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Saw director takes a stab at Dead Space with 'Loved Ones' trailer
Electronic Arts knows the secret to grabbing attention in the maelstrom of media released in the days leading up to E3 -- get a big shot director of actual motion pictures to compose a trailer for your title using in-game footage. Splatter film enthusiasts may recognize the big shot in question: James Wan, the twisted mind behind the love-them-or-hate-them Saw films. Wan is credited on GameTrailers as the creator of the newest Dead Space trailer (conveniently placed after the jump), though puzzlingly, his name is left out of the actual video.Wan's trailer is just as unsettling as his films, and is probably the best piece of media we've seen from EA's space-themed screamer -- though the release date of October 21 revealed at the trailer's conclusion, is a bit earlier (and somewhat less appropriate) than the Halloween launch announced in February. Either way, we can't wait for next week's chance to get our dismembered hands on Dead Space once again.
Counting Rupees: GTA IV vs. Iron Man
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming: According to several "analysts" last week, the successful launch of Grand Theft Auto IV threatened to sink the box office returns for Iron Man. The thinking went that since the game and the movie both target primarily the same demographic (males 18-29), that demographic would stay home and play the game instead of going to see the movie. While it's impossible to declare with complete certainty, as Variety did, that GTA IV had absolutely no effect on Iron Man's opening (with $104.2M in domestic receipts, $201M worldwide, and a release date for a sequel already announced), whatever effect it may have had was clearly not enough to significantly impact the movie. But clearly, many had predicted that the game could adversely affect box office receipts. It makes me wonder -- have we ever seen this sort of effect before?
GDC08: Zombie named as Saw game developer
Ok, we don't mean to be cynical. A Saw game does have a lot of potential and Brash Entertainment has seen fit to give the movie license to next-gen newcomer Zombie, the studio behind America's Army. We're interested how the game will stack up to other games like Barbie Horse Adventures and... oh wait, wrong side of the spectrum. Considering the movie rating association allows the films to be released with massive amounts of unapologetic gore yielding few complaints from the public, we wonder how the media will react to the game. Someone call Fox News, they always get their facts right. [via Joystiq]
GDC08: Saw game to be developed by Zombie
Brash Entertainment was promoting some of the movie based licenses in their pipeline yesterday and, unsurprisingly, they discussed one of their biggest guns, a game adaptation of the Saw horror series. Brash's co-founder Mitch Davis let slip that the game (reportedly headed for PS3 and Xbox 360) is being developed by Zombie, the studio behind America's Army.This would be their first now-gen game, but we guess everybody's got to start somewhere. Hopefully all questions will be answered when the game's released in October 2009.
Saw franchise spawns one bloody video game
Wanna play a game? Well, that's exactly what Brash Entertainment is asking as they just announced a brand new game based on the Saw movie franchise. Saw (the video game) will have its own unique story based in the Saw universe as Brash works closely with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures to make it oh so authentic. Specifics aren't available, but we do know that Saw will release sometime in October 2009 and utilize teh awesomeness that the Unreal Engine 3 can bring. Now, let's hope the game can be better than the movie sequels they've been churning out lately. Zing!
Saw game brings gornography to consoles in '09
Ever wonder if a video game based on gorno (gore-porn) film series Saw would automatically get an AO rating? Well, it's time to find out as Brash Entertainment has fleshed out its announcement from last year concerning an interactive Saw. The game will weave in and out of the Saw movie storylines and elaborately ensnare consoles in Oct. '09. If you're thinking this is going to be some cheesy mobile cash-in, it appears the developers will be using Unreal Engine 3.0 and releasing the title on the PS3 and Xbox 360.If the Saw game ends up being of any quality it'll certainly make for interesting times in terms of controversy and Manhunt 2 comparisons. You'll remember that at the height of the latter game's lunacy, the New York Times made sure to point out the inequity between film and game ratings.
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Jan. 20
This has to be some sort of cruel joke. Two horror movies released this week, but we don't know which one is more scary. On one hand you have a movie about people getting horribly mutilated in various ways and one where The Rock is a star football player with a great single life until one day, his bastard daughter shows up on his front doorstep. Either way, we're pretty sure both movies will be tough to watch for far different reasons. Saw IV: Unrated Director's Cut The Game Plan Perhaps we're being a bit too tough on our good friend Dwayne Johnson. Nevertheless, perhaps he should stick with movies where he can bust in a room, say a couple bad-ass one liners and then proceed to beat the crap outta people with a variety of objects.
Wii Warm Up: Games vs. movies
Since the Manhunt 2 debacle, there's been a lot of discussion about the differences between graphic games and graphic films. Everyone seems to have a different opinion about which is worse. In fact, two recent articles were not only completely at odds with one another opinion-wise, but they used some of the same examples! However, they did focus on slightly different subjects. Seth Schiesel of the New York Times thought movies were far ahead of games on the gore factor, and he cited comparisons between Saw II and Manhunt 2. Since the most graphic moments in the latter were short, and of course, animated, Schiesel found the lengthy, almost loving shots of "torture porn" in Saw II to be much more disturbing. Clive Thompson of Wired, however, thinks that games are much better than most recent films at creating a frightening atmosphere. Movies rely far too much on gore, he said -- citing Saw as both example and possible progenitor of this phenomenon -- while horror games can recreate the chilling, anxiety-inducing feelings of the best horror films the genre has ever offered, because (Roger Ebert would hate this reason) horror games take a very artistic approach to mood and atmosphere. While he talks mostly about BioShock, the principles can be applied to many other games; he mentions Silent Hill and Resident Evil as well.So our question today is: where do you stand on this? Can games go further and do more, or are films still the benchmark for horror and intensity?
Dell continues to extol Latitude XT by pulverizing rivals
While we patiently await Dell's highly-touted gift to the tablet PC universe, the marketing crew has apparently decided that obliterating yet another rival machine will keep the buzz alive until this thing actually launches. This go 'round, a team gathers around a blindfolded individual who takes his frustrations out on a piñata, er, tablet PC, and does a fine job of making sure it never boots up the same way again. Per usual, the video of the massacre is after the break, but we're still not sure what all it proves about Dell's forthcoming solution.[Via GottaBeMobile]
Dell promotes Latitude XT tablet by sawing another in half
These days, you better bring your A-game when promoting a product in an already (somewhat) saturated market, and Dell has certainly given it its best shot with a recent Latitude XT promo. The video showcases a gentlemen who is apparently fed up with his other tablet and the incomprehensible grief it has caused him, and rather than selling it to another poor sap and waiting it out for Dell's forthcoming alternative, he takes matters into his own hands. Needless to say, the poor machine didn't stand a chance against a mighty electrical saw, and while we highly doubt the impending Latitude tablet could either, it's a comical watch nonetheless. Check it out after the break.[Via GottaBeMobile]
300 and Saw want you to "play beyond" their movies
It's not even funny anymore. Seriously. Movies making the transfer to video games need to stop somewhere. While we knew a game based on the amazingly fantastic testosterone-fest 300 was inevitable, we have no idea who thought making a game based on the torture/puzzle movies of the Saw universe made any sense at all. What's next, Hostel: The Game? That would be crap.New publisher Brash Entertainment is paving the way, deciding to cater exclusively to games based off of movies, TV, or music licenses. They've already got 5 movie studios to support them, with over 12 projects underway including the two we've mentioned. Not Hostel, though. Not yet. We always wish every developer and publisher the best of luck, but this Brash Entertainment ... it deserves a slap. Unless movie/TV games start to show us something that doesn't suck, we've got nothing more to say. If they make 300 suck, that's it. No more movie games. Ever.
Saw this coming: Games based on Saw coming
Brash Entertainment says that they're looking to change the way that movie-license games are made, and one of the first IPs getting the treatment will be the Saw franchise, GameDaily BIZ reported today. There's no word on what sort of game the horror series will inspire, but we've got our fingers crossed for some hybrid of Deception and Night Trap.Brash says that they've got 12 other games in development and 40 licenses under their belt. They're not exactly just a bunch of upstarts either, with $400 million in funding to play with. So, their attempt at Saw either represents the start of something great or the opening salvo in a crapstorm. Let's hope it's the former.
