The Week in Review

It’s small, it’s informative and it has a pleasant minty taste — it’s the week’s top stories, in a handy, pocket sized format!

Futurama Voice Shock!

Probably the biggest and most distressing news this week was the discovery that Fox is seeking new voice actors for the principle cast of the resurrected Futurama. A spokesperson for Fox, whose parent company News Corp made $27 billion last year, had this to say:

“We love the ‘Futurama’ voice performers and absolutely wanted to use [the original cast], but unfortunately, we could not meet their salary demands. While replacing these talented actors will be difficult, the show must go on.”

Suffice to say, the fan reaction was less than positive. (link)

Beware the Diabolical Feline!

On now to cats, and their dark, eldritch schemes. A study performed at the University of Sussex has proven what cat owners have known for some time: The second you get a cat, you become caught in its web of manipulation and intrigue. The study shows that a cat can modify its purr with a special tone that we humans find impossible to ignore.

“We think that [they] learn to dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans,” Dr. Karen McComb said. “Obviously we don’t know what’s going on inside their minds. But they learn how to do this, and then they do it quite deliberately.”

They have us right where they want us… (link)

Shut-In Sues Sony

This weeks’ “Wait, what?!?” award goes to a fellow named Erik Estavillo, whose inappropriate behavior in PS3 game Resistance and its forums got him banned from the PlayStation Network. That’s just the prelude though, as the real icing on the cake of ‘huh?’ is how he reacted to the ban:

He filed a lawsuit against Sony.

Estavillo is suing Sony for violating his right to “free speech” and is seeking $55,000 in punitive damages, as well as damages for the pain and suffering he has suffered. What pain and suffering I hear you ask? Well, Estavillo suffers from a shopping list of conditions, most notably agoraphobia, and apparently PSN and its forums were his only method of socializing with other people. It doesn’t look like he has much of a case, but the law is a tricky beast… (link)

Activison Disses PC Gamers

Cast your mind back to this time last week, when I told you the tale of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 super-duper ultra-prestige edition, which came with a pair of night vision goggles. Remember how I said that it was ridiculous? Well it still is, but it appears as if Activison is going to deny PC gamers the opportunity to watch their hot neighbor sleep from the bushes outside. The prestige edition of CoD:MW2 or ‘Cod Mewtwo’ as I like to call it, has appeared on the websites of several major retailers, but only for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Leaving PC gamers cold seems like an odd move on Activision’s part, as historically, hardcore PC gamers – the type of gamers that buy ultra-prestige editions for their PC games – have more cash to waste; after all, a gaming rig isn’t exactly cheap.

Of course, this could all be just a mistake, and the mega-supreme edition of Cod Mewtwo will be available on PC, in which case, I may owe Activison an apology. (link)

Marc Ecko Shirts Offend the Eyes

Marc Ecko apparently hates gamers. If Marc Ecko’s Getting Up wasn’t proof enough, just take a look at these new Halo shirts that he’s designed. Not only are the shirts so ugly that they can be considered a crime against nature, but Ecko has the gall to charge nearly $40 for them!

It’s like an Iron Maiden shirt had a baby with a Three-Wolf shirt. Excuse me, I think I’m going to be sick. (link)