Pixels is an upcoming (Summer 2015) comedy film starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James that answers the question ‘what if arcade icons invaded our planet’. The movie has an all-star cast that also features Peter Dinklage, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad and is directed by Chris Columbus. In the movie aliens invade our planet in the form of iconic video game characters like Space Invaders and Pac-Man and somehow Adam Sandler and his motley group of friends become responsible for fighting off the invading forces.
It’s great to see classic arcade and console video game characters make their way back into pop culture. In 2012 when the animated film Wreck-It Ralph came out we saw a huge rise in popularity for classic video game characters like Q*bert. Because of Wreck-It Ralph’s popularity and re-introducing Q*bert into mainstream – we’ve seen the little foul mouth alien receive a revamped console release as well as update on PC and Mobile games. I hope all of the characters mentioned in the Pixels movie get the proper love and attention they deserve from the gaming world, like Q*bert did. Some franchises like Donkey Kong have had numerous new releases, but others like Space Invaders have not been so lucky. Here’s hoping to a new Space Invaders game, but it doesn’t look very likely.
In 2007 the original Donkey Kong saw a huge comeback after the documentary film ‘The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters‘ which featured popular arcade champ icon Billy Mitchell and newcomer to the scene Steve Wiebe. The movie showed plenty of up-close gameplay of Donkey Kong and really delved into the mechanics of the game and world behind fetching classic arcade world records. If you were an arcade collector around the time the movie was released chances are you were hot to trot for a good condition of Donkey Kong arcade cabinet to add to your collection. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters received critical praise as shown by its extremely high rating.
It seems like Pac-Man will most likely see the biggest boost in popularity after the film Pixels is released as he is most featured on the movie’s first trailer and four of the characters drive around in ‘ghost-like’ cars. Pac-Man has already seen a boost in current popularity with the recent release of Super Smash Bros and his hit animated TV show Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. The Pixels trailer also showcases ships that resemble Space Invaders, birds from Joust and of course the main man himself Donkey Kong. There’s most likely going to be more Easter eggs to appear in the next Pixels trailer and movie once released. Ultimately we’re excited to see what becomes of classic characters in the form of remakes, reboots, featured in new movies and as part of new video games.
Click here to check out the Pixels trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAHprLW48no