Saturday, February 14, 2009
Noby Noby Boy
The following is actual footage from a real video game:
The fact that it is made by the creator of Katamari Damacy is the only reason I really want to play it. Unfortunately it's only on the PS3. Oh well.
The fact that it is made by the creator of Katamari Damacy is the only reason I really want to play it. Unfortunately it's only on the PS3. Oh well.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Coraline
Coraline is easily the best stop-motion animated film since The Nightmare Before Christmas. Not that there have been a great many others in between, but it's still a damn good movie. The precision in animation and storytelling is at a Pixar level of goodness. Henry Selick and Neil Gaiman make fine collaborators, and I only hope that more adaptations come about in the future. I'd love to see what a Sandman story looks like in this medium!
One of my favorite things about Coraline is that it is a genuinely creepy kids movie. All of my favorite movies growing up were not afraid to actually be scary. Selick does a wonderful job as a director of gradually ramping up the creepiness until the whole fantasy world is just one big nightmare.
I haven't read the book, so I can't say how close of an adaptation this is, but it definitely has Neil Gaiman's fingerprint. He has such a clever way of using familiar elements from classic stories, and giving them just enough of a twist that they become something new and exciting.
In addition to being a very entertaining film, Coraline is also the best 3D movie I've seen since this new digital 3D technology was introduced. It isn't overly gaggy (*ahem*, Beowulf), and it uses space in very clever ways. Gaiman and Selick recently did a fantastic interview on The Sound Of Young America. Selick describes how sets were built with forced perspective in Coraline's "real world" to give them a flatter look. This kind of attention to detail makes the movie a complete joy to watch in 3D.
I really enjoyed everything about Coraline from the characters, to the story, to its beautifully haunting soundtrack. This could easily give Pixar a run for their money in 2009. Up better be fantastic, is all I'm saying.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Surpriise!
A couple of surprising tidbits have come out about future Wii games that I'm pretty excited about.
The first is that EA is making a Dead Space game for the Wii. This is surprising because Dead Space is a fairly mature title, and these aren't always considered prime Wii material. The 360 and PS3 versions were well reviewed. Whether the Wii version is a port of that game, or something completely built from the ground up, I hope they put the same level of quality into it. We're already getting a stripped down version of Dead Rising (completely unrelated), so I hope Dead Space isn't too toned down on content.
The other thing that has me a little giddy is this announcement that the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings game will contain a bonus game: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Anyone who played PC games back in the day will remember Fate of Atlantis as one of Lucasarts' classic point-and-click adventure games.
I've been calling for more point-and-click Wii action for a while. The recent Sam & Max game was pretty good (though not nearly as good as the Lucasarts original), and Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People is a must for Homestar Runner fans.
Hopefully Staff of Kings with be worth purchasing so I can enjoy Fate of Atlantis all over again. And if the port is well received I hope Lucasarts considers bringing some more of their old adventure games to the Wii, either as a standalone collection or on the Virtual Console. Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Sam & Max Hit The Road, Grim Fandango, and The Digg are all games I wouldn't mind playing again. Maniac Mansion was even on the NES, so that would be perfect for a Virtual Console release.
The first is that EA is making a Dead Space game for the Wii. This is surprising because Dead Space is a fairly mature title, and these aren't always considered prime Wii material. The 360 and PS3 versions were well reviewed. Whether the Wii version is a port of that game, or something completely built from the ground up, I hope they put the same level of quality into it. We're already getting a stripped down version of Dead Rising (completely unrelated), so I hope Dead Space isn't too toned down on content.
The other thing that has me a little giddy is this announcement that the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings game will contain a bonus game: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Anyone who played PC games back in the day will remember Fate of Atlantis as one of Lucasarts' classic point-and-click adventure games.
I've been calling for more point-and-click Wii action for a while. The recent Sam & Max game was pretty good (though not nearly as good as the Lucasarts original), and Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People is a must for Homestar Runner fans.
Hopefully Staff of Kings with be worth purchasing so I can enjoy Fate of Atlantis all over again. And if the port is well received I hope Lucasarts considers bringing some more of their old adventure games to the Wii, either as a standalone collection or on the Virtual Console. Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Sam & Max Hit The Road, Grim Fandango, and The Digg are all games I wouldn't mind playing again. Maniac Mansion was even on the NES, so that would be perfect for a Virtual Console release.
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