Sniper Training Academy

Think you have what it takes to be a sniper? Find out with the new game “Sniper Training Academy,” created by Trigger as part of the online promotional campaign for the upcoming movie Shooter.

The game features a photo-realistic shooting range, where you can take shots at a variety of targets. There are 4 levels to the game, each one progrssively harder with the addition of greater distance and movement of the targets. You need to use your scope adjustment to correct for both elevation and wind factor.

If you register, your high score can be added to the leaderboard, and you are also entered for a chance to win a great prize package from Alienware.

So start your training now, and see if you have what it takes!

One of our producers attended the “I am 8-Bit” exhibit at Gallery Nineteen Eighty-Eight (where you can sometimes see art from one of our talented designers). For fans of video games and the eighties this is a show you won’t want to miss.

The opening night coincided with the 20th birthday of Mega Man! How many nights did I lose trying to get Electic Man’s power, was that really 20 years ago?

One of the highlights was a 5 foot Atari Controller you had to move with your entire body, and stomp the big red button with your foot.

Those 8 Bit Graphics were just made for a 20′ foot projection screen

One of my favorite art pieces, the power glove getting the treatment it deserves (where is the love for R.O.B.?)

Lightcycles, I think I have geeked out enough for one blog post so I need not say how these are still the coolest CGI vehicle ever.

The Atari setup is no longer there but you can still see the other pieces through May 12.

More pics of Shanghai! Loc took these gorgeous pictures of Shanghai at night.

This is called the Bund. Old school Shanghai…fun side of the river. All the cool kids hang here.

This picture shows Pu Dong €“ the financial area. This is where Trigger Shanghai is located…but further back, but still among the tall buildings.

Speaking of the Trigger Shanghai office, check out this awesome Trigger Shanghai signage & logo. When we saw this picture I heard one of the designers yell out “This is so much cooler then our sign.” Is that a glass backing?

The new digs looking pretty complete. The gauntlet has been thrown down for coolest office (they still don’t have a phoenix).

Did I ever tell you about my story about Bill?

A few years ago I was researching green screen soundstages and did some cold calls to companies I found online. I located what seemed to be a small company in Burbank that had green screen experience, and gave them a call.

On the phone, I said I wanted to talk to someone who could give me a quote on green screen shoots. The woman said “Bill’s at lunch, I’ll have him call you back.” A little annoyed that they couldn’t answer my question on the spot, I said ok.

After lunchtime, I missed Bill’s call, I think I was in a meeting. He left a message. I got busy and wasn’t able to return his call for a while. Then, Bill called me back a second time.

I think I answered the phone “Uh, who are you again?”

As a matter of fact, when he called, I had forgotten what I needed to talk to him in the first place.

Bill was extremely helpful. He walked me through all my options for green screen, and told me about the small green screen stage he could arrange for me, and gave me all the info I could ever want about green screen work.

At the end of the call, Bill told me I could call him any time if I needed any more help. I took down his name and number.

Later in the week, I needed to ask him a question, but had lost his number. I still had his name so I Googled his name: “Bill Pope”. It was then that I realized who I had been talking to. I had been talking to Bill Pope, ASC, the cinematographer for all three Spider-Man movies and the Matrix Trilogy. At the time, I was the producer for the official Spider-Man 2 movie site, and we had just gotten through adding Bill’s name and photo to the Cast & Crew part of the site. Dude, I thought his name looked familiar!

I gotta admit Stan Lee & crew got it right when they created Spider-Man. Although I’m sure it wasn’t a primary concern at the time he was first dreamed up, but Peter Parker makes for a superhero that people around the world can relate to. Peter is a normal kid, with everyday troubles, and doesn’t have the resources of a billionaire. Or the lifestyle of a playboy bachelor. He’s got a regular job, an elderly aunt… and a heart to do good, even if he has to sacrifice having the good things in life. His story translates just fine from Tokyo to Kansas to New Delhi. His story is not uniquely American, and that’s what makes it work on the international level. While American heroes like Captain America are getting assasinated, heroes like Spidey are thriving.

So it’s no surprise that Sony is targeting a near-simultaneous worldwide launch for Spidey’s next movie. Given the amount of work Trigger put into just preparing the country-specific movie sites for the various countries, I cannot even imagine the circus it must have been preparing the actual film for all 70+ countries.

Anyway, we’d like to share with you some of the title treatments and navigation language changes that were made based on Trigger’s US immersive site. My favorite is the Japanese version.

USA:

Latin America (Spanish):

France:

Germany:

Greece:

Italy:

Japan:

Korea:

Brazil (Portuguese):

Russia:

China (Traditional/Taiwan):

China (Simplified):

United Kingdom:

From time to time I also log into my Hong Kong user account from my PlayStation 3 — to see what PlayStation Store downloads Hong Kong is getting that we aren’t in the United States. This weekend I found that the Spider-Man 3 trailer had been added, as well a a downloadable image called “Spider-Man 3 Introduce”.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you “Spider-Man 3 Introduce”:

Click to see the full size image. Yep, pretty disappointing. I’ve never seen a downloadable image from the US PlayStation Store yet. I wonder if smaller broadband footprint in China is a factor? Less broadband would mean less people are willing to download a 140MB movie trailer? A 700kb image is a good alternative?

ADWAD said he would be pretty pissed if he downloaded something like this off the XBox Live Marketplace.

Thanks to Lori from our Shanghai office for this translation:

Spider-Man 3 Shakes the World on May 1st

The Spider-Man (played by Tobey Maguire) is twisted with some unidentified matter from outer space and controlled by it gradually. His red suit turns to black at first. Then the mind of the Spider-Man is nibbled by that matter.

Enemies in and out are treating the Spider-Man. Besides the Venom (played by Topher Grace), the Spider-Man has to confront his friend, Harry’s killing (played by James Franco), who plans to avenge his father.

The Sandman (played by Thomas Haden Church) is much stronger and aggressive to the Spider-Man. Can the Spider-Man defeat his minds and rescue his nearest and the true love?

Be sure to read this weekend’s LA Times article about the super-villains in Spider-Man 3.

LA Times Article.

Excerpt: “[Producer] Avi Arad said to me in one of our first meetings: ‘In Marvel, there are no bad guys,’ ” Grace explains. “I took it to mean that unlike other comic book companies, where someone falls into a vat of acid, then wants to rule the world, we can understand the source of their anger. Blurring that line can be a dangerous thing, but when it’s done right it can also be a lot more rewarding for the audience.”

Check out the terrific interview from Superherohype with Sam Raimi at the LA press junket. He responds to Sony’s announcement that there will be 4th, 5th and 6th movies made. And old wounds are re-opened as he talks about the fan backlash from his decision to go with organic web shooters for the first movie.

“What I didn’t tell you is when I changed those web shooters, they sent a petition with 2,000 signatures to the chairman of Sony to have me remove them from the picture. So I’m trying to steer clear of that this time.”

Sam also talks about the crash course he had to do to introduce Venom to the third movie at Avi’s request.

Once we finished the story, Avi our producer and partner and the former head of Marvel comic books, said, “Sam listen, you are so aware of all of these ’70s villains, but you really need to incorporate Venom into this story because the fans really love Venom and don’t be so selfish with villains that you know and love.” So I said, “okay.” I didn’t understand that much about Venom because I hadn’t really read as a kid.

Just had to report that the PlayStation Store on my PS3 finally has a Spider-Man 3 trailer available for download via my PS3. I’ve been bothered at how long it took Sony to add the biggest movie for Sony in 2007 to their online store, at a mere three weeks to the movie’s worldwide release. Meanwhile, Spidey 3 trailers & clips have been in theaters, online, on MTV, on NBC with Heroes, on Yahoo!, on a Comcast microsite, everywhere, for months.

The first movie trailers to hit the PlayStation Store were eons ago too, and they were for Warner Bros. Studios (!) … Blood Diamond, Unaccompanied Minors and Fred Claus, ugh.

In Sony’s defense, they did have trailers for the Blu-ray releases of Ultraviolet and Underworld: Evolution since day one of the Store. But still. Dude.

Let’s crush those silos, Sir Howard!

Got the chance to visit Nike’s on-campus library today in Beaverton, Oregon. This is an employee reference library that is completely stocked with all sorts of design, culture, art and fashion media, artwork and references. If it’s supposed to be hip or bleeding edge, you’ll find it here.

• There are several Apple laptops and HDTVs running all the time. Visually, it’s a loud library! I saw a laptop DVD player screening The Office (US).
• Magazines included several imported from Japan. Lots of great stuff. Cars, music, shoes (of course), fashion, toys.
• They have all kinds media: books, music cds, videos, etc.
• They have an exploratory lounge area … during my short visit two guys were battling it out (quietly) playing Guitar Hero on a PlayStation 2. I spotted an XBox 360 and a Wii, as well as a few other gadget boxes.
• The lounge also houses mini-exhibits; today they had an exhibit about Red Bull (another of Trigger’s clients).
• They had a Nabaztag! That’s that obscenely cute desktop wifi rabbit with the emoting ears!
• The book selection was huge, covering topics like cars, fashion, interior design and more.

I could stay all day in a place like this. Our hats off to Nike for having such a terrific resource for their employees, feeding them with the freshest ideas and culture.