I seem to remember that sometime in the beginning of Grosse Point Blank, there was a scene at a diner(?). Visible several times in the background was an arcade machine. This arcade machine was, in fact, the PC classic Doom. Not Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom; the marquee had the Doom logo on it and the screen appeared to be playing Doom in attract mode.
Questions:
Am I right? That is to say, is that the right movie, and is it in fact a Doom arcade cabinet?
If I’m right, does a Doom arcade cabinet actually exist anywhere, or did the makers of GPB make a Doom cabinet specifically for the movie? Was it a prototype?
If the Doom cabinet actually exists outside of the movie, has anyone here seen one? I’ve checked my usual resources (including klov.com) and came up with nothing.
The movie Grosse Point Blank does, indeed, feature a Doom game in an arcade-style cabinent, although IIRC, the game being played is actually Doom II (I think. Did Doom I have those giant red floating beholder monsters? I remember them as being a Doom II monster, but I could be wrong.) It’s shown a couple times aroung the middle of the movie, in the convenience store that used to be Martin Blank’s childhood home, before it gets blown up. There’s an extended gunfight sequence between Martin and one of the assassins targetting him while the oblivious clerk plays the game with headphones on.
Don’t know if there was ever a real arcade version of Doom, or why they would invent one for this movie. Doom was pretty much old news by the time the film was released, so I doubt it was product placement.
Interesting, though, that they’d take the time to make a Doom II cabinet rather than just use an existing one for another game. Can anyone tell me why they did that?
IIRC, the second Doom was never released as shareware. In any case, I believe they’d still have to pony up some ducats to id software. However, they might have had a deal cut with them, so who knows?
The filmmaker obviously wanted a game that featured first-person shooting, because it makes for a nice visual – stupid-assed kid plays FPS, not realizing that there is real gunplay all around him. I imagine it didn’t matter what FPS it was, but the movie was filmed in 1996. There weren’t really any mass-produced FPS’s in the arcades at that time.
What do you expect? These are the same people who called this terrific film “mildly worthwhile”. They probably were upset that Lara Croft didn’t show up at the end.
Actually, creating consoles is the latest “it” thing for gamers to be doing these days. Check out the gaming forum at Ars and you’ll see people that have gone to unbelieveable lengths to turn their gaming rigs into actual arcade machines.
Having said that, it’s possible that the fad started in CA a few years ago and just went (somewhat) mainstream.
While everything you said is true, I’m not sure any of it applies to the topic at hand.
You’ve just described the logistics of creating the cabinet. Without belittling anything you said, any yahoo could have created it. I think what the OP referred to was the presence of said game in a convenience store in Michigan in 1996, whether or not it was a true arcade release, and why they didn’t use an existing arcade machine instead of fabricating their own.
I’m well aware of people making home arcade cabinets. I’d make one myself if I had the scratch.
While Doom II was probably the best FPS around the time of GPB’s release, there were certainly no shortage of arcade games with the same basic theme. I don’t think we’ll know why they picked Doom II unless someone manages to ask someone involved in the making of GPB. Say, is it mentioned in a DVD commentary?
I don’t believe so. FPS’s are still not big in arcades, only on home PC’s. They certainly weren’t big back then, either. The only thing comparable would be a lightgun game, like Lethal Enforcers or Virtua Cop.
My WAG?
Director: “I want to have the kid playing that Doom game. You know, the one on the PC back in the office. The kid’s playing this Doom game, not realizing…wait for it… there’s a gunfight right behind him!”
2nd A.D.: “…Sir, I don’t believe that game’s available in an arcade model.”
I would also expect that the game appealed to the director (or maybe the set designer) because the “DOOM” logo can be easily seen by even the slowest audience member. Very appropriate visual for the shootout scene.
BTW, a check of the “trivia” section at the Internet Movie Database merely confirms that D2 wasn’t available as a console, and was made specially for the movie.
