Archive for March, 2007
Mortal Kombat 3 movie gets a fresh start; Christopher Lambert (Rayden), Robin Shou (Liu Kang) and Linden Ashby (Johnny Cage) might return
Could the videogame based movie Mortal Kombat 3 still be happening or is it lost in development hell forever? It turns out that much like the next Mortal Kombat 8 game, the third movie will get a fresh start as well.
“The movie is not going to be a prequel, sequel, or in any form be related to the previous 2 movies. Pretty much like Batman Begins, is going to restart the series with new concepts, stories, etc.,” an insider called “Rayden” told Moviehole.
He continued: “Threshold had to wait till around early 2000 for the contract with New Line Cinema to end (Threshold blames New Line for the disappointing [Mortal Kombat 2:] Annihilation, talking about forced release dates, limited budget, no understanding of anything. — The reason it is taking so long is the script, so many parts are involved. The team at Threshold (the ones that holds the right to MK) are constantly writing drafts (along with the director), which they have to send to Midway (makers of the game) so the creator of the game (Ed Boon) adds notes and some input to the draft, then to the studio (rumored to be Lionsgate at this moment).”
Here are some of the director’s comments on the movie:
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Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - Sega & Nintendo interview
Nintendo and Sega made a huge announcement earlier this week by revealing the first game to STAR both of the companies mascot characters. But the type of game revealed definitely came as a surprise. An Olympic game?
But when you really think about it it actually makes some sense. I mean both Mario and Sonic have always been athletic characters. And you’ve got Mario, who’s specialty has always been jumping, and Sonic who’s always excelled in speed. Seems like there’d be quite a match-up if you put them together and had them play the same sport! And with the 2008 Beijing Games coming up, it really seems like a perfect fit. The game is scheduled for both the Wii and the DS and will apparently be coming this holiday.
To shed some light on this pairing of onetime bitter rivals, GameSpot caught up with Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo of America’s vice president of marketing & corporate affairs, and Scott Steinberg, Sega of America’s vice president of marketing.
GameSpot (GS): So this is a pretty exciting… Article continues »
Make your wildest dreams come true with Viva Pinata
A Piñata is a straw object, traditionally a donkey, which is hung from a tree filled with goodies. Mexican children wear blindfolds and hit it with a stick until it releases its joyous sugary bounty.
In Viva Pinata’s world, this role is taken by the famous, handsome and smart Hudson Horstachio. Except, he’d rather not get killed with a blunt object, so he’ll use his magical abilities to persuade the children to let him go by making their wildest dreams come true… in this longer version of the Viva Pinata commercial…
I can’t stop laughing! 
This hilarious extended Viva Pinata commercial never aired, because it contained some wishes that weren’t safe for kids, like “A pistol and one bullet” and then there’s psycho kid’s “For you… a restraining order!”
Here’s the original “Don’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!” ad:
PS: You can download the extended ad at Gameads.
Grand Theft Auto IV first Xbox 360 and PS3 trailer released
Here’s the debut trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV that was released by Rockstar today. This first in-game footage shows how the game will look when it’ll be released on Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 16th, 2007.
This time around the third-person action adventure has you playing as a main character who has killed, smuggled, sold people & now heads to Liberty City.
“Things will be different” might refer to the modern day New York setting. Watch the same GTA4 trailer in 720p HD here.
Super Paper Mario Wii game intro
If you’ve played any GTA game, you’re probably waiting for the Grand Theft Auto 4 website to come online to see the trailer that was released almost an hour ago. Well, we’ll put the GTA IV trailer online next, whenever the internet stops crashing any site with the GTA IV movie! 
For now here’s the Super Paper Mario game intro that shows the most important part of any Super Mario game…
[heavy sarcasm] How the storyline starts. [/heavy sarcasm]
April 9 can’t come soon enough for Wii owners. Via Kotaku
Uno is the first Xbox Live Marketplace download million seller
There have been more than 135 million downloads on Live Marketplace, the Xbox 360 download service. That includes Uno, which is the first game to exceed sales of one million downloads, said Albert Penello, director of global platform marketing for Xbox. He added that 70% of Microsoft customers have downloaded some type of content.
A big part of the 135 million downloads were new HD movies and TV shows. “When developing Xbox 360, we thought there would be two trends that would be prominent in this generation,” Penello said. “The first is high definition and the second was online. The digital distribution and the online method of getting HD content has really blown us away.” — Via Reuters
New Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier game coming to PSP or PS3?
Sony developer Naughty Dog has worked on a PSP title before and released two games of their Crash Bandicoot series on the portable in the past two years (Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash Bandicoot). As for the Jak and Daxter series, another Sony developer Ready at Dawn has of course released Daxter on PSP, but the resume of voice actor Robin Atkins Downes revealed (it’s since been removed) the unannounced title “Jak PSP“. He has apparently provided his voice for a new character named Captain Phoenix according to Wikipedia.
More interesting is a Sony patent for Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier that was filed on April 21, 2006. While it doesn’t mention if the platform is PSP or PS3, it does say patent #78867309 is for videogame software and an online-real-time game for others over global and local area computer networks. Which makes sense as Daxter also featured a 1-4 player multiplayer Bug Combat mode.
PSPfanboy concludes that with Ready at Dawn working on God of War, it could be possible that Naughty Dog is working on a PSP Jak game internally. However, with no concrete evidence available right now, this rumor remains exactly that.
Why the Spider-Man letter font was used on the PlayStation 3
In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine, the PlayStation 3’s designer –Teiyu Goto– revealed how the Spider-Man letter font came to be used on the PS3.
To quote Goto-san: “Take the PS2 logo - we created it to blend in with the rectangular shape of the console. Personally, I feel very strongly that the logo would not have looked right on PS3.
If you really look at the PS3 contour carefully, it is rounded when viewing the console in profile. Rather than creating a typography with all the risks that entails, it was wiser to use the one from Spider-Man, for which Sony has the rights.
It was also the wish of President Kutaragi, who insisted that I use this typography. In fact, the logo was one of the first elements he decided on and the logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3.”
New Bullet Witch content on Marketplace
Atari today released the first downloadable content for its Xbox 360 shooter Bullet Witch.
Now available for free are a Bullet Witch Theme Pack for Xbox 360 dashboards and a new White Witch costume for the game’s protagonist, the gun-toting, spellcasting Alicia.
Those willing to part with some change can also download some new missions. An all-new mission named Dynamite Beauty and two “enhanced versions” of the previously released Clad in Streaming Black are each available for 20 Microsoft points ($0.25).
Bullet Witch was released in February and developed by Japanese gamemaker Cavia. Gamers control Alicia in the year 2013 as she takes on a demonic horde attempting to eradicate mankind.
Bullet Witch is rated M for Mature and retails for $49.99.
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Project Gotham Racing 4 gives Xbox 360 extreme weather in winter 2007
Thanks to Noa for sending this in. The May issue of Official Xbox Magazine (out on April 10) scored an exclusive sneak peak at Bizarre Creations’ Project Gotham Racing 4 (PGR4), the fourth installment of the Xbox/Xbox 360 flagship racing series. The magazine will have the first in-game screenshots. Up until now it wasn’t clear if the game would come out in or before the first half of 2008, luckily the magazine confirms the PGR 4 release date is set for winter 2007!
The preview details some new features:
* Enhanced Weather Simulation - “One of the slickest new features in PGR is its weather. Bizarre’s using what it likes to call ‘extreme weather’ for more than just making the sky gray. Water beads up on beautifully on all the gorgeous paintjobs, spray jets out from the tires, and in the in-car view, wipers move and windshields ice up.â€
* Enhanced Raceway Environments - “A TV-style intro sets up each event, with a commentator offering wisdom…Choppers buzz overhead, camera crews and video vans are everywhere, and hordes of fans line the track. They’ll wear gear with your logo, wave your national flag, and react far more obviously to your performance.â€
* Extended Car Selection - “PGR4 will deliver a much broader set of vehicles, ranging from a vintage’63 Corvette Sting Ray and the ’54 Maserati 250F to the sleek, ultra-modern Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.†Article continues »
