How cool that there are still deleted scenes to be revealed after all this time!

It’s getting close to when we head out for the greatest con of the year…San Diego Comic Con! This year is going to be busy and packed! IDW sent us a list of what they are going to have to feature at the con.

At the IDW booth #2643, Michael Chiklis (Pantheon), Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County), Joe R. Lansdale, Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn), Scott Morse, Steve Niles, and the creative teams for True Blood, Star Trek, TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE will all be signing.

Exclusive items will be available such as the wrap around cover for True Blood #1, Doctor Who #13 photo cover, and The Rocketeer Artist edition. The full list of items from IDW is here.

On Friday, IDW editors will be talking about Transformers, G.I. Joe and Dungeons & Dragons. On Saturday, IDW will be talking about the next year for the company. On Sunday they will be talking about the future of digital comics.

We previewed Fallout: New Vegas the game at E3, and now San Diego Comic Con visitors can experience the graphic novel. “All Roads” features the art by Geof Darrow with colors by Peter Doherty. Chris Avellone is the writer of the graphic novel and the game’s creative director.

Both Geof Darrow and Chris Avellone will be signing lithographs of the full cover art at the Dark Horse booth (Booth #2615) at SDCC on Saturday, July 24 from 5-6pm.

Many of the readers at GamingAngels know that when it comes to con season, the one con that means the most to me is San Diego Comic Con. I have been to SDCC for the past 10 years. This year is going to be lucky number 11. Unfortunately, or fortunately, SDCC has grown very quickly and to the point that it can barely hold everyone who wants to go. With both hotels and passes selling out months before the convention.

The good things about SDCC growing is that it means that more people will want to market or make announcements at SDCC, because of the enormous press coverage and access to the “geek market”. I also love that it means more people are coming for various reasons, but will likely be exposed to something that they may have never seen before. It’s great if SDCC can create more fans of comics.

Unfortunately SDCC can barely hold the amount of people that actually want to attend. Passes are all but sold out. Hotels went on sale today and most people on my twitter were placed in hotels not even in the hotel list because of sell out issues.

Here is what I don’t understand. For the last five years, Travel Planners has increasingly messed up Comic Con hotel registration. They have not been able to come up with a system that can handle the load and in past years, the website has crashed or people’s reservations were lost. So this year they felt they had to re-invent the wheel. What do they do? To start, you have to pick 12 hotels that you may want to stay at. Twelve. Are you serious? I want to stay near the con and on a shuttle route. There were barely 12 hotels that I would consider. But I did it anyway. I started calling on my way to work and actually got through right before 9am on the phone. I slid into my desk at work and gave the nice lady my 12 picks. According to their article, people that got in first would get preference for reservations. Also according to their “plan” we would hear back within 3-5 hours of what hotel we can choose to stay at. And you have to pay for the first night right away.

Well Travel Planners did not disappoint with the level of EPIC FAIL in handling reservations this year. Many of us got emails after 8-9 hours AND did not get a hotel that was even in their top 12. Most hotels that people got (like me) aren’t even on the SDCC approved hotel list.

I know something was wrong with their system because someone that reserved for hotels after I posted on Twitter about the reservations got their reservation before me and got close to the con.

I’m sad to see my favorite con have such a high barrier to attending. I love going to San Diego every year, but it is clear that the organizers have to do two things. First, they need to move the venue to a place that can meet demand. Second, they need to dump Travel Planners. They should have dumped them years ago. I can’t understand why SDCC keeps giving them chances.

I had the worst day today and a friend ended up turning my SDCC frustration down by coming to save the day. It’s going to cost us more money, but it does make me wonder if more hotels gave Travel Planners less rooms so they can book rooms at a higher premium. Hey, they know we’ll pay it.

In the end, I’m still going to my favorite con in the world, but I do want to meet with the organizers of SDCC this year and really find out the low-down and what is going on. Seeing people so upset on twitter, just makes me sad. SDCC is getting a bad reputation, which can help other small cons grow (as people defect to them), but SDCC is special. It just needs to get back to it’s roots again.

Radical Comics has announced that Sam Worthington (star of James Cameron’s Avatar) has signed on to do a film adaptation of The Last Days of American Crime. Sam Worthington will star and produce the film.

“I had met Sam’s producing partner, Michael Schwarz, at the recent San Diego Comic-Con, who loved the concept for The Last Days of American Crime” said Radical Publishing’s President and Publisher, Barry Levine. “I figured that since Sam had done three tentpole movies back-to-back with Terminator Salvation, Avatar and Clash of the Titans, that he would want the more character driven role of Kevin Cash, the sociopathic partner to Graham Bricke. Michael had set up a meeting between Sam, CAA agents Kimberly Hodgert and Jon Levin along with myself to discuss Last Days. During the two hour meeting, we hit it off and Sam had committed to both star and produce.”

The Last Days of American Crime is set in the future where the US Government plans to secretly broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. Graham Bricke intends to steal a charging station to live off of unlimited funds but when media leaks the news about the signal, he decides to plan the last heist in American history.

The first 15 pages of Last Days of American Crime is on the Radical Publishing Myspace page here. The first issue of the comic comes December 2009.

A-Kon (Dallas, TX)
A fan-run anime convention that takes place in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

Anime Expo (Los Angeles, CA)
The largest anime/manga event in the US, Anime Expo runs annually in Los Angeles, bringing artist, voice talent and musical performances together for a wonderful weekend of fun.

Anime North (Toronto, ON)
One of Canada’s largest anime conventions, Anime North takes place at the end of May. They also raise funds for the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.

DragonCon (Atlanta, GA)
DragonCon is one of the largest scifi/fantasy and pop culture convention in the US. It spans four hotels and three days of cosplay, panels, and offers a variety of guests. One of the guests for 2010 is popular author Laurell K Hamilton.

GenCon (Indianapolis)
GenCon is one of the largest gaming events in the world. Everything from computer and console games to table top and roleplaying games are featured every summer at the event.

Kansas City Game Fair (Kansas City, MO)
The Kansas City Game Fair is a small convention that combines three events in one, ShaunCon: Kansas City’s own role-playing convention, Blockhead! a board game convention and BorderWars (HAHMGS – Heart of America Historical Miniatures Gaming Society).

Long Beach Comic Con (Long Beach, CA)
2009 was the first year for the Long Beach Comic Con. It was attended by guests such as Stan Lee, Jeph Loeb, Seth Green and Eric Roberts.

New York Anime Festival & New York Comic Con (New York City, NY)
In 2010, NYAF and New York Comic Con will be taking place at the same time, in the same convention hall. Purchasing a pass will grant you access to both cons and you can experience the best both events have to offer.

Otafest (Calgary, AB)
A small and very community oriented anime and manga convention in Calgary, Otafest is a growing anime con run by an amazing group of dedicated volunteers.

Otakon (Baltimore, MD)
Otakon started out as a small college run convention but soon grew too large and has moved to Baltimore. The event attracts over 20,000 attendees and focuses on anime, manga and Japanese culture.

PAX East (Boston, MA)
PAX East 2010 will be the inaugural event for this eastern expansion for PAX. This first event is scheduled for March 26-28.

PAX West (Seattle, WA)
The original PAX site, PAX West offers one of the finest “For the Fans” gaming experiences. This is truly a community based event.

Sakura Con (Seattle, WA)
Seattle’s Japanese cultural festival, SakuraCon is one of the largest anime conventions in the Western US. It is held in the Spring and sponsored by the Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association.

San Diego Comic Con (San Diego, CA)
While the primary focus of SDCC has been comic books, science fiction and fantasy, it has grown to embrace more pop culture, anime/manga, and gaming. It is the second largest traditional convention in the world.

SIEGECon (Atlanta, GA)
SIEGE is an industry event for aspiring game industry students, graduates and local industry professionals to network and learn from each other over the course of an educational and fun-filled weekend of activities.

Video Games Live (Worldwide)
VGL is a musical event, touring the globe to bring video game fans orchestral versions of their favourite video game music. It is a celebration of the culture of video games, and is supported buy the gaming industry.

Yaoi-Con (San Mateo, CA)
Yaoi-Con is a convention focused on the “yaoi” (male-male relationship) anime and manga scene. Due to the nature of the material, attendees must be 18 years of age or older with ID.

I don’t know really what to think about this. San Diego Comic Con is already close to selling out it’s four day passes. Last month, SDCC sold out of the four day passes with preview night and now have 25% left of regular four day passes.

This year is my eleventh year attending San Diego Comic Con and to say it has grown is an understatement. The crowds get bigger and bigger and it appears that SDCC has had to learn to cap it’s audience. Probably due to safety violations.

It’s almost shocking to think of four day passes selling out eight months in advance of the convention. Hotels are typically listed in February or March. People could be buying a ticket to attend and have no idea if they will actually obtain a hotel room when that time comes.

If you want to make sure you get a pass to SDCC, you really should buy it now. You can purchase a ticket here. Four day passes are $100 for an adult and $50 for kids 12-17. Remember tickets cannot be transferred.

San Diego Comic Con has definitely become the place to go for all things geek (just like GamingAngels). I just hope that more attention gets placed on Comics this year. Last year there were quite a few complaints from Comic Book Publishers that their fans couldn’t attend their panel due to people going early for a panel on a tv show. That needs to be fixed so that Comic Con can celebrate Hollywood but really be about Comics for the rest of us.

Well you know what? It’s not the same game, and curse my constant sardonic attitude! First of all, this game looks fraking sweet. Take the first installment, and add a mess of detail to EVERYTHING, like guns and characters. The demo took place mostly in the daylight, where you can obviously see clearer, which translates directly into way more blood. For gore hounds (like myself), this is a much appreciated addition. For those who don’t like drowning in blood but just like killing people without the mess, Valve has added a gore setting in the options screen. Cool.

Horrifying.

They also made the characters pretty interesting. Within the fist video, I already had a fondness for the survivors, which is kind of amazing. I really like Coach, and I’m rooting for him to not be the guy that wakes the witch all the time, like Louis in L4D. The backgrounds and atmosphere really drew you into the story, and I liked the direction they took with it. If you stop and listen, you can hear the crickets and it just adds to the feeling that you’re in New Orleans.

In addition to better characters and an immersive atmosphere, they also had some cool new additions to regular gameplay; for one level, we had to give ourselves a shot of adrenaline, and then RUN down this industrial maze with zombies pouring in on all sides. Again, cool. It also looked like they added new modes like ‘Realism’ to the menu, and I’m excited to see what they are all about.

The one thing I didn’t like about the game was the new melee weapon option. When you pick one up, you lose your pistol(s), and it’s totally not worth it because they’re super weak or there could be a Boomer around the corner. Granted, I only tried the nightstick, and guitar, but I think I’ll hang onto my pistols after I get the melee weapon Achievements.

Definitely buy this game when it comes out. When you have it, find me on XBL and we’ll go kill some zombies.

Marvel

Interesting move as Sony has announced today at GamesCom that the “biggest names in the comics world” will be downloadable through the PS3 and PSP in December.

Marvel is the first publisher to be announced that is supporting the effort but there will be other publishers announced “soon”.

Details of which comics will be available or pricing are still unannounced. The service will be available in North America and Europe.

At San Diego Comic Con, I asked some Marvel artists and writers if they thought Digital Comics was the future. I then specifically asked if we could see comics on the PSP, he looked a little stunned and then said he didn’t know. I wonder now if he did…

UPDATE: Here are more details straight from Sony:
The Digital library will include other partners such as IDW Publishing, iVerse media and others. There will also be graphic novels as well.

Comics will download from the Playstation store to the PSP to read page by page or frame by frame. You can either download multiple comics or one at a time at a wi-fi hotspot.

“PSP’s new digital reader offers an unprecedented consumer experience that will extend the world of Marvel from print pages into the hands of fans around the world. We are excited to be part of this launch,” said Ira Rubenstein, executive vice president, global digital media group, Marvel Entertainment.

The autoflow feature allows you to zoom in and move from frame to frame on each digital page.

70 years of Marvel

Today I enthusiastically wrote about the Marvel Anniversary Parties. I researched and wrote three pages of questions for the Q&A held at a Barnes & Noble by me. Well not so close, because of LA traffic, but what should be close in terms of millage.

When I showed up at Barnes & Noble no one working there had any idea what was going on. A live of five people were on one side of the room and two of us were on another. Finally someone comes over and says we need a wristband to be in line. Where do we get said wristband? From the cashier on the floor we were on. Wrong. No one was at that counter and we’re told that we have to go down to the first floor to get wristbands.

I get online with the customers actually buying books getting a little aggravated. It doesn’t help that the mother in front of me is letting her two little girls grab everything on the counter. She then turns to me and asks me to put the items away. Uh, those are your brats that you can’t get under control and you want me to clean up after them? No. Who am I kidding though, of course I put the items away. But inside, I wanted to say that to her.

I get to the counter and ask for my wristband. The nice guy behind the counter tells me that I have to buy a book first. I tell him that Marvel didn’t say anything about buying a book for the Q&A in the press release. He says that’s the rule. I ask any book, thinking that I’ll just pick up something interesting since it is a book store. But of course not, you have to purchase one of four graphic novels in order to sit in on the Q&A. These novels are listed on their event page but were not listed as a condition in the Marvel press release. In fact, many others behind me had no idea they had to buy a graphic novel either. These novels were not cheap, ranging from $20 to $30 (prices in store completely different than online).

At this point, I walked away. I just attended San Diego Comic Con where I bought all the graphic novels I wanted and I didn’t need to be forced into buying one. Unfortunately, I can’t blame Barnes & Noble. The event page shows the book as part of the event at the store. Their policy is that visitors have to buy the book to get into the artist event. I blame Marvel for not being forthcoming with that knowledge. For not putting it in the Press release. I apologize to anyone out there that might have visited a Barnes & Noble after reading our article only to have to pay for something unexpected. If Marvel had stated that at Barnes & Noble events one would have to buy the novels and listed the novels then readers can decide before traveling to the store if they are willing to pay. Instead of being forced into a position of choosing to buy or leave the event. Way to celebrate 70 years of Marvel.