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Why Robin Makes Batman Better One of the most unfortunate cancellations of Comic-Con 08 was the Ghostbusters: The Video Game panel, planned to feature actors Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson as well as reps from Sierra. While we were disheartened to learn of the nixing of that particular panel, we took comfort in the limited, but very awesome, showfloor demo of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Based on our limited playtime, we’re more interested than ever to get our hands on the final version, and not just for the stellar performance from the Ghostbusters booth babes.
The Comic-Con demo takes place in the New York public library, the location featured at the beginning of the first Ghostbusters film. As the four Ghostbusters enter the library — Winston Zeddemore, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz and you, the new recruit — the cheers of New Yorkers can be heard in the distance.
At today’s Gears of War panel at Comic-Con, Cliff Bleszinski from Epic Games was asked about the Len Wiseman directed movie based on the IP. Bleszinski, the executive producer on the Hollywood adaptation, says he has high hopes for the film.
“Look, we know that video game movies have been pretty bad”, Cliff admitted to the crowd, attempting to assuage their fears that the Gears flick will suck. “But just think how bad comic book movies were for such a long time. We hope [the Gears of War movie]will change that”.
He noted that the Hollywood shot-callers are the same age as the average gamer — 35 years old — and have grown up playing and loving video games. “Hollywood gets it… and they dig games”, Cliff said.
What may depress aficionados of Gears meaty, steroid overdosed look is that the feature film may not live up to the dream casting of certain fans. In lieu of filling out Delta Squad’s armour with accurately voluminous meatheads, he’s hoping they’ll find some actors who can, you know, act.
“I know people have ideas where they want to see some wrestler, some huge buff guy”, Bleszinski “The thing we care most about is charisma, someone you’d want to watch for two hours”.
What a novel idea!
Cliff Bleszinski presented Gears of War 2 to Comic-Con attendees today, walking fans through the Sinkhole level shown last week at E3. While that gameplay session may be old news to Gears fans, Dude Huge had two new announcements for the crowd.
The first was that Steve Jablonsky, composer on films like Transformers and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, was working on the score for Gears of War 2. Jablonsky was said to have been at Skywalker Studios working on the final mix of the soundtrack.
Even more interesting was the announcement that Gears of War 2 would feature “linked Achievements”. In short, goals reached in the original Gears of War will carry over to the sequel, giving the player bonuses. Cliff listed three examples of how linked Achievements will work.
Keep in mind, some may be light spoilers.
Pro Tip: Don’t show up for the Resident Evil: Degeneration panel at Comic-Con less than 30 minutes prior to it happening or you won’t get in. With the San Diego Con at capacity, getting into the Capcom helmed panel required serious Resident Evil dedication. We were covering Jordan Mechner’s panel instead, but thanks to GameTrailers, we have the good stuff — the trailer itself. Enjoy!
While the majority of Jordan Mechner’s talk at Comic-Con earlier today focused on all things Prince of Persia, some fans veered slightly off-topic, picking the programmer’s brain on his other titles — Karateka and The Last Express.
The former, Mechner’s first commercial game, an early 2D fighter published by Brøderbund and known for its fluid animation, is planned to get an update (of sorts). Details on the Karateka project weren’t provided, but Mechner teased the crowd by saying “I can safely say it’s not going to be the way that you expect”. He did, however, say he would be directly “involved”, a claim he didn’t make about Ubisoft’s recent Prince of Persia releases.
Mechner also let the crowd in on the particulars of a hilarious Easter egg in the original Karateka.
IGN heavily qualifies what it heard at Comic-Con ’08, and it isn’t confirmation. But any idiot can look at Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, especially the fact it’s getting positive response, and figure that Marvel and Capcom have some kind of response.
Anyway, IGN reports that at Comic-Con, Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President of Production (wotta title), was asked if a new Marvel vs. Capcom game was possible someday. His reply: “Yes. And maybe sooner than you think”.
IGN goes on to say that a Capcom under-production title, probably for Japan release only, could provide the guts for the game, allowing it to be turned around in a relatively short time. New Marvel vs Capcom Game On the Way? [IGN, via Scrawl]
Namco Bandai treated Comic-Con attendees to a playable — but all too brief — demo of Afro Samurai, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title based on the manga of the same name. The demo, which feels like an early, tutorial-style level, helps get the player up to speed on the fighting mechanics in a tight, enclosed portion of a Japanese village.
After a brief voiceover from character Ninja Ninja, voiced with super salty language by Samuel L. Jackson, Afro Samurai is set loose on a steady stream of sword wielding bad guys.
The attack system is rather straightforward, using the X and Y buttons for light hits and heavy hits respectively. Afro jumps with A and kicks with B. Blocking is performed with the right trigger, but it’s the left trigger that makes the combat more interesting.
Jordan Mechner discussed all things Prince of Persia at Comic-Con today, from the upcoming Ubisoft video game reboot to the forthcoming graphic novel to the Jerry Bruckheimer produced movie adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Mechner didn’t have too much to say about the new, cel-shaded take on the franchise, despite repeated questions from fans, but he did talk about the Mike Newell-directed film and the screenplay he’s working on.
Mechner said that in writing the script for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, that he essentially had to start from scratch, re-imagining the events of the time-bending video game of the same name. Expect carefully hidden allusions to past games in the series in both the movie and the graphic novel.
Ed Boon from Midway and Jimmy Palmiotti of DC Comics announced four new additions to the Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe roster at Comic-Con today, including Green Lantern and The Joker from the DC side, with Jax and Kitana returning on the MK side. Boon also announced that Mr. Palmiotti himself would be squirreled away in the game as an unlockable character. He’d be very well hidden, Boon said, with a Johnny Cage-like model shown on screen.
We also got a look at some new environments, including the Fortress of Solitude, and a look at Captain Marvel’s in-game model.
Boon also announced that an MK vs. DC comic book would included in the limited edition of the game, illustrated by John Tobias, co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series. The game’s final boss and a the remaining line-up of fighters was promised to be announced over the next few months.
