EA to launch G.I. Joe game alongside movie
by Justin McElroy 
{ Feb 11th 2009 at 8:36AM } 
The game's story will apparently pick up at the end of the movie's (it's going to have a story?) and allow you to "re-create and re-live the greatest moments from the film, cartoon series and action figure toy line". From that last bit, we can only assume there's going to be a level where the Joes dry hump giant Barbie dolls and get their faces melted after lying under skyscraper-sized radiators.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SithAboveAll @ Feb 11th 2009 8:41AM
that will suck
Rudolphe @ Feb 11th 2009 9:30AM
Agreed, when was the last time a movie launched along side a game and the game wasn't grade A dog crap?
JAH75157 @ Feb 11th 2009 10:23AM
suckzors!
tdawg @ Feb 11th 2009 1:47PM
"Agreed, when was the last time a movie launched along side a game and the game wasn't grade A dog crap?"
TMNT on the GBA was pretty darn good... but that was a little while back.
Lord Negatron @ Feb 11th 2009 8:48AM
Lol as a kid, the martial artist/ "ninjas" were the most coveted figures. Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and even Quick Kick, were almost impossible to find in stores. If you had them not only were you cool, but couldn't lose a battle. With that being said, it seems to ring true as Snake Eyes is the center of attention in the trailer and post ups.
As for the game, who knows how that will pan out. Release along side the film sounds like the perfect recipe for a rushed crappy movie port. *shrugs indifferently* Who knows?
busydoingnothing @ Feb 11th 2009 11:05AM
Man, it's nice to know that's a universal truth. I remember sifting through all the G.I. Joes at Toys R Us and K-Mart, always on the hunt for Snake Eyes (the earlier series one), but could never find him. It wasn't until many series later that I got the crappy one with the neon orange goggles and blue and grey.
Red_Devil @ Feb 11th 2009 11:26AM
@busydoingnothing:
Whoa there! That was not a crappy version at all. It may not have been the all black commando and such but it was still a kick ass figure. I do agree on the orange goggles though.
The one figure I could never find was a Cobra Commander with the visor. Then came a version with the orange visor and looked nothing like the sunbow series version.
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 8:55AM
Hopefully, it will follow canon and not the stupid art design of the film.
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 11th 2009 8:59AM
I like how the film is looking...
:(
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 9:04AM
Then you don't like the cartoon/toy line styles of distinctive uniforms and personalities.
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 11th 2009 9:25AM
I can't like both? O...kay...
Deeznuts420 @ Feb 11th 2009 10:00AM
AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 10:36AM
Well, you can't really have both in a movie. Either you stick close to canon, or you "modernize" it like they've done with Transformers and G.I. Joe. As a fan of those properties during the 80's, I prefer the traditional art & character design. But as a marketer, I also recognize Marketing's desire to "sexy it up."
Duke @ Feb 11th 2009 10:37AM
I'm excited for the film, but understand that it may not look as ideal as our childhood memories would call for. However, we can't expect the film to be made as if it were the 80's still. I am hoping for the best but won't be shocked if I am left disappointed. I expect to see Snake Eyes kick some ass!
Have they leaked any shots of Cobra Commander yet?
CannabisPrime @ Feb 11th 2009 10:57AM
@Duke:
Haven't seen any shots of Cobra Commander yet, but I do know that Tommy from 3rd Rock From the Sun is playing him.
Which ranks right up there with Marlon Wayans in the "wtf?" factor.
ryan @ Feb 11th 2009 10:57AM
I can't appreciate the old style of Batman but enjoy what a movie's interpretation will look like?
Lord Negatron @ Feb 11th 2009 11:46AM
@ CannabisPrime
When i first heard, Robert Downey was playing Tony Starks/Iron Man, i had the same "wtf" notion. Then it settled in and i began to remember, "hey the guy can actually act". Same goes for Marlon whom is type cast as a comedian. Even Jim Carey has stepped out of that box playing more serious roles.
As far as canon is concerned, i have a feeling they will stray as did Transformers(which i enjoyed).
ie: What happened to the need/search for Energon(cubes) in Transformers? They could have slipped it in somewhere! :P
Expect the same "new" story for G.I. Joe.
CannabisPrime @ Feb 11th 2009 11:50AM
@LordNegatron:
That's funny, cause when I heard Robert Downey Jr. was going to be playing Tony Stark I had the exact opposite reaction. As far as Hollywood actors are concerned, Robert Downey is the most LIKE Tony Stark. It seemed like a match made in heaven.
Energon Cubes? Man, those haven't been around in decades! Now it's all about Mini-Cons, Cyber Keys, and All-Sparks!
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 11:54AM
Iron Man worked because it stayed reasonably close to canon. In fact, RD may have been born to play that roll.
G.I. Joe basically looks like any team military covert action film. The only thing G.I. Joe about the trailers that feel like G.I. Joe are Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.
I'm hopeful, but fully prepared to be disappointed.
Lord Negatron @ Feb 11th 2009 12:10PM
Scott, Cannabis
Damn you both, we ALL know Mr. Downey was the perfect fit for the Iron Man role, i was just talking out of my ass to give Marlon a break. You both win for now, but the All Spark is mine!
Decepticons RETREAaaAT!
yo Naturale @ Feb 11th 2009 2:24PM
Lord Negatron, I'm here to stick up for seemingly unlikely actors as well, i.e. Marlon Wayans.
Despite the bombast of the roles he normally plays in the absurd films with his brother Shawn (and makes a lot of money off of), Marlon was also in 'Requiem For A Dream,' a movie most serious actors would give their left nut to have been a part of.
Also, his character arguing with the old woman in the Coen brothers' "The Ladykillers" was the only redemptive aspect of that particular movie by the *Oscar winning* directors.
Forget peace, and give Marlon Wayans a chance.
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 2:39PM
I have no problems with actor choices. Its all about art & character design for me.
yo Naturale @ Feb 11th 2009 4:08PM
Word.
I hear what you're saying Scott.
I just like to have a broad mind when it comes to the raising the specters of pop culture touchstones.. Often times they reason things 'work' is directly related to their medium. When IPs get transferred between mediums, often times points have to be filed away (which leaves room for new points to arise).
One thing I enjoyed about Nolan's 'Dark Knight' was the inclusions of Batman's desire to have armor where he can turn his head. It's seems silly on the surface, but it has been deriding point of every single live-action iteration of Batman. How well could *anyone* fight that can't do something as simple, and necessary as turning their head? This is a point of contention that entirely absent from the work of comics - being that it's a non-issue. Just like we can accept in a comic book that a grown man with severe emotional issues can mentor a boy who wears yellow tights and tucks his shirt into his green underpants.
If the G.I.JOE movie can achieve that same sense of acceptance of its characters that Bryan Singer got with his X-Men movie (with characters much more tied to their costumes than the G.I.JOEs I'd argue), I'd say they were successful with their adaptation.
Deeznuts420 @ Feb 11th 2009 4:15PM
Robert downey jr was born for that roll huh? which one...kaiser?
*rimshot*
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 4:18PM
X-Men is a great example. Well, the first two, maybe. If they can flesh out the characters in the fairly canonical ways that they did for the X-Men films, maybe it works despite the "modernization" of the character designs. I'd love to like the G.I. Joe movie as much as I liked the first couple of X-Men films.
Baby J Penn (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Feb 11th 2009 4:26PM
Originally the GI Joes were like some sort of NATO force but after fan outcry they made them American again. I hate the all black leather look of this GI Joe movie. I thought Transformers actually did a pretty good job of humanizing the robots into likeable characters. I really enjoyed Transformers so much that I saw it 3 times in theatres.
Hollywood did the same thing with the X-men characters. All black leather special forces style BS that is so generic and full of fail. I'm cautiously optimistic for this GI Joe movie but my heart does tell me it's going to be total garbage. Isn't a Thundercats movie also in the pre-production phase?
I have even less faith that the videogame based off the movie is going to be any good at all. That pretty much has a .001 chance of being average at best. None of us should have high expectations because if either the game or the movie turn out to be decent then it will be a pleasent surprise instead of expecting incredible and getting pure crap.
suicycle.com @ Feb 11th 2009 5:08PM
In this day and age, I would not want to see an exact remake of what I watched 20 years ago. Using the recent Transformers movie as an example, I had concerns when I first heard about it. However, when I saw it, I thought it was great. I was looking for a new experience for myself and for others that might not have known about or been as into the Transformers as I was.
From the trailers, I think I that this G.I. Joe movie will do the same thing for me. If not, I will just come home and dust off my VCR and find the original G.I. Joe The Movie VHS tape to bring me back home.
hoss blacksilver @ Feb 13th 2009 6:18PM
The question I have to ask, Scott, is which canon? There are at least two animated show and three comic book canons. Me, I used to like the original animated series canon, though of the last decade or so I've switched over to the Marvel/Devil's Due story line canon.
debaser @ Feb 11th 2009 9:07AM
And now you know, because Knowing Is Half the Battle!
hope the film and game go back to the old school cartoons
As long as I can play Zartan I'm interested.
I remember saving up a butt load of UPC Barcodes for that guy
Muckrak3r (aka Lord Negatron) @ Feb 11th 2009 9:43AM
For me Zartan was a rare figure, which i never got a hold of. Could have but, guess we went to Toys R Us on the wrong day.
Of course many kids had him amongst others, but my experience? Ha...
*sifting through figures* Dreadnought, Dreadnought, Dreadnought, generic guy, Outback, Snowblind....dammit! Ooh, look down by the Micro Machines... Sergeant Slaughter!
Ok enough reminiscing back to work fer me.
debaser @ Feb 11th 2009 11:41AM
You didn't miss much.
He had this craptastic swamp buggy sled thing that broke right away and you had to leave him out in the sun for like 15 minutes to change colors.
Still had more fun throwing out Zartan quotes
.......the light! it robs me of my camouflage ability!
flanked @ Feb 11th 2009 9:13AM
"From that last bit, we can only assume there's going to be a level where the Joes dry hump giant Barbie dolls..."
That's a real American hero. Curse you, McElroy!
shoan @ Feb 11th 2009 9:23AM
I remember G.I.Joe for the NES or was it the SNES it was a sidescroller that was an awsome game. I would love to see that game hit the VC or Live or PSN.
mts @ Feb 11th 2009 9:24AM
ughh if it has the words "The Game" in the title then we all know what the final outcome will be
danny. @ Feb 11th 2009 9:25AM
EA can have it's payday, they've been so good lately.
Susidize your new IPs with crappy movie tie ins all you want.
Dirty @ Feb 11th 2009 10:01AM
Agreed, does anyone think that they are targeting us for their new GI Joe game. Keep those Dante's inferno guys coding away.
Strategy_Panda (Pot & Spoon 4 Life) @ Feb 12th 2009 2:11AM
subsidize
danny. @ Feb 12th 2009 9:48AM
@panda.
A typo? In the comments section? That's crazy!
Here's one from your latest comment too!
" Its probably going into R&D."
It should be "It's"!
Holy shit! It's an epidemic!
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 11th 2009 9:30AM
I'm still pissed that Marlon Wayans is Playing "Ripcord"
damn sure hope this game doesnt suck tho
Deeznuts420 @ Feb 11th 2009 10:02AM
he was the best part of requiem for a dream, so i think he can act a bit, plus will smith said nah :(
Dirty @ Feb 11th 2009 10:02AM
Im pretty sure this will be one of his lines. " Dont make me buss-a-cap at you ... ohhh nawwwww he just shot me all up in my asss"
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 11th 2009 10:23AM
of COURSE Will Smith Said "No". He is the HEADLINER, I mean WHEN is the LAST time he was in a movie where he WASN'T the MAIN Character?? lol
but I'm Sure Marlon will be fine if Ripcord was a slight comical with his actions, I never read the comics and all I remember from the TV show is that he would jump out the planes from Crazy high in the air. Hell now I just hope this movie doesnt suck. damn the game, we have all gotten use to Games generated by movies sucking ass. Now it looks like the game for X-men Legends will be changing that, but this game most likely will suffer the same fate of Iron Man: The Game
yo Naturale @ Feb 11th 2009 3:00PM
I'd rather watch Marlon Wayans than Will "Aw, Hell Naw!" Smiff anyday. Marlon Wyans seems to take himself less seriously.
I guess my general dislike of Will Smith is rooted in two things, his music and his acting.
His music boiled down: "Hey that's a good song. Remember that song? Ima rap over it." Plus he had a couple years where he constantly went around proclaiming that it was patently harder to rap without cursing. Like it made him smarter or something. Funny, because regular people talk everyday without cursing.
My dislike for him as an actor happened when he took the role of a gay con-man in 'Six Degrees of Separation' - and then made a huge stink about *gasp* having to kiss another man in the movie. Why take the role, if you know you're not up to it?
Anyways... Here's some light trivia for you all:
Did you know Will Smith was offered the "Neo" role in 'The Matrix?' And that he supposedly turned it down because he didn't want to fly all the way to Australia to film (so he chose the sure fire hit "Wild, Wild West" and its infamous 'giant spider' instead). Also, the role of "Trinity" was offered to Sandra Bullock, and she turned it down because she couldn't see herself as being with who they had cast as Neo at the time (either Will Smith or Nic Cage, who were both offered before Keanu Reeves).
Chris D. (A.K.A. PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL: The Aggie CEO) @ Feb 11th 2009 3:16PM
I couldnt picture Will as Neo anyways, just didnt fit. Not to mention his Wife(Jada) was in it after Aaliyah died in that plane crash, I think that would have been awkward for him and Sandra Bullock and she aint even an action star. He did good to be in Wild Wild West because at THAT time in his life he wasn't on the "Serious" role
yo Naturale @ Feb 11th 2009 4:27PM
Chris D:
I'm pretty sure that Jada Pinkett-Smith's role was created especially for her by the Wachowski brothers because they were friends with her and her husband (and as sort of a nod to Will Smith being considered heavily for the first Matrix film).
From what I remember reading/hearing during the mass crush publicity-wave during the sequels was that they had to beg, plead and conjole her to get Pinkett to fly all the way to Australia to film. It was because of the *other* plane crashes that happened in 2001, not the one with Aaliyah.
Aaliyah was suppose to have the role of "Zee" (had to wiki-search that one), that ended up going to Nona Gaye (daughter of Marvin Gaye) - pretty much a 'vanity role,' especially if you consider all the R&B pop stars that were supposedly also considered for the part (Beyonce, Brandy, and Tatyana Ali are listed on the wiki page).
Deeznuts420 @ Feb 12th 2009 9:24AM
@ya naturale: im pretty sure will said that it wasnt hard to rap without cursing, if i can remember correctly. also dj jazzy jeff is a great producer so i have no idea what youre talking about tbh...
The Dark Wayne @ Feb 11th 2009 9:34AM
wait, the best parts of the cartoon?! So we'll be able to tell kids not to run away from home and dont do drugs in the game!!!?
fred @ Feb 11th 2009 9:54AM
GOTY
Professor Lario @ Feb 11th 2009 10:06AM
If you haven't seen these - you are doing yourself a disservice.
http://www.fenslerfilm.com/PSAS.htm
Markez @ Feb 11th 2009 11:53AM
PSAs as a minigame, within the main game? :P
I personally wish they'd release the NES GI Joe on Virtual Console, that was really a great game. Man, the NES had some great games for great licenses...