CALL OF DUTY 5 WORLD AT WAR 360 NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the game Call Of Duty 5 World at War from Amazon.com

Call of Duty: World at War from Activision for the Xbox 360 completely changes the rules of engagement by redefining World War II gameplay. In this edition, players are thrust into the final, tension-filled battles against a new, ferocious enemy in the most dangerous and suspenseful action ever seen in a WWII title. Building on the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare engine, this installment promises to immerse players in gritty, chaotic combat. You'll have to band together to survive harrowing and climactic battles that defined WWII and led to the demise of the Axis powers.

Call of Duty: World at War promises to immerse players in gritty, chaotic combat. View larger.

The potent flamethrower will set the battlefield ablaze. View larger.

From the remains of Russia and the ruins of Berlin, to the beach and jungles of the deadly Pacific Theater, Call of Duty: World at War's campaign gameplay employs features that were only available in multiplayer gameplay in the previous installments. With this title you can take advantage of perks, rankings, and online stats in an up-to-four-player cooperative gameplay that is sure to revolutionize the way you play Call of Duty. And with new infantry and vehicle-based weapons, such as the potent flamethrower, you'll have the tools you need to set the battlefield ablaze and defeat the enemy.

Battle against the fearless Imperial Japanese and elite German soldiers. View larger.

Engage in epic infantry, vehicle, and airborne missions across a variety of Pacific and European locations. View larger.

Advanced Enemies, New Environments, and Fearless Tactics
You've never encountered combat challenges like those presented in Call of Duty: World at War. Prepare yourself to face off against ruthless enemies who employ advanced tactics. Your foes will stop at nothing to defend their homelands. With swampy ambushes, tree-top snipers, and fearless Kamikaze attacks, there is no safe place to turn. As U.S. Marine and Russian conscripts, you'll battle against the fearless Imperial Japanese and elite German soldiers in epic infantry, vehicle, and airborne missions across a variety of Pacific and European locations. On foot, behind the wheel, or in the air, you'll have to be relentless to achieve victory.

Cutting-Edge Technology and Physics-Enabled Battlefields
Call of Duty: World at War utilizes cutting-edge technology, including highly-detailed character models, self-shadowing, environmental lighting and amazing special effects to deliver best-of-breed visuals. Depth of field, rim-lighting and texture-streaming technology bring the adrenaline-pumping combat to life. And with physics-enabled battlefields and fire that spreads realistically through environments, you'll feel immersed in battles that are both life-like and dynamic.

Cooperative Campaign Mode
For the first time in franchise history, Call of Duty introduces cooperative campaign gameplay, bringing a breath of fresh air to "No One Fights Alone." This gameplay mode allows up to four players to meet and play online, or a two-player local split-screen co-op. Now you can share the terrifying experience of campaign missions with your friends for greater camaraderie and improved tactical execution. Co-op mode also incorporates innovative multiplayer components, such as challenges, rankings and online stats, and even features a competitive co-op mode that will identify the best player on your team.

Improved Online Multiplayer Action Call of Duty: World at War once again delivers sophisticated, class-based, online multiplayer action that has made the series famous. New additions include vehicle combat with tanks, and Call of Duty: World at War rounds out the multiplayer experience with improved features, such as persistent stats, player rankings, upgradeable weapons, squad-based gameplay, customized classes, enhanced perks, and more.

Here is a review for the Game Call of Duty 5 World at War from IGN.

War, as Fallout 3 so famously puts it, never changes. While the weapons and tactics may differ, it's still about chaos and fear and the overwhelming of the senses as adrenaline surges through your veins. That's a hard experience to capture on a screen, but the Call of Duty series comes close thanks to its constant redefinition of what "11" is in terms of intensity for first-person shooters. Last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare delivered an awesome and varied single-player experience that was matched with an even better multiplayer suite, and it made for some really big shoes for Call of Duty: World at War to fill. If you've been living in Antarctica the past year and haven't heard, then yes, World at War returns back to the series' World War II roots. This has caused no end of grumbling from fans of Modern Warfare's contemporary setting, as well as the fact that this installment was done by Treyarch, a sister-studio to Call of Duty-creator Infinity Ward. Treyarch did the somewhat-maligned Call of Duty 3, but the studio looks to atone for that by delivering a game with an impressive amount of content. There's a solid single-player campaign, co-op play, a huge multiplayer suite, and even a fun, silly mode featuring zombies.
Video Review - Watch or download here (HD available). It certainly helps that World at War focuses on the less popularized theaters of World War II. Instead of serving up Normandy and D-Day for what would have been the umpteenth time for World War II shooters, the game covers the island hopping campaign in the Pacific as well as the Red Army's reversal of the tide at Stalingrad all the way to the Fall of Berlin. This provides some interesting new battlefields set on sun-bleached coral atolls in the Pacific. You will see some more familiar spots with the bombed-out cities and farmlands ofthe Eastern Front missions, but it's still well done. War tends to be a savage affair, but the Pacific and the Eastern Front were especially so. In the game, Japanese soldiers swarm out of the brush, erupting out of spider holes to charge straight at you in an attempt to run you through with their bayonets. They'll play dead and wait for you to walk into the middle of a trap. Though set outdoors, it feels like close-quarters combat much of the time. Meanwhile, the Russian Front is full of merciless moments; there's plenty of gunning down of wounded and unarmed soldiers by both sides, and sometimes you're asked to pull the trigger yourself.

War is hell. Again.

This remains a Call of Duty game through and through. What that means is that the action is fast and fluid, as well as rigidly scripted. The success of the franchise proves that there's a vast audience for that, and this won't change anyone's mind. Enemy soldiers and your computer-controlled teammates respawn endlessly until you advance far enough to hit the triggers to make them stop reappearing. Then you advance to the next firefight and repeat the process over again. The thing is, you're far too busy shooting and ducking and dying to really notice much of the time. The sense of immersion is pretty complete. There are plenty of deafening, large-scale set-piece battles, but there's also variation to change things up. Case in point is the PBY mission, where you man the guns on a Navy aircraft. At first glance, this seems to be a mirror to the Spectre Gunship mission in Modern Warfare; in both missions you rain fire down from above. But the Spectre Gunship mission has a cold detachment to it; those tiny blips on the screen that are human beings die from a foe that they cannot see and fight back against. In World at War's PBY mission, you're in the midst of a raging air and sea battle, taking damage and fighting for your life. Or there's a sniper mission to whack a German general that doesn't quite have the cat-and-mouse feeling of Modern Warfare's sniper level.

Tanks are in one Russian level.

The campaign does suffer a bit due to its broad scope; the narrative skips over months at a time, showcasing the major battles of the war. The result is that the sense of story doesn't seem as strong as it did in Modern Warfare. It probably doesn't help that we all know how the war eventually turned out; Modern Warfare had the advantage of a fictionalized story with plenty of shocking twists and turns. All told, the single-player campaign is about as short as that in Modern Warfare, but it doesn't drag on. Plus, there's considerably more replayability here because the bulk of the campaign is playable in cooperative mode with up to three other players. I say the bulk because a handful of missions are missing, notably the sniper mission and the PBY mission; the former wouldn't make sense with four snipers, while the latter doesn't have enough room in the narrow PBY for more than one player to scamper about. Not only is the campaign in co-op, but there's also a Death Card system reminiscent of Halo 3's skull system. Scattered throughout the campaign are death cards that you can find. Each one unlocks a different capability, like Sticks & Stones, which only gives you a knife and dud grenades. Sure, it might seem strange, but it lets you have fun if you want to challenge yourself. Multiplayer is definitely an area where World at War shines. Modern Warfare had arguably one of the greatest multiplayer suites in recent history, and World at War builds on it. There remains the create-a-class and rank system that lets you unlock perks, weapons, and upgrades that you can then mix-and-match to create different load outs. Many of Modern Warfare's perks are here, adjusted for the earlier age. For instance, what used to be the UAV Jammer is now Camouflage to keep you from being spotted by any spotting planes the enemy calls in.

Not what you want to see.

There are also about a dozen new perks, about half of which are associated with vehicles for the four huge vehicle-enabled maps. And while tanks can deal out a lot of punishment, they're also very vulnerable to infantry antitank weapons and other tanks. Driving around in a tank is cool, but you'll realize just how slow World War II-era tanks are. Just like in real-life, you need to coordinate infantry and armor together for maximum effectiveness, and it's nice that the PC version has built-in voice chat. Fans of Modern Warfare on the PC had to set up third-party voice systems out of game to talk to one another. The reward mechanic in World at War is also similar, but it does have a nice twist. Three kills in a row gets you a spotting plane rather than a UAV, five kills gives you an artillery strike instead of an air strike, and seven kills without dying lets you call in my favorite new feature: dogs. Yes, you unleash the hounds of war, a pack of killer dogs that will make a beeline to the enemy (helpful in spotting where they're hiding) as well as tear their throats out if they can. The dogs are difficult to take down, because they'll swarm you, and if you're busy shooting at the dogs you're often not paying attention to the fact that an opponent is lining you up in his sights.

Good thing that PBYs float.

All the popular modes from Modern Warfare return, like Headquarters (each team battles to seize a point on the map; the team that does doesn't gets to respawn if they die), search and destroy, team deathmatch and the like. There are also two new modes, war and capture-the-flag. The former is similar to Battlefield's conquest mode; there are five points on the map that must be seized. The kicker is that only one point is under contention at a time, so it focuses the action. (And, yes, Call of Duty 3 fans will recognize that it had war mode as well.) And then there's the icing on the cake, a silly-yet-fun bonus co-op mode called Nacht der Untoten, or Night of the Undead. It's also referred to as Nazi Zombies, and it's a last stand against waves of oncoming zombies. You and up to three others are holed up inside a bunker; the zombies try to break down the barricades at the doors and windows and you have to kill them. Each wave becomes harder by throwing more zombies at you or making the zombies faster or both. You gain points for killing the zombies and for rebuilding the barricades, and these points can be used to purchase weapons, ammo, and access to other parts of the bunker. There's even a mystery box that can serve up a ray gun straight out of 1940s pulp fiction. Still, eventually the zombies will kill you, and the goal is to survive as long as possible to compare your performance on the leaderboard. Given that it uses the Modern Warfare engine, World at War looks every bit as good on both the PC and the Xbox 360. I've always been impressed with the level of detail on everything; walk up to a fellow soldier and you can see the seams in their clothing. The most memorable visual in the game for me has to be the arterial blood spray that happens when a human body gets torn apart by explosions and gunfire. The dark red of the blood is in stark contrast to the dust and smoke in the air. And the frame rate is Call of Duty-smooth on both platforms from that I saw. (For comparison purposes, the PC I used had a Core 2 Quad processor with an 8800GTX and 2GB of RAM. All detail settings were set to maximum at 1920x1200 resolution.)

The death cards are like Halo 3's skulls.

Activision tapped Hollywood's top talent for the voice acting. Kiefer Sutherland does his part for the Marines, while Gary Oldman is the main voice for the Russians. Sutherland's voice is so distinct that it's easy to imagine him in the recording booth, bellowing his lines into the microphone (that must have been some recording session). Oldman, who has made a career out of being an utter chameleon, is almost unrecognizable in his role, and he delivers a convincing Russian accent. The rest of the sound effects are as authentic as we've come to expect; when you hear the metallic thunk of various machine guns you know that the sound guys spent a lot of time shooting and recording those World War II guns in a desert somewhere. Yet it's the mixing of all these elements that makes a Call of Duty game; there's so much audio erupting all over the place, from gunfire, explosions, guys yelling out commands or warnings, the whistle of artillery above, to the rumbling of vehicles nearby. It all combines to create a rich soundscape comparable to those in movies.

Closing Comments
It's easy to be jaded about World War II shooters, but Treyarch makes a convincing argument to stay excited with World at War. The game is packed with a deep amount of gameplay to appeal to every type of player, from those who want to experience a gritty single-player campaign to those who like to play with their friends to those who just like to play multiplayer. This is a solid, confident shooter with plenty to offer the casual and hardcore alike.

9.0	Presentation There' s a strong presentation, with loading screens that blend modern day graphics with archival footage effectively. Only thing missing are the historical quotes when you die.
9.0	Graphics Impressive visuals built on the Call of Duty 4 engine. It looks good and the frame rate is smooth, what more can you ask for?
9.5	Sound The audio is Hollywood quality as always; you can practically hear the motion of the actions on the various guns. And then there's Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman, too.
9.5	Gameplay Call of Duty is known for its intensity and this game will immerse you in the action quickly. There's a wealth of gameplay options, as well.
9.5	Lasting Appeal There's plenty to here to keep you busy for a while, from single-player, co-op play, multiplayer, and, of course, Nazi Zombies.
9.2 Outstanding	OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)

Here is the direct download for the NZB file for the game Call of Duty 5 World at War.

WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2009 FOR THE XBOX 360 NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the XBOX 360 game WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2009

Play as All Your Favorite WWE Superstars A huge roster of superstars are included in the game, drawing from the Raw, Smackddown, ECW, and more. Some of the players include: Ashley, Batista, Chris Jericho, Hardcore Holly, John Cena, Kane, Layla, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels, William Regal, Big Daddy V, Big Show, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Finlay, Tazz, and dozens more.

In addition, the Create-a-Superstar returns, letting you customize your own character, play as him through the career mode and become the next superstar. You can also use the new Create-A-Finisher feature to make a unique finishing move by chaining together 10 different animations out of over 500.

New weapons and objects include steel steps, tables, ladders, trash cans, and more. View larger.

Wrestling superstar roster includes Ashley, Batista, Chris Jericho, Hardcore Holly, and many others. View larger.

Enhanced Tag-Team Matches and Other New Match Types
Tag Team matches are emphasized in Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, and there are many new additions to make the game more realistic and fun. Players can now perform double teams on opponents, such as having one player hold an opponent against the ropes while on the apron, or pulling down on ropes while an opponent is running to send them out of the ring. And there are now different ways of tagging in, such as the forced blind tag and reversible hot tag. Teams also get team-specific finishing moves that are incredibly satisfying to perform.

In addition to tag matches, there are 14 one-on-one match types including the Inferno, Gauntlet, Falls Count Anywhere, Steel Cage and Ladder matches, and even a Backstage Brawl.

Road to Wrestlemania Mode
The single player Road to Wrestlemania mode offers a deep and diverse story line that is filled with brand defections, team building, and strategic alliances. You can choose from Triple H, CM Punk, The Undertaker, John Cena, and Chris Jericho to play in this single-player mode. There is also a story line for co-operative play, in which players control Batista and Rey Mysterio. The story lines are so custom tailored and well done that you might find them more compelling than what you see on television.

Play Online and Download New Content
You can play against friends online in different matches, and this time, voice support has been added so you can trash talk to your heart's content. Additionally, you can also download new content to keep the game fresh.

WWE fans and fighting game fans alike will both love this latest game, giving them a chance to grapple as their favorite superstars. Here is a review for the game WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 from IGN.Com
November 8, 2008 - For as long as there have been videogame systems, there have been classic wrestling videogames. The Nintendo Entertainment System had Pro Wrestling, the SEGA Genesis had WWF Royal Rumble, the Nintendo 64 had a string of grappling hits that many believe peaked with WWF No Mercy, and the PlayStation 2 had WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. Since the release of the Xbox 360 in 2005, the videogame nation has waited for the defining "next-gen" squared-circle title to show up, and THQ and Yuke's are taking another shot at the championship this year with WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009. On paper, it seems like SVR 09 should cruise to wrestling game greatness. The title packs more than 60 wrestlers, 14 one-on-one match types including the new Inferno option, the promise of downloadable content before the holidays, a new story mode, better AI, a focus on tag teams and the ability to save replays and create/share your own Highlights Reels. However, when you get into the punching, grappling, and slamming that make up the game, the world begins to feel like well worn territory. In the end, we have a game that improves on last year's outing in a number of ways but falls short of putting on the five-star bout many were expecting thanks to a noticeably stale feeling.
Reading is for suckers. Come check out the Video Review. Don't get me wrong, SVR 09 is a fun game. The solid controls from last year are back -- left stick to move, right stick to grapple, reversals via the shoulder buttons, and so on -- and come with a few minor touches such as the game flashing "Signature Move" when you can set off a stored special as well as the ability to enter the ring via the steel steps. These are welcome additions, but it's pretty much exactly what you saw last year. Still, there are a handful of other bells and whistles to grab your attention. For starters, the AI in SVR 09 doesn't suck for a change. On Legend, the computer's still going to be reversal heavy, but it's also going to store Finishers, break up pins in tag matches, and basically give you a run for your money. If you're not happy with how the AI is acting, SVR 09 finally gives us sliders to adjust the game's thinking. You can make Finishers more or less powerful, you can adjust how much the computer reverses, and you can even modify momentum rates. Customization like the sliders is a theme in this game. While you're messing with menu, a smattering of entrance music is playing as a soundtrack. If you don't like a particular song, you can press in your left stick and skip to the next track. Via the game's Roster Editor, you can mold the WWE as you see fit with a few button clicks -- change what brand people are on, give and take away championships, decide who is clean and who is dirty. There are alternate attires for the likes of CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and others; there are 19 arenas; and you can unlock the WCW brand and classic championship. Of course, this wouldn't be a professional wrestling game if it didn't add some new gimmick matches. The Inferno Match is an interesting bout that looks good but always ends a bit silly. You and your opponent duke it out in a ring where the edges are set ablaze. As you pull off moves, the flames leap and the temperature in the lower left corner rises. When the magic number reaches 500 degrees, you're supposed to drag your opponent to the ropes and toss him (Divas still can't participate in the crazy match types) into the fire. When one of you is successful -- there's a button-tapping minigame to try and reverse the strong-grapple dragging -- a body flies over the ropes and that guy's clothing is set one fire. It looks a bit goofy to see CM Punk rolling around with his ass on fire, but it's still a fun (albeit simple) fight. Meanwhile, THQ and Yuke's dropped the Parking Lot Brawl from previous games and replaced it with the Backstage Brawl. Here, you can fight in a KO-only match in the locker room or the gorilla position. There are objects to interact with in these areas, but they're pretty barren in general. Plus, there are lots of awkward times when you'll whip an opponent into nothing and they'll get caught on the edge of the screen. Sadly, you can't access these areas via the entrance ramp in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. While it isn't a new match per say, there's a definite emphasis on the tag team scene this time around. Now, the partner pacing around the ring apron is as much as part of the action as the wrestler on the inside. The illegal partner can grab the opponent, distract the ref, pull down the rope, make a blind tag, and even create a "Hot Tag." Now, if you've watched wrestling, you know what a Hot Tag is even if the name doesn't ring a bell. One partner is in the ring getting the crap kicked out of him or her, the partner on the apron starts a clap, the audience gets into it, the beaten down partner slowly crawls to the partner with his hand stretched out, the tag gets made, and the fresh person jumps in and just cleans everyone's clock. That's in the game. The partner at the turnbuckle holds down on the D-Pad, a little flame begins to grow underneath the team's shared momentum bar, and when it's full, the Hot Tag can be made. The new partner jumps in and needs to follow two button prompts to take down the legal man and take out the one stalking the side of the ring. Pull this off, and you'll have a full momentum meter so that you can drop the opponent once and for all. This is an incredibly effective move that can only be used once, so these tag matches actually become a thing of strategy as you try and wear down both opponents so that you can take everyone out with one move. The tag match isn't perfect -- when my opponents were building the Hot Tag, I stepped off the ring apron so that I couldn't be taken out only to find myself teleported back to my post when they started the ring-clearing maneuver -- but the new features, smarter AI that runs in when you hit a finisher, and double team moves make it fun enough.

He hears voices in his head.

All that is good, but the biggest gameplay change is actually related to a Superstar/Diva's Fighting Abilities. Last year's game gave every wrestler two Fighting Styles that contained specific abilities so characters felt more like their real-life counterparts. Randy Orton was a Dirty superstar so he could remove turnbuckle covers and push the ref into opponents, Tommy Dreamer was Hardcore and could hit himself with a weapon to heal limb damage, and so on. This year, the broad styles are gone and are replaced by specific abilities. In SVR 09, every character has six Fighting Abilities that give them special advantages. Santino has the Dirty Pin ability so that he can use the ropes for leverage when going for the three-count, Big Show has the Hammer Throw ability that allows him to hurl his opponent over the top rope with a strong Irish whip, and pretty much all of the main eventers have the Resiliency ability so that they have an increased chance of being able to kick out of pins. I'm sure these sound a lot like last year's Fighting Styles -- and they are in part -- but the fact that each Superstar has these combinations of six out of 21 abilities makes them feel unique and varied. Beyond all that in-match stuff, SVR 09's packing a nifty mode addition that is all its own; it's called Road to WrestleMania and it's one of the greatest story modes a wrestling game has had in years. In RTW, you choose to be one of seven playable Superstars (an in-house friend can join you for the tag team tale) and then take the grappler into his original storyline. See, Chris Jericho, Triple H, the Undertaker, CM Punk, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio/Batistia all have angles that are uniquely their own thanks to original voiceovers, branching storylines, cutscenes, and more. I can't thank THQ enough for this. Last year, 24/7 mode sucked. It had one generic story that forced wrestlers into situations that didn't feel natural -- enemies shaking hands in the back, WrestleMania being in the same place every year, etc. Now, you're getting original, interesting tales that last about two and a half hours a piece as you take each man to the biggest spectacle in Sports Entertainment. Each show starts with fireworks and an announcers' summary of what's going on in the federation, and each show ends with the WWE copyright logo and the usual dramatic scene you'd expect from WWE programming. Jericho has to figure out who the masked man that keeps attacking him is, Triple H has to choose between DX and Evolution, and Cena needs to figure out how to contend with MVP's new world order. Sure, a lot of folks are going to be pissy because this mode is only open to the seven folks the storylines have been written for, but once you get your hands on this mode and start having to make choices and unlocking entrances, characters, Create A Superstar pieces, and more, you should realize how awesome this part really is. If you can't get over RTW's limited scope, Career Mode should soften the blow -- but it might add a few more issues. Basically, Career is a barebones spot for you to choose any Superstar, created player, or Diva and take them through the ranks of WWE stardom. No matter who you choose, you'll start out with a pitiful overall rating in the 30s and choose a championship path -- belts in SVR 09 include Cruiserweight, World Heavyweight, WWE, WWE Tag Team, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, Women's, United States, Hardcore, and ECW championships -- and begin challenging competitors on your way to the chosen title. See, when you start a path, the champion is a mystery. You're presented with a list of four Superstars (or four teams if you're going for a tag belt) and next to each is a star and a numeral. You'll pick to start a match from your private jet, choose a competitor to face, and then pick from a list of match types you've unlocked as well as rules such as DQ options and ring outs. You go face off in the match, and if you win, you're awarded a number of stars. These stars are then recorded next to the opponent and subtracted from the total number you need to face off in a match for the number one contender spot. Get the required stars, challenge the No. 1 contender, and when you win that stipulation match -- which always unlocks that match type for you to use in Career Mode -- you can go on to face the champ. Win the title, and you'll choose the next championship path you want to head off on and go after the next four opponents. If you want, you can defend your title, but there's really no incentive to do so. You're goal is to just win every belt in the game.
We have videos for Edgeheads. There's more to this mode, of course; after a match -- win or lose -- your nine attribute ratings that represent everything from Durability to your Overall pop up in a series of meters and begin to fill based on how you performed in the match you just played. If you rolled out of the ring, grabbed a chair, and went to town on JTG's grill, your Hardcore meter is going to fill and begin building toward the next numerical attribute level. If you ran around the ring a lot, expect your Speed meter to fill. All of these changes happen in front of your eyes, and you get to see your overall slowly climb from the dregs of the low 30s to the Hall of Fame marker know as 100. On top of this, your character -- if created -- will start with no abilities, and you'll need to unlock them as you go through Career. If you want Move Theft (the ability to steal an opponents Finisher or Signature), you need to defeat 20 Superstars; if you want to be able to recover health via Durability, you need to beat a Superstar rated 20 points higher than you in terms of his or her Overall stat and do it when you both have orange limb damage. Clearly, this is designed to be a place where your CAS cuts his or her teeth. I say "clearly" because this is the only place to get that Overall to something worthwhile after creating a character and the only place to earn attributes. See, you can choose a real wrestler and have their stats set to the low levels in the mode, but that Superstar's real levels will still be available in exhibition. However, if you create a character and don't take him or her through Career, that Superstar will stay at that crappy rating and be attribute-less in exhibition. To improve your CAS, you have to play Career Mode. On the one hand, for players like me who generally only create one CAS a year, this is a cool setup. With five hours and 42 minutes poured into this mode -- which you can tell from my exact time tracks everything in its statistic section -- Gruesome Greggy is a 71 overall and has all six of his attribute slots filled. However, if you're one of the thousands of CAS nuts out there who love to create every ECW legend, everyone from Japan, and so on, this reliance on building stats in Career will most likely suck. Are you ever going to have time to go through the mode with each of your game maximum of 30 created Superstars -- especially considering you can only have one career going at a time? [Editor's Note: THQ announced today that it's going to patch SVR 09 so that once you take one CAS through Career, you can give new created Superstars attributes without having to take them through careers. However, that patch doesn't have an ETA other than sometime before Jan. 31, 2009. That's a ways off, so my complaint about having to take every created character through the mode stands. However, if you're reading this in the future, you should know that things have changed.] Oddly, even if you dig Career Mode, you don't know how to unlock an ability until you've unlocked it. This means I could be saving my final Ability slot for the Evasive Dodge ability but accidentally get assigned the Object ability because I used a weapon too many times. If you are one of those Create a Superstar crazies I just wrote about, I'd love to be able to tell you about how the system has been revolutionized from the ground up, but that would be a lie. The tried and true create option is back, but it's pretty much the same thing we've been seeing year after year -- which is a good thing in terms of the ability to manipulate face and body parts as well as the massive amount of clothing options (26 jackets, 50 tops, 43 bottoms, 37 boots/shoes, and a whole lot more) but bad in terms of the old problems this series can't seem to shake. Ties clip through stomachs, championship belts clip through jackets, chokeslams become faceslams if your character is too short, and just about every other problem you've seen in the past is still here -- even the fact that the PS3 is getting shorted on layers with a maximum of 37 to Xbox 360's 64.

So... close...

To me, this is just the tip of the iceberg that sinks my enthusiasm for SVR 09. As pretty much the sole wrestling game fan in the IGN office, I have to put up with a lot of trash talking when a "nonbeliever" passes by my desk and catches me playing SVR. Usually, they'll start with reminding me that wrestling is fake, move to commenting on the clipping issues, and so on. I, living for these titles, tune them out and go on my merry way of slamming chairs into people's skulls and trying to hit my finishing move on the top of the Cell. Still, one of the most common complaints people announce while they watch me play actually hit home this year -- namely, it's the belief that "This looks just like last year's game." Now, in last year's review, I touched on the fact that SVR 08 felt a lot like the SVR games of the past, but I told you I was fine with that. Wrestling is wrestling, and a Pedigree is going to look pretty similar year to year. However, there are times when SVR 09 doesn't just look like SVR 08, there are times when it is SVR 08. There's the same animation for dropping an opponent on the barricade; there's the same ugly Boston Crab and knee-to-the-back Struggle Submissions for a ton of the guys; there's the same guy in a Shane-O-Mac jersey as well as the guy in the green and white striped shirt in the crowd; a lot of the abilities are the same ones from last year; and Finlay has the exact same entrance from last year even though Hornswoggle is an unlockable character in the game this year. For me, it's these little repeated tidbits that add up and take a toll on SmackDown vs. Raw 2009. By the time I reviewed last year's game, I had logged close to four months with the title and couldn't wait to go online with the public and have at it. This year, I felt like I had seen everything before the first month of the Countdown was up. Road to WrestleMania is fun on a story front, but the matches still feel like last year. Now, I obviously liked SVR 08, so you could make the argument that the new additions to this year's title should propel it way ahead of the previous installment. Although I'll give you the fact that this is a better game than last year's, I have a few issues with the additions as well as what was subtracted to make room. For starters, you need to know that 24/7 Mode, Hall of Fame challenges, GM Mode, the Buried Alive Match, and Create A Championship are gone. Although a few squeak in due to storylines -- Ric Flair, Tazz, etc. -- Legends are also out this year presumably so that THQ can transition to next year's Legends of WrestleMania without any (much?) overlap. The ECW Extreme Rules match returns, but nothing's been added to the weapon wheel and you can no longer brawl into the crowd; why they don't just combine the weapon wheel with the hardcore match -- called a Falls Count Anywhere match this year -- and be done with it is beyond me, but they don't, and we get two watered-down matches. What gets me is that the stuff that is replacing the cut items isn't completely solid. SVR 09 boasts the franchise's first foray into instant replay with the Highlight Reel. Here, you can record snippets of your match, save them, and edit them together with transitions, text, graphics and different camera angles. It sounds neat and it's cool that you can upload the videos to the SVR servers for the world to see, but it just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's just me, but how many times do I want to watch Cena hit his FU or Matt and Jeff do their tag team finisher? I'm sure there's going to be some great clips uploaded, but this isn't what I want to do with this feature. I want to use the Highlight Reel to create entrance videos for my created Superstars; you can't do that in SVR 09. Online matches return in SVR 09, but just like the stuff above, the whole song and dance feels just like last year. It's a very similar setup screen, you can't do online Royal Rumbles, there are leaderboards, and so on. The Highlight Reel and screenshot gallery are basically the only differences.
Dance for me, Jimmy! Another new feature that doesn't feel fleshed out to me is Create A Finisher. Here, you get a maximum of ten animations to create a finisher that's all your own and THQ says that there are more than 500 moves to choose from. The problem I found is that as you begin choosing things, your options become more and more limited. When WrestleMania 2000 came out on the Nintendo 64, it had this fireman's carry that kicked out into a Stunner in the CAS screen. I began using this move -- which I dubbed the Greggy Guillotine -- in my backyard wrestling federation and have been looking for it in every wrestling game since that title. When I got SVR 09, this was the first move I set out to create. I started with a kick to the groin, pulled the guy into a fireman's carry, settled for a Diamond Cutter kick out, and then felt my heart drop. All I needed was a Stunner to finished the move, but my only options were a Dreamer Driver Drop, Forward Body Press Impact, and Forward Military Press Slam. Now, there's a Stunner in this game, but for some reason I couldn't attach it to finish my move. In fact, as I toyed around with the feature, it felt like I could really only just add garnishes to existing finishers -- y'know, spray some green mist in a dude's face before hitting an RKO or taunt a bunch of times before hitting a cradle piledriver. There are going to be a lot of people who think CAF is the greatest thing ever (and more power to them), but I could've gone with a few less restrictions and a few more original moves to really give this feature some teeth.

Look familiar?

On top of all that and beyond the clipping issues that are always present in these games, the graphics don't impress. Superstars look good -- really good -- but when they start interacting, things go somewhat south. The crowd in the upper deck is a mess sometimes; when I was in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship in my Career, I pulled the World Heavyweight belt off the hook only to have it switch to the IC belt in the after-match cutscene; when I put Undertaker and Kane into a ladder match that had no gold involved whatsoever, the brothers of destruction won but celebrated by hoisting and slapping invisible championship belts; and when Big Show walks to the ring with a belt over his shoulder, the strap visibly hovers over his shape rather than touching his skin. Still, 360 is the best looking version of this game thanks to brighter visuals; if you want to see the full breakdown of how SVR 09 plays across the different platforms, check out IGN Insider's Head-To-Head.

Closing Comments
In the end, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 is a good game but one that falls short of its potential. The Roster Editor is a welcome addition, Create-A-Finisher could be deeper but is a great first effort, the Inferno Match is over-the-top but fun, and Road to WrestleMania is one of the best story modes I've seen in a wrestling game in years. However, I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing last year's game when we get down to the nitty gritty match mechanics. Entrances, match list presentation, animations, and even a couple crowd members are recycled from SVR 08; pixilated audience members in the upper deck and bad belt detection haven't even been addressed; and the ECW Extreme Rules match has been gimped.

These issues shouldn't be deal breakers for fans of squared-circle action nor do they detract from the fact that this is better than last year's game, but the problems do leave me without ever feeling "wowed" while playing SVR 09.

7.5	Presentation The ability to adjust the AI is awesome and the game's a breeze to get around, but the match list has the same setup as last year and a number of other recycled visuals hold it back.
7.5	Graphics Generally, the wrestlers look great, but the blocky crowd, championship belts that hover on shoulders, and annual clipping issues aren't high points.
8.0	Sound RTW's streamlined stories, voiceovers and commentary are actually intelligent and interesting. Outside of the match, the announcers are hit and miss, but it's great to be able to skip tracks.
7.5	Gameplay Matches are fun, but they feel just like last year thanks to a lot of the same animations and same interactable objects. Still, Road to WrestleMania is a breath of fresh air.
8.0	Lasting Appeal You're probably looking at around 15 hours to complete all the RTW storylines and bonus objectives. It'll take you a while to build up a Superstar in Career, but that's not necessarily a good thing.
7.9 Good	OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)

Here is the direct download for the NZB file for the Game WWE Smackdown vs raw 2009.

30 ROCK SEASON 2 NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the show 30 Rock season 2 from imdb

Liz Lemon, head writer of the sketch comedy show "TGS with Tracy Jordan", must deal with an arrogant new boss and a crazy new star, all while trying to run a successful TV show without losing her mind.

Here is a review for the show 30 Rock Season 2 from dvdtalk

The Show:

Dear American television viewer,

What is exactly wrong with you these days? Why is the most popular television show a reality show where the 10 most innocuously packaged and creatively annoying people compete for the crown of most irritating person? Why do you constantly eschew 30 Rock, even after the visibility increase the show received after the most recent Emmy awards? Is it because people rued the cancellation of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the short-lived project from West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin? Is it because people still aren't in the market for a short whose setting is the inner workings of a sketch comedy show, a la Saturday Night Live? What? Well, allow me to try and expand on why I think you should be watching 30 Rock on a regular - and preferably excessive - basis.

For starters, the show's Creator, Executive Producer and star Tina Fey, comes from the environment. She knows what works and what doesn't on the show. Combined with fellow E.P. Lorne Michaels, SNL's creator and producer, the show's comedic founders are well versed in network television comedy. Fey plays Liz Lemon, creator and producer of the fictitious "The Girlie Show," in which the main star Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski, Ally McBeal) is pushed to the side of the stage by Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, First Sunday), a Hollywood box office star who's fallen on the showbiz ladder to the point that he's doing television now. The decision to bring Tracy in was done by NBC Executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, The Departed), who helps Liz manage her motley crew on and off set.

Second, the material that the show puts together on a week-to-week basis is unquestionably the funniest that television currently offers. The show creates its own slang of curse words (blurg), products (Tracy Jordan's Meat Machine), television shows (MILF Island), and goes back to the jokes in flashback mode. This works a couple of different ways; the flashbacks to these things still is funny to the new viewer, but it does reward those who have stuck with the show since its inception. The standalone jokes are just as hilarious; for instance everything, or pretty much close to it, that Jordan says is often times not too coherent to pertinent to the conversation, but since it goes to his weird character, it's forgivable and hilarious.

To piggyback on that item for a second and segue into a third, the material is so funny and executed so well, you'd never think that there is such sparse improvisation by so many talented players. Fey, Kenneth McBrayer (who plays the innocent NBC page Kenneth) and Scott Adsit (who plays Pete) all come from the Chicago comedy circuits, Morgan is a SNL alum, Baldwin has been acting longer than some of us have been around, and Friedlander comes from the standup comedy circuit. With all of this talent, when I tell you that almost all the laughs come straight from the page, you can see that it's an excellent match of material and the people who deliver it. And what about those people anyway? Fey is not afraid to poke fun of herself and her character's inability to maintain a substantive relationship, Baldwin's Donaghy is the pseudo-Republican insider who isn't afraid to break some eggs to make an omelette, McBrayer's Kenneth is the sheltered yet well-mannered page who looks like he's come out of a Rockwell painting, never drinking hot liquids, swearing or anything else the rest of us do on an hourly basis. The cast never forgets about the people who have come before them, which leads me to the third point; the guest stars are recognizable funny people, those who love the show and/or aren't afraid to be put in the hands of the writers. Among the guest stars in Season Two are Will Arnett (Arrested Development), in a recurring role, Rip Torn (The Larry Sanders Show), Carrie Fisher (Star Wars), David Schwimmer (Friends) Edie Falco (The Sopranos) and Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show). They do things that Princess Leia or Carmela Soprano probably wouldn't have ever thought of doing, and that's a tribute to the work put in by everyone.

Fourth, it possesses the rare ability to be appreciated with more viewings. Normally, people would tend to consider that as being full of nuance and not being funny on the first run, but with 30 Rock, you get the first joke from the jump, and it's the background stuff that makes you love the show all the more. You enjoy the cast's spoof of the Olympics, and their unique participation in NBC's "Green Week," or their statement on the Iraq War. Or maybe you love the unique interpretation of Amadeus that Tracy and Frank put together. Because some of these gems are the A and B storylines on just one episode, sometimes repeated viewing is a must, as it is here.

And oddly enough, it's because of this humor and the unique niche that it inhabits, that for some inexplicable reason people seem to not want to watch 30 Rock. Watch Fey's acceptance speeches from the Emmys ceremony, and give any of the "Greenzo," "Episode 210," "Subway Hero" or "Sandwich Day" episodes a try. Watch them once, twice. It's not like they can't be found all over the internet. The show's talent and the show's material merits widespread review, because appeal will follow.

The Discs: Video:

1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen viewing. There aren't a lot of things that the show does to dazzle you visually, and it doesn't appear to be filmed in high definition. With that said, the transition to the opening credits presents some pixelation issues, and when navigating the menus on the second disc, there are some banding problems on highlighted selections, so there are some shoddy production moments that should be rectified in the future.

Audio:

Your choice of Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 surround tracks. In doing some quick on the fly comparisons, the sound stage for the 5.1 track is a little more spatial and feels more robust, even as the subwoofer stays quiet for most of the season. There is the occasional speaker pan, but by and large, everything happens up front, as it's supposed to since it's a fricken' TV show and all.

Extras:

The show's bonus material is a little more ample than Season One, starting with commentaries on 10 of the season's 15 episodes. For whatever reason, a good number of the commentaries include one person, and a lot of time is spent with them watching the episode, resulting in stretches of dead air. And other times, they do schtick to nobody, which is also boring, and the commentaries overall are pretty uneventful. The participants include:

"Jacks Gets in the Game" (Arnett)

"The Collection" (Krakowski and McBrayer)

"Somebody to Love" (with guest star and SNL player Fred Armisen)

"Cougars" (Friedlander)

"Episode 210" (Fey and producer/husband Jeff Richmond)

"MILF Island" (Adsit)

"Subway Hero" (Conway & McBrayer)

"Succession" (co-executive producers Robert Carlock and John Riggi)

"Sandwich Day" (Fey)

"Cooter" (Krakowski and McBrayer)

The other extras are all on the second disc, starting with five deleted scenes (4:01), which are pretty boring, followed by a table read of "Cooter" (31:27), which includes some interesting script elements that were excised (a Helen Mirren guest appearance?), but it's apparent the cast enjoys the work based on their reactions from the script. The cast also did a script read for "Secrets and Lies," read at New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and done as a charity event during the Writers' Strike. Watching the crowd enjoy the story on a pre-aired episode was cool along with Fey raffling off show items. Fey's hosting spot during the 2007 SNL season is shown by handheld camcorder. It's fairly short (8:05), and I would have liked to seen more time spent on it, but oh well. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences did a cast and crew Q & A (23:08), which was moderated by NBC News anchor Brian Williams. It sheds a little more light on how the process works and the character origins and creations, but not much more.

One last thing; two different commentaries discusses a blooper or 'wrap' reel that, unless it's here as a easter egg, isn't here. Way to go Universal, way to go.

Final Thoughts:

I hope I've made the case for making 30 Rock an integral part of your television viewing. If not, I will find you and beat you over the head with your television or DVR until you understand that for every 30 Rock, we see 10 or 20 reality shows. Do the right thing, the smart thing, the American thing, and don't let 30 Rock end up in the list of critically acclaimed shows that did not live longer than three seasons. It's worth your time and attention, I promise.

Here are the direct downloads for Season 2 of 30 Rock.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14

Episode 15

30 ROCK SEASON 1 NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the show 30 Rock season 1 from imdb

Liz Lemon, head writer of the sketch comedy show "TGS with Tracy Jordan", must deal with an arrogant new boss and a crazy new star, all while trying to run a successful TV show without losing her mind.

Here is a review for the show 30 Rock Season 1 from dvdtalk

The Show
When NBC announced they would be launching two series based on their legendary late-night show "SNL," I went on record as saying, after one season, we'd be left with just one. I just thought it would be the one Aaron Sorkin was behind. Instead, "Studio 60" is but a feint memory, while "30 Rock" went on to challenge for the title of funniest show on TV.

It certainly didn't seem that funny at the beginning. Tina Fey's half-hour vision of what goes on behind the scene in sketch comedy seemed to be like any other sitcom to start, though it had a few things working for it. First, Tracy Morgan is playing his most popular kind of character, the one "seen" when he appears on "Opie and Anthony," which lets him be an absolute maniac. Secondly, the fact that they are working on a TV series is almost inconsequential to the overall series, with much more focus placed on the people instead of what they do (which is normally the case with a workplace comedy.)

Finally, it stars Goddamned Alec Baldwin. This man leaves more comedic talent in his shower drain each morning than most actors have. He's so good in this show, playing Jack Donaghy, an egomaniacal network exec with interesting dating habits and an unusual family, that it makes me want to watch The Shadow again. Sure, I probably would have anyway, but that's besides the point. Hook up Baldwin with "SNL" (even if it's just a parody of the show) and you're likely to strike comedic gold, and "30 Rock" is just another example of that. When it was announced that Baldwin was looking to leave the show, I immediately wrote the series off. He's just that important to the show's blend of real-world situations and oddball hilarity.

Despite these strengths, the first few episodes were rather ordinary, establishing the characters, their fictional show, and the friendly/adversarial relationship between Jack and producer Liz Lemon (Fey.) There were some laughs to be had, but the only reason to watch for the first few weeks was to see what Morgan or Baldwin would do next. Then, something happened.

Perhaps it was because the groundwork was in place or perhaps the writers just hit their stride, but the show took off, around the fourth episode, using a surreal sense of humor and a well-developed cast of characters to tell bizarre stories as complements to somewhat traditional stories about Liz and her various relationships. In some ways, the series is like a live-action "Family Guy," using flashbacks and asides to deliver many of the jokes, but there's little in the way of crude comedy, as the series relies more on clever dialogue to get laughs.

Because of the focus on dialogue, the actors delivering it had to be good, and the cast of "30 Rock" is more than up to the task, as Baldwin, Morgan and Fey, who surprised by being very capable of carrying the show in her first starring role, are joined by a talented group of comedians, led by Scott Adsit and Jane Krakowski. Though Adsit has been on my radar for years, since the days of "Mr. Show," I'd never paid much attention to Krakowski, knowing her only as that girl from "Ally McBeal." Here, she's proven herself to be a great sexpot comedienne, playing off her attractiveness to great comedic effect, serving as a counterpoint to Fey's more demure personality. With Judah Friedlander, Keith Powell, and Lonny Ross rounding out the main staff on the show, there's a lot of talent on board, but it's hard for any of them to top the performance of Jack McBrayer, whose naive, bright-eyed NBC page Kenneth is hysterical. Sure, Kenneth is a pretty stereotypical character, offering plenty of opportunities for gay and hillbilly jokes, but in the context of the overall show, he's an excellent part of the show, as a beacon of positivity in a very cynical world.

The regular cast is joined by a rather impressive collection of guest stars, including several "SNL" alumni, like Will Forte, the wonderful Chris Parnell (as Dr. Leo Spaceman) and Rachel Dratch, who plays several roles throughout the season, pitching in where needed, despite being cut from the show's original cast. The list of guest stars goes on and on, marked by names like Conan O'Brien, Isabella Rossellini, Rip Torn, Paul Reubens, Wayne Brady, Will Arnett and Nathan Lane, but a few are so perfectly cast as to feel like a part of the show. "SNL"'s Jason Sudeikis, playing Liz' love interest Floyd, is a great match for her, while the legendary Elaine Stritch is perfect to play Jack's mother. In fact, the entire Donaghy family, which includes Molly Shannon, Siobhan Fallon and Brian Murray, is an exercise in quality casting.

A great cast isn't much good without great stories, and among the stand-out episodes in the first season there's plenty for the actors to dig into. "Tracy Does Conan" is a great "freak out" episode for Morgan, as his medicine leads to some fun hallucinations, while "Black Tie" is star-filled, as Rossellini plays Jack's ex at a party for a bizarre European prince (Reubens), where Liz pretends to be Jack's girlfriend. Though "The C Word," "Fireworks" and "Hiatus" are all great episodes, the final eight episodes as a whole are terrific, showing the heights the show reached in its first season. Whether it's Jenna's PR problems in "Hard Ball," Tracy's obsession with Thomas Jefferson or the introduction of "The Black Crusaders," there's so much funny going on that you'll want to just keep watching.

The DVDs
The first season of "30 Rock" is available in two versions, one a complete season set, the other being two separate volumes. It's an odd way to do it, since the discs in the separate sets supposedly match the complete set, which means the two discs in the first volume would have 16 episodes and no extras, while the second volume has all the bonus footage and just five episodes. The complete three-disc set is packed in a three-panel, three-tray digipack (featuring episode descriptions), with a holofoil slipcase holding it all. Audio options include English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks, while subtitles available in English SDH and Spanish, though there's no closed captioning.

The Quality
The anamorphic widescreen transfers on this set are good, but uneven, as some are not nearly as impressive as expected. After watching these episodes in HD, several of these are a step down, as the image can be rather soft, a bit dark and lacking in fine detail, though the colors are solid and there's no dirt or damage evident. Some excessive grain can be seen, especially in dark scenes, but there are no obvious digital artifacts. The quality seems to improve as the season progresses though, with the final disc looking much better than the previous two.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks are clean and distortion-free, which works for a dialogue-driven show like this. The music occasionally gets spread to the sides and rear speakers for emphasis, but the presentation is mostly straightforward.

The Extras
The extras start with five audio commentaries, which oddly, are not with their episodes in the context of the DVDs. Instead, the five episodes are repeated on Disc Three, with optional commentary. Why not just put them with episodes? Good question. It probably has something to do with the whole two-volume thing. Here's a breakdown of the tracks:

"Tracy Does Conan": Tracy Morgan

"Black Tie": Tina Fey

"Hard Ball": Lorne and Henry Michaels

"Fireworks": Jack McBrayer

"Hiatus": Alec Baldwin

To be absolutely truthful, these tracks are not great. Morgan and McBrayer do plenty of talking, but it's rather scattershot in terms of relating to what's going on, though Morgan manages to include quite a bit of detail in his rambling chat. Fey does a more balanced job of talking about the series, where as Baldwin essentially watches the show and laughs, throwing in bits about the women on the show. It's hilarious to listen to, but it's not a commentary. The same goes for the track from executive producer Michaels and his son Henry, who somehow say even less than Baldwin.

More from the series is available to watch, as ten minutes of deleted scenes are included, which can be watched by episode or in one group. They aren't bad, but they don't stand out either, falling a bit shy of the material that made it into the series. The deleted scened get overshadowed by "The Wrap Party," a 13-minute collection of scenes and bloopers shown, appropriately, at the show's wrap party. Though the end of the compilation is just scenes from the show, the bloopers are a great deal of fun, especially any of Baldwin's crack-ups, of which there are plenty, including some demonstrations of his excellent imitations. It's followed by six fun "Evening with Kenneth" segments which sees the NBC page hosting his own made-up talk show from his page desk. Among his guests are Jenna, Frank, Tracy and the inimitable Dr. Funk. If you want to enjoy some general goofiness, you'll find it here, along with a chance to ogle Krakowski's nipples.

The "Behind the Scenes" featurettes are a mixed bag, as the 5:40 first segment, with Friedlander, loses its way from being an on-set video journal, falling into the fiction of the series. The second one, with McBrayer and Ross is much more in-depth, as they take a camera and mic and tour the Long Island City, NY studio where the show is shot, looking at the various sets and departments working on the show. Considering the lack of behind-the-scenes info in the commentaries, this 15-minute piece helps fill in the holes for the more curious fans.

The 31-second "Makin' it Happen" is a collection of three episodes from the micro-series that's mentioned on the series, making fun of the increasing decreasing length of TV series and their movement to online sites. It's quick and harmless, and is apparently included to satisfy completists. What's missing though is the show's original pilot, in which Dratch plays the part of Jenna, which anyone who saw the original commercials (also not included here) will remember.

The Bottom Line
"30 Rock" should get some sort of comeback award, overcoming something of a rough start to grow into one of the funniest shows on TV, in less than a season, thanks in no small part to the lead performances by Baldwin and Morgan, along with a surprisingly engaging character in Liz Lemon. It's rare to see a live-action sitcom cultivate the kind of energy this series has, with an editing style that breaks the traditional rules, putting the focus on the dialogue instead of on wacky situations and silly slapstick. The DVDs aren't quite on the same level of quality as the comedy, for the most part, while the extras are good, but not as fulfilling as a fan of the show might hope for. If the series wasn't so good, it would be relatively easy to dismiss this set, but it's a must-see for anyone looking for a few hours of solid laughs.

Here are the direct downloads for Season 1 of 30 Rock.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14

Episode 15

Episode 16

Episode 17

Episode 18

Episode 19

Episode 20

Episode 21

MADAGASCAR 2 NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Madagascar 2 from imdb

The sequel of the first movie, the New York Zoo Animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, started to leave the island. All of a sudden, they landed in the wilderness of Africa. There, Alex soon meet the rest of his family and starting to have trouble communicating with them after much of his time at the Central Park Zoo. Written by rocknrollunderdawg


Here is a review for the movie Madagascar 2 from dvdtalk

Like any improbable sequel, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is a more potent creation when acting as a carefree joke blender than a believable sample of storytelling. As good-naturedly hilarious as the 2005 original film, the sequel suffers only in the freshness department, with filmmakers who really show lackluster confidence on where to take this unexpected franchise. It's a fine family diversion, but it fails to improve on its predecessor, and there's something mildly disappointing in that missed opportunity.

The time has come for Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) to leave their makeshift residence under King Julien's (Sacha Baron Cohen) enthusiastic reign and head back home to New York, flying the safety-last Penguin Express airline. When plane troubles arrive mid-flight, the aircraft crashes into the wilds of Africa, leaving the passengers overwhelmed in paradise. Reuniting with his father Zuba (Bernie Mac), Alex finds himself in the middle of a struggle for control of the land, easily tricked and humiliated by the devious Makunga (Alec Baldwin). Now faced with their dreams come true, the foursome have to deal with the unkind consequences of life lived among their own kind.

As a silly animated distraction, "Madagascar" got by on a smidgen of heart, respectable vocal performances, and fine help from those hilarious penguins. The militaristic flightless fowl four returns in "Africa," and, no shock here, the penguins steal the movie yet again with their resolute antics, exemplifying the sequel's delicious zany side with bright flashes of hilarity and absurdity. However, the penguins are not the stars of the show (they really need their own feature-length movie). We're here for Alex, and I'm still wondering if that's such a worthwhile expedition.

The production has some difficulty dreaming up a new adventure worth the time invested, moving the action into the wilds of Africa and challenging our heroes with their dream come true. After a group effort in the previous film, "Africa" separates the lead animals, sending them to their specialized moments of self-realization. A few of the turns nudge interest: Marty finding literally his own kind with a herd of doppelganger zebras (all voiced by Rock), and Julien's quest to rule Africa permits Cohen a few moments of riffing that bring big laughs.

The irritant is Alex, who once again takes center stage, only in "Africa" the character is trapped in a reluctant heir to a jungle kingdom subplot that doesn't jump off the screen, failing to drive the movie's thematic core as intended. It's nicely acted by Stiller, Mac, and Baldwin, but the scenes aren't pleasurably silly, they lack any emotional quality, and often slow the film to a full stop. A subplot detour with a pack of human tourists stranded in the wild, led by Alex's old foe Nana (Elisa Gabriel), is another comedic sleeping pill the film could do without.

"Africa" sails fine when the production peels off the plot and just acts crazy for a few minutes at a time. The sequel reaches a few feverish Looney Tunes-style pressure points, often unsettlingly broad with slapstick. Still, speed is a good friend to "Africa," especially when the picture lays back and enjoys the world created in the previous film.

If you found any merit in "Madagascar," "Africa" will fill the same requirements for animated entertainment. It's a bumpy journey, but there are still enough giggles available to warmly embrace this second round with some seriously quirky animal pals.

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THE TRANSPORTER 3 NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie The Transporter 3 from imdb

Jason Statham is back in the third outing of 'The Transporter'. This time he's hired by a criminal mastermind to go on a mission to deliver a 'package'. With Frank Martin now electronically rigged, he must complete his mission or die!

Here is a review for the movie The Transporter 3 from dvdtalk

Since James Bond is currently clogging the pop culture air, allow me this comparison: "Transporter 3" is like watching "Casino Royale" right after heartily enjoying "Moonraker" and "Octopussy." An attempt to butch the franchise back up after the thickly frosted, logic-free happenings of the last installment, "Transporter 3" actually prefers gloom and doom, thus creating a joyless machine of violence, absent the spark of delirium that made previous efforts barrels of fun.

When Frank (Jason Statham) makes a rare pass on a delivery job, his recommendation for a replacement is quickly killed by villain Johnson (Robert Knepper, "Prison Break") when results are not met to satisfaction. This forces Frank back into play, now with a bomb strapped to his wrist triggered if he steps more than 75 feet away from his trusted automobile; Johnson sends the delivery man to Budapest, with special cargo in the form of Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), a Ukrainian party girl who plays a specific role in Johnson's plans for terror. Literally unable to leave his car, Frank hits the road with his unwelcome partner, looking to formulate a plan to ditch the death bracelet and thwart Johnson's scheme.

As action junk food goes, the first two "Transporter" movies were painless diversions, based entirely around Frank and the ambidextrous, forcefully choreographed ways he could elude death. High energy productions emerging from the colorful world of writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, the films coasted on style, endearing lunacy, and Statham's now exhausted growl.

Under the guidance of the hilariously named director Olivier Megaton, "Transporter 3" doesn't reboot the series, it just straightens its posture, returning Frank to the vaguely gritty origins of the first installment. With a more monochromatic visual design, emphasis on hand-to-hand combat (Frank has not one, but two encounters with a roomful of bad guys), sluggish car stunts, and a script that spends more time chatting than pummeling, it's clear the writers wanted to bring Frank back down to reality. I remain unconvinced this is where he should rightfully be.

The repetitive action sequences (Corey Yuen, clearly having an off day, returns to choreograph), rob "Transporter 3" of its rightful giddiness, but that's only if you can actually distinguish what's going on. To compete in today's marketplace, Megaton crams all the stunts into the Confuse-O-Tron 9000 editing application and allows the cuts to do all the talking, making stretches of the film impossible to appreciate. The cutting is so repellent, it looks as though Frank is teleporting himself around the frame instead of offering any type of natural movement. I also wasn't delighted with Frank's newfound sensitive side, unlocked by Valentina through the most inane dialogue imaginable (they have lengthy discussions about food), culminating in a cliffside seduction sequence where the actors are clearly freezing and uncomfortable, emphasizing the lack of chemistry between the leads further. "Transporter 3" is ostensibly about Frank breaking his rules for love; however, after a gander at Rudakova's excruciating performance (which incorporates pill popping and public urination...sexy!), one may wonder why Frank just doesn't detonate the wristbomb himself.

An inspired baddie performance from Knepper livens up the movie to a certain degree, and Megaton does squeeze in a sharply conceived bit where Frank frantically chases his stolen car on a bicycle (at least I think it was a bike...the editing is so insane, Frank could've been riding a broom for all I know). Still, the thrill has been effectively amputated from the franchise, diminishing Frank to a banal action figure instead of a guilty pleasure.

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007 GOLDEN EYE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie 007 Golden Eye from imdb

James Bond has a mission to recover the 'Goldeneye' access key. A Russian computer programmer called Natalya Siminova survives a murder spree by Xenia Onatopp and General Ourumov. Bond must work with Natalya to find this key and uncovers a sinister secret. His fellow agent, Alec Trevelyan who was believed to have been shot and killed 9 years ago re-surfaces. Bond soon realizes that Trevelyan is behind everything. Bond must now battle his former friend, in order to stop him from destroying London with the Goldeneye satellite. Written by simon

Bond, while on holiday, meets the beautiful but deadly Xenia Onatopp, a member of a Russia mafia group and attempts to stop Xenia and another person taking the 'Tiger' helicopter, a new design and protected against any form of jamming. Meanwhile, Natalya Siminova, a Russian computer programmer is shocked when her team is wiped out by Xenia and Natalya's boss General Ourumov who steals the top secret space weapon Goldeneye, a satellite which triggers a nuclear pulse in the target area which destroys all electronic equipment. Bond is sent to discover who's got control of the weapon and teaming up with Natalya finds that the real villain is someone who knows Bond of old. An old friend of Bond, Alec Trevelyan, plans to destroy London using Goldeneye to gain revenge on Britain and he is even more dangerous as Alec is an ex-00 agent himself... Written by Lee Horton {Leeh@tcp.co.uk}

When a deadly satellite weapon system falls into the wrong hands, only Agent 007 can save the world from certain disaster. Armed with his license to kill, Bond races to Russia in search of the stolen access codes for "Goldeneye," an awesome space weapon that can fire a devastating electromagnetic pulse toward Earth. But 007 is up against an enemy who anticipates his every move: Alec Trevelyan, a.k.a. Agent 006, a mastermind motivated by years of simmering hatred. As Bond squares off against his former compatriot, he also battles Trevelyan's stunning ally, Xenia Onatopp, an assassin who used pleasure as her ultimate weapon. When the horrifying extent of Trevelyan's plan is revealed, Bond must call upon his sharp wits and killer instincts. Written by Robert Lynch {docrlynch@yahoo.com}

1986 - Soviet Russia has been arming international terrorists with chemical weapon technology, and a chemical weapons plant in the mountains is the target of James Bond and his closest compatriot, Alec Trevelyan. Infiltrating the compound, they are spotted and Alec is captured. When a ruthless Soviet officer, Oromov, executes Trevelyan, James pulls off a spectacular escape and succeeds in blowing up the compound. Now in 1995, he is assigned to tail former Red Air Force jet jockey Xenia Onatopp, who is working for a Russian crime syndicate known as Janus, but he is unable to stop her from stealing a powerful helicopter - a theft initially dismissed as a possibility by MI6's new leader, a woman who is a bureaucratic bean counter who, despite her acidic responses to grumbling from her ticked-off men, is having to learn her job as she goes, and who has to trust James Bond's instincts after a nuclear accident occurs over a Russian region housing the tracking station for a weapons satellite known as Goldeneye. James must track down the stolen gunship and all leads to a second Goldeneye system, and along the way he is horrified to find the true identity of the Janus syndicate, which leads to a spectacular running pursuit from the stolen gunship through a Soviet army prison to a wild street chase involving a tank and confrontation with a Soviet missile train, and eventually a showdown in the jungles of Cuba. Written by Michael Daly

9 years after infiltrating a chemical weapons facility in Russia, where friend and fellow M:I-6 agent Alec Trevelyan 006 was killed by corrupt Russian military officer General Ourumov. Seductive British secret agent James Bond 007 is assigned by his new boss, a female 'M' to recover "GoldenEye" the access key to a top secret space weapon orbiting the Earth which fires a electromagnetic pulse which shuts down all electronic equipment. The "GoldenEye" has been stolen from the Severnya space research station by General Ourumov and the lethal and deadly Xenia Onatopp and slaughtered everyone at Servernya. Helped by Russian computer programmer Natalya Siminova, who was the sole survivor of the Servernya massacre and witnessed Ourumov and Xenia steal the "GoldenEye", Bond learns Ourumov and Xenia are working for Alec Trevelyan, now a renegade M:I-6, and 006 plans on using GoldenEye to wipe out London. 007 and Natalya set out to Cuba where Bond faces Trevelyan in a thrilling showdown as 007 sets out to save London from destruction. Written by Daniel Williamson

Here is a review for the movie 007 Golden Eye from dvdtalk

GoldenEye
Last but not least, this most modern Bond film in the set includes a lone yack-track -- one which features director Martin Campbell and producer Michael G. Wilson; in keeping with prior Bond commentaries, the track is balanced between technical and creative information, with both men contributing a fair amount of information.

Disc number two does the heavy lifting, supplementally speaking: the "Declassified: MI6 Vault" section features four deleted scenes, the three-part (playable separately or all together) 12 minute, 16 second "The Martin Chronicles," the nine minute, two second vintage featurette "Building a Better Bond," the five minute, 28 second featurette "The Return of Bond: The Start of Production Press Event," the two minute, 57 second "Driven to Bond: Remy Julienne," the six minute, eight second featurette "Anatomy of a Stunt: Tank versus Perrier," the two minute, 39 second featurette "Making It Small in Pictures: Derek Meddings," the 12 minute, 31 second featurette "On Location with Peter Lamont," the 28 minute, 27 second featurette "GoldenEye: The Secret Files," the 12 minute, 19 second "GoldenEye: The Secret Files - The Cast" and a pre-title storyboard sequence. As stated above, the "007 Mission Control" is likewise identical on all five films in this set -- it's a superfluous feature, one which basically presents clips germane to each of the subheadings -- "007," "Women," "Allies," "Villains," "Mission Combat Manual," "Q Branch" and "Exotic Locations" -- that are playable all together or separately. There's no narration or other information; it's quite literally brief clips from each film.
The "Mission Dossier" section includes the 43 minute, 27 second vintage TV special "The World of 007," the 14 minute, 14 second "The GoldenEye Video Journal," a five minute, 21 second vintage promotional featurette and the three minute, 32 second music video for Tina Turner's rendition of "GoldenEye." The "Ministry of Propaganda" houses two theatrical trailers and 12 TV spots (playable separately or all together) and a photo gallery completes the two-disc set. Final Thoughts:

Fresh from its most recent re-boot -- thanks to Daniel Craig's incendiary turn in Casino Royale -- these newly released "ultimate editions" provide the perfect chance for those who've not yet pulled the trigger and bought Bond on DVD to do so. Those who have purchased one (or both) of the previous Bond DVDs should be sorely tempted to upgrade based upon the sterling treatment afforded each film by Lowry Digital Images. Tailor-made for splashy, big budget action dramas, Ian Fleming's British superspy James Bond has proved to be one of filmdom's most durable heroes, not to mention one of its most successful and profitable franchises. These sets, with some of the best audio/visual presentations this reviewer has seen in 2006, and plenty of supplemental material to sate even the most diehard Bond fan, easily secure DVD Talk's highest rating: Collector Series.

Here is the direct download for the movie 007 Golden Eye.