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Nintendo Eyeing the Big Screen
techstar25 writes "Coming soon reports that video game giant Nintendo is going to Hollywood by creating an in-house unit to develop animated features based on the numerous properties owned by the company. The plan calls for Nintendo to create a movie based on one of its own franchises for theatrical release in 2006. The original story is from Variety (reg. required)." It doesn't really say what properties to expect, but obviously it's Excite Bike.
Seriously, is anyone actally still awake in Hollywood or are these scripts actually being greenlighted by some giant evil Twilight-Zone-ish computer that lives in a cave someplace on the back lot of Warner Brothers? This news item seems like something they would have used as the basis of an episode of The Critic, fer cryin' out loud.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
The plan calls for Nintendo to create a movie based on one of its own franchises for theatrical release in 2006
Sadly, it will be marketed to the kids and useless parents who cannot say "No!" will take the sprogs, ensuring huge profits.
Also watch for:
The McSuper McMario Happy Meal!
Metroid Special Edition Pepsi!
Mr. Driller Bubble Gum Flavoured Toothpaste!
and the drones will gobble it all up...
Trolling is a art,
Are you kidding? This sounds like the most assinine thing ever... In Japan old game companies make movies out of 8-bit videogames.
Free Photo iPods.
In Soviet Russia, bike EXCITES YOU!!!
yeah.....because Super Mario Brothers was great! .......
Although a Zelda movie would be pretty neat.
-Teiresias
Metroid would be pretty sweet, but it would probably require an R rating since it would be a horror movie.
Wasn't there a Super Mario Brothers movie already that did poorly?
*cough* Super Mario Brothers *cough*
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Despite TRON holding a place in my heart- the movie was widely panned. However the video game raked in the quarters. (falshbacks to the beauty of the Discs of Tron environmental cabinet!)
Look at it this way: These movies are simply advertising vehicles for Nintendo's games. Good, bad, doesn't matter. Get the word out there and get the games bought. Thats the TRUE strategy.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I'd watch a movie with the Prince in Prince of Persia. (The last one, not the ugly new one)
At last we'll get to see a movie version of Super Mario Bros. 2, with Bob Hoskins throwing radishes and eggs at Shyguys.
Super Mario Bros. was such an groundbreaking, and incredible movie. Do they really want to risk lose tainting their reputation in movie making?
haven't we done this several times before. hell, even with a nintendo property. anyone still remember the crappy mario brothers movie? and we've already seen more pokemon movies than anyone should ever have to endure.
if they want any hope of pulling this off, it *has* to be animated (like final fantasy). and it has to be targeted at a real and intelligent adult audience. this simply won't work if it's targeted at 8-14 year olds.
even then, it needs to be a powerful franchise. metroid - doable. zelda - doable (potentially in the vein of LoTR). but, excite bike? what are they going to do? make it like The Fast and the Furious with Mario as referee?
i guess all we can do is wait and see, but i'm not holding my breath for anything groundbreaking.
[move
... welcome our Koopa Troopa(tm) Overlords!
This is not what this announcement is about. Nintendo are moving into Japanese Animation, to produce movies akin to the likes of Studio Ghibli's productions. The latest Ghibli movie looks set to gross over $450 million in Japan alone, You can see why Nintendo would want in on that market.
Yes, this may end up as a vehicle to cross-promote their games, but the first slated movie that they are said to produce is based on collections of centuries old Japanese literature.
Doesn't exactly sound like a Mario movie.
In Japan old game companies make movies out of 8-bit videogames.
No, you got the cliche wrong. It goes like this:
In Korea only old people watch movies of 8-bit videogames!
And don't diss excitebike; Little dude got a nomination for being the toughest video game character!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
are doomed to repeat it.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
You know, everyone is bashing previous video game movies, but think about it. Nintendo is known far and wide for their quality control (usually sacrificing release dates), so if they are in charge of the Hollywood unit, then we may possibly see good, worthy movies on screen that just happen to share a licence with a wildly popular (or maybe not) video game franchise. I can just see it now...Pikmin: The Movie.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I liked this series as a kid
N /c aptain-n.jpg
Maybe a more adult version? since all of us have grown up (and our nintendos grew up with us)
http://www.retrones.com/SeriesAnimacion/Capitan
This is the sig that says NI (again)
As long as they're animated and stay animated, and the developers of the games stick to the development of the movies.
::crosses fingers:: pleasebeZelda pleasebeZelda pleasebeZelda...
also...
I've always wanted to see an animated series or movie based on the character designs in Zelda 2 and/or 3 (not the 80s cartoon, the anime-style art in the instruction manuals). I would love to see some form of Zelda movie, blending the best story bits from 3 and OoT, on the big screen.
[/fanboi]
Video game companies have always wanted to be Hollywood. Unfortunately, they don't know how.
Hollywood has always wanted to be a video game. Unfortunately they don't know how.
One thing Hollywood does better than video game companies is arrange funding for new ideas. Despite their multi-billion dollar annual sales, no video game company spends any significant amount of time or money on research or development of truly new ideas, nor do they fund innovative new companies.
They simply market and re-market sequels and clones, sequels and clones. Oh, and they make people work 100 hour weeks until they are exhausted.
But Nintendo is the Apple of the video game industry, so they probably have a better product and better ideas.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
No you wern't I came, I saw, I moderated, Then I lost my moderation. Bua Ha Ha ha
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Wow, you RTFA'd. You must be new here.
The question being will they truly be able to produce something of Miyazaki's caliber?
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
that's so cool because [overheat! overheat! overheat!] i just love excite bike, with the [overheat! overheat! overheat!] jumping and the racing and [overheat! overheat! overheat!] the superfast opponents. wow it was[overheat! overheat! overheat!] great!!
ah, those were the days.
I don't care which franchise they use, as long as there's a part for ROB.
Super Mario Brothers isn't in the Bottom 100, but IT SHOULD BE!
I swear they could have done a good film, but the feel of it is that they filmed it in one day and threw it together. There were probably merchandising tie-ins, which probably failed miserably. It's poor execution like this on Hot Property which does the whole genre serious damage.
It'll probably take years for people to trust Hollywood enough to see another Dr. Suess movie, though it seems a lot of people ignored the early warnings and saw it anyway.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Make sure every seat in the theater has a joystick.
The Washington Post just called the Gamecube obsolete. how are they gonna raise money for movies... I hate the mdia this generation of gaming, I really do. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A256 13-2004Dec1.html
Ubuntu- Linux for human beings.
...videogames are meant for freedom of playing and not having to follow what the director wants you to see. So if you want to get shot and still fight you can, while hollywood would show what happens to the guy when he dies. Giving a game and making it into a movie takes away the freedom of videogames. Of course many of these games will be better than todays hollywood scripts. Look at Gigli, i dare you, you wont make it because you will slit your wrists from the horrible screenplay halfway through. Meh, Nintendo just wants to do is pocket a few dollars off the fans who will see the movie just because Samus will show her b00bs or something, kinda sad.
I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. - Catcher in the Rye
Forget animated films.. who can forget the 90 minute Nintendo commercial, The Wizard starring Fred Savage?
It was a story created out of the classic song, Pinball Wizard, but with heavy Nintendo advertising.
It was the first time anyone saw the Power-glove in action and we were all so jealous. Unfortunatley for everyone who went out and purchased it, it didn't work quite as well as the 'movie' made it look.
It was also the worlds first glimpse at Super Mario Brothers 3!
I don't know if the movie caught flack from parents, but I remember quite enjoying it at the time as a kid.
I also remember a Mario Brothers Saturday morning show - and if memory serves correctly, it was also non-animated.
..mork
Now I've got the theme song to Excite Bike stuck in my head.
Do do do dodo doo. Do do do dodo doo. doopydoopydoopy do do dodo, dodo do do dodo.
Thank you, thank you.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
I don't remember one that has.
However, movies to games have had more success, ie. Tron. Is it because the user wants to interact as one of the characters?
Honestly I thought it was hilarious when i was 12, it was awesome, and the tiny little babomb was sweet, the goomba could have been more goomba like but at least it wasnt a super mario brothers 2 movie, straight out of BOLLYWOOD
Wouldn't it be funny if the movie unit pulled Nintendo games into the darkside for the purpose of reaching the teen and young-adult males?
I'm not so interested in jumping Mario across platforms, but if my reward was the opportunity to bitch-slap that annoyingly helpless Princess Toadstool, I might change my mind.
Jesus saves....And takes 1/2 damage.
This Halloween be prepared to experience the next level of Terror! Jack Steele is a Championship Motorcross who lives life to the Exxtreme. But even he is taken to the edge when zombies take over his home town and take his sweetheart to make her their Undead Queen. Can Jack Steele rescue the love of his life and crush the Zombie hoard with his Motorcycle of Vengeance? Find out. 10/31/2005 "Kick stand? More like kick you Zombie Ass stand!"
With another Dungeons and Dragons film on the way, a Vampire:The Masquerade movie in the making, and Doom and Duke Nukem* films being made, it seems Hollywood has finally reached past the bottom of the barrel and begun scraping up the floor underneath it
*it'll be released when it's done.
Slashdot: News for Nerds, Stuff that matters only to them
Hey, don't knock it, that might actually work in today's X-Games crazy world... try and rope in some of the big names in to do some spots, CGI in the guys that can't pop the big tricks anymore, grab the songs that they've already put into umpteen video games, and run with it. Could be worse, could be Street Fighter - poor Raul Julia...
Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
I know that many posters will say that video game-based movies are bad, and for the most part they're right (well, I didn't think Mortal Kombat was so bad :)), I have high hopes for a good Legend of Zelda movie. Nintendo are coming out with a new LoZ game in 2005, so the first film might be a decent tie-in.
And don't forget that John Woo was named as the director of a Metroid movie. That shouldn't be too terrible.
"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." - Ford Prefect
There have been what, 8 Pokemon movies? I haven't seen a single one, but I'm sure that by my standards they are all crap. Even so, I'm sure they made alot of people lots of money.
As for your comments:
"if they want any hope of pulling this off, it *has* to be animated (like final fantasy)"
Yeah, cuz that movie did SO WELL for Square, now didn't it. So well they closed up the movie division after making only that one movie.
"...and it has to be targeted at a real and intelligent adult audience. this simply won't work if it's targeted at 8-14 year olds."
yeah. Cuz Pixar didn't succeed by marketing to kids, right? Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Incredibles... No, those aren't kid's movies!
"It'll probably take years for people to trust Hollywood enough to see another Dr. Suess movie [imdb.com], though it seems a lot of people ignored the early warnings and saw it anyway."
I hope it is years before Hollywood is trusted with another Dr. Suess story! Frankly Hollywood seems to have lost all touch with the rest of the world.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
YTF not? Over the past decades cash rich japanese investors have been their own worst enemies in US properties from film studios to golf courses. Pebble Beach was owned by japanese investors before they had to quickly liquidate, thanks to plummeting land values in the home islands, and sold the whole lot for about 1/3 what they paid. Seems some music and film companies have done poorly, too, though Sony seems to be weathering the storem better than others. Probably helps they didn't hire crooks in the US to mismanage their assets and get the company to sell it to them or their friends for a fraction after crippling the concern.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
No No No. You release the crappy movie first, THEN you release the crappy video game. Or have we just come full circle? Who knows. Who cares?! I am getting pretty sick of the word "franchise" anyway.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
While Ron Jeremy is an obvious Mario, it's hard to see who else could fill in the various Nintendo roles
Slashdot: News for Nerds, Stuff that matters only to them
...about the greatest nintendo game ever devised.
Paperboy.
I think the Excite Bike comment was a joke... You know, sarcasm? I think you're close with the Zelda idea, though. Especially since the new game is supposed to move away from the "cartoony" look.
Murphy was an optimist.
I object! Alladin was too girlie. The Prince walks on walls, kills things, and has a really hot accent.
Wasnt there already a Mario based cartoon? I know there is/was a Kirby.
I would like to see a big screen adaptation of StarFox. So many stories to tell.....
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
The kids started screaming about fifteen minutes in, and they left just after the guy's soul got ripped from his body.
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
RTFA
I've been waiting all my life for a movie based on the Zelda franchise... and finally the gods of Hyrule have heard my prayers.
The story will be better then FF: The Spirits Within....though the graphics were amazing (the kissing looked fake, but mouths seem to always be a problem for these artists).
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
At least if done well, it won't be as bad as some of the movies that have been made into video games. How many people have you seen flock over the new "The Incredibles" video game? Or what about the first LOTR game, Harry Potter, Finding Nemo, The Chronicles of Riddick, etc. Yes some of the ones I mentioned are kiddie games and little kids will like them, but there are only a handful of movie-based video game I would even give a chance. For example LOTR Two Towers and Return of the King, Enter the Matrix (which was horribly short), Spiderman, and some of the 007 series.
Creativity in Hollywood is dead. Before I thought it just very sick, not well enough to answer the door, just strong enough to make some sickly whooping coughing noises. But now I know that, after years of painful struggle, it has finally died. Sigh.
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
I think they should turn the bad dudes classic into a movie:
"The president has been captured by ninjas"
"are you a bad enough dude to rescue him?"
Done and done.
Collective Type Project
It is your solemn duty let the Washington Post know they can't get away with this kind of abuse.
Go to their contact form immediately and let them know how offensive Rob Pegoraro's article was. If anyone knows Rob's personal email address, I'd love to have that, too.
I think that story line is a little worn out, unless Nintendo would like to ride the wave of loyal fans of other classic biker movies
If they can make computer animated movies with the quality and appeal of Pixar movies, they will rake in the cash.
I just hope they can get Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo to reprise their roles for Super Mario Brothers 2.
Nah, they should make a movie of "The Goonies II", where you rescue Annie the Mermaid.
And have a cameo by Konamiman! Remember him?
*sound of crickets*
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
are doomed to be modded redundant.
This is anime. It would have to follow in the steps of Pokemon, Hikaru no Go, Initial D, Stellvia, Princess Nine, etc. - with a worthless hero.
The young hero is a boy who accidentally steps on his older brother's motocycle after his brother falls and breaks his leg. The boy tries to go over the course himself, but also crashes. But when he crashes without breaking a single bone, or even gaining a single bruise, he finds that he must learn the ways of the Excitebike. He battles every opponent and narrowly wins. His opponents all talk trash when they meet him, but after losing, they admit defeat and suddenly become honorable, and the hero discovers their secret soft side. His spunky younger sister tags along and constantly reminds him of how he's supposed to ride the bike correctly, because he's a master rider but he always forgets the basic stuff. Luckily, she can shout it at him from the stands and he can always hear the advice over the roar of his bike, saying "Oh yeah, I was gonna do that!" And then there's his cousin, who is exactly the same age as him, but is twice as arrogant and already has a corporate sponsorship, and in the final episode of the series, he races his rival cousin for the grand prize as the cousin constantly taunts him and throws dirty tricks.
And then, after the incredible success of the series, they go on without the original writers to make ExciteBike Z, where the hero defeats every biker on the planet and has to go start racing bikers from outer space who all have higher powerlev-- er, faster acceleration than the guy before them. There are many shots of aliens just standing stunned in place going "He accelerates so fast! I can't even sense his motions!" And then the bike suddenly turns glowing yellow in the middle of the match. And just wait for the OAV's!
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
in the movies... Next thing you'll hear is that a software giant moves into TV.
Duck Hunt, the movie.
With extended scenes of jogging in a pink sweatsuit.
How could that possibly go wrong ?
Put very simply: it
just can't!
starring Jet Li. PWNAGE!!
The horror is set up through the plot device of putting a lone woman deep in the bowels of an alien world battling Lovecraftian horrors, using a battle suit constructed by a dead alien race.
It was only vaguely hinted at in the earliest games, but recent Metroid games have increased the Lovecraftian feel. Modern Metroid properties tend toward a feel somewhere between Lovecraft lite and the movie Alien (the latter is an admitted influence).
Admittedly, Elder Races like the Chozo and Luminoth are probably a bit cuddly by Lovecraft standards, at least until their bodies are posessed or they slowly descend into madness under the influence of primeval darkness.
DNA just wants to be free...
Metroid? Starfox? Kirby? Mario?
Nope, Zelda is by far the Nintendo franchise best suited to anime-cation. Of course, one could just argue all you'd need to do is film an hour and half of Wind Waker. (And the great thing about that sentence is, whether you liked or hated Wind Waker, it looks like I'm agreeing with you in both cases!)
But of all of Nintendo's franchises, The Legend of Zelda is the one that really has things to say. Yes, things other than "Have I bombed every mountain space on this screen, and tried to burn every tree?" Also yes, things that aren't "Let's cel-shade this bad boy." Even things other than "Did Link and Zelda do it after the credits in Zelda 2." (You dirty-minded fink.)
Okay, let me rephrase. The Legend of Zelda has the most room for actual storytelling. This could be big, if done right. Yeah, that's a big if. But we'll see.
From the article: "If it adopts the plan, Nintendo would become the first video game company to establish a theatrical film production unit."
Umm no I believe the first company was SquareSoft (now Square-Enix)
If it adopts the plan, Nintendo would become the first video game company to establish a theatrical film production unit.
Didn't Square do that for "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Wthin"?
Maybe I shouldn't bring that up though. It seems like there are a lot of people who thought it sucked. I mean, yeah, it wasn't stellar as far as movies go, but the story of it was as good as any of the Final Fantasy games they've made.
...after all, it worked so well for Square :rolleyes:
...Ice Climber, the movie!
... how about Wrecking Crew! Or my personal favorite, Mach Rider!
It's got action, excitement and suspense...
The story of two hammer-wielding Eskimo brothers in search of fruit, only to be brutally attacked by mutant Penguins and an unfathomable void that lurks just below the edge of the screen. Watch as they become obsessed with catching the evil condor that floats just above the top of the mountain!
With the recent success of Touching the Void, how could this *possibly* go wrong!?
And if not Ice Climber
Mario and Link have been successful in so many games with radically different settings because they're characters without emotions, conflicts or personality. I've spent thousands of hours of my life staring at both of these guys on the screen and I can't tell you a thing about them except that Mario is a plumber who can jump and Link likes swords and the color green.
Punch-Out!! the Movie. Starring Little Mac, and his trainer Doc Louis. This is a story of true victory, but the road is long...
That video game movies do not work. (Huge following of people with the Final Fantasy games did not bring them to the theatres and almost bankrupted them)
Or maybe Tom Hanks as The Conductor in a motion-captured CGI version of 'Suicide Express'...
You must think in Russian.
Finally, a sequel to The Wizard!
That's really what the problem is. "Video-game-based-movie" should NOT be a genre. You don't see people going around trying to make movies in the "book-based-movie" genre, and look how many movies are based on books and don't suck, even if almost none are as good as the source material.
The Farewell Tour II
why not? i bet some exec is drooling at that possibility.
they made the fast and the furious didnt they? in the top ten worst movies EVER made.
the excite bike comment was a joke, relax.
It doesn't really say what properties to expect, but obviously it's Excite Bike.
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
Although a Zelda movie would be pretty neat.
No, it wouldn't.
Don't you remember thinking "Oh, an Alien VS Predator would be neat!" or "Man, I can't wait for the Matrix sequels!" or "Hurrah! SW: Episode One comes out today!"?
Videogames are neat. Movies are neat.
Put 'em together and you have crap. Either a crappy videogame based on a movie or a crappy movie based on a game. Stop deluding yourself, it's not healthy.
You can't take the sky from me...
I remember thinking it would be so cool to use that to play Punch Out. Unfortunately it was so friggin sensitive that you had to strain your arm to keep it centered, and any slight move would make it go crazy! Now, I let my 2 year old nephew play with it when he comes to visit and he loves it (not hooked up to the Nintendo though).
> haven't we done this several times before. hell, even with a nintendo property. anyone still remember the crappy mario brothers movie? and we've already seen more pokemon movies than anyone should ever have to endure.
Nobody force you to watch the pokemon movies. But the fact that millions have watched and paid for them only means that you are NOT part of the target audience. In other words, you are unrealistically expects Pokemon was made for adult when it is clearly marketed for kids. There are movies clearly unsuitable for adults, but MPAA does not include such category. Unlike your run of the mill Hollywood studios, at least ShoPro/SoftX have the integrity to not leeching on the success of video games that have made failures out of the USA producers.
There have been several Pokemon movies which have beautiful artwork and ok animation. It's better than the TV show animation, but not quite up to the level of a Studio Ghibli release.
AnimeNEXT anime convention
Donkey Kong Country, the lifeless CG-animated afternoon cartoon, was the worst example of dreary, unexpressive animation I've ever encountered.
My experience with Gamecubery is that they've come a very long way since those days. You know, I'd pay to watch The Wind Waker in a theatre.
this simply won't work if it's targeted at 8-14 year olds No, but it will work if it's targeted at 5-11 year olds. Never underestimate the amount of money that parents are willing to spend to make their children happy.
http://www.bynarystudio.com
of my wishlist for movies based on Nintendo games: 1. Metroid : aimed for late teen/young adults... horror splashed with action and sexual innuendo (no waiting till the end of the game for that helmet to come off). 2. Mega Man : ohmygod this is it. Think of all the characters in this game. The voice actors could have a field day. Make it campy. 3. Legend of Zelda : unfortunately Xandir has ruined any chance at me being able to take this seriously. I'll just be yelling at the screen "admit you're gay already!!! you can just go home!!!"
*yawn*
Perhaps Nintendo should start concentrating on ressurecting their dying gaming empire instead of pouring money into a movie that probably won't break even at the box office.
anyone still remember the crappy mario brothers movie?
;)
No. Nobody remembers that movie. That's why it's a good thing every other post in this topic is reminding everyone of it.
zelda - doable (potentially in the vein of LoTR).
If it didn't say "animated" in the writeup, I'd be inclined to agree with you. It would be hard to rip off the LOTR's look and feel in animation. It's most likely going to be a cartoon aimed squarely at young kids, just like the Pokemon series.
And there's been plenty of bad games. That's what happens when you do a half-assed job.
There are some books which just should not be movies, just like there are some games which simply should not have ever been movies.
I only know this:
If there's one single bastard in this world that SHOULD be directing Metroid (and not Mission Impossible 2), it's John Woo. Shoot fast; shoot hard; double tapp.
I'd put my money on Nintendo being the best company to opt for cinema presence, since it has consitantly focused on story, replability & character progression. Nintendo has a "world" and Nintendo builds and empire within that world. Many of us have visited Yoshi's Island. If they move into production with Ghibli, I can see some amazing stuff happen.
As for Super Mario Bros the movie - Hollywood was much larger than the video game industry back then, and like it always does it whores out the talent. This time around, Nintendo holds the upper hand. They can make the move since they're more experienced in the biz now.
-----------
Who's the main character that we think of when you think of Disney? Mickey Mouse or Eisner.
-----------
How about the main character for Nintendo? Super Mario or Yoshi.
-----------
How about Sony or Microsoft? Some fuzzy thing with a high top sneakers and a bandana?
Let's if Nintendo can do what Square attempted.
I knew about that Two days ago. Cool to see it on Slashdot though :)
Indeed, it would be interesting if the movies were about (and I quote) "Japanese Poetry" instead of games.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
You fail it.
In Soviet Russia, IT FAILS YOU!
Wait... I'm not in junior high anymore with that really wierd teacher-lady with the mustache...
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Dr Suess was probably spinning in his grave about that.
Could you imagine what he would have said if somebody came up with the pitch to him "Lets take one of your most beloved works, and turn it in to a typical shit Hollywood overhyped super marketed movie"
It would probably be along the lines of "lets make a charming inexpesivemovie and show it for free on PBS"
You could proably get star power to act for free in a Dr Suess movie if it was being done like that too.
I just don't have the impression that Suess would like his properties used by mega-corps to bilk the masses out of their money.
But the Grinch was pretty good I think I heard (didn't go see it).
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
1. Trying to make movies.
2. Using cartridges in the N64. (lead to them losing Squaresoft for a crucial time)
3. Virtual Boy
4. Messing up Mortal Combat
5. 64DD
Open Source Sushi
by some giant evil Twilight-Zone-ish computer that lives in a cave someplace on the back lot of Warner Brothers?
Yes, why shouldn't they follow in the footsteps of Square? That company was raking in the cash for the Final Fantasy franchise, but they decided to blow it all on a movie... er, you know the rest.
Strangely, Square and Nintendo used to be very tight partners.
I saw it with friends in Denver and felt quite let down. It seemed to go on for too long as well. Some months ago I picked up the original Chuck Jones animated Grinch, with Boris Karloff narrating, and found it was quite a bit better. To make the cinematic release fill up 90 minutes (or whatever it was) they had to add a lot of material to the story -- material which wasn't very Suess-like in character.
Trivia: Thurl Ravenscroft sung "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch", not Boris.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I'm waiting for a Battletech movie. Technically not a console game, but the great movie trailers of the Mechcommander and Mechwarrior series show that with today's level of special effects, a Battletech series could become the next Star Wars. If they did a trilogy based on the Blood of Kerensky novel trilogy, they'd definitely have a winner.
The stories are full of great characters, great plots, and of course, awesome Mech fights. We'd finally have a video game-based movie that didn't suck because it'd have both awesome CGI (Mech battles) and depth of plot.
kurzweil_freak
5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
No one has mentioned my favourite candidate for anime-adaption for an nintendo franchise: Mother.
It has a cool, loveable central character, a young boy who lives in a average small town with average family and averagely weird friends.
When something weird happens of course it's up to these little fellas to solve what is going on with the ufos and stuff. Would make a cool fantasy film in style of The Goonies from the eighties.
hp
True, but Nintendo has got a LOT worse material to draw from instead of Excite Bike. Ice Climbers, gor instance... ;-)
Murphy was an optimist.
"In the dawn of time... one man and one woman... forged in the spirit of competition... forever changed the course of human history..." [/Announcer Voice]
CAVEMAN GAMES
*-The Movie-*
Featuring Ben Affleck as Thag and Renee Zwelliger as Crudla.
So the game box of the future will be both game and movie machine? It seems like it's already happening already -- lots of these games nowadays have interesting movies on them. Seems like a natural progression. Players can also create their own movies with the built-in engine and characters -- add script, plot, movements and background and voila, a new movie you can share with your friends.
Linux at home
Worst. Idea. EVER.
The next comment I write will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
In all seriousness, there is one game that I'd jump at the chance to see a movie adaptation of.
Earthbound.
Yes, Earthbound, that insane SNES RPG. It would translate very well to an animated setting, I think. And it would probably be one of the funniest movies out there. Or at least the weirdest.
If Nintendo went ahead and made a movie based on Earthbound, I'd buy it without a second thought.
just my 2 cents, but there it is.