Rahul Shirke

Poltergeist remake has been confirmed, we repeat – CONFIRMED.

Almost exactly a year ago, the guys at Bloody Disgusting posted news about a possible Poltergeist remake, but nothing was official and so they just got a bit laughed at. But they were persistent and they continued to claim that the remake is for real, even after Spielberg denied it. This time, they seem to have confirmation that the 1982 horror classic is going to be resurrected. It’s going to be a post-strike movie, under production at MGM (which Bloody Disgusting reported amidst the rumours long ago).

BD doesn’t have any concrete proof, however, including no official announcement. They are “100% certain”, but I’d like to see some hard proof. Bloody Disgusting has informed us to wait for 2008 for more news. Yeah, I’ll just go drink coffee.

Michael Bay to leak false info on Transformers 2, is being an ass

As if Michael Bay bitching about not doing Transformers 2 wasn’t enough, he is now determined to wrestle innocent fanboys and movie news sites. Bay told Rotten Tomatoes that he has several fake scripts which he is going to leak “all over the place”. Since fans will never know that these are fake, they will be confused and Bay will be one happy boy. There is already one out, see if you can catch it.

I fail to see the genius in revealing that you’re releasing fakes if you ARE releasing fakes. Since people are going to know that the copy they hold is a fake, there isn’t going to be as much hype and viral marketing for the movie. If Bay is NOT leaking anything, but is lying in this article, then I label him a genius.

Bay goes on to boast about how he got the writer of The Ring to join the crew and how the story is going to be good, just like the first was. So, Transformers fans, here’s my advice to you: If you see a fantastic Transformers script, a brilliantly written, a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime script, you know it’s a Michael Bay-approved fake and doesn’t have a chance of being the actual movie.

Massive BSODs sighted in Toronto, apprehension grows

Click on image for link to larger image, if you haven’t guessed yet.

Software glitch my ass. I’ve (like many others of my kind) have known that Blue Screens of Death are tangible, electronic aliens that will one day enslave humanity, and Microsoft is just a front for them. And yes, Bill Gates is actually green and has five tentacles and sucks brains out. Ballmer is of the same race.

Their crusade against humanity was fairly veiled until now, but it appears that they are willing to declare full-fledged war. As you can see in the image above, Blue Screens of Death have invaded Toronto, terrorizing the populace and causing global fear. According to news sources, these have lasted for days. Civilians have been advised NOT to negotiate or communicate with these aliens, as they could be heavily armed. Pray for the people of Toronto, and report your nearest BSOD to the local authorities.

Remember, humanity’s future may lie in your hands.

[Via Gizmodo]

Portal’s Appeal, and Why we need more games like Portal

There is something plain weird with Portal. I finished playing this game not very long ago, and it has me absorbed. Not just when playing it, but even when I’m not. I reach for my Portal Gun every so often, or hurriedly look for my Weighted Companion Cube or, well, back away and run out of the room when I see a cake, yelling “The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!”

While navigating through portals is somewhat disorienting at the beginning of the game, you get used to it fairly fast. The same applies to the “flinging” concept – it can be frustrating in the beginning, but you get addicted to it later. Another addiction I found was to shoot one portal in the ceiling, one on the floor and jump into the infinite vortex thus created.

Portal appears so weird because it is the first game in a long time that doesn’t want to be “realistic”, it realizes that in a video game, you don’t have real life’s restrictions. You can do whatever the hell you like. And it is games like Portal that we need in the industry – games that are different, creative and stimulating.

Hit the jump to continue reading!
Continue reading “Portal’s Appeal, and Why we need more games like Portal”

How hypocritical Nintendo ruined Maniac Mansion

Ah, classic LucasArts adventure games. They’re a memory I cherish, and they’re something you ought to play if you were under the belief that games cannot be funny or have decent storylines. While the adventure gaming scene was dominated by giants like the Monkey Island games, the Indiana Jones games and the later released masterpiece, Grim Fandango, one of the forefathers of the LucasArts adventure games brand was Maniac Mansion.

The satirical game was one example of how games back then were art, not some stupid high-graphics shooting trash. Apparently, Nintendo didn’t like free, liberal art a lot, and opted for more nerfed games. This article from Douglas Crawford exposes Nintendo’s hypocrisy quite well. Nintendo wanted LA’s masterpiece on their NES, but they didn’t want any of the bad words and suggestive things. Of course, they’d rather that you kill creatures and people, but it’s bad to say the word kill or suck.

Some of the edits Nintendo required included the ones like the line
“getting your brains sucked out” being cut, or “For a good time EDNA 3444” replaced by “Call Edna 3444”. Their anti-nudity clause involved cutting out a humorous poster of a mummy, wrapped head-to-toe in bandages striking a Playboy pose.

The most ridiculous one is the removal of the term “NES SCUMM system”, which the engine on which the game ran. Nintendo’s reaction? “Yeah, but it says NES SCUMM. What will people think?” Grow up, Nintendo.

One of the most interesting points in the rather well-written article is this:

The standards go on to prohibit

depictions of excessive and gratuitous violence,

which would seem to ban any game in which your character met people, killed them, took their money, and then bought more weapons. But in fact most Nintendo games are still faithful to that theme, so we were unclear as to how to interpret Nintendo’s policy. In the Super Mario Bros games, which are considered clean and wholesome, kids routinely kill creatures, and the only motivation is that they are there.

At least most other games give you a reason to kill enemies. Nintendo screwed up Maniac Mansion on several reasons, and will probably not admit it, since screwed up is a sexually suggestive term and against Nintendo policy. If you, for any reason at all, played the NES port of Maniac Mansion, you’ve played a stunted, nerfed version of it and I ask of you to play the PC version ASAP.

Half-Life and Half-Life 2 in 60 Seconds Flat!

Well, of course, nobody has invented a record of beating both games in 60 seconds (it takes even more than 120 for my copy of Episode Two to load), but this hilarious video gives you a glimpse of what could have happened had that been possible. I really like the way the maker has squeezed in so many Half-Life jokes and references in scenes. You’ll have to watch the video at least thrice to even hope and get them all!