In 2006, there was a movie that captured the interest of movie lovers all over the world. It was epic. It was violent. The lines were memorable. The story is supposedly real. It was 300. And the man directing the scenes was Zack Snyder. And why are we talking about him? Well, he has signed up with EA to develop new games.

Can you just imagine what this EA can do with this man on their team? EA has had a long history of coming up with some of the best games made. With this new creative addition to their team, there is no doubt that they will come up with even better games.

So what is the deal all about? Reuters reports:

Snyder will lead the creative direction of the games and work with the production team at EA Los Angeles, the same studio currently collaborating with Spielberg on the game “Boom Blox” for Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii.

EA will own the intellectual properties, and the game franchises will be developed, published and distributed worldwide by EA. The agreement includes efforts to extend the game franchises into theatrical motion pictures.

Though the financial details have not been released, I am sure that Snyder will be getting ample compensation for his work. What with EA is earning, it is only natural!

Another thing – games made into movies is something that is catching on. That is why I think it is really a big deal for EA to be getting this great director. As he designs games, he is already probably thinking of what it will be like on the big screen.

I have been hearing and reading about Spore for many weeks now but for some reason, I didn’t really get attracted to it. However, I did not really pay attention to the game – I didn’t even really bother to find out all about the idea behind the game play. I am starting to think that I might have been wrong in doing that. The game has only been recently released and it seems to be gaining a strong following. So I have decided to go against my inexplicable apathy towards the game and this is what I found out.

Wikipedia writes this about the game:

Spore is a multi-genre “massively single-player online game” developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. It allows a player to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a unicellular organism, through development as an intelligent and social creature, to interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture. It has drawn wide attention for its massive scope, and its use of open-ended gameplay and procedural generation.

I was really NOT paying attention – I did not have the slightest clue that it Will Wright is behind Spore. If I had known that, I would have immediately taken a look. Will Wright is a legend on his own and I have always looked up to him and loved his games.

So how is Spore doing? Only a month into its release, it has already sold a million copies. Not bad, eh? Now I am a bit scared to get the game…scared because I might get caught up in it just like I got caught up in Will Wright’s other games.

I know, I know, Guitar Hero has been around for a long time – the franchise has reached the third version. I have even featured it in this blog before. I didn’t really try it myself until this week, though, I guess that with all the games that I have been playing – on the PlayStation 3, the Wii, and the PC – plus the fact that I work day and night, I really don’t have much time to play everything.

In any case, we downloaded a demo of Guitar Hero, the Aerosmith edition from the PlayStation store the other day. Needless to say, I was instantly hooked. Perhaps one big factor is that I am a big Aerosmith fan. Listening to the songs while playing a video game is a different experience. Since I do not have any of the peripherals (instruments) used for Guitar Hero, I had to make do with the PS3 controller. It was still fun!

My thoughts on the game…the graphics are funky. I love Steven Tyler but I cannot deny the fact that he does not have the prettiest face in the music industry. Still, maybe they could have made his Guitar Hero persona a bit more aesthetically appealing? I guess that does not really matter much, though. I like how you can choose among 4 modes. I suck so bad that I can only do well on the Easy mode. I tried the harder modes for Dream On, Sweet Emotion, and Walk This Way but I could not even finish half of the songs!

I would really love to buy this game but $200 is a bit beyond me right now.

So what is new? It seems that delays are part and parcel of the video games industry. Even the biggest player in this arena is quite notorious for delays (yes, I am talking about Sony). This time, another big name in the video games industry has announced the delay of a much awaited game. Electronic Arts was supposed to release the game Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince alongside with the debut of the movie some time this year. However, as Warner Bros announced a delay – the movie will now be launched in July next year – EA also announced a delay on their part.

Naturally, fans are not taking these announcements lightly. Efluxmedia reports:

Harry Potter fans are not taking the announced delays lightly, as proven by the fuming emails they have sent Warner Bros., replete with suggestive quotes from the novels. Take for example this little artwork of an email, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal on its website, where one particularly ardent supporter writes to the “foul, loathsome evil little cockroach” that he or she considers the studio to be:

“A word of caution: Harry Potter fans are vicious creatures. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in there (sic) way. Therefore I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you.”

The menacing tone continues: “It’s not in the nature of a Harry Potter fan to be forgiving. But you know happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to release the film on November 21st 2008.”

Come on now, guys, chill! I know delays are frustrating and maddening but hey, just a little patience, alright?

To qualify that statement, yes, PSN cards are already available – mostly in military bases. What my title is referring to is the fact that Sony released an official statement late in August. Their announcement was that the PSN Cards will be released this September. Naturally, I assumed that this meant the first week of September. I have been scouring the mentioned stores in the Sony announcement to no avail.

Maybe I am looking at the wrong places. Maybe I am jumping the gun. After all, Sony did say September and there are still 3 weeks left in the month. Anyhow, I am disappointed that the PSN Cards are still not easily accessible.

Easily accessible is different from being available, though. Despite my whining, there are places that you can get the PSN Cards. E-bay for one, is a good place to check. I am actually laughing at myself for not thinking about this sooner. Would you believe that I never thought about checking on E-bay before? It was only the other day that it entered my mind.

So there I was looking for PSN Cards on E-bay and I found LOTS of them. Various people are selling the various amounts. I do not know where they got them – what is important is that they are selling them. The thing is that you have to pay a little over 10 dollars more than the card value. For example, I bought a $50 PSN card but I had to pay $62.50 for it. I really didn’t like that but at that point I had no choice.

The verdict? I am quite satisfied. I didn’t have any problems loading my wallet and buying the games online.