SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Press Start: A Videogame Adventure Comedy Movie

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

For those of you who don't know -- and that's probably everyone except Syd -- my production company, Dark Maze Studios, is working on a film called Press Start, perhaps the world's first videogame adventure comedy. It tells the story of an average suburban kid who is recruited by a ill-tempered ninja and a tough-as-nails space soldier to save the world from a tyrannical, but comically insecure, sorcerer.

But that's not the big news.

See, I just got back late last night from Chicago, after one the most exciting shoots of this production. Because Chicago is the home of Press Start's amazing guest stars: Daniel and Carlos Pesina.

Also known as Johnny Cage and Raiden.

Actually, Daniel is also the original Scorpion and Sub-Zero... and for that matter Reptile, Smoke, and Noob Saibot. We had a complete and utter blast working with them yesterday, and for those who might be wondering: yes, you can expect to see them fighting in the final film.

Anyhoo, I'll be posting some pics and more on the movie's website, www.PressStartMovie.com, probably later today. But you're getting the news here first, mainly because I enjoy Syd's site and forums, and also because I know there are some MK fans here.

Cheers.

Posted: Mar 05 2006 05:12 pm

Holy crap, that's awesome.

Posted: Mar 05 2006 07:08 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

For those of you who don't know -- and that's probably everyone except Syd -- my production company, Dark Maze Studios, is working on a film called Press Start, perhaps the world's first videogame adventure comedy. It tells the story of an average suburban kid who is recruited by a ill-tempered ninja and a tough-as-nails space soldier to save the world from a tyrannical, but comically insecure, sorcerer.

But that's not the big news.

See, I just got back late last night from Chicago, after one the most exciting shoots of this production. Because Chicago is the home of Press Start's amazing guest stars: Daniel and Carlos Pesina.

Also known as Johnny Cage and Raiden.

Actually, Daniel is also the original Scorpion and Sub-Zero... and for that matter Reptile, Smoke, and Noob Saibot. We had a complete and utter blast working with them yesterday, and for those who might be wondering: yes, you can expect to see them fighting in the final film.

Anyhoo, I'll be posting some pics and more on the movie's website, www.PressStartMovie.com, probably later today. But you're getting the news here first, mainly because I enjoy Syd's site and forums, and also because I know there are some MK fans here.

Cheers.

Wait, wait, wait, I got that an awesome movie is being shot in Chicago and I don't have anything to do with it. How can this be? If all the Chicago stuff hasn't been shot yet, I will do anything to be a part of this project!

Posted: Mar 05 2006 07:22 pm

I also hope the song "Ninja" by Europe finds its way into the film.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Tebor wrote:

Wait, wait, wait, I got that an awesome movie is being shot in Chicago and I don't have anything to do with it. How can this be? If all the Chicago stuff hasn't been shot yet, I will do anything to be a part of this project!

Actually, we only went up to Chicago to film that one scene, sorry! We're based in Champaign -- a couple hours drive south.

But you flatter me. Dark Maze Studios and it's films are very low budget affairs. And when I say "low budget", I don't mean like "We only had a million dollars! Waaaah, Rickyyyy!"

I mean "You made a made a movie with HOW much??!" We're not a pro studio at all. Yet. Press Start has a budget of next to nothing -- just a whole lot of videogamin' love and filmmaking passion.

EDIT: Photos and a new blog post are up, FYI - www.PressStartMovie.com

Posted: Mar 05 2006 08:40 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

Tebor wrote:

Wait, wait, wait, I got that an awesome movie is being shot in Chicago and I don't have anything to do with it. How can this be? If all the Chicago stuff hasn't been shot yet, I will do anything to be a part of this project!

Actually, we only went up to Chicago to film that one scene, sorry! We're based in Champaign -- a couple hours drive south.

But you flatter me. Dark Maze Studios and it's films are very low budget affairs. And when I say "low budget", I don't mean like "We only had a million dollars! Waaaah, Rickyyyy!"

I mean "You made a made a movie with HOW much??!" We're not a pro studio at all. Yet. Press Start has a budget of next to nothing -- just a whole lot of videogamin' love and filmmaking passion.

EDIT: Photos and a new blog post are up, FYI - www.PressStartMovie.com

I'd still be willing to drive incredibly long hours and work for nothing =D Actually, gas would be an issue, but I could live in my van for two weeks and still make the trip worthwhile.

Fear not for the budget thing, most of the projects I work on now are nothing. All my shorts so far have been with friends and a budget of lunch at McDonalds. At the moment, I'm writing a sci-fi script for a film that will feature a cast of 20 played by one person: me. That's how tight my resources are.

Keep us all in touch how the project fares though. Best of luck!

Posted: Mar 05 2006 08:44 pm

I don't know if you're still in contact with Daniel and Carlos, but I had a question.

According to some reports, Midway refused to let them work on MK3 because they worked on an aborted arcade game by Data East Pinball called Tattoo Assassins that was supposed to "bury" Mortal Kombat. That's why they killed off Johnny Cage (Daniel) in the MK3 storyline and didn't include Raiden (Carlos).

The problem with this story is that the Pesinas do not appear anywhere in the credited cast or staff of Tattoo Assassins. I was wondering if you could find out if they did work on the game and to what extent. I would imagine that if they did work on it that they must have been some sort of martial arts advisors or move choreographers or something.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

I had actually never heard of "Tattoo Assassins" until you mentioned it. I did a little Googling and read a little about it -- and yeah, some people were talking about how the Pesinas were fired because of their work on it. However, in my (admittedly cursory) search, I didn't find any solid sources that discuss their involvement in depth.

I know that Carlos was never fired from Midway, and he still works on the MK games to this day doing motion capture work.

I had heard other rumors (even stated as fact on Wikipedia) about Daniel getting fired from Midway because of a different game, Strata's forgettable "Blood Storm", for which he did an advertisement in character as Johnny Cage. I asked him about that, though, and it turns out that had nothing to do with him leaving Midway, and the ad was after the fact.

I can ask him about the "Tattoo Assassins" thing next time I talk to him, if I remember, but my guess is that you're right -- if he was involved with the game at all, it mainly had to do with choreography.

Posted: Mar 13 2006 02:32 am

Posted: Mar 13 2006 09:25 am

I would like to point out that Buzz Saw and Deadly Cigarette are the characters' special moves, not their names. You have to choose between one of three special moves between matches. The guys' name are A.C. Shocker and Derek O'Toole.

Joined: Mar 13 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 49

I don't remember reading about them being involved with Tattoo Assassins at all.. I do remember reading about this though:

http://www.cyberroach.com/jaguarcd/html/trf.htm

a fighting game for the Atari Jaguar (yes, the Jaguar) called Thea Realm Fighters, which was to have Daniel Pesina, Ho Sung Pak (MK1/MK2 Liu Kang), Dr. Philip Ahn (MK2 Shang Tsung), and Katalin Zamiar (MK2 Kitana/Mileena). But of course the game was never released, and certainly explains why none of them were involved with MK3. Check out the video, it looks WAYYYY worse than Tattoo Assassins.

edit: and this page says they left Midway because they weren't getting paid that much.

Posted: Mar 13 2006 10:34 am

I knew that some of the actors were unhappy with Midway and sued them over it, but I don't think the Pesinas were part of that...

From MAME's history.dat file:

"Three of the cast members for MK2 filed a lawsuit against Midway shortly after the game was released. The claim? The physical instructors/martial artists Elizabeth Malecki (Sonya Blade), Catalin Zamiar (Kitana/Milenna) and Philip Ahn were under the impression that they were hired under typical acting contracts and were entitled to a small modicum of benefits including royalties of title sales, etc. The plaintiffs banded together against Midway, who took the case to court. Eventually the judge failed on Midway's behalf, citing that the work done by the plaintiffs for Midway was done strictly as a 'work-for-hire' and Midway owned all the property and benefits on the characters/titles/etc. As a consequence, all three left the project, and were recast for Mortal Kombat 3."

Now, to my knowledge, information submitted to the Arcade History project isn't fact checked before inclusion, but it still makes sense the Pesinas may not have been a part of this. I think the Pesinas must have left at some later point in the project... Otherwise, why weren't they recast the way the others were?

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Daniel Pesina was part of a separate lawsuit. The outcome was much the same, but the reasoning behind it was different. In Pesina v. Midway Manufacturing Co., the judge ruled that his likeness was altered significantly enough to be unrecognisable, so he didn't deserve royalties for his appearance in the MK console ports. See this for more info:

http://mipr.umn.edu/archive/v3n1/williams.pdf

He got a pretty raw deal, if you ask me.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

*Bump*

No, not just to be a jerk. There is new content.

We just launched "Press Start: Bonus Levels", a series of short spin-off Flash cartoons that will premiere on the last Friday of every month, as a way to introduce folks to the Press Start universe while the movie is still in production. Enjoy!

Episode One: Beer Comes a New Challenger

Posted: Apr 28 2006 10:14 am

DarkMaze wrote:

*Bump*

No, not just to be a jerk. There is new content.

We just launched "Press Start: Bonus Levels", a series of short spin-off Flash cartoons that will premiere on the last Friday of every month, as a way to introduce folks to the Press Start universe while the movie is still in production. Enjoy!

Episode One: Beer Comes a New Challenger

BWHAAHAHAHAHAhAhAHAAHAHHAHA!!!!

That's some good comedy ^_^ It felt like being in the world of NES Drinking Saga again Razz

But, the short raises an important issue, what's the deal with these secret bonus fighters? Damn loop holes. MK2 was the master of these cheap ass fighters.

"IN THE AIR!!!!"

Posted: Apr 28 2006 10:55 am

That's awesome. Very Happy

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Glad you enjoyed it! Incidentally, future episodes won't have that muddy audio quality. The next one will be up 5/26.

Meanwhile, we'll be periodically putting up new publicity photos and posting updates on the blog.

Posted: May 01 2006 08:32 am

A MA GAD !! A MA GAD .. ITS SOOO COOOLL Smile

Posted: May 02 2006 12:38 pm

That flash was great. And Dark, if you and a camera ever find yourself in Boston or the area, I'm sure Syd and I would love even to have even cameos in the film...sure I can't speak for Syd, but my incredible narcisism will not be fulfilled until I see myself on the big screen. (And yes, we both have experience in low budget small screen works...that will never be spoken of again)

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

That flash was great. And Dark, if you and a camera ever find yourself in Boston or the area, I'm sure Syd and I would love even to have even cameos in the film...sure I can't speak for Syd, but my incredible narcisism will not be fulfilled until I see myself on the big screen. (And yes, we both have experience in low budget small screen works...that will never be spoken of again)

That'd be fun -- unfortunately I don't think I'll be out that way any time soon. Heck, that day of filming in Chicago was probably the biggest on-location shoot of the whole darn movie. But maybe if this thing gets a measure of success and spawns a bigger-budget remake or sequel...

Of course, now I'm curious about those low budget "works" of yours... Wink

Posted: May 02 2006 04:23 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

That flash was great. And Dark, if you and a camera ever find yourself in Boston or the area, I'm sure Syd and I would love even to have even cameos in the film...sure I can't speak for Syd, but my incredible narcisism will not be fulfilled until I see myself on the big screen. (And yes, we both have experience in low budget small screen works...that will never be spoken of again)

That'd be fun -- unfortunately I don't think I'll be out that way any time soon. Heck, that day of filming in Chicago was probably the biggest on-location shoot of the whole darn movie. But maybe if this thing gets a measure of success and spawns a bigger-budget remake or sequel...

Of course, now I'm curious about those low budget "works" of yours... Wink

Dang it, I missed all the fun Sad

Posted: May 02 2006 06:19 pm

We were involved in a show someone we knew did for our high school's TV channel...basically a public access show but somehow even cheaper.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

So this almost smacks of re-runs, but it's not: The next episode of Press Start: Bonus Levels will feature Mortal Kombat's Sub-Zero.

However, this time it's not Daniel Pesina.

Guest starring in our next animated episode is John Turk, the man who played the titular role in "Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero" and all the palette-swapped ninjas (plus Shang Tsung) in MK3 and MKTrilogy. For more on him in Mythologies, go back to this thread. Wink

Unlike the Pesinas, however, he won't be playing an MK-esque character. The episode will be available on the site May 26th.

And you've heard it... er... read it here first.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

This month's cartoon has arrived! And, as mentioned above, it features Mortal Kombat's John Turk.

Episode Two: Poker, Mon

Posted: May 26 2006 02:06 am

'Then how do you explain these bubblegum cigars? Same mix up?'

'No. I just think they're cool!'

'Oh. Me too.'

That gave me a roffle.

This move looks like it's going to be good entertainment.