How The Grinch Stole Christmas Read By Obi Wan Kenobi, Cad Bane, and Ziro the Hutt

James Arnold Taylor (the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi on the Clone Wars animated series) and Corey Burton (the voice of Cad Bane and Ziro the Hutt on the same series) read Dr. Seuss' classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas in their respective characters' voices.

A Special Christmas Gift From the Hadley's Hope Colony on Acheron LV-426

Hot New Christmas Gift

I have to admit, I am a Kindle junkie.  These days I'll start a book on my handheld Kindle, continue it on my phone, and finish it on the iPad.

CHEESE!

Shifty Eyed Dog

Reminded me of this (from the Simpsons):

Star Wars Christmas

VADER: Luke, I know what you are getting for Christmas.

LUKE: How could you possibly know that?

VADER: I felt your presents.

BUH-DUM T'SS!

Real Life First Person Shooter

If you've played any of the Call of Duty games in multiplayer then the interface will be very familiar to you. Don't worry if you haven't. Familiarity with CoD isn't required to appreciate this really awesome job by YouTuber freddiew.

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale

Release is scheduled for Spring, 2011.  Here are the official details per Atari's website:

Description

Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale centers on the desperate struggle to defeat the evil Rezlus and his Zhentarim in their attempt to invade and conquer the Dalelands. Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale is an engaging multi-player experience that introduces a riveting narrative and treacherous new characters. Players are charged with the task of restoring order to the Dalelands by unlocking the secrets of the Mines of Tethyamar, defeating the evil within the treacherous Tower of the Void, leading to the final confrontation with Rezlus himself.

 Features

• Solo and Co-op Play: Battle through the mines of Tethyamar and tower of Rezlus solo or with 1-3 of your friends.
• Questing: Combines both exploration and combat including a reward system for player progression.
• Immersive Combat: Battle a wide range of enemies by engaging in intuitive pick-up-and-play melee, tactical ranged combat, or powerful spell casting.
• Character Development: Select a class, build your ultimate hero, collect loot, and earn experience! Select feats, powers, and skills to enhance and customize your hero as you level up.
• Stunning Levels and Exploration: Take on a variety of perilous quests and explore the richly detailed environments of Daggerdale.
• Intuitive pick-up-and-play: Easy to learn, with great depth for those who wish to master.
• Multiple Game Modes: Unlock new areas and challenges in Campaign mode, or hone your skills in Freeplay

I'm a HUGE fan of the various Infinity engine (on the PC: Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series, and Planescape) and Snowblind engine games (the Baldur's Gate series on the PS2) that have come and gone. This new Daggerdale game reminds me of those in a big way.

Snowmen Cookies

Girl wakes up to find that her boyfriend altered her snowmen cookies overnight.

For reference, here is the recipe she was using HERE.

And the inspiration for the alterations: the classic Calvin & Hobbes cartoon you see below.

Job well done, good sir.

Steam's Annual Holiday Sale Underway!

FINAL EDIT: I don't plan to update this post every day.  Steam's deals are changing on a daily basis, so definitely check them out each day.  The updates to the sale occur at 1pm EST (FYI Battlefield Bad Company 2 is down to $6.80 - you're nuts if you don't snag this deal).
----------------------------------------------

Steam's annual holiday sale is now underway and there are some pretty fantastic effin' deals. The deals change on an almost daily basis so if you see something you've had your eye on, definitely snag it. It will be tough if not impossible to find a better deal anywhere.

The first four on the list below are strongly suggested as "must buys" if your gaming tastes are anything like mine.

Portal $ 3.74 (how do you NOT own this yet?) EDIT: up to $ 7.49 if you missed the sale

Battlefield Bad Company 2 $ 6.79 (if you have the system for it and enjoy FPS games, this is a MUST BUY) EDIT: up to $ 14.99

Titan Quest Gold Edition $ 4.99 (awesome isometric view action RPG) EDIT: up to $ 9.99

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition $ 20.09 (this is a no brainer if you don't already own it) EDIT: up to $ 22.49

Super Meat Boy $ 3.75 (I've been looking for an excuse to buy this) EDIT: up to $ 7.49

Unreal Deal Pack $ 14.99 (includes all Unreal games including a personal favorite, UT2k4)

Valve Complete Pack $ 49.99 (incredible deal including these games: Counter Strike, Counter Strike Condition Zero, Counter Strike Source, Day of Defeat, Day of Defeat Source, Deathmatch Classic, Half Life, Half Life 2, Half Life 2 Deathmatch, Half Life 2 Episode One, Half Life 2 Episode Two, Half Life 2 Lost Coast, Half Life Deathmatch Source, Half Life Blue Shift, Half Life Opposing Force, Half Life Source, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal, Ricochet, Team Fortress 2, and Team Fortress Classic)

A bunch of Indie Packs at $ 4.99 each

Star Wars Republic Commando for $ 4.99

Bioshock 2 for $ 13.99 EDIT: down to $ 9.99

Misadventures of PB Winterbottom for $ 0.49 (yes, 49 cents!)

Borderlands for $ 13.39

Dig around. This sale is ridiculously awesome.

EDIT: There are already changes since I posted this! Look at the text above - if a price changed I included it in an edit. New sale items I think are worth it below:

PuzzleQuest $ 1.50 (punch yourself in the nuts if you haven't already played a version of this on your phone, DS, PSN, XBLA, PC, Speak and Spell, C64, etc)

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light $ 5.10 (I bought this at $15 on the PSN and it's well worth that so this one is a no brainer)

Resident Evil 5 $ 10.20

Defense Grid $ 2.00 (for you tower defense junkies, this is one of the best that exists)

"Boba Fett? Boba Fett? Where?"

From Robot Chicken

Realistic Facial Expressions in Rockstar's L.A. Noire

Video Games | L.A. Noire | Developer Diary: The Technology Behind Performance

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Minty, the Candy Cane That Fell On the Ground

Super Mario Sweater

Christmaschizzle for Ma Nizzles

Season's Eatings!

Roy Fabcock

Atom Originals Channel
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Uncharted 3 Gameplay

Video is from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon airdate 12/13/2010

The New Lara Croft

Full article and info courtesy of Game Informer

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

Due out May 20, 2011

Just a Hot Chick Skankin'

Just wanted to share one of my favorite Youtube vids - a hot girl skankin' to Mustard Plug's Brain On Ska:

Assassin's Creed: Beautiful Lies

YouTube submitter Hamps19 made the following short flick, Assassin's Creed: Beautiful Lies. If you haven't played Assassin's Creed, this may make you want to run out and buy every game in the franchise.

And yes, this is all fan made. Here's his "how-to" instructional:

Vegas Video for editing and Fraps for recording. I used a program called CheatEngine to run the game in suuuper slow-motion to record shots at a high FPS so I could have smooth looking shots. That was actually the most fun part about making this since I love AC's animations so much and being able to see every little meticulous detail in all of them was great. This of course took a while, playing in slow-motion doesn't help speed things up haha

For movement scenes and camera alignment it was trial and error mostly. To make it easier on myself I'd use the center camera button and move only in the angles allowed on the keyboard controls since those are fixed unlike the analog sticks on a controller. The times when I couldn't do that I took a screenshot of the location with one Assassin and then ran back to it with the other and basically eyeballed it until I got it right. I remember using a twig on a wall haha, counting the amount of bricks it was down and trying to position the camera just right.

For combat scenes, the counter kills have only about 5 or 6 different angles that it can be shown in so if I play long enough and kill enough I eventually get the same angles.

 Pretty incredible and I applaud this guy's dedication and skill.  Check it out below.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam Gameplay Trailer

This.
Looks.
Awesome.

Portal Speed Run in 10 Minutes

If you've never played Portal, then you're an idiot. No, seriously. It's a scientifically proven fact that some very smart dudes in Sweden discovered a year or so ago. They published a paper called, "If You Have Never Played The Game Portal Then You Are An Idiot." It was very well received by the worldwide scientific community and is up for a Nobel Peace Prize next year.

Anyway, if you are one of these scientifically proven idiots, then consider the following video to be a major spoiler as it's the entire game played through in a speed run in about ten minutes.

And before you shout, "that's impossible" - you're right. It is impossible without taking advantage of known game glitches. This shouldn't take away from the amazing amount of skill and preparation (two years!) that went into this run. Take a looksee.

Lego Antikythera Mechanism

At the turn of the last century, a strange mechanism was found in a sunken shipwreck off the coast of a Greek island called Antikythera. The wreck itself has been dated back to sometime during the first century BC. For years the mechanism's use and construction was absolutely unknown leading people to speculate everything from alien technology to novelty automata. It's said to have the complexity and intricacies of a Swiss clock, especially in its precision in accurately calculating astronomical movements, for which it was designed and, as such, has been called the world's oldest analog computer.

And it has been reconstructed using Lego bricks.

Rock Em Sock Em Robots the Movie

A few years back there was talk of various boardgames being made into film: Monopoly, Battleship, Candyland, Ouija, and Rock Em Sock Em Robots. No, seriously. Some Hollywood shit-for-brains actually thought a movie should be made about Candyland.

Sure, there was 1985's Clue but that game is already laid out with a plot like structure and lent itself to a movie adaption pretty damn well. But now they're talking about a remake or at least another version of Clue as a movie. Does it seem to anyone else that people are running out of ideas to make original movies?

So, I don't really know if the upcoming movie Real Steel is really what happened with the original idea for a Rock Em Sock Em Robots movie, but it sure looks like it. And it looks effing dumb.



Where's my Hungry Hungry Hippos movie, Hollywood bitches?

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Not due out until November 1, 2011 (11-1-11) Drake's next adventure will take him in search of the legendary "Atlantis of the Sands." Sometimes called Iram and sometimes called Ubar, Drake's inevitable race against time and gun wielding antagonists sounds like the developers may have recently just read the novel Sandstorm by one of my favorite writers, James Rollins. I remember reading it and thinking the story would make for a great movie or video game. Enjoy the official trailer and screenshots below.

Official Thor Trailer

The Original Playstation Theme

Time for a little nostalgia:

PS1 Start-up Audio (Remastered) by alexeino

Boobie Fett

Nick's Winter Wonerland [sic]

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

"Bring the kids down, but don't let 'em touch nothin.' This shit costs money. They break it, you bought it. I ain't fuckin' around."

Fix Plumber's Crack and Give Yourself Some Ball Room

Fix Plumber's Crack:



Give yourself some room for your balls:



You can buy either item (yes, they are real) at Duluth Trading Company. And no, I'm not getting anything to advertise for these guys, I just think their ads are effin' awesome.

Transformers 3 Teaser Trailer

Officially called "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," but that title sucks balls. The first movie was pretty cool and the second one blew huge chunks. Let's hope this third one won't be as crappy as the title. Every time I say that title out loud I can't help but hear "Transformers: Bark at the Moon."

Anyway, check out the teaser trailer here:



I love alternate history scenarios in fiction. I just really hope this isn't complete garbage.

Homemade Left 4 Dead Door

The folks over at Rooster Teeth (the guys behind Red vs Blue) just finished modding the door to their studio.  At first I thought it was a decal or cling of some sort (and then wondered where I could buy one) but after looking at the other two pictures the details become clear.  Very cool stuff.

Here's something else cool they did: driving a car in 3rd person perspective:

 

Prepare To Blow Your Mind!

The following picture was uploading to the Intarwebz with the following note by Redditor smackley, "my fiancee said I could design our 'save the dates' to save money on the wedding... she didn't like my designs."

Melting Rocks With Sunshine

True Grit

A Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona, Fargo, Big Lebowski, the list goes on and on) remake of the 1969 John Wayne classic True Grit is coming out this Christmas season. Co-produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, this movie is looking asskickingly sweet. Check out the trailer below.



EDIT: Holy shit there are a lot of "cowboy movies" on the horizon. Is there some sort of cowboy genre resurgence going on? We've got Cowboys vs Aliens, Cowboys vs Ninjas, Cowboys vs Zombies (Red Dead Redemption's undead DLC), and now Cowboys vs... well... other Cowboys.

Nothing wrong with this as I've always been pretty partial to cowboy movies ever since I first saw the Sergio Leone "Man With No Name" movies as a kid.

1997's Justice League of America

Here are the first ten minutes of 1997's terrible pilot of Justice League of America.

The Single Best YouTube Video Ever?

If this isn't the single best YouTube video ever, I'm not sure what is. I present to you, Play Helen Hunt off, Keyboard Cat... and Then Join Daryl Hall and John Oates.*



*[TRIVIA TIME!! It is a well documented fact that Hall & Oates is the muzak you hear when sitting in the waiting room just outside of the lowest level of Hell]

Cowboys and Aliens

A film adaptation of the one-shot comic "Cowboys & Aliens" is set to be released July, 2011. Think the title sounds a little silly? You might change your mind after checking out the talent involved in this movie's making:

Director: PCU's Gutter (aka Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man)
Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard
Starring: James Bond (aka Daniel Craig), Hans Solo (aka Harrison Ford; and no, that is not a typo - that's my Deutschified version), the ridiculously hot Olivia Wilde, and Sam Rockwell

That is a metric shit-ton of talent right there. Check out the trailer:

Green Lantern Trailer

In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

Are Home Alone & Die Hard The Same Movie?

Speedflying

Awesome.
Just.
Awesome.

The Warrior's Way Trailer

Holy crap! And I thought the trailer for Sucker Punch was hard-on inducing (believe me, Emily Browning as Baby Doll fighting a giant Samurai robot armed with a gatling cannon under the direction of Zack Snyder... well... it's still so very boneriffic). But... ninjas versus cowboys?!

What?!

That's insane.

So insane it JUST. MIGHT. WORK.

Release date is set for December 3, 2010. Directed by Sngmoo Lee.

I wish my name was as awesome as Sngmoo. Four consonants in a row? Who does that? Someone who is awesome, that's who.

JourneyQuest!

Dead Gentlemen Productions, the folks that brought us the extremely entertaining flick "The Gamers" and its sequel "The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising," have been working on an episodic production called JourneyQuest. Well worth the look if you're even remotely interested in Dungeons and Dragons.

Hardcore Dancing in Assassin's Creed 2

(poison tipped blade) + (group of innocent people) = hardcore dancing.

You can get a larger group of people to get in the way by tossing money on the ground while the "dancing" is going on.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Commercial

There's been some controversy over the following ad for the new Call of Duty: Black Ops game. See for yourself:



Years ago, Microsoft decided not to air a similarly themed ad that I thought was simply brilliant.



What do you think?

Raytheon XOS 2 Exoskeleton

This is like the power loader from the movie Aliens come to life... only better! It looks easier to use and it's much smaller (personally I think the guy using it needs to wear a helmet with a rotating yellow light on top). Raytheon has displayed an earlier version of this exoskeleton before, but this video was just released this past summer. Check it out:



He even loads some ordinance similar to the Aliens movie here. And did you catch the name of the test engineer? Rex Jameson? If that's not a superhero alter ego, I don't know what is. That name sounds so manly I just grew a mustache saying it out loud.

Also notice here that the exoskeleton comes to life of its own will. This is obviously the first step toward the Robot Apocalypse, mark my words. In five years we will be obeying SkyNet which will have been constructed by these self aware exoskeletons. Thanks, Raytheon!

Honest First Date

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I Love Pretzels!

I think I just fell in love.

Best Line Rider I've Ever Seen

There are dozens of really clever Line Rider boards people have made. Just go to YouTube and you'll see all the great art people have adapted to Line Rider.

None of them can top this, though. Seriously. And don't shortchange yourself: watch the entire thing. Three years and sixteen people went into the development of this masterpiece. And the music is just absolutely perfect.

Watch and be amazed.

Awesome Football Play

I love a good trick play.  These middle schoolers win the Kickass Award for Trickery and Awesomeness.

This. Picture. Rocks.

New Neverwinter Game In 2011

I was a huge fan of the 2002 Bioware game, Neverwinter Nights (I never played the 1991 AOL version of the game).  My gaming buddies and I spent many, MANY hours delving into every official campaign and module as well as dozens of user made adventures.  2006 rolled around and we were psyched to play Obsidian's Neverwinter Nights 2 but the endless number of glitches and terrible GUI kept us from enjoying it.  We never did finish that game as a group.

Last night I got an email from Atari announcing a new Neverwinter to be released in 2011.  The above is a screen cap of the main site displaying the classic classes (from left to right) Cleric, Wizard, Fighter, Rogue, and Ranger.  The game is being developed by Cryptic Studios from the ground up as a co-op RPG, which is exactly what I've been dying for since playing Borderlands.  Sure, I can play (and have played) Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online, but it's still an MMO and I just don't have the kind of time necessary to invest in a proper MMO.  But a co-op RPG?  Hells yes.  The game will take place in a post Spell Plague Forgotten Realms and will be using the current version of the D&D rules (4e) as its base.

And here's another kickass little tidbit: R. A. Salvatore is helping to get it creatively off the ground.  And in a stroke of marketing genius, he's just published a new novel called Gauntlgrym: Neverwinter Book I as a tie-in and sets the background for the game (here's the Amazon linkage for it).

The official website is here.

Swiss Miss is like... wait... WHAT?!

Mmmm... delicious, delicious kittens.

His Face All Red

Check out this one-shot web comic called His Face All Red by Emily Carroll.  I wish I had found this prior to Halloween as this is a great, little scary story.

Also, take a peek at the author's blog here.  I love her art style.

As Tallahassee Said, "Nut up or shut up."

An Open Letter to a Man's Genitals

Diarrhea Awareness

According to the Wikipedia entry for "List of causes of death by rate," more people die annually from "Diarrhea diseases" than from breast cancer.  Diarrhea related deaths make up 3.15% of all deaths per 100,000 people per year whereas deaths caused by breast cancer make up only 0.84%.

If breast cancer awareness gets a pink ribbon for people to display their solidarity, what should diarrhea awareness get?

Here is one person's suggestion:

Simply awesome.

Sucker Punch

Zack Snyder (director of the Dawn of the Dead reboot, 300, and Watchmen) co-wrote and is directing Sucker Punch, due to hit the theaters in March, 2011.  Here is the synopsis according to Snyder (from the Wikipedia entry):

Set in the 1950s, it tells the story of Baby Doll (Browning), who is trying to hide from the pain caused by her evil stepfather and lobotomy. She ends up in mental institution in Brattleboro, Vermont, and while there she starts to imagine an alternate reality. She plans to escape from that imaginary world but to do that she needs to steal five objects before she is captured by an unknown adversary. She has 5 days to escape before being lobotomized. In order to cope with the situation, she enters the hyper-real world of her imagination, and the lines between reality and dream begin to blur. She is joined with friends who are inmates from the institution. Lessons learned in the said fantasy world could help the girls escape their real-world fate.

Check out the official trailer below.



This looks absolutely amazing.

I think I need a change of pants.

Do and Don't Guide to Babies

Click to Embiggen!

Anyone Else Hate The Halloween Snickers Ad?

This just creeps me the eff out.  And it doesn't help that the visage reminds me of Jocelyn Wildenstein!

GAH!

Antique/Steampunk R2 Unit

Created by amoebabloke from Deviant Art

Warning: Teachers Know How To Use Yahoo Answers

Full Throttle Douche Bottle

Drunk Guy Taunts Cop With Pink Dildo

I assume this takes place somewhere in Germany as the officer has "Polizei" written on the back of his jacket (that and he has a kickass looking bike for a ride). Why the obviously inebriated guy is packing a pink dildo/vibrator and a tiny pair of panties is beyond me but it sure makes for awesome video.

Battlefield: Vietnam (Starring Public Enemy)

The Best Battlefield 1942 Kills EVER

Okay, I don't know about "ever" but these have to be up there as some of the best killshots in all of Battlefield history. The following two clips are similar in that the players each leap out of their planes to perform a seemingly miraculous killshot... and then return to their planes. In mid-air. Absolutely incredible.





I miss this game.

Beauty and the Beast - Thai Version

The Thai title literally translates to "Beautiful Girl With Curse Devil" which, I admit, is awesome. But that character design. Holy shit! To people who can't animate for shit: please, PLEASE leave character design up to the animators at Disney and the CG masters at Pixar. Because... well... you can't. The sad thing is that this is a shot for shot copy of the Disney film. Is that even legal?

Here's a Thai version of Snow White from the same demon possessed mother fuckers who animated "Beautiful Girl With Curse Devil."



See what I mean about character design? Those dwarves?
Yeah.
100% good old fashioned nightmare fuel.

TreT the Parkour Dog

Steampunk Iron Man

To go along with the previous Steampunk pics, check out this dude's Steampunk Iron Man costume.  Dude looks badass!

Photo was taken at the 2010 New York Comic Con.

Alternative Buzz Lightyear and Woody

I wish I knew the artist - I'd love to give credit where it's due.

Compare and Contrast

What's interesting to me is that I've always heard Lucas intended the Battle of Endor to be an allegory for the Vietnam conflict: a technologically superior invasion force repelled by natives employing guerrilla tactics.

Banksy Does Simpsons Intro

I love Banksy.  No one quite does satire that hits it home for me as well and as hard as he does with his street art.  I wish I knew how the hell the Simpsons producers were able snag his talent for one of the current season's intros.

Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine Project

Babbage's Difference Engine

Okay, so I think the subject of Steampunk is pretty damned cool.  Maybe that's why I think the folks over at Plan 28 have a really nifty, albeit expensive, idea that they want to take off the ground: to build Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.  Wait a sec... let me clear something up.  Steampunk cosplaying?  Not so cool.  As a matter of fact, it's downright silly.  Well, unless you're a hot/sexy Steampunk cosplayer like this:

But, that's really more the exception than the rule.  Right?

Uh... what was I talking about again?  Oh, right.  This:

Fable III Prostitutes

People seemed to either love or hate Fable II.  G4's X-Play named it their 2008 Game of the Year but countless complaints still abound on the internets about how terribly far from Peter Molyneux's original vision for the game it ultimately fell.  I loved it and played the crap out of it.  The combat was simple on the surface and just barely complex enough to keep things interesting with a pleasant mix of melee weapons, guns, and magic all in one, naturally feeling flow.  I liked how I really felt like I could control my character's future any way I wanted - marry whoever I wanted, have as many or as few kids as I wanted, kill anyone I wanted if I chose to be evil, etc.  Sure, I had a few complaints (namely, the final battle) but ultimately I had fun.  And a shit ton of it (yes, that is a valid unit of measure; one shit ton is about a fuckload of regular tons).  Anyway, Fable III is due out October 26th.  Not sure I'll be getting it at release (probably not) but pictures like the one above remind me of the humorous and lightweight tone the game series has that I miss.