Crave

Aww, isn't it cute?

(Credit: Entertainment Earth)

Update: Entertainment Earth mentioned to me that despite what it says on the box, the bobblehead doesn't talk. But you're free to pretend all you want.

Well, wouldn't you know it, San Diego Comic-Con International (affectionately known as Nerd Prom) is only a few days away, and guess who's mad he's not going?

I tried to console myself by thinking, "Aw, it's probably gonna suck anyway. You won't see anything interesting."

Even when I saw the guest list, I kept up the sentiment, though there were giant cracks in the facade (Ray Bradbury? I'm missing Ray Bradbury?).

But when I saw some of the SDCC-exclusive toys and realized they wouldn't adorn my desk because--and I'm not sure I've mentioned this enough times--I'm not going, I got full-on P.O.ed.

Just as an example, here's a nifty Spock bobblehead. Yawn, you're saying. You've seen Spock bobbleheads. Ah, but this one, an Entertainment Earth exclusive for the convention, has a clear body which, when you push his head, looks like it's being beamed away, complete with light-up effect.

Why, Entertainment Earth? Why do you taunt me with such things?

And while you can preorder them from the site, they'll be shipping while supplies last after the convention, so if all 1,500 sell out at the con (they're only $13.99 each, so there's a good chance they will), you're out of luck.

We invite Natali Del Conte onto today's show to have some fun with us, but you should've been there in the preshow--she went berzerko! We calm her down a little bit and she talks to us about her Palin/Twitter fallout and her upcoming appearance at Comic-Con 2009. She also dispels rumors about drugs in her undergarments, and we get to a few more exciting stories on the show!

NDC as Lara Croft

(Credit: Natali Del Conte)

If you're wondering why there's a photo of Lara Croft to the left of this paragraph, look again: it's actually Natali Del Conte, host of Loaded on CNETTV. She'll be at this year's Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, so be sure to look for that soon! We love it when Natali comes on because we always seem to bring out the dirty side of her, or so we think.

Today's show starts off a little rough because Natali just can't seem to get the Wi-Fi in the studio to connect to her computer, so we're warning you to brace yourselves for a classic NDC scream in the beginning of today's show. After that, everything runs smoothly (as smooth as it can get on The 404).

We get to talking about Sarah Palin resigning and the ridiculous speech that sort of made sense, but didn't say anything. I think NDC put it best when she said that the former Governor of Alaska is very good at the art of "saying without saying." We all watched the speech, too, and after several 17-minute viewings, I still have no idea what the heckbeans is going on. I guess she's not so much of a Maverick after all.

Daniel enjoys the weekend with Becks and The 404

(Credit: CNET/The 404)

The next story in today's show rundown is about the city of Boston launching a complaint-filing iPhone application. Sounds like a disaster waiting to strike, right? I'd have to agree with you. Now that all citizens of Boston have an open forum to complain, I imagine a flood of the most mundane little squawks about graffiti, potholes, smells, street lights, etc...stuff that you normally wouldn't give a **** about.

After we report on the story, we go around the table and list off a few complaints that we have with the city of New York, and if you think Boston is bad, just wait, there are a few good ones in there. Are you listening, New York?

Finally, we want to send our thanks to our pal Daniel for sending us a very kind e-mail with a picture of what he did this weekend. He writes, "Hey Guys, Wanted to let you know that I spent sometime with the 404 and a Becks this weekend. Feel free to post this to the blog or whatever. Really love your show, keep up the work and congrats on the sponsor." Now if that isn't the most ideal way to sponsor a show, I don't know WHAT is! We jest, but we seriously appreciate pictures like these, they make our day. By the way, our new iTunes album art looks GREAT in Cover Flow!

There's no question that comic books and magazines will eventually have a portable platform suited to them, just as the iPod took nearly four years to reach a saturation level as the de facto portable music player.

The Kindle 2 might have been that device, had Amazon found color e-ink to be cost-effective. For now, though, we're stuck with struggling innovations, and iVerse Media has made a big push to get theirs out.

A photo of the Hexed cover as it appears on the G1 screen.

(Credit: Seth Rosenblatt/CNET Networks)

Earlier this month, just in time for WonderCon 2009, the big comic book and media convention in San Francisco, iVerse launched its comic book-reading app for Android, following on the heels of its iPhone app that debuted in November of last year.

The thought of cramming the detail-rich comic book page onto the tiny touchscreen of a smartphone seems ridiculous, because it is. iVerse solved the problem by chopping comics into panel-size chunks.

On both Android and the iPhone, you slide your finger across the screen to move on to the next panel. Slide it in the other direction to move back. Reading the story is surprisingly clear and clean, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, there should be no concerns about eyestrain from squinting because it's one panel, presented in high resolution.

From there, the Android and iPhone apps diverge in functionality, though the features remain largely the same. I tested the Hexed No. 1 comic for both the iPhone and Android.

On this week's installment of the Digital City podcast, we discuss Acer's new ultra-cheap Netbook, share tales from the recent New York Comic Con, and how Lara Croft is getting sold to the makers of the Final Fantasy games.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Few places, outside of perhaps CES and E3, illustrate the overlapping Venn diagram of technology, video games, and popular culture better than the New York Comic Con (or the much larger, but unrelated San Diego Comic-Con). Not just for comic book geeks any more, the show is a catch-all of video games (new and vintage), comics, toys and collectibles, movies, and, of course, incessant marketing toward the mostly male, mostly young adult audience.

It's interesting to note that much of the floor space was given over to hosting video game demos and showcases from companies such as EA, Atari, and Activision. While not quite recession-proof, game companies are perhaps the last holdout that can afford massive amounts of expensive convention center floor space. Also big--the comic/video game/movie pop-culture full-court press called Watchmen.

We braved the nerdy waters of this annual show--held at NYC's Jacob Javitz convention center--to bring you this photo gallery, as well as a few video highlights, shot with a Creative Vado HD camera. Click on to see it all.

Scenes from New York Comic Con 2009

Disney's upcoming Sleep Beauty Blu-ray will have an interactive video messaging feature.

(Credit: Walt Disney Company)

I recently wrote a column titled, "Is BD-Live Blu-ray's secret weapon--or a bust?" Most readers seemed to think all whiz-bang interactivity features were more busts than secret weapons. And now it appears that a selection of Blu-ray producers speaking at a panel at Comic-Con 2008 feel the same way.

Video Business reports that the panel drew dozens of consumers and that the Q&A discussion, moderated by The Digital Bits' Bill Hunt, was frank and lively.

A few choice quotes:

Producer Robert Meyer Burnett (Shoot 'Em Up) said: "It would be interesting if they wanted to do a Star Trek encyclopedia or a primer on the whole history of Warner Bros. I'm not sure if people really want games and trivia."

Hunt made the fairly obvious point that there were better alternatives to current Blu-ray extras elsewhere. "If you want a game, you can get a better game, and if you want a social experience, you can get a better social experience," he said.

The article also said that Blade Runner DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika was skeptical that bonus features would ever "prove a big selling point for Blu-ray," and he believed that the format's best advantages over DVD really are superior video and sound.

However, the panelists weren't completely down on Blu-ray bonus features. They did voice some optimism that "improvements will come as filmmakers themselves start using their creative expertise to advise studios on Blu-ray interactivity."

What do you guys think? Should they just make Blu-ray Discs cheaper and forget about expensive-to-produce extras?

Read the full Video Business article here.

Prototype Master Chief Halo Actionclix model. Don't worry, we got permission.

If the Halo video games, action figures, and dubious body armor aren't enough Master Chief goodness for you, then you'll be happy to know that the alien-fighting supersoldier is getting his own collectible miniatures game. WizKids, makers of the HeroClix and HorrorClix miniatures games, is creating a new "-Clix" game based on Halo. Halo ActionClix will feature dozens of tiny, plastic Master Chiefs and Spartan soldiers, each equipped with tiny, plastic weapons, and able to pilot not-quite-as-tiny plastic vehicles.

Like the other -Clix games, Halo ActionClix is a tactical tabletop game where players can collect tiny figures from starter and booster packs. The games' names come from the clicking wheel in every figure's base. The wheel displays that figure's abilities and statistics, and it changes by "clicking" the wheel when they heal or take damage. It's a handy system that does away with countless rules books and databases for character stats.

Halo ActionClix won't be ready until this fall, so you'll have to wait a while before raising your tiny army of Master Chiefs. Considering that Halo 3 is also scheduled to launch later this year, perhaps we'll see a Collector's Edition of the system-selling game that comes with its own unique Halo ActionClix figure. WizKids could not comment on this prospect, but it wouldn't be surprising; the Collector's Edition of City of Villains came with its own set of HeroClix.

Star Wars constructible card game prototypes.

That's not the only collectible goodness coming from WizKids later this year. The company is also releasing a Star Wars "constructible card game." It's a tabletop strategy game like Halo ActionClix, only instead of tiny plastic figures, it uses perforated plastic cards that are punched out and assembled into TIE Fighters, X-Wings, and other Star Wars ships. It's similar to WizKids' Pirates constructible card game, only it's set in space and there's less pillaging. I can't get enough Star Wars (of the original trilogy, at least), so until LucasArts finally announces a new TIE Fighter game, this will have to tide me over.

Spider-Man 3 is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the year, and like any blockbuster it's getting its own video game. Usually video games based on movies based on comic books tend to completely bite, but Spider-Man has so far managed to dodge the bullet. Though repetitive, Spider-Man 2 turned out to be a fun, attractive game that captured the web-slinger's web-swinging beautifully. So I still have hopes for the Spider-Man 3 game.

PlayStation 3 owners have even more reason to be excited about Spider-Man 3. According to IGN, the Spider-Man 3 game will be available in a PS3-only Collector's Edition. This expanded version will have all the standard extras you would expect in a collector's edition--trailers for the movie, behind-the-scenes videos, interviews with the movie's cast and crew, and so on.

Most importantly, Spider-Man 3: Collector's Edition will feature an exclusive playable character, the New Goblin. This New Goblin will fly around the city like the Green Goblin, controlled by the PS3's tilt-sensitive SIXAXIS controller. The New Goblin looks more like an armored, snowboarding leprechuan than the Green Goblin, but the idea's still cool.

Purists might object to playing a heroic Green Goblin-like character, considering the Green Goblin's role as Spider-Man's greatest villain. However, it's important to remember that Phil Urich, an aspiring superhero, took up the mantle as the fourth Green Goblin and fought crime for a short amount of time. In Marvel's alternate-future MC2 universe, Phil works with the reformed Green Goblin Normie Osborne (grandson of the original Green Goblin, Norman Osbourne) to help Spider-Girl fight crime. So it's not like good-guy Goblins are unprecedented.

Did I mention how much I'm looking forward to Comic-Con this weekend?