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Film/Video Game Collusion Continues! NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Video Game In Development Now!!

Published at:  May 19, 2003 6:37:54 AM CDT

Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.



I spent a fair amount of time this weekend getting used to the controls on ENTER THE MATRIX. So far, I’m enjoying the game quite a bit. I don’t mind a film-based game as long as it expands that particular universe and allows you to enjoy whatever it was that made the original great:



That in mind, this next e-mail, from Greg Stacy at < A HREF=http://>makes me cackle with glee and anticipation:



This year’s E3 game developers conference in Los Angeles featured the unexpected appearance of a figure very familiar to fans of dark fantasy: Jack Skellington, the lanky hero of the 1993 stop-motion musical, TIM BURTON’S NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. A life-sized Jack was perched atop a display featuring a video loop announcing an upcoming videogame based on NIGHTMARE; the footage showed a few shots from the THIS IS HALLOWEEN number that opens the film, then it went into new footage of the NIGHTMARE game, featuring approximately thirty seconds of the camera whirling through a remarkably faithful Halloweentown, past the Mayor and other characters from the film, before it ultimately zoomed in to focus on the grinning figure of Jack. This was all that most attendees of the conference learned of the game, but with some persistence we were able to corner Buena Vista Games marketing director Bob Picunko and convince him to offer up a few choice tidbits about the game.

Picunko told us that the game will not be based directly on the story of the film, but will be an original story set in the NIGHTMARE universe. He said that it will be an adventure game, but will not be violent. (As Picunko put it: “Tim Burton created Jack as a very thoughtful character, so obviously it wouldn’t be right for him to be running around with a gun.”) Asked if the game would be pitched more at adults or kids, Picunko compared it to KINGDOM HEARTS, a game that he said was “appropriate for kids, but a 17-year-old also wouldn’t be embarrassed to take it home from the store.” Picunko was hazy on the question of whether Burton or composer Danny Elfman would be involved in the game’s creation, although he did say that he hoped they would be and he hoped that Elfman could be persuaded to write a few original tunes for the game. Picunko also said it was too soon to say whether the film’s other holiday realms (Christmastown, Eastertown, etc.) would appear in the game, although he did say that this was high on the “wish list” of the game’s creators and that they’d sold the game’s concept to Disney with some test footage of Jack visiting these realms. Interestingly, Picunko said that the game footage on display at the conference had been created with a very fast turnaround, making it all the more impressive. The game’s creators are clearly taking great pains to capture the lushly atmospheric look of the film.

Unfortunately, NIGHTMARE fans face a long wait before the game will hit stores: Picunko says it won’t be released until fall of 2004, just in time for the Halloween season.

As long as it's worth that wait, I’m in.



"Moriarty" out.








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    Readers Talkback

  • May 19, 2003 7:04:08 AM CDT

    matrix game is awful.

    by jon e cin

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 19, 2003 7:49:07 AM CDT

    matrix game is great.

    by otter

    Here's a comment why, at least: it expands on the movie, using the peripheral characters from the movie, utilizing moves and effects from the movies. Also, you can pilot the real world hovercraft and another vehicle in the game. It has puzzle solving as well as fighting and shoot-em-up, and some great cutscenes.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 19, 2003 8:01:17 AM CDT

    The Matrix game IS shit

    by beardedprawn

    it's a load of crap. take the driving levels where you're ghost. i completed one of them by leaving the pad on my table and letting the car just roll on to the end of the level. it's the idiot child of Max Payne and one of EA's Bond games. Shiny could've made that game a lot better.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 19, 2003 12:45:16 PM CDT

    What's next??

    by bendevil

    "I am Sam" the video game?

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 19, 2003 2:23:22 PM CDT

    Who Would Win In A Fight?

    by wayofftopicguy

    Neo vs. The Hulk

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 19, 2003 9:36:48 PM CDT

    Sally is the sexiest tomboy beanpole...

    by boba_rob

    on the planet! She is, really. Gotta love a chick who can lose a limb and then stitch it back on herself. Grrrrrrr!

    Reply to Talkback

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