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Game Over CG Sitcom Debuts, Censored, Gets Machinima
Thanks to GamePro for its interview with the creator of UPN's new CG videogame-related sitcom, Game Over, which debuted last night. The interview notes: "For gamers, it's great to see in-jokes and cameos - like when the entire cast of Oddworld shows up in the first episode. But is prime time ready for a gaming 'toon?" Even before debuting, "Game Over has fallen prey to network censors", with dialog and risque CG nudity cut, and reaction to the show is mixed, but to promote it, UPN is giving away an interactive PC game/machinima download in conjunction with Fountainhead Entertainment, so "players are able to use ['Game Over' character Raquel] in interactive and non-interactive ways by employing Machinimation tools" - the download is available via FilePlanet. Update: 03/12 04:10 GMT by S : Reuters are reporting disappointing ratings for the debut episode.
Well, video actually. In WMV format. Here.
Enjoy.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
Well Angel's only got a few more shows itself. And its on the WB, so who knows when the next episode will be shown or if it will be shown two weeks in a row.
Our founding fathers removed the guys in charge. Be American. Vote incumbents out.
Overall it feels like it was well written, then attacked by a commitee of executives. There are moments that are really funny and well animated, but there are clunkers, too. The fact that there ARE actually good jokes and references give me hope that it could become a good show if it gets time to mature. Seinfeld, and even the Simpsons didn't find their stride until a few seasons in, I'd like to see this show get that same chance.
A few game references I spotted:
-A guy comes out of nowhere and punches the dad while they're at a mall and he says, "What is this, Vice City?"
-The mom is an obvious Lara Croft wannabe, always raiding tombs looking for sacred artifacts to decorate her home with, she even has the dual pistols. Her daughter starts picketing outside the tombs for desecrating them.
-A sort of old, fat, and bitter Sonic knockoff named Turbo who they adopt as a pet and who encourages the kids to smoke and rob stores
-The oddworld cast, of course, (we even see Abe do his "sneak-by" move), which attacks Turbo at the end. They even got the names for a few of them right;
-The son skates through the mall, grinding on escaltors just like Tony Hawk games.
As another poster mentioned they seem to be flipping between standard sitcom stuff (the dad has to take his daughter to buy her first bra) and video-game-characters-as-a-family humor (their neighbors are kung-fu fighters who are constantly fighting off ninjas that are attacking their house). They need to find their balance between these. Some of the jokes are less than hilarious (the father brings all the manly stuff he can carry when they go to the ligere (sp?) shop), but there's some really funny stuff like when the daughters yelling over the cell phone wakes up the monsters the mom is trying to creep by, and the dad can't figure out how to drive the moms high-tech minivan ("Don't you drive a car for a living, dad?" "Shut up!").
The animation can be a little weak at times, but I can forgive that on a weekly show. I even saw a texturing problem when the mom was fighting the big rock monster at the end. The Turbo character annoys me for some reason.
Overall I'm willing to watch the show to see if they can iron out these problems. There's lots of good stuff they could do, there's always new games coming out. Think if Penny Arcade-style humor was made into a show, like this recent comic.
I don't want to support TV piracy, but if somebody missed the show and wants to see it, you can find it here or here. (File is approximately 172MB.)