Prince of Persia creator to keynote GDC China

Jordan Mechner, creator of Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia franchise, will deliver a keynote address at the 2009 Game Developers Conference China. GDC China - the game developer’s event hosted by Think Services and not the other event which has caused more than its fair share of confusion - takes place at the Shanghai International Convention Center on October 11-13, 2009.

Mechner’s keynote address will attempt to explore the success of the Prince of Persia series, as well as his own success as a game designer, programmer, director and screenwriter.

For more information about the Jordan Mechner keynote at GDC China 2009, visit www.gdcchina.com.

Disney Books to publish Prince of Persia graphic novels

Disney Book Group announced today the Prince of Persia graphic novel anthology, a graphic novel written by the creator of Prince of Persia, Jordan Mechner. Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-man) has signed on to create art for the cover, and interior art will include some of the most talented names in comics.
The 128-page graphic novel, a full-color anthology featuring six original stories, is a prequel to the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the feature length film to be released by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films on May 28, 2010. The Prince of Persia graphic novel anthology will be published in April 2010 simultaneously in hardcover and paperback with a 125,000 first print run.

At the San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 24, 2009 Jordan Mechner, Todd McFarlane, Bernard Chang, Tommy Lee Edwards, and Cameron Stewart will discuss the Prince of Persia graphic novel anthology for the first time at Disney Press’s panel (11:30am-12:30pm, room 3) at the San Diego Convention Center.

Ubisoft Opening Studio in Toronto

Ubisoft, developer of the Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell franchises, announced today that the Government of Ontario will be investing a large sum of money, CA$263 million, over the next ten years to help bring the large developer to Toronto. CEO of Ubisoft Montreal (and now Toronto) Yannis Mallat announced today - along with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello – that within the next few years, the software company will be setting up a new shop in Ontario. This move is hoped to be beneficial to both parties by tapping into the massive film-making industry for Ubisoft and creating hundreds of jobs for the people of Ontario.

This studio will mark the fourth development house opened by Ubisoft in Canada, which employs over 2,300 people across the country. In other news, Tom Clancy just bought a new house.

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.

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The Rundown: Jan. 28, 2009

Today on The Rundown a brand new Boom Blox game is revealed, Ubisoft reveals new Prince or Persia DLC, YS: Book I & II is delayed and a NY politician introduces a bill that hopes will put video games in a lock box - much like Al Gore promised to do with Social Security. Read it all after the jump.

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