360Monster is proud to present MonsterBowl II on the Xbox 360. Following on from Monsterbowl I, Monsterbowl II will once again pitt you against players from across the globe in our very own mini Madden ’07 league.

To sign-up simply click this LINK sign-up to our forums and put your name down and we will notify you when the draft will begin and when you must select your team. The league will closely resemble a real NFL season and have various divisions all topped of by the Monsterbowl where the AFC and NFC winners will battle it out to be crowned Monsterbowl Champion.

Visit the other threads in the competition forum to see rules and we will soon be revealing the prize to go along with the competition. So what are you waiting for…

HMV have been forced to end their rather ridiculous £625 PS3 bundle that was being sold on their website due to a large number of complaints from across the UK. The £625 bundle would have assured you a PS3 come the launch in March but at the same time you had to purchase a PSP.

Here is a tidbit from their original listing, “Anyone who takes advantage of this offer will get priority over other HMV.co.uk customers for the Playstation 3.“

Their latest statement however shows they have taken a different stance on the PS3 bundles, they said they would be releaseing the PS3 on a “first come, first served basis, with priority going to those customers who registered an initial interest to receive PS3 pre-order details once they were confirmed”

For those who have already bought the £625 bundle you should be getting in e-mail in the coming days if this is anything to go by, “Now that we’ve been able to confirm our level of PS3 stock with Sony, we’re in a position to revise our original online offer. We will therefore be writing imminently to all the customers who have indicated that they wish to make the dual purchase to advise them that they can now pre-order the PS3 console by itself, if they prefer.”

So there you have it, next time one of you big retail companys try to take advantage of us the general consumer you best think again.

Well I’ve seen countless ‘news’ articles and forum discussions and people claiming to know Halo 3′s release date because some online retailer has an obscure date listed on their website.

So I thought to myself why not join in and simply round up the various retailers ‘projected’ release dates for arguably the 360′s most anticipated title. I’ll add more as time goes by but just from this intial list you can see the huge difference in the various release dates given by different companies.

Gameplay.co.uk – 30th March
ShopTo.net – 27th April
EBGames.com – 1st November
Amazon.co.uk – 23rd November
Gameseek.co.uk – 27th October
HMV.co.uk – 23rd November
Play.com – 27th April
BestBuy.com – 15th November
Gamestop.com – 1st November
sendit.com – 18th November
DVD.co.uk – 23rd November

None of the above hyperlinks are referrals…

It hasn’t take long for a modchip to hit the internet for Nintendos new console the Wii. In fact its been just over 2 months since the Wii’s release and now WiiKey is offering the new modchip come Feburary 7th.

WiiKey Mochip features:
Fully upgradable via DVD/disc (future proof, expect cool features to come)
Direct boot of Wii backups (like originals)
Direct boot of GC backups (like originals)
Boots different region GC games/backups
Boots different NTSC region Wii games/backups
Supports multi-disc games
Supports DVD-R and DVD+R
Built-in audio fix (for games using streaming, no patch required)
Stealth mode
4 wires & quick solder interface
Compact design, best quality components, rock solid high speed controller
Professional ESD packing

They have yet to announce the price of the mod but we’ll keep you posted.

Twenty Third of March is when the PS3 will eventually hit stores across the UK but that hasn’t stopped Argos.co.uk from officially taking pre-orders for Sonys new console.

The description on the website included the following info. “We’re pleased to announce that the much anticipated Playstation 3 games console is now available for pre-order here at Argos. We expect demand to be high and strongly recommend you pre-order yours in advance of the launch date,“Currently Argos seem to be one of very few taking pre-orders with GAME and Amazon simply adding you to a mailing list and not actually taking pre-orders at this time. It does mean that many needy gamers will already be pre-ordering from Argos so that they can get their precious console before anyone else, so if you want a PS3 you better hurry up and click HERE.

Video games use motion capture for football, baseball and basketball players or the combat moves of a martial artist as well as in action games. Halo Wars is the latest game to use motion capture to create a more realistic looking game, and the guys over at Ensemble Studios have released a number of motion capture images from the Halo Wars development phase.

Real time image showing movements inside a Warthog

Character movements were being recorded in this shot

Actors being instructed what to do next

To become an elite you must first wear these pogo sticks

Another actor strutting his stuff

Movies use motion capture for CG effects, in some cases replacing traditional cell animation, and for completely computer-generated creatures, such as Gollum, Jar-Jar Binks, and King Kong.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality require real time input of the user’s position and interaction with their environment, requiring more precision and speed than older motion capture systems could provide. Noise and errors from low resolution or low speed systems, and overly smoothed and filtered data with long latency contribute to “simulator sickness” where the lag and mismatch between visual and vistibular cues and computer generated images caused nausea and discomfort.

Walt Disney, the only film company that has given permission for its films to be distributed on iTunes has now revealed that sales online have reached a staggering 1.3 Million.

Disney made their films available since last October and considering that every other major film company has shunned iTunes its great to see Disneys films doing so well.

The main reason behind iTunes being shunned is that the movies are cheaper online and the various film companies at this time don’t want it to act as competiton to over the counter retailers. Apple have pointed out though that they are cheaper as you don’t get the various DVD ‘extras’ with the online films.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said the following about the rather amazing figures, “Have we had discussions with these retailers? Yes, absolutely. In general, our relationship with these retailers is in good shape. We are growing market share rather than moving business from one platform to another,“

Maybe this will convince other companies to follow in Disneys footsteps as it seems the future is nothing but bright for iMovies.

The news is finally in, the weeks of waiting for his decision ar at an end and i’m extremly glad to say he WILL be back next season at the Lambeau. In an exclusive interview with the Biloxi Sun Herald he revealed the news and gave quite a few reasons as to why he’ll be back for another season.

His first comments included, “I am so excited about coming back. We have a good nucleus of young players. We were 8-8 last year and that’s encouraging.“

“My offensive line looks good, the defense played good down the stretch. I’m excited about playing for a talented young football team.“

and finished off by saying, “In my mind, I remember saying this is my last opportunity. Whether that was true or not, I kind of put that pressure on myself.“

Brett Favre is the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He has been their starting quarterback since 1992. He is of French and Choctaw ancestry; one of his paternal grandparents was a Native American affiliated with the Choctaw.

As the only three-time MVP (1995-97) in NFL history, Favre has led the Packers to two Super Bowls, with a victory against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, and a loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII. He has played 16 seasons in the NFL. Favre has the most consecutive starts among NFL quarterbacks with 237 (257 total starts including playoffs) and completions (5,021), and ranks second behind Dan Marino for career touchdown passes (414), career attempts (8,224), and career yards (57,500). With 147 victories as a starting quarterback, Favre is tied with Dan Marino for second; they trail John Elway’s 148.

It’s great news to hear he’s coming back and I can’t wait to see him rip apart even more defences come the ’07/’08 season…

Former University of Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn has revealed that he will be teaming up with Microsoft and the Xbox 360 to give gamers ans fans a chance to see whats its like being one of the prospected number one picks in the NFL draft.

Quinn will be releaseing various videos on the marketplace which will show gamers what goes on behind the scenes including pre-draft workouts, his everyday activties and much, much more.

Mike Fischer Director of Microsoft US marketing said the following, “Our gamers love football, and football players love to game, Brady Quinn exemplifies what we were looking for in an athlete: He’s focused and driven, and generates a lot of excitement when he’s on the field. I’m looking forward to giving football fans a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it in the pros.“

Thats not all as on April 27th Brady Quinn will be going online to not only chat but also put peoples gaming skills to the test in a unique ‘Game With Fame’ session.

Brady Quinn finished things off by saying, “I’m humbled by the opportunity to give fans a rare look at the physical and mental preparation it takes to make it in the pros, I’m excited to connect with people through Xbox as well as look forward to learning more about the video game community. I can’t wait for the opportunity to kick back with the Xbox 360 community, chat about my experience and unwind with them over a few games on Xbox Live.“

Keep an eye out for more info. on how to play with Quinn in thenext few days…

Nielsen VideoScan have today revealed that the Blu-ray DVD’s are outselling the HD-DVD’s by a margin of 2 to 1. The figures are the sum total of various websites and retail shop sales since early January.

Saying that the HD-DVD still leads in overall sales but the margin has been cut from 14% right down to 7% and if the current trend continues Blu-Ray will take the lead within the next couple of months. The main reason behind this explosion of Blu-Ray DVD sales is of course the release of the PS3 and it seems for now the future looks bright for not only the Blu-Ray but also the HD-DVD.

The main question being can Sony and Blu-Ray keep it up? The UMD sales started of very brightly and now retailers refuse to sell them, even in the old betamac days it had a prosperous start but it of course ended in failure, PS3 fans are hoping that won’t be the case third time around.