<![CDATA[Kotaku: Terminal Reality]]> http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png <![CDATA[Kotaku: Terminal Reality]]> http://kotaku.com/tag/terminal reality http://kotaku.com/tag/terminal reality <![CDATA[ Ghostbusters Pulled From Gamestop ]]> We are getting reports that Gamestop have pulled Ghostbusters from pre-order. The tips center on an internal email at Gamestop, informing staff that pre-order customers will be entitled to a full refund.

Sure enough, where a search for 'Ghostbusters' on Gamestop once returned this impressive array[via Google cache] of results, currently the only Ghostbuster-related item to be found on the site is this rather forlorn copy of the original movie on UMD.

Hard to say exactly what this means - both Terminal Reality and Vivendi have been adamant that the game will be published. The main confusion seems to be who by?

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Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:30:00 MDT Stuart Houghton http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5043673&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ "Ghostbusters Will be Published" ]]> Boy, we were all excited when Ghostbusters: The Game was announced. Then we got all sad when the Activision Blizzard merger pulled the rug out from underneath us. Who was going to publish this game from developer Terminal Reality? Everything was all uncertain, and we were sad. Now Terminal Reality honcho Mark Randel says:

Ghostbusters will be published. That’s all I can say at the moment.

Well, that's nice of you to say that.

“Ghostbusters will be published,” says Randel [VG247]

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Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:00:00 MDT Brian Ashcraft http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5034049&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Why Rick Moranis Won't Be In The Ghostbusters Game ]]> While the upcoming Ghostbusters game will star many of the real film’s principal characters – including, crucially, all four Ghostbusters, William Peck and the Stay Puft marshmallow man – not everyone thought signing on was a good idea. Sigourney Weaver, for one. And Rick Moranis is another. But why’d Rick say no? Not like he’s exactly busy at the moment. Sierra's Ben Borth:

He made so much money off of Honey I Shrunk The Kids that he retired. He just doesn’t want to work anymore.

Oh. Well. Good for you, Rick Moranis.

An Inside Look At The Making Of Ghostbusters [Das Gamer]

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Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:30:00 MDT Luke Plunkett http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5018686&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Terminal Reality Credits ZootFly With Ghostbusters Assist ]]> ZootFly's proposed Ghostbuster game, first shown in leaked test footage back in January of last year might not have done ZootFly any good in the long run, but according to Terminal Reality president Mark Randel it did at least have a hand in getting their Ghostbusters game made.

"What Zootfly did for us, inadvertently, is help sell the concept. When their footage came out, we were close to our green-light meeting, and when the executives saw the reaction from the fans, they immediately knew, 'Hey, Ghostbusters is going to be a big hit - we need to put this game into production.'"

Small consolation for the folks at ZootFly, but Ghostbusters fans around the world sure appreciate the help. Next time just make sure you're allowed to make the game before you make it!


Zootfly Ghostbusters footage helped sell concept
[CVG]

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Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:40:00 MDT Mike Fahey http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5017592&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Early Impressions: Ghostbusters ]]> At Sierra's preview event, I got a chance to take a look at an early build of the upcoming Ghostbusters game, in development by Terminal Reality and slated for a Fall release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS and PC. One of the big things I learned was how involved Dan Aykroyd, who played Peter Venkman in the films, was in the game production.

Apparently it was Aykroyd who got all of the other cast members on board to do the voice-overs, and he was so enthusiastic about the game that he helped name and create specs for many of the game's weapons, to make sure they sounded and played like something that would have really been part of the franchise. In fact, Aykroyd is co-writing the entire script with fellow Ghostbusters writer Harold Ramis, so it's a game adaptation with what look to be strong ties to the original material.

The city of New York plays a major role here, too, and from what I saw and was told, the developers are aiming for a true-to-life NYC that echoes the environment in the films, from indoors to out - the city as a "character," as the reps said.

They told me they're aiming for a "seamless" transition between the game's indoor and outdoor environments. I also learned why you won't get to play as any of the four Ghostbusters.

In the game, you play a new recruit to the team whose primary role is to act as "guinea pig" for all of Egon's new weapons. You play as part of a team with the other Ghostbusters, and the reps told me they really want to capture the "comedic timing" of the interaction among the characters - with the player controlling one, it might interfere, as you can probably imagine.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is set in 1991, three years after the second film. The mayor has just been re-elected on a pro-Ghostbusters platform, and he's now funding the team's latest activities. However, it looks like the team will end up racking up more in city damages during the poltergeist fights than it earns in fees for eliminating the beasties.

In the scene I saw, the player and two teammates fought a ghost inside New York Public Library. That scene alone, the reps told me, had about 4,000 destructible objects inside it, and as items were destroyed, they got sucked into the ghost's body. Characters can be created out of physics objects in realtime, the reps explained.

And for every shelf, chair, book and lamp the team bashed up, a little running cash tally in the corner of the screen showed how much dollar damage the player had racked up. There's no penalty for this, the reps explained - it's intended as a fun sort of points system.

New weapons become available from Egon and they can be upgraded and customized using your earnings from successful ghost hunts. The way the weapons system works, you can see what's going on on the back of your equipment pack - for example, instead of an ammo system, you watch your heat cylinders and have to take a pause when you overheat. Keep an eye on it, though, and you can vent it manually.

In another scene, I watched the team battle the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from inside a city building, escaping out onto the roof to trap little bits of him that had separated off and begun attacking. When you use your beam to lasso a ghost, the reps said, the teammate AI knows what you're up to and will provide a trap for you.

I also learned a little bit about how the multiplayer will work on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network - it's cooperative for up to four players who compete against each other for the leaderboards.

The team also said the PlayStation 3 was the game's "anchor platform," and built in Sixaxis controls for the beam weapons on that version. For the less-powered system, developer Red Fly is preparing a more stylized, cartoon version that's more mission-based for Wii and PS2, while the DS version is more focused on being a "throwback to the 90s." (We also hear the DS can connect up to the Wii and act as a PKE meter). Each version, I was told, is totally different, but they're all "by fans, for fans," as the reps said.

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Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:00:00 MDT Leigh Alexander http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5015578&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Dan Ackroyd Is The Wind Beneath The Ghostbusters Game's Wings ]]> Terminal Reality are actually making the "main" Ghostbusters game. Sierra got them the rights to it. Bill Murray's involved, Harold Ramis is involved, and so is a lot of money, hope and expectations. That's a lot of stuff. So who's the glue holding the whole project together? Why, Dan Ackroyd, of course. Seems Ray Stanz has done more than just help write the game: he was "a really big facilitator" in getting guys like Murray and Ramis onboard in the first place, and is - get this - even helping the design team come up with the names for the Ghostbuster's new equipment, characters, etc. Say what you will of Ackroyd's recent career (or lack thereof), it's still nice to see a Hollywood name do more for his appearance in a game than just record a few hours of dialogue, take the cheque and run.

Interview: Terminal Reality? Ain't Afraid Of No Ghosts [Gamasutra]

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Fri, 16 May 2008 03:00:00 MDT Luke Plunkett http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=391069&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Ghostbusters Stays True To Ray Parker Jr. ]]> rayparkerjr.jpg Developer Terminal Reality was at one point pondering having a modern band redo the classic Ghostbusters theme for their upcoming game, lovingly previewed earlier today by our own Flynn De Marco, but as executive producer Brendan Goss would soon realize, people don't react well to blasphemy.
"When we were doing the focus group testing, we asked people how they'd feel about a remix done by a current band. We got booed out of the place," Goss said. "People were really against it, going, 'You can't do that, there's only one song for Ghostbusters!' It was incredible. So we were like, okay, we won't mess with the Ray Parker Jr. song then."
Damn straight you won't. Not only will the Ray Parker Jr. classic be in the game, the developers also got their hands on 75 minutes of orchestral soundtrack not used in the original film, which had their sound man nearly wetting his pants with glee. I shall reserve my bladder dysfunction for when they announce the inclusion of "Cleanin Up The Town" by the Bus Boys.

No theme tune remix for Ghostbusters [Eurogamer]

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Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:40:00 MDT Mike Fahey http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=384636&view=rss&microfeed=true