New XBox 360 Dash, November 19th!

News has hit the streets after the Microsoft press event at this year's Tokyo Game Show that the eagerly awaited "reboot" of the Xbox 360's dashboard (AKA "XBE") will be available for download on November 19th. No mention of it being geographically based or if it's just a big global release but I assume the Netflix integration will only apply to countries that already have it... i.e. not Australia.

Thanks for the heads up Engadget (and others).

So, will you make your "Avatar" look like you in real life or will you go all out to make something whacky to hide behind?

New Terminator Movie Might Actually Be Good

Putting memories of the not-so-good Terminator 3 aside I have some interesting news on the upcoming Terminator 4, or Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins to be more precise.

Movieweb is reporting on a blog update over at the production's website from visual effects superviser Charles Gibson who talks about the challenges he's facing working with McG and how this film is going to be quite energetic.

If you saw the flashback sequences in The Sarah Connor Chronicles episode Dungeons & Dragons you might get an idea of what we're in store for where the world of the future glimpsed in past Terminator movies is the setting for the entire film.

This will be the first non-Arnie Terminator film but don't forget that Christian "Batman" Bale is playing John Connor so when May 22, 2009 rolls around make sure you have the cash to see Avatar and Termi 4.

James Cameron's Avatar: First Official Artwork

The news blowing around the internet today is that someone scored a crew t-shirt from James Cameron's latest film Avatar. No, nothing to do with Aang and his gang of benders but rather a feature film with the story "...of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival."

I'm not going to go into an over excited ramble on what the image MIGHT tell us (yes, the Na'vi female-like character is holding a bow and arrow, appears to have a tail and ears and only 3 toes) but I'd just like to point out that this film is Cameron's first "proper" film since 1997's Titanic. He's been bumming around directing exploration documentaries (oh, and a short stint on Entourage) for a while so it's good to see one of the industry's best back at what he does best. Remember, this is the guy who brought us Aliens and The Terminator so sci fi is no stranger to him.

The film opens in the US on May 22nd, 2009.