Rahul Shirke

Justice League movie stalled!

Justice League, from the Animated Series

Superhero movie fans mourn, because the highly-awaited Justice League movie from Warner Bros. has hit a rock, stumbled and fallen down an inescapable ravine with no Lassie to help. The movie, which was slated for a 2009 release, with production to start Spring has been put on hold. Production will now most likely start in late summer or fall (if at all)!

Why, you ask? The studio wants tax breaks for shooting in Australia, and got no response to their proposal. They also weren’t fully satisfied with the script, and wanted some more help with it, but the current writers’ strike leaves their options to drooling Justice League fanfic writers, which is not a good idea. Plus, the film is in a sorry state with the writer’s strike already, but their SAG deal expires in June, and the movie needs to be completed by then!

As far as the cast goes, most of the cast should still be available for the planned late summer-fall production. The cast itself, for those not in the know, will feature Arnie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash, and (rumors follow) Scott Porter as Superman, Common as Green Lantern and Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul.

The repercussions here are that we are in a shortage of superhero flicks. The Dark Knight, the show-stealer is coming out this very year, while a Superman sequel’s fate is currently unknown. The inevitable Spider-Man 4 will take a while. That leaves us with the new upcoming Hulk movie and the planned Captain America movie. Okay, maybe not even that less, but hell.

Myst to hit the DS!

In gaming’s Hall of Fame stands out one title – Myst, an adventure game that left a huge impact on the games industry and also became the highest-selling game of its time, later beaten by the gay The Sims. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve never even heard of the game, because it was released in 1993 and you started getting serious in games in like what, 2003?

This classic adventure title that a whole lot of people have fond memories of, is now making its way to North American Nintendo DSs, where it will do the same magic it did 15 years ago. And if you haven’t played the original, and own a DS, we see no reason why you shouldn’t get this game other than the fact that you have a gay pink DS. Okay.

The DS version features brand new graphics, with a lot more information to aid your quest. The lower screen functions as the game itself (which you now gloriously control with your phallic stylus), while the upper screen gives you all sorts of information. Myst, while being an adventure game that puts you into stunningly immersive environments, still focuses on puzzles and logic games. And hell, I don’t see “immersive” coming anywhere when you’re staring into a tiny DS screen in the middle of a crowded subway station.

Myst DS is scheduled to release in North America in March 2008. Buy it and let’s see if we can make it the best-selling DS game on the planet.

Smurfs: The Movie; We’re Serious

Smurfs. Invented in 1958, these creatures have been one of pop culture’s more popular franchises. With their blue skin and classic song, they have conquered the world. And now, in Anno 2008, they will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their existence! One of the biggest highlights of this events is a movie deal that will cause Hollywood to topple over. We’re talking a computer-animated 3D movie here. The horror!Also expect an invasion of female characters (not literally, of course – this isn’t Xena). Hendrik Coysman justifies this in that The Smurfs have always adapted to the current era and theme, and since the 80s, you’ve had women in more positions of power and freedom. The Smurfs will now reflect that!

Other stuff you should expect during these demonic 50th anniversary celebrations: new comic adventures, statuettes, an exhibition at Brussels’ cartoon museum and a set of commemorative stamps.

Oh Gawd.

Soulcalibur IV: Vader, Yoda exclusive to PS3, 360 respectively

1UP has been running an exclusive recently that the one game long awaited by both fighting game fans and deviant porn aficionados, Soulcalibur IV, will feature Darth Vader and Yoda in guest appearances. No wait, what? Yes, for real. Look at the screen above and you’ll know we aren’t making this up. They packed their bags and ran to Sony’s CES, where they found out what side of the Force the two consoles fell.

The PS3 (or Darth PS3) version of Soulcalibur IV is on the Dark Side and will feature Darth Vader, while the Xbox 360 (or Jedi Master 360) version will allow players to be Yoda. While Vader fighting Ivy is enough to get gamers like me spewing liquid all over the floor, we will probably not see a Vader vs. Yoda war in Soulcalibur, unless Namco Bandai decides downloadable content is cool.

Star Wars fanboys like me will see that the Vader and Yoda models as the most realistic ones seen in video games yet (and ironically, not handled by LucasArts) – they even look better than that Force Unleashed game coming out soon. And I don’t mean to nitpick, and I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something weird about that Darth Vader model. Hmm.

If downloadable content turns out to be a reality, it will also be great to see other Star Wars characters in these photorealistic renders, preferably Obi-Wan, Darth Maul and ~~Jar-Jar Binks~~.

Oh shit. Before I get sacked, here’s the Sony CES trailer to make up for the boo-boo. Note Yoda and Darth Vader in a sneak preview towards the end.

Ron Gilbert allies with Hothead for hilarious RPG-Adventure “DeathSpank”

Among the gaming halls of fame is a platinum bust of Ron Gilbert, famed video game designer, two great works of his being Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island. If you had any assumptions that Mr. Gilbert had been abducted by adventure-game-loving aliens, think again, because you were somehow right. HotHead Games, developers of… uh… have taken dragged Ron Gilbert into their fortress of doom to design a video game he had in his mind for a long time – DeathSpank! This video game will truly be used for nefarious purposes to enslave mankind!

DeathSpank will be an RPG-Adventure hybrid, and I have a feeling we’re talking real adventure here, because that’s Ron Gilbert talking. He describes it as a Diablo-Monkey Island hybrid, which sounds like beautifully twisted fun for all ages. It will be an episodic game, with its first episode titled rather sombrely as “Orphans of Justice”, which will be coming rather soonish, according to the big poster on their website.

And now, because your subconscious mind really asked for it, here’s the official press release(!):

HOTHEAD GAMES TO PUBLISH NEW RON GILBERT GAME DEATHSPANK
Gilbert joins the Vancouver crew as Creative Director

The Great White North, January 9, 2008 – In a move that may upset the balance of the universe (or at least that around the 49th parallel), Hothead Games announced plans to publish Ron Gilbert’s long-awaited RPG-Adventure game, DeathSpank. Described as “Monkey Island meets Diablo”, the game will be released in episodic format and feature Gilbert’s unique style of humor and storytelling. In a related move, Ron Gilbert will be joining the company’s Vancouver-based studio as Creative Director, effective immediately.

Speaking from his secret game design cave, Ron Gilbert said, “I’ve spent over four years trying to find the right publisher for this strange little game. Now that I’ve done it, you just know that somewhere four horsemen are saddling up.”

The episodic game follows the thong-tastic adventures of a misguided hero named DeathSpank, a character that first appeared on Gilbert’s Grumpy Gamer website in a series of animated comics he penned with long-time creative collaborator, Clayton Kauzlaric.

Hothead prepared for Gilbert’s arrival by ordering the finest morsels of jellied moose meat and lager brewed with water from the nearest available glacier. “We’re all huge fans of Monkey Island and we love Ron’s unique vision and sense of humor,” said Joel DeYoung, COO of Hothead Games. “Ron shares Hothead’s goal of bringing much-needed humor and innovation into games, so having him here in Vancouver as our Creative Director is an excellent fit.”

“I’m really excited to be working with Hothead Games not only on DeathSpank, but as their new Creative Director,” said Gilbert. “I got to know everyone at Hothead while I was helping with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. They really understand humor and being creative like very few publishers do.”

As Creative Director, Gilbert will work in the Vancouver-based studio on all of Hothead’s games. He is also expected to improve his hockey skills substantially during his stay.

Cloverfield monster attacks Chuai Station, could be Ninja!

Ah, Cloverfield – there has been no better viral marketing in the world. In fact, I’d warrant that the viral marketing itself has gotten more people on than the movie ever will. It’s coming out in only 11 days now, and we still know what/who the great monster guy is.

Continuing the viral marketing, a new video (or rather, series of videos) have appeared across the Internet, that take the form of news channels reporting that the Chuai Station that belongs to the Tagruato Corporation has been mysteriously wrecked. According to Tagruato’s site, Chuai Station is located quite a ways off the North American East coast (a good place to start ravaging New York) and was “opened” in September 2007.

While of course, we have no doubt that the monster should be at work behind this, Tagruato Corp. released a statement:

There has been an altercation at the Chuai Station. Although details are limited at present time, be assured that Tagruato is taking every measure necessary to ensure the safety and well being of all staff and crew. Specialty teams have been deployed, and are working aggressively to restore harmony at the site.

The cause of the problem is currently being investigated, although it is suspected that an eco-terror cell is responsible for the disturbance.

We have top investigators on our side. Everything will be resolved shortly, and all problems will be fixed. If you have any questions, please contact us at +81-3-5403-6318 for further instructions.

For those of you not in the know, Tagruato Corp. doesn’t actually exist, and it’s only part of Cloverfield’s vast viral marketing campaign.

That’s the Spanish version of the video, with the German and Italian versions also available (they all have slightly different footage, so you’ll want to check them all out). Very conveniently, there is no English version yet.

If you observe the videos carefully, you’ll notice that there are gun-toting ninjas escaping the station. Perhaps this is all a secret ninja conspiracy, whereby they secretly control the world? As you know, Ninjas are too fast to be seen – and if we are seeing them in the video, they’re probably decoys! There is a ninja conspiracy afloat, people. Be very, very careful.