NO one doubted “The Dark Knight” was going to be a blockbuster, particularly since it’s the last movie of the late Heath Ledger and buzz has been building around his portrayal of The Joker. But I don’t think anyone really expected it to be this huge, as it posted $158.4 million in its opening weekend to break the previous North American box office opening record.

Fittingly enough, DC’s Batman beat rival Marvel’s franchise comic book character Spider-Man (but I’m still a big Spider-Man fan), as the previous record holder was “Spider-Man 3″ with $151.1 million.

Check out this video report from Access Hollywood.

Yup, Hollywood is definitely benefiting from comic book characters with all the comic book movies that have been coming out in the past few years. By the way, if you loved the graphic novel like I did (and who doesn’t heh), I’m sure you also can’t wait for the “Watchmen” movie. If you haven’t seen the “Watchmen” trailer yet, you can check it out here.

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

Traveller’s Tales must be quite happy with what they’ve been doing for the last few years. Its LEGO Star Wars adventure games have been hits among kiddie and older gamers and these successfully introduced younger people to the historic Star Wars franchise. It’s quite a tall order for a developer to create a new game, using the same game engine on a different franchise and make it successful.

Not surprisingly, it did. Traveller’s Tales (and publisher LucasArts) introduced the same gameplay to Indiana Jones starting with the original trilogy. It brings the same blocky in-game players, the same action gameplay, and the same of the old platforming and puzzle-solving adventures that the LEGO Star Wars fans enjoyed. The LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is a sure-fire hit that even those not familiar with the Harrison Ford-starred films will have as much fun playing as finding out where the Indiana Jones history started.

As the title implies, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is based on the first three movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade. Nearly all of the most memorable scenes in the movies have been incorporated into the game but to avoid confusion, the developers made Barnett College as Indy’s “base of operations.” This is where he teaches. To start an adventure in one movie the player has to go through portals which are Indy’s office, a theater and an artifact room. Upon entering, each of the portals will first direct to a short cut scene describing that part of the movie scene. The base of operations concept in this game is similar to the LEGO Star Wars games where the players have to start in a Mos Eisley cantina, which has doors leading to certain stages in the game.
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By Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES - Videogame makers are riding the social networking wave with a flood of soon-to-be-released titles that let friends play online as teams and even create their own characters.

The world’s big three console makers — Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony — are providing frameworks for players to connect with hardware and software on which online communities of gamers can have fun and flourish.

“Gamers aren’t just in it for the high scores anymore,” Sony Computer Entertainment of North America president Jack Tretton said, as videogame industry giants unveiled new offerings at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Two pairs of brothers who hail from Cebu will be the first Filipinos to enter the international competition of online casual game GetAmped in Singapore on August 1 to 3.

The Cebuano brothers beat over 4,000 players during the concluded GetAmped National Tournament.

Mervin Medallo, 22, brother Masael Medallo, 18, and Jose Antonio Diosanta, 18, won the GetAmped’s team tournament category and took home P75,000.

Diosanta’s younger brother, Jose Miguel Diosanta, won the individual competition that netted him P25,000.

GetAmped Community Development Head Arnel Duran told hackenslash that the brothers have started training for the upcoming GetAmped World Festival in Singapore.

“They already have a Japanese GetAmped player training them. This is the first time we’re joining so we better come prepared,” said Duran who declined to reveal the identity of the group’s Japanese trainer.

Duran said they will be facing dozens of players from nine countries for the title of the best GetAmped players in the world. Among the countries participating are Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea.

Editor’s Note: Updated article with links to list of winners

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — After nearly three months, the World Cyber Games (WCG) 2008 Philippine leg competition has come to a close with a dozen gamers chosen out of 104 to represent the Philippines.

They will join the WCG 2008 Grand Finals in Germany on November 9, as well as the Asian Cyber Games in Singapore in August.

Leading the group will be the five-man Counterstrike team Horsemen of the Apocalypse (HOA), composed of Arvin Agbisit, Paolo Nancho, Jupiter Mars Gaboy, EJ Clores and Gary Guevarras. The group has been the consistent Philippine representative to the WCG Grand Finals for the past four years, organizers of the local competition said.

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