midway games Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I have to dig wayyy back into my childhood memories (most of which are gone due to things that happened in college) in order to remember playing the video game Joust. While several sequels have been released since the game first debuted back in 1982, I vaguely recall it being another one of those old school games in which the scenery never changes, and colors differentiate each level. But I could be wrong. Let's go to Wikipedia, shall we (after all, I'm sure you'd rather read the right answer than listen to my bumbling conclusions)? According to Wikipedia, in Joust the "player takes the role of a knight with a lance, mounted on either an ostrich (player 1) or an emu (player 2), battling waves of computer-controlled enemy knights. The enemy knights have three different speed and agility levels and are mounted on giant buzzards. The game screen is static; its only features are five platforms hanging in mid-air (some wrapping around the screen), the ground, and a pit of lava below." I say damn those old school games and their neverending pits of lava!

For those of you who were just about to throw out your ostrich and emu figurines, you might want to know that Joust will be heading to the big screen. Yup, Variety says CP Prods. (headed by Michael Cerenzie and Christine Peters) has decided to option Joust from Midway Games and make it their first project. "How about we do a nice, inexpensive drama for our first project?" "Nah, let's resurrect that 25 year-old video game -- it has a massive built-in fanbase of, like, two." I kid, of course -- it's more like seven. (Ten bucks I get at least seven comments from people who love Joust and still play it religiously.) No word on where the hell they're going to take this one, and I can't even speculate. But if the film helps the emu land a spot on the Top Ten Coolest Animals Ever list (a position it should've held for years), then I'm all for it. You?

Two days ago, the organizers of the New York Asian Film Festival sent around a mass e-mail announcing the sudden, unexpected departure of their main sponsor, Midway Games. Here's the first paragraph of the e-mail: "Subway Cinema never thought that the people who invented Ms. Pac-Man would kick us to the curb, but a mere four weeks before the start of the New York Asian Film Festival, Midway Games, who had been working with us as the festival's presenting sponsor, have pulled out of the festival entirely." The email goes on to state that the organizers of the fest didn't even know they had been abandoned until Midway representatives failed to show up at a scheduled meeting. "They never showed up, and they never called. When we finally tracked them down by phone in Chicago they curtly informed us that they were not giving us the sponsorship money, the decision was out of their hands and offered little in the way of further explanation."

The festival will now be "downsized," but apparently not abandoned, even though the email goes on to state that "now we don't even have a quarter in the bank to soothe our woes with a game of Tron." The NYAFF still has some degree of support from Magnolia Pictures, ImaginAsian and the festival's own organizers. If Midway has any kind of statement on this, they can send it to us at ryan.stewart@cinematical and we'll be happy to run it. Otherwise, I'd have to say that this sounds like a really poor way to conduct business.

In an usually complex collaboration, MTV Films, Paramount, and video game maker Midway Games are working together on Wheelman, which will be simultaneously released in theaters and for gaming consoles. In addition, MTV will "produce the game's soundtrack, help sell advertising within the game and market it through its many properties."

The story of Wheelman will be that of a retired driver who comes out of retirement to help a "woman from his past," a lady who is bound to be much more interesting than such figures tend to be in real life. The driver will be played by Vin Diesel in both the movie and the game, and he will be producing both as well. Though there is expected to be some overlap between the game and movie, the former will be written as a prequel to the film's story; the latter is being penned by Rich Wilkes, who wrote xXx, a huge hit for Diesel.

Though the simultaneity of the releases could be sent totally off the rails if either property experiences an unexpected delay, the idea is an interesting one which, if successful, could set a new precedent for how Hollywood views video games. Plus, if we get lucky and the trend of creating games and movies together takes off, it might just mean less work for Uwe Boll.