So, I bit the bullet and pre-ordered this bad boy. I don’t buy many video games. At all. I think the last game I bought was Halo 3. But yes, I have pre-ordered this one (and will pre-order Halo Reach eventually as well).
To say I’m impressed by the level of detail, immersion, and gameplay evident in all the videos I’ve seen would be a massive understatement, and the latest producer’s video only cements that fact. There may be some minor spoilers in here.
I’m sorry, but this game looks amazing. This is the exact right way to do our 80’s properties proud. Pay some great homage to the vintage style, but reinvent and reinvigorate the brand in a new way for a new audience as well.
I think all we can hope for is that the Rise of Cobra sequel is powerful enough to warrant a game of this type for G.I. Joe, I think that would be a very cool thing. But until then, I’ll live vicariously through the Transfans.
Quite suddenly, over the past 24 hours, a rumored leaked script for the sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has gotten quite a bit of focus, from many online sites like Collider, FilmDrunk, and Den of Geek. It even started a Twitter war between FilmDrunk and elmayimbe from Latino Review. So, you know this thing resonates with the geek film crowd out there. Whether it’s due to the disappointment of the first film, or a love of the G.I. Joe franchise deep rooted in the 80’s, I’m not sure, but whatever the reason, it’s already sparked some debate.
So what caused the outcry?
Well, let me preface this by saying something… I have read the script in question. I received it a few weeks ago and ran it through some filters, and it certainly did not appear to be legit based on what I heard and saw.
That’s not to say it didn’t look legit on the surface. In fact, I’ve read quite a few scripts in my day, and I’ve seen some fanboy dream scripts, and some authentic scripts, and on the surface, this script read like a real script. It didn’t have much of the fanboy angle, it drew a lot of elements from the first film.
But at the same time, it also introduced many great elements from the cartoon and comic, and actually wove it into a pretty interesting, cool story. But there are reasons I didn’t post anything about this mysterious script:
If the fandom didn’t like it, we risk backlash against a film based on a script that might not be real
If the fandom loved it, and it ended up being fake, there could be backlash against Hasbro and Paramount for not using this script.
Either way, Hasbro/Paramount loses, in my mind, and based on the virulant reaction to The Rise of Cobra (much of it well deserved), that’s not a chance I really wanted to take.
So, before anyone asks…no, I will not be sharing the script. I know there will be fans out there who claim Hollywood is muffling it because they don’t want people to know it’s real. I don’t know the truth 100%, but I have strong suspicions that the script is not legit. It is a very entertaining read, but ultimately I suspect it will not represent what we see on screen in 2012, so rather than get the fandom in an uproar over something that may not have any actual bearing on the final product, I’m going to keep a lid on it.
I think we can all agree… the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra video game wasn’t the pinnacle of video game capabilities. In fact, many would say it was downright awful. Personally, there were parts of it I enjoyed…enough that I played it all the way through the end and unlocked all of the characters. But, by far the best part about the game, bar none, was the music. It had some elements of the Rise of Cobra film, but it’s done in a purely orchestral style, and even with some generic techno-mix thrown in there, it really is a great listen.
Well, the guys over the MS Gulf Coast G.I. Joe Collectors Club have gathered the songs together from the game, (which also had some nice homages to the Sunbow theme mixed in there) and has collected it all into a massive soundtrack .zip file.
I’ve been listening to it tonight, and it’s been surprisingly entertaining. Really good stuff, for a pretty mediocre game.
They’ve posted it up on MegaUpload right here. Give it a shot!
As a kid the ’91 version of Snake Eyes was one of my favorites. Sure, he had the cheesy orange weapons, and bright sky blue on his uniform, but I just loved the figure. And the best part of this custom is that kingphilbert doesn’t translate it to an exact replication of the 1991 version, but the homage is clear.
Paint is awesome, parts choices are awesome. I just really, really love this figure.
Nice work, kingphilbert! Found the custom at HissTank.com.
YoJoe Comic mastermind antarctica sends along an update, reporting that he’s totally revised the YoJoe comic section, focusing on continuity and “flow” from one series to another. Using official Hasbro terminology, he laid out the entire page with renewed organization.
As great as the YoJoe Comics Archive has been, this makes it even better. It truly is a fantastic resource and antarctica deserves a ton of praise for the hard work he’s put in keeping it up to date, especially as IDW continues to flood the market with new books.
Great stuff! Check it out for yourself right here.
As an addendum to this, he’s also added summaries to the section for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #155.5 as well as the Hearts and Minds Ashcan promo, G.I. Joe #17, G.I. Joe: Cobra #4, and G.I. Joe: Origins #15. Check out links to all of those IDW summaries right here.
Okay, I’m pretty on top of things in the Marvel animated slate… but somehow I’m a bit out of the loop.
Apparently, way back on March 4th it was announced that a new Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes animated series would be airing in 2011. Somehow I missed this. In fact, there’s even a trailer online:
Ummm… holy shit?
This looks pretty fun! And it would even appear that a “micro series” featuring back stories for the individual heroes would begin airing this fall. Supposedly 52 episodes have already been ordered, and with an all star cast, this looks like a very cool series.
Unfortunately, though… apparently Spectactular Spider-Man and Wolverine and the X-Men have both been cancelled. It would appear good news always comes with bad. These were two of my favorite animated series in a long time… bummer. Hopefully Avengers can fill the void.
I know I don’t talk about the 12″ Joes much on this page, mostly because honestly they don’t interest me a whole lot. But that changed with the last JoeCon in Providence. Unfortunately it didn’t change quite fast enough.
We all know about the upcoming 3 3/4″ Adventure Team figures, and how they’re tying the AT guys into the Real American Hero realm with the introduction of Dr. Venom (finally!!) into action figure form. Well, the Collectors’ Club is doing something similar in the 12″ scale as well.
In Providence this year, they introduced everyone to the first (at least I believe it’s the first) bad guy 12″ figure, the “Henchman”. I was sorely tempted to pick this guy up, but in the end, I held off, and I’m kind of regretting it now, because he’s been sold out of the Club store, and will likely be tough to get a hold of. Strongly based on the nameless and faceless “bad guys” from the 70’s James Bond movies, this mysterious “Henchman” serves an organization… but it’s an organization that all Joe fans should be intimately familiar with.
Take a good look at the picture of the Henchman above…and look at the logo. The logo resembles the planet Mars. Yes, the Henchman here is an agent of MARS. A very cool tie in to Destro and the MARS organization, and now the Joe universes are all tied together nicely.
As a further explanation of the story, GIJCC staff member Lanny also did a pretty cool movie based on the comic that came with the 12″ set this year. Check that out below.
I really love how the Club is weaving a cool new story tying all of these universes together… now I wonder where Sigma 6 fits in.
Yeah, I’ve used that joke before, and it probably wasn’t funny the first time either.
Anyway… now that I’m recovering from the convention chaos, I’ve reviewed the GIJCC Exclusive Big Lob, and posted him in the appropriate section. You can also check out the review itself right here!
A very pleasant surprise.
* * * * * * * * * [ SMALLJOES.COM NEWSLETTER ] * * * * * * * * * * http://smalljoes.com
GI JOE
======
Hi folks! Sorry to hit you again so soon with another email, but Hasbro
has just cleared us to pre-sell the GI JOE Resolute 7-figure sets!
You can pre-order them here: http://smalljoes.com/cat/Preorders-1.shtml
We expect these to be shipping from our warehouse in the last week
of July or first week of August assuming everything stays on schedule.
If you are pre-ordering we recommend keeping in-stock merchandise on
a separate order as August is still a few months away. (more…)
