D-War 2: Electric Boogaloo

Okay, that’s not the actual title (if only!)- but according to an online Korean news source, it seems that the director Shim Hyung-rae has been approached to do a sequel to D-War. It’s no real surprise, given that the film has apparently managed a decent box office return in Korea as well as achieving a limited theatrical American release (an elusive thing for foreign films nowadays) despite its lukewarm critical reception at home and abroad. Said sequel is aiming for a summer 2009 release.

Art Spotlight: “Godzilla” by Bob MacNeil

Artist Bob MacNeil was kind enough to allow me to share this nifty illustration that he did for a commemorative book celebrating Godzilla’s 50-year anniversary. Mr.MacNeil is a very busy fellow who divides his time between graphic design, illustration and animation work- quite frankly, I’m amazed that the guy has time to sleep, let alone create neat artwork of a famous Japanese giant monster.

You can find his blog here:

http://bobmacneil.blogspot.com/

And his website full of cool artwork here:

http://www.taminglight.com/

Three More Monsters: Part 4

Another crop of playable monsters for Godzilla: Unleashed has been unveiled at IGN.com:

Mecha-King Ghidorah

As I have previously mentioned in one of my earlier posts on the subject, I’m not a terribly huge fan of variations on a given character taking up entire playable slots in fighting games- it just seems like a bit of a cheat as it arguably amounts to playing the same character twice with only slight differences in strengths, abilities and appearance. Mecha-King Ghidorah is certainly no exception to this opinion. Ah, well.

Obsidius

So anyhow, moving right along...

Megaguirus

Admittedly, Megaguirus was one of the last characters I played in Godzilla: Save the Earth but I was surprised to find out what an effective and versatile fighter she can be with her speed and energy-draining abilities. I’m happy Pipeworks included her in this new sequel.

Random Webfind of the Day: Gorgzillicus

I really love this super cool painting by fantasy illustrator Bob Eggleton. His website is located here and a bunch of Godzilla-themed paintings can be found in the “Monster Vision” category of the Gallery section (He also provided the cover artwork for the first Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales anthology novel). Mr.Eggleton has an art-related blog, in which can be found some additional Godzilla-related works.

Three More Monsters (Plus One)

IGN.com has rolled out more Godzilla: Unleashed character reveals- this newest batch however, featured a rather unexpected (and thankfully pleasant) surprise.

Baragon

I’m glad that see that Baragon in all his GMK-version glory is making a return in this new title as a playable monster. He was one of my favorites from Godzilla: Save the Earth.

Rodan

Well, it really wouldn’t be a proper Toho daikaiju game without Rodan. He is kind of a fun character to play as his flying ability gives him an almost unfair advantage on terrain-heavy maps, although it conversely does turn him into a bit of an open target for most ranged attacks.

Jet Jaguar

Ah, the composite hybrid of Ultraman and Jack Nicholson. I was never terribly adept at using Jet Jaguar in G:STE, although strangely enough, I did find him to be a bit of a headache as a computer-controlled opponent.

Titanosaurus

And here I thought that this character would never make an appearance due to the same messy licensing problems that kept him out of the previous game incarnations- I’m glad I was wrong! I’d imagine that Titanosaurus be able to use his signature whirlwind-inducing tail whip maneuver that he displayed in Terror of Mechagodzilla; although within the context of the game, it will probably be relegated as a special ranged attack.