Edinburgh-based Strange Co. have released the first part of BLOODSPELL, a computer-animated feature film. Using computer games technology and machinima, a new way of making animated films, the studio was able to complete the film in under three years, with a mostly volunteer staff and a budget of less than 5,000 pounds.
The CMP Game Group, host of the industry-leading Game Developers Conference (GDC), and entertainment trade publication THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER will be co-producing the inaugural Hollywood and Games Summit. Editorial teams from both organizations are now collaborating on the program agenda.
LivePitch OnStageSeattle, Washington, USAJuly 13, 2006Deadline: June 30, 2006
Sprint, Cingular and Amp'd Mobile are set to judge the first ever LivePitch OnStage game competition at the Mobile Game Conference. Game developers and publishers are invited enter their new games, demos or concepts to score an opportunity to pitch live onstage before a panel of judges who can actually make a difference in their game's future. Think of it as AMERICAN IDOL for mobile game development.
THQ Inc. is helping fans of Disney/Pixar film CARS continue the ride with a videogame, based upon the animated feature. The game, released for play on PlayStation2, Xbox GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP, Windows PC and Mac, is available at retail outlets in the U.S. It will also be available worldwide in 18 languages, and in more than 40 countries, including China, Thailand, Japan, Russia and Poland. Also this fall, the CARS videogame is expected to release for Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.
Electronic Arts brings to life the triumphs and travails of one of sports most gut wrenching jobs with NFL HEAD COACH¸ a new franchise from the EA SPORTS brand. The first 3D sports strategy game, NFL HEAD COACH, challenges gamers to manage every aspect of a professional football team and build their franchise from the ground up will trying to become the greatest coach of all time.
Image College of Arts, Animation and Technology (ICAT), a division of Chennai-based Image Infotainment Limited, will launch a three-year full-time program in digital media, which includes animation, visual effects, game design or game development, reports THE BUSINSS STANDARD.
Philip Thomas, manager (admissions) of ICAT, said that the digital media industry across the world was in need of more fusion artists, those who combine artistic and technical skills.
GDC FOCUS ON: Game Advertising Summit is part of a series of mini conferences each dedicated to a significant sector or trend in the videogame industry. The Game Advertising Summit will gather key players from both the videogame and advertising sectors to explore the viability of the in-game advertising space.
The Sex in Video Games Conference: Exploring the Business of Digital Erotic Entertainment will be held at the Lodge at Union Square, Kensington Park Hotel in San Francisco, California. The conference is the first of its type and will be an annual event. This unique conference will focus on the design, development, and technology of sex in video games from a national as well as international perspective. In addition, this conference will also have a strong focus on business matchmaking and networking.
There's an influx of new talent at game developer Trilogy Studios. Animator Chad Schoonover recently left Sony Pictures Imageworks, where he created 3D facial and body animation for characters in the upcoming animated feature film, MONSTER HOUSE. He is now leading the animation team at Trilogy. He previously worked for five years as an animator on the UNREAL franchise, the demos for Epic's highly vaunted UNREAL 3 tech, as well as three years at Midway Games, where he pioneered the use of motion capture in the Sports division.
Playing up to the release of Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Studios' feature film, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, Activision Inc. sent out X-MEN: THE OFFICIAL GAME to retail outlets in the U.S. The game catapults players into an original storyline and enables them to command the distinct powers of Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Iceman as they battle classic Brotherhood villains, including Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike and Multiple Man and traverse unique environments that showcase each character's abilities while trying to save mutant-kind.
Walt Disney Internet Group and Shanda Interactive Ent. announced that the two companies have entered into an agreement to bring Disney's branded entertainment content to China's online game industry via Shanda's online game operating platform. The agreement calls for Shanda to develop, distribute and operate an online casual game based on the worlds of Disney and featuring some of Disney's most popular animated characters.
French independent film group MK2 has joined forces with animation studio Onyx Films to form a videogame publishing joint venture, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The 50-50 venture, MKO Games, will develop and publish high-end, cross-platform games for PC, consoles and mobile devices.
"The idea is to bring together the movie industry and the game industry in France, which have until now just been eyeing each other up," said Nathanael Karmitz, who recently took over MK2 from his father and company founder Marin Karmitz.
GameSpot announced the winners of its 10th Annual GameSpot E3 2006 Editors' Choice Awards. In addition to "Game of the Show" winner, BIOSHOCK, shown for the Xbox 360 and coming to other platforms, more than 25 category awards went to the most impressive and anticipated games out of the 1,000-plus titles that were on display at E3.
The Christian Game Developers Conference is the only gathering with the purpose of encouraging game developers, in both software and traditional mediums, to apply Christian principles to their industry. Some developers are involved in creating games made specifically to glorify God. Others work for secular companies and are Godly influences at their place of employment. But wherever they are, they need encouragement to stand up for morality and truth in an industry that can often be fighting these ideals and the CGDC is a great place to get that encouragement.
Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films have grabbed the right to GAME BOYS, an action spec by Tom Ropelewski (LOOK WHO'S TALKING NOW) and Evan Katz (TVs 24), according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Jerry Bruckheimer will produce.
The tale follows two thirtysomething videogame addicts whom are recruited by the Department of Homeland Security to lead a geek army set to battle creatures that have emerged from a videogame they have mastered.
Buena Vista Games, Inc. (BVG), the interactive entertainment arm of The Walt Disney Co., announced its largest and most diverse lineup ever of console, computer and handheld videogame titles at E3 last week.
Last week at E3, THQ Inc. unveiled the company's portfolio internally developed next-generation console and Windows PC titles, mass-market licensed products and all new content for handheld and gaming system wireless devices.
Eidos Interactive, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, and TT Games, the makers of LEGO STAR WARS, announced a new LEGO adventure, BIONICLE HEROES, will be released in fall 2006 on PlayStation 2, PC, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and NINTENDO GAMECUBE (NTSC only).
Sony Computer Ent. America announced its lineup of new software titles due out this year for PSP and PlayStation 2.
Buena Vista Games Inc. announced that it is creating and publishing the company's first videogame based on an original property, SPECTROBES. Set to release exclusively for the Nintendo DS, SPECTROBES is an anime-inspired action/role playing game that is being developed by Jupiter Corp. in Kyoto.
Todays videogames are visually slick, but are they venturing into the realm of fine art? Janet Hetherington takes a look at how videogame art is jumping off the screen and into the gallery. Includes a QuickTime clip!
Columbia Pictures has launched RV PILE-UP, a free game for BlackBerry, built to promote the studio's latest family adventure comedy, RV, starring Robin Williams, due in theaters April 28, 2006.
Joe Strike uncovers the voice over actors are finding lucrative work in the videogame industry.
Various news reports say that Microsoft Corp. plans to pay $200-400 million for Massive Inc., a privately held company that places ads in videogames.
The deal to buy the two-year-old startup demonstrates the increasing importance of advertising in nontraditional media, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Microsoft and Massive spokeswomen have declined comment.
Karen Raugust talks with smaller animation studios who are creating cinematics and, increasingly, in-game assets for video and computer games.
