Hey, leave it to video games to get things going in another medium. Sure, we’ve seen plenty of recent movie adaptations of popular video games, but it looks like this time a video game may be helping to reinvigorate a preexisting movie franchise - and one that’s been in limbo for some time, apparently without much hope of being revitalized.

Ghostbusters III rumors have abounded for some time, but ultimately nothing ever came of them and Bill Murray was long a road block to the film being realized, being unwilling to participate in another sequel. However, alongside recent news of writers from The Office working on a GBIII script, Ain’t It Cool News reports Murray seems to be coming around…. because of the Ghostbusters video game.

[Murray] also went on to say that his enthusiasm for Ghostbusters was heightened after recording the voice of Peter Venkman for the video game over the summer. In fact, he said he found himself walking down the street singing the Ghostbusters theme song and then thought people walking around him were going to start yelling at him to “get over yourself, Bill,” so he stopped… But the enthusiasm was there.

Murray also commented that “the wounds from Ghostbusters 2 were healed”. Whatever the reason, we’ll take it. It’s great to hear that games are a partial force behind possibly bringing back a classic movie franchise, and it speaks to their modern cultural impact, even if that impact is at times unintended.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News, MTV Multiplayer

Following up Thursday’s story on Mass Effect’s smearing courtesy of Fox News, comes new information care of MTV Multiplayer. The site claims that Fox News has offered Electronic Arts representative(s) an appearance on the show in question.

Fox News Channel has extended several invitations to EA through a company representative to appear on Live Desk With Martha MacCallum to discuss Mass Effect and the segment which aired on Monday. We have received no response.

Kotaku has put forth that an invitation is all well and good, but EA should not be forced to defend themselves further. Instead, Fox News should own up to their mistakes. We’re inclined to agree.

What say you?

Source: GamePolitics, Kotaku

I have always been a strong opponent of relying on game previews and reviews for a publication’s bread and butter. I firmly believe that much of the problems of corruption and taint that exist in the game media stem from a dependency on publisher exclusives. When a publication makes exclusive game previews and reviews their prime attraction for readers, it cedes power to game publishers. Some publications are often coaxed to cheapen their journalistic standards in an effort to “outbid” competing venues for the exclusive story. This dynamic ends up punishing the honest publications that do uphold their journalistic standards in all cases. I’ll share my take on this topic in greater detail at another time.

There are many stories that illustrate the taint introduced in the game review process. Recently, I was informed of an unfortunate event involving 2K Games and IGN Entertainment. I spoke with a former IGN.com editor who wished to remain anonymous to avoid any apparent conflict of interest (The individual is still employed in the game media). I will let the individual’s story speak for itself. Below, I have paraphrased the journalist’s recollection:
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Today, VGMWatch spoke with representatives from SOE’s PR division regarding Monday’s story. According to PR managers Katie Hanson and Michael Shelling, the editor event in Las Vegas has been cancelled. We only have their account to report at this time.

The game industry can only hope that other publishers will discontinue any similar practices that violate clear ethical principles of journalism. The problem is media outlets and PR firms are not used to having a third party entity conduct oversight into their business practices. However, growing pains are expected when an industry matures. We’ll keep you posted as more information comes our way.

Editor’s note: The following article is an opinion editorial piece. It does not necessarily reflect the views of VGMWatch.com’s staff team.

Perhaps this concern is just mine. But I doubt it. I’m no blanket big business hater. I understand the role many of them play in helping our country (they can ail it at times as well). However, I am growing increasingly concerned over the feasting of the game media of which non-gaming media corporations are taking part.

MTV Viacom. Most know them as a major media conglomerate. We know their spotty track record in quality media from CBS to MTV content. They’ve recently gobbled up GameTrailers.com. Yes, they’ve made good in-roads at producing fancy coats of paint and expanding its mainstream appeal. And that’s all good. But the executives that ultimately make the decisions for this property are not known gamers or even gamer-centric in their concerns.
Their main concern with a property like GameTrailers.com is demographic expansion into the young male electronic media consumer.

News Corp. They’ve consumed the massive IGN Network and its GameSpy.com sibling. In case you haven’t noticed, IGN/GameSpy pulls a lot of weight in the game media. They have the power to shape opinions via editorial content (some would say in their news articles as well). And they do. Should we be comfortable knowing such a massive, dominating Internet source of gaming information is also owned by a non-gaming centric corporation? News Corp, like Viacom, has concerns about grabbing the young 18-24 male demographic. They see the gaming media as just another pawn in their expansion into that demographic and the Web 2.0 (consider their MySpace purchase).

AOL. They’re not quite the best company for keeping consumer needs first and foremost as we’ve seen with their ISP services. But aside from that, there’s more to look at here. They’ve consumed Joystiq.com (a leading game blog) and GameDaily.com (an up and coming voice in the game media). It doesn’t matter what “gamer guys” they place in content editor roles, the real business decisions are carried out by a company that’s simply not focused on what gamers care about most.

I’m not saying the concept of a major non-gaming focused company swallowing a game media outlet is completely negative in and of itself. After all, it is a promising sign of mainstream interest in gamers (at least in a bottom line business sense). However, it becomes an issue of concern when much of the game media landscape is radically transformed from a diverse array of independent gaming-focused companies to mass media conglomerates. And again, let’s be honest. The three companies listed as examples don’t quite have a stellar track record in deep, quality media information. Trends show they tend to focus on superficial Hollywoodization elements. Style over substance. “Babes” over serious issues concerning this industry.

Though not a perfect analogy by any means, consider the “Walmart effect” on independent quality craftsmanship. Many people believe that having the retail industry almost completely owned by corporations like Sears, Target and Walmart has all but eliminated the era of fine quality trade focused stores (and customer service as well). There was a time when independent quality-driven stores were the dominant force in the retail industry. Take shoes for example. Customers could expect to find shoemaker (or at least shoe focused) stores that would treat the consumer with utmost quality and patience. They knew their craft. And it showed in the product. The mainstream of that market has been radically changed with the advent of retail giants. Now the trade has become a pawn to further increase the big tent profits of corporations who could care less about that particular craft. And maybe in the end, that “jack of all trades, master of none” revolution was exactly what mass consumers needed. But the shoe enthusiast (regardless if he exists or not) has been largely neglected in the grand scheme of mainstream shoe service.
And that is the root of this modest analogy. The true gaming enthusiast must be vigilant about the game media market’s status, lest he/she is left in the dust for the potential mainstream mass audience that considers gaming information an afterthought.

That’s the path many of these non-gaming focused conglomerates are heading towards. Has anyone seen Viacom’s Spike VGA Awards show lately?

There’s a place for outside gaijin* media conglomerates in the game industry. But while the glitz of their flashy lights may be alluring, we must remember our roots. Gaming enthusiasts are best served by gaming-focused companies. In quality. In substance. Ultimately, the balance of the game media’s voice will be determined by the game consumers. Will they sit idly by and let the industry’s information gatekeepers slowly be diluted in the name of big tent mass media? Or will they seek to keep a healthy, balanced presence of both gaming-centric and mass media companies in the industry? Time will tell.

Call me crazy. And perhaps some would call this the ramblings of a delusional ol’ purist gamer. But I believe there’s at least an element of truth to it all.

*The term gaijin is a Japanese word for “outsider” that has stealthily slipped into America’s lexicon.

David Gornoski is the Site Director of VGMWatch.com. In addition, he serves as Editorial Director for the E-mpire Network.

Princeton computer scientist and security researcher Ed Felten offers some interesting thoughts on virtual worlds, working off discussions at State of Play:

Last weekend at the State of Play conference, the �great debate� was over whether virtual worlds should be subject to terrestrial laws, or whether they are private domains that should determine their own laws. But regardless of whether terrestrial regulators should step in, they certainly will. Stock market regulators will object to the trading of virtual stocks worth real money. Employment regulators will object to the unconstrained labor markets, where people are paid virtual currency redeemable for dollars, in exchange for doing tasks specified by an employer. Banking regulators will object to unlicensed virtual banks that hold currency of significant value. Law enforcement will discover or suspect that virtual worlds are being used to launder money. And tax authorities will discover that things are being bought and sold, income is being earned, and wealth is being accumulated, all without taxation. When terrestrial governments notice this, and decide to step in, things will get mighty interesting. If I ran a virtual world, or if I were a rich or powerful resident of one, I would start planning for this eventuality, right away.

RocketBoom, the hip vlog (video blog) hosted by Amanda Congdon, devoted Wednesday’s show to the Second Life, the innovative MMORPG where participants are creating profitable businesses that exist entirely in the virtual world. The segment profiles Nephiline Protagonist, the Second World avatar for designer Kasi Nafus, who is making real-world dollars by selling virtual clothing to Second Life players through an online boutique called PixelDolls. Nafus’ efforts are being chronicled in Ideal World - A Virtual Life Documentary. Interesting stuff.

Virtual market maker IGE recently paid $100,000 to purchase the domain name eq.com, which now takes visitors to a page on the IGE site offering Everquest platinum and accounts for sale. The eq.com domain was previously owned by Laserlight Publishing, which marketed a book called The EQ Factor (Entrepreneurial Quotient), according to Domain Name Wire.

Meanwhile, PaidContent reports that venture capitalist were “abuzz” about IGE at the recent Digital Hollywood trade show, noting that the company’s marketplace for online currency and MMORPG game assets is “apparently generating fair amount of revenues.”

Beijing-based gaming exec Bill Bishop posts on his blog that he’s hearing “strong rumors” that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is in talks to buy NCSoft, publisher of the huge Korean virtual world Lineage, as well as City of Heroes and most recently Guild Wars. Bishop notes:

The price would be high, but strategically it might fit with Murdoch’s plans to get big fast in interactive media . Clearly News Corp likes gaming, as evidenced by the hefty price they paid for IGN.

In the wake of its $650 million deal for IGN, News Corp. still has plenty of cash and apparently is eyeing additional acquisitions in the gaming sector. Who might be next? The Motley Fool’s Rick Munarriz speculates that CNET is a possibility, citing the reach of GameSpot.

Both IGN and Gamespot are likely to lure a whole lot of traffic in the near term; all three video game console makers will be rolling out their next-generation systems over the next year. An attention-hungry empire would hate to miss out on that traffic. However, CNET would cost News Corp. far more cash than the purchase price of MySpace and IGN combined.

For a long time, at least behind closed doors, many print folks considered online sites as minor league employment opportunities. Now, things may be changing. It’s not too hard to imagine how a video game website intimately related to a major entertainment company could become a premiere destination even for firmly entrenched print editors.