Microsoft, Ubisoft Vets Join Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerry Bruckheimer and MTV Games today announced two executive appointments to Jerry Bruckheimer Games that officially mark the producer’s entrance into the video game industry. Industry veterans, Jim Veevaert and Jay Cohen, have been named President of Production and President of Development respectively. Bruckheimer and MTV Games previously announced this exclusive deal to create new and original video game content together. Details on the partnership have been quiet until today’s executive appointments.

Jim Veevaert is 15 year veteran, having spent the past eight years at Microsoft overseeing the the Halo franchise. As the Executive Producer for Halo 3, Veevaert was responsible for production and franchise management for the Halo Xbox 360 game series and Microsoft’s relationship with video game developer Bungie Studios. Prior to his work on the Halo series, Veevaert brought the Epic Games relationship to Microsoft, along with the Gears of War franchise. Veevaert led collaboration with the creative leads of Rare Ltd in the United Kingdom to expand the Viva Piñata franchise with an original television production and series of companion games.

A 13 year veteran in the interactive entertainment industry, Jay Cohen spent the past decade at Ubisoft building the company’s North American subsidiary. During his tenure as Senior Vice President of Publishing, Cohen and his team successfully engineered and executed the launches of blockbuster franchises such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia, Rayman and Assassin’s Creed. Cohen currently sits as Chairman of the Board for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences as well.

Prince of Persia Creator to Write Fathom Flick

Anyone who knows me also knows that I’ve long preached about the convergence of different parts of the entertainment industry. There’s no reason why the video game, comic book, and film industries can’t all go swimming in the same pool together. Case in point: Jordan Mechner. Classic video game fans may recognize that name as the creator of the Prince of Persia franchise. Most recently, Mechner wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer helmed feature film based on the games. Now, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Mechner will complete the pop culture media trifecta by writing the script for Fox Atomic’s film adaptation of the late Michael Turner’s hit comic book series, Fathom.

Fathom follows the story of a young woman named Aspen Matthews who learns she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids who possess the ability to control water. Megan Fox is attached to star in the flick, and will also have a hand in the film’s development, taking on a producer credit, with Turner and fellow Aspen MLT exec Frank Mastromauro credited as executive producers.

As far as Mechner’s involvement is concerned, it should be interesting to see how he handles the Fathom scripting chores. Meanwhile, gamers will be able to get a taste of his screenwriting talent this Summer when Prince of Persia hits the big screen. Who knows? Maybe if the Fathom movie makes a big splash (pun intended), the Powers That Be could tap Mechner to develop a video game adaptation.

LEGO Unveils Prince of Persia Line at Toy Fair

Video games are nothing new to the American International Toy Fair in New York, and last week’s show was no exception. And while we’ve seen plenty of interesting toy tie-ins, from McFarlane’s latest Halo and Guitar Hero action figures to MEGA Bloks’ upcoming Halo Wars themed playsets. Of couse, when it comes to building block playsets, there’s no name bigger than LEGO. And at Toy Fair last week, LEGO brought its brand o’ building fun to gamers … and in a more analog format than you might expect.

Read the rest of this entry »