We caught up with Tomonobu Itagaki at the recent Championship Gaming Series North American World Series Final (try printing that on a hat) in Manhattan Beach recently, and we asked him a few questions. Although he'd had a few beers, we didn't get him to pin down a date or a console for Ninja Gaiden 2, curse you weak American beer!

Yes, he was wearing his patent black leather jacket and sunglasses, and no he didn't take them off. Even when it got dark. They might be permanently welded to his face at this point. While he's known for being outspoken and critical to the extreme (especially if your game has the word Tekken in the title), when we asked him about Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, he actually handed over his DS to us and let us play through an early build of the game, more on that soon.

After what seems like a lifetime in development, direct-to-DVD speculation and a dismal 18th place opening last weekend, we thought things couldn't get much worse for the Dead or Alive movie. But we were wrong. Dead wrong, if you will.

This weekend's box office numbers show earnings for the movie dropping off an incredible 91.9 percent to just over $21,000. Total. For the whole country. For reference, top-earner Evan Almighty made that much off just three of its 3,604 opening screens. The 54th-most popular movie for the weekend, DoA was shown in just 98 theaters, earning an average $214 per screen. For even more context, action flick 300 was shown in 140 theaters and averaged $737 per showing despite being four months old.

Granted, DoA was a low-budget popcorn flick with no big names attached and next to no advertising. Still, what does this unmitigated flop say about the prospects of other upcoming, game-based movies like Prince of Persia or Spy Hunter ... or Metal Gear Solid or Diablo ... or City of Heroes or The Sims? They can't all be Tomb Raider, after all.

[Via 1up]

Recently spared from a straight-to-DVD release, the Dead or Alive movie limped into theaters this weekend without anyone much noticing or caring. The film earned $232,200 from 505 screens, finishing the weekend behind months-old thriller Disturbia and art house favorite La Vie en Rose. It's a sad day for our country when audiences would rather watch a subtitled French love story than see girls in bikinis kicking each other.

Given the reviews, it's not that surprising that audiences stayed away in droves. Rotten Tomatoes' rating page, which gives the movie a score of 46 percent, is punctuated with quotes like "unquestionably brain dead" and "a genuinely terrible film." And those are from some of the good reviews.

[Thanks Anthony]

Were you ever curious what it feels like to almost dodge a bullet? Finish this paragraph. Ain't It Cool News is reporting that, after speculation that it would be headed straight to DVD, the Dead or Alive movie will be released to theaters on June 15.

Sure, you may not be thrilled about it, but there are plenty of people who have reason to crow. For example, My Name Is Earl fans, driven mad by the summer hiatus, can squint their eyes during Jamie Pressley's scenes and pretend they're watching lost episodes. Also, the producers of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer must be stoked that they're definitely not putting out the worst movie that week. We've included the trailer after the break to help get you totally pumped for staying home that weekend.

Microsoft is ushering in the (Lunar) New Year with a pair of discounted Xbox 360 game packs. One set includes Project Gotham Racing 3 and Ridge Racer 6; the other, Dead or Alive 4 and Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. The 'Year of the Boar' branded bundles are being sold in Taiwan, where Xbox 360 launched last March. At $1,490 TWD (about $45 USD) a pop, the festive fun-packs aren't screaming "buy me" -- at least from our perspective. We're looking at three launch titles that have since been bargain-binned and a virtual peep show. This the best Microsoft could scoop outta the over-manufactured heap? Or do these hit the "target"?

Since the number one and two slots for today's hottest game video are occupied by the World of Warcraft/Office Space commercial, we're dropping down to number three which is -- the PlayStation Portable being used as a remote for the PlayStation 3. However, the video is so extremely craptastic and out of focus (really, people ... learn where your macro focus button is before we all go blind or think we have glaucoma) that we're going to jump down to the number four spot. Don't get us wrong, we love the PSP as a PS3 remote, but that video drives us mental.

So that makes today's hottest game video (by our fuzzy math skills) Christie's pole dance from DOA Xtreme 2. Apparently you have to hit the jackpot on her slot machine nine times to activate this video, so play at your own risk. The song sounds like something out of the intro to a James Bond movie, and features more jiggle than someone learning to use the Wii-mote for the first time.

Check the video out after the jump, enjoy, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!