Archive for May, 2009

Filed under: RumorMonger, Fandom, Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment

Folks far and wide are eagerly awaiting the film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are, which, if you live under a rock, is being directed by Spike Jonze. (He also wrote the adaptation with Dave Eggers, so here's hoping Jonze could keep the twee to a minimum.) The photos and trailer are so fantastic, I could cry. What's the rumpus, you say?

Last year Kotaku reported a rumor that Brash Entertainment would be developing a video game based on the film. Brash aimed to make great video games based on movie licenses, but instead ended up making games like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Interestingly enough, one of the cofounders of Brash, Thomas Tull, is also the head of Legendary Pictures, one of the production companies behind Wild Things. However, Tull quit and Brash folded. Variety reported, "Tull is believed to have been disappointed with the quality of Brash's games, as well as the company's strategic direction." This left many titles in the lurch, including Wild Things.

So, what now? Sounds like Amaze Entertainment will be taking over, as per the bio of Michael Waite, Studio Head / Executive Producer, which some blogger stumbled upon.

"Michael's contributions include Electronic Arts' best-selling Need for Speed and Harry Potter series, and other top tier franchises including titles such as Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, Shrek the Third, Lord of the Rings: Tactics, Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events, as well as two titles due out later this year: Where The Wild Things Are on all console platforms and Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings for PSP."

But! Amaze is still looking for a publisher for Wild Things. With Warner Bros. talking big about its interest in technology, will they be the ones to snap it up? And more importantly, will it be any good?!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment

If you're feeling bored at your desk and you don't feel like playing good games while toggling between work documents and your desktop, might we suggest a few Paul Blart time-wasters? (And by suggest, I mean, go straight to PopCap Games and get Peggle or Plants vs. Zombies.)

You have two choices for Blart-tastic web-based fun, and one downloadable game as well. In "Mall Cop The Game," you ride your Segway around the mall looking for criminals, alarms, and special goodies that increase your time or give you extra points. And in Paul Blart: Mall Cop Slalom, you're just zooming away on your little Segway trying to avoid a skateboarding punk, potted plants, and benches. Paul Blart: Mall Cop - Mall Maze is actually the best of the bunch, relatively speaking, as it's a sort of Pac-Man game where you avoid criminals and collect candy and badges.

So where are the Observe and Report games? It could be totally old school, with Ronnie as Pac-Man trying to collect his pills and avoiding Detective Harrison and Brandi as Ms. Pac-Man collecting lipsticks and margaritas. The Yuen brothers could be like Super Mario Brothers. Or Hey, 2K Games! Call me!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment

Just days after reports surfaced that Warner Bros. is bidding on Midway Games, which filed for Chapter 11 in February, and also took over the rights to EA's Lord of the Rings video game franchise*, Variety is reporting that the studio is getting ready to jump into the iPhone game.

Sony, Paramount, and Warner Bros. have all been vying for attention from mobile gamers with releases like a Star Trek comic book app, an Angels and Demons video game app, and more. However, according to Warner Digital Distribution director of worldwide marketing Stephanie Bohn, WB is planning to release about 40 iPhone applications by the end of the year. WB just released a Terminator comic app tied to the opening of Terminator: Salvation and has more in the works for upcoming releases, as well as ideas for "animated episodic video apps and other apps built around Warner brands."

As a recent survey by marketing research team NPD showed, more people are playing video games than going to the movies, and one distinct reason the numbers are rising isn't just the price of movie tickets. The numbers of casual video game players is increasing exponentially, partially due to the popularity, ease, and increasing quality of games available on iPhones and other handhelds. If movie studios get involved directly with video game developers, will the video game tie-ins improve? And as Bohn points out, "It doesn't cost a lot to launch an app... Relative to a TV show or a film, it's nothing." So, could this new strategy also mean good news for studios' sagging bottom lines (and for iPhone gaming addicts)?

* Gamers are already suspicious of the newest Lord of the Rings game, Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, because it's being billed as family-friendly. EA's license for the franchise expired and reverted back to New Line, thus Warner Bros.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tech Stuff, Movie Games

The predictably and sadly stinky Righteous Kill, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as cranky old cops trying to solve a possible serial killer case and make old rights wrong etc. etc ad infinitum, has a video game. No, I didn't know it either! Probably because it was put out by Merscom and Starz Media and is a downloadable PC game that can be yours for just $6.99 via Big Fish Games. And now there's a sequel called Righteous Kill: Revenge of the Poet Killer, which can also be yours for $6.99.

Both games have the barest connections to the actual movie. Here's the description of the first game:

"Step into the shoes of Erica Dean as she investigates crime scenes in New York City. It`s a man hunt for a vigilante on a killing spree through 16 locations containing over a thousand hidden objects. With the help of Sergeant Vasquez, Erica will use clues she collects in a number of detective-themed mini games. Inspired by the motion picture film, Righteous Kill features clips from the movie and 15 animated levels."

Continue reading 'Righteous Kill 2' -- The Video Game!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff

In an interesting video game/movie tie-in, GameStop has a promo running until June 30, 2009 ("or until all e-Movie Cash tickets have been distributed, whichever comes first," natch) called "Love the Movie - Live the Game," and it's definitely a mixed bag.

Basically, if you buy one of the following games, you can get a $10 voucher for select movies at participating theaters that's only good until July 31, 2009. That's a lot of ifs, especially if you check out the games they're offering, which are not all tied in to current releases. And some of them will make real gaming geeks bleed from the eyes. Take a look.

Continue reading GameStop Offers Some Sucky Games for Movie Stubs

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff, Movie Marketing

So, who out there is already sick of hearing about Twitter? I know there are a few people in my life that can't help but roll their eyes when they even hear the word, but I'll totally admit it to being full fledged addict. The number of smart-phone users and people on social networks like Twitter are reaching all-time highs, and in a piece for Variety, Susan Lambert looked at some of the ways in which movie studios are looking to cash in. But the bad news is that nobody is quite sure about whether or not this new style of advertising is a success. Now that four out of the six majors already have Twitter accounts, and poster launches and ARG games are popping up daily, it would seem that everyone loves a new toy -- whether it works or not.

If you think back to a year ago, the studios were all about creating viral campaigns (Blame J.J. Abrams if you must) and fans could spend hours pouring over HTML code to find a hidden message that located a secret 'hatch' or a photo of a mutated whale. But the original ARG-style viral campaigns have already faded away, and while there are still a few of them out there, they haven't exactly been a success (case in point: how many of you out there signed up for Emmerich's IHC lottery? That's what I thought). I think the biggest deterrent for fans was that if you wanted to play along, it was going to be an awful lot of work. But with the automation of services like Twitter or a dedicated movie app on your smart-phone, it's a one time deal. If you don't have time to take down Skynet by engaging in a complicated treasure hunt, why not just sign up as part of the Human Resistance and John Connor will do the work for you?

After the jump find out if Twitter is really that different from any other advertising medium...

Continue reading Movie Marketing Invades Twitter - Do You Even Care?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments