Grave Gamer News & Views — need for speed

Rumor – the invisible force said to actually power the internet – has it that this console generation is coming to a close.  If this truly is the last year of this triumphant generation, a generation that began as any other (with pretty graphics and prettier promises) but evolved into a full blown fusion of home media and dedicated gaming, then it’s all the more important to reflect on the virtual adventures 2012 gave us.

We laughed, we cried, we cried even harder trying to slog through Halo 4 on Legendary…2012 was the culmination of six years of advancement, where devs’ were past their growing pains fumbling with new technology and knew how to fully utilize the tools at their disposal.   2012 was a year in which we reaped the benefits tenfold through the sheer amount of excellent games rapid-fired onto store shelves (or, more realistically, Steam shelves.  Yeah.  Steam shelves).

Criterion Looks to Burnout Again…and Maybe Road Rash?!

As the renown racing developer puts a final coat of polish on this year’s annual Need for Speed – an online focused remake of the open-world Most Wanted – Criterion Games recently spoke with The Guardian on which road they might tread going forward.

It shouldn’t come as much of a shock that the studio would want to revisit the franchise that put them on the map: Burnout, an arcade racer missing in action since 2008’s Paradise.  “We will make another Burnout game at some point,” promises the studio’s creative director, Craig Sullivan.  “Obviously, as we’re working on NFS we’re thinking of really good ideas that aren’t right for this series; there are ideas that we’re going to explore with Burnout.”

After a two game run on the Need for Speed series (the only racing video game franchise to score an upcoming film), Criterion may just get their chance to devote energy to Burnout given the lull in their schedule.  EA has already announced 2013’s NFS will be handled by another developer, EA Gothenburg.

And yet there’s a possibility Criterion may have something else on the cards entirely.  Thanks to the inclusion of motorbikes as DLC in Burnout Paradise, Sullivan mentions that some fans are convinced a Road Rash reboot should be a project promptly undertaken by the studio.  And Sullivan isn’t quick to dismiss the notion, either.  “Road Rash seems like a good fit for Criterion…”

“I had a lot of fun playing that game, we think bikes are fun.  We might make a Road Rash game…"  Admits Sullivan, but put your chains and leather chaps away.  The creative director is resistant to relent to any one idea, quickly musing on completely different projects all together.  "But then we might make a game without vehicles in it.  I mean, we made Black, I was the lead designer – we might make a game about blowing the crap out of each other!”

Need for Speed and Shadow of the Colossus Films Moving Forward with New Directors

There was a time in the film industry where a video game adaptation was a surefire way to get a producer fired and a screenwriter slapped.  Now, with the advent of cash cows such as the five flick Resident Evil franchise, Hollywood knows there’s green oil to be mined from video games (especially when the films can be cheaply pumped out at around $40 million and see a return of $150 million or more much like the RE franchise).

Modeled after the Fast and the Furious series for an easy in, EA’s Need for Speed is riding into theaters thanks to DreamWorks.  The studio currently looks to hire Act of Valor co-director Scott Waugh to bring the racing title to the big screen, based upon a script penned by George Gatins.  Being as it is that the games never truly cling to an established story thread, it’ll be easy for Waugh and company to project whatever cookie-cutter narrative they want as long as the Need for Speed name is attached (i.e. terrifically boring shit).

The monumentally more intriguing game adaptation would be Sony’s attempt to put Team Ico’s Shadow of the Colossus on the screen.  The ball got rolling on Colossus back in 2009 when Sony first conceived the notion of a movie, but the project sat in place, gathering moss for some time.  After the success of the HD re-release, though, it seems the film has gained some new traction with the recent enlistment of up-and-comer Josh Trank as director, fresh off of his hit superhero biopic Chronicle.

Neither Trank nor Sony have indicated how they intend to bring the Colossi to the screen (whether it all be CGI or live-action or, considering Trank’s resume, shot as found-footage is up in the air) but the two parties have confirmed that they’re actively shopping around for a screenwriter to shape the story.