http://www.gamespot.com/news/6171544.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;1
Wow ... what can I say ... a movie about nothing!!!
How can they make an interesting movie out of a game with no plot, where users (how can I say players) make members of their created family go to the toilet, then lets them burn the house trying to cook something and finally gets rid of the pool's ladder so that its character drowns!
Is Hollywood already out of ideas ? Is that why Uwe Bowl wants to do games now ?!?!
yeah okay... its original for them to make a movie adaptation of such an open game.
lundi 28 mai 2007
dimanche 27 mai 2007
Movie: "Paris, je t'aime"
Just seen this movie and I enjoyed it a lot.
It contains 12-15 5 minutes short movies created by famous movie directors and the common theme is Paris and love.
All the "action" occurs in different parts of Paris played by a lot of well known actors who play small roles but bring some good acting to the table.
All the movies resolve around the actors loving someone, something in Paris.
The movies are all quite different and using different aspects of film making.
Some movies are funny, others dramatic and 1 violent/funny cartoony movie.
anyway I liked it :)
It contains 12-15 5 minutes short movies created by famous movie directors and the common theme is Paris and love.
All the "action" occurs in different parts of Paris played by a lot of well known actors who play small roles but bring some good acting to the table.
All the movies resolve around the actors loving someone, something in Paris.
The movies are all quite different and using different aspects of film making.
Some movies are funny, others dramatic and 1 violent/funny cartoony movie.
anyway I liked it :)
EA buying Ubi ... (continues)
http://kotaku.com/gaming/borg-it-up/ubisoft-still-on-eas-menu-263772.php
Just read part of the interview with EA's CCO Bing Gordon and it seems that EA might still be interested in buying Ubi...
"I think everybody is for sale. I think in general, successful intellectual properties
in all media are undervalued, especially in our media. There's been a lot of
acquisitions, but the thing about acquisitions is that the only time it works is if
you've got an intellectual property that can succeed without the people, or if the
people have a ten-year career path that they're interested in at EA."
I hope it won't happen (ok this topic as been discussed a lot in the past), I hope Ubi will stay as it is and not be controlled by EA...the companies offer different kind of products and have a different perspective on how to make games.
I like diversity.
What would happen to EA Montreal...seriously if Ubi is bought by EA ... they won't need those two in the same city.
Competition is good! Many companies around just means better opportunities, better options and better benefits ;)
Just read part of the interview with EA's CCO Bing Gordon and it seems that EA might still be interested in buying Ubi...
"I think everybody is for sale. I think in general, successful intellectual properties
in all media are undervalued, especially in our media. There's been a lot of
acquisitions, but the thing about acquisitions is that the only time it works is if
you've got an intellectual property that can succeed without the people, or if the
people have a ten-year career path that they're interested in at EA."
I hope it won't happen (ok this topic as been discussed a lot in the past), I hope Ubi will stay as it is and not be controlled by EA...the companies offer different kind of products and have a different perspective on how to make games.
I like diversity.
What would happen to EA Montreal...seriously if Ubi is bought by EA ... they won't need those two in the same city.
Competition is good! Many companies around just means better opportunities, better options and better benefits ;)
lundi 21 mai 2007
American McGee vs Ubi Shanghai !
http://www.americanmcgee.com/wordpress/?p=235#comments
This blog post from American McGee is quite funny I believe.
His new studio in Shanghai,Spicy Horse, is looking for people to hire ... and since Ubisoft is the biggest game development studio in Shanghai he's trying to get ubi employees.
It seems that ubi doesn't want to release his people "Ubi doesn’t necessarily *like* the idea of seeding outside development teams", so ubi responses to those "attacks".
"Several recent Ubi employees we’ve tried to lure away have reported a significant increase in benefits, salary, and position within the company. Ubi really doesn’t want to let people go…"
I think this is quite amusing that ubisoft is willing to give a lot away to keep his people... in Shanghai (!!!) at any price!
The thing is American McGee offers everyone, who wishes to join his company, an offer letter so the employees will get their raise from ubi, but he asks for a % of the amount received... lol!
This is his new business model he calls "Spicy Horse Salary Inflation Service"
found it funny ;)
This blog post from American McGee is quite funny I believe.
His new studio in Shanghai,Spicy Horse, is looking for people to hire ... and since Ubisoft is the biggest game development studio in Shanghai he's trying to get ubi employees.
It seems that ubi doesn't want to release his people "Ubi doesn’t necessarily *like* the idea of seeding outside development teams", so ubi responses to those "attacks".
"Several recent Ubi employees we’ve tried to lure away have reported a significant increase in benefits, salary, and position within the company. Ubi really doesn’t want to let people go…"
I think this is quite amusing that ubisoft is willing to give a lot away to keep his people... in Shanghai (!!!) at any price!
The thing is American McGee offers everyone, who wishes to join his company, an offer letter so the employees will get their raise from ubi, but he asks for a % of the amount received... lol!
This is his new business model he calls "Spicy Horse Salary Inflation Service"
found it funny ;)
mercredi 16 mai 2007
Pan's Labyrinth
I just watched Pan's Labyrinth on Dvd.
It was a good movie.
I liked the concept of the Spanish revolution taking place while the little girl lives her fantasy.
So we can see a huge contrast between the "real" life of military officers fighting the revolution and a child's way to see the world and escape it ... to another kind of life where she rules the world and nobody dies. This life is exciting without the risk of military and where the danger is not to pursue what you believe in.
Mixing fairy tales, brutal violence acts and horror movie elements was a great experience for me. It incorporates elements taken from Alice in Wonderland and Disney movies which I usually like so much.
I found the movie didn't go far enough in the fantasy elements which we don't experiment long enough in the movie compared to the revolution.
I wished the movie would last longer and some characters could have been used in more depth like the creature with eyes in his hands. It would have created more suspense and enabled the viewers to really appreciate all of them.
I loved it for the story, the many different messages of hope and the fantasy elements.
It was a good movie.
I liked the concept of the Spanish revolution taking place while the little girl lives her fantasy.
So we can see a huge contrast between the "real" life of military officers fighting the revolution and a child's way to see the world and escape it ... to another kind of life where she rules the world and nobody dies. This life is exciting without the risk of military and where the danger is not to pursue what you believe in.
Mixing fairy tales, brutal violence acts and horror movie elements was a great experience for me. It incorporates elements taken from Alice in Wonderland and Disney movies which I usually like so much.
I found the movie didn't go far enough in the fantasy elements which we don't experiment long enough in the movie compared to the revolution.
I wished the movie would last longer and some characters could have been used in more depth like the creature with eyes in his hands. It would have created more suspense and enabled the viewers to really appreciate all of them.
I loved it for the story, the many different messages of hope and the fantasy elements.
mardi 15 mai 2007
Vision doesn't sell copies ?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/96/19
After reading this article from Escapist magazine, I'm a little disapointed in the way they reflected on the subject. In fact, they only seem to say that people don't care about good reviews for new products, but will only buy old licenses that they know of.
I believe that it's an awful way to see the issue!
It's true that most mainstream gamers or people who play casually won't go on ign,gamespot and such websites to see the reviews...most people don't care about those. These websites are more addressed to hardcore gamers and geeks ( sorry but that's kinda true ).
Do you really think parents will go on these sites before buying a game ?
I believe that great games with new creative visions will appeal to a lot of people rather than an old license that sold x number of copies , for example Splinter Cell will sell mostly to hardcore gamers or people who have played all previous games of the series. Why ? Because new players will be afraid to play this complex game which evolved since the first one. So the number of copies sold will diminish after each iteration since some of those players will want something new.
Then, why doesn't great vision sell copies ?
I believe it's the way the publishers/developpers advertise their game. Usually developpers will present a trailer of their game to show off the potential, but the problem... it's shown on a website again, gametrailers, which is only seen by a bunch of hardcore gamers.
The games will also be advertised in specialized gaming magazines which is only bought by hardcore gamers!
We should take a look at how the movie industry advertise their movies. Movie trailers are shown on TV, in a movie theater in front of hundreds of people at each showing and in most talk shows! So the trailers are seen by a lot of different kinds of people that wouldn't have known about horror movie x, for example, if they don't usually care about those, but now they know that the movie is coming out and can talk about it to other people!
Nintendo took this approach for their new Wii console and it worked ... everybody buys the console even non-gamers. They show the Wii play commercial on all tv channels, in movie theaters before all the best movies between two movie trailers and they talk about it everywhere.
So the main issue for the videogame industry, I believe, is that marketing department should rethink the way they advertised our games. They should put more money and time on the games that bring something new than older licenses that will sell anyway because they are advertised with trailers on specialized websites.
Let's think about it before saying that vision doesn't sell! Let's hope the industry can find new ways to present the games that we really care about :)
After reading this article from Escapist magazine, I'm a little disapointed in the way they reflected on the subject. In fact, they only seem to say that people don't care about good reviews for new products, but will only buy old licenses that they know of.
I believe that it's an awful way to see the issue!
It's true that most mainstream gamers or people who play casually won't go on ign,gamespot and such websites to see the reviews...most people don't care about those. These websites are more addressed to hardcore gamers and geeks ( sorry but that's kinda true ).
Do you really think parents will go on these sites before buying a game ?
I believe that great games with new creative visions will appeal to a lot of people rather than an old license that sold x number of copies , for example Splinter Cell will sell mostly to hardcore gamers or people who have played all previous games of the series. Why ? Because new players will be afraid to play this complex game which evolved since the first one. So the number of copies sold will diminish after each iteration since some of those players will want something new.
Then, why doesn't great vision sell copies ?
I believe it's the way the publishers/developpers advertise their game. Usually developpers will present a trailer of their game to show off the potential, but the problem... it's shown on a website again, gametrailers, which is only seen by a bunch of hardcore gamers.
The games will also be advertised in specialized gaming magazines which is only bought by hardcore gamers!
We should take a look at how the movie industry advertise their movies. Movie trailers are shown on TV, in a movie theater in front of hundreds of people at each showing and in most talk shows! So the trailers are seen by a lot of different kinds of people that wouldn't have known about horror movie x, for example, if they don't usually care about those, but now they know that the movie is coming out and can talk about it to other people!
Nintendo took this approach for their new Wii console and it worked ... everybody buys the console even non-gamers. They show the Wii play commercial on all tv channels, in movie theaters before all the best movies between two movie trailers and they talk about it everywhere.
So the main issue for the videogame industry, I believe, is that marketing department should rethink the way they advertised our games. They should put more money and time on the games that bring something new than older licenses that will sell anyway because they are advertised with trailers on specialized websites.
Let's think about it before saying that vision doesn't sell! Let's hope the industry can find new ways to present the games that we really care about :)
lundi 14 mai 2007
Escapist article : Westernization by Zombification
I just read last week's Escapist article "Westernization by Zombification"
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/96/09
The article talks about the game Dead Rising and how the developpers see the western "civilisation".
The article starts by explaining the history of monsters and why we invent them ..."Fiction is a mirror. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, it reveals the truth that reality obscures. Horror fiction in particular, for through its fictional terrors, we begin to see glimpses of what truly frightens us, the fears we'd prefer to hide."
The analysis goes really deep into sharing with us how japanese people see Americans and what they fear about them.
The game focuses on their fears : The danger of the American scientist who tries to change the environment and it results in a catastrophe that could destroy all of humanity, they see American's gluttony as one of the main problems of globalization, the menace of the guns that Americans carry everywhere they go and etc...
They created the main bosses in the game from American stereotypes gone mad... the clown with no children to entertain, the cop with no one to arrest, the hunters with nothing to hunt, ... they turn against the player and society at the same time.
"By fighting zombies, in other words, we're actually fighting ourselves."
"If the apocalypse is a revelation, Dead Rising's apocalypse reveals an America
immediately identifiable, but through a distorted mirror."
Interesting Article, I might say, in which we get a glimpse of how other culture see "us".
I think the article is kinda right in a lot of respect. I understand the fear that people can have towards guns being carried everywhere, I am too! There is so much violence out there, but I guess it's in the Constitution ... so it must be right ;)
(there's another interesting article in the Escapist : "Vision Doesn't sell copies, The short life of Clover Studio")
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/96/09
The article talks about the game Dead Rising and how the developpers see the western "civilisation".
The article starts by explaining the history of monsters and why we invent them ..."Fiction is a mirror. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, it reveals the truth that reality obscures. Horror fiction in particular, for through its fictional terrors, we begin to see glimpses of what truly frightens us, the fears we'd prefer to hide."
The analysis goes really deep into sharing with us how japanese people see Americans and what they fear about them.
The game focuses on their fears : The danger of the American scientist who tries to change the environment and it results in a catastrophe that could destroy all of humanity, they see American's gluttony as one of the main problems of globalization, the menace of the guns that Americans carry everywhere they go and etc...
They created the main bosses in the game from American stereotypes gone mad... the clown with no children to entertain, the cop with no one to arrest, the hunters with nothing to hunt, ... they turn against the player and society at the same time.
"By fighting zombies, in other words, we're actually fighting ourselves."
"If the apocalypse is a revelation, Dead Rising's apocalypse reveals an America
immediately identifiable, but through a distorted mirror."
Interesting Article, I might say, in which we get a glimpse of how other culture see "us".
I think the article is kinda right in a lot of respect. I understand the fear that people can have towards guns being carried everywhere, I am too! There is so much violence out there, but I guess it's in the Constitution ... so it must be right ;)
(there's another interesting article in the Escapist : "Vision Doesn't sell copies, The short life of Clover Studio")
jeudi 10 mai 2007
Eidos Montreal...
Really big news coming from Eidos Montreal (new studio)
the studio will be operational starting in September with 30-40 people on staff.
The news : they're gonna make the sequel to the serie DEUS EX!!!!!!
Thats soooo cool!!
I'd be glad to work on that ... some day ...
:)
To end all "Rumours" there is the video of the interview : http://www.musiqueplus.com/modules/smartmedia/clip.php?categoryid=9&folderid=45&clipid=1595
the studio will be operational starting in September with 30-40 people on staff.
The news : they're gonna make the sequel to the serie DEUS EX!!!!!!
Thats soooo cool!!
I'd be glad to work on that ... some day ...
:)
To end all "Rumours" there is the video of the interview : http://www.musiqueplus.com/modules/smartmedia/clip.php?categoryid=9&folderid=45&clipid=1595
mercredi 9 mai 2007
Movie : Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a really good movie : it's funny with great jokes, gruesome murders or "accidents", and a lot of action.
The movie is a mix between "Shaun of the Dead" and cops movies. It's written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright who wrote "Shaun of the Dead" who are back again. Simon Pegg reprises his role (kind of) of the last movie, but this time he fights real people instead of Zombies.
Nicholas Angel(Simon Pegg) is a police officer who's transfered from London where he's too good for the local police to a supposedly crime-free town, Sandford, until he arrives in town to become the new sheriff. "Accidents" happen in the city and Nicholas tries to investigate to he's reassigned to other tasks with another officer,Danny Butterman(Nick Frost), who's gonna become his best friend. They'll work together to fight crime!
This is great entertainment from start to finish and needs to be seen.
People in the movie theatre actually applauded at the end!
Go see it ... a lot of blood!!!
mardi 8 mai 2007
Xbox : Psychonauts
Finally, I got to play Psychonauts for the first time ... again... the first time I went so far as to finish the basic training then I got lost and couldn't find the second part training.
This time around I really wanted to play it through. I got lost again, but this time I punched everything I could until something happened ... wow this wasn't so easy to find...something opened at some point and the story unfolded.
Finally I could start the real psychonauts and not just the camp area of the game where we almost never go to for the rest of the game.
It's been a while that I wanted to play this game that seemed so strange and never done before.
During the game you get new psychonauts powers by collecting different items. They are mostly all well used and necessary for the player to advance in the game. You get to collect many gadgets also to use like in an adventure game.
Also, if you get stuck in a puzzle you get to use your bacon item to get some information from the crazy scientist which is cool for average players.
So for the main game now : You need to travel between different minds to save those people from their own past. Each character has a mind of its own, gameplay of its own and bosses really different from each other all with a great story behind their tie.
The experience you get each time you enter a mind is really interesting and cool to play.
Its new and refreshing!
The part I liked the most was the Cops mind (looking for the milkman!) ... this was a twisted mind and this is the part where you really need to find gadgets to get through the whole level since people need those "gang" member gadgets to let you through.
Also I really like the bull fighting mind where you need to avoid the bull, fight wrestlers and fight the bull.
But the game is frustrating in some areas. It is frustrating to die over and over again in the fish level because you just don't know where to go and the air bubble moves too slow sometimes.
Also, it's really frustrating to fall 5 stories in the brain collecting level where rats run at you and explode in confusing gaz effect where you lose health because more come at you while you have no control of your character. This level is quite confusing since you don't see where to go ... fortunately sometimes there is a catlike character that appears to let you know that there might be a way there.
The last level is way too hard compared to the rest of the game with the boss shooting at you with fire arrows while you need to run fast since you'll drown fast ... so you need to really hurry up which never happened in previous levels and the bosses are just tough and bah!
The game as taken me something like 14 hours to complete which is a good length for such a game.
Try it ... its good :)
Film : Ne le dis a personne
Film incroyable de Guillaume Canet
Synopsis : Huit ans après la mort de son épouse, un pédiatre reçoit un courriel anonyme contenant des images vidéo récentes montrant la jeune femme bien vivante. Le médecin obéit alors à son mystérieux correspondant, qui lui a fixé un rendez- vous avec la «défunte».
Ce film policier est vraiment un des meilleurs que j'ai vu depuis longtemps. L'intrigue est assez complexe et découvrir toutes les enigmes de l'histoire avant la fin est presque impossible.
Le réalisateur nous fait découvrir les multiples facettes des personnages ainsi que leurs interactions afin de nous faire vivre l'histoire. L'intrigue lie tous les personnages d'une maniere impressionnante et le spectateur doit trouver, parmis les quelques indices laissés, la vérité de toute cette histoire.
Le film comporte plusieurs rebondissements ainsi que beaucoup d'action afin qu'il n'y est aucun moment ennuyant. Le film passe tres rapidemment et il est tres pognant.
Allez le voir !
Marie-Josée Croze y joue nue encore une fois ...
Synopsis : Huit ans après la mort de son épouse, un pédiatre reçoit un courriel anonyme contenant des images vidéo récentes montrant la jeune femme bien vivante. Le médecin obéit alors à son mystérieux correspondant, qui lui a fixé un rendez- vous avec la «défunte».
Ce film policier est vraiment un des meilleurs que j'ai vu depuis longtemps. L'intrigue est assez complexe et découvrir toutes les enigmes de l'histoire avant la fin est presque impossible.
Le réalisateur nous fait découvrir les multiples facettes des personnages ainsi que leurs interactions afin de nous faire vivre l'histoire. L'intrigue lie tous les personnages d'une maniere impressionnante et le spectateur doit trouver, parmis les quelques indices laissés, la vérité de toute cette histoire.
Le film comporte plusieurs rebondissements ainsi que beaucoup d'action afin qu'il n'y est aucun moment ennuyant. Le film passe tres rapidemment et il est tres pognant.
Allez le voir !
Marie-Josée Croze y joue nue encore une fois ...
jeudi 3 mai 2007
Fracture - Lucasarts
Well I've seen the trailer.
I guess I understand what they wanted to do : A game where players will be able to really interact with the environment and do whatever they want with it.
So everytime you play will be different and everyone will have a different experience.
Which is one of the things next-gen games will need to incorporate...but is this the good way?!?
Will this game be fun from start to finish or will it be only a gimmick that players won't use after 20 minutes of play ?
I can't say it's such a bad idea since Red Faction was a good game where you could destroy almost all walls to make your own way...but it felt ok after a while or unnecessary to do so.
They say you'll need the different types of grenades to solve puzzles...so I guess we'll have to use them to finish the game hence the gameplay will be throwing grenades for 8 hours?!?
The tornado effect seems interesting, but the big mesh/boulder coming out of the land seems...weird to say the least.
But what the hell with the Boulder Gun??? What!?
Character design...we've seen that before haven't we?
We'll see in a year what the game looks like and I'm gonna try it then.
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