To coincide with the release of the fourth Terminator movie, Warner Bros. has announced Terminator Salvation – The Videogame, the tie-in game of the upcoming highly anticipated Christian Bale-starring film which is due to hit big-screens in May 2009.
The game, as expected, will have players assume the role of John Connor, humanity’s hope and leader, in a third-person action game with armed combat against Skynet enemies from the film as well as completely new ones exclusive to the game.
It is in development at GRIN Studios (Bionic Commando) and will be published by Equity Games and Evolved Games.
“Terminator Salvation – The Videogame allows players to battle for survival against Skynet enemies utilizing an incredibly fluid and realistic control set,” said Cos Lazouras, President of Halcyon Games. “The player will be led through a visceral story with extremely polished production values to create a fully interactive Terminator experience.”
Expanding its reach as a games publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that it is setting up office in Europe, catering to the region. Its operation includes direct distribution, sales and marketing of its internally-developed titles, through the US-based production arm WB Games, as well as third-party games.
The company is currently setting up offices in London and is recruiting sales and marketing executives for it, as well as in a number of other territories in the region including Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
WBIE will release its first titles later this Fall - Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal on PS2, Wii and Xbox 360; and Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck on the DS.
With the movie in the hands of the Wachowski brothers, the creators of The Matrix series, Warner Bros. has announced the Speed Racer videogame. The game will be available on the Wii and DS as the film hits cinemas next years; the PS2 will also get love once the DVD of the film hits stores.
In development at Sidhe Interactive, the Wii and PS2 games will have players take on the role of the characters from the film, getting behind the wheels of each character’s vehicles. The Wachowski brothers are involved in the development, as they lend “direction and assets” to the development team directly from their Berlin set. Also, John Gaeta, co-VFX supervisor on the film, is also working with the studio to maintain a close film-to-game connection.
Speaking to MCV, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment executive Ron Scott said that “We’re in this for the long haul,” referring to the company’s entity as a games publisher. “It is vital to be a fully-functional publisher. We are not just an arm of a business that is simply going to leverage the movie properties that Warner has–we are going to be a creative force as well.”
They are looking to reacquire the rights to key Warner properties like Superman, Batman and the Harry Potter franchises, whose game rights are currently held by EA.
“You’ll see a large percentage of Warner properties come on board as we develop the extra capability we need,” he said. “The ability to cross promote our games product with our movie product in a compelling way will be key. Our home video guys are very keen to target PS3 and 360 owners with next-gen movie formats. There are huge marketing and cross-merchandising possibilities.”
Warner has already teamed up with Codemasters to distribute several of its games including Dirt, Overlord and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. The company is also publishing a rhythm-based Alvin and the Chipmunks title this December on PC, PS2 and Wi
Warner Bros. announced that it has entered a distribution agreement with Codemasters for distribution and sales of its products in North America starting April 2007.
“We greet this arrangement to work with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group with great enthusiasm,” commented Rod Cousens, Chief Executive Officer, Codemasters. “Codemasters continues to strengthen its content and distribution, and as the reach of our product portfolio broadens to a global audience, there can be no more effective alliance than to have the world’s largest entertainment corporation handling the line in the single largest market. The commitment of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group can only benefit the progress and scale of our future releases targeted at the North American consumer.”
Titles to be distributed include DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road, Overlord, Clive Barker’s Jericho, Fall of Liberty and more. This deal will last from April 2007 through May 2008.
Bringing good news to SCi is Warner Bros., who has acquired ten percent of the company in a deal worth 44.5 million GBP. SCi is taking this deal very ambitiously, as the company has announced that it will create games based on Looney Tunes characters for portables; produce up to ten games based on Hanna-Barbera characters; games based on the Batman character as well as the hit TV show OC. Additionally, SCi has acquired the licensed for animated TV shows Loonatics Unleashed and Legion of Super Heroes.
That’s not all: it will also produce up to 20 games in total across current and next-gen platforms, with Warner Bros. providing primary distribution and media buying services to Eidos in the US. Expect to see these titles released from 2008 onwards.
Microsoft has announced that it has partnered with content producers such as MTV, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. to bring downloadable video content to Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace. The videos will be available in both 720p and 480p resolutions. TV programs will be put up for sale, whereas movies will be provided on a rental basis.
Content to be live by the end of the year includes Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force from Adult Swim; CSI, Survivor and Star Trek from CBS; South Park and Chappelle’s Show from Comedy Central; Pimp My Ride from MTV; along with a bunch of other shows popular with the Xbox demographic. Movies include Mission Impossible 3, Nacho Libre and Jackass: The Movie from Paramount; and The Matrix, Superman Returns and Batman Forever from Warner Bros.
No pricing information has been announced as of yet. The above, and more, will be available in North America starting November 22.
Hellboy as Batman? Spawn as Green Lantern? Viewtiful Joe as Superman? Has the world gone mad? Nope, it still hasnt.
Warner Bros. has sent word that Ron Perlman (the guy who was Hellboy in the movie) and many others have been tapped to lend their voices to the upcoming Justice League: Heroes game. The game will feature the talent of the following:
- Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Blade II, Justice League TV series) as Batman
- Michael Jai White (Spawn, Spawn: The Animation) as Green Lantern
- Crispin Freeman (Viewtiful Joe, Kingdom Hearts II) as Superman
- Courtenay Taylor (God of War, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One) as Wonder Woman
- Chris Edgerly (Drawn Together, Chicken Little) as The Flash
- Kari Wahlgren (The Wild, Steamboy) as Zatanna
- Daniel Riordan (Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Star Trek: Enterprise) as Martian Manhunter.
- Peter Jessop (Spawn: The Animation) as Brainiac
- Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911, Duck Dodgers) as The Key
- Ralph Garman (Family Guy, KROQ-FM Los Angeles Kevin & Bean morning show, The Joe Schmo Show) as Green Arrow
Warner Bros. and D3Publisher jointly announced that D3 will develop and publish games based on DC Comics’ 100 Bullets for consoles, handhelds and the PC. The first game is due for release during Q3 2007.
No other details were revealed.
Eidos and Warner Bros. Interactive have announced that they have signed an agreement that will see the former publishing Justice League: Heroes for the PS2, Xbox and PSP in North America and Europe this Fall.
Developed by Snowblind Studios, JL: Heroes is an action-adventure game with role-playing customization, letting players step into the underwears of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Manhunter, Zatanna and other unlockable heroes. Each hero will possess character-specific, upgradeable superpowers, resulting in unique controls and fighting styles. Co-op will make its presence in the game in the form of one-to-two player cooperative combat.
RSS 2.0 feed
