XBox 360 – Activision – 119.99 (Standard Edition), 199.99 (Renegade Edition)

Score: 9.0

“Holy addictive gameplay Batman!” That’s the first thing that comes to mind after sitting down with DJ Hero for just a few minutes. For those who haven’t been following our DJ Hero coverage here on the Flickcast thus far, is an extension of the Activision Hero franchise that started with Guitar Hero and also now includes Band Hero.

Taking a step back from the full band four player party experience, DJ Hero focuses on the single player experience with little hints of two player action. DJ Hero also comes with a steeper learning curve than the guitar focused games and isn’t going to be the kind of thing someone can hand to an uncoordinated friend and expect them to quickly pick up and play.

Gameplay:

Like Guitar Hero, DJ Hero couldn’t come in to existence without a custom made peripheral to play it. (Well it could, but then it’d be no different from Boom, Boom Rocket for XBLA) Enter the DJ Hero Turntable. Unlike a classic DJ turntable, this one already has a “record” attached with three buttons built in to it.

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Remember the days of ABC’s TGI-Fridays, when they would have a bevvy of Halloween specials every year for each show that almost acted like an Elseworlds story. Drew Carey would be abducted by aliens, or they would find a cloning machine on Two Girls, a Guy, and A Pizza Place? Far gone are those days, so we have to take solace in the little things, like a Guild Halloween special!

That’s right, Felicia Day’s webseries The Guild took the week off from their regular episodes to give us a brand new Halloween special in which the guildies go trick or treating in their local neighborhood. Things get a bit out of hand when every member decides to hit the same house for candy and…other things.

Check out the special after the jump, brought to us by MSN.com. Xbox 360 users can also get the episode in HD through the Xbox Live Marketplace, and for their Zune…if you are one of the 12 people who own one.

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A father, concerned for his autistic daughter’s health, sees her immediate removal from the hospital as her only option. An elevator break-down prevents a smooth exit and renders them trapped with others. This is only the beginning of their descent into hell. When the doors finally open, the hospital appears mysteriously deserted. As mutilated bodies are found, creatures from a dark world start a frightening attack. It soon becomes clear that the survival of the group may rest solely on the little girl.

The one thing that needs to be known before watching Dark Floors is that this film is primarily a showcase for the Finnish metal band Lordi. Those unfamiliar with the band should consider them like Rob Zombie meets GWAR. The international subtitle for the film is even “The Lordi Motion Picture”. The band, along with the leader Mr. Lordi, came up with the idea for the film, and star as all of the “monsters” in the film (in quotes because if you see a picture of the band, you know that this is what they normally look like, professional makeup and all).

The members of the band are essentially playing themselves in the film. Sadly, this is probably the coolest part of the film. The plot takes itself a little too seriously, and with a weak and confusing resolution at the end, it really should have just been about the band members.

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Christmas has always been a big time for movies. Whether it’s a Harry Potter film or one of the Lord of The Rings films, there is almost always an epic film around that time, and James Cameron will be dominating that slot this year with Avatar.

We’ve had quite a bit of coverage on the film here at the site, but we’re happy that the first full-length trailer has gone live. It will officially go live on Sunday during Fox’s NFL programming, and expect to see plenty of TV spots airing after that.

We got a chance to see the first few minutes of the trailer a few months ago, and the film looks absolutely stunning. Cameron has taken over a decade to make this film revolutionize the world of theatrical film and 3D, and you can definitely tell that it’s going to be worth it.

Check out the full length trailer, courtesy of Yahoo, after the jump, and be sure to catch Avatar when it hits theaters on December 18th.

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Everything’s coming up Marvel this week as John Carle returns with his special edition of The Pull List. Sal Loria is back next week so be sure and check in then, and every week, for brand new installments of The Pull List Comic Reviews. – Ed.

Pull Of the Week

X-Factor #50 – Marvel – $3.99
Writer: Peter David Artist: Valentine De Landro
Score: 8.5

X-Factor #50 is the issue where everything finally comes full circle for the events of this entire volume of X-Factor. Ever since the House of M, Layla Miller has been a question mark in the Marvel U. Is her mutant power really that she just “knows stuff”? This issue finally answers the question as Peter David concludes his story arc revolving around Jamie and Layla eighty years in the future dealing with the Summers Rebellion against a corrupt man trying to destroy all mutants using the technology of Doctor Doom and employing a corrupted dupe of Multiple Man who had been misplaced in time during the “Messiah Complex”.

How Peter David did it definitely took some planning as all of the events that spun out of the House of M and created Layla Miller tied up perfectly in this issue and how it happened is something this reviewer never would have guessed when the series first launched with X-Factor #1.

The issue also ends with a short story where X-Factor Investigations picks up a case in New York after finally deciding to leave Detroit. Their first case which will be tackled in the renumbered X-Factor #200 next month is given to them by Franklin and Valeria Richards, children of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, the latter of which has gone missing.

It is certainly an interesting coincidence that Marvel let X-Factor hit issue #50 before letting the next milestone number of issue #200 happen in next month’s renumbering the same way they did with Captain America #50 and Captain America #600. But much like Cap issues #50 and #600 were great issues, X-Factor is already going gangbusters so we can let it slide this time.

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For those who still haven’t jumped onto the bandwagon, Venture Bros. is one of those shows you shouldn’t be missing. There is a period of time when a show bubbles out, or “jumps the shark”, and this program has only killed the shark on a weekly basis.

Season four is currently underway, with two episodes being aired. Last week, legendary voice actor Kevin Conroy voiced the character Captain Sunshine in an episode that left fans of Batman and Superman squealing like children after the episode.

This week’s episode looks to be as amazing, as it’s a Dean-centric episode. According to a Cartoon Network press release, this week’s episode is entitled “Perchance to Dean”:

Hank, along with is friend, Dermott, start breaking all of the Venture Compound Rules in a bid to get his father’s attention.  But Dr. Venture is focused completely on Dean, who is taking his first steps in joining the family business as a Super Scientist.  But someone else wants Dr. Venture’s attention, too: A shadowy figure from Dr. Venture’s past who is out to steal Dean’s future.

Check out an exclusive clip of the episode after the jump, in which Dr. Venture shows Dean where his inspiration for “sciencing” comes from, and it leads to an interesting development. Catch “Perchance to Dean” this Sunday at Midnight only on Adult Swim.

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Our friends at Top Cow have sent us over a whole bunch of their upcoming new comics solicits for the upcoming months. There’s a lot of stuff to choose from and its har to make a choice, really. We may have to just go out and get all of them.

Check out the full list below, complete with descriptions, from the official press release. Of course, we also have some great artwork from these upcoming books to share with you as well, so enjoy that after the jump.

JANUARY 2010 CHECKLIST

The Darkness: Shadows & Flame One-Shot Rob Levin/Jorge Lucas $2.99

Angelus #2 Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic $2.99

Angelus #1 Signed Edition Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic $14.99

Pilot Season: Stealth #1 Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Sheldon Mitchell $2.99

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 LBCC Variant Mark Waid/Kenneth Rocafort/Eric Basaldua $10.00

Tracker #3 Jonathan Lincoln/Francis Tsai $2.99

Tracker #1 Signed Edition Jonathan Lincoln/Francis Tsai $14.99

Witchblade #134 Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic/Michael Ivan $2.99

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In 8 years, Jack Bauer has become one of the strongest heroic icons on TV. Each year, Keifer Sutherland outdoes himself by pushing his character to new depths and heights. From the looks of the newest trailer, it seems like Jack’s next feat may have to be….grandparenting?

That’s right, 24 is making it’s way back to Fox’s airwaves on January 17th with an all-new season, and Jack Bauer gets brought back into yet another national crisis to save everybody’s butts.

There has been plenty of speculation whether or not this will be the final season of the show, but one thing is almost definite: this may be the last season for Sutherland. He has stated in the past that he’d like to move on to other projects, as much as he loves the show and what he’s done with Jack Bauer. Even a line in the trailer helps guide us in that direction with “Jack must survive one more day”.

Check out the first full trailer for season eight after the jump, and be sure to catch 24 on FOX coming January 17th.

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Even if you’re a Mac loving die-hard like many of us here at The Flickcast, you still might have occasion to use Microsoft’s Windows software. Maybe you work at an office that is all Windows or perhaps your parents haven’t made the switch and still make you use that old PC of your Uncle’s?

Or, maybe you use a Mac most of the time but need to use one program like Outlook to get to your company’s Exchange email? Whatever your reasons for needing access to Windows as a Mac user, one of the best tools to help you accomplish this task has just gotten better.

This week VMware Fusion, one of the two main (and our current favorite) Windows virtualization applications for the Mac was updated to version 3.0. This upgrade offers significant improvements over the previous versions including the following:

• Support for both 32-bit and 64-bit Snow Leopard kernels.

• Integrated Migration Assistant guides you through migrating from a PC to a virtual machine.

• First virtualization product to support Windows Aero, including Flip 3D and Aero Peek.

• Support for DirectX 9.0EX with OpenGL 1.4 and new WDDM graphics driver.

• Reduced memory usage with Windows Vista, Windows 7 and newly created Windows XP virtual machines.

• Faster disk and graphics performance in Snow Leopard.

• Banish the Start Menu with Always-on Applications Menu on the Mac menu bar.

• Access to Windows taskbar tray items in Unity view in the Mac menu bar.

• Run 3D games and play 1080p video in Unity view.

The upgrade will run you U.S. $39.99 if you already have a previous version of the software. Or, its U.S. $79.99 if you don’t. Plus, you will still need a copy of Windows if you don’t already have one installed. For that, look for an OEM version of the software, like you can find right here.

As you probably know, the new Battlestar Galactica: The Plan movie dropped on DVD yesterday. Its a pretty good bit of entertainment (with just a couple issues) but all in all, its worth your time and money. Plus, according to Edward James Olmos, if this movie does well, we may end up with some more movies based on this franchise — which is a good thing.

So, to help those of you still on the fence about purchasing the movie on DVD or Blu-ray, we’re bringing you a lot of clips and other bits from it to hopefully help you make the right decision. These clips show a whole bunch of action from the movie itself as well as some interviews and behind the scenes info as well.

There’s quite a few of them so sit back, relax and take a few minutes to expolore the world of BSG: The Plan. Then, to help support the show and so we can have more BSG movies and so Caprica will hopefully last several years, head over to Amazon or your favorite store and get the movie for yourself.

Oh, just so we’re clear, we don’t get anything from anyone for saying this. We’re just a bunch of fans who want this franchise to continue. Ok, enough of that, enjoy the videos after the jump and then go out and support The Plan.

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There is a lot of speculation on why Paranormal Activity is one of the highest per-screen grossing films of all time. Many people believe that it’s due to the viral marketing campaign that swept the nation overnight, but the fact is, we live in a very superstitious world right now. Some of the most popular books and television series’ are about vampires and hunting ghosts, so why wouldn’t everyone in the country rush out to see an alleged first-hand account of a haunting.

With that in mind, one of the major reasons why people keep going back to the film is it’s haunting ending. It could give a grown man chills, seeing that final shot. That wasn’t the original ending, and was due to Paramount’s prediction of how audiences would react.

The original ending, which you can see in full after the jump, is far less exciting or scary. Granted, it gives the two main characters closure and leaves the audience with an actual ending, but that’s not always what horror fans are in it for. If you haven’t seen the film, I don’t recommend watching the clip. But if you have, see how things were originally supposed to go down after the jump.

Paranormal Activity can still be seen in theaters nationwide.

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If last week was light, this week is heavy.

From DC Comics this week, we have the latest in Blackest Night event books with the main book and Green Lantern. Considering Spike TV’s SCREAM AWARDS aired last night (I think) and Geoff Johns did win Best Comic Book Writer, its probably within reason that you ought to pick these books up.

Though some dude from the Twilight “saga” did also win Best Breakthrough Performance over Chris Pine, so maybe those fans shouldn’t be trusted. Blackest Night is some good fun.

Today is MarvelFest in New York City, and this is certainly Marvel’s week for comics.  I mean Dark Avengers Ares written by the awesome Kieron Gillen. Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham’s awesome take on Fantastic Four is back, as well.

If you, like me, were waiting for the trade of Old Man Logan than you want to get the edition that comes out this week, as well as the first trade to the awesome “World’s Most Wanted” arc in the Eisner winning Invincible Iron Man. You want to pick that up.  Also Esad Ribic joins Jason Aaron on the Dark Reign The List Wolverine.

As I said, today is MarvelFest, where they are going to suspend the motion comic of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s first issue of Astonishing X-Men three stories high on the old Virgin Megastore building. As I write this it is cold, rainy and generally miserable here in NYC, but the good news is there are plenty of umbrellas and rain coats to go around and the show will go on.  I’m looking forward to it. Should be quite a sight and a fun time.

As always, we here at The Flickcast care about what you read, so leave us a comment and let us know what you liked/didn’t like from this week’s comics. For a more complete list of what comes out this week, check out the one at Midtown Comics.