StuffWeLike

QuakeCon: Quake Live, Quake Arena 2 and more

We reported on Quake Live some time ago, but now we have lots more, since QuakeCon is on! For the lazy, Quake Live is a project from id, where they are going to take the classic Quake III: Arena and turn it free, tournament-style and browser-based. Just hit the goddamn link above already.

Quake Live was originally titled Quake Zero at last year’s E3, but its name was changed not long after to Quake Live. Now we know why: shortly after the announcement, a domain squatter registered domains around Quake Zero, demanding good cash for the names. id being the smart asses that they are, decided to change the game name itself, seeing as it wasn’t so deep into development.

Carmack also hinted at the possibility of a Quake Arena 2, or essentially, a full-fledged sequel to Quake III: Arena. But he says that it’s possible only if Quake Live ends up being unsuccessful. Not a bad idea, to be honest, if you ask me. If it ends up being really good, it might even give Epic a run for their money. But Carmack also notes that not many publishers out there are looking for a multiplayer-centric game right now. Hmm.

Meanwhile, it looks like id actually got around to updating their Quake Live website since our last update. Right now it looks like a standard official game info site, but if all goes well, it will be a huge tournament centre with detailed stats, charts and well, you get the idea.

The Beta idea still seems to be on, so drop in your e-mail address and you might be the first in your neighbourhood to be in on this whole thing!

First episode of American McGee’s Grimm Free to Play

GameTap announced today the much-anticipated launch of American McGee’s Grimm. The newest GameTap Original title, American McGee’s Grimm, consists of 24 individual standalone game episodes, each of which is based on a classic fairy tale such as Little Red Riding Hood or Beauty and the Beast.

“We are excited to announce the launch of American McGee’s Grimm, our newest episodic title,” said Ricardo Sanchez, vice president of content and creative director for GameTap. “Working with American and the Spicy Horse team to bring this game to fans has been a great experience and we know this twisted adventure through classic fairy tales will appeal to a wide audience of game enthusiasts.”

The game’s main character, Grimm, is a crude dwarf who believes that the lessons offered in the original tellings of famous fairy tales have been lost over time, as the stories have been watered down with talking woodland creatures and Happily Ever After endings for all of the characters – whether they deserve it or not. As Grimm, players transform these toothless interpretations of the tales into dark and twisted versions of the story.

“The opportunity to work with GameTap to develop truly unique content in this new episodic format has been a dream come true,” said American McGee, creative director and founder of Spicy Horse Games. “Grimm is a fairy tale adventure that incorporates innovative, mainstream play mechanics with classic elements such as platforming, power-ups, easter-eggs, and more. Grimm offers something for the cranky dwarf in all of us.”

The new series debuts today on GameTap with the first episode “A Boy Learns What Fear Is,” which is free to play on the game service. The remaining episodes will be free to play for the first 24 hours exclusively on GameTap, and will also available for digital purchase in GameTap.com’s online store for $3.99 an episode.

The first Volume of American McGee’s Grimm will consist of eight standalone episodes, which will be released weekly as follows:

July 31: A Boy Learns What Fear Is

August 7: Little Red Riding Hood

August 14: The Fisherman and His Wife

August 21: Puss In Boots

August 28: The Girl Without Hands

September 4: Godfather Death

September 11: The Devil and His Three Golden Hairs

September 18: Beauty and the Beast

To get more information about episodes, view trailers, download avatars and wallpapers, please visit the official site: www.gametap.com/grimm

Sony going for Venom spinoff?

Looks like it’s weird-movie-announcement week. Sony has decided to go ahead with a spinoff of Venom, one of Spiderman’s better enemies. For those (especially those who hate the moviezation of Spiderman) who haven’t seen Spider-Man 3, Venom is a shape-shifting symbiote that requires a host DNA to perform, or some such stuff.

In any case, I like Venom better than Doc Ock or Green Goblin or the rest of that nonsense. Then again, Venom is Spiderman’s archenemy, which means that he is to Spiderman what The Joker is to Batman or what Lex Luthor is to Superman or Elmer Fudd is to Bugs Bunny and so on. And from the Spiderman rogue gallery, I’d say Venom is the only one who can make for a badass movie.

With a Spiderman sequel nowhere in sight, it seems that Sony is trying to use a spinoff to garner some extra attention to the franchise. Fox is doing something similar with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel that will be the origin story for Wolverine. With a similar treatment on Magneto in the works, it looks like spinoffs are in fashion.

Back to the movie, Jacob Estes has been comissioned to create a script for the movie. Topher Grace, who played Venom in Spider-Man 3 will most likely not be back this time, as Sony is not sure if he can hold up an entire movie by himself. Fair enough.

What do you think of this move? Will spinoffs be good? Can you picture a whole movie on Venom? Is this superhero movie madness a good thing?

Keanu Reeves as Spike in Cowboy Bebop movie? Woah.

A live-action adaptation of the extraordinary anime series Cowboy Bebop is bad enough, but then it gets worse. Rumour has it that Keanu Reeves almost certainly has the role of lead protagonist Spike Spiegel. Now, Spike doesn’t really talk much, which is a good thing, but I still have every belief that Reeves will screw this up.

The movie is supposedly under development at Fox, but they haven’t announced anything officially yet. A source close to FirstShowing here says that the movie is still there, and will be headed for a 2010 release. No clear director yet, but Keanu has been attached to Spike Spiegel for some 8 months now. Disturbing.

I’m against a live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, because it is best damn anime I’ve ever seen and one of my most favourite franchises. Now a CG movie or something, I can appreciate that. But why does Hollywood have to take it live action?

The awesome characters from the series will now be replaced by some crappy people like Keanu Reeves and what-not. I also doubt it the series will capture the original theme of the series, its mature Western feel, the importance of the soundtrack and its synchronization with the fight scenes. Instead, we’ll probably just be treated to some fancy special effects.

With the disaster that was Speed Racer, you must understand that it’s difficult to get your hopes up for this. I’m not saying that the anime was much better than what the Wachowkis made of it, but still.

Marvin the Martian Movie; no really

That’s right, a feature-length movie on Marvin the Martian. Yes, that little Martian thing. Warner Brothers must be out of their minds, because I don’t see any way to profit from a movie on goddamned Marvin the Martian. It’s probably one of the most random pieces of news I’ve heard all month!

The movie will be a blend of live action and CG, which is even more confusing, because I can’t really picture Marvin in a live-action setting. Hell, I can’t Marvin well anyways. From whatever I’ve seen of him, he’s a side-character, a less important villain and mildly amusing. He would be the last person from the Looney Tunes roster I’d set a full film on. Even Taz would be a better choice! Or maybe not. No.

The plot will go something along the lines of Marvin wanting to destroy Christmas, and getting trapped in some gift box. With a plot like that, I can’t help but not get excited. I mean seriously, is that the best WB can come up with? I know this one’s for the kids, but seriously? Please, Warner: we want more superhero movies, especially like The Dark Knight and not some retarded movies on Marvin the Martian.