games Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Most of us know our favorite movies by heart, and we can quote dialog (although not always accurately), describe a scene down to its last detail, or even recount production history if we are particularly geek-minded about it. When movies are a big part of your life, the attention to detail can become downright obsessive, but as we all know, a movie is really just a sum of its parts. Paul Rogers, an illustrator who works at the California Art Center College has taken those separate parts and devised a clever little game of Name that Movie on his blog, Drawger. Rogers' game takes some of our favorite flicks and breaks them down into six drawings, and covers the gamut of Hollywood classics old and new. So if you are a fan of Pictionary and showing off your movie knowledge, this is definitely the game for you.

Now I don't want to brag, but I did manage to guess most of Rogers' selections -- although I am honest enough to admit that I didn't get a perfect score. There were a few that, frankly, I wouldn't even know where to begin. But it did remind me how those iconic images can work their way into your brain, and when all you need to see is an ink drawing of Big Kahuna soda cup and you can almost hear Samuel L. Jackson exclaim "That is a tasty burger."

By: Peter Hall

Computer guessing games are not new by any means, but they often involve easily quantifiable variables like numbers or playing cards. Akinator, on the other hand, will guess (most) any character from film, TV, book or anime within a series of 20 questions. Oh, robots, is there nothing you can do?

I started off with an obvious choice inspired by Inglourious Basterds. Akinator may not have the gift behind the pen Tarantino does, but he can still correctly guess King Kong. So I tried something a little harder, the titular monster from John Carpenter's The Thing. An amorphous shapeshifter should throw it off course, right? Wrong, Akinator still got it. Same goes for Chev Chelios, John Connor, Stephen Hawking, Steven Spielberg, and even The Blob.

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

In an interview over on Collider, Frosty spoke with Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner at a G.I. Joe screening and he covered the movies that the company has in development. In many ways it mirrored what our own Jessica Barnes wrote about back in March. Hasbro clearly isn't content to sit back and dive into the coffers filled with money from the Transformers movies, which will likely swell even further when G.I. Joe is released this weekend. They aren't just licensing their toys for film development (Stretch Armstrong is slated to be a movie in 2011), it now looks like they'll be tossing their entire board game range into the mix.

You've probably heard that Ridley Scott is developing Monopoly into a movie, as hard as that is to believe, but according to Goldner that will be joined by Candy Land and Battleship. Battleship!? Really? A movie based around Battleship? As much as I strained my brain to try and figure out how Ridley Scott could make Monopoly into a compelling film, Battleship just makes my grey matter give up abandon ship. You might as well make Connect Four into a movie. Everyone would be on the edge of their seats waiting for the "Pretty sneaky, sis." line.

Saying that the iconic toy Stretch Armstrong "is a character I have wanted to see on screen for a long time," Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer announced that he'll be producing, yes, Stretch Armstrong, the movie. The project is slated to be the first production resulting in a six-year partnership deal between Universal Pictures and Hasbro. The film already has a release date of April 15, 2011 in place.

A popular toy that debuted in the 1970's then was remade and relaunched in the mid 90's, Stretch Armstrong is notable because he really doesn't do anything other than, well, stretch. He's sort of an uncomfortably muscular version of those Martian Popping Thing stress-relievers, with freakish arms that can be yanked out of proportion without tearing off. It's the perfect toy for destructive little boys, and for budding sadists-in-training.

You know, I always thought that Lara Croft got a bum-rap on the big screen. When she should have been the love child of James Bond and Indiana Jones, what we ended up with was a bored Angelina Jolie pouting her way through half-baked plots. Now, we already knew that a 'reboot' was in the works, but it looks like there are going to be a lot of changes in store for Ms. Croft. During a press event for Terminator Salvation, producer Dan Lin spilled the beans that the Tomb Raider reboot will in fact, be a prequel. Lin told journalists, "... - it's a great origin story that we're going to tell. A very character-oriented I would say more realistic than the past Lara Croft movies."

According to Lin, casting for the role has yet to begin (now that Megan Fox is out of the running), but they are definitely looking for someone a little younger this time around. Whether the choice for a younger Croft is to capitalize on multiple flicks, or just to pander to the mall crowd, I couldn't say. But what I do know is that I think an adult Lara Croft is a much more exciting proposition than a precocious teen with a Nancy Drew complex -- and isn't it about time that we got some fully grown ladies fighting the good fight on the big screen again, anyway?

The project is still in the early stages of development, but Lin has warned fans that we might be getting a less 'active' Croft this time around, saying, "I would say it's like Terminator - character-driven action. I think for me the Lara Croft games and movies have gone a little too action-oriented. I wanted to have action, but with character." Now I might have only played a few of the Raider games, but seriously? When were those things about characters?

Tell us what you think about a young Lara Croft, and who you would like to see take over where Jolie left off.

Just days after reports surfaced that Warner Bros. is bidding on Midway Games, which filed for Chapter 11 in February, and also took over the rights to EA's Lord of the Rings video game franchise*, Variety is reporting that the studio is getting ready to jump into the iPhone game.

Sony, Paramount, and Warner Bros. have all been vying for attention from mobile gamers with releases like a Star Trek comic book app, an Angels and Demons video game app, and more. However, according to Warner Digital Distribution director of worldwide marketing Stephanie Bohn, WB is planning to release about 40 iPhone applications by the end of the year. WB just released a Terminator comic app tied to the opening of Terminator: Salvation and has more in the works for upcoming releases, as well as ideas for "animated episodic video apps and other apps built around Warner brands."

As a recent survey by marketing research team NPD showed, more people are playing video games than going to the movies, and one distinct reason the numbers are rising isn't just the price of movie tickets. The numbers of casual video game players is increasing exponentially, partially due to the popularity, ease, and increasing quality of games available on iPhones and other handhelds. If movie studios get involved directly with video game developers, will the video game tie-ins improve? And as Bohn points out, "It doesn't cost a lot to launch an app... Relative to a TV show or a film, it's nothing." So, could this new strategy also mean good news for studios' sagging bottom lines (and for iPhone gaming addicts)?

* Gamers are already suspicious of the newest Lord of the Rings game, Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, because it's being billed as family-friendly. EA's license for the franchise expired and reverted back to New Line, thus Warner Bros.

Have you always dreamed of landing a guest spot on The Simpsons? Have you wondered what you would look like as a resident of Springfield? Well, thanks to the glorious thing that is movie marketing, you can now create your own Simpsons character (based on you or someone you know) and show it off to all those people who claim you don't have a lot of time on your hands. Interested? Oh, I know you are. To play, you can either head on over to the official The Simpsons Movie website (where they allow you to create your own avatar -- see me to the right of your screen) or the Burger King Simpsons site (where they allow you to upload a pic of yourself which you can then alter once in Simpsons mode).

I thought I'd like the Burger King site better (since you can use a pre-existing photo of yourself), but the one I created on The Simpsons Movie website came out a tad closer to what I actually look like. Just picture sideburns, a little scruff and bit more roundish physique. That's not to say the Burger King one won't work -- I guess it just depends on the picture you provide (they ask for a close-up shot). In case you've been living under a rock, they've been promoting the hell out of this movie. Earlier this month, a handful of 7-Elevens were converted to Kwik-E-Marts, while a flurry of Simpsons-related products hit shelves in thousands of stores across the country. (I managed to pick up some Buzz Cola, although it was a tad too sweet for my taste). On top of the 7-Eleven thing, a contest was also held featuring all of the U.S towns named Springfield. Basically, each town had to submit a video saying why they should be chosen to host The Simpsons Movie premiere. In the end, Springfield, Vermont won (check out all the submitted videos here). All this talk, I bet you're dying to see the movie already. Well, fear not, we only have to wait two more weeks -- The Simpsons Movie arrives in theaters on July 27.

[via JoBlo]

When I saw the name of Warner Brothers' new website for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I was concerned. I worried that JoinDumbledoresArmy might be some sneaky plan by the Bush administration to draft our youngsters into fighting overseas. But after closer inspection, the site appears legit. It allows you to enroll alongside Harry, Ron, and Hermione to fight the Dark Arts and also to send messages to Dumbledore's Army that will appear on the website. The messages that have been left so far range from the heroic -- ("We must band together against the Dark Lord," says Larry R.) to the cryptic --("I'm of Brazil, yeah!!! LOL," says Eder F.) to the profound -- ("EEEEEEEEEEEE!" says Katie A.)

Once you enroll in the Army, you can download wallpapers, skins, banners, images, and buddy icons. I must admit, I did not enroll -- I fear a 26 year-old man signing up for "Dumbledore's Army" would surely put me on some sort of pedophile watch list -- but I did play the site's game: "Dark Arts Defense." The object of the game is to master spells. I won my school's spell-ing bee three years in a row, but alas, those skills did not translate. You have a wand, they give you symbols and you're supposed to trace them out in the air to defeat your opponent. There's a training course, but I got cocky and skipped right over it, which was a mistake. I must say, the game was a lot of fun, but playing it was quite a blow to my self-esteem. The current high score: 318,071. My score: 6.

If you are, know or live with a sports nut, then chances are you've been subjected to the trials and tribulations of fantasy baseball or football at one time or another. "Sorry, can't make it this Saturday, I've got my fantasy draft." If you've ever actually made it to a live fantasy draft, you can see how serious these games get. More than 16 million people play fantasy sports, and it's a no holds barred, take no prisoners, every man (or woman) for themselves. When you come out with a key player tucked under your arm, then it was all worth it. With the popularity of computers and the internet, it is so much easier than it was in the pen and paper days to get involved with fantasy sports. Easier to get involved, yes, but not easier to win given my losing baseball team, which finished my brief fantasy baseball career in seventh place yesterday.

Now, Matthew Berry and Brenda Spoonemore want to bring that same fervent gameplay to the movies. They are launching Fantasy Moguls, a website-based fantasy game where you make the decisions as the head of your "studio." On the site, players join a public or private league, choose half a dozen films via a "draft" and then keep track of scores in four categories: domestic gross, weeks in the top five, per-screen average and reviews.

The game is free to play, and launches sometime in October. You too can be Robert Evans and decide if the kid stays in the picture.

You hear a lot about how violent video games are turning our kids into monsters, but even with all its guns and drugs an whores, Grand Theft Auto's got nothing, bad-influence wise, on The Movies. Why in the world would we want a nation full of baby Harvey Weinsteins running around?

The brainchild of "game legend" Peter Molyneux ("I woke up at 5:00 a.m. one cold January morning with the thought, `Why on earth has no one ever made a game about the movies industry? I then woke up my girlfriend, asked her the same question and she quickly told me to go back to sleep."), The Movies turns each player into a studio head, and allows them to actually shepherd a film, from conception to casting, from budgetting through cutting. According to Molyneux, there are several different ways to create a project, depending on the player's desired level of involvement. "You can commission a script, place it on a set, shoot it and have a computer generate a movie in about 15 seconds. Alternatively, you can customize your script, choose your sets, select scenes from thousands that are available, cast your own unique stars and shoot the film. Then, in post production you can edit the action, add your own voiceover, sound effects and create your own unique movie." The game's publisher, Activision, is trying to promote The Movies as a product that democratizes the tools of production. To that end, they've set up a website for users to showcase their finished products. It's set up like a community – filmmakers bicker in the forums about their Sims-style actors and actresses,and viewers can promote their favorite films to the top of the charts. I don't have the correct software to watch anything, so I implore you to check out the offerings and tell us what you think.