Plants vs. Zombies | 2009

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Plants vs. Zombies

Plants vs. Zombies

 Plants vs. Zombies is a video game franchise developed by PopCap Games, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (EA). The series follows the affiliates of David "Crazy Dave" Blazing as they use his plants to defend against a zombie invasion, led by Dr. Edgar George Zomboss. The first game, Plants vs. Zombies (2009), was developed and released by PopCap before its acquisition by EA. After the acquisition, EA expanded the game into a franchise with releases on many different platforms, including a comic book series written by Paul Tobin and published by Dark Horse Comics.

The series spans various game genres. The original game and its sequels, Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, Plants vs. Zombies 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 3, are tower defense games where players use plants with different abilities to defend against a zombie invasion. The spin-off games, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and its sequels, are third-person shooter games where players can choose to play as either plants or zombies in multiplayer (and starting with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, single-player) matches. Plants vs. Zombies Heroes is a digital collectible card game featuring characters from previous games.



In 2009, PopCap released a music video for the song "Zombies on Your Lawn" by Laura Shigihara to promote Plants vs. Zombies. The song is also included at the end of the game. A PopCap spokesperson, Garth Chouteau, revealed in an IGN interview that the game would soon be released on PC and Mac. On April 22, 2009, PopCap released an official game trailer on YouTube. During the promotion, PopCap also released a demo version that could be played for 30 minutes. Plants vs. Zombies was officially released on May 5, 2009, for PC and Mac, and by 2013, it was made free-to-play on iOS and Android devices. Mobile reviews average around 4.3-4.8 stars. From 2011 to 2014, the first game was adapted and expanded for the Chinese market under various editions like Plants vs. Zombies Social Edition, Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition, Plants vs. Zombies: China Edition, Plants vs. Zombies: Endless Edition, Plants vs. Zombies: Dragon Palace Edition, and Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West.

PopCap Games and its assets were bought by EA on July 12, 2011, for $750 million. Fifty employees from the PopCap Seattle studio were laid off on August 21, 2012, marking a shift to focus on mobile and social gaming.

On August 20, 2012, PopCap announced it was working on a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies. The release was planned for late spring 2013, but the status of the game was uncertain due to a series of layoffs.

In May 2013, PopCap released a trailer revealing the sequel, titled Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time. The game was soft-launched for iOS in Australia and New Zealand on July 10, 2013, and officially released on August 14, 2013, as a freemium title. The game added new locations and plants, as well as a new feature called "plant food," which powers up plants temporarily. The game received updates over time with new modes and content.

In July 2019, EA announced Plants vs. Zombies 3, another free-to-play mobile title. It soft-launched in February 2020 in the Philippines, Romania, and Ireland but was made unavailable in October 2020, becoming unplayable by November. EA plans to release an improved version of the game in the future. On September 7, 2021, Plants vs. Zombies 3 relaunched with significant changes, including 2D graphics and the return of the Sunflower as a plant. On January 17, 2024, it relaunched again as "Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia" in select regions, adapting elements from the Plants vs. Zombies comic series.

In March 2013, a spin-off called Plants vs. Zombies Adventures was announced and released on Facebook on May 20, 2013. It introduced new locations and plants and featured a farm mechanic where players had limited plants but could grow more. Plants vs. Zombies Adventures closed on October 12, 2014.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, a multiplayer third-person shooter, was announced at E3 2013 for PC and consoles and released in February 2014. Its sequel, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, was announced in June 2015 and released in February 2016. In March 2016, PopCap announced Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, a digital collectible card game, which was soft-launched in some countries and fully released in October 2016.

In August 2019, a closed beta for a sequel to Garden Warfare 2, codenamed "Picnic," was offered to select players. In September 2019, EA announced it as Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, which entered early access that same month and was fully released in October 2019.

A canceled project called "Project Hot Tub" was in development from 2015 to 2017. It was intended as an action game similar to Uncharted, featuring two siblings traveling through time to fight zombies. The project was canceled to allocate resources to other EA projects.

Dark Horse Comics began publishing an ongoing Plants vs. Zombies comic series in July 2013, following characters Nate Timely and Patrice Blazing as they defend Neighborville from Dr. Zomboss's zombie army. The series featured elements from the game and vice versa.

In April 2022, Rich Werner, the artist behind Plants vs. Zombies, revealed that an animated film was pitched at DreamWorks Animation, with a full script reading and concept art.

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デッド・ドント・ダイ | 2019

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 ジム・ジャームッシュの2019年のゾンビコメディ映画『デッド・ドント・ダイ』は、2019年のカンヌ映画祭のオープニング映画であり、パルム・ドール競争の候補作として注目され、大きな話題となった。ジャームッシュがゾンビ映画を作ったという事実自体が話題を呼び、B級映画の典型的なテーマにもかかわらず、豪華なキャストが出演している点でも注目を集めた。 この映画が他のゾンビ映画と異なる点は、ゾンビが群れを成して迫ってくる状況でも登場人物たちが非常に無関心に反応することだ。ジャームッシュの作品に慣れている人にはそれが当然に感じられるが、通常のゾンビ映画ファンにとってはかなり異質に感じるかもしれない。 この映画は2019年に韓国の富川国際ファンタスティック映画祭で初公開された。冒頭、地元の警察官クリフとロニーは、農夫フランクから鶏が盗まれたとの通報を受け、隠遁者ボブが住んでいる森へ向かう。警察がボブに鶏を盗んだか尋ねると、ボブは銃で脅しながら、「出て行け」とだけ言って反応する。ボブに撃たれた後も、警察は特に反応せず、ただその場を離れる。ボブは二人が去った後、望遠鏡を使って彼らを見ながら罵声を浴びせる。 クリフとロニーが車で町に戻る途中、二人はフランクとボブについての軽い雑談を交わす。そこで二人は何かがおかしいことに気づく。午後8時なのに、空は昼間のように明るく、時計と携帯電話も全く使えなくなっていた。ロニーは「結局、良い結果にはならないでしょう、クリフ」と不安げに言うが、クリフはその意味が理解できない。 二人が町をパトロールしているとき、ラジオから「デッド・ドント・ダイ」という歌が流れ、ロニーはその歌が映画に出てきたものだと反応する。クリフもその歌を気に入ったようで、二人は何かがおかしい一日だと感じながらも、順調にパトロールを続ける。しかし、映画はプロットが乏しく、メタファーが過剰であるとして批評され、『リミッツ・オブ・コントロール』（2009年）以来、再び評価が低かった。一部の人々は、ジャームッシュの名前だけで評価が高くなったのではないかとも言っている。実際、この映画は一般観客の間で賛否が分かれる作品だ。個性ある脇役キャラクターが無駄に殺され、後半には突然第4の壁を破るような演出が現れるため、従来のゾンビ映画の進行とは全く異なっている。このため、ゾンビ映画のファンにとっ...
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데드 돈 다이 | 2019

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 짐 자머시의 2019년 좀비 코미디 영화는 2019년 칸 영화제 개막작이자 황금종려상 경쟁 후보작으로 주목을 받았다. 짐 자머시가 좀비 영화를 만든다는 사실 자체가 화제를 모았고, 그의 특유의 B급 소재와 조촐한 스케일에도 불구하고 출연한 배우들의 라인업은 화려하다. 이 영화의 특징은 다른 좀비 영화들과 달리 등장인물들이 좀비들이 떼로 몰려오는 상황에서도 매우 무덤덤하게 반응한다는 점이다. 짐 자머시 영화에 익숙한 사람이라면 충분히 이해할 수 있지만, 일반적인 좀비 영화 팬에게는 다소 낯설 수 있다. 이 영화는 2019년 부천 국제 판타스틱 영화제에서 먼저 공개되었다. 영화의 초반, 동네 경찰 클리프와 로니는 농부 프랭크의 신고를 받고 은둔자 밥이 사는 숲으로 가게 된다. 프랭크는 닭을 도둑맞았다고 주장하며 경찰에 신고했지만, 밥은 경찰의 질문에 별다른 반응을 보이지 않는다. 그저 총으로 위협하며 경찰이 떠날 때까지 수풀 속에 숨어 있다. 경찰은 별다른 대응 없이 상황을 마무리하고, 밥은 경찰의 뒷모습을 망원경으로 바라본다. 차를 타고 동네로 돌아가는 클리프와 로니는 일상적인 대화를 나누며 순찰을 계속한다. 이때, 오후 8시인데 날씨는 마치 대낮처럼 밝고, 시계와 휴대전화는 모두 먹통이 된다. 무언가 이상하다는 것을 느낀 로니는 "결국은 끝이 안 좋을 거에요, 클리프"라고 말하지만, 클리프는 그 말을 이해하지 못한다. 둘은 순찰을 계속하며 라디오에서 ‘데드 돈 다이’라는 노래가 나오자 로니는 그 노래에 반응한다. 그는 이 노래가 영화에 나온 것 같다고 말하고, 클리프도 노래를 들으며 뭔가 이상한 날이지만 평화롭게 순찰을 이어간다. 그러나 영화는 플롯이 약하고 메타포가 지나치다는 평가를 받았다. 2009년의 《리미츠 오브 컨트롤》 이후, 다시 한 번 좋지 않은 평을 받았고, 일부 사람들은 자머시의 이름값 때문에 평점이 높아졌다고 주장하기도 했다. 사실, 일반 관객들 사이에서 호불호가 극명하게 갈릴 수밖에 없는 영화다. 개성 있는 조연 캐릭터들...
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Rampant | 2018

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 The 2018 South Korean film Rampant is a fusion of zombie and historical drama. The film begins with a soldier from the Joseon era’s Training Division being bitten by a foreign yeogwi (a type of zombie) after picking up an item that fell off a foreign ship. The next day, he exhibits strange behavior, and soon after, he attacks his wife and child, ultimately transforming into a yeogwi and attacking the people of the village, creating chaos in the area around Jemulpo. Park Hyun (played by Kim Min-seok), a warrior from the Training Division , goes aboard a foreign ship to engage in a firearm deal. There, he finds a man locked in a cage and learns that the captain of the ship wants him dead. Upon returning to Joseon, Park Hyun reports that the foreign ship is docked near Yeongjongdo, but soon, the subordinates of the Minister of War, Kim Ja-jun (played by Jang Dong-gun), raid and arrest them. The Minister accuses them of treason for secretly dealing with firearms and gunpowder with...
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