ghostbusters
Latest
'Ghostbusters: Dimension' is a glimpse at where VR is headed
It was a struggle. My team and I spent several minutes fending off a malevolent spirit before finally subduing her, practically destroying a cramped apartment in the process. I was still reeling from being pelted with books and other loose objects when I began to survey the damage. Then, a scream. I turned around, knowing it could be only one thing: the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, staring at us through a window. That was just one of many moments during the Ghostbusters: Dimension VR experience where I realized I was seeing something truly unique.
Recommended Reading: The Golden State Warriors' tech training
Golden State Warriors use tech to their on-court advantage Terry Collins, CNET The Golden State Warriors set an NBA single-season record this year with 73 wins and are currently facing the Cleveland Cavaliers for the championship. Part of the reason for that success can likely be attributed the team's use of tech to track player performance and physical activity. CNET has the story on all the gadgetry and how the Warriors are using it to ensure they continue their winning ways.
'Ghostbusters' game coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC this July
Early trailers for the new, somewhat divisive Ghostbusters movie has sparked a wave of renewed interest in the spooky franchise. Unsurprisingly, Activision is working on a new video game to coincide with the film's release, which will arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) on July 15th. It's set after the events of the new movie, putting you in charge of some fresh Ghostbuster rookies as they try to capture spectres around New York City. Each character will have their own personality, strengths and play style, encouraging team-based strategies in up to four-player couch co-op. Just remember, don't cross the streams.
ICYMI: Fast brain upload, mind-control monkeys & more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-222051").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers at HRL Labs have developed a system to upload information to your brain using electrical signals already mapped from an expert's mind. Duke University is testing a wireless brain-machine interface that allows monkeys to steer a wheelchair with their mind, which they were able to do while also improving their skills over time. Cardiologists have a new tool to roto-rooter blood vessels filled with plague in the first FDA approved device that helps surgeons see inside vessels with a built-in camera.
'Ghostbusters' reboot trailer is here
Prime your proton packs, because it's not long now before the Ghostbusters reboot haunts theaters worldwide. We've already seen a few promo photos and set shots from the film, but today we've got our first honest-to-goodness trailer. And oh boy, does it have us intrigued. The new supernatural-ass-kicking squad stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, all with distinct skills and personalities. The teaser runs for about two and a half minutes and features plenty of ghouls and other Ghostbuster staples, such as the gang's iconic uniforms, the Ecto-1, and the classic theme tune. July 15th can't come soon enough.
The new 'Ghostbusters' is getting its own LEGO set
The Ghostbusters reboot might be a geek's dream in more ways than one. LEGO has offered a peek at a new Ghostbusters set that recreates all the main characters and their gear in glorious detail, including the signature ECTO-1 car and an ECTO-2 motorbike. The new box of plastic bricks doesn't spoil too much of what's coming in the new movie, although there's a Red Daemon character (the new nemesis?) and hints that the assistant, Kevin, gets possessed.
Recommended Reading: Rick Moranis on the 'Ghostbusters' reboot and more
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Rick Moranis Isn't Retired (He Just Doesn't Know How to Change His Wikipedia Page) by Ryan Parker The Hollywood Reporter When the new version of Ghostbusters arrives in theaters next year, a lot of the stars from the 1980s movies will make appearances in the film. Rick Moranis isn't one of them. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Moranis explains that "it just makes no sense" to him and dishes on what he's been doing for the last two decades, including his iOS 9.1 woes.
Barely Related: Twin Peaks returns, so does Ghostbusters
Hello, weekend! It's so lovely to see you again. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Ghostbusters game from Capcom's Beeline available now
Capcom's Beeline Interactive has launched its freemium Ghostbusters game on the App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.Unlike Beeline's Smurfs' Village and Snoopy Street Fair, which were similar town-management games, Ghostbusters is more of a tycoon game. Players build their Ghostbusters franchise up and out from the iconic firehouse headquarters.Players can either earn their way toward franchise expansion, or, you know, since this is a freemium game, an unmarked little envelope of cash under the virtual bathroom stall never hurt either.%Gallery-172733%
Ghostbusters mobile game in development by Capcom's Beeline
Capcom's Beeline Interactive is working on a freemium game for smartphones based on Ghostbusters. Beeline has found success with the similarly designed management games Smurfs' Village and Snoopy Street Fair, with this Ghostbusters game putting players "in the role of a fledgling Ghostbusters franchisee.""Given our ongoing relationship with them on Smurfs' Village, [Beeline] are the perfect partner to carry forward the success of Ghostbusters in the interactive space," said VP of Sony Pictures Consumer Products Mark Caplan.Beeline describes Ghostbusters more as a tycoon game, as players upgrade their proton packs and traps to take higher-paying jobs and upgrade the business. A Beeline rep tells us, "Ghostbusters is more about building out your Ghostbusters franchise and taking your squad on missions. Snoopy and Smurfs are really 'city' builders in comparison."%Gallery-172733%
The Road to Mordor: Ten things to do in East Bree-land before you die
It's been a long, long time since I've been able to work on this series, going through each Lord of the Rings Online zone quest by quest and pulling the top 10 locations, points of interest, or missions for the aspiring adventurer to check out. There are many reasons I've been tardy in continuing it, but no excuses today! Today we dine in the Prancing Pony, for tomorrow we die! I decided to divide Bree-land into two separate articles, with this one covering the eastern portion and Bree proper, and the upcoming one tackling the western and northern areas. This is not just because Bree-land is a pretty dang big zone but because it's pulling double-duty: East Bree-land and Bree serves as the 1-15 leveling area for Men, while the west invites all four races to continue the journey to level 20. While it may seem like a generic fantasy zone on the surface, Bree-land is actually teeming with interesting details, stories, and activities. I've never regretted leveling in the area (it's a darn sight better than Ered Luin), and it was pretty tough to limit myself to just 10 activities for this list. So what should you do in East Bree-land before you die? Let's take a look!
Macworld | iWorld 2012: XMG Studios working on a location-based Ghostbusters game
XMG Studio is an indie iOS developer in Toronto that's gotten to work with some very decidedly un-indie licenses. They have made a few popular and original iOS games already (including Cows vs. Aliens and Cannon Cadets), but lately they've been getting more and more involved in licensed work. They delivered an Inspector Gadget game last year, have an app out about the Canadian TV series Degrassi High, and now they've wrangled the official Ghostbusters license for iOS. And VP of Game Development Adam Telfer told us this week at Macworld that they're making a location-based game with it, of all things. The game will be out this summer, and will use the iPhone's location tech to have players track down virtual ghosts in their real-world environments, both searching them on a map and then using the iPhone itself as a PK meter. They're using a Foursquare-style service to place the ghosts, too, so a ghost might appear at your regular Starbucks stop, you'll get a notification, and once you search for it, you'll be able to earn items and upgrades for searching for and capturing more ghosts. Location-based gaming is a genre that's kind of foundered on the iPhone, but Telfer says he and XMG have some ideas they're excited about, and he thinks the Ghostbusters franchise is a perfect fit. The game is set for a "soft launch" in Canada in a few months, with a launch in North America sometime in June. As for XMG as a company, Telfer says that "this year we exploded." While the company started out with just six people working on an original game, the office is now up to about 45 employees, and rather than original IPs, Telfer says XMG is looking more for licensing bigger properties, and co-production on titles. Totally Amp'd is another example of that -- it's an app centered around a video series, where you can not only watch the video content, but also interact with the show and its characters in various ways. We'll look forward to that Ghostbusters app as well. XMG is definitely finding some interesting business deals -- hopefully their take on the location-based gaming genre will live up to the much-loved movie license.
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Mythica
While Microsoft may be the big cheese when it comes to operating systems and worldwide domination, for whatever reason the company has the absolute worst of luck (or worst of decision-makers) when it comes to MMOs. Microsoft Game Studios has proven remarkably skittish when it approached the swimming pool of online RPGs, choosing to dip a toe into the water, give a girlie scream, and run away without taking the dive. True Fantasy Live Online had a bumpy ride with the studio, Marvel Universe Online circled the drain faster than my morning shower, and the less said about its relationship with Vanguard's development, the better. But there was yet another aborted project that Microsoft jumped into -- and then back out of -- between 2003 and 2004, and in my opinion, it was the one the company should've stuck out to completion. I remember when Microsoft first announced Mythica, because I thought "This is gonna be cool." Vikings, Norse mythology, gods made flesh, and a big-name studio funding limitless adventures. In the pre-World of Warcraft era, the field was wide open for a company to come up and rival Sony Online Entertainment for the crown, so why not this one? But... cold water, skittish toes, and another MMO kicked the bucket before it saw the light of its first day. Take my hand (don't worry, I washed today) and we shall travel back to Ragnarök and beyond!
Does Cataclysm have too much potential content?
I was running around Uldum recently, doing the Ramkahen quests on yet another new 85, when it occurred to me that Uldum itself feels like the story has barely been told. Sure, we run around doing odd jobs for Harrison Jones, then we infiltrate the Halls of Origination and turn off the big doomsday device Algalon was going to use on us. And sure, we eventually crash into the Vortex Pinnacle and Throne of the Four Winds to stop Al'Akir and his minions. But what about the connection between Silithus and Uldum? We know that Ahn'Qiraj was a lost titan city and that the Tol'vir were assigned to it, that entities like Ossirian were once watchers like Setesh. (Setesh's model is nearly identical to the Anubisath that patrol AQ today.) It just feels like, with C'thun obviously driving Cho'gall around even after his "death," that there's room for a whole raid just dealing with the lost connections between AQ and Uldum. The lost passages of the titan research facility that the Qiraji took over? (We know from Uldaman and Ulduar that titan constructions tend to go on for miles and miles.) And that's hardly even the top of the list of raid instances we could see. A lot of us hoped for and expected an Abyssal Maw raid of some kind. There's a lot of talk about another Caverns of Time instance or raid with Nozdorumu's return. And I can't be the only one who keeps thinking that Grim Batol has entire layers we haven't seen yet. Heck, there are whole terraces in Deepholm we visit once and never go back to, and that whole zone is massive and cries out for more.
Xbox 360 Ghostbusters patch fixes broken Achievements
We've heard some horror stories about the arduous nature of the Xbox Live certification process, but whoa man, this is a little excessive. Do you guys remember back when they made a video game interpretation of the Ghostbusters franchise like, a hundred years ago? Well, the 360 version of that game had some niggling issues preventing users from unlocking four of the game's multiplayer Achievements -- issues that were fixed in a patch which went live earlier this week, some eighteen months after the game's initial release. Of course, we're only assuming the certification process is to blame for the patch's late arrival. Maybe it just took that long for developer Terminal Reality to fix these problems. Or maybe Slimer was up to his old tricks, delaying the dev team with his incorporeal shenanigans.
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime slathered on XBLA, PSN and PC next Spring
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be a downloadable follow-up to 2009's Ghostbusters: The Video Game, 'cause Gozer knows publisher Atari can barely afford a full-cost sequel. Being developed by Assault Heroes creator Wanako (now named Behavior Studios), the four-player (online and couch co-op) top-down action game will not feature any voice work by the original Ghostbusters like Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. It's still unclear whether their characters even appear, or if they've been replaced by a new team of specter hunters. Sanctum of Slime, to be released in the Spring of 2011 on XBLA, PSN and PC, will have players taking the role of "the rookie," who was introduced in the 2009 game. We don't have more details beyond what little information and screens were given to USA Today, so let's just cross our streams and hope for the best.
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.
Xbox Ghostbusters multiplayer glitches to be busted this fall
A year after its release, you may have thought there wasn't a ghost of a chance of any fixes being made to Ghostbusters. But Terminal Reality is going to give Xbox 360 players a reason to start busting ghosts in multiplayer again, with a patch that fixes glitches in the multiplayer Achievements. That means that, following the update, you should be able to get the "Egon's Guinea Pig" Achievement! Tell your mood slime -- it'll be thrilled! You'll just ... have to wait a little longer. According to the announcement on TR's Facebook page, the patch is "currently awaiting approval for distribution, which is likely to coincide with the Xbox 360 firmware update this Fall." %Gallery-21636% [Thanks Adam!]
Ghostbusters Wii mod sets a new bar, proves that dreams do come true
The Wii has seen its fair share of related modifications, and while our favorite Nintendo mod still has Pixar written all over it, this one just might take the cake for the Big N's freshest console. Created by an obviously obsessed (and über-talented) Ghostbusters fan, the Nintendo Wii Proton Pack is a fully functional device that beautifully complements the Wii version of the Ghostbusters video game. For those doubting the thought that went into this, take a listen: the Blue Power Cell accurately reflects how much power you have left, and the Thrower has been designed to covertly hold both the Wiimote and the Nunchuk. Better still, the Wiimote's internal speaker enables the pack to make true-to-film noises. Hit the source link to get a better look, but we'd recommend suiting up in your best 80s era, ghoul-busting garb before diving in. Update: In-action video is now after the break!
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]
