just-cause posts

Avalanche Studios may have just announced a new downloadable only action game, Renegade Ops, but that doesn't mean that the Sweden-based game developer has abandoned making big AAA retail game titles. Speaking to Eurogamer, Avalanche's founder Christofer Sundberg states, "We are not finished with traditional boxed retail games by far. We have two huge licenses that we work on to be released in 2013."

The report speculates that one of those games could be an adaptation of the upcoming fourth film in the Mad Max series but Sundberg would not confirm that. And what about a third game in Avalanche's Just Cause open world action game series? Sundberg states, "I can't really comment on the future of Just Cause but as we created the IP there is an attachment to the studio even though we don't own the IP."

It's a little unusual for an official web site for a game to post anything about an upcoming movie version but the Just Cause 2 web site is doing just that. A new interview on the site with the movie's producers Adrian Askarieh and Eric Eisner gives some more info on the forthcoming movie version of the open world action game series.

The producers are keeping the storyline a secret saying only that it's an origin story for the game's lead character. You can expect to see the "incredible cinematic elements of his signature weapons and the stunts, including the fast- becoming-iconic, Grappling Hook." The interview strongly hints that the movie could be filmed for 3D theaters and that an actual title for the film will be revealed in January.

While plans for a Kane and Lynch movie are apparently in a holding pattern, another Square Enix game franchise is moving forward with its Hollywood film plans. Variety reports that the film adaptation of the Just Cause open world action game series has found itself a screenwriter.

Michael Ross, who has credits like the "tourists meet up with bad people" movie Turistas, will be handling the script writing duties on the Just Cause movie adaptation. Adrian Askarieh, who produced the Hitman movie and is also a producer of the Kane and Lynch film, is also a producer for the Just Cause movie. He is teaming up with L+E Pictures to shop the project to the various Hollywood studios. Will this be the movie that breaks the "crappy video game movie adaptation" curse? Stay tuned.

Developer Avalanche Studios is best known in the game industry for its Just Cause series of blow-em-up open world action game. The series is a solid sales success and there's even talk of a movie version. So what will Avalanche Studio's next game be like?

Surprisingly it sounds like it will be a little more conventional. Computer and Video Games chatted with the studio's head man Christofer Sundberg who said, " ... we have made a move towards the more controlled experience to better convey a strong storyline." Not only that but the game will be a licensed title this time instead of an original work. Sundberg states, " ... we wanted to try a license, but there's only been a few that we've felt was 100 per cent right for the studio. This one is perfect!" We hope so.

You have to wonder if Digital Illusions is wondering why they didn't port the original Battlefield Bad Company game to the PC. The sequel, Battlefield Bad Company 2, to the modern day-themed shooter continues to sell well on Steam as it stays on top of the PC game download service's top 10 list for the third week in a row.

Relic's RTS stand alone expansion pack Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 2 Chaos Rising comes in at number two while the weekend sale bundle of Batman Arkham Asylum and the original Just Cause is number three on the list. The full list is as follows:

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Digital Illusions/EA
2. Warhammer 40,0000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising - Relic/THQ
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum -Just Cause Bundle -Square Enix
4. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
5. Supreme Commander 2 - Gas Powered Games/ Square Enix
6. Assassin's Creed 2 - Ubisoft
7. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
8. Counter-Strike Source - Valve
9. Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising - Codemasters
10. Dragon Age Origins Awakening - BioWare/EA

Games that are coming out soon have a lot of unknowns that the average person might not know. Who is this character inspired by? Is all the talk of volumetric fog or cel-shaded graphics really worthwhile? Do the game mechanics really seem solid, or are they lackluster? In All You Need To Know we provide information to help you fully appreciate what these upcoming games have to offer.

Feed your head after the jump.

Check out our collection of Just Cause 2 related downloads here on Big Download!

After updating its site early last week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, GameTap has now resumed its regular time period for adding new games to its paid subscription service. This week the site has added Rollercoaster Tycoon III, the 2004 released amusement pack sim game from Atari. GameTap has the Platinum version of the title; it contains the original game as well as its two expansion packs, Soaked and Wild.

In addition, GameTap continues to add more 64-bit supported games to the service. The latest is the original Fallout RPG from Interplay. Finally you still have a few more days to play the original Just Cause for free on GameTap.

And you thought Uwe Boll had video game movies on the brain. Hollywood movie producer Adrian Askarieh also loves to turn video games into feature films and his first effort, the adaptation of the Eidos game Hitman in 2007, brought in over $100 million in revenues (even if it got mixed reviews from critics).

Our sister site GameDaily has posted up a chat with Askarieh who talks about his various upcoming movie projects which include the long-in-development movie adaptation of Kane and Lynch. Askarieh says that the film, after " . . . two and a half years of false starts, is finally going into production." Filming will begin in March 2010 and it still has Bruce Willis signed on for playing Kane. Another Eidos game property, Just Cause, will "shoot spring of next year." A Hitman movie sequel is in the works but Askarieh says its unknown if the first movie's lead, Tim Olyphant, will return, although he states, " . . . we'd love to have Tim if he wants to do the movie."

This week over at GameTap, the PC game subscription service has added Dracula: Origin to its premimum list of games users can check out with their monthly fee. The horror adventure game that deals with the classic vampire was developed by Frogwares who is best known for their series of Sherlock Holmes-themed adventure games including this year's Sherlock Holmes Vs Jack The Ripper.

Also this week, the open world action game Just Cause is now free to play for a week on GameTap. The title from developer Avalanche Studios and publisher Eidos just got its movie rights bought out this week. Finally check out two more upcoming GameTap TV commercials created by the Mega64 team after the jump:

The producer behind the Hitman move adaptation wants you to perhaps consider watching a . . . Just Cause movie. Yep, Variety is reporting today that a film based on the Avalanche Studios-Eidos open world action game is in the works with Hitman producer Adrian Askarieh at the helm.

According to the story Askariah is looking to make this movie as an independent venture with the goal to raise $30 million from independent sources. The first Hitman movie, while not a critical success, brought in solid box office numbers and a sequel in the works. Askariah is also a producer behind two more possible video game-to-movie properties, Kane and Lynch (due to start filming next year) and Spy Hunter. Meanwhile the game sequel, Just Cause 2, is due for release sometime in 2010.