The Smarmy Carny

In preparation for the Transformers movie next month, transformersmovie.com has put out a turn-based battle game titled Battle for the Allspark.

Autobot gets burnt

In the game, you start out by choosing to Protect (as an Autobot) or Destroy (as a Decepticon). Enter a zone and choose a robot from the opposing side to fight against. Each robot picks one action per round, and you are limited by the amount of energy you have during that round. The robot that runs out of power first loses. As you win battles, you work your way up from your initial rank (Private) through the three higher levels (Lieutenant, Captain, and Major). As you gain rank, you also gain access to additional "skills".

Your wins and losses don't only affect you: The game keeps track of which side has stronger control of the world, split up into 20 "zones" — the side currently holding the majority of zones has control of the Allspark.

But to be honest: The reason I really like this game is that I have a 75% rate of victory.

More than meets the eye

At long last, the trailer for the live-action Transformers movie is available for viewing at Yahoo! Movies. The trailer is available in WMP and Quicktime formats, including high definition Quicktime formats.

This trailer gives us glimpses of a few transformers, including Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.

Die hard Transformers fans have already spoken up with the usual fan qualms, but the movie looks to be exciting and entertaining for fans, both old and new.

Transformers – Autobots

The live-action Transformers movie is scheduled to be released on the 4th of July, 2007. That's exactly 7 months away from the original date of this post!

Thanks to my son, I have been rewatching the old Transformers series that I grew up with (available on a 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD) as well as watching the new Transformers Cybertron series.

If nothing else, Transformers in all its forms is a great taunt-fest. If you need great trash talk lines, you'll find plenty when you watch Transformers.

The official movie site still has more content to add, however you can already view the teaser, download wallpapers,

Though it's expected anyway, I'm glad to see that Starscream will be in the movie. On Black Friday, I bought a 14.7" tall Transformers Cybertron Supreme Starscream for my son. It's for Christmas, but I want to bust it out of the box and play with it before then. For a list of other characters appearing in the movie, watch the extremely informative the Yahoo! webcast Q&A with the writers (Windows Media Player required). They discuss many facets of the movie, including working with Hasbro, the role of humans in the movie, and working with director Michael Bay.