By John Walker on June 19th, 2009 at 12:21 am.
If you’ve been trying to keep up with the development and publishing of the Ghostbusters game, then you’ll be understandably dizzy. Victim of the Hadron Collider’s experiment to merge Activision and Blizzard (I think that’s how it happened), thrown between publishers like a radioactive ball, eventually picked up to be part of the misadventures of Atari, and then at the last second swooped in on by Sony like a mad buzzard, it’s been a deeply peculiar process. Then it got weirder. It’s currently on sale in the US on all formats. And in the UK and Europe? Due out today, it’s on PS3, PS2, and er, nothing else, the PC and other console releases pushed back to October. Then another twist – the Americanly released PC version turns out not to include the multiplayer features. What the cripes is going on?
Well, it seems it’s thanks to the Sony deal. Or indeed thanks to Atari’s continued troubled ways. GI.biz reported the Sony deal earlier this month, during which they speculated the deal was another sign of Atari’s financial woes. This prompted a response from Atari to defend their decision that at this point is rather stinging with irony. VP of Atari’s worldwide marketing, Jim Wilson, explained,
“Atari is committed to maximising the launch of the Ghostbusters videogame across Europe. In partnership with both Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, we have a unique opportunity to add new game products and expand marketing opportunities to reach Ghostbusters fans in Europe.”
According to the RPS abacus, releasing the game on only two of the six planned platforms doesn’t quite maximise the launch. We’d go so far as to suggest it somewhat minimises it. Although it probably works out quite nicely for Sony, who have it exclusively until – in what might be the strangest deadline of all time – the PSP version is finished. Um, right. So once it’s ready for the flailing handheld, PC, Wii, DS and 360 players will be allowed a go, four months later.
The irony of this ridiculous situation is only deepened when you learn the PS3 port is the poorest version of the game on the current-gen consoles. Eurogamer’s 360 vs. PS3 face-off article reveals that the PS3 version is extremely compromised, runs more poorly, and doesn’t offer the same resolutions as the 360 (and therefore we also assume PC) build. Richard also talks about something called “quincunx” which has to be about the rudest word I’ve ever seen.
So what about the PC version and its missing multiplayer? Because when you think PC, the last thing you think of is multiplayer, right? Apparently this was the case during development, as the explanation offered to Big Download appears to suggest. They spoke to CEO of Threewave Software (the company hired to create the multiplayer for the game), Dan Irish, and asked why the world’s largest online platform doesn’t include online gaming.
“Multiplayer for the PC version of Ghostbusters is something that Threewave and Terminal Reality always wanted to do. However, our focus was on making the console version the best that they could be – an experience that allows multiple players to re-live and re-fight many of the themes from the movies. When we looked at the resources necessary to pull off multiplayer on the consoles and the PC, it became a question of what could we do and still be excellent in our execution. We couldn’t do all versions with multiplayer simultaneously with the resources that we had available – there was simply too much to do. Something would have to suffer. Therefore, we kept our focus on making the console versions deliver on the promise of being an integral player on the Ghostbusters team.”
Which seems to be quite openly saying that they considered the PC version to be the least important, so ditched it. Whether they will find time to create a PC version post-release has yet to be established. Nor indeed whether the four-month-delayed European version will have given them a chance to get it done.
It’s hard to imagine a more ludicrous route from initial excitement to disastrous release mess. (Unless you count poor Brutal Legend of course, with Activision now suing EA for planning to release the game.) And it’s hard to give a shit about Ghostbusters any more. Once we were all hyped up about the possibilities for a continuation of the films’ story, written by the original team. Now it’s been ensured that all UK reviews are of the weak PS3 version it’s already got a bad name, and by October we’ll all have forgotten about it in the mix of the big name releases at the end of the year.
19/06/2009 at 00:28 Michael Rose says:
Sometimes the world of gaming politics amazes (saddened) me.
19/06/2009 at 00:39 Taillefer says:
“Publisher taking developer Double Fine to court over EA Partners game it passed on after Vivendi Games merger…”
So Activision are actually suing Double Fine …right?
I like Tim’s response.
19/06/2009 at 00:49 Howard says:
It is such a shame that they have cocked this up so badly, particularly as, having played the PC version, I can say it is really quite a good game. Oh well =(
19/06/2009 at 00:52 j c says:
It’s not like they’re charging full-price for the PC version and pretending multiplayer is in there.
Rather, it’s only $30, which to me seems a perfectly reasonable price to ask for a quality single-player game.
19/06/2009 at 00:55 Serondal says:
Someone obviously crossed the fucking beams on this one.
19/06/2009 at 00:57 Persus-9 says:
Not to mention the fact they haven’t bothered to scale the graphics to support computers with anything that has less than 512Mb of VRAM and that’s still about 35% of steam users. Compare that to Dragon Age: Origins, that will support 128Mb cards or Far Cry 2 that supported 256Mb and it looks like a decision that wouldn’t have been made if the PC version was anything but an afterthought. My diagnosis: this game is suffering from chronic consoleportistis.
Personally I was already tempted not to buy it on principle. I as excited as everyone else but they can’t have their cake and eat it. They can’t make me wait an arbitrary four months extra compared to PS3 owners and then still expect me to still buy their product.
Having said that if they spend the next four months doing extra developement work and make the PC version the Ultimate Edition or something and better than the PS3 in more than just the graphics department then I might forgive them.
19/06/2009 at 00:59 Schadenfreude says:
Should also mention that anyone who wants this for his XBox can quite happily import from the States. It’s one of the few 360 games that isn’t region coded; which I see as a not too subtle ‘F**k you’ to Sony’s European exclusivity.
Dunno what the deal with the multiplayer is but surely if they had it running on XBox 360 it would hardly be much work to port it to PC, even if it meant using Windows Live (Which I would assume works very similarly to XBox Live)?
Such a clusterfuck.
19/06/2009 at 01:04 Miguel says:
I will add give a 30$ good single player game instead 50$ game with multiplayer nobody uses more than once. If you ask me the PC version is the one to get.
19/06/2009 at 01:07 Patrick says:
No doubt sony will take a leaf from the “Fox entertainment” book of talent management, and use the disasterous PC sales/reviews as proof that it was the right decision.
19/06/2009 at 01:07 Persus-9 says:
@ j c: I wasn’t aware of that, if they release it at the £20 mark over here then that would also go quite some way to regaining my good graces.
Really I’m not sure why I’m moaning. I’ve got a more than four month backlog of games to play, a 512Mb graphics card and I don’t actually care about multiplayer but it’s the principle of the thing dammit!
19/06/2009 at 01:16 SteveHatesYou says:
I shudder when I think of the mess the developers must have had to go through on this. We’re probably lucky that the thing’s even playable.
19/06/2009 at 01:17 JKjoker says:
it’s Atari, you might as well assume they dropped support on release, at least i have not heard of too many gamebreaking bugs, be thankful about that
the funny thing is that by delaying it so much in the European market they might as well start preparing a landfill to bury their shame because everyone exited to get it will pirate it or completely forget about it in these 4 months
19/06/2009 at 01:30 drewski says:
Nice thing about PC games – no region coding! Import away!
19/06/2009 at 01:37 Paul Moloney says:
Will anyone under 35 be bothered about this game? I thought Murray would be more well known for “Lost in Translation” among the young uns.
P.
19/06/2009 at 01:40 runcrash says:
Can’t PC Gamers in Europe just proxy in to D2D and get it?
19/06/2009 at 02:03 Ginger Yellow says:
I went to Play Asia and imported the 360 version this afternoon. I had been planning to get the Wii version, as apparently it’s pretty damn good, but delay and region locking means no sale thank you very much. And no multiplayer on the PC rules that out too. Atari really are the shittest publishers in the world, even with Phil Harrison on board. And to think I used to be an Atari fanboy.
“In partnership with both Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, we have a unique opportunity to add new game products and expand marketing opportunities to reach Ghostbusters fans in Europe.”
Say what? Why do games companies insist on talking in corporate gobbledegook?
19/06/2009 at 02:29 jalf says:
I don’t think Atari had much choice. They’re basically broke. They couldn’t afford to be at E3, they couldn’t afford to finish developing PC multi, and they had to sell the publishing rights in Europe to Sony.
Pretty obvious that they had to release now, under these conditions.
The real wtf is Sony. I mean, do they actually imagine that this will boost their sales on any platform?
19/06/2009 at 02:31 LewieP says:
Sony have to do something with all that money they are overcharging for their consoles. Makes sense to use it to prevent other gamers from playing games.
19/06/2009 at 02:37 Saul says:
Through my eyeglass I can see the biggest fleet of pirates in the history of the world, gathering on the horizon…
19/06/2009 at 02:41 Swainy says:
Wow. Hype up the PC gamers and then slap not only everyone but particularly the Europeans in the face.
I’ve never pirated a single game in my entire gaming history but now i think i’ll go do just that.
Fuck you Sony.
19/06/2009 at 03:15 Nill says:
@Paul Moloney:
Nah, Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters it is, even for us not yet thirty-five. Especially the former. I probably need to watch Lost in Translation though, since I haven’t — thanks for the tip. :-)
As for this game, I don’t think it ever even entered my radar. I did notice it briefly when it was first announced, but it has been rather quiet since. Plenty of other very exciting games around to steal its thunder though.
19/06/2009 at 03:18 Adam says:
Being a big fan of all things ghostbustery I just got a handy yank to gift me this via steam, and honestly the budget pricepoint here is preferable. I’d rather pay half price and miss out on mp that no one will be playing in a month, and still get to enjoy the supposedly very good singleplayer.
19/06/2009 at 03:18 Neil says:
I had no idea RPS were such graphics whores. And having a cheap, feature-light PC version that actually has the best visuals of any version seems better than no PC version at all.
19/06/2009 at 03:38 Redford says:
Eventually the combined screams of gamers will be too much and multiplayer will be released in a later patch for the PC version, probably after the hype for the other versions calms down.
Patience, dear prince.
19/06/2009 at 03:39 The_B says:
Yeah, PC gamers can of course get it on import. But seriously – I was quite looking forward to the bloody co-op to be honest. The lack of multiplayer is pretty much a flabbergasting kick in the face for the PC.
(And also – there’s apparently the same DRM as was on Riddick on the PC version as well. Err… sorry to RPS for bringing up that particular sore spot.)
19/06/2009 at 03:45 Adam says:
@The_B:
I am hearing (from yarry sources) that the Steam version actually doesn’t have any DRM, I can’t confirm this yet as my copy hasn’t downloaded, but this is what i hear
19/06/2009 at 04:01 qrter says:
So this’ll get pirated up the ying yang, which ofcourse will come as a huge surprise to the publishers.
19/06/2009 at 04:08 678 says:
Reminds me of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed failure:
- same “new chapter in the story”, as told by creators.
- multiplatform release, all versions were mediocre.
- same PC problems; lack of PC version.
19/06/2009 at 04:38 Tom says:
What a fuck up. If the multiplayer was good this could have been up there with Left 4 Dead i recon. Further proof that Sony still haven’t quite cotton’d on.
I’ll still buy it though, the single player sounds awesome.
19/06/2009 at 04:48 Crescent says:
I was never planning on buying this game anyways, movie-based games are almost always bad and this release mess shrugs off even the slightest bit of interest I had in this game.
19/06/2009 at 05:13 Veotax says:
Something that needs to be noted is that Sony is hardly the bad guy here. Atari, being the douchebags that they are weren’t planning on releasing the game on any format over here for another four months.
Sony just snapped up the publishing rights for the Playstation versions. They aren’t impeding the PC/360 release over here, Atari is.
19/06/2009 at 05:41 Frosty840 says:
Any links to support that, Veotax?
Not disputing your claim, but it’s too early in the day for me to go looking for stuff. Thinking is hard :(
19/06/2009 at 05:52 TheSombreroKid says:
played this on pc last night seems decent but not sure if it’s worth a buy.
incidently Blizzard are not and never have been a publisher for this game or any other game, except maybe the original warcraft, you’ve succumbed to activitsions clever marketing by calling vivendi blizzard all the time.
19/06/2009 at 06:30 Biz says:
lol threewave
what happened to them being the multiplayer masters
19/06/2009 at 06:38 Wedge says:
I was wondering why this appeared out of nowhere on Steam for the cheaps…
19/06/2009 at 06:47 The Fanciest of Pants says:
Fustercluck. Good thing I was never particularly excited for this.
19/06/2009 at 07:03 Owen says:
Jesus Sony, you are some seriously bitter and twisted individuals. You’ve lost my sale no matter when you tossers decide to ‘allow’ us to play your game.
19/06/2009 at 07:31 frags says:
I blame poltergeists
19/06/2009 at 08:08 Dreamhacker says:
To much 80′s for me!
19/06/2009 at 08:14 Dante says:
Apparently Atari just don’t bloody release PC versions over here any more. I’ve still yet to find a copy of Riddick in any games store in Birmingham, the steam version is US only too.
19/06/2009 at 08:16 Ravenger says:
It’s not the same DRM as Riddick – it’s securom with 5 activations and a revoke tool, which at least makes it less ‘evil’ than Riddick’s Tages DRM which doesn’t allow revokes.
I’d buy the Steam version if it were available in the UK at a decent price. I’ve loved Ghostbusters since the film and C64 game came out.
19/06/2009 at 08:54 Wisq says:
Personally, I suspect that the lack of multiplayer on the PC version may have less to do with “PC as an afterthought” and more to do with “we can patch the PC version a lot easier than the console version”.
Granted, the reason doesn’t make it suck less, but it might make it a bit more understandable if they’re really in financial crisis.
19/06/2009 at 09:07 DMJ says:
Apparently we European PC gamers are to be punished for our insolence.
19/06/2009 at 09:29 RC-1290'Dreadnought' says:
“Which seems to be quite openly saying that they considered the PC version to be the least important, so ditched it.”
Not necessarily, it could also mean they think it is a lot easier to satisfy the console people.
19/06/2009 at 09:29 Dexton says:
So I guess this leaves EU players with the choice of downloading a pirate copy *now* or waiting 4 months for the only version of Ghostbusters without multiplayer, when online multiplayer is one of the most compelling reasons for a (morally ambiguous) PC gamer to buy the game proper in the first place.
Atari encouraging piracy of their own game?
19/06/2009 at 09:39 MultiVaC says:
Hey, fuck you too, Threewave. They’re not even making the entire game, just the multiplayer part. Who else gets away with only doing 2/3 of their job? But I’m sure the insult won’t stop here, when the PC version sells like a lead balloon Atari will cite “piracy” as the issue. Sometimes I wonder if these companies just don’t have a clue, or if they’re actively trying to screw things up for some reason.
19/06/2009 at 09:44 Super Bladesman says:
Is it actually any good? It’s hard to believe it could be after these baffling shenanigans.
One thing’s for sure – I can stick two fingers up at them just as much as they can at PCs. I won’t be getting it, however good/bad it is.
19/06/2009 at 09:51 Crispy says:
Serondal (5th comment) wins the thread.
19/06/2009 at 09:54 oceanclub says:
“Apparently Atari just don’t bloody release PC versions over here any more. I’ve still yet to find a copy of Riddick in any games store in Birmingham, the steam version is US only too.”
I have Riddick on order now from sendit for over a month, with still no word – supposedly they can’t get it from the supplier. I’ve heard people who’ve ordered online from other sellers also have similar problems.
So They(tm)’ll whine ’til they’re sick about piracy, but then do absolutely nothing about supply problems like this.
P.
19/06/2009 at 09:56 Howard says:
@Super Bladesman
Astonishingly it is really quite decent. Th only problem I haVe found with the PC version is a slight mouse bug where the view whips about to fast sometimes, but that aside its all good fun. Good script and voice acting from the cast, good graphics with a flatly pretty impressive physics engine behind it and the way they have expanded current Ghostbusters cannon to make the actual ghost catching interesting deserves a little respect. All in all it’s definitely worth the low price for a solid, single player, Ghostbusters themed romp
19/06/2009 at 10:07 Hmm-Hmm. says:
RC: You mean they may consider console-users to be more buy-happy? Less critical?
Figures that if they think that’s where the money is, that’s where they’ll focus on. But it still puzzles me why they made a PC version at all, if that’s the case. I mean, giving a version with less content to the crowd which is the least easily satisfied?
19/06/2009 at 10:14 gulag says:
When Hollywood meets anything else, it all goes a bit Hollywood. Hopefully the stench of FAIL surrounding this debacle will give game executives pause for thought before they go chasing the brass ring again.
19/06/2009 at 10:26 Larington says:
Hmm, think I’ll wait for it to show up on a steam weekend deal offer… Once (If?) it’s actually been released here of course. Bah.
19/06/2009 at 10:38 John Walker says:
I’d just like to add, Adam, if this were a letters page we’d totally title your comment, “I just got a handy yank”.
And Neil – you seem to have mistaken complaining about graphics with complaining about not getting the game at all. (Although I think PS3 players might have a tiny bit of a right to complain that their version runs at 75% of the 360 version.)
19/06/2009 at 10:46 catmorbid says:
Nice work screwing up a release! The lack of pc version in europe is sad, but hey many pirates probably play the game already! Surely NOT releasing an euro version for the pc is going to HELP in many european potential customers NOT pirating the product =D=D… jesus fckn christ, what are they thinking?!
19/06/2009 at 10:51 Totalbiscuit says:
The singleplayer is 8 hours at best with no replayability. 30 bucks is still too much to ask.
19/06/2009 at 11:00 PC Monster says:
It’s hard not to think of this as PC Gaming’s Dark Ages, it really is.
Still, at least we’ve got the new Ghostbusters film to look forward to, right? Fresh new films of beloved old classic franchises never go wrong after all…*coughIndycough*
19/06/2009 at 11:48 catska says:
The only reason to look forward to this game was the Coop. I guess they figured it wasn’t worth putting in the extra effort for the one platform thats going to pirate the hell out of it and sell the least.
19/06/2009 at 11:51 MrBejeebus says:
Damnit Sony!
You forgot to mention Mr. Walker that only reason Sony were able to swoop in, was because they actually own the rights to Ghostbusters
A very sorry case though…
19/06/2009 at 12:33 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Sony and Atari are a combination of evil and incompetence, really.
19/06/2009 at 12:53 ZIGS says:
I, for one, am not surprised by this whole mess, it’s a known fact that anything Atari touches turns to shit. Sony didn’t help either:
“Sony person 1: Oh hey, let’s delay the PC and 360 version in Europe for 4 months. Also, we’ll not try to improve the PC version during these 4 months, like removing mouse acceleration and implementing multiplayer. We’ll just sit on your asses and wait.
Sony person 2: But… won’t that just encourage piracy?
Sony person 1: Yes but then we’ll BLAME piracy to justify the delay and the lack of extra work put into the PC version!
Everyone: Genious!”
I’m playing a pirated copy right now and I don’t feel one bit of guilt. Why? Because Sony wanted me to pirate this game
19/06/2009 at 13:02 Gabanski83 says:
Shame about the game. After watching Ghostbusters 2 last night, I’m in the mood for something like this.
19/06/2009 at 13:02 Rei Onryou says:
When will people learn that exclusives don’t make more people buy your console (unless you do a super awesome sale)?
Predictions of mass piracy and minimal sales on non-PS3 platforms in Europe. Since by the time we get it, it’ll be 4 months old, still full price and no one will give a quincunx.
19/06/2009 at 13:09 mister slim says:
Not that it excuses their incompetence, but Atari sold their European division, including distribution network, to Namco Bandai. Things are probably a bit of a mess over there right now.
19/06/2009 at 13:30 Hoernchen says:
Can you hear it, the faint crying sound ? That’s Atari, rehearsing their “OMFG NO piracy killed the ghostbusters pc release in europe” press release.
19/06/2009 at 13:58 Adam says:
Just finished playing this, and its surprisingly fun. And it doesn’t seem to have any DRM (On the steam version) unless it can melt through my firewall (ZoneAlarm)
19/06/2009 at 14:07 The Hammer says:
I’m sure I saw the 360 game in a shop today. Unless it was an import…
19/06/2009 at 15:07 Andy says:
So…let me get this straight, the people who made this game want me to torrent it? Off I go to the pirate bay then.
19/06/2009 at 15:48 Black Mamba says:
I’m pretty sure what happened involved Phil Harrison in some way ex-Sony moved to Atari for a brief stint and has now been sidelined by Atari.
I’m guessing Phil gave Sony a sweet deal for Ghostbusters on Playstation only, something other Atari brass weren’t too happy with hence his removal. Even the Blu-ray Ghostbusters has a sticker on it advertising the PS3 version.
The PC version does only sell for $30 though as some compensation, the game itself is pretty good but a bit rough round the edges. Xbox 360 performance is a touch sluggish and watch out if you quit the game during the firehouse/base you will miss that section (holding plot development) and have to replay from an earlier checkpoint. Some real amateur mistakes I’m guessing from a developer with not much experience.
Which makes it all the more said for Euro gamers as the PC version really would be the best version to get.
19/06/2009 at 16:00 Jad says:
@ Persus-9: I’ve got a more than four month backlog of games to play, a 512Mb graphics card and I don’t actually care about multiplayer but it’s the principle of the thing dammit!
This is my opinion as well.
And @Paul Moloney, an anecdote: I’m under 35 and I do know Murray primarily through Lost in Translation and old SNL skits. I have never seen Ghostbusters (actually I think I did when I was a child, I have very vague memories of Marshmallow Man rampaging down a street). However, when I told (similarly-aged) friend this he looked at me as if I had told him I had never heard of the Beatles or something. Take that as you will.
19/06/2009 at 16:24 lumpi says:
So it’s an embarrassment for both the PS3 and Atari.
I wonder how long either will last.
19/06/2009 at 16:29 Bluepixie says:
/Me facepalm
19/06/2009 at 17:15 dsmart says:
This is all about money and it happens everyday. Sony probably either gave Atari [much needed] money to do this or they gave them a break on the royalties – thus saving them money either way.
What a mess.
19/06/2009 at 17:51 adamos says:
Whats another blow ti us pc gamers are the steep hardware requirements both minimum and recommended
core2duo 8400 and gtx260 as recommended!!!!!!!!?i mean wtf. i have an 8800gt and i can play every game at max and now this game ( which i was anticipating since they announced it) which looks worst than doom3 ( a 2004 game) needs a gtx 260 as recommended?? That and lack of multiplayer smells “we run out of funds and we are gonna do a direct console port to pc without multiplayer”
and in the end of the day they are gonna blame poor pc sales to piracy!! good job activision and terminal reality ( goes of to pirate bay)
Did i mention the implementation of DRM that requires online activation?
19/06/2009 at 17:52 Paul Moloney says:
” I’m under 35 and I do know Murray primarily through Lost in Translation and old SNL skits”
I remember getting the Best of Aykroyd, Belushi and Chase, and being stunned to find that Chase was the funniest. He really was good in SNL; where did it all go wrong?
P.
19/06/2009 at 18:07 AlabasterSlim says:
It’s $30 on Steam in North America, and for that price the game is a steal! It’s incredibly polished, I haven’t run into any issues or bugs. The only problem I have with the game is that it immediately made me go out and re-watch the movies again, spending an afternoon doing so instead of looking for a job.
You could always find some nice guy in NA to gift it to you if you didn’t want to wait.
19/06/2009 at 18:34 Funky Badger says:
So… Atari were involved with the complete ballsing of a launch – probably exacerbated by the fact Atari are desperate for cash because they keep ballsing launches.
Anyone in the least bit surprised?
Why won’t Atari just die, how does it make sense to keep resurrecting a brand identity that has only negative conotations?
19/06/2009 at 19:12 ZIGS says:
I agree, the world of gaming would be a better place to live if Atari was extincted. They’re like a cancer, feeding off it’s host until it eventually kills it
19/06/2009 at 19:14 jonfitt says:
I’m getting a retail PC copy for Father’s Day. I look forward to busting (which apparently can make you feel good).
Sorry it doesn’t arrive in the Europe until Oct, perhaps you could have a handy yank to console yourselves?
19/06/2009 at 20:37 K says:
How dare they treat us all like pirates, I’m going to have to pirate this game now to prove …Oh.
19/06/2009 at 20:40 Heliocentricity says:
Looks like a turd. I’ll wait for a demo.
19/06/2009 at 20:41 catska says:
I find it absolutely hilarious that people here are antagonizing Atari for blaming pirates (which they haven’t even done) and then simultaneously saying they will pirate the game.
This is the problem folks. Digging your own graves.
19/06/2009 at 20:49 Heliocentricity says:
No intention of pirating it, but atari will blame piracy.
19/06/2009 at 21:05 Jazmeister says:
“GUYS I JUST HAD A GREAT IDEA
How about releasing a game for all platforms simultaneously, and have them all be great? That way, get this – more people can buy it! Oh, oh, and you can port them really well, and make them be good games! What a great plan!”
“You’re fired.”
19/06/2009 at 21:07 Chaz says:
I enjoyed the film when I was 11, but I’ve never felt a burning need to play it as a video game.
19/06/2009 at 21:48 ZIGS says:
@ catska
No, the problem is staggered releases and lousy ports. THAT’S that problem
19/06/2009 at 21:55 Erlam says:
“No doubt sony will take a leaf from the “Fox entertainment” book of talent management, and use the disasterous PC sales/reviews as proof that it was the right decision.”
This was exactly my thoughts.
I hate peoples self-fulfilling prophecies like this.
I won’t be buying the game at all – though I was going to buy it for 360, due to the way they’re treating half their customers, fuck ‘em. Hey look at that, I saved 50 bucks.
19/06/2009 at 22:17 Jayteh says:
Fuck companies like this, they don’t deserve my money.
I wish a few of them had gone bankrupt when the recession was hitting the hardest.
19/06/2009 at 22:17 Serondal says:
I wouldn’t have bought the game regardless based only on the horrible screen shots where the guys are shooting the beam and it is looping around at 90 degrees to hit the ghost O.o Looks horrible
19/06/2009 at 22:51 pilouuuu says:
I ain’t fraid of no DRM!
19/06/2009 at 22:59 Vinraith says:
@Serondal
Huh? The beams bent like that all the time in the movies.
19/06/2009 at 23:13 Serondal says:
Not like that, they twisted around ect but they didn’t shoot over their freaking shoulders. They shot right at the ghost, any twisting done by the beam was in between the shooter and the target. In this photos the guys are facing 90% away from the ghost, not even looking at the ghost at all i nfact and the beam is hooking round like crazy.
Looks like the freaking medibeam on TF2 actually now that I think about it.
19/06/2009 at 23:18 Vinraith says:
Once the beam was on the ghost, it followed the ghost pretty much regardless of the pointing of the gun. They’ve got one snagged, there, I’m assuming in that shot it’s twisted away significantly from its original location.
19/06/2009 at 23:28 Serondal says:
This is an insane argument to be having Vinraith and I refuse to take part in it any longer and make myself look like even more of a super nerd for debating the functioning of a fictional weapon: P lol
20/06/2009 at 06:20 geldonyetich says:
Personally, I’d say the weirdest part is that the game is apparently getting pretty good reviews despite the multidimensional cross-license tug-of-war.
20/06/2009 at 06:42 Scandalon says:
Nill – surely you’re not going to leave out “What about Bob?”!?!?
20/06/2009 at 09:33 Jayteh says:
@Serondal, so glad you pulled the rip cord on that argument XD
20/06/2009 at 10:29 Howard says:
@Serondal & Vinraith
I’d recommend playing the game before you have daffy arguments =)
In the game, as in the film (if you pay attention), the beam has 2 fire modes. The first is flat out damage that fires where pointed and is used to weaken the ghost (think when they fight Slimer) the second is a capture beam used to hold the ghost while they trap it and this beam can be used to “pull” the ghost into position like it is being wrangled.
The film sticks very closely to how the film works but also expands on the tech available to a) give you stuff to play with and b) make the experience more complete and functional.
20/06/2009 at 12:01 TheApologist says:
jusy wanted to say this is a great analysis.
ps3 sloppiness and pc delay and lack of co-op means this has gone from cheery must-buy to eye rolling can’t be bothered.
20/06/2009 at 16:50 Jonathan says:
Paul Moloney says:
” I’m under 35 and I do know Murray primarily through Lost in Translation and old SNL skits”
I remember getting the Best of Aykroyd, Belushi and Chase, and being stunned to find that Chase was the funniest. He really was good in SNL; where did it all go wrong?
People kept telling him he was the funniest, and he started believing it. The coke addiction didn’t help much.
BTW I’m playing Ghostbusters PC here in America, and I’ve got to tell you guys it’s actually very good. When you get the opportunity, play it on PC. The visual effects are even better than they look in the screencaps, and the proton zapping and trapping is more fun than I had hoped. That said, there are some bad gameplay balance problems like dead squad AI and too many enemies that can attack you at once and randomly end a mission. But overall I love it.
BTW there is a hilarious installer bug in the physical US PC version that craps up the game installation. It’s a pretty easy fix, but imagine my rage on release day when I found out that I couldn’t play the game after waiting through the 10 gig install. Hopefully they fix it for the Euro discs. The Steam version is supposed to be fixed too.
20/06/2009 at 18:25 John Smith says:
I wish they would just bail out of the pc business instead of releasing half ass crap. As others have said, fuck them, ban them, won’t buy from them.
20/06/2009 at 21:33 Adrian says:
Why does this game have no options for anti- alaising???? the backpack and the hair looks so bad without AA and the backpack makes up at least 1/4 of the screen :(
20/06/2009 at 23:43 Tom Lillis says:
The game is a fair bit of fun, which makes this all the sadder. The writing is amusing, the weaken/wrangle/trap mechanic is enjoyable, and the lighting and particle effects are fantastic. I snagged the PS3 version (360 version was sadly sold out) when I found out that there would be no PC multiplayer available. That omission was a major demerit against what I would imagine is an otherwise pretty damned good release for the PC–it’ll be a shame if this nonsensical European release roulette completely tanks it over there.
21/06/2009 at 00:55 rocketman71 says:
Bring Zoid back!. The current Threewave is a mess.
And ditch Atari. They don’t deserve a fucking pound after this.
21/06/2009 at 13:22 Digit says:
The PC version has no multiplayer? :o
Sometimes, I really hate this industry. :x
21/06/2009 at 13:52 John Smith says:
I have no doubt there is a “console alliance” that pushes developers to make half-ass pc versions. I think it’s called “the pc gaming alliance” actually, who have Microsoft (CONSOLE) and Sony Securom (CONSOLe + CRAP) on the board.
PC gaming alliance = “how can we make the pc suck enough to push more people to the consoles”.