Welcome, Spyro fans, to Spyro World! We are the fastest growing Spyro the Dragon site on the internet, so you’ve come to the right place for all your Spyro news and reviews. Our network includes a news site, wiki, image gallery and a forum. In addition to news and reviews, we provide your Spyro fix with Spyro videos, artwork and more! Keep an eye out for special Spyro exclusives you won’t find anywhere else, coming your way! We hope to become not only one of the most comprehensive Spyro sites available, but also your favorite. Look no further to keep up-to-date on Spyro.
Peter Hartlaub doesn't like Spyro. In fact, one might say he hates Spyro...with a passion. In a recent article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Mr. Hartlaub didn't sugarcoat how he felt about a certain diminutive, purple dragon. In what can only be described as a rant he proceeded to tell us how seven video game series - including that of our scaled hero - have gone awry in today's ever-changing world of gaming entertainment. I'm not usually one to defend something purely because I'm a fan or supporter of it - I will admit the Legend of Spyro arc is not my cup of tea - but Hartlaub wasn't solely referring to the new games - he said the series as a whole shouldn't ever have existed.
Quote:
Spyro the Dragon needed to be thrown into a wood chipper from day one.
The original three games were timeless classics and I'm neither blind nor nostalgic - I have a slew of reviewers far more creditable than Hartlaub who'd agree with me right now in a heartbeat.
Quote:
Spyro the Dragon: Spyro is getting singled out because he's especially purple and annoying, but we could also add Crash Bandicoot, Frogger and Sonic the Hedgehog to the list. And all of those look like a Halo sequel compared with the licensed properties for products such as Bratz and movies such as "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Video games for children are repetitive and unimaginative, poorly written and prone to glitches, with just a few exceptions. Buy a copy of Katamari Damacy, Lego Star Wars or one of the better Nintendo DS titles and hope for a better future.
Mr Hartlaub - poppycock! Mario Galaxy is also considered a "video game for children". I'm guessing you're one of the two people who called it bad. You're confused. Yes, there's no denying that Bratz and Alivn and the Chipmunks should join the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari 2600 game in its maggot-infested landfill somewhere beyond the American-Mexico border. In fact, it'd be better if we just jettisoned them to space now and saved ourselves the wasted space. Those are movie and toy franchise games which are notorious for being made purely to milk the udders of the franchise raw, not actually to entertain.
Spyro, Crash, Rayman and friends are original IPs and have nothing to do with those aforementioned crap-fests. Lumping them altogether in one category called "children's games" is just plain wrong.
However, for someone whose favorite games include Burnout, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Half Life, Ratchet & Clank, and Resident Evil, we shouldn't have expected anything else. It DOESN'T jeopardize your masculinity to like something without drugs, sex, killing, blood and prostitutes. Really, it doesn't.
Oh, and by the way, the makers of Ratchet and Clank made the original Spyro games. Thought you'd like to know.
Hartlaub works as the pop-culture analyst for the San Francisco Chronicle. His columns include Pop Culture and Playing Games. He assists in writing about movies, television and the media as well.
After a long holiday hiatus, Spyro Media Friday is back! This time we have a cameo of Spyro from the video game Crash:Twinsanity. Spyro and Crash have had a habit of popping up in each other's games all the way back to the days of Naughty Dog and Insomniac. Although this cameo is old, you may not have seen it before so enjoy!
I find it hard to believe with the amount of names behind the Spyro movie that it won't be happening, but some fans still remain skeptical. As we posted earlier, a company called Velvet Octopus posted a button link (that isn't working yet) to a page that I presume will discuss their role in this project. They are a Worldwide Sales Distribution company, so they will oversee the shipping of the film. This, to me, labels it a direct-to-DVD feature.
The button, shown below, has the first image of CGI Spyro. His tail seems a bit longer and he seems taller, but the angle may be playing tricks.
From the producers of Eragon? That worries me a little...their first dragon movie was an err... miss at best so hopefully they do it right this time.
As for the credits, here they are thanks to Hollywood .com
Full Cast & Crew
Production Credits - Credit
Daniel Chuba - Producer
John Davis - Producer
Mark Dippe - Producer
Brian D Manis - Producer
Ash Shah - Producer
Steve Altiere - Screenplay Writer
Daniel Altiere - Screenplay Writer
Velvet Octopus - Worldwide Distribution Sales
...most of those are old but I thought I'd share them again. The Altiere brothers are currently writing the script for Dr. Doolittle 4. The Animation Picture company's most recent CGI film was Garfield Gets Real. While they don't seem have much credential-wise, that image seems reassuring.
Also, not mentioned above we seem to have a Production Company named:
...Wonderworld Studios. Some digging told be the heads of the company are the Spyro movie's producers Mark Dippe and Ash Shah. Not a huge surprise...producer and production company... one in the same.
Their only film produced thus far has been Shark Bait which was a terribly made clone of Finding Nemo and Shark Tale.
However, doesn't this cause a conflict? Originally the Animation Picture Company was the production company. Of course, two production companies can work on the same film. Here's some information on the Animation Picture Co. :
Quote:
The Animation Picture Co. was founded in late 2006 by Dan Chuba, John Davis, Mark Dippe, Brian Manis and Ash Shah, who will all serve as producers on a Spyro film. Chuba is the founder and exec producer of digital effects and animation company Hammerhead Prods., and has overseen digital effects and animation on 70 major motion pictures. Davis is a veteran feature film and television producer, whose credits include I, Robot, Norbit and Predator. Dippe directed the features Spawn and Frankenfish, and has also served as a visual effects supervisor at ILM, working on such films as Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Ghost. Shaw has produced more than 40 features films, while Manis, exec VP of John Davis’ Davis Ent., recently exec produced the features Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, and Dr. Dolittle 3.
This Mark Dippe sounds like he jumps between production companies which may explain why we have two separate companies named to produce the Spyro film.
This information was found in an overview of the film Shark Bait, which is also known as The Reef.
Sounds like a spotty history. Hopefully that doesn't continue with Spyro. For that whole article click here.
On a final note, at the Velvet Octopus site it says the film will be in 'Real D'. Real D is 3D - like the classic blue & red glasses type of 3D. This might bolster the chance of it going to theaters as some current Real D films include Open Season, Monster House, Beowulf, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Superman Returns. All of these appeared in both non-3D and 3D versions. Real D 3D theaters are hard to come by with an estimated 900 around the world. That's not many. There certainly aren't any around where I live.
It seems as if theres going to be some more info about the offical 2009 spyro move pretty soon... a company called Velvet Octopus has a button on their site that current doesn't work, but looks like as if they are going to provide info for the movie...
From the producers of Eragon? That worries me a little...their first dragon movie was a miss so hopefully they do it right this time.
Take a look at their site, and see what you think.
Blast, an online magazine, has reviewed The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night in its Nintendo DS form.
Quote:
Overall, the pen fighting is a pain, but the rest of the game was fairly solid platformer. It’s still pretty generic, and the lighting early on is awful.
They gave it an overall 6 out of 10. Not terrible when you consider the other reviews the DS version has gotten.
GameShark has now weighed in with their opinion on the PS2 version of Eternal Night . The verdict? A C- which is considered a 6 out of 10.
Quote:
Had the game really been developed with a clear target audience in mind or perhaps spent more time getting polished up things might have panned out different. As the game stands though Spyro: The Eternal Night has massive failings for novice gamers and lacks enough substance to entertain those that have experience under their belt. The game has great strengths in its visuals and overall appeal, but the gameplay underneath is simply outright flawed and repetitive.
The bulk of the scores for Spyro's PS2 adventure have been in the 6 range.
Well, news is slow so I thought I'd share an awesome site you all might enjoy!
You may hate math but it isn't always bad. How so? Through simple geometrical means (in addition to a nifty online program), you can make some neat pixel-to-vector creations, such as the one above. It's a different way to look at our beloved horned hero.
Golly gee whiz, another year gone past! I can hardly believe it! 2007 is on his death bed today and life support will be pulled in T-minus a few hours. I hope you all have a good celebration (if you choose to celebrate, that is). Pull out the streamers, party hats and cake...maybe even a Spyro game or two... and get ready to say goodbye to the year that was. I'll see you in 2008!
Well, another not-so-shabby review has come ashore for our winged hero. Game Chronicles gave PS2 TEN a 7 out of 10.
Quote:
In the end, I'm happy to see the Spyro games finally getting a shot in the arm. It would have been a shame to let such a whimsical license die off, and in that sense, I think Sierra and Krome (the developer) have done a good thing with The Eternal Night. In the end, it gets a thumbs-up from this reviewer, and a guarded recommendation for platform gaming fans in general.
*Elation*
It's good to see a decent score for the game again.
If you’re looking here it’s obvious you’ve either played a Spyro game, own one or are a fan (duh, you're at this awesome Spyro news site, of course you love the little, purple hero!). Even if it’s none of the above you can still help. Spyro now has his own wiki and we need your to help fill the articles. There are character pages, game pages, item pages and more. If you love Spyro or at least have some time on your hands all it takes is a contribution or two. We need all the help we can get so yours is much appreciated.
Spread the word, too. Put the link in your sigs, tell your friends at other sites, do what you can to get the news out: Spyro's wiki is up and running!
Below is the address of our Spyro the Dragon wiki. There's also a link in the sidebar to the right. We’re the first one there was and hopefully can become the best.
Any feedback on the site is appreciated as well, let’s get a discussion going about it.
If you're a member here, not a guest, your account for our Spyro forums works at the wiki, no re-signing up or anything. If you're a guest - when you sign up at the wiki, it takes you back to these forums. However, the account at the forum is usable on the wiki so it isn't an error and now you've signed up for both at the same time!