(This is from our personal blogspot site, thus the common GB knowledge you guys all know.)

On Monday, June 15th, I had an awesome day.

As most of you know, I've been a Ghostbusters fan since I was about 6 years old. I had most of the toys, watched the cartoons all the time, and over the years I've pretty much memorized the movies. I even made my own uniform and proton pack for Halloween last year. As part of my collection, I have a few of the old video games that came out on the original Nintendo. Those games weren't very good due to the lack of technology available in the '80s, and also the lack of effort by the game designers back then.

But today is a new day. This year is the 25th anniversary of Ghostbusters ('84-'09), and it is being celebrated by releasing lots of new stuff for fans like me to get their hands on. The most exciting product for me is the brand new video game.

The game was written by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, who also wrote and acted in the 2 movies. It takes place 2 years after the events of Ghostbusters II, and is the next chapter in the story. It was developed just up the road in Lewisville by a company called Terminal Reality. Perhaps some of you remember last year when I got to do some focus testing there during the Summer.

Tuesday is the official release date for the game, as all games come out on Tuesdays. Game companies have to wait until Tuesdays, but there is not an exact time on Tuesday, so some stores have parties for some games on Monday nights, then sell the games to customers at midnight, which technically is Tuesday.

I went to a Game Stop in Lewisville that had one of these parties. It was cool, because the development team from Terminal Reality was there to sign our games. But the coolest part of the night was that they arranged for the original car from the Ghostbusters movies, ECTO-1, to be there. This was the actual car, not a replica. It had been falling apart on a Sony back lot for 20 years, but it was recently refurbished to it's rightful condition for the 25th anniversary.

When I found out it was going to be there, I knew I had to go, too. So I called up my buddy, Brian, put on my jumpsuit, strapped on my proton pack, and we had a blast. I'd been waiting so long in anticipation for the game, then it was almost like the game was secondary because the car was there. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

So we got our games at midnight, which came with a free t-shirt, and we headed home. I also won a different free shirt in a raffle drawing. I played when I got home for about 4 hours, then finally went to bed. It was a great day to be a Ghostbusters fan.

(Check out my profile pics for some shots of me with the real Ecto-1.)