Four Studios Fought For the Rights to the Asteroids Video Game?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:30:21 -0700

Do you remember the Asteroids video game? It's one of the most basic video games ever. The player has to shoot asteroids with his or her tiny spaceship and avoid being smashed. Video games have come a long way since the Asteroids days, and yet some folks in Hollywood are very anxious to bring Asteroids back - in movie form. In fact, Universal just won the rights in a bidding war against three other studios.

Huh?

Maybe there's more to this video game than I can see because it seems like a lot of fighting over something that doesn't really inherently provide a story. Now, Pac Man I could understand. There's romance and dangerous chases! But Asteroids? Huh.

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Leo to Show Us His Geeky Side in Atari Biopic

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:30:17 -0700

Do you remember Atari? The way-cool-at-the-time arcade and home video gaming systems of the 1970s and early-1980s? I sure do. I have distinct memories of whiling away hours on end in basements playing games like Pong and Pitfall. I remember learning the word "joystick" and thinking it was a funny, yet appropriate, term.

Anyway, there's now a movie in the works about Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, with Leonardo DiCaprio set to star as this "creator of Atari and one of the founding fathers of the vidgame industry." Variety continues:

Although Bushnell's life rights had long been pursued by various suitors, [screenwriter Brian] Hecker and Craig Sherman convinced the gaming pioneer that they could do his unique story justice. Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded Atari Inc. in 1972 and were instrumental in bringing arcade games, home vidgame consoles and home computers to the masses.

To top things off, Brain Hecker is writing the script, and he's responsible for having penned one of my favorite films from this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Bart Got A Room. This project seems so random to me, but I'm also both amused and intrigued to see what happens with it.

If you think your Atari knowledge is pretty impressive, take Geek's quiz and test the ol' memory.

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