Lost In Cage-lation

You know, you hear a lot of negativity about licensed games. (You know, game based on pre-existing characters or brand names?) I may have actually participated in a bit of that myself, I don't recall.

But our friends at 2k Games have reminded us that it's all about finding the right medium. In this case, it's in finding the right home for "Ghost Rider." We're going to weigh the value of the upcoming PS2 game against the upcoming film WITHOUT EVER SEEING OR PLAYING EITHER ONE.

ROUND 1: Poster vs. Box Art

Hmmm, this is a troublesome start. I definitely see Nicholas Cage and ... a girl. In the middle, there's a hint of a guy whose head is on fire.














Hey, now this is more like it. The guy with his skull on fire is front and center. Oh, and it appears he's about to whip something with a chain, rather than carrying a girl. Chalk one up for the Ghost Rider game.

Game : 1 Movie : 0

ROUND 2:

Wow, I'm not exactly sure what's going on here. There's definitely a motorcycle in there somewhere, but Nick looks kind of gloomy too, like he's trying to decide if he'll by the new "My Chemical Romance" CD or not.






Now this is MORE LIKE IT. There's a guy with his head on fire hitting what APPEARS to be the Devil with a chain. C'mon movie, you should at least try.

Game : 2, Movie : 0

ROUND 3:

Yeah, I have no idea what to tell you about this one. Let's see what the game counters with.

AAAHHH!!! Holy crap, the game's counter argument seems to be Ghost Rider flying down train tracks chasing a giant egg made of electricity.

GAME: FIVE BILLION, MOVIE: 0

"OK, so what's the point?" you ask. Well, I, personally have no interest in the story of Ghost Rider. The character, his mythos, is not compelling to me at all. But if you're going to give me some rad chains and a motorcycle that's on fire, we can probably work something out. It's all about finding the medium that's right for the character. The contest would have probably ended up very differently had "The Weather Man" ever been made into a game.

Anyway, you can find out for yourself when the game drops on Feb. 13 and the film is released three days later.