer for the movie Hunger Games.
Natalia talks about how Snooki might be pregnant, Nicolas Cage’s Cage Rage, Elisabetta Canalis is dating Steve-O and more for Feb 1, 2012.
Natalia dishes the news on Miley Cyrus breaking her tailbone, a 100 year old woman who plays the Nintendo DS to stay young and Houston, Texas contemplating a statute of Beyonce.
David Beckham debuts a new line of underwear, the worst dressed celebrity – Shy’m and Matthew Broderick is back as Ferris Bueller with a brand new commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Feb 5th 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe is back with his new movie The Woman In Black. It’s a bone chilling remake of a film from the ’80s. Ironically, Daniel actually scares very easily but he’s not afraid of ghosts. In this interview he tells us what really gives him the creeps.
Next time you’re struggling to make conversation, try asking this question: “If you could invite anyone (living or dead) to the perfect house party, who would it be?”
Graffiti6 is starting to make their North American invasion, and they are hitting up the Tonight Show. Does this sound familiar? Well the Beatles made the exact same journey over 40 years ago. Naturally, @jordans_life had to make some comparisons.
Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he’s the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist.
During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number and took phone calls from his fans. These were real phone calls from real fans who we gave exclusive access to one of the biggest recording artists of our generation.
There were great questions about music, fitness, the backstreet boys but the most popular question, however, was about his underwear. In this clip Nick talks about his his ‘Haynes’ and covering his fans with glow in the dark paint.
When releasing new music today, half the battle is online promotion. However, contests, signed merch and giveaways aren’t always the best solutions. When working on their latest album, Hedley came up with a brilliant idea, they decided to make trailers.
It’s hard to prepare for an interview with Hedley. So in this interview, we threw caution to the wind, got a 24 of beer and broadcast the interview live on our USTREAM (andPOP.tv). Eventually Jacob, Dave and @jordans_life ended up talking about hairy legs, their newest music video and more.
Diamandis from Marina and The Diamonds talks to us about her very serious disease. It’s called synaesthetic. And we lied, it’s not a disease. More like a cool condition. Diamandis explains further.
Would you be embarrassed if someone scrolled through your iPod? We sit down with Spee and Brendan to talk about the diverse music on their playlist.
When he’s not busy stealing the hearts of millions of girls around the world with his angelic voice, what does Nick Jonas do, one might ask? Well here’s one answer!
MTV reports that Nick Jonas, one third of the all-brother group, the Jonas Brothers, has composed the music for the new expansion world, “Wintertusk,” of the online game “Wizard101.”
“It’s been a really interesting journey composing some music for ‘Wintertusk’,” Jonas told MTV. “They came to me and said, ‘hey we’d love to have you be a part of this in some way,’ and as I was kind of getting into producing and song-writing, something I always wanted to do was score, so I said, ‘I’d love to be able to score this game for you and create some music specifically for the game and the vibe of the game.’”
Jonas explained that it’s different from anything else he’s ever done, but is looking forward to people hearing the music in the game. And I can guarantee that OJDers (Obsessive Jonas Disorder, for those who don’t know) all over are looking forward to it just as much, since this will be the first dose of anything Jonas they will have gotten in quite a while!
“I think what really helped when composing the pieces for Wintertusk was having some of the musical theater background that I have, obviously epic in its sounds,” he continued. “Specifically with ‘Les Mis’ and some of the stuff I did with that it really helped me open my mind to a couple different things and the way that this music should sound for this game.”
But when it comes to being a gamer himself, Jonas says, “I get into it a bit. I spend more time in the studio more than anything. But my little brother [Frankie] is a big video game fan.”
Sounds like quite an exciting project! It will be very exciting to see how well Nick tackled this one – but then again, there isn’t much wrong this boy can do when it comes to music, since it seems he is incapable of failing at anything musically.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is going to be in a video game, and it’s going to be awesome.
Gellar will star alongside Robert Englund, Michael Rooker and Danny Trejo in ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops,’ fighting off zombies, of course.
Noted horror film director George Romero will lend his likeness to the game, inspired by his zombie film works. The new level, called “Call of the Dead,” will be included in the upcoming Escalation downloadable content pack.
“This is Treyarch’s tribute to the legendary George Romero, who truly defined the zombie genre and whose incredible work has been such an inspiration to our team,” said Black Ops director Dave Anthony. “It was an absolute honor to work with such an amazing and talented cast whose passion and energy brought their characters instantly to life. Fans are going to love this.”
Watch the video below to hear Gellar speak about the process. I’m so excited for her to come back into the spotlight, but I never anticipated this. It’s beyond my wildest dreams! (Yes, I’m fan-boying here, a little bit.)
The trailer for the game can be viewed here.
It seems that the Moon Walk is the new black as more and more Michael Jackson merchandise is in the works.
According to TMZ, the King of Pop is set to star in a new video game that will essentially be a “dance karaoke.” Unlike many other ventures surrounding the deceased Jackson, apparently the pop singer’s estate is totally on board for this plan. Basically, gamers will see Jackson dancing on screen and then will be challenged to imitate his movements.
The game, currently untitled, will be available on multiple gaming platforms including Wii and Xbox 360. The Xbox version will include Microsoft’s new Kinect motion capture technology which will allow players to participate in the game without holding a controller.
Also in the Xbox version, the player will be judged based on full body moves; the game will process the player’s movements and display them on screen, dancing alongside Jackson.
If that wasn’t spectacular enough for aspiring Princes of Pop everywhere, the game also includes a karaoke feature which will allow players to sing along to Jackson songs and even funk up their voices with an autotune feature.
The game is being developed by Ubisoft (the same company behind Assassin’s Creed and Ghost Recon) and they have apparently secured permission from Jackson’s estate, so this is sure to go ahead. The game is scheduled to be released sometime before Christmas.
We already knew that Jake Gyllenhaal is playing the lead role of the acclaimed video game franchise-turned-movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. What we didn’t know is that the Brokeback Mountain actor was actually a legitimate fan of the Prince of Persia series as a child.
“I played their original side-scrolling version of the game when I was a kid,” said the 29-year-old actor laughing, in an interview with MTV News.
Directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), the movie tells the story about the origins of young Persian Prince Dastan, and his quest to rescue the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that controls time, from an evil nobleman.
Move aside, guitar, there’s a new Hero taking over the video game world: the turntable.
Video game creator Activision has released the much-anticipated massive set list for the DJ Hero video game, which comes out on Oct. 27, according to CHARTattack.
The game features 93 exclusive mixes by some of the industry’s top DJs, including Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, and the late DJ AM. On the game these DJs slice up songs by artists such as Daft Punk, The Killers, Jay-Z, Public Enemies, and the Beastie Boys.
DJ Hero aims to expand on the technology used in video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The game will use a turntable controller to help immerse players into DJ culture. It will give aspiring DJs the chance to learn DJ techniques including sampling, crossfading, and scratching.
andPOP was given a special opportunity to have a look at EA NHL 10 which comes out very shortly. Jordan and Josh spoke with Patrick Kane and John Tavares about being on the cover, and also had a quick play of the game. What we can say is it’s the best EA NHL game yet!
This week’s topic: Top five video game clichés
Hey readers,
For this week’s rant, I thought I would take a page out of the Brett blog and do a top five list. Not to steal his thunder, but a topic like this has been nagging in my head for a good long while now. This week, I’m going to take a look at the top five clichés that annoy me but often pop up in video games. Perhaps because it works well in that specific title, perhaps because the story writers or coders or someone along the supply chain was lazy, perhaps we will never know but until that point, at least you, the viewers will know how I feel about them. (more…)
JUJU MAKE ME GO CRAZY. 
Alright lets get one thing out of the way, I enjoy video games regardless of the age and gender they are created for. If it is a good game then I will classify it as a good game. In my books there is no such thing as a ” I guess for a kids game this is alright.” You wanna know why? Because even simple kids games have to abide by some sort of standard. And don’t get me started on those pre-preschooler games… at that young age you shouldn’t be playing games in the first place. I played Super Mario Land for the Gameboy when I was 6, it was challenging, immersible, and got me to love games ever since.
Now that’s not to say Tak and the guardians of gross is a game designed for kids, I honestly wish that were not the case but tons of things within the game lead me to believe the only person to get some mild joy out of the title would be someone around that age.
The game is the third story iteration in Tak series and after a long hiatus now returns to the Wii. Developed by Blitz games and published by THQ this game sports the nickelodeon splat right on the box letting us know that this is a fine game based on the cartoon based on the game.. In fact one of the special extras on the disc is an episode of the cartoon. (more…)
Fans of the Need for Speed franchise may have to wait until fall to get Need for Speed SHIFT, EA’s latest entry in the 15 year franchise. But they may rejoice with the knowledge that the BMW M3 GT2 will be featured on the cover of the newest game. EA had the game on showcase at E3 this week, where gamers got their hands on it for the first time.
Players will have 65 cars to choose from. The game boasts a diverse selection ranging from the classic 1972 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R to the exotic 2007 Lamborghini Reventón. The tracks will include newly designed circuits and actual locations like the legendary 20km Nordschleife in Nürburg, Germany.
NFS fans should already know what to expect. “Need for Speed SHIFT is about the intense power and emotion of being behind the wheel,” said Patrick Soderlund, senior vice president, EA Games Europe. The game is being developed for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC by Slightly Mad Studios in London, England. EA’s Bright Light Studio is developing a version for the PSP. Need for Speed SHIFT ships on September 22, 2009 in North America.
Just a heads up for those loving the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine game by Activision (or those who have grown tired of the story mode already). We now have the ability to download the Weapon X arena, yes, the very same arena DLC that came with a Wolverine pre-order is now available to the masses on both Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft points, and Playstation 3 for $9.99.
The Arena is comprised of four combat simulators for your gory enjoyment. In the Custom Combat arena, Logan potentials can ‘grow’ and combination of enemies (big or small) to fight, creating your ultimate brawl dreams including Sentinel Prototypes, Machine Gunners, Machete Men and more! As well, the Ladder Challenge mode gives those that have fought ever enemy in the game the ability to fight through an onslaught of preconfigured challenges, starting weak and easy and growing gradually until the room fills with the hardest battles imaginable; there are 50 ‘levels’ to plough through in this mode. The Environmental Simulator gives you the ability to utilize all the environmental weapons throughout the game, things like broken tree branches, electric panels and all the fun stuff you can throw enemies into are all here for your Canadian chucking pleasure. Finally the Weapon X Arena provides an extra bonus room that has heightened enemy reaction effects.
So you heard it here folks, those Wolverine fans that didn’t get the pre-order no longer have to wallow in self pity that they don’t have access to this arena because now for 800 MS points or $10 bucks, you too can have hours of mutilating mutation entertainment!
Logan, Weapon X, James, Jimmy, Wolverine. Whatever you want to call him, there’s no denying he’s one of the biggest names in super-hero history. Then why has he been so hard to franchise for? Could it be that it’s hard to market a children’s video game where the main character is a raging animal? Could it be that with such a deep story line a game could never encompass everything that wolverine is? Could it be that it’s hard to have a game where players can die, when the character himself has survived bullets in the brain, being ripped in half, AND walking directly into the sun? For these reasons and more I feel there has never been a video game that has done wolverine justice… that is, until now.
With the increasing level of quality connected to licensed games (Spiderman: Web of Shadows and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Athena come to mind), X-Men: Origins: Wolverine raises the bar with this exceptional title. It could be because in the past only children played games, but as those children grew up, they required more adult oriented action. Enter Wolverine. This is by far one of the bloodiest, gruesome-ist, and most stylized carnage I have ever had the pleasure of controlling, and after the lack of blood found in the X-Men: Origins: Wolverine movie, I felt this was much needed.
“Fast and Furious” star Vin Diesel is getting ready to break all sorts of road rules again as the star of Paramount Pictures’ “The Wheelman.”
According to Variety, the movie is a live-action adaptation of the Diesel-produced Ubisoft videogame “Wheelman,” which hit store shelves last month.
The game features the voice and visage of Diesel himself as the main character, an expert driver who emerges from retirement to help a woman from his past. His mission takes him to Barcelona, where he gets tangled up in the middle of a gang war.
Testosterone, check. Darkness, check. Funky glasses, check. You ARE Vin Diesel. The sequel, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, released 5 years after Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay puts everyone’s favourite night seeing, space flying protagonist from the motion picture Pitch Black in yet another action packed sci-fi. Yes, that’s right, this IS a movie licensed video game, but wait, don’t leave, don’t click that close button because Dark Athena isn’t all that bad!
Still with me? Good! Dark Athena takes place shortly after Escape from Butcher Bay ends, as such (I don’t want to spoil anything, but the game came out 5 years ago!) you begin with yourself and Johns in stasis on a ship, your stasis short circuited and you woke early. The benefit of this coincidence is that you get to see your ship being reeled in like a trout by one of the scariest looking ships I have ever seen, the Dark Athena. The mercenaries (or space pirates, whatever you want to call them) board your ship with just enough time for you to hide in the darkness (a recurring theme in this game) and watch as they break your ship and capture Johns, who spends a lot of time sleeping throughout the game. It’s up to you, Riddick, Vin Diesel, the only chance of getting the other prisoners off the ship and the only one capable of pulling off the feat, to kick some ass.
I was the very best, like no one ever was. I caught them all, as my real test, I trained them as my cause. I had travelled across the land, I searched far and wide. Each Pokémon I did understand, the power that’s inside. The question is, since I already did this with Pokémon Red, Pokémon Gold, and Pokémon Diamond, is it really worth it to go another round with Pokémon Platinum? As it turns out, maybe not as much as I think. If you were to compare this newest addition to the over 5 series of Pokémon titles out there, Pokémon Diamond to Pokémon Platinum would be the same comparison to Pokémon Red to Pokémon Yellow. What I mean by this is that it is the same game, same characters, and same story line but with a few new additions and changes. For this reason I won’t go too deep into the game but rather discuss all there is to do (and believe me, there is A LOT to do) and the new additions to this title.
Developed by Game Freaks and published by Nintendo, you play the role of a young boy or girl (with different clothing than in Pokémon Diamond) in the world of Sinnoh, you and your friend decide to go get some Pokémon (which by the way are a variety of almost 500 little monsters you capture, befriend and train to battle for you), when you are stopped by a Pokémon researcher, he gives both of you a choice of three starting Pokémon and your off on your very own adventure of growth and life lessons.
Spyro’s back for another romp on the next gen platform circuit. And this time, it’s personal. No, not really… or at least I’m not sure if it is or not. You see, I haven’t played a Spyro game since the first one came out on the original Playstation, and from the first minute of gameplay in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (Spyro), it’s obvious that the little purple dragon has grown into his own and spread his wings.
Activision’s Spyro begins with two purple small dragons encased in a crystal, a goblin touches the crystal and it explodes, then two snake necklaces are placed on the two dragons as they wake up in an underground laid fighting a giant fire monster. The green necklaces bind the two together and while they can fly, fight, and use elemental powers (Spyro can use fire, ice, earth and lightning, while Cynder (the evil other dragon) can use dark powers such as fear, poison, shadow, and wind?), they must work together to escape with the help of a tiger named Hunter and a loud mouthed dragon fly named Sparx. Make any sense? No? That’s how I felt playing this title as it seems to be a direct continuation from the past title, unless you played that last title they don’t give you any back story to work with. While on the topic of not making any sense, Cynder controls the evil elements, I understand that, but since when was wind considered bad? Linka never used her wind power for evil when calling on captain planet. Another issue I have with sense-making is that these two small dragons can fly at any given time, they can glide through entire levels, EXCEPT when there is a wall covered in vines, then all of a sudden they forget how to fly and must physically climb up the walls.
Changing subjects a little bit away from my rant, when playing Spyro, I couldn’t help but feel like this game felt very similar to something and after an hour of gameplay it hit me. Spyro is an E rated version of God of War! All the mechanics from GoW are present: action buttons, colour specific gems that provide health, mana, or exp, and when you have enough experience, you level up your spells the same way as GoW. The same scale battles and feel of fights are present, wall climbing, similar puzzles, rolls, giant monster battles ending with action buttons and an overall feel of GoW is present throughout the game, but cuter, colourful and with the ability for two player coop.
The controls are again, much like gears of war, using the D-pad to select your elemental spell, having a weak attack, strong attack, block, dodge, elemental attack A, elemental attack B, grab and player change. To fly you triple jump then beat your wings to gain altitude. Specific actions must be made by either Spyro or Cynder to open doors using specific elements such as blowing wind into a horn, or shocking a switch, so puzzle action utilizes more than one dragon at any given time. With two dragons flying around and as many as 10 bad guys on the screen at once, the gameplay can get a little hectic, add on top that both players can fight to control the camera angle and you get confusion and fire blasts left right and centre.
Graphically I was taken back by how great this title looked compared to the only other Spyro game I ever played over ten years ago. The detail in animation of all the little monsters running around, as well as the quality in terms of level design were great! The reflections on the monster’s slimy skin and the scales of Spyro are seen throughout the game and along with the artistic stylings of each element (especially Sypro’s fire and Cynder’s shadow elements) the game is a fast paced graphical enticement for the eyes.
With full voice over acting, and aside from cheesy script writing and unfunny jokes, Spyro’s voices are great. In fact, the voices are all filled by A-list stars that each fit their roles very well. Elijah Wood voices Spyro, Gary Oldman Ignitus, Wayne Brady as Sparx, Christina Ricci as Cynder and Mark Hamill as the evil Malefor. If I didn’t read the names on the back of the box, I would have never guessed these big names lent their talents to this game, and am amazed at how great they sound and work in a mysterious dragon world.
In an epic feeling conclusion to the Spyro world, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon doesn’t leave much out, if only they could have clued in new gamers to their world before diving head first into continuing the story. The one thing I missed most was Spyro’s confidence issue about being the smallest dragon in his clan. It seems somewhere within the last ten years he overcame his height issues and became a full fledged dragon hero.
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Graphics: 4.0/5
Sound: 4.5/5
Replay Value: 3.0/5
Shout! There’s a Beatles music game coming from MTV.
MTV and Beatles license-holder Apple Corps will join forces to create the first-ever Beatles-themed video game, set for release in the 2009 holiday season.
It’s not a Rock Band or Guitar Hero-typed game, according to Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos, but users can still expect to “twist and shout”. It’s a “creative exploration of their music and a celebration of their legacy.” It will also be a music-making game, – so users can wear their “blue suede shoes” and “shake, rattle and roll” with interactive performance. The game will take users “across the universe” of the band’s career, from first album to last, but it wasn’t stated whether or not the game will include every Beatles song ever written.
Apparently, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison all gave input and back the project. In a press release from MTV, McCartney said, “The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of the Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out.” Yoko Ono commented that she hoped the game would appeal to “young blood”, saying “I love it and hope it will keep inspiring and encouraging the young generation or many decades.”
Not many details were revealed, but the game is already in development and will be compatible with Rock Band instruments. No word of whether or not the game will come with a Yellow Submarine, either.
Conspiracy Entertainment has just released its newest platform game based on the famous cartoon cat, Garfield. Garfield: Lasagna World Tour was released to the North American market on Friday, June 27.
The PlayStation 2 game challenges players to explore the cartoon world of Garfield, with the goal of eventually winning the Lasagna World Tour (a treasure-hunt competition set up by the fictional PAWS TV channel). Users can dress up the Garfield character in a variety of costumes while playing mini-games to advance through the levels.
There are a total of 10 levels to complete in the game, and users will be able to explore environments simulating Mexico, Italy and Egypt with the Garfield character in search of clues. More information can be found at http://www.conspiracygames.com.
Activision Inc. announced today the Fall 2008 release of Dancing with the Stars: Get Your Dance On! The game is a sequel to last year’s Dancing with the Stars video game. The game will be available for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS consoles.
“‘Dancing with the Stars’ is an ongoing cultural phenomenon that appeals to people of all ages. It is mainstream entertainment at its best,” said Dave Oxford from Activision Publishing, according to a press release from the company. “We feel the game is the perfect opportunity to evolve the idea of ‘active family fun’.”
The newest version of the Dancing with the Stars video game with feature new stars such as Mel B, Apolo Anton Ohno, Joey Fatone and Jennie Garth. The Wii version of the game makes the dancing more realistic, with players using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controls to enact dance moves. The version of the game for the hand-held Nintendo DS will give players the ability to change character’s outfits and change dance partners at any time. For more information on the game, please visit www.activision.com.
2K just announced that its Top Spin 3 tennis video game for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii has gone gold overseas. The video game will be available in North America at major retailers June 24, 2008.
Top Spin 3 holds to be the most authentic tennis video game available, and offers features such as high-quality graphics, specialized controls and expansive online offerings. Top Spin 3 allows users to choose from a wide selection of top-ranked professional tennis players for their video game experience, such as Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova. Players have control over every aspect of their character, including a face sculptor editor, customizable swing animations, hairstyles, tattoos and grunts.
The Top Sprin 2 features new Evolutionary Visuals that show the intensity of the simulated game, as the characters sweat, show fatigue and get grass and clay stains as the match progresses. For the more competitive player, Top Spin 3 allows users to create matches online and compete against friends or other ranked players around the world in singles and doubles matches at a variety of levels.
THQ announced yesterday in a press release that it will be developing the game adaptation of this summer’s Disney/Pixar animated movie Wall-E.
Developed internally by THQ’s Heavy Iron studio, creators of The Incredibles game and the Sponge Bob Square Pants movie game, the game promises to allow players to relive moments from the movie as well as deliver entirely new storylines and environments not present in the movie.
Wall-E will be the second game developed under the 2004 agreement made between THQ and Disney/Pixar which grants THQ the rights to create games for four Disney/Pixar film properties. Ratatouille was the first game developed by THQ under this agreement.
The game is expected to be released this summer along side the movie and will be available on all major platforms.
