It's Open Season for Retailers
Prepare for the licensed game onslaught.
Published: September 18, 2006
Licensing deals are made in this industry all the time. In fact, it's probably safe to say that one of the surest things in video games is that a big budget animated kids' movie will get snapped up by one of the bigger publishers and turned into a game. Usually, this means Electronic Arts or Activision are all over things, but, in a rather funky twist, it's Ubisoft that's publishing Open Season.
Why is that funky, you ask? Simple: it's a Sony Pictures movie. One would assume, given the tenuous but persistent bond that Sony Computer Entertainment America has had in the past with its sister division, that they would be publishing the game -- though it's doubtful they'd ever actually make them. For whatever reason, Ubisoft -- and their enormously talented Montreal studio -- are helming the project, and of course, everyone's just tickled pink that the game is done in time for the theatrical release at the end of the month.
“Sony Pictures Animation, along with Sony Pictures Consumer Products, worked very closely with Ubisoft's award winning development team in Montreal to create a video game that stays faithful to the movie,” explains Tony Kee, VP of marketing for Ubisoft. “This partnership allowed Ubisoft to seamlessly translate the character depth and humor of the movie’s storyline into a video game experience that remains true to the spirit of the film.”
And there you have it. The Martin Lawrence/Ashton Kutcher animated flick has been boiled down into a simple action game (with, we're guessing, some platforming elements, since licensed games will shrivel up and die without some hop 'n bop bits). The game borrows the characters and locations from the movie, of course, though there are some four-player mini-games to be found in the console version as well. Open Season has apparently hit a little earlier than usual, and both the PS2 version and the PSP version have shipped to stores over the weekend and should be available as you read this.
And now you know!
Why is that funky, you ask? Simple: it's a Sony Pictures movie. One would assume, given the tenuous but persistent bond that Sony Computer Entertainment America has had in the past with its sister division, that they would be publishing the game -- though it's doubtful they'd ever actually make them. For whatever reason, Ubisoft -- and their enormously talented Montreal studio -- are helming the project, and of course, everyone's just tickled pink that the game is done in time for the theatrical release at the end of the month.
“Sony Pictures Animation, along with Sony Pictures Consumer Products, worked very closely with Ubisoft's award winning development team in Montreal to create a video game that stays faithful to the movie,” explains Tony Kee, VP of marketing for Ubisoft. “This partnership allowed Ubisoft to seamlessly translate the character depth and humor of the movie’s storyline into a video game experience that remains true to the spirit of the film.”
And there you have it. The Martin Lawrence/Ashton Kutcher animated flick has been boiled down into a simple action game (with, we're guessing, some platforming elements, since licensed games will shrivel up and die without some hop 'n bop bits). The game borrows the characters and locations from the movie, of course, though there are some four-player mini-games to be found in the console version as well. Open Season has apparently hit a little earlier than usual, and both the PS2 version and the PSP version have shipped to stores over the weekend and should be available as you read this.
And now you know!