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Report: LucasArts canceled Darth Maul origins game
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to canceled Star Wars video games. Okay, so maybe it wasn't hate or the Dark Side that spelled the death of a Darth Maul-centric Star Wars video game, but rather a chaotic triangle relationship between developer Red Fly Studios, publisher LucasArts and George Lucas. Game Informer reports in its May issue that the game explored the early days of Maul's life, giving an up-close and personal look at Sith training. Or rather, it would have, had two major changes to the game not thrown Death Star-sized wrenches into the proverbial gears. Ex-Red Fly employees speaking under condition of anonymity told Game Informer that it felt like LucasArts wanted to tie the game to the Clone Wars animated TV show. However, LucasArts only gave sparse details and vague hints to prevent any kind of leaks, which left Red Fly without a clear direction or vision for the game. The studio developed new prototypes for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U, including a "forward stealth" design inspired by Batman: Arkham Asylum. The biggest vision shift, however, came from George Lucas himself. According to one source, Lucas took statues of Darth Maul and Darth Talon - a character from the Star Wars comics from Dark Horse - faced them toward one another, and declared, "They're friends!" When it was brought to Lucas' attention that Maul and Talon lived more than a century and a half apart from one another, Lucas reportedly suggested it could be a clone or descendant that players controlled instead of the original Maul. Game Informer obtained images and concept art of key characters and locales the game could have featured, and some are just as outlandish as the concept of Talon and Maul teaming up, including a redesigned Darth Krayt and an ocean city pulled along by colossal eels. The whole story is, as the kids say, pretty cray. [Image: Disney]
TMNT: Out of the Shadows review: Soft-shelled
By all rights, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should be holding down responsible office jobs by now. It's been nearly thirty years since their debut, after all, and they should all be well into their 40s. And yet, here they are, still scarfing pizza, fighting crime and appearing in questionable video game adaptations of their adventures. TMNT: Out of the Shadows is the latest such adaptation, and it's definitely questionable. The game is rife with bugs. It has loading issues, oft-repeated one-liners and even an ill-advised hacking mini-game. Yes, someone wedged hacking into a game about beating the stuffing out of bad guys. The one bright spot is the combat, which is largely an improvement over the frantic button-mashing that composes most of TMNT's video game legacy. Even that, however, wears thin after a few hours.
TMNT: Out of the Shadows, Away From the Comforter
You kids and your rainy rooftop anti-heroes. Back in my day, we had to make do with the Teenage Mutant 'Hero' Turtles, a tubular gang of brightly drawn crime fighters that spread dude-lingo across comics, cartoons and - if you were lucky - curtains.In Europe and Africa we got 'hero' instead of 'ninja,' mainly to soften the violent imagery conjured by the covert assassins of feudal Japan. That's clearly the wrong message for a show hinged on the improper disposal of disgusting, mutagenic waste in a densely populated city.The 1980s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon had its charms, more so in the dreadful puns and pizza worship than the fangless fighting. The combat was high in energy, but the turtles trounced their foes with creative knockouts and garbage can lids repurposed as offensive cymbals. The violence was masked in environmental euphemism, and that may be why it isn't explored in much depth whenever the turtles appear in a video game.%Gallery-180672%
Red Fly Studio layoffs result of canned Star Wars title, resume suggests
After laying off 30 developers, Red Fly Studio CEO Dan Borth told GameSpot, "The reduction of staff was a response to a large high-profile project that was, to our surprise, reevaluated and then canceled." While the identity of that project wasn't known at the time, a resume uncovered by internet uncoverer Superannuation points to development of a "next-gen Star Wars title." Patrick Doran's LinkedIn profile includes Red Fly Studio under "past" experiences, where the artist worked from April 2008 to this month, as both an artist and environment artist. In addition to work on games like Mushroom Men, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 for Wii, and Thor for both Wii and 3DS, Doran worked as an environment artist from January of this year through June on the aforementioned "next-gen Star Wars title." With a list of shipped games exclusive to Nintendo's consoles, it's not clear what "next-gen" means in this case. The studio's first HD game for Xbox 360 and/or PlayStation 3 using the high-profile Star Wars license? We've reached out to both Red Fly Studio and LucasArts for comment on the project.
Amazon: Ghostbusters for $15 today only
Who you gonna call? Your friends, to tell them they'd best hit Amazon straight away if they've shown any interest in Atari's Ghostbusters for PS3, Wii or Xbox 360. For today only, all three versions are on sale for $14.99. Tomorrow they'll be back up to $20. Louis Tully would advise against waiting.
There is only Zuul (and this sweet Ghostbusters Wii mod)
Our problem with Ghostbusters mainly revolves around the fact that we're not one of them. Our childhood-up-until-now dream has always been to slap on that jumpsuit and get knee-deep in Ectoplasmic residue with our comrades in arms, our shoulder patches glistening against the light of our never-crossing streams as we vanquish ancient evils. Well, it'll never happen -- mostly because Ghostbusters isn't real, despite our best attempts at willing it into existence. But at least there's some consolation in a sweet Proton pack mod for the Wii. The glorious concoction of plastic and LEDs was created by Ghostbusters Fans forum member irrelevanttomfoolery and sets the benchmark for badass game controller mods. Seriously, that ridiculous Resident Evil 4 chainsaw is like child's play compared to how awesome this thing is, so click on the image above and go read up on it. %Gallery-31614% [Via Gizmodo]
Celio REDFLY for BlackBerry tested: it's not the solution you weren't looking for anyway
The lads at jkontherun took that new connection between BlackBerrys and the REDFLY for a spin. Prognosis? Not so good -- bad display rendering and trackpad controls, which are basically the two reasons you'd considering picking this up in the first place. Celio fans, a rather unpleasant read lies ahead should you choose to proceed past the link.
Ghostbusters PS3 patch is close to 720p, but no cigar
We were moved -- genuinely moved! -- by Terminal Reality's efforts to improve the lackluster visual quality of the PS3 version of Ghostbusters with a recent patch. However, while the implementation of multi-sampling anti-aliasing and a slight bump of resolution make the PS3 title look prettier than its launch iteration, a recent Digital Foundry comparison came to a startling conclusion. Even post-patch, the game fails to deliver on its promise of 720p resolution or equality with the 360 version of Ghostbusters. The Eurogamer-hosted blog has a few enormous image comparisons for the pixel-counters among you. We're not experts on visual fidelity (What's an alias? Why must it be anti'ed?) but we do know that we are owed. Does one penny per missing pixel sound fair to you?
More pixels being patched into PS3 version of Ghostbusters
High-res HDMI captures: Ghostbusters (PS3) & Ghostbusters (Xbox 360) The PS3 version of Ghostbusters was largely criticized for its inferior performance compared to the Xbox 360 version. Developer Terminal Reality told Joystiq, "The PS3 version ... is softer due to the 'quincunx' antialiasing filter and the fact we render at about 75% the resolution of the 360 version." 25% fewer pixels? Unacceptable! Atari is promising to redress the differences between the two platforms with a new patch for the PS3 version which is supposedly available right now. According to the Atari press release, the patch will offer an "increase in resolution to match that of Xbox 360" while offering "numerous other localization fixes." Additionally, the Trophies for the game have been fixed. A glitch – caused when players from Europe and America played with each other – prevented the "Pay Day" and "Capture All Most Wanted Ghosts" Trophies (and subsequently, the game's mandatory Platinum) from unlocking properly. If bustin' ghosts with your international pals makes you feel good, it might be time to fire up Ghostbusters again.
Ghostbusters among GameStop's top five games this quarter
GameStop's quarterly earnings report for its second quarter (May through August 1) included a list of the five best-selling games for that time period. Four of the five – UFC 2009 Undisputed, Prototype, Fight Night Round 4, and NCAA Football 2010 – are safe bets; however, the last game on that list is a surprise: Ghostbusters. Atari's movie adaptation was successful, but its no-show on the last two month's NPD charts suggested it wasn't selling that well. In fact, the NPD tells us that across all six platforms, it has sold just 560,000 copies in North America. The best-selling version, in case you were curious, was the Xbox 360 release, at 225,000. We're contacting Atari about the discrepancy between the NPD numbers and Atari's announced one million sales, but its inclusion on GameStop's top seller list seems to imply that Atari's number is closer to the truth. Which would mean that Ghostbusters is something of a stealth hit!
Over one million new Ghostbusters recruits in North America
Since its June 16 release, Ghostbusters: The Video Game has managed to sell over one million copies in North America across all platforms. That's a pretty big deal, doubly so for Atari, a company in dire need of some success. We can't imagine what kind of hot water the company would be in if it couldn't recoup some of that $15 - $20 million it cost to develop the game.
Non-Sony Ghostbusters releases dated in Europe
Namco Bandai partners has announced that Ghostbusters will officially arrive on European Wii, DS and Xbox 360 consoles (and PCs) on October 23, according to VideoGamer.com. Thus far, the game has only been officially available for the PS3 and PS2 thanks to its initial European publisher, Sony. That said, the North American Xbox 360 version is reportedly not region-locked, allowing European gamers to import the title. Still, for Nintendo and Xbox players longing for what Play Magazine calls the "best damn Ghostbusters game [they've] ever seen" (as opposed to the vastly superior version we were hoping for), the wait is going to be just a bit longer.
Ghostbusters cost $15-20 million, devs would love to revisit franchise
Ghostbusters: The Video Game has allegedly sold over one million copies -- after costing $15-20 million to produce. The figures were revealed in a feature about developer Terminal Reality in the Star-Telegram of Texas. Although the price tag may seem high, it's not unusual for next-gen development. Remember, Ken Levine revealed BioShock cost about $15 million in fancy 2007 dollars. Terminal Reality's co-founder, Mark Randel, says he's heard the game's success has sparked interest in a third movie and, if that happens, he'd love for the company to handle development of the obligatory tie-in game. Let's see if we got this straight: the next game would be based on the third Ghostbusters movie, spawned by the success of the video game, created to tie in with the 25th anniversary of the first movie and, of course, the game was written as if it were the third movie. We got that right? %Gallery-21636% [Via Edge]
Ham blasting gives 'Kosher' Ghostbusters Achievement
Following the tenets of a religion is supposed to net you blessings and well-being, but that's just not tangible enough for us. Judaism has wised up, though. Those who follow its teachings in regards to keeping kosher – specifically by blasting a ham at a bar mitzvah in Ghostbusters – will be rewarded with an Achievement (and a Trophy, we presume) called "Kosher." It's only 10 points, but still, it's substantial. Man, why does all the best stuff happen to Jews? [Via What They Play]
Atari responds to missing multiplayer in Ghostbusters PC
We suppose it's a little ironic that the multiplayer for the PC version of Ghostbusters is little more than a phantom. That is to say that the PC version doesn't actually have multiplayer at all, a fact our compatriots at Big Download reported earlier this week. Naturally, PC gamers probably have a few questions about this, chief among them being, "What gives?" When asked by Big Download for a response, Atari sent along comments from Dan Irish, CEO of Threewave, the game's multiplayer developer. According to Irish, Threewave had intended to create multiplayer for both consoles and the PC, but eventually decided to focus on the console versions in order to keep the quality bar as high as possible. According to Irish, if the company had attempted to develop both the PC and console versions simultaneously, "something would have to suffer." Probably not the answer PC players were hoping for. Another question that has yet to be answered, according to Big Download, is whether Atari and Threewave have any plans to add multiplayer in the future.
Ghostbusters on PS3 lags behind 360 version; developer explains
High-res HDMI captures: Ghostbusters (PS3) & Ghostbusters (Xbox 360) Richard Leadbetter – Director of HD consultancy Digital Foundry and author of Eurogamer's multiplatform comparison Face-off features – tweeted that playing Ghostbusters on the PS3 was like "time-warping back to the dawn of PS3 development." Ouch! That's especially painful to read considering the high hopes Terminal Reality – developers of the just-released Ghostbusters game – have for their multiplatform Infernal Engine. Internet reports of a less-than-stellar PS3 version of the title originated at Lens of Truth on Monday, were later corroborated by Gamezine.co.uk and, following tomorrow's publication of Leadbetter's most recent Face-off feature, will be further corroborated by Eurogamer. Confusing the issue even further is the following quote from Terminal Reality's Mark Randel, who told VG247 last year, "We're one of the few developers who love the PS3 and have a great time with it. We have great technology for the PS3 and we want to show it off." Instead of leaving it up to internet Matlocks, we asked Terminal Reality to comment on the controversy. A spokesperson for the developer told us, "For the record, the PS3 version [of Ghostbusters] is softer due to the 'quincunx' antialiasing filter and the fact we render at about 75% the resolution of the 360 version. So you cannot directly compare a screen shot of one to the other unless you scale them properly. The PS3 does have less available RAM than the 360 – but we managed to squeeze 3 out of 4 textures as full size on the PS3." So: is the PS3 "maxed out"? Or is Terminal Reality's engine – despite comments to the contrary – just not up to snuff on the PS3? With most recent multiplatform titles performing comparably, if not identically, on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles, we'd be inclined to agree with Mr. Leadbetter: it's like "time-warping back to the dawn of PS3 development" when PS3 games were routinely outperformed by their Xbox 360 counterparts. Let's hope the irony of the situation is lost on Ghostbusters' exclusive European publisher ... Sony. As well as the franchise's owner ... Sony Pictures. %Gallery-66218% Source – Head2Head: Ghostbusters Source – @Digital_Foundry
Ghostbusters DS almost visible in new trailer
Atari's latest trailer for Ghostbusters: The Video Game finally gives us a look at the DS version -- sort of. You can see it on the tiny screens when the floating DS turns to face us. Right there, behind the character art. We think it looks pretty good. While we're on the subject of Ghostbusters on DS, we hope the Ghostbusters' games' approach to multiplatform game design pays off, because it's the kind of approach we like to see. Rather than having developers create stripped-down versions of another developer's game, Atari (actually original publisher Sierra, we guess) got Terminal Reality and Red Fly, developers who know what they're doing on their respective consoles, to make different games for the different platforms. So this DS game isn't a crappy version of an Xbox game, for example. %Gallery-50992%
Ghostbusters dev: Publisher changes not 'ideal'
We realize it's a surprise, but apparently Terminal Reality believes that constantly changing publishers isn't all that great. The Ghostbusters game has traveled a very rocky publishing road, starting with Sierra, then sitting in limbo following the Activision / Vivendi merger, then moving to Atari and then moving to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the European market. Adding to the mess, SCEE will initially release the game only on PS3 and PS2 in Europe, leaving the 360, Wii and DS versions for later this year. Speaking to GI.biz, Terminal Reality executive producer Brendon Goss said that the situation is not "ideal" as the developer prefers to create "a collaborative relationship" with publishers. He adds that all versions of the game are complete and he hopes that European release schedule won't cause confusion, which he said could harm sales of the game. In the face of the publishing decisions, which Goss said Terminal Reality had no say in, the team decided to focus on improving the game. We'll find out if that work paid off when the game releases this June.
Sony publishing Ghostbusters in Europe, PSP version resurrected [update]
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that it will be publishing Ghostbusters in Europe this June, meaning that the game is now a PS3 and PS2 exclusive in the region. Not only that, but the rumored and debunked PSP version has also been confirmed for release later this autumn. The PS3 and PS2 versions are currently set for a June 19 debut. Eurogamer has confirmed with Atari that the deal is for timed exclusivity on Sony platforms, with all other versions being released "later in the year." It's certainly a strange move on Atari's part, especially when limiting their potential consumer base is being called "maximizing the launch of the Ghostbusters videogame across Europe" by Atari's VP of Worldwide Marketing. Pushing non-Sony versions further towards or, even worse, into Q4 won't do the 360, Wii and DS versions any favors. Update: Atari US has clarified its publishing plans for the North American region. The 360, PS3, Wii and DS versions will all be released in the US on June 16, as previously announced. The PSP version will be released worldwide in Autumn.
Rumorong: No Ghostbusters demo crossing streams with Blu-ray movie
We're ain't afraid to tell you that rumors of a demo for Ghostbusters being packaged with the upcoming Blu-ray version of the film can be safely locked away in an Ecto-Containment Unit (or the nearest parallel dimension). A recent listing by online retailer ShopTo.Net excited some by listing a demo among the movie's features. However, Atari reps busted our hearts, saying simply "there will be no demo for Ghostbusters: The Video Game on the Blu-ray disc." It's worth mentioning, however, that the retailer in question is rooted in the UK while the PR person we spoke with was US-based. So there is a slim possibility that differences exist in how the movie will be packaged in the different regions, or perhaps ShopTo.Net is bundling the demo itself as part of some special promotion. Again, unlikely, though the store tells Joystiq that based on our inquiry it is checking with its suppliers and will "update the website accordingly if it's not going to be included."
