When the PlayStation 3 video store launched at E3 Xam'd: Lost Memories (pictured) was officially revealed as a PS3 exclusive anime created by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and BONES. Xam'd: Lost Memories is doing extraordinarily well too since it’s the top video download on the PlayStation Store with next to zero promotion. While Sony is trying to capture the anime and indie music sectors Microsoft is chasing Hollywood.
Their plan is to pull recognizable horror film creators into making comedy pilots for the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. The original content sounds like it could be good when described with phrases like, “It’s a delightful mix of ‘South Park,’ ‘Wonder Showzen’ and ‘Small Wonder.’” The list of Microsoft sponsored shows is below and you can read up on what’s premiering this fall for free. I just really think it’s interesting how both consoles are fighting to become video studios and video game machines. Someone should mix the two and resurrect the full motion video choose your own adventure game genre.
Here are written descriptions of the short film pilots coming to Xbox Live this fall.
• “Doggie Heaven (Woof!)” — The creative team behind the smash hit “Saw” films, James Wan (“Saw,” “Death Sentence”) and Leigh Whannell, tell the story of a young man who is having a dog of a day. He’s just been shot dead, but his real problems are only just beginning because of a clerical error that has sent him to the wrong heaven.
• “Humanzee!” — James Gunn (“Slither,” “Dawn of the Dead”) directs and stars in a sitcom about his human-chimp hybrid son, the Humanzee (played by Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, from “Gilmore Girls”). It’s a delightful mix of “South Park,” “Wonder Showzen” and “Small Wonder.”
• “MEATDOG: What’s Fer’ Dinner” — Director David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “Hard Candy”) presents MEATDOG, an animated mutt made up of cold cuts. MEATDOG is pitted against a church of evil occult pigs while being pursued by a carnivorous rabbit and a slobbering hound. It’s dogicide when everyone wants MEATDOG on their menu.
• “Blue Like You” —From director Lucky McKee (“May,” “The Woods”), “Blue Like You” follows the antics of old friends Patrick and Cyndy as they get to know their mysterious and extraordinary new friend Blue, a beautiful young woman who doesn’t seem to understand how the simplest of things work.
• “The Miracle of Phil” — From director Andrew Douglas (“The Amityville Horror”), “The Miracle of Phil” shows that the best relationships are full of screaming, shouting and cursing, but when Phil gets knocked up, Chris is the one who feels screwed.
• “Adrenaline Slam” — Director Marcus Nispel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th”) brings “ADRENALINE SLAM,” a high-octane hybrid of hidden camera reality and Hollywood fantasy that exposes ordinary people to extraordinary events.
In addition, Microsoft has sought pilots from emerging online talent John Clisham:
• “Assorted Nightmares: The Janitor” — From online director John Clisham and starring Jenna Dewan (“Step Up”), somewhere in the darkness just beyond “Tales From the Crypt” and a little south of “The Twilight Zone,” is “Assorted Nightmares,” a modern-day horror anthology show. The first episode pays homage to the 1980s horror-slasher genre, as things at school for Jennifer don’t turn out as expected.
Images courtesy of Sony.
