Amazing Spider-Man costume, Green Lantern game trailer, Thor and Captain America get toys
SPIDER-MAN GETS ‘AMAZING’
Sony has revealed official title of the new Spider-Man film: “The Amazing Spider-Man.” The costume of Andrew Garfield in the Spider-Man movie reboot was also recently revealed, and you can check it out at the site: 
http://www.theamazingspiderman-movie.com/.
GREEN LANTERN GAME TRAILER RELEASED
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is an action-adventure title that is scheduled for release in conjunction with the Green Lantern movie releasing this summer.
The game will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS.
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is inspired by the feature film, which stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. In the game, players will be able to wield the Green Lantern ring to restore intergalactic order.
THOR, CAP TOYS
Chris Hemsworth, who plays “Thor” in the upcoming film, and Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, recently visited Hasbro’s showroom at Toy Fair in New York. The “Thor” line is set to debut March 1, and the Captain America toys hit the shelves on May 16. The “Thor” movie releases May 6, and Captain America: First Avenger hits on July 22.
REVIEWS
Matt and Kyle review Amazing Spider-Man 654.1, Jennifer Blood #1, Silver Surfer #1 and more.
Captain America video game set in World War II announced
Screenshot from the upcoming Captain America video game.
Captain America will return to video game consoles in an original adventure set during World War II.
The title is set for release in 2011 on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™.
“Videogame players the world over can now become Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Captain America,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA Europe and SEGA America, in a news release. “Captain America: Super Soldier puts players in the boots of the ultimate Super-Soldier, wielding Captain America’s legendary shield. Working closely with Marvel ensures we’re delivering the calibre product that gamers and comic fans deserve and it’s a partnership we’re proud of here at SEGA.”
The third-person adventure was written by Christos Gage (Avengers: The Initiative) and features Captain America versus the Red Skull and his armies, as well as the forces of Hydra.
The game will be set in the world of the upcoming film, though it looks like the costume will, at least in places, resemble the comic-book Captain America uniform.
- Matt Price
Nintendo Wii price to drop
The gaming system Nintendo Wii will drop to a $199.99 suggested retail price as of Sept. 27. This is $50 less than the current SRP of $249. This includes the motion-sensing Wii Remote controller, Nunchuk controller and Wii Sports software, along with the Wii hardware.
Nintendo’s not slowing down in new game releases for the Wii, either. On Oct. 4, Nintendo will release Wii Fit Plus, and on Nov. 15 the multiplayer title New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be released. This game will allow four players at once.
“Wii has reached more video game players than any game system before because it attracts everyone—both men and women, and people of all ages,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing, in a release. “Our research shows there are 50 million Americans thinking about becoming gamers, and this more affordable price point and our vast array of new software mean many of them can now make the leap and find experiences that appeal to them, whatever their tastes or level of gaming experience.”
- Matt Price
‘Up’ video game producer talks about look, spoilers
How do you bring a hit movie to video-game screens? Brian Wiklem, senior producer of the “Up” video game for THQ, said it’s about telling the story in between the moments of the film.
Brian Wiklem
“You try not to replicate everything you see on film, otherwise you’re playing something that you just watched, and we want to offer an expanded experience,” Wiklem said.
In “Up,” retired balloon salesman Carl Fredericksen is joined by a stowaway in his house, which is held aloft by balloons and en route to South America. Carl discovers young Wilderness Explorer Russell is along for the ride.
“In the film, there’s a big bonding and relationship aspect between Carl and Russell that gets evolved over the film, so we try to play up on that,” Wiklem said. “When you play the game, there’s constant bantering back and forth. And it’s not just gameplay-related; we’re also trying to develop the story a little bit further.”
Wiklem said the development team is concerned about movie spoilers but also figures 90 percent of the game’s audience will have seen the film.
“That’s always a concern, especially with how we opened the ‘Up’ video game by starting off with a major event that actually happens at the end of the film,” Wiklem said. “We were a little bit concerned about that, but we wanted to open the game with a very big moment to get the player sucked in.”
Wiklem said while it might seem easier to develop a video game based on animated visuals, he thinks expectations add another level of difficulty.
“People expect the games to look almost identical to a Pixar film or a DreamWorks film or any other film, 
for that matter,” he said. “It’s really hard to do that. I think it’s probably a little bit easier to do photo-realistic textures than it is trying to match how Disney-Pixar does their graphics and the details.”
The way they worked around that for the Nintendo Wii version of “Up” was to create an art design based on the style guide for the film, which was a stylized representation.
“It was a different way of dealing with the tremendous graphic differences between not just the consoles but also the film,” Wiklem said.
By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Wolverine for casual gamers
THE NEXT LEVEL
Former Oklahoman Paul Benjamin is putting words in Hugh Jackman’s mouth.
Putnam City North graduate Benjamin wrote the “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” game for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2. Benjamin, who now lives in Austin, Texas, talked to The Oklahoman about his X-perience recrafting Wolverine’s origin for game players.
Paul Benjamin
“The Wii/Playstation 2 version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine blends story elements from the Wolverine movie and the Xbox360/Playstation 3/PC version of the game with a dash of story elements unique to the Wii/PS2 version,” Benjamin said. “I don’t want to give away too much, but essentially, you play Wolverine’s origin as he loses his girl, goes after Sabretooth/Victor Creed for revenge, and gets his bones laced with the indestructible metal ‘adamantium.’”
Characters in the game include Wolverine, Sabretooth, Silver Fox, Deadpool, Blob, Wraith, Gambit and General Stryker. Because the Wii edition was aimed at more casual gamers, the amount of bloodshed in the game is less than what will be found in the “Uncaged” edition for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and personal computer, Benjamin said.
“Though both versions shared cinematics and followed similar storylines, many other elements of the game were taken in different directions,” Benjamin said. “Where the Uncaged Edition on the other consoles embraces the extreme violence of the Wolverine character, the Wii/PS2 version adopts a feel that is more in line with Wolverine from the three X-Men movies. There’s still plenty of fighting, but there’s almost no actual bloodshed portrayed in the combat.”
The Wii combat also took the specific advantages of the Wii controller into consideration.
“You use the Wii controller in a very kinetic fashion to throw doors open, for example, and to lunge across the room at an opponent in a way that is unique to the Wii,” Benjamin said. “Because this version was developed separately with these considerations in mind, many of the story details end up being different as well.”
Writing for a video game involves writing a lot of different dialogue for a lot of events that could transpire, depending on how the game is played out. While it’s complex, Benjamin, who also writes for Marvel Comics, says it’s very rewarding.
“You have to try to cover all bases,” Benjamin said. “Ultimately, the fun of writing for games is seeing how the gameplay designers apply your words to the game. The coolest part of writing for this game was hearing Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber delivering my dialogue as Wolverine versus Sabretooth.”
By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Adults invited to Wii gaming event
The Norman Public Library plans an adult video gaming event this Friday focusing on the games of the Nintendo Wii.
Games will include Wii Fit, Mario Kart, Mario Party, American Idol Karaoke, Mercury Meltdown, Wii Play and Resident Evil.
The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday in the Lowry Room of the Norman Public Library, 225 N Webster Ave. in Norman.
Registration is preferred but not required. For more information, call the Norman information services desk at 701-2620.
Sabers bring slashing action to the Wii
THE NEXT LEVEL
If you’re enjoying “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” for the Wii, but find you just haven’t been able to slash enough, a new product is coming to your rescue: Dual Glow Sabers from dreamGEAR. For about $25, you can get a set of two. Your Wii remote goes into the cradle of the saber.
Gamers can choose from Sith red or Jedi blue, and play with these Wii accessories. And not only on “The Force Unleashed,” but on any Wii game that requires a slashing motion. The Dual Glow Sabers are compatible with all Wii sword-fighting games.
The LED lights in the sabers are handy, and the sabers themselves seem pretty durable. (I don’t know that I would recommend repeatedly knocking them against each other, not that anybody would do that.) And they don’t seem to have a negative effect on gameplay.
If you’re not sure that you need your Wii controller to look like a lightsaber, you might think again — LucasArts’ “Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels” is shipping in early December.
Producer Ken Fox told IGN.com that “Clone Wars” for the Wii would be “all about lightsber dueling.”
“It’s about swinging your Wii remote like a lightsaber and recreating what we know will be classic lightsaber battles from the movie and the show,” he said.
By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Roller-coaster game goes ‘Off the Rails’
Create an all-new theme park empire with “Thrillville: Off the Rails.”
The LucasArts video game sequel is similar to the original “Thrillville,” in which the gamer reinvigorates Uncle Mortimer’s amusement parks by training staff, adding attractions, setting prices, schmoozing guests and building roller coasters.
“Off the Rails” stands strong on its own, offering all new parks with fresh, entertaining themes. Old rides are back, along with some new ones.
As always, gamers can indulge in the arcade. Ride a stunt bike without tipping over, fight as a chinchilla, operate a tank or try to knock out a giant robot in a variety of minigames. The minigames can be difficult but are not complex.
Also new to “Off the Rails” is a vendor puzzle game that helps you increase sales. The sideshow features “Alley Ball” and “Test Your Strength” awards stuffed animals as prizes that can be later passed on to impress park guests.
The biggest addition to “Off the Rails” is the “Whoa” options in the Coaster Builder menu. The “Whoa” features are wild additions to custom coasters, many of which literally take the cars off the rails. “Big Guns” allows the car to shoot off the track like a cannonball, and land on another portion of the track. “Candy Drop” catapults the car across segments of track. “Nosedive” uses a lever to tilt the track while cars are in motion. “Pendulizer” catches the car in a pendulum swing. Other options place cars on an elevator to reach extreme heights in limited space, or place exhilarating hazards on the track, such as a ring of fire or a breakaway wall.
“Off the Rails” is mostly more of the same for fans of “Thrillville,” but it does have enough interesting twists and turns and loops and spirals to lure gamers back for another visit. “Off the Rails” is available for personal computer, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS.
– Matt Price
2008 another blockbuster video game year?
The Street writes that 2007′s major video-game sales numbers may soon be eclipsed — 2008 doesn’t look like a slouch, either, with “Spore” and “Grand Theft Auto IV” both being moved back into the new year. Video game sales were at $13.2 billion as of November this year, up 52 percent despite a soft economy, the article writes. Sure, there’s no “Halo” on the horizon (though “Halo Wars” is expected), but “GTA” should move a whole lot of copies. The article discusses a few other games that could move big numbers, including “Saints Row 2″ and “Wii Fit.”
