Greetings humans, Monki here with a fresh batch of game news for you and me.

So, things have cooled off around the treehouse. Last week's wrap-up was a bit rough, Thanksgiving with the relatives followed by my Horns losing to A&M and to cap it off, the Monki-Mobile's transmission blew out and will cost two PLAYSTATION 3s to fix. Hooray for the holidays!

That being said, the holidays are a time for gathering. Friends joining together to talk of good times past, and in my case I spent about four hours last night headshotting and chainsawing some coworkers in Gears of War.

I've talked about Gears so incredibly much but I just can't help myself. That game is so freakin' amazing. Also, nothing is better than tagging a QA Lead with a torque bow and watching them asplode. (QA = Game tester, btw. All these guys do is play games.) Good times, good trash talking as well. Why am I even writing, I should be doing my best to shatter dreams with a Hammer of Dawn. Must move faster.

I know how you kids love your movie-based video games so I bring you two movie-based releases and another release that could possibly be the greatest idea of all time...for the mobile phone platform.

IMHO we gamers love our acronyms. EA (Electronic Arts) let's us know that their expansion title, The Battle for Middle-Earth II, The Rise of the Witch-King has shipped. To recap, EA, "LOTR:BFME2:ROTWK = 100%." I'll take the letter 'R' Mr. Sajak.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., November 28, 2006 - Electronic Arts' The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king shipped to retailers nationwide today, and shipped Internationally on November 24, 2006. As the expansion pack to the fan favorite, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, this Real-time Strategy (RTS) game enhances every existing feature and offers players the chance to command the rise of evil in Middle-earth while experiencing the epic battles that took place before those depicted in the films from New Line Cinema.

Full of exciting content, including an entirely new faction, completely new single player campaign, and additional units for all six existing factions, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king, allows players to explore the evil side of Middle-earth. The all new single player campaign tells the story of the evil Witch-king's rise to power and invasion of the great kingdom of Arnor, home to Aragorn's ancestors. To fully experience the evil side of Middle-earth, gamers can now play as the Angmar faction in skirmish, multiplayer, and War of the Ring modes. Create-A-Hero's entirely new and unique Troll class grants players more creative freedom for their heroes in addition to new weapons and armor that will allow players to have even more choices in customizing their favorite heroes. War of the Ring, a risk-style meta-game, offers upgraded army persistence, a new siege dynamic on the Living World Map, and unified territories that serve as major control points.

An EA Los Angeles (EALA) game developed exclusively for the PC under the EA brand, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king includes all new content from J.R.R. Tolkien's original fiction, and allows the player to delve deeper than ever before engaging in battles that go beyond the award-winning movie trilogy. EALA brings The Lord of the Rings world to life in accordance with an agreement with The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises that grants EA the rights to develop games based on the books, in addition to a separate agreement that allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films.

The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king requires The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II for the PC in order to play. This game is rated "T" (Teen) by the ESRB, has a US MSRP of $29.99, and will be on North American store shelves November 30, 2006 for the PC.

Rated T by ESRB for your PC from EALA in 2006. OMG. BBQ.

In an awesome crossover in DVD sales and video-game pushes comes this rad-tastical bit of synergy based on the Superman franchise. It seems like those sneaky folk in marketing have dropped a hint for the video game within the DVD release of the movie! How quaint!!

Everyone's favorite superhero is back! Superman Returns arrives on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc November 28th from Warner Home Video. Following a mysterious absence, Superman comes back to earth and finds the world has changed-Lois Lane has a son, and Lex Luthor has a plan that threatens billions of lives! From visionary director Bryan Singer, the legend of Superman soars to dazzling heights and stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and newcomer Brandon Routh.

Enter in the cheat code found on the Superman Returns DVD and have the ability to play as Bizarro as long as you would like. Simply enter the code and fly to the top of the GNN building where you will have the ability to transform to playable Bizarro. Wreak havoc throughout the entire open world of Metropolis as Bizarro for an unlimited amount of time, and simply fly to the threat indicator located at the other end of Metropolis to change back to Superman.

There is even a two-disc Special Edition that includes eleven additional scenes and a feature length documentary that takes you behind the scenes of this epic, action-adventure film. The documentary uncovers the secrets behind some of the most astonishing, effects-laden scenes in the film, including the shuttle accident, the Metropolis disaster and the formation of New Krypton.

Okay, I admit, flying around blowing the shit out of Metropolis is kind of a cool bonus feature. Also, I bet that code won't be on the torrent of the movie you kids all download! Hah! How's that for making you want to drop you money on a disc instead of bootlegging it! Don't you feel dirty now? Superman would be ashamed of your super-downloads. Super Jerks.

To finish on a follow up, we go from destroying cities to building them...while you take a crap. On your phone. You don't build cities out of crap, that is a whole other game that I think children in Germany play. I could be wrong there though. What I am talking about is SimCity on a mobile phone. I'm curious as hell to see how this one turns out. One of my favorite SNES titles was SimCity. I spent hours building donuts of commercial, residential and industrial zones. Mario statue!

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - November 28, 2006 - Electronic Arts Inc. today announced availability of classic simulation game SimCity for mobile. SimCity, the game that launched the simulation phenomenon, now lets mobile phone users create and manage the growth of a living city in the palm of their hands. Originally created by Will Wright, SimCity is now available on major U.S. carriers.

"SimCity is one of the most significant game franchises of the past 20 years and we're thrilled to bring it to the mobile phone market," said Travis Boatman, vice president worldwide studios, EA Mobile. "For the first time, players will have the ability to pick up and build a city while on the go - any time, any place."

Players take on the roles of City Planner and Mayor as they design and build the ultimate city on their mobile phone. Choose from a unique set of maps and then plan residential, commercial and industrial areas. Next, install roads and railways, police and fire stations, parks, stadiums and more. As the city begins to take shape, be prepared to deal with unavoidable challenges such as crime, pollution, fires, tornados, and even a monster attack. On top of that, players must maintain a balanced budget. The ultimate goal is to attract as many Sims as possible to one's thriving new metropolis.

Other features include building cities on multiple games maps with unique challenges, controlling the city budget and helping citizens cope with natural disasters. Remember to take care of the Sims or they may leave. Players also have eight tool categories that have the ability to plan, plot, build, bulldoze, re-plot and manage a city. An informational feature also will be included to keep track of your city statistics, like crime, pollution and traffic levels to determine which areas need the most attention.

Created by legendary game designer Will Wright, SimCity is one of the first games created that can never be won or lost. Originally released in 1989, SimCity has grown into a major franchise that has spawned many variations of the title, including SimEarth, SimPark and The Sims.

I wonder if the 'monster' is Bowser?

Here are some screens from the SimCity mobile title. Think about it, six years ago we were psyched to play Snake on our phone. Fifteen years ago Zach Morris was using his brick of a phone to call in pizza to Miss Bliss' room. That's right, I just dropped some Saved by the Bell on your ass. Enjoy.

It's all about the donuts and trains!

One of the cool things about writing for a sweet ass website is when people show up to offer their help to your cause. Case-in-point, I got an email from a GameStop employee somewhere in the U.S. and A. who is going to keep me posted as to when I should expect more Wiis and PLAYSTATION 3s to hit the shelves. Our Mole's first important contact:

I actually believe that Gamestop/EB will be getting an incredibly limited shipment of both Wii's and PS3's tomorrow/December 1st....like maybe 1 or 2 only...so if the store claims they never got it, it's most likely that the employees claimed em for themselves....i fully expect Wii shipments to start trickling in almost every weekend now till the end of the year....PS3's i'd say will be more like a shipment here and there....i think I'm getting 4 PS3's and 6 Wii's tomorrow at my store...but I don't know what it's gonna be like on a national level....the company has a weird tendency to send shipments that are way too small....our PS3 launch consisted of 6 total...think about that

So, for you late-night AICN readers, check out your GameStop/EB tomorrow morning. There may be a special surprise awaiting you. Also, I hear that Circuit City and Best Buy are getting shipments this weekend and will be out on the floor either Saturday or Sunday, check with your local location.

Last Sunday I made an attempt at getting a Wii. I arrived to my Best Buy thirty minutes prior to opening thinking the demand wouldn't be ridiculously huge. How wrong could I have been. I ended up around spot number 55. They had 42 on hand. Awesome. Then my car exploded that night. Now my sister won't get a Christmas gift from me.

One good thing came of the wait. The make-up of the line consisted of about 20% gamers, 80% parents. From what I could tell there were no scalpers in line. Just people who wanted to check out the new fun system from Nintendo. Hopefully these parents won't use the Nintendo as a babysitter come this Christmas and instead join in with their children playing along. Be a cool parent - play video games with your kids.

For the non-video-game-geeks that read this site, there is a form of filmmaking (or is it a tool, or a technique?) called 'machinima.' Machinima is the art of using a video game as a tool to produce a movie in lieu of animating by hand. One of the finest examples of machinima is the series "Red vs. Blue" done by the boys over at Rooster Teeth. Check it out when you get a chance.

On that note, someone took the bowling portion of the new Wii Sports title and recreated a scene from one of the best movies ever. This is what happens when talented people have brilliant ideas:

I am totally making a Walter Mii when I get my Wii. Well done sir, well done.

That does it, on that awesome note, I am heading back up to the treehouse to freeze my furry nuts off. See you kids later on the business end of a chainsaw tipped gun! Up the tree I go!

-Monki