Kelly's Will Rent-To-Own You This Wii For $948 [Consumerist]

Regis with a mullet? Kelly belting out Mississippi Queen? No this isn't the an annual crack-fueled Live With Regis and Kelly Christmas Party, it's the recent appearance of Rock Band on the show. Kelly's got some mean pipes.

Following some quick clips of Ghost Rider—a movie Landau mistakenly referred to as Ghostbusters, eliciting chuckles from the crowd and a hasty correction—the topic extended to bringing the visceral experience of movies to games. Citing the popularity of Saving Private Ryan, a movie with raw cinematic appeal, he proposed that games like Medal of Honor, Company of Heroes and Call of Duty were direct extensions of the movie's influence on a mass market.

He then showed a clip of Sony Picture's own Casino Royale, culminating in an interesting product development.

After the brutal intensity of the best action moments from the latest 007 flick, Landau showed footage (some of it "target render") of an multiplayer title in development at Sony Online Entertainment's Seattle office, codenamed "Vista". Why Vista? "We had to push it back a year," he explained. Damn! Ice burn!

The game featured a pair of digital agents, one tall, dark, and tuxedoed, his female counterpart in a slinky cocktail dress sporting plenty of heaving cleavage. After a brief intro showcasing some Q-caliber gadgetry built into the main character's mount (a BMW look-alike), the two engaged in a massive firefight with all manner of street thugs, characters that looked ripped from Manhunt (or a Misfits show). Securing the aluminum brief case they were after, a dreadlocked, face-painted baddie made a dramatic appearance, seconds before the clip went black. Again, citing Hollywood hits like The Bourne Identity and the Bond franchise, Landau and SOE believe that action-oriented espionage is ready to break out. Hence, the currently untitled game.

He also showed some clips of Sony Pictures Classics "Riding Giants", a movie that helped spawn the upcoming penguin surfing animated venture "Surf's Up." Talking animals? Normally, I'd say "No thanks!" but it got a laugh out of me. He then showed a clip of Ubisoft's game adaptation that goes by the same name, which actually looked pretty damn good. More Tony Hawk's Pro Skater than Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, the penguin surfing action did give off a very visceral feel. Riding (inexplicably placed) railslides, crashing through obstacles, hitting massive wave jumps—it all felt very close to the intense clips he'd shown in film form.

While convergence may be the wrong (tired) term, the extension of a film's strength did bring up an interesting design challenge for the gathered creators. Landau wrapped up by challenging developers to take advantage of share rendering and animation tools to extend the experience of powerful, primal cinema to create equally powerful games.

Then, he told everyone to go drink lots of booze. Don't mind if I do, Yair. Michael McWhertor