After months of waiting, the saga finally returns.

For those unfamiliar, Red vs. Blue was a bunch of guys (and a few girls) who took the Halo series and turned it into their own virtual movie studio, developing characters and stringing along a surprisingly complex storyline over a hundred short episodes, loaded with plenty of humor. What could have gotten old fast, especially when the only visible difference between the characters is their color, was kept fresh through sharp writing and some professional quality voice acting that humbles some big studio efforts.

With all the tricks they pulled off in Halo 1 and 2, I’ve been itching to see what they can do with the Forge and the ability to record anything in Halo 3. Now the wait is almost over with the first episode of Reconstruction:

If you’re a lapsed fan who needs to catch up, a box set of the entire series complete with bonus DVD is available on their store site, along with RvB T-shirts and other assorted goodies. Even if you have all the seasons on DVD, I’d definitely recommend snagging the bonus DVD that includes Recovery One and just about everything else they recorded for Red vs. Blue that wasn’t included elsewhere. Their store is here.

While you’re there, make sure to pick up some headlight fluid.

No it's not official, but we wish it were.

In the spirit of Kojima's highly anticipated release, an anonymous poster published a short animated clip that parodies the opening sequence of Lupin the 3rd (a popular anime series for those of you scratching their heads). So what makes this something of interest of us that you'd be guaranteed to LOL? We'll let the video do the talking. 

Ok, perhaps you won't quite get the nature of this post, though the developer deserves a great deal of credit for using MS Paint (and a commercial animation program to put it altogether! Anyways, we thought that you would enjoy it whether that seemed like a logical news post (which you've probably figured out by now that GN no longer regularly spends time dishing out rehashed press releases). 

I am counting the days for MGS4; it can't come soon enough. 

The biggest game ever - or, the not-nearly-perfect perfect experience.

So Grand Theft Auto IV has officially arrived on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with all of the appropriate accoutrements. Namely, breathless news reports mentioning sex with hookers, cop killing, and the general decline and fall of western civilization. There are also the obligatory stories citing midnight madness in far-flung places like England and Australia, where evidently a couple of poor saps got beaten up for their copies of the game. Not that this ever happens in any other scenario. Ever.

What all of these fail to really discuss is the content of a game that's a cultural touchstone, giving players extraordinary freedom in an ugly, hateful environment where everyone is out to screw everyone else and grift is a way of life and death. 

In the midst of the enthusiast media falling all over itself awarding perfect 10s across the board and unprecedented sales that may even stave off EA's hostile takeover of Take-Two, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that most of us are just getting started in the mean streets of Liberty City.

Few people are bigger GTA fanboys than yours truly, having played and thoroughly enjoyed each and every title in the series since the groundbreaking GTA III. While I am enjoying so much of what the latest, next-generation version has to offer, I have been unpleasantly surprised by a few things that really should never have happened.

First of all, let's be clear - it is IMPOSSIBLE to read text messages, phone records, or anything else on your cell phone. Now, I haven't gotten very far, and I know that your cell gets upgraded as you move forward, but still. This is ridiculous. I've got a 40-inch hi-def TV, and I have to get about 3 feet away and squint just to read the incredibly small text. It's not just me and my old-man eyes, either. I've spoken with half a dozen other people who have the same complaint. How could this have been the final game design for such a crucial driver of missions and relationships?

Secondly, the map at the lower left of the screen is also incredibly small. Not only is it somewhat out of scale with what's going on on-screen (meaning you miss turns and key intersections all the time until you learn to compensate…which usually is a result of a failed mission or two), but terribly important icon markers for Pay-n-Sprays, safe houses, and other spots are indistinguishable from each other.

I have no problem saying I love GTA IV, and it is a spectacular visual feast. Driving and walking around the city is an exercise in wonder. I just can't believe that these huge problems made their way to the final game (and I can't possibly imagine how someone with an SDTV could even think about playing without losing their minds). 

Light-hearted spoof aimed at Rockstar's hottest release of the year.

Although I've played previous GTA installments in the past, this will probably be the first one I plan to play through completion. Blame it on my addiction to achievements. Anyways, I can't think of any gamer on the planet who isn't eager to get their hands on GTA4, set to release next week on April 29th.

If you're not even the least bit excited, when's the last time you checked your pulse? Anyways, in lieu of this highly anticipated release, the folks at Crackle have published a short parody sketch which takes a few innocent pot shots at GTA4. Get the inside look at what goes on at a mo-cap company trying to move up in the corporate world and… well, you'll have to watch the clip to find out more.

GTA4 is in all our hearts…

We tried to embed the video but due to technical difficulties (sorry!), you'll have to settle for the good 'ol fashioned link which can be accessed here. Enjoy and have a great weekend folks!

The old school MST3K crew return to ripping bad movies a new one.

Being a longtime fan of the geek humor of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and having seen every episode except their UHF trial run, I never thought these talented people could be lured back to the world of making fun of bad movies.  Yet in recent years, Mike J. Nelson started up Rifftrax, often joined by the newer voices of Tom and Crow, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, where they fill a downloadable track full of strange quips to be synced up with well known movies, both good and terrible (the movies, not the jokes).  They've also done a series of DVD releases under the Film Crew, that returns mostly to the MST3K format with host segments and truly terrible movies to poke fun of.

Now the original crew of the Satellite of Love have gotten back into the action under the optimistic label of Cinematic Titanic.  You've got your Joel "Robinson" Hodgson, "TV's" Frank Conniff, Trace "Crow with a dash of Forrester" Beaulieu, and the original smarmy voice of Tom Servo, Josh Weinstien.  Joining these originators is the always radiant Mary Jo Pehl.  Their first release has hit my mailbox in the form of the Oozing Skull, which is neither oozing nor particularly keen on skulls, aside from a few obviously fake skeletons in the closet.  It's the sort of movie that Ed Wood Jr. would have been embarrassed being associated with, even when decked out in a matching dress.  Seeing as this is a videogame related site, I wasn't going to comment on it, at least until the silhouette of Stephen Hawking rolled out during a typical mad scientist body switching scene, and delivered the following line:

"If this brain transplant works, I've got next."

If that doesn't rate a mention, I don't know what does.  So what's it like?  Well, imagine if you will one of the rock super groups like the Police or Led Zeppelin suddenly reunited long after their breakup and just started jamming together again.  None have lost their talent for off hand remarks and crazy quips, but the timing and the delivery has gotten a bit rusty, especially for those that hadn't done much of this sort of thing before.  There are no host segments.  No puppets on strings.  Instead, after a jazzy theme song they launch right into the movie, but there are occasional breaks where they pause the film for a few bizarre segments, taking advantage of their silhouette setup to throw in a few sight gags.  I still find myself wanting some bits at the beginning and the end to make it a little more than shadows razzing a bad movie, but it still brought a truckload of laughs.

So if you're curious, give a peek at their site, read a few blogs, watch the trailer, and even comment in their forum.  I hope their next release oozes along soon enough.