In Other News...November 9

[DoctorFinger]

- Cryptic Studios has announced that Star Trek Online will officially be leaving the drydock at Utopia Planaitia on February 2 (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61185) in North America, and February 5 in Europe.

- Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers will - finally - be hitting the PC and PS3 next year (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/09/magic-duels-of-the-planeswalkers-on-ps3-pc-in-2010-xbla-getti/). Also expect two more expansions for the 360 version this coming spring and summer.

- The next installment in the Need For Speed franchise will hit next year (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/09/criterion-developed-need-for-speed-coming-next-year/) and it's being developed by Burnout developer Criterion Games

- The final price tag for James Cameron's upcoming movie Avatar has reportedly crossed the $500 million mark (http://themovieblog.com/2009/11/avatar-price-tag-hits-500-million).

- Not a joke: the Twitter account - Twitter account! - Sh-- My Dad Says is being turned into a TV show (http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/11/twitters-shit-my-dad-says-gets-tv-deal.html).

[Wilkz07]

Shit my dad says is the only twitter feed i follow but i can't believe its turning into a tv show... i guess they've made shows with less. Good to hear that NFS will have more awesomer crashes. Shift was great, but the next one might be better.

[Church42]

Am I the only person whose completely unimpressed and unsure of why there is all this hype surrounding "Avatar"?

I mean, yeah, it's a James Cameron movie, but I still don't get the hype.

[Talanvor]

I think Sockington would have been a better choice.

[KamaItachi]

Am I the only person whose completely unimpressed and unsure of why there is all this hype surrounding "Avatar"?

I mean, yeah, it's a James Cameron movie, but I still don't get the hype.

I can not and will not get excited about Avatar. I haven't heard a single bad thing about it and every bloody preview goes on at length about how it will revolutionize what we think of movies.

Bull. Shit.

The more I hear, the more indifferent I become to the whole damn thing.

[Hawkzombie]

I can see it becoming a TV Show. Maybe even a funny one...It's a hilarious twitter feed and the ONLY one I read aside from Wonderella.

[Iron Past]

I can not and will not get excited about Avatar. I haven't heard a single bad thing about it and every bloody preview goes on at length about how it will revolutionize what we think of movies.

Bull. Shit.

The more I hear, the more indifferent I become to the whole damn thing.

I'm in the same boat. But what I keep hearing is how it will legitimize 3D, not that it's a good movie, and I just don't care for it (3D, I mean). If others enjoy it, good for them.

[Wilkz07]

Am I the only person whose completely unimpressed and unsure of why there is all this hype surrounding "Avatar"?

I mean, yeah, it's a James Cameron movie, but I still don't get the hype.

i too am unimpressed. saw the trailer, don't really see the big deal. I'd rather go see James Cameron's Aquaman that they were promoting in Entourage... whens that coming out?

[Deadend]

Star Trek in Feb? hahahahaha! Oh Cryptic, such the jokers. I like that joke where they made a patch to remove the fun from Champions. And forgot to test the content over lv 20 in beta.

Need For Speed: Burnout? I saw this happening. I am not sure if it's a good thing, as I felt the Arcadey NFS games and Burnout were still very different racing games, even when they both involved open worlds. Well, it can't be any worse than the last few Open world NFS games.

[Savok]

Am I the only person whose completely unimpressed and unsure of why there is all this hype surrounding "Avatar"?

I mean, yeah, it's a James Cameron movie, but I still don't get the hype.
Honestly James Cameron is a reason to avoid said movie for me. Like saying Steven Spielberg or something. Sure it meant something once, not for a long time now though.

And Cryptic? How about fixing your other game first? Way I hear it Lemuria is still a broken lagfest and your free weekend damn near exploded the game. You're not fooling me twice.

[cp#]

The animation in Avatar looks abso-fucking-bonkers and that's reason enough for me to see it in IMAX

[J Arcane]

- Cryptic Studios has announced that Star Trek Online will officially be leaving the drydock at Utopia Planaitia on February 2 in North America, and February 5 in Europe.

Massive nerd moment here but, you spelled it wrong. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_Planitia)

[Xerxes]

Who the hell gave this guy 500 million for one movie?

Edit: Yeah yeah Titanic... But still. Having just watched the trailer again though, I'll be seeing it.

[KamaItachi]

Who the hell gave this guy 500 million for one movie?

The same people who saw the profit margins to titanic.

[Hemalin]

- Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers will - finally - be hitting the PC and PS3 next year (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/09/magic-duels-of-the-planeswalkers-on-ps3-pc-in-2010-xbla-getti/). Also expect two more expansions for the 360 version this coming spring and summer.

I hope they make the PC version more like the old Microprose.

[Mike Kelehan]

I saw the 15 IMAX 3D minute preview of Avatar. It's a really typical summer blockbuster. Really typical. Wiseass disaffected kid meets a girl, learns what's important, fights for what's right, credits. The 3D is nice, but I think two and a half hours of it would make me sick. It's still not... comfortable.

I think people of our age (or maybe just me) are jaded as to what constitutes an amazing movie. I need movies to make me think, feel, and laugh. I just can't be wowed by special effects. After Jurassic Park, I just assumed that anything a director could imagine can get to the screen. And I was 11 when that came out.

[OldJadedGamer]

The same people who saw the profit margins to titanic.

Or the same people who saw the potential profit margins of Waterworld.

[Savok]

I think people of our age (or maybe just me) are jaded as to what constitutes an amazing movie. I need movies to make me think, feel, and laugh. I just can't be wowed by special effects. After Jurassic Park, I just assumed that anything a director could imagine can get to the screen. And I was 11 when that came out.
I don't know, I can watch just about any Del Toro film and still be wowed. Hell the best way to watch Hellboy 2 is to put it on mute and just look at all the pretty.

I think the biggest problem these days is everything is just so mind numbingly generic, it's been pushed through so many marketing and focus groups it's usually lost whatever was going to make it great.

With us of course Avatar has double the problems. We're gamers, we can pick crappy 3D animation a mile away (especially when it hits the uncanny valley), also we've seen most shit done better.

[Mike Kelehan]

I don't know, I can watch just about any Del Toro film and still be wowed. Hell the best way to watch Hellboy 2 is to put it on mute and just look at all the pretty.

I think the biggest problem these days is everything is just so mind numbingly generic, it's been pushed through so many marketing and focus groups it's usually lost whatever was going to make it great.

With us of course Avatar has double the problems. We're gamers, we can pick crappy 3D animation a mile away (especially when it hits the uncanny valley), also we've seen most shit done better.

See, that's the thing. We're not wowed by the effects in Hellboy 2. We're wowed at the art. There's a pretty big difference between Hellboy/Pan's Labyrinth and 2012/Avatar.

[Savok]

Well exactly, one is excellent, well thought out use of effects. The other is using badly animated blue people for the hell of it.

[KamaItachi]

Or the same people who saw the potential profit margins of Waterworld.

Schaudenfreude aside, I'd love to see another Waterworld sized failure crash and burn. It just pains me that it wasn't Transformers 2.

[menage]

Or the same people who saw the potential profit margins of Waterworld.

Probably a better comparison.

Romantic love story featuring babyface babemagnet Caprio versus blue alien geek movie.

They'll never get that money back

[Purple Santa]

I guess this means no one is planning to play Avatar the video game ;)

[Mike Kelehan]

I guess this means no one is planning to play Avatar the video game ;)

Hey, maybe it'll be great. It's a story that's better played than watched, certainly.

[Stmfuller]

hmmm. Avatar looks pretty good.
But I'm not going to go and see it in the theatres.

[DoctorFinger]

Am I the only person whose completely unimpressed and unsure of why there is all this hype surrounding "Avatar"?

I mean, yeah, it's a James Cameron movie, but I still don't get the hype.Just the fact that it's the first Cameron movie after Titanic (I don't count the documentaries) is why there's so much hype.

BTW, it used to be that a film would have to make double it's production budget at the box office to make a profit. The rise of DVD sales has lowered that, but only to one-and-a-half times it's budget. That means Avatar would have to make $750 million at least to turn a profit.

[tacitus]

Schaudenfreude aside, I'd love to see another Waterworld sized failure crash and burn. It just pains me that it wasn't Transformers 2.
Actually what I have heard Waterworld actually did make a profit (possibly eventually) ... it just wasn't the massive hit that was expected. It was also a perceived failure (because it wasn't a massive hit) and because it was one of the first films with a cost of over $100 million dollars. Frankly I would rather see Waterworld again than Titanic.

Avatar gives me the mehs.

[Xerxes]

Wow... Am I the only who thought the trailer was pretty decent?

[Panthera]

I'm not super-hyped, and I'd rather see it without 3d, but it does look like a pretty solid blockbuster style film to me and I look forward to seeing it.

[DoctorFinger]

Wow... Am I the only who thought the trailer was pretty decent?I thought it was decent, but Cameron has been hyping this film for a decade now, and for that I was expecting something amazing. Which that trailer clearly wasn't.

[OldJadedGamer]

I thought it was decent, but Cameron has been hyping this film for a decade now, and for that I was expecting something amazing. Which that trailer clearly wasn't.

The thing that turned me off was having to sit through him talk and talk and talk about it at E3 and not show a single screen shot. After that point I hated him for wasting my time and I have been anti Avatar.

[DoctorFinger]

The thing that turned me off was having to sit through him talk and talk and talk about it at E3 and not show a single screen shot. After that point I hated him for wasting my time and I have been anti Avatar.
I really should look up the chat transcripts between myself and AgtFox while the Ubisoft presser was playing. Neither of us are particularly angry folks, but we were both pissed off during that conference.

[MagGnome]

I guess I should watch the trailer, because for all the talk about Avatar (and there has been a LOT, for years now it seems) I still haven't a clue what the movie is about. I don't even know if it's in live action or 3D or what. :p

I feel like I've been hearing about this movie since I was 15. I wish it would just come out already so that people will stop talking about it.

Edit - Okay, I watched the trailer and now I'm REALLY confused. What's up with all the hype? It looks like some 12 year old's generic fantasy come true. What about this movie made it cost $500 million? :confused:

[Xerxes]

I guess I should watch the trailer, because for all the talk about Avatar (and there has been a LOT, for years now it seems) I still haven't a clue what the movie is about. I don't even know if it's in live action or 3D or what. :p

I feel like I've been hearing about this movie since I was 15. I wish it would just come out already so that people will stop talking about it.

Edit - Okay, I watched the trailer and now I'm REALLY confused. What's up with all the hype? It looks like some 12 year old's generic fantasy come true. What about this movie made it cost $500 million? :confused:

All of the 3D silly.