Ghostbusters Game Announced for iPhone

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sony says the Ghostbusters iPhone game will see you playing as the traditional team from the Ghostbusters movies, tackling New York borough by borough, trapping pesky poltergeists and stopping innocent citizens from being slimed.

There’s no word on how you’ll control the Ghostbusters iPhone game yet, but we’d love to see Sony’s developers grabbing Apple’s new SDK with both hands, creating a Ghostbusters iPhone game that uses the iPhone’s accelerometer, Bluetooth multiplayer and maybe even location sensing to play multiplayer games against gamers acting as ghouls in your area.

We can already imagine tilting the iPhone to control a proton pack beam, just as you’ll be able to do with the Wiimote when Ghostbusters lands on the Nintendo Wii.

So, yeah, I may be getting this game for 5 systems (Xbox 360, Wii, PC, Nintendo DS, and iPhone). You can never have too much Ghostbusters.

New Star Wars Items

A few things caught me by surprise tonight and both came via email.

First, Gentle Giant announced to its Premier Guild Members that the Snowtrooper Mini Bust was available for pre-order. It is set to ship in September. At this time, you must be signed into your Gentle Giant PGM account to pre-order this bust.

Gentle Giant's next trooper-oriented bust, the Snowtrooper, will be shipped in September.

Next was at the bottom of the weekly Star Wars Homing Beacon. Some unreleased Hasbro toys were available for pre-order on Star Wars Shop - including at least three items originally believed to be released in August or September. According to Star Wars Shop, the Turbo Tank will be available... in April!?!? June releases are set for the Saber Class Fighter Tank and Crab Droid Vehicle and Figure Pack. The Build-Your-Own Blaster is still set for July.

Perhaps these dates are just placeholders; as usual the "small print" says dates subject to change. We'll see when these really start showing up in stores.

Imperial Commando Info. Revealed

The Star Wars site published a first look at the cover art for Karen Traviss' next commando book, Imperial Commando: 501st.

The book is due out in October and appears to begin right where Order 66 ends.

The Clone Wars are over, but for those with reason to run from the new galactic Empire, the battle to survive has only just begun....

The Jedi have been decimated in the Great Purge, and the Republic has fallen. Now the former Republic Commandos -- the galaxy's finest special forces troops, cloned from Jango Fett -- find themselves on opposing sides and in very different armor. Some have deserted and fled to Mandalore with the mercenaries, renegade clone troopers, and rogue Jedi who make up Kal Skirata's ragtag resistance to Imperial occupation. Others -- including men from Delta and Omega squads -- now serve as Imperial Commandos, a black ops unit within Vader's own 501st Legion, tasked to hunt down fugitive Jedi and clone deserters.

For Darman, grieving for his Jedi wife and separated from his son, it's an agonizing test of loyalty. But he's not the only one who'll be forced to test the ties of brotherhood. On Mandalore, clone deserters and the planet's own natives, who have no love for the Jedi, will have their most cherished beliefs challenged. In the savage new galactic order, old feuds may have to be set aside to unite against a far bigger threat, and nobody can take old loyalties for granted.

-- Star Wars Vault

I am very excited for this book. I'll be finishing Order 66 very soon (like before April). It sucks having to wait that long! But at least there is another one!

Book Review - Republic Commando: Triple Zero

I started reading the second entry, Triple Zero, in Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series almost exactly a year ago. I had started the book but put it down and stopped reading for many months. I didn't stop because the book was boring. Reading - in general - bores me and I can only do it in waves. Rarely do I read for pleasure or for more than a few days at a time.

I finally picked Triple Zero back up this fall. And I'm glad I did.

The book was riveting; I could barely put it down. I'd usually read 20 to 30 pages a day, which is a lot for me, and want to read more. About 2.5 weeks after I began to read the book again I had completed it.

Triple Zero stand for Coruscant, the center of the Republic in the Star Wars universe. In the book, Omega Squad - the focal point of Hard Contact - return to Coruscant for a covert ops mission with fellow commando squad Delta Squad, who are the focus of the LucasArts video game Republic Commando. The two commando squads work with their former trainers on Kamino - Kal Skirata and Walon Vau. Add in some Null-ARCs, a wookie, and some (allegedly, it is a book afterall) pretty ladies and the book is set.

At the beginning you find out that Kal Skirata is the trainer and de facto father of the six Null-ARCs - Prudii, Kom'rk, Mereel, Jaing, A'den, and Ordo. As you return to the "present" - one year after the Battle of Geonosis - you find out that General Arligan Zey, Jedi General in charge of Special Operations Brigade, is tasking Skirata and Omega Squad with help from Vau and Delta Squad to eliminate a Separtist cell spying on the Republic.

The writing in Triple Zero helps to develop the Republic Commando series characters, specifically Omega Squad and Jedi General Etain Tur-Mukan, as well as introduce key characters for the remainder of the series (Skirata, Vau, Delta Squad, Besany Wennen, Bardan Jusik, the Nulls). However, the plot does not suffer despite the focus of the book truly on the characters.

I don't want to give much away. The book, to me, is even better than Hard Contact, its predecessor. It is packed with character development, an intriguing storyline, and parts that make you really feel for the characters.

After finishing Triple Zero I immediately began True Colors, only to stop for weeks once again. However ever since I started True Colors again I haven't stopped reading.

I have noticed, after finishing True Colors and currently reading Order 66, that the RC series gets stronger with each entry. For any trooper-oriented Star Wars fan, Traviss' books are a must.

You can view the status of my reading in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Multiplayer Details Revealed

A generation of Ghostbuster-wannabes has been yearning for more from the franchise. Well they were told over a year ago that a video game would be coming. After a delay from a change in publishers (Activision to Atari) the game is set to hit stands this June to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original film.

The game has been in action at conventions across the globe in recent months but it has been lacking one thing: multiplayer. Every great title has a multiplayer option, whether it is simply co-op, campaign, or online mayhem. Ghostbusters: The Video Game had been mum on it for some time. Until now.

Atari has released specs. and they are glorious. Take a look, care of The Real Ghostbusters.

MULTIPLAYER OVERVIEW:

Teamwork is what being a Ghostbuster is all about so Terminal Reality have worked with Three Wave Software, a triple-A multiplayer developer, to create an exciting and original multiplayer component in Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

Offering gamers the unique opportunity to play as one of the four original Ghostbusters, an option not available in the single player game, the multiplayer is a fast-paced, co-operative experience. Taking place on an average phantom-packed day for the Ghostbusters team, players will work together to contain supernatural phenomena around the city while competing to earn the biggest pay check.

MULTIPLAYER FEATURES:

Unique Multiplayer Features:

• Play as one of the Ghostbusters: Choose to play as any one of the four original Ghostbusters or the rookie;

• Unique Achievements: Players are given scores and ranks for each match that are also applied to their online profile. Difficulty scaling is available according to rank;

• 6 Unique Power-ups: To help players on even the trickiest of jobs, unique power-ups such as the Ghost Shrinker or Ethereal Shield are available;
• Limited Ammunition: To ensure teamwork, players must pick up ammunition for each type of equipment with ammunition levels being shown on the proton pack;
• Unique AI Features: To add another dimension to the hunting, wrangling and trapping experience of being a Ghostbuster, ghosts have unique AI features such as more aggressive behaviour, the power to sabotage traps and the ability to fuse with other ghosts;
• Full VOIP support: Voice support for both Xbox 360 and PS3 allows for easy communication between players.

- more -

Two Multiplayer Co-op Game Modes:

• Instant Action: players can test their mettle in a variety of Job Types across a selection of 12 different maps to see if they’ve got what it takes to be a true Ghostbuster;
• Campaign Mode: players work through one of four different environments busting ghosts to earn cash and upgrade their equipment.

12 maps across 4 themed environments:

• Library
• Streets
• Cemetery
• Museum

Six Unique Job Types:

• Survival: Survive a paranormal onslaught
• Containment: Capture all the ghosts
• Destruction: Eliminate mysterious artefacts to prevent spawning ghosts
• Protection: Protect Egon’s devices
• Thief: Save the artefacts from being stolen by ghosts
• Slime Dunk: Dunk the most Slimers

Online Multiplayer Features:

• Leaderboards and player statistics: have you got what it takes to be the world’s greatest Ghostbuster?
• Ranking: Skill and rank based matchmaking is available.
• Most Wanted Ghosts: these ghosts appear are special ghosts that appear mid game based on the experience of the current players - it’s your job to trap them all.

Awesomeness! Kelly and I can play together! And Bryan - when he gets a 360 (which HE WILL) - can join us in online matches.

The folks at IGN let loose on the multiplayer aspects during their most recent preview. They also have a nice look at the Wii version, too.

Disney/Star Wars Crossover Figures Wave 3 Announced

The official Star Wars site announced today through their Collecting Vault that during Star Wars Weekends 2009 the third wave of the Disney/Star Wars Crossover figures would be available. The third wave consists of

• Mickey as Luke Skywalker in X-wing Pilot Gear (with removable helmet)
  
• Minnie as Slave Princess Leia
• Donald as Stormtrooper (with removable helmet)
  
• Goofy as Chewbacca
• Chip and Dale as Ewoks (with additional Stormtrooper helmet)

The first two waves, released in 2007 and 2008, can be found in the middle of this page.



In addition to the Crossover figures, fans will also have a chance to pick up a Jedi Training Academy box set, complete with a generic Jedi Master, Darth Vader, and three young padawans.



Other items, such as the Stormtrooper helmet and Mickey and Minnie's Star Wars poster pose banks, will also be available. All these items are exclusive to the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Parks.