The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

Capcom making Lost Planet movie

Running in tomorrow's Daily Variety but online now:

Capcom is making a "Lost Planet" movie. The publisher is teaming up with producer Avi Arad, who used to run Marvel Pictures, and has a distribution deal with Warner Bros.

David Hayter, who wrote two "X-Men" movies and the upcoming adaptation of "Watchmen," and who of course we gamers know as the voice of Solid Snake in "Metal Gear Solid," is writing the script.

Arad is producing with his son Ari and partner Steven Paul through Seaside Entertainment, a production company they formed to make fantasy and sci-fi fare.

Capcom has been the busiest vidgame publisher in terms of adapting movies. It's got a fourth "Resident Evil" in the works with Sony, "Onimusha" with Paramount, and the new "Street Fighter" with Hyde Park (Fox is distributing). As with "Street Fighter," Capcom is expected to co-finance the "Lost Planet" movie. It's not clear yet if Warner Bros. will be kicking in the rest of the money or someone else.

Though the story was pretty cliched in the game, "Lost Planet" at least has one, as well as a cool visual setting (shades of Hoth), so there's no reason it couldn't be a good movie. On its face it certainly is a much more obvious adaptation than "Street Fighter."

No word on when the movie's coming out, though whenever it is, I'd say it's a safe bet it'll be along with the inevitable "Lost Planet 2." (Just as "Street Fighter IV" is probably coming out with the movie next winter)

Not to ruin any surprises, but for anyone wondering what's going to be the big announcement at Capcom's E3 press conference on Tuesday... now you know.

Street Fighter IV is probably coming out with the movie

Everybody's excited at the official word today that Capcom will release "Street FIghter IV" for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. But when, oh when, is it coming out? Capcom hasn't said.

Here's a wild guess: Variety recently reported that Fox will release the "Street Fighter" movie in the U.S. on Feb. 27, 2009. I'd say right around then makes a lot of sense.

Not only is that a big promotional event for the franchise, but Capcom is an investor in the movie. While I'm sure it hopes to make money on the film, it's obviously investing those millions in part to try and revive public interest in "Street Fighter." As such, Capcom would be crazy to not take advantage of the big (by videogame standards) promotional push Fox will be putting behind the release of "Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li" and have its game on store shelves at the same time.

If by some chance Capcom just can't get the game out by then, around the movie's DVD release (probably in late spring) would be the next logical time to expect it.

2006's two best games have both been re-released

Looking through my ever-growing pile of recent games, it occurs to me that the two best games of 2006 -- in this much maligned reviewer's opinion -- have both been released in the past month. So if you never played "Okami" or "Bully" and you have  Wii or Xbox 360, I highly highly recommend picking them both up. I can say without reservation that they are both better than anything that has come out so far in 2008.

                                                                                    

GDC: Getting my ass kicked at "Street Fighter IV"

Even back in the day when I haunted arcades, I wasn't much of a "Street Fighter" fan. I wasn't smart enough or coordinated enough to memorize and implement all the crazy combo's, which resulted in me getting my ass kicked repeatedly.

Visiting Capom's suite at GDC was a nice flashback to those days. Not only did I not really know what I was doing as I sat down to play "Street Fighter IV," but I was visiting the suite at the same time as some folks from Destructoid. Really nice guys but, as anyone who has visited the site knows, it's for hard core gamers. Which means it's by hard core gamers. Which means I got a nice flashback to the '80s as my ass was handed to me repeatedly, in the form of E. Honda or Guile falling on his ass.

(There's a photo on the left of two people playing against each other.)

I should have known I would be in trouble when I admitted to the guy sitting next to me I wasn't sure of all the controls (there were some on the machine, but they were in Japanese) and his response was "Guile controls the same." My seemingly logical response was "The same as what?" And the exasperated enthusiast game journalist replied "as in 'Street Fighter 2.'" As in "Duh." As in "How could anyone come to the Capcom booth and not remember how the controls worked in "Street Figher 2?!"

The game comes out this summer at arcades in Japan. It hasn't yet been announced on consoles but, you know... it'll probably hit 360 and PS3 by the holidays or sometime in 2009. Possibly in conjunction with the new "Street Fighter" movie.

So what was "Street Fighter IV" actually like? Pretty much the same as the "Street Fighter" I remember as a kid, except awesome hi-def graphics and more stuff going on in the background. To be honest, I'm probably not the best person to critique the game, as you may have picked up, so since I've picked on them a bit, I'll refer you to Destructoid for a more in-depth analysis.

Also on display was the new "Bionic Commando" game. Actually the two new "Bionic Commando" games -- the XBLA and PSN game "Bionic Commando Rearmed," which is essentially a tweaked version of the classic, and the new 3-D version for next-gen consoles.

I only got hands on "Rearmed," which certainly looks good and will be a fun throwback for those who loved the old version. I didn't get to play the 3-D game, but it looked in many ways like your standard abandoned city / jungle shooter. But with the big addition of an extendable bionic arm, of course. I was definitely impressed at how much work the developers put into making it work. There's a great mix of auto-aim, to make sure players don't miss the thing they're trying to latch onto, with manual adjustment to get an object right where you want it. Physics make objects, or the hero, move faster or slower based on the weight of the object he's holding onto. And there are some great fighting combos based on latching onto an enemy and pulling yourself towards him, or him towards you.

In other words, it's the standard game industry thing -- the same old shooter we're used to but with one big new feature. However, it looks like that feature might work extraordinarily well, which is certainly more than you can say for a lot of other action games.

(I should note that my "Bionic Commando" demo was, perhaps inevitably, repeatedly interrupted by screams and yells from the Destructoid guys' "SF IV" matches.)

Devil May Cry 4 Review

Today we're welcoming a new writer to Variety's stable of freelance videogame reviewers: Leigh Alexander. She writes for GamaSutra, WorldsinMotion, and GameSetWatch, and also runs her own highly enjoyable blog called Sexy Videogameland. Leigh's review of "Devil May Cry 4" just went online and, though I'm biased, I'd say it's totally worth checking out. Also check out Leigh's post on SVG about the women's fashion on display in DMC4, aptly titled "Ain't It Cold Down There?"

Excerpt from her review:

The next-gen debut of Capcom's successful punk-devil fighting franchise leaves every thread in place: stylish action flick aesthetic, cool-as-hell heroes, creepy Gothic vibe and adrenaline-rush destruction. "Devil May Cry 4" isn't too welcoming to rookies, but should more than satisfy the hardcore crowd by returning the series to its roots while also changing things up a bit with the addition of a new character, and his cool new abilities, against the backdrop of gorgeous, stunningly detailed environments. Solid sales amongst action game devotees seem assured.

Read the whole thing here.