There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?
Much like GamerSushi, but with a tad more fanfare, Star Wars is back! We’ve all seen The Force Awakens (some of us multiple times) and I thought it would be fun to look back at the previous 6 movies and give out some awards. So…here they are. Be sure to tell us your picks in the comments! Continue reading The First Ever Star Wars Awards
We primarily review games here on GamerSushi, but every now and then, a movie comes out that appeals to the gamer zeitgeist enough that it deserves a review of its own. While Wreck-It Ralph, the new animated feature from Disney isn’t based on a video game, it has more than enough video game references that it practically screams for attention from the gamer community. Which we are granting with this review.
Wreck-It Ralph is the story of Ralph, voiced by John C. Reilly who is the villain in a Donkey Kong-like arcade game called Fix-It Felix. Ralph’s job in his game is to smash the windows of a tall building and then climb to the top, throwing bricks at Felix as he tries to fix the windows and reach the top, saving the residents of the building from Ralph’s destructive rage. Once Felix has done so, Ralph is summarily tossed off the building into the muddy ground below while Felix is awarded a medal. After 30 years of this, Ralph is fed up with his lot in life. He is ostracized by Felix and the residents, resigned to living in a nearby dump (literally) with nothing but bricks as his bed. He longs to be a hero, but as his support group of video game villains tells him, that’s just not possible. Continue reading Review: Wreck-It Ralph
So I’m posting this from the hospital, where my wife and I await the impending arrival of our daughter. Kind of crazy.
Fortunately, as this whole waiting process can stretch on for a day or so, I’ve had a bit of Uncharted to help pass the time tonight. And I don’t mean playing Uncharted in video game form — I mean watching it in movie form.
You see, Reddit user morphinapg did something that I’m surprised nobody has done up until now — he edited all three Uncharted games into feature-length films, with each one clocking in at about 2-3 hours. He did this by taking the games’ cut scenes and stringing them together with the minimal amount of gameplay necessary so as not to create plot holes. The result is a pretty entertaining trilogy.
More links after the jump. Continue reading The Uncharted Series, Edited as Feature-Length Movies
As you know, if you listen to the podcast, a few of us here at GamerSushi enjoy a little game called StarCraft II, and a about a month ago was its 1st Birthday (grunt birthday noise!). To celebrate this, the guys over at WellPlayed put together this fantastic little 35-minute documentary from a series of interviews they conducted with 9 progamers and casters while at MLG Anaheim in July.
So turn up your speakers, or grab your nice headphones, crack open a drink, sit back, relax and enjoy…
[youtube width=”500″ height=”310″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h6NA9O9jQs[/youtube]
Source – WellPlayed
Since gaming news has once again ground to a halt in the wake of PAX, there hasn’t been much to talk about in the gaming sphere. Besides the usual talking points, of course: Skyrim is going to be awesome, is Nintendo ever going to fix the 3DS, etc.
We’ve talked about those things enough, so I thought I’d bring over a fun thread I saw on Reddit, featuring the ultra-hardcore Survival Game. Basically, you just pick which of these three equipment sets you’d like to start with if you were marooned on an island full of hostile dinosaurs a la Jurassic Park. It’s funny, because as much as I’ve played lots of survival games, none of those really asks you to survive in a realistic situation. Many video games don’t simulate that kind of thing very well, and even when they sort of do (like Minecraft), they don’t really require you to do everything the human actually needs to stay alive. Like eat, for instance.
Personally I’d take Option C, if only for the awesome survival book, since I’d be absolutely helpless on my own in the wilderness. It’s funny, because Option A seems the most “video game” to me, but is probably not all that practical. Unless you’re Turok, I guess. What about you guys? Which would you take? Go!
Source – Reddit
There’s not a lot of gaming news going on this week – but who says we have to talk about games all the time?
In the past, one of the (many) things I always loved about summer was going to the movies. These days, my grumpy old penny pincher tends to come out when it comes to seeing blockbusters on the silver screen, but this year seems to have more movies worth seeing than the last few years combined. While I missed both Thor and X-Men: First Class (both of which I’ve heard great things about), I did happen to see Pirates 4 a few weeks back as well as Super 8 this past weekend. The latter of those two really impressed me.
While it’s by no means a perfect movie, Super 8 is a rarity among adventure movies in this day and age for one simple reason – it’s got a lot of heart. Helmed by Steven Spielberg and J. J. Abrams, it reminds me of all those old school classics like The Goonies, E.T., Jaws and a bit of Jurassic Park thrown in for good measure. It’s seriously a ton of fun, but also delivered with great care.
Over the next few months, I hope to see the final Harry Potter film as well as Captain America. So what about you guys, what movies are you looking forward to this summer? Did anyone happen to see Super 8? Go!
As most of us know around here know, one of the biggest advantages of PC games is customization and modding, and StarCraft 2 is no exception. Right now the number one UMS (Use Map Settings) custom game on the EU Battle.net Server is an awesome space battle map called Star Battle. It’s almost like DotA meets Star Trek. Basically, you farm small fighters to gain income to upgrade the weapons/armor/shields/engines on your giant war ship so you can destroy the other players’ giant war ships. A note for our North American users: while the custom map is now live on the US Server, not many people know about it, so nobody is playing yet.
Here is a more in depth explanation by TotalBiscuit. The video is a little long, but you get the basic idea pretty quick.
[youtube width=”500″ height=”331″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBbVqR3Euf4[/youtube]
Here’s a little Thanksgiving gift from us to you (via some dude named Eyspire on YouTube). It’s not a “scientific” race of which set of pixels would win, but it is a stroll down memory lane with a surprise ending.
Enjoy, and Happy Turkey Day to our American users.
[youtube width=”500″ height=”310″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_3Hyb6IfU[/youtube]
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Myst, one of the most beloved and revered adventure game series of all time, has been optioned to be turned into a full length motion picture. While the content of the movie is no doubt up in the air at the moment, people have been taking shots at Myst and other video game properties for years now, hoping to stick some kind of tap into that overflowing font of money-making wizardry.
Here’s the problem: it’s no great secret that many video game movie adaptations are reviled by even some of their most beloved franchise fans. I’m not going to say that all video game movies are flat out bad by any stretch, but if we’re being honest, there is always plenty lost in translation between the monitor and the silver screen. Heck, just ask Mark Wahlberg. Or the Rock. Or Jake Try-To-Spell-My-Name-Without-Using-IMDB Gyllenhaal.
Looking around on the tubes, I’m seeing a considerable amount of concern out there for the Myst movie, with fans like myself wondering how it can even be portrayed in a way that works, and deservedly so. So, we thought we’d put together a list of things that will help Hollywood, and more specifically Mysteria Film Group, keep the Myst movie from suffering the fate of many other less than well-received adaptations.
Here are 5 tips to prevent a lame Myst movie: Continue reading Dear Hollywood: 5 Tips to Prevent a Lame Myst Movie
One of my earliest memories of playing video games on my very own PC (as opposed to the old Macintosh machines at school), was sitting down late at night and wandering through several hours of Myst, one of the top selling adventure games of all time. It was a game unlike anything I had played before. I remember being simultaneously creeped out, enthralled and filled with a sense of awe as I explored the stunning visuals, solved the puzzles and pieced together a world by my own choices. Some of the puzzles still rank among my favorite in gaming history (the piano in the rocketship, for instance).
Given the game’s huge commercial success over time, it should be no surprise then that people in Hollywood have been interested in turning this point-and-click adventure game into even more cash. That’s right, everyone: Myst has been optioned for a movie by Mysteria Film Group along with producers Hunt Lowry (Last of the Mohicans) and Mark Johnson (Chronicles of Narnia).
The primary thing about the first game of Myst is that it is almost completely non-linear, contains virtually no dialogue, no action, no violence and no other direct contact with characters. So how is this going to work as a movie, exactly? Continue reading Coming Soon: Myst the Movie?
The transition from a video game to a movie is a tricky one, a notion that we have explored in the past on our sweet podcast. It seems that the only people who are capable of making a movie based on games are the developers themselves, but they lack either the necessary components or the capital to make a feature film. Valve Software, who we all know as the studio behind Half-Life, Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead, has stated that they’d like to try their own hand at making a Half-Life movie, saying that they were approached by a bunch of Hollywood types with horrible interpretations of the Half-Life saga. Here’s part of the quote given by the man himself, Valve’s CEO Gabe Newell, on what happened with the Half-Life movie:
Where we got into this direction was after Half-Life 1 had shipped. There was a whole bunch of meetings with people from Hollywood. Directors down there wanted to make a Half-Life movie and stuff, so they’d bring in a writer or some talent agency would bring in writers, and they would pitch us on their story. And their stories were just so bad. I mean, brutally, the worst. Not understanding what made the game a good game, or what made the property an interesting thing for people to be a fan of.
Sound like typical Hollywood, doesn’t it? So, if Valve didn’t want Half-Life handed off to a big studio, they would just have to do it themselves. Gabe also explained that the Team Fortress 2 “Meet the Team” shorts were a small part of the build-up to a full-fledged film.
That’s when we started saying ‘Wow, the best thing we could ever do is to just not do this as a movie, or we’d have to make it ourselves.’ And I was like, ‘Make it ourselves? Well that’s impossible.’ But the Team Fortress 2 thing, the Meet The Team shorts, is us trying to explore that
Valve has been stating for a while that they would like to get into the business of comic books and movies, and recently they’re been taking a lot of steps in that directions. The Meet the Team shorts are getting longer and bolder, and almost every Team Fortress 2 update has had a comic associated with it. What’s your opinion on Valve’s stance towards the Half-Life movie? Do you think they could pull it off? What sort of stuff would you like to see come from Valve in the future?
Source: PC Gamer
For the last several months, Red Dead Redemption has been the buzz of the gaming world, and rightfully so, in my opinion. I thought the game was artfully made, and it’s going to be one of those titles that I get nostalgic for in years to come. It was both critically and commercially acclaimed, and stands as one of the best selling games of this year.
It’s no surprise, then, that a Hollywood adaptation is being considered. After all, with no space marines or alien invasions to simulate, it seems that the game could quite easily make a big screen transition. What is a surprise, however, is the newest rumor for who is being considered for leading man John Marston: Brad Pitt. I can’t say that Brad Pitt would be my first choice for the role, but then again I’ve never seen the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which is supposedly a wonderful western.
Beyond that, I’m not sure I’d love to see a Red Dead Redemption movie. I’m not trying to be a downer or anything, and I’m not saying it couldn’t be good… It just seems like one of those titles that is so immersive and already cinematic enough in its own right that stripping it down to a 2 hour snapshot of the experience wouldn’t hold the same kind of impact.
My inconsequential opinion about a random rumor aside, what do you guys think? Could Tyler Durden make a good John Marston? Do you have any other suggestions? What would you think of a Red Dead Redemption movie? Go!
Source – Showbiz Spy
As some of you may be aware, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is set to come out in theaters tomorrow. For those of you who have not seen the preview, I urge you to google it right the hell now. If you like video games, you will, at the very least, be amused by the trailer.
The movie is based on a graphic novel, which contains tons of references to old school games, some so old that I had forgotten about them completely until now. Our good friends at GamesRadar put together a nifty little list of them and I thought it might be fun to share it with you guys.
Personally, the River City Ransom “BARF” and the coins dropping are my favorites. I’ve always had a soft spot for that game, ever since I first read about it in Nintendo Power back in the 80s. What references did you think were cool? Are you planning on seeing the movie?
BARF! I mean, GO!
Source: GamesRadar
By Internet standards, this news is a couple of days old, so by now it’s practically ancient history. However, that hasn’t stopped people from talking incessantly about this brand new Mortal Kombat short film that made its debut on the tubes and swelled to mythical proportions in just hours.
Here’s the rundown: it’s a gritty, well made depiction of the Mortal Kombat universe with some excellent production values behind it. No, it’s not a trailer for a new game, nor a trailer for a new movie. It is, however, a brief proof-of-concept that director Kevin Tancharoen made to pitch to Warner Bros., in the hopes of getting a new movie produced.
While I’m not quite as enthralled as the rest of the Web seems to be over this, it’s still pretty damn entertaining, and would make a great opening to a potential new Mortal Kombat film. If this guy gets picked to bring the next one of these to life, then sign me up.
I may be a bit biased here, but I think that Spider-Man is the most enduring pop culture icon of the last hundred years. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962 for the Amazing Fantasy series of comic books, the old web-head has spawned a media empire spanning years of comic books, TV series, action figures, movies, and, yes, video games. While most of the media properties associated with the wall-crawler have been largely successful, Spider-Man’s video games have had a chequered past. He’s been appearing on our television screens since 1978, but what Spider-Man games have swung to glorious heights, and which ones have gone splat on the sidewalk?
Continue reading Cross-Contaminated Media: Spider-Man
Most of you have probably figured this little factoid out already, but I am GamerSushi’s resident Halo fan-boy. I seriously loves me some Halo, so naturally you would figure that a series of animated shorts would be right up my alley.
Well, as anyone who becomes engrossed with a franchises’ fictional history can tell you, if you outsource a project to a collection of companies and they do not get it exactly right you will have a large amount of butt-hurt nerds on your hands. That sounds weird, but I digress. If you haven’t caught any of the Halo animes on Waypoint, now’s your chance to see what you haven’t been missing.
The full DVD/Blu-Ray (irony lol) release is in early Feburary, but I think I’ll pass. What about you guys?
Yes, the trailer for the live action Prince of Persia movie is now available for all of us geeks to “meh” at, studying the long-haired Gyllenhaal and the no doubt unfaithful translations of a great game to the silver screen. It looks like they’ve at least nailed down the basics, which include some sand, a dagger and action, but who knows where it’s going from there. I won’t lie though, looks like kind of a mindless good time. Thoughts?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zJz7qLXKM[/youtube]
Wow. So there are rumors and there are rumors, and I’d say this one falls in the latter category. As many already know, the Halo movie that was in development hell for months and then killed was originally helmed by Peter Jackson as the Producer and Neil Blomkamp as the Director. Unfortunately, all negotiations were finally killed due to Blomkamp’s inexperience, and the two went on to make the cool-looking District 9.
However, a new name has been attached to the Halo movie: Steven Spielberg. That’s right, the maker of Indiana Jones, ET and Jurassic Park is apparently blown away by a Fall of Reach script that was written by Stuart Beattie last year, and some negotiations are rumored to be underway.
Personally, I’ve always thought that if a Halo movie ever did come to life, the Fall of Reach would be the perfect story to attach to it, as its much more interesting than anything the actual games had to offer. Like I said though, this is a rumor in every sense of the word, but next to Peter Jackson I couldn’t see someone better to tackle a Halo movie than Spielberg. What do you guys think of this?
Source- IESB
Even though they’re not my favorite games ever, I’m still a dork about anything related to the Halo universe, especially peripheral materials that explore other areas of the mythos. For some reason, Bungie hasn’t done a stellar job presenting their story within the confines of the game, but all of the extended media is an entirely different story.
That’s why I’m kind of excited about the Comic-Con announcement from today that reveals that Halo Legends, a Halo anime, is coming early next year to DVD and digital platforms. There aren’t a whole lot of details yet, but some pretty cool looking images. So far, all we know is that it’s going to be seven short films from the director of Appleseed Ex Machina, which I haven’t seen.
Anywho, does anyone else think this is kind of cool? Like I said, I’m not a huge Halo fanboy, but I really think it’s got a quality mythology behind it, and if the art is cool enough, this could be sweet. Thoughts?
Lately, there’s been a lot of buzz about an upcoming Uncharted movie, which is apparently in the works. Personally, after playing this game, it’s one of the few games that could easily make a silver screen transition, mainly due to its completely cinematic presentation.
In response to all this rumor-mongering, MTV has posted its wishlist for an Uncharted movie, filling out the cast with talents such as Nathan Fillion, Emily Rose, Powers Boothe and then some. I think they all seem to be a pretty decent fit, but it got me thinking about what other game movies need an actor wishlist.
I would for real pee myself over a Metal Gear Solid movie with Josh Holloway from Lost or Hugh Jackman as Snake. Or maybe a Super Mario Bros movie with Dennis Hopper as Koopa. Oh wait… All joking aside, what would be your dream cast for some of your favorite video game movies?
Source- MTV
