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The Week in Review news piece summarizes and highlights the most important gaming related news and rumors over the past week. This weekly article will keep you plugged in and in-tune. A couple of film adaptations of great games were reported this week. For starters, Sony Pictures is likely going to bring inFAMOUS to the silver screen. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Avi and Ari Arad are going to produce the film and Sheldon Turner is set to write the screenplay. Likewise, EA’s Dead Space IP is also getting made into a movie, with “Eagle Eye” helmer D.J. Caruso set to direct it. The Variety report, which broke the story, went on to confirm that “EA will produce the film with Temple Hill partners’ Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey.” Perhaps more interesting to gamers is the very same Variety article also stated that the “second and third installments” of the game are also on their way. Hopefully, the gaming faithful will pay more attention to the horror franchise the next time around. In more movie-related news, Lionsgate’s President of Digital Media Curt Mavis revealed that the Nintendo Wii’s video service will launch to the rest of the world shortly (it’s currently only available in Japan), stating: “I imagine the Wii’s movie store will launch worldwide soon.” From his tone, it looks like we can expect the service to launch imminently. Curt Mavis also discussed the opportunities the various consoles represent for Lionsgate, proving that gaming consoles should now be considered essential multi-media electronics. Mavis stated, “The essential point is that the game machine is already connected into the TV, and we see it as a major conduit inside the home to bring movies via the internet into the television. Our horror and action movies are ideal for the Xbox and PlayStation’s hardcore audience, while the broader audience of the Wii are likely to enjoy our more mass-market properties.” Turning toward upcoming games, two titles were revealed through game ratings boards. According to Telefilm Canada, “the federal cultural agency formed to promote media in Canada and hand out grants,” as picked up by VG24/7, a new Silicon Knights project is currently being developed. Listed as Siren in the Maelstrom, it’s unconfirmed as to whether or not this new project is part of the Too Human trilogy. However, looking at the etymology, it likely is the second part of the action-adventure, as the word “maelstrom” is of Scandinavian origin – the Too Human trilogy being an interpretation of Norse Mythology. The other indirectly revealed title is an oldie but goodie. According to the German game ratings board (USK), Hothead Games’ puzzle-platformer, Braid, is likely headed to Sony’s PSN (the game is currently available through XBLA, for the PC, and even Macs). While no official confirmation has yet been given, it seems as though this rumor is nearly fact due to the listing entry published plainly on the USK website. The last big game announcement came from an Official Nintendo Magazine interview with Punch-Out!! producer Ken Yeeloy. Apparently, the folks at Next Level Games are already planning a sequel to Punch-Out!! Yeeloy said, “I would love to make a sequel. I think with this first product, we wanted to make sure there was a definite, undeniable connection to the original. The sequel would be our opportunity to evolve the franchise further and add some cool, new things.” Furthermore, Gameplay Lead Bryce Holliday shared Yeeloy’s sentiments stating: “The next Punch-Out!! would be different.” He continued, “I would personally love to take the IP and the mechanic and give it a little twist.” As far as what shape the new boxing title would take, Holliday stated that “Cooperative, competitive multiplayer support or create-a-boss mode would be places to start, but we’d need to come up with a new ‘hook’ like the motion controllers gave us in this iteration.” Finally, the launch window of Microsoft’s Natal was hinted at by THQ’s CEO Brian Farrell. The executive told investors that Natal will hit store shelves in Q4 2010. No confirmation has been given by Microsoft, however. Thanks so much everyone and we will see you next week! |