The technique used for bullet time (the loads of single shot cameras arranged round the actors deal) was invented for the Matrix, but the concept of a character being able to slow down and act faster than other people can react to is very old.

Sounds interesting, not just another lame movie cash-in.

Thanks for the info.

i'm sure there's a fight scene in shrek where there's an effect that was copied in 'the matrix'. it's hard to tell though if that had influenced the special effects people though because i don't know them personally.

shrek heavily influenced those early john woo films too, and all that rope work (they removed them digitally) on the princess was used again in 'once upon a time in china' and 'barnam' (http://www.sys-con.com/phantom/mc/80s.htm)
This comment was edited on Nov 14, 04:53.

The Wachowski bros. did Bound?
That pseudo lesbian/crime movie starring the oh-so-luscious
Jennifer Tilly and Joe Pantoliano?

That was a kewl movie.

Still, two movies does not a track record make.

-Hyatus
"da da da"

Hey all,

I got my GameInformer in the mail today, so I figured I'd give you a little more detailed synopsis than what they have on the main page. Here are the juicy details:

1) Shiny inked a deal with the Wachowski brothers back in Feb. 2001 after the first movie came out. The had been secretly working together for 6-8 months before that, so this game has definitely been in the works for a while.

2) You don't play as Neo or any of the other characters from the movie. Instead you can play as either Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) or Ghost.

3) The game is not a rehash of the movie. Instead the game and the movie are intertwined story lines. The example they give is that, say, in the movie, Neo and company pick up a package at some point during the flick. You don't see how the package got there, you just accept it. In the game you may have been the person that delivered the package, and you know the war you had to go through to get it there.

4) The Wachowski brothers have been part of the game development since day 1. They actually wrote the storyline for the game, so you know that the movie and the game storylines will work well together.

5) Shiny has been given access to every portion of the movie including scripts, sets, actors/actresses, etc. All the actors/actresses from the movie are doing the voices in the game.

6) There are various gameplay segments including third-person shooting, driving, flying, etc. You play both in the Matrix and in the real world, so there's a lot to do. You will be able to "hack" into the Matrix for things like cheats, etc., but there's little talk about how this will actually be done.

7) There are 24 different firearms you can use which have been authenticated by the movie's firearms experts. There are even real life weapon prototypes in the game that will be released by firearm manufacturers in the future.

8) As of right now with no compression the game is projected to take up 14 CDs worth of data. At this point it looks like the game WILL be spanning multiple discs, especially for the GameCube.

9) Bullet time is recreated by using the "focus" button. You have a basic set of moves, but when you use your Focus, time slows down, and you have a whole new set of acrobatic skills such as running along walls, etc. You can also disarm people ala Dead to Rights.

The screens in the article look really good, and there's a lot to this game. Since the Wachowski brothers are so involved with its development, I don't think it will be your standard movie game fare. All the actors/actresses from the film provide the voices, Shiny has full access to the license, and the game is not just a rehash of the movie. If what the article says is true, the game will actually enhance the movie and you will have a better understanding of the entire Matrix universe.

Have fun,
KravMaga Hawk

Has been listing these for the past two weeks or so:

PC:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=231850

PS2:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=231864

Xbox:
M.I.A.

Gamecube:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=231848

Along with some type of PC DVD version:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=231852

Wondering how it will turn out,
Ray

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sex? Race? Religion? Nah...just refer to me as a human from Earth.
http://users.ign.com/collection/RayMarden
YAY! Secret text!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!

Don't know what your smokin but bullet time was totally invented by the Matrix. How did the matrix ripoff old kung fu movies?? If you think its similar to them then its probably cuz they got the fight choreographer (Wu ping) who did fist of legend.
Ohh and the reason why you wouldn't have heard anything else about the brothers besides the matrix is because its only the SECOND movie they've ever made!! The first was called bound(never seen it).

I just hope that the game is good cuz of all the support its getting from the writers/actors. Ohh shiny is pretty good too (love mdk/Sacrifice), I just hope that they do bullet time in a really good new way with a sweet ass game engine.

you're going to serious on what was obviously a joke. My whole point was that it was a ripoff.

Um. Wrong. The whole bullet time phenomenon has been around for a whole lot longer than the Matrix. The same kung fu films that influenced the Matrix influenced Max Payne. So Max Payne is ripping off the old kung fu films, same as the Matrix was.

Don't you guys remember the matrix game that came out last year?


Max Payne.

Not to mention that the writers of the movies are writing
the story for the game.

Of course, seeing as how the Matrix is the only thing of
theirs that I've been able to lay my eyes upon, I guess it
doesn't give them a good track record of exciting
entertainment.

I mean, just because John Carpenter puts out a good movie
once a millennia doesn't mean I'd highly recommend him.

-Hyatus
"da da da"

seenitall,

I hope not... most movie games suck ass b/c the dev team are trying to churn it out while the movie is still a novelty... mehtinks this game has been under production for a while... so I think there is some potential.



maybe I am just being optimistic...

- Dr. Del
http://www.SuperBlog.com
AMD XP 2200+, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, 512 RAM, 19" ViewSonic LCD flat panel, 120 G WD HDD 8meg cache, WinXP Pro SP1

Mothers Are Everything. Jan 1, 1943 - Oct 19, 2002.

Prediction: it will suck.

Sorry but too many games based on movies depend too heavily on name recognition and don't try too hard to innovate.

Even thought The Matrix begs for a game and would be probably the easiest game to make from a movie as there ever was.

yeah it is a pretty spiffy system indeed!

UT2K3 runs like silk on it... it's great...

cost me a fortune though, you would have a heart attack if you found out, mainly b/c I paid Canadian for it.

do you have the same monitor too? the 19" LCD? The only thing I regret is the monitor... I think I should have gotten a 21" CRT... probably better for the art and stuff that I do on the puter....

- Dr. Del
http://www.SuperBlog.com
AMD XP 2200+, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, 512 RAM, 19" ViewSonic LCD flat panel, 120 G WD HDD 8meg cache, WinXP Pro SP1

Mothers Are Everything. Jan 1, 1943 - Oct 19, 2002.

yo dude!

youve got a damn similar pc to me=

i have the same case, cpu, win xp, same amount of ram. except my drive is barracuda and i have a ti4400 not the spiffy 9700

nice cases arent they (ive changes the leds and light on mine)

The game takes place in the real world where you can hack into the matrix...
So what if people hack the game? Will that be hacking the real world?

post some links to scans?

- Dr. Del
http://www.SuperBlog.com
AMD XP 2200+, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, 512 RAM, 19" ViewSonic LCD flat panel, 120 G WD HDD 8meg cache, WinXP Pro SP1

Mothers Are Everything. Jan 1, 1943 - Oct 19, 2002.