Ghostbusters: The Video Game Xbox 360 July 8, 2008 Beta Videos

In software development, "Beta" versions are compiled in order to see how the project is shaping up, garner feedback and work out bugs, or to have something to demonstrate to others. These work-in-progress "prototypes" can be used to determine where changes need to be made. For Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009), several pre-release versions are known to exist. Today, I will look at the video assets from one of them.

From what I've read, the final build of Ghostbusters: The Video Game was compiled on May 10, 2009. I don't know if that is correct, and if it is, it may only be applicable to the Xbox 360 (and PlayStation 3?) version of the game. All of the files on the PC game disc are dated May 26, 2009. The final game was released on June 16, 2009.

The Xbox 360 beta version I will be examining today pre-dates the final release by almost a year! At the time it was compiled on July 8, 2008 (though file dates are all August 5, 2008), the game was still set to be published by Sierra. Long story short, Sierra was purchased by Activision, who promptly dumped most of the games that were already in development. Atari came to the rescue and the rest is history.

This article will not be a complete deep dive into this beta release, but rather just a look at the videos that it contains. I may take a look at the image, audio, and other assets at a later date. For now, let's take a look at the 19 .bik (Smacker/Bink Video) files that are found in the "videos" folder. Some of these actually appear in the final release, but most are different. Rather than sorting this alphabetically, I'll detail them in the order that you would likely see them if you ran the beta. Click on the filenames to view the video over the page. Do be aware that menu videos have no audio. Click on each screenshot for a full-size enlargement.


"Logo" contains the logos for Sierra, Terminal Reality, Columbia Pictures, and Infernal Engine. "Intro" is a duplicate of the Infernal Engine logo.
• logo.bik (0:32, 1280x720, 16.9 MB)
• intro.bik (0:06, 1280x720, 1.96 MB)


• establish.bik (0:29, 1280x720, 17.8 MB, no audio) - After the logo love, the game would open on this long establishing shot of the firehouse. As far as I can remember, this shot was not used in the final game.


• home.bik (0:29, 1280x720, 18.2 MB, no audio) - The far shot would transition to this close-up, over which the main menu would appear.


• options.bik (0:30, 1280x720, 18.3 MB, no audio) - The background video that plays under the Options menu.


• extras.bik (0:29, 1280x720, 17.9 MB, no audio) - The background video that plays under the Extras menu.


• load.bik (0:29, 1280x720, 17.7 MB, no audio) - This unused video would have appeared under the Load Game menu. In the final video, it was replaced with a shot of the Ectomobile sitting in the firehouse garage bay.


There are several work-in-progress menu transition videos.
• establish_home.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 339 KB, no audio) - From the establishing shot to the home/main menu.
• home_options.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 169 KB, no audio) - From the home/main menu to the Options menu.
• home_extras.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 339 KB, no audio) - From the home/main menu to the Extras menu.
• home_load.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 339 KB, no audio) - From the home/main menu to the Load Game menu.
• options_home.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 339 KB, no audio) - From the Options menu to the home/main menu.
• extras_home.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 339 KB, no audio) - From the Extras menu to the home/main menu.
• load_home.bik (0:01, 1280x720, 339 KB, no audio) - From the Load Game menu to the home/main menu.


This is the game loading screen. Conceptually, it is the same as what would appear in the final game, though the graphics are different. Both videos are fundamentally the same, though #2 adds the names of the equipment being shown.
• loading.bik (1:06, 1920x1080, 20.8 MB)
• loading2.bik (1:06, 1920x1080, 21.9 MB)


• Bossfight.bik (0:32, 960x540, 17.3 MB) - A storyboard animatic of the pre-Stay Puft fight cutscene featuring temp voices. At this point, only Egon, Ray, and the Rookie were on the roof.


This is the final damage tally screen that would be seen at the end of the Sedgewick Hotel level. Both videos are the same, though "End" is standard definition (DVD resolution) and "End_Movie" is high definition. Both feature an image in a 4:3 aspect ratio that has been windowboxed into a widescreen frame. I suspect this was done to support old televisions and HD televisions.
• end.bik (0:22, 720x480, 11.1 MB, silent audio)
• end_movie.bik (0:12, 1280x720, 5.92 MB, no audio)

That's all there is to this beta build. Given that there aren't files for the entire game here, I have to assume that this build was just a demo of the Sedgewick level and Stay Puft fight; likely meant for members of the gaming press to play and then write about.

• SPOOK CENTRAL VIP BONUS FEATURE: The convenience of being able to download all .bik &.mp4 video files in one zip (one zip per format).

All 19 individual video files can be downloaded at the Internet Archive. The July 8, 2008 Beta can be downloaded at Hidden Palace (alt url) (549 MB). I think you need a modded Xbox 360 console or a working Xbox 360 emulator in order to play the beta.

Join me tomorrow at Noon Eastern as I look at the March 23, 2009 beta videos.