Sony to go gangbusters on Ghostbusters in '09

Who ya gonna text?

Sony is gearing up for a high-tech Ghostbusters celebration next year, the 25th anniversary of the original all-star comedy starring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.

The campaign starts this week, with the demonstration of the actual ECTO-1 Ghostbusters hearse at the Speciality Equipment Market Association (SEMA) in-car entertainment show in Las Vegas.

Recently restored by Hollywood auto legends Cinema Vehicle, the ECTO-1 has been fully upgraded with all-new Sony Xplod gear.

Don't cross the streams

The ectomobile now features Sony's slim series subwoofers, a DVD A/V system, iPod adapter, Sony marine amps (to cope with all that ectoplasm, presumably) and some hefty speakers. It also has a Sony MP3 player, 10-disc CD changer and NV-U83T navigation system installed.

"The vehicle is perfect for showcasing all that we have to offer in mobile A/V," said Mike Kahn, Director of Mobile Electronics at Sony Electronics. "No other manufacturer can bring the excitement of new technology and a blockbuster film to SEMA like Sony can." Hmm, remember that was a film made when the height of ICE excitement was 8-track, Mike.

Even bigger news should be the 2009 release of the long-delayed Ghostbusters game. Yes, I know there was that great Commodore 64 game back in the '80s, but this one promises to reunite the vocal talents of all the original stars (apart from Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver, who don't need the cash).

Ramis and Aykroyd are penning the script, which is set two years after Ghostbusters II. The game got lost in the kerfuffle surrounding the merger of Activision and Vivendi, but now looks set to be released during next summer by Atari.