No, we’re not talking about a posthumous sequel to Nietzsche’s philosophy book. For those of you who don’t remember, Beyond Good and Evil was a third-person action/adventure title released by Ubisoft way back when in 2003. While it didn’t sell especially well, it has remained a fan favorite even into the new generation of gaming; combining traditional action and platforming with puzzle solving, combat, and even some photography elements.

Ubisoft official Michel Ancel (creator of the Rayman series) announced recently that long-anticipated sequel was not shelved, but “In an active creation stage [and] at this moment we are only focusing on the game and making it the best game that we can.” While no platform info or release date has been announced, it would seem that the game is being created with next-gen consoles in mind. Ancel added, “We focus on the game. We create it first, then we’ll see what can run it. We don’t say 2013 because we don’t know when it will come. We’re working to create a great game and it needs more tech.”

Check out the first (alleged) screenshot of Beyond Good & Evil 2 after the jump, as well as the official teaser that debuted early last year.

Okay, here’s my official take on the Academy Award show this year. The entertainment world is abuzz today with reports of how horrible James Franco and Anne Hathaway were as hosts of the show. I think that they are being unfairly maligned. I found Hathaway charming, beautiful, and eager to please.

On the other hand, Franco seemed like he didn’t give a crap about the show or his performance. He was obviously stoned out of his mind, and I am not one to judge, but that is flat out disrespectful. Do that stuff on your own time, not when you are in front of a billion people. Anne Hathaway didn’t stand a chance when she was saddled with the stoner from hell. I genuinely felt bad for her.

Franco has had an amazing year. I used to dismiss him as a joke, until I saw his performance in 127 Hours. He was astounding. Shortly after I saw the film, I spoke at a public event, and swore that I would never sell him short again. Until now.

Franco has squandered all the good will he has earned in one catastrophic hosting gig. Back in the penalty box you go, Mr. Franco. This time it won’t be so easy to earn your way out. For a very funny take on Franco’s questionable frame of mind, check out this Gawker.com article.

To be fair, I truly didn’t feel that the two were given much to do. Outside of a great film montage at the beginning of the show, they were barely present. Perhaps that was a blessing. Still, Hathaway deserves props.

Franco’s quick little appearance in drag was bizarre, jarring and random. I felt like I was watching an SNL skit.

As it is every week, this week’s episode of The Flickcast is brimming with fun, entertainment, knowledge and all sorts of humor and insightful commentary. Well, it’s sorta funny at least.

Anyway, this week Chris and Matt are joined by Chief Gaming Guru John Carle to talk all things DCU Online, Sony PS2, PSP2, Activision and Toy Fair. In addition, they discuss new trailers for X-Men: First Class and I Am Number Four, Smallville‘s series finale featuring Lex Luthor and a whole lot more.

Chris, Matt and John also make some new picks this week to help guide you and highlight movies, TV shows, games and more that you may not have heard of. What were the picks? Well, you’ll just have to listen to the show to find out. We can’t always give everything away.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

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Guitar Hero is arguably one of the most popular and successful video games of all time. Its combination of great music, fun gameplay and rather simple premise has made it, and its spin-offs, extremely popular. Now, Activision is adding even more fun to the mix with the latest addition to the Guitar Hero franchise: Guitar Hero Van Halen.

As in the past, this new add-on provides brand new music from one of the seminal rocking bands of the 80’s and 90’s for you to enjoy and play along with. To commemorate this new release, we’ve got a trailer for one of the band’s most popular songs as well as some cool new screenshots of gamplay.

Click through to check out the video for Van Halen’s “Jamie’s Cryin'” and the screenshots. Guitar Hero Van Halen hits stores on December 22nd for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii.

I probably spend as much time playing brand spankin’ new video games as I do replaying my old favorites, not just because of nostalgia but just because they’re awesome games. Which is why it’s exciting to hear that Sega will be releasing a Sonic Classic Collection for the Nintendo DS next year, according to Kotaku.

Many Sonic classics have already been released for systems like the PS2 and Xbox, but what’s exciting about this collection is that since it’s on the DS, you’ll be able to take them anywhere. The collection will include classics Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

The game will also have a nifty “save anywhere” feature, which is a relief for those of us who used to just leave on their Sega Genesis  for hours on end while we had family dinner and did homework. The Sonic Classic Collection will ship in March 2010.