Greetings humans, Monki here with an updated batch of gaming news for you!

First things first, my contest to win a Steve Wiebe autographed Wii wrapped this past weekend and I'm digging through the entries to pick out a winner. We got some fantastic stuff!

Second of all, I'm working with the format of my column, so over the next couple of weeks you may see a bit of new stuff, some vanishing old stuff, and some reworked stuff. Stick with it, just ride it out...we'll all be okay.

Have you beaten Halo 3 yet? I mean come on! It's been almost a week since release! Alright, I hope you can tear yourself away from your 360 to make it through the column. Here we go!

I got a cool email a few days ago...it seems the team behind the upcoming Simpsons video game is sending out some exclusive posters to a few websites, lucky us, we're one of them.

You'll find other posters scattered to other sites, but this is ours, the two-headed monster that is PATTY AND SELMA!

Now here's the cool part...I've got 100 of these guys to give away to our readers. All you have to do is drop me an email with your name and address to monki@aintitcool.com with the subject "Simpsons Poster Giveaway" and it's yours. That simple. Feel free to include any kind words for yours truly as well.

In addition to the giveaway I have a few more details for the Simpsons game, if you sign up for the Simpson's Game newsletter over at EA's site, you get four exclusive videos from the game. You can check that out here. I also got this note:

HOMERBALL: Pre-order The Simpsons Game at select retailers and receive your very own Homerball. Based on Homer's special in-game powers, Homerball is Homer's dream come true; turning into a giant, rolling, ball that can eat and eat and eat without ever getting full. As an added bonus, Homerball can smash walls, burst over ramps, and knock back enemies. Behold the ball!

Pretty sweet... I can imagine a lot of these in quite a few offices...

For more info on the game, check out www.ea.com/simpsons.

Jack Thompson is at it again...This time he is once again using his son in "sting" operations targeting retailers selling Halo 3 (an "M" rated game) to minors.

This isn't the first time that Wacky Jack has used his son as bait, he did it just after Bioshock hit the streets and had the same result.

I'm not too concerned with this loon though as the clock is ticking on his trial to revoke his license to practice law. Most recently he actually sent gay porn to the judge to try to smear his opposing attorney in the case. Of course, it has been said many times before...but maybe having Thompson as the anti-video game crusader isn't a terrible thing? I mean, would you rather have someone leading the charge against gaming that is actually competent and a real threat? Or would you rather be up against this crazy.

Is anyone else excited about Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band? I somehow know I'm going to end up with like seven guitars, two drum kids, a microphone and a dance-pad for some reason by Christmas. Apparently it was Guitar Hero day in New York City this past week. From a release I received:

Santa Monica, CA - September 26, 2007 -- Activision, Inc., publisher of the wildly popular Guitar Hero franchise and the City of New York are proud to proclaim September 26, 2007 "Guitar Hero Day" in New York City. Fans are ready to rock the streets of Manhattan as thousands are expected to gather in celebration of the day, with guitar controllers in hand. This proclamation is one of many Guitar Hero events taking place in New York City this week, heading into the launch of the highly anticipated Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

The game was also included in Ziff Davis' Hot Five Press Event on Tuesday, September 25 at Splashlight Studios. The press only event featured the five hottest products of the coming year. For the first time, U.S. fans have the opportunity to play Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at the DigitalLife Conference taking place at Javits Center, September 27-30.

No mention of "NEW YORK CITY GOING TO 11!" Thank god.

Seriously though, Guitar Hero 3 or Rock Band? Personally I'm leaning a bit towards Rock Band at the moment. The drum kit has got me very very interested in that one. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock hits on October 27th and Rock Band hits on November 23rd. Which will you choose?

Oh, and what is it with EA naming their games with these awesomely generic titles? Rock Band...skate...I can't wait to play EA's upcoming "Fighting Game" and follow that up with "Racing Game," but really we are all holding out for "Role-Playing Game Part 2!"

Halo has broken the single-day record for a media release...OF ANY KIND. From XBox.com:

September 26, 2007 - Microsoft today announced that Halo 3 has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like Spider-Man 3 and novels such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Look me in the face and tell me video games aren't one of the most important aspects of pop culture. $170,000,000. Wow.

Let me tell you a little horror story that happened to me this past week. The weekend before Halo 3 hit, my XBox 360 red-ringed on me. I'd had it since February of 2006...and it finally died on me just days before the most insane launch of all time. I guess karma finally caught up with me after I murdered all those hookers.

Long story short, my 360 was sent off in it's coffin...I cried...then I begged friends for access to a 360 and now I am forever in debt to Burnie from Red Vs. Blue as he loaned me his kids' 360...that's right...I took a 360 away from someone's kids to play Halo 3...I'm an evil evil man.

Does anyone else remember how badass Geometry Wars was when the 360 first launched? It provided an example of just what the XBox Live Marketplace was capable of and is still to this day one of my favorite XBLA games.

A new version of it is hitting pretty soon for the Wii and DS and the guys behind the game have thrown together perhaps the coolest website for it ever.

http://www.gwgcats.com/ is a cross between Geometry Wars and the infamous LOLCats. Genius.

You can submit your own Geometry Wars-themed LOLCats on their website as well. Hooray for internet fads!! Hip! Hip! LOLZ!! Hip! Hip! LOLZ!!!

Sometimes the internet makes me happy...especially when a company has a blog dedicated to a game I'm looking forward to.

Over at Capcom Digital they have constantly updating information on the remake of Super Street Fighter 2.

Basically Capcom has hired a company to completely re-draw Super Street Fighter 2 (the one where Cammy, Fei Long, DeeJay and T. Hawk were introduced) frame-by-frame. The actual mechanics of the game will not be affected whatsoever, but every single blocky sprite has been replaced with insanely detailed graphics.

Over there now you can see some images from Cammy and M. Bison that they just put up. I'm anxious as hell to pick this one up when it hits marketplace.

I've been receiving information and videos for the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am for a while now, and I still have no idea what the hell this game is going to be about or how it is going to be played. That being said, I'm looking forward to it. Check out this cutscene I received from the game. SANDWICH BATTLE!

What the hell is going on??

Speaking of "What the hell is going on?" check out this new trailer for Dementium: The Ward coming out for the DS...

This kind of reminds me of those early Activision trailers where Phil Hartman would yell at the camera...I can't wait to play this one in a hot tub full of women! Can you?

To finish off I have another real-people-in-game-trailer trailer for you. This one is for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, coming for the DS and Wii. Sonic and Mario in one game together...still a shocker.

Now go back and watch that again...did you see a sensor bar in their setup? Or even a Wii for that matter? I wonder if this game comes with a gift certificate to Ikea!

When was the last time a Zelda title wasn't good? Come on, you know you need to get this one...pump some life back into that DS of yours!! This actually has some multiplayer stuff in it as well...that's pretty sweet.

Two racing games here for the 360 both with completely different styles. PGR looks insanely beautiful...some of the most realistic graphics to hit the 360 yet and Flatout is an incredibly fun smash-em-up type of racer complete with toss your driver out the front window mini-games. Both of these are excellent.

I've never been into basketball video games...I don't know why. People certainly do love them though, and NBA Live 08 is one of those "add a new control scheme and throw a new roster on it" release from EA...but people still love it, so I offer it up here!

Does anyone else remember the "TUCK AND ROLL GRANDMA!" commercial from back in the day? If I remember correctly, Crash Bandicoot is racing a car against someone and for some reason the guy kicks his grandmother out all while yelling "tuck and roll Grandma!" What ever happened to those commercials? You know...the ones with elderly abuse?

Anyway, this is the new Crash Bandicoot game hitting just about every system except for the PS3...looks fun!

Okay, this isn't a game...just roll with it. Still trying to convince your girlfriend to play the 360 with you? Why not pick up a copy of Viva Pinata and a pink 360 controller? That may help, right? Who am I kidding...gamers don't have girlfriends! Silly me!!

This one comes out next week and a LOT of people have been looking forward to it. The videos I've seen of Team Fortress 2 (one of the THREE games included in this bad boy) look freakin' awesome. The stylized characters look fantastic. Not to mention the fact you get Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 AND 2 and Portal all in the same box...pretty sweet if you ask me.

Before you get started...OF COURSE I'M PLAYING HALO 3!! This is just a title that I picked up that has turned out to be a pretty sweet concept.

The gameplay itself is pretty simple...very basic running around and attacking monsters...but the really cool part about it is that you get to create your own hero. You actually draw your figure out and then get to play along with your creation. So, if you want to make a penis-monster that helps save this mystical town...feel free to. If you want to draw Guile or Ryu from Street Fighter...go ahead! It's a neat idea and I love any title that actually uses the DS's unique platform to it's fullest extent.

If you are on XBox Live...do me a favor. Open up your friends list...now then...how many of those people are playing Halo 3?

At 12:30am CST (Cool Standard Time) on launch day I had 25 friends online playing Halo 3. That is just silly.

Of course, you still have the occasional guy who won't stop playing Madden '08 and tells you that Halo 3 sucks.

This irks me. It irks me greatly.

"Why does Halo 3 suck?" You might ask back.

"Because you can't use a mouse and keyboard and all console shooters suck."

Great...another one of those guys. Here's the deal...just because you aren't good at a game doesn't mean it sucks. 80% of the time these kinds of people have played a game like Halo or Call of Duty and gotten their asses handed to them, so they ran back to their computers to get their first-person-shooter on.

I have issues with people who claim that shooter supremacy lies on computers. First of all, almost no two computers are alike. Every single PC is going to have a different configuration than another...a metallic snowflake. That being said, not every single game is going to run equally on every machine. Your Alienware PC with liquid nitrogen cooling is going to blow away your cousin's Gateway.

Every single PS3 is identical (save for hard drive space)...same goes for the 360 and Wii. You are a level playing ground with every single person out there. No one has a $90 mouse with crazy macros and nine different triggers. It's all about being equal.

Secondly, console shooters and PC shooters are entirely different. Just because you like one flavor more than the other doesn't automatically make the other suck. For the love of god, respect that people can enjoy things you might not like. If you tell me that Halo 3 sucks, I'll tell you that 1.5 MILLION people played the damn game online in the first 24 hours of launch. For every person that bitches about the game, there are tens of thousands of people who say it is awesome.

Halo represents damn near technical perfection in a console shooter. If you tell me you don't like it because you'd rather play Call of Duty 4 because it's more realistic...that's fine. I understand that some people don't like the bouncy gravity and no ability to run. That's fine. But don't tell me it sucks because you shoot Covenant aliens instead of Nazis or Terrorists. Look, I don't like salad, but I am cool with the fact that other people love it.

Just in general, people need to calm the fuck down. We should all be happy about the way that Halo 3 has taken the world by storm. Even if you aren't a fan of the game, the launch validates the culture that we have spawned. $170 million can't be brushed aside. This is a really great time to be a gamer...enjoy it instead of bitching about it.

Alright, I hope you kids like the new re-working of the column...it's a bit more meaty now for your chewing!

So, don't forget to drop me an email to get a free poster and send me kind words. I leave you today with a sad tale told to the tune of "Cats in the Cradle." Enjoy.

So sad...but I want to play the old-home shooter game. Freakin' tight. BIG PIMPIN'!!

I've got some more stuff coming up this week...a couple of interviews and I'm still waiting on a really hawt exclusive...you'll see. Until next time, enjoy your Halos and back up the tree I go!

-Monki