Transformers CyberToy Review: Robots In Your Pocket

Sometimes the worst things bring out the best in people. “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen” has been getting mixed reviews (at best) at the theaters this past week, but that doesn’t mean that some good can’t come from it, and I’m not talking about getting to see Megan Fox more (I’m also not complaining about it either). While Rotten Tomatoes can fill you in on some of the choice adjectives used to describe the movie, its release has brought about a much more interesting iPhone innovation – the virtual action figure.

Just prior to the film’s release, Glu Mobile released the Transformers CyberToy, which is really just a fancy way of saying interactive doll … I mean action figure. It’s a really simple app that allows you to “play with” with one of the films stars (again, sadly, not Megan Fox), Bumblebee, in a manner very similar to the one you may remember from your childhood, when the Transformers only existed in plastic form. The movie version of Bumblebee now exists in a fully rendered, posable, 3D model exclusively on your iPhone. And, while G-1 diehards may have something to say about that – it’s still pretty cool. [Continue Reading]

Transformers BRDVD Specs Announced

This is not a brag: but yea Transformers is hitting blu-ray on September 2, 2008. Finally, Paramount Pictures put out the specifications for the discs. Hold yourself in check, because the list of extras is long. In addition, a majority of the content presented in High Definition!

1. Commentary: Commentary by Director Michael Bay
2. Featurette: OUR WORLD:
3. Featurette: The Story Sparks HD
4. Featurette: Human Allies HD
5. Featurette: I Fight Giant Robots HD
6. Featurette: Battleground HD
7. Featurette: THEIR WAR
8. Featurette: Rise of the Robots HD
9. Featurette: Autobots Roll Out HD
10. Featurette: Decepticons Strike HD
11. Featurette: Inside the All Spark HD
12. Featurette: Transformers Tech Inspector (TBD) HD
13. Trailers: TRAILERS (will play after the feature via a menu)
14. Trailers: Iron Man Trailer HD
15. Featurette: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
16. Trailers: Transformers Teaser Trailer HD
17. Trailers: Rise of the Autobots HD
18. Other: Transformers H.U.D. (Heads Up Display)
19. Other: BD-Live Features (TBD)
20. Featurette: From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert Attack HD
21. Featurette: Concepts HD
22. Trailers: Trailers HD
23. Trailers: Teaser Trailer 1 HD
24. Trailers: Theatrical Trailer 2 HD
25. Trailers: Theatrical Trailer 4 HD
26. Easter Eggs: EASTER EGGS
27. Easter Eggs: Michael Bay Cameo HD
28. Easter Eggs: Girl in Dress HD
29. Easter Eggs: Bay Bot HD
30. Easter Eggs: Casting Mojo HD

To quote the man himself, this is indeed AWESOME! As for the quality, the video codec used for this disc is MPEG-4 AVC, presented in 1080p, with 2.35:1 pull-down ratio. For audio, you’ll get the lossless PCM 5.1, and DolbyTrueHD 5.1 playback; truly, this is more than meets the eye. Not to put down the original HD release o HD-DVD, that to pull some serious weight in the extras department but the inclusion of lossless audio, and added bonuses take the cake, with a cherry on top. Wipe your 1080p 24p HD sets clean for this one boys and girls.

BOTZ ALIVE

Robots in disguise! While this was my first attendance at Botcon, I have to admit, that it wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would have been. The size of the center that was used in Providence, RI may have dumbed down the event a little yet, it didn’t take away the “kid in a candy store” feeling from just walking around the floor and gleaming at the shear amount of robots only $5 and up away.

Among the events were the obvious, vendors selling bots that your best friends may have broken from years ago, and newer more fancy looking peaces like the chibi-bots from Hasbro. I still couldn’t find my Jaz-chibi so I came home bot-less. A far cry some of the other members of TGHz though who spent upteen dollars on some very fancy toy-ware.

Among the other events, and since we cover games here at TGHz, was the more serious Activision Gamer Panel held to discuss the Transformers game for all the systems that it was developed for. The developers on the panel pointed that the main theme they were going for was size, scale and destruction. There is some proof to this, as the online gamers for the DS, and other systems, all tag up with the evil robot factions since it allows them to do more damage and destruction when playing online. On a side note, the Autobots has only won one daily match since the online daily wars has been held. The hardest thing they pointed out was getting a good feel for the game out. That is to say, that a game like this hasn’t been done before and they focused primarily on how users would expect the game to feel and play. Another issue was content, being that the robots are big, the fact that they would be able to lift larger than human objects was a must. Since this is a movie-title, panel members pointed out that they expected the game to receive criticism but also pointed out that given the sensitivity of the title and its characters, they had worked on it for about 4 years cross platform. The hardest part was getting hints from developers over at ILM and direction from Michael Bay. An interesting point came up at this point as they noted that the weapons design for the game came last and then began laying down things like voiceovers. The voice over got the royal treatment as Frank himself loaned his voice for Optimus. For the G1 fanatics, they pointed out that the G1 bots are available as un-lockable content citing that the main difference between the console and hand held versions is only graphical.

With regards to cheats and un-lockable content, certain G1 robots will not benefit those Game Point Hunger XBox fans as they will not be able to earn points while cheats that they have earned are on. Other than that, the game is a solid attempt, even though it is based off of a film.

Robots in Disguise

Big kids playing with robots, what more could you want. Except some of us who like to ‘itch about all the details about what they didn’t, could, or should do with these past child hood adorations of ours and their conversations into “Follywood” blockbusters brings up too many sensitive issues. Still, thinking back on the kid in me, and what my impressions of an event of this magnitude would have on me can only be summed up in one word – glee. Forget all the dramatic roles, onslaughts of plot twists, love affairs, superheroes crying, cry of “too many villains” [ARE F'ING KIDDING ME, THAT'S HOT], and the silly labeling of Silent Hill as the best adaption of game/anime/cartoon/whatever movie is summed up in one word – limited. The kid in you is disappointed, have a conversation with him or her sometime and bring Zelda’s shield with you cuz you’ll need it. Besides you’re only setting up yourself to hate all other attempts by the same grown-ups who watched the same shows with us when we were younger, to give you some form entertainment – “walking on sunshine moments” set aside at least ^_^. With that, enjoy these shots of that massive 747 movie as my last post for the week.

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