Catch Me If You Can Caught on Blu-ray

The Spielberg titles on Blu just keep coming! Paramount Home Media Distribution will bring the Oscar-nominated hit, Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, to Blu-ray December 4, 2012.

On a modest $52 million budget, the film, based on the extraordinary true story of Frank Abagale Jr, a young man who forged checks and posed as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer, grossed over $350 million worldwide.

Catch Me If You Can will come to Blu-ray with a digital remastered 1080p hi-def presentation, mixed in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. Extras will be ported over from the original two-disc DVD set. Goodies include the following:

• Catch Me If You Can: Behind the Camera
• Catch Me If You Can: The Casting of the Film:

- Leonardo DiCaprio as “Frank Abagnale, Jr.”

- Tom Hanks as “Carl Hanratty”

- Frank’s Parents: Christopher Walken and Nathalie Baye

- The Strong Family: Martin Sheen and Amy Adams

- Jennifer Garner as “Cheryl Ann”

• Scoring: Catch Me If You Can
• Frank Abagnale: Between Reality and Fiction:

- Meet Frank Abagnale

- Frank Becomes a Pilot

- Frank’s Careers

- Frank Gets Caught and Turns His Life Around

• The FBI Perspective
• Catch Me If You Can: In Closing
• Photo Galleries:

- Cast

- Behind-the-Scenes

- Costume Design

Suggested retail for the Blu-ray is set at $22.98. You can pre-order the film on Amazon for $16.98.

Be on the lookout for a review of Catch Me If You Can in December! And hopefully this announcement means Paramount is only a few months away from releasing Munich on Blu-ray. Fingers crossed.

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Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

NPD: Darksiders II Leads U.S. Sales, Big Month for 3DS

The NPD Group has revealed the top ten best-selling games in the United States for the month of August.

The best-selling titles for the period between July 29th and August 25th, in order, are:

1. Darksiders II (360, PS3, PC)**
2. New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
3. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS)**
4. NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
5. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
6. Sleeping Dogs (360, PS3)
7. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360, PS3)
8. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)**
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)**
10. The Amazing Spider-Man (360, PS3, NDS, 3DS, Wii)

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, no hardware platforms experienced a sales increase compared to last year, but 3DS and PlayStation 3 did sell more units than last month. 3DS XL is said to have represented 44% of total 3DS sales in August despite not launching until the 19th. “The current hardware systems are showing their age, so it goes without saying that it would be great to have new systems breathe life into traditional retail industry sales,” Frazier said. “I am anxious to learn more about the Wii U launch later this month. And with any luck we will hear news about other systems on the horizon.”

Software declined only 1% compared to August 2011, “pointing to a stabilization in that portion of the retail market” for games. “One factor contributing to the softness we have seen in retail content sales so far in 2012 has been the decline in the sheer number of new titles,” Frazier added. “This, however, was not the case in August because there were more new titles when compared to last year; titles with sales that were significantly better than last year’s launches. So, what we’re seeing impact August results is the domino effect of the light release schedule from earlier in the year. That lack of new releases has had a significant impact on subsequent month’s sales.”

Frazier also noted that accessory sales continue to be dominated by points cards and character packs for Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. Frazier also noted that “You can’t talk about the gaming market without taking into consideration the growth in the number of mobile gamers on smartphones and tablets. Our recently released gamer segmentation research indicates that the mobile gamer segment of the market is now slightly larger than the core gamer segment, although their monetary value to the industry varies significantly. The industry foundation will always be the core gamer who spends 35 percent more on physical games than does the average gamer.”

Microsoft notes that 193,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold in August, “marking the 20th consecutive month as the top-selling current-generation console in the United States.” Xbox 360 held a 48% share of current-generation console sales in the United States in August, with consumers spending $196 million on hardware, software and accessories.

This story will be updated when IGN receives statements from Nintendo and Sony.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Bastion iPad version revealed, coming tomorrow

A big surprise awaited gamers in New Zealand this morning when their version of the App Store updated (NZ is always the first to feature new titles) and included a new, unannounced version of the modern indie classic, Bastion, available for the iPad.

The App Store updates at around midnight in each territory, and as such the new version of Bastion will be making its way West over the course of the day. The NZ version of the game was priced at $6.49, which Polygonreports generally means it will come to the US for $4.99.

The new iPad version was previously kept secret by Supergiant Games, and does not seem to sport any new features aside from of course a new control scheme.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Dragon Commander, Original Sin stolen from Gamescom booth, $5000 bounty posted

Larian Games reported today that two of their titles were stolen right out from under their nose at their Gamescom 2012 demo booth. The PCs were carrying early copies of Divinity: Dragon Commander, and Divinity: Original Sin.

The developer has offered a $5000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the thief. Fortunately, the PCs were backups so there are no worries that the primary code was stolen or that development was disrupted. The main worry right now seems to be a black eye for the company, as well as the fear that the early build could show up on torrent sites. 

But it's not all terrible! At least this got their games in the headlines of the top gaming sites today! When truthfully, games like Dragon Commander and Original Sin probably would have been overlooked in the avalanche of amazing videos, announcements, and info coming out about the top games of the year.

This is not the first time this type of incident has happened at a video game trade show. Back at PAX East 2010 a young man tried to gank a copy of Breach from the demo floor, however he was tackled to the ground before he could leave the building. He eventually was tried and received probation.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com