Ubisoft Declares Open Season for Gamers
What's this, a Sony Pictures game not being developed by Sony?
Published: April 13, 2006
Though Pixar may have legitimized the feature-length CG movie, it wasn't long before more studios saw the potential. DreamWorks started their own animation studio and used Shrek to catapult them into the big time. When Disney and Pixar's relationship soured, Disney quickly went to work building their own in-house 3D animation studio (which is where Chicken Little was born). Now, finally Sony is getting into the act.
Sony Pictures Animation's first project, Open Season seems to have all the ingredients that previous Pixar and DreamWorks projects have had: cuddly forest-dwelling anthropomorphic aminals? Check. Celebrity voices? Cheeeeeeck. Officially licensed video game from another Sony studio, indicating that the cooperation between the entertainment giant's different departments may actually be forthcoming? Chec--aaawhaaaaaa? No no, friends, the game's being handled by Ubisoft.
That's not a bad thing, mind you. Ubi's Montreal Studio, the same cats responsible for the Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia games (though likely not the same team), will be heading up the project, promising to capture the film's " riotous romp in the great outdoors, where the rowdy brood of forest animals turns the tables on a bunch of unsuspecting hunters."
Since we're both lazy and proficient in the use of the cut and paste, we'll just let the company describe the plot of the movie/game.
"When a domesticated grizzly named Boog gets lured into leaving the creature comforts of home by a fast-talking mule deer named Elliot, he finds himself lost in the woods just three days before hunting season. Forced to 'rough it' in the great outdoors, Boog goes native, rallying all the forest animals to take back their home and send the hunters packing."
Open Season the game will center on Boog and Elliot, though Ubi is promising interaction with the movie's full cast of characters, multiplayer mini-games, animal-based weaponry, and -- we're totally guessing here -- re-use of some of the locales from the movie in the game. Hey, at least it's not a licensed kart racer, remember those things?
“We have been working hand-in-hand with Ubisoft’s team to create a game that captures all the fun of Open Season,” detailed Mark Caplan, executive director, interactive at Sony Pictures Consumer Products and master of the lower-case, comma-filled title. “Sony Pictures’ leadership in digital entertainment coupled with Ubisoft's award-winning development team is a great partnership that brings innovation to both the film and video game businesses.”
“Ubisoft is thrilled to be collaborating with the movie production team of Open Season to bring the humorous adventures of Boog and Elliot to the interactive world,” giggled Ubisoft's VP of Marketing, Tony Key. "Ubisoft is committed to making the best movie-based video games in the industry. We do this by partnering closely with our licensing partners and movie makers to create an experience that remains true to the spirit of the film but expands it far beyond the theater.”
As much as we'd love to pretend we could avoid another CG movie-turn-videogame, the marketing blitz will soon be upon us. Expect plenty of announcements as the voice cast and screenshots and movies galore. You have been warned.
Sony Pictures Animation's first project, Open Season seems to have all the ingredients that previous Pixar and DreamWorks projects have had: cuddly forest-dwelling anthropomorphic aminals? Check. Celebrity voices? Cheeeeeeck. Officially licensed video game from another Sony studio, indicating that the cooperation between the entertainment giant's different departments may actually be forthcoming? Chec--aaawhaaaaaa? No no, friends, the game's being handled by Ubisoft.
That's not a bad thing, mind you. Ubi's Montreal Studio, the same cats responsible for the Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia games (though likely not the same team), will be heading up the project, promising to capture the film's " riotous romp in the great outdoors, where the rowdy brood of forest animals turns the tables on a bunch of unsuspecting hunters."
Since we're both lazy and proficient in the use of the cut and paste, we'll just let the company describe the plot of the movie/game.
"When a domesticated grizzly named Boog gets lured into leaving the creature comforts of home by a fast-talking mule deer named Elliot, he finds himself lost in the woods just three days before hunting season. Forced to 'rough it' in the great outdoors, Boog goes native, rallying all the forest animals to take back their home and send the hunters packing."
Open Season the game will center on Boog and Elliot, though Ubi is promising interaction with the movie's full cast of characters, multiplayer mini-games, animal-based weaponry, and -- we're totally guessing here -- re-use of some of the locales from the movie in the game. Hey, at least it's not a licensed kart racer, remember those things?
“We have been working hand-in-hand with Ubisoft’s team to create a game that captures all the fun of Open Season,” detailed Mark Caplan, executive director, interactive at Sony Pictures Consumer Products and master of the lower-case, comma-filled title. “Sony Pictures’ leadership in digital entertainment coupled with Ubisoft's award-winning development team is a great partnership that brings innovation to both the film and video game businesses.”
“Ubisoft is thrilled to be collaborating with the movie production team of Open Season to bring the humorous adventures of Boog and Elliot to the interactive world,” giggled Ubisoft's VP of Marketing, Tony Key. "Ubisoft is committed to making the best movie-based video games in the industry. We do this by partnering closely with our licensing partners and movie makers to create an experience that remains true to the spirit of the film but expands it far beyond the theater.”
As much as we'd love to pretend we could avoid another CG movie-turn-videogame, the marketing blitz will soon be upon us. Expect plenty of announcements as the voice cast and screenshots and movies galore. You have been warned.