Andy Wood

Lost of goodies out there, check them out.

The mileage is great, because it doesn’t use any gasoline. And traffic isn’t a problem, because it can zoom along at 30,000 feet.

About the only problem with the Fantasticar is, well, it doesn’t exist — at least in real life. It will, however, make its long-awaited debut in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which gets its first look here.

The vehicle, a staple of the Fantastic Four comic books, ranks right up there with the Batmobile and Ghost Rider’s flaming motorcycle as the wheels of choice among comic devotees.

But translating the flying car from the page to the big screen was no small effort, says Tim Flattery, conceptual artist for the Fantastic Four sequel, which hits screens June 15. He showed several designs to director Tim Story, including one based loosely on the Batmobile, which he designed for 1995’s Batman Forever.

But Story rejected the designs as “too aggressive,” Flattery says. “He wanted something that looked less like a predator and more friendly. That’s always been the Fantastic Four theme.”

That family-friendly tenor helped the original movie rake in $155 million domestically and $330 million worldwide.

Flattery looked for more tranquil inspiration from the sea. He based the final design on manta rays and stingrays. “They have a natural flow and grace. We wanted something that looked like it could glide as easily as they do.”

Of course, stingrays don’t have to haul 500 pounds of superhero on their backs. The Fantasticar is built to hold four crime fighters: Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic.

In the movie, the Fantasticar is powered by a proton accelerator, can hover, fly at 500 mph and break into separate flying machines. And while the 4,000-pound model doesn’t move without the assistance of a crane or casters, it’s still an impressive piece of space-age polymer.

Flattery worked 10 months designing and building the Fantasticar, which will enjoy a life after the movie in sequels and on the auto-show circuit.

“It was like Christmas morning when we first saw it,” says Jessica Alba, who plays Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman. “With all the dials and joysticks, we wanted to fly it. It’s the ultimate toy.”

For fans, though, it’s something much more, says Fantastic Four producer Avi Arad.

“There aren’t many vehicles that play a big part in the (comic) books,” Arad says. “So you have to get it right. We wanted it to look futuristic, but plausible. For fans, the car can be as important as the characters.”

What is with this sensitive song doing in my beefcaked, bald-head Marined, monster chainsawing, over the shoulder shooter? Finally, someone has seen fit to put some more machismo back into the game.

via Kotaku

A while back, I started the GamersCirlce forums using phpBB, which was free and pretty easy to setup. There were a lot of great mods for it, but what I didn’t like about it was the lack of anti-spam and security, so managing the forums become more work then fun and I decided to shut them down.

Then about 2 months ago, I brought the forums back from the dead using Simply Machine Forums (aka SMF) as it was a ready to install script on my hosting service, but I found it lacking in features and support.

This brought me to the next step and the conculsion of getting a license for IPB or Invision Power Board. Thier support is great, they have features that I am looking for like RSS and much better spam and security control.

So, if anyone would like to get on board and start talking about anything, there is a link on this blog and on the main GamersCircle site or you can just click here.

• AVENGERS NEXT #2
• BATMAN #659
• GREEN LANTERN #15
• IMMORTAL IRON FIST #1
• SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #32
• ULTIMATE VISION #0
• X-MEN #193
• ZOMBIE #3

Xbox Live’s new digitally downloaded television shows and rental movies didn’t have a very smooth kick off. Xbox Live is granting refunds for all media purchases that were not delivered today.

Xbox Live’s director of programming Larry Hryb has described the first hours of the downloading service as an “unpleasant experience” for members, but promised that Microsoft was working to resolve the issues. He said on his official Xbox blog, “We’ve made progress over the past 24-hours, and the team is dedicated to fixing the issues and continues to work as fast as they can around the clock to get the service running as seamlessly as you have come to expect.”

Myself, I attempted to download the pilot Jericho episode in HD and it trickled in at first and then just dropped, then for the rest of the day I wasn’t able to get to the downloads and then started up again.. which took 23 hrs (approx) to download 1.98 gigs. Needless to say, I was not that impressed, but those folks out there that do not have PVR’s will like the system.

CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE #8

|Today 12:22 PM|GamersCircle Store|

US $2.75 End Date: Saturday Dec-23-2006 12:27:21 PST Buy It Now for only: US $2.75 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Lost The Hatch Diorama Action Figure Deluxe Box Set

|Today 12:22 PM|GamersCircle Store|

US $25.99 End Date: Saturday Dec-23-2006 12:27:19 PST Buy It Now for only: US $25.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Speed Racer Series 1 Classic Minimates Set

|Today 12:22 PM|GamersCircle Store|

US $15.95 End Date: Saturday Dec-23-2006 12:27:18 PST Buy It Now for only: US $15.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

I would just like to take a quick moment to wish the GamersCircle readers a very Happy Thanksgiving today. I hope you’re doing something fun to mark the day, whether it be a good meal, spending time with family and friends, or just relaxing and remembering all the good things in life that you have to be thankful for.

SciFi Channel has announced that its acclaimed series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, will move from its current berth of Fridays at 9 PM to Sundays at 10 PM beginning January 21.

No Lie, No stings attached, nothing to buy, no nothing.. If you live in the United States, the first person to send an email to me: andy at gamerscircle dot net with your US mailing address will get it for free. I only have the one, it came skin and face plate kit and I didn’t want this face plate.

First come first serve.