Nintendo Wii Fanboy

When your game's alone
With no publisher
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters! Atari!

For a while, the merging of Activision and Blizzard looked like it might spell a grisly end for the Ghostbusters game, but now HERO OF THE PEOPLE Atari has stepped in to save the day, confirming previous assurances from Dan Akroyd and Variety. Once caught in development limbo, Ghostbusters is now due to release in 2009, and will feature the film's original main cast and a storyline penned by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. We never imagined ourselves saying this, but let's all raise a glass to Phil Harrison.


[Via press release]

If there's something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Ghostbust ... er ... well, maybe not.

With the Blizzavision merger, a few Sierra titles (like Ghostbusters) may get the axe. When it comes to efficiency, Sierra has been deemed a "non-strategic business unit," which (we're sure we don't have to tell you) is not good. While the recently merged publisher reports that Sierra franchises like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro will be safe, the fate of Ghostbusters is still up in the air.

Offering a bit of reassurance, Sierra claims, "[Ghostbusters] is not cancelled and will not be cancelled." Some words from the people with the money, though, would probably make us feel better.

[Via press release]

Our enthusiasm for Ghostbusters has taken a real beating these past few weeks -- after the initial yaaaay period of retro-tinged excitement wore off, suddenly we started to receive worrying news. Terms such as "casual" and "family-friendly" were bandied about in relation to the Wii edition, and we began to panic and hyperventilate a bit, despite Red Fly's admirable attempts to calm us down.

So here's something to lift our spirits (har): according to Sierra studio director John O'Keefe, the Wii version will support both four-way split-screen and the ability to connect your DS to your Wii and deploy the handheld as a PKE meter, a.k.a, the device with the winged arms that the real Ghostbusters used to track spooks. How totally awesome is that?

"Very awesome" is the answer.

Some new details have emerged regarding the Wii version of the upcoming Ghostbusters game (aside from what was already reported), courtesy of Game Informer magazine. And, it would seem the game is going to be more of a party-type game, with a heavy focus on multiplayer. The graphics will focus more on a cartoonish presentation (we're guessing cel-shading) and the title's main storyline will follow the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

The single player campaign will allow up to 4 players to compete co-operatively or competitively. Ghosts will act much like they do in the movies, flying through walls and objects, scaring the Ghostbusters (which will drain their health). The Ghostbusters will also have all of their tools at their disposal, including one special power for each Ghostbuster. There will also be a ghosts vs. Ghostbusters mode.

The game is currently slated for a Halloween 2008 release.

It was with great excitement that we told you about a Ghostbusters game coming to the Wii, espcially with such a huge part of the cast and crew being part of the project. Another little detail has surfaced through a Variety article, though, which had the effect of smashing some of our excitement into tiny bits of desperation. As is stated in the article, "Developer Terminal Reality is making a 'Ghostbusters' game for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 aimed primarily at the core gamer demographic, while Red Fly Studios is making a version for Playstation 2, Wii and DS designed more for families and casual gamers."

When we first heard this game was coming to the Wii, we thought of how much fun it would be to suck up ghosts with our Wiimotes. If the Wii game is a dumbed down, "casual" version, however, you can bet we'll be getting Ghostbusters for another system instead. We'll just have to wait and see if more details arise, but for now we can feel our excitement plummeting.

[Via GoNintendo]