Greetings humans, Monki here with more video game news for you and yours. I've got some cool movie-related stuff to share with you today further down. I'm pretty excited as I've set up a really sweet screening here in the Austin area come March. More on that further down though.

Also this week, due to some quality feedback, I'm going to add a new section to the wrap-up to include more gaming news around the world. Lemme know what y'all think of it. (Like you wouldn't let me know if I didn't ask.)

I don't know about you folks, but we had a hell of an ice storm blow through Austin this week stranding me up in my tree without power for a good time. This actually worked out in my favor as I got to catch up on a DS title that I've had for a while now. I've been playing Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy for about a month now and it is one of the most intriguing games I've played on a Nintendo system. I've got an interview set up with a producer on the game that I'll be getting to you soon!

When the power was on (but the roads were too icy to drive) I played the hell out of my 360. Mostly going crazy in Rainbow Six: Vegas. The multiplayer aspect of that game is just so damn fun. You can make it as arcadey as you want, or as tactical as you want.

That being said, I could use some more targets to shoot at. E-mail me with your gamertag and I'll add you to my expanding buddy list.

I look forward to shooting you in the head and also being shot in the head. Go a little easy on me as I'm still getting used to my opposable thumbs. Okay, off to the press releases!

As many of you have read, EA kinda scares me a bit. Kind of like the uncle that stays a bit too long in your bedroom after it is time to be asleep. Oh, he's just watching to make sure the boogeyman doesn't eat me. Don't touch me there!

Ahem...I mean...EA has stretched its arms out and gobbled up developers, publishers and babies from all over the globe. Now EA is getting dirty going into the XBox Live Arcade realm.

Redwood City, Calif., - January 17, 2007 - Electronic Arts today announced its launch onto Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade with Boom Boom Rocket. The game is a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by EA's Pogo.com casual games design team and developed by Bizarre Creations, the developer who brought Project Gotham Racing 3 to the Xbox 360, and fan-favorite Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved to Xbox Live Arcade. The game is scheduled to go live Spring 2007 and is EA’s first title on Xbox Live Arcade.

In Boom Boom Rocket, players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while traveling through a 3D cityscape. The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effects. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone. Players can play in single player mode or go head-to-head against a friend on the same console.

"As one of the worldwide leaders in game publishing, EA has long recognized the power of on-demand, online entertainment," said Chris Early, Product Unit Manager for Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games. "We're honored that EA has chosen Xbox Live Arcade as the platform for their first-ever downloadable game for console game players and are excited to make Boom Boom Rocket available to the millions of Xbox Live Arcade players around the world."

"Boom Boom Rocket is an addictive and original challenge for all types of gamer, and we're enjoying working with EA to create this unique Xbox Live Arcade experience", said Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations. "Our teams love both working and playing on Xbox Live Arcade, and we're looking forward to releasing another innovative title on this platform with Boom Boom Rocket."

"This is a perfect time to bring such a unique and custom-built arcade game to Xbox Live Arcade gamers," said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. "We've crafted Boom Boom Rocket to offer an intensely fun entertainment experience for the thriving community of hard core and casual gamers alike on Xbox Live Arcade. It's only natural that our launch title comes from the Pogo team, given their remarkable success with casual games."

The game features three modes of gameplay: Normal, Speed and multiplayer head-to-head. Each song is choreographed into three skill levels to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. Successfully chain fireworks to fill the bonus meter and activate the psychedelic bonus mode for extra points. Players can unlock new firework designs by mastering each music track. You can also utilize the connected online element and see how their scores compare with other players on the Boom Boom Rocket leaderboard.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt due to the fact that Bizarre is working with them on this one. Geometry Wars kept me enthralled for the first two months of me owning my 360. Could be fun.

One of the cooler titles I got to see at E3 this past year was Crackdown. A GTA-clone developed by some of the guys who worked on GTA3. It looked great when we saw it, very colorful, very arcadey. Over on Crackdown's forums they announced the release of the demo in big bold letters.

The demo will hit marketplace on Tuesday (the 23rd) at 2am pacific time. :)

I recommend checking this one out when it hits next week. Could be the first really good sandbox game since GTA. This also wins for shortest "press release" of the year.

My first heavy PC gaming experience (aside from Blackjack on my 8086 and LEGENDS OF THE RED DRAGON on a local dial-up BBS) was with id Software's Doom. I played the hell out of that game (get it? har har) and followed up with Doom 2. I think by the time I got Quake I actually had a machine that was decent enough to run it relatively smoothly. I remember playing over the internet with people from all over the world! I remember the dreaded "unplugged phonejack" icon in the upper right that would flash when your 14.4kbps modem couldn't handle the awesomeness that was Quake.

By the time Quake 2 hit I had been going to LAN parties with friends and getting past the whole lagging issue that you'd experience via dial-up. I remember our first party after we pooled together and bought a 32 port hub and went crazy.

Nothing gets the ladies hotter than a 32 port hub, eh?

All that being said, Doom and Quake set my standards in first person shooters. Hell, they CREATED the standards. And I don't care what you say, I'll take Quake over Duke Nukem 3d ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

I sort of lost touch with the computer gaming craze when video cards started costing more than entire computers. Now most of my gaming is done via console. I do occasionally hang out after work and get my computer gaming on, but not too often.

Okay, all that ranting for this: Quake Wars: Enemy Territory looks AWESOME. I just received a couple of new screenshots and the game looks insane. Insane enough to the point where I wonder if my Mac Pro can handle it in Boot Camp. Check it out. You can click for a larger image too.

I think this could be a sweet follow-up to my Rainbow Six habit. Time to get a new HD for Windows XP for my Mac. Eck.

Shortly after BNAT I talked about Zach Snyder mentioning the PSP game for 300. Here is a trailer for said game. Is this Sparta?

PSP. Really?

Here's what you do. Release a 300 game for the 360 and for the PS3. Make it playable online with 300 people. 300 PERSON CO-OP!! Yeah. I don't think that would ever work but that's what they said about communism too!

Or you follow up on my Golden-Axe idea replacing the dwarf with the cape and diaper warriors. (And yes I know there is a Golden Axe remake on it's way. Thanks for the emails.)

For a movie this freaking awesome, we need an attempt at a freaking awesome game. Something I can play on my LCD in the living room, not something I'm ashamed to whip out in public. Or my PSP.

And now for my new section of the Weekly Wrap-Up. Here I'll be listing out stories that any gamers should probably pay attention to. This column was never intended to be a primary source for every single bit of gaming news out there, just a general survey. I hope with this new section I can point a few not-so-hardcore gamers to important articles from all over the gaming web.

Gears of War sells 3 million copies in just a couple of months. An example of hype living up to expectations.

Slamdance tweak's their statement about Super Columbine Massacre RPG. Over at Kotaku those guys have been on the ball about the whole Slamdance situation with SCM:RPG. For those of you who haven't heard, someone created an RPG based on the Columbine killings and it has gotten some crazy coverage. The issue isn't about the game itself, but the ideas behind creating a title that someone could have serious moral issues with. Intriguing.

The developer of Dead Rising and Lost Planet is creating a new title for the Wii. It's awesome to see major developers taking the new Nintendo console seriously. Seriously.

RedOctane's head of publishing Q&A over at Gamespot reveals a little bit of new information. It was announced recently that RedOctane would be handing over the Guitar Hero franchise to developer Neversoft. Another example of a small company being swallowed by a larger one. I saw the RedOctane guys at a bar on Sunset Boulevard riding a mechanical bull. All of those guys are very rich now.

The World of Warcraft expansion Burning Crusade hit shelves this week. Basements everywhere rejoiced.

MotorStorm, the second decent game for the PS3, has been delayed until a few bugs can be worked out. A game being delayed so it can be improved? How dare you!

Microsoft allows larger file sizes for Live Arcade. I'm not sure if this is a good thing. Aside from providing longer gaming experiences, I can only imagine developers getting sloppier in their coding and using the extra space as a pillow.

So, what do you think? Should I keep this section around? Lemme know.

We've had an explosion of video game related movies over the last couple of years. All of these being documentaries except for a few like that video game horror movie last year and maybe Grandma's Boy.

I've shown trailers for a few of them as well, Moral Kombat, 8-Bit, Nerdcore Rising. And today I've got a special announcement.

Ain't It Cool News and the Alamo Drafthouse are proud to present the documentary 8-Bit screening this March at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown location.