Ghostbusters gets the full-on video game treatment

Ah, Ghostbusters… Many’s the day this writer spent in front of his Amstrad CPC464 (yes, this writer really is that old) wiling away the hours catching spirits in traps and watching out for that pesky Marshmallow Man.

Those were innocent, basic days, with hugely pixellated graphics and games on tape that took five minutes to load. You kids don’t know you’re born, with your X-Pods and your go-kart Wiis…. But now everyone will be able to get in on the bustin’ action as Sony and Vivendi Games are digging up the franchise for what the companies are praying will be a series of games.

And they’re laying on the enticements for fans – all four original team members (that would be Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis) are lending their faces and voices, with support from the likes of Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), and William Atherton (Walter “Pecker” Peck from the first movie). We’re hoping Rick Moranis will find the time to swing by as well.

Plus Aykroyd and Ramis, who wrote the original movies, will cook up a story that takes places shortly after Ghostbusters II, with a new ghostly invasion striking New York City.

"We noticed we did well on Scarface and were alert for new opportunities to turn iconic film products into games in a way that is a new manifestation of the franchise," Vivendi Games CEO Bruce Hack gushed to Variety. "Ghostbusters is unquestionably among the small number of movies in that class." The game should hit next year.

Plus, maybe now Dan Aykroyd will finally get to exorcise his Ghostbusters In Hell demons – now that budget is no problem…

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