Category: Gaming

Ever since video games began game programmers, directors,  and publishers have saught to translate movies into games and games into movies.  This would seem like the a perfect marriage between the media, but as history unfolded most movie to game translations and vice-versa were horrible!   Jim Sterling over at Destructoid has done a pretty good job of summing up why movie-games fail so much so I won’t rehash his work here: Why Do Video Game Movies Fail So Much?

My most recent experience with this media is the newly released Ghostbusters: The Video Game.  This adaptation is known as the official Ghostbusters 3 as we will more than likely never see a movie of this title.  Aykroyd and Ramis wrote the script for this installation and each of the actors who portrayed the Ghostbusters in the films, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson, provided their voices and likenesses to the characters.  When I found out the game was written by the original writers and that all the stars would be back I knew this would be a special game translation.  Not many movies-to-games get this special treatment, and not many have a budget to back them up.

When I popped the disc in and started my Xbox 360 up the familiar Ghostbuster’s theme song came on and the game already had a feel that it was not going to be a movie-to-game flop.  I was defnitely not afraid of no ghosts!

The game is set during Thanksgiving of 1991 almost 2 years after Ghostbuster’s 2. You begin the story as a new recruit that his hoping stay on the team.  During your orientation a large scale PKE shockwave travels through the city and frees Slimer.  Remember Slimer? Once freed, the chubby green ghost heads back to Sedgewick Hotel where he was first caught in the original Ghostbusters. This begins a small journey through memorey lane where after capturing Slimer again you end up fighting the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man! All this in the first hour of the game and I was hooked!

I finished a level of the game every other day on and off for the last few weeks ( a level takes about an hour).  After about 8-10 hours of game play I finished the game last weekend.  Usually, I never finish a game this quick, but the acting/voiceovers and graphics were so good it really kept me wanting to see what happened next.  This is definitely one of the best movie-to-game translations I have ever played if not THE best!  The only failure of this game is that there is no multi-player during the campaign mode. I understand the need for this as all the other characters are key to the movi-like feel of the game, but 4 player multi through the campaign would have been epic.  Hey, I’m not complaing, htough. I wish more developers would put out movie based games like this.

I highly recommend this game to gamers and fans of the movie series.  You will not be disappointed when Stay-Puft is looking down at you like you’re a camper with graham crackers and Hersheys in your hands!

This month I have been playing a lot of Soul Calibur which dropped on July 29th.  This iteration is the best so far.  I am loving the character creation mode.  Going online is never boring as players around the world have all customized characters making it so you never play against the same foe twice.  Of course, there is a set amount of weapon styles, but at least they look very different.  This game is definitely one of my favorite fighters of all time.  I really love the street fighter series, but I respect Soul Calibur more for it’s deep combo system and overall control.  I will be playing this one for a while.


Also, this month Madden 09 came out.  It looks like this is finally the year to purchase Madden so if you have been waiting… wait no more.  All the modes you have grown to love are back in the game and the graphics have been revamped somewhat from last year’s release.  I don’t do football to much, but one of my best friend’s down in Florida feels better when he can actually beat me in a video game so why not.  I will not be letting him get easy victories though.  If you need a brush up on your Madden skills check out this link:Madden @ Gamespot.


Well, you know I’m still getting my Halo in here and there.  I will always love this shooter no matter what the critics say.  Usually it’s the ones that suck at this game whom give it shit.  Trust me, Halo has tons of strategy involved.  The really good players all know this or else everyone would be good.  I wish they would have made armor downloadable content though.  As long as they keep dropping new maps expect this one to me in my rotation every month.


Some games that I will be checking out on Live this month are Braid, and Bionic Commando.  I have already played the demo for Braid and can say this is a very innovative game.  I will more than likely end up purchasing it by next week.

If you have never played Geometry Wars do yourself a favor and grab this title off of Live.  It is highly addictive so watch out.  It is also not recommended for those prone to seizures due to bright lights and lots of movement on screen.  This game is definitely worth the bucks.
That’s all for now holla later!

As usual I am always looking forward to the new stuff for Microsoft Xbox 360.  Currently, this is my top console in this generation of video gaming hardware. It appears that a few hot titles are approaching the horizon for this machine.
– Fallout 3: This game is definitely one I will be checking out through Gamefly.  The concept is sweet, and it looks like Bethesda has done a good job with this one.

– Resident Evil 5: Wow! I think I will definitely try this one out. Co-op looks great for this game.

– Fable 2: Looks like a cool game. I played Fable 1 very briefly.  I don’t think I will be playing this one much either though.  I’m sure I would be a fan if I invested, but I don’t think this one is worth the time for me at this point.

– Gear of War 2: Oh yeah! You know this is going to be a great game! This one is a purchase.  The engine looks amazing and the graphics have been enhanced majorly from the prequel. Riding a Brumack…dizamn!! I’ll be at Gamestop November 7th for sure.
On to the digital Media. I will probably rarely use this form of entertainment from my Xbox. Until they let you purchase a movie that can be downloaded anytime and forever yours or they let you replay movies you rent then this will not be how I acquire digital media.   The concept is awesome, but the DRM is not quite there yet for me to start investing lots of money into a digital library.  What if I want to take a movie I just bought and play it at a friend’s house?  What if I want to take the media I downloaded from my Xbox 360 and put it on my PSP? Although, this capability may never be possible it would be heavenly.

So, we now know for sure that Microsoft will be going the Nintendo Mii road and introducing Xbox Live members to Avatars.  This does seem like true bite from Nintendo’s platform, but then again “Avatars” have been around for a long time.  I think it’s not a bad idea, but will not make any difference on my current opinion of the system. Before, I was not hating Microsoft for not having a Mii-like system.  I was hating on Sony for not having achievements or in-game XMB, but do not criticize them for not having avatars.  Defintely, an overrated additon to the Xbox 360 platform.

Another big additon/change for the Xbox 360 will be the look and feel of the dashboard. Wow! Why the hell does Microsoft think this needs to be changed? I have not read any complaints concerning their current design.  Why does Bill and the boys think this is a good idea?  Well, it’s obviously not in our hands, but I hope they don’t destroy the feel of this machine.  I don’t want a Vista clone on my 360.  Where is clan support?  Where is the ability to customize blades individually?  Why all this useless junk?

Xbox 360 is still my platform of choice, but most of the stuff I loved about the system was in place before E3. There were some great game announcements, but the firmware updates did not excite me much at all.  I wish the Xbox continued success, but Microsoft please bring updates more pertinent to the hardcore gamer.

With the arrival of the upcoming I-phone by Apple we will begin to see a new direction for user interfaces. The first user interface was the command line, and the second was the use of overlapping windows like today’s XP and Mac interfaces. Now we have a totally new interface that will revolve around using touch sensitive screens to manipulate data. Check out this video: Click Here.

It is amazing what the human mind can develop, and what will be even more amazing is the applications that will be developed with this new technology.