The Rundown: Feb. 6, 2009
The screen above is from the excellent Left 4 Dead parody, Left 4 Speed - you can check it out on YouTube. Just wanted to share. Now onto today’s news:
Crispy Gamer | Video Game News, Rumors and Updates
Posts Tagged ‘Brash’
The Top 21 News Stories of 2008: 7 - 1
(Contributors: Adam Oldakowski - Managing Director GOG.com, Hal Halpin - ECA President, Tom Ohle - CD Projekt RED, Rich Carlson - Digital Eel, Eric Holmes - Radical Entertainment, and Game Trust members Evan Narcisse, Gus Mastrapa, David Chapman and James Fudge)
Crispy Gamer wraps up its Top 21 News Stories of 2008 with our top 7 news stories. See what stories were the most interesting and had the most impact on the game industry and gamers in 2008. We start with #7 right now. Also be sure to check out #8 - 14 and #15 - 21, if you haven’t already.
Jumper: Griffin’s Story Released
Jumper: Griffin’s Story, the videogame from Brash Entertainment based on the film Jumper, is now in stores throughout North America for the PS2, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Jumper (not to be confused with the mildly emo song from Third Eye Blind) is a science fiction-themed action movie from 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises. The film is directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity), and stars Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Jamie Bell and Samuel L. Jackson.
The film tells the tale of a jumper named Griffin, who seeks revenge against those that caused his parents’ death. Jumpers in the film and the videogame are described as humans who have the ability to teleport instantaneously to anywhere on the globe. The videogame promises to extend the film’s plot as it follows Griffin through a series of battles using his teleportation skills in concert with his combat abilities in locales around the globe.
The game is available now, and Jumper the film will be in theaters on Thursday, Feb. 14.
Jamie Bell is Jumper
Jamie Bell is the voice of protagonist Griffin in the upcoming video game Jumper, publisher Brash Entertainment announced today. The game, which is based on the upcoming film of the same, tells the tale of a hero who has the ability to jump through space and time. Bell also plays the lead role in the film. Jamie Bell is best known for his role as Billy Elliot in the film of the same name, a role that won him a Best Actor award at the 2001 British Academy Awards (BAFTAs). Since then, Jamie has gone on to play roles in such films as Nicholas Nickleby (2002), King Kong (2005), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and most recently as Griffin in Jumper.
Jumper: Griffin’s Story will be available for the PlayStation 2, the Wii, and XBOX 360 this week. The film opens on Feb. 14.
Brash Details Space Chimps Game
Brash Entertainment announced that it is developing a Space Chimps game based on the animated film of the same name produced by Vanguard Animation and presented by Starz Media. The film is being John H. Williams (Shrek and Shrek 2) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, The Addams Family) and features the voice talent of Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Patrick Warburton Kristin Chenoweth and Stanley Tucci. The game’s release will (of course) coincide with the Twentieth Century Fox film release on July 18, 2008.
The CGI animated comedy follows the antics of a circus chimp named Ham (voiced by Samberg) who is the grandson of the first primate ever sent into space. As part of a publicity stunt, Ham is chosen to lead a mission into space to explore a mysterious new planet. But when he and his crew crash land on the bizarre world and find their lives in peril, Ham has to put monkey business aside to keep his crew safe and find a way to get home.
Space Chimps promises 1-2 player action and allows players to alternate between Ham and Luna through 13 levels co-op style (two players or one player and artificial intelligence) taking on over 35 enemies and three bosses. There’’s also a promise of two unlockable cooperative arenas utilizing the chimpball (whatever that is) or traversing on the back of Fluvians (the planet’’s answer to ridable animals).
Brash says that Space Chimp will be released for the PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.
Saw Game and the ESRB
Yesterday Brash Entertainment announced a few more details on the Saw game, based on the popular and oftentimes graphically violent movie franchise. Today I solicited some comments from the company about the game’’s nature and how it would reconcile the copious amounts of shock and gore with an ESRB rating system that is much more strict than the MPAA’’s movie ratings system.
Given the game’s stage of development, Brash wasn”t willing to say much, but a company rep gave us the following one-liner: Brash has an experienced team of producers that have years of experience in managing ESRB ratings.
Well, it ain”t much, but it”ll do. We”ll follow this game as it develops and let you know whether it’’s shaping up to be something unique, or if it’s another title taking a dip in potentially controversial waters.
Saw Game Details
When Brash Entertainment announced its existence in June 2007, one of the odd properties that it revealed was the Saw movie franchise. Only odd in the sense that it would be difficult to bring the graphic nature of the film to a medium that does have its own set of limitations (like ratings guidelines). While I am not sure how the company will handle that delicate balancing act, it at least offered new details on the vision of the videogame today.
Brash announced that the videogame’s release would coincide with the next Saw film’’s debut, Halloween 2009. Brash also said that it is working closely with Saw creators Leigh Whannell and James Wan, to make sure the game experience is authentically horrifying and provides all the puzzles, shocks and suspense of the films. The game will also feature its own storyline that promises to answer several lingering questions, and will use Epic’’s Unreal Engine 3 technology to provide the eye candy and atmosphere. Saw is being developed for the Xbox 360 and Wii.
Finally the official site for the game went live today — but it doesn”t offer much beyond a sign-up form. Still, you can check that out at www.whoisjigsaw.com.
Hopefully the game will jump off the mediocrity train that the last few Saw movies have been riding and use the source material to create something entertaining. We”ll see.
