06-09-2009, 07:59 AM
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW060909/content.php?id=093
Ubisoft merges video games and films
Ubisoft merges video games and films
Business World Wrote:Ubisoft merges video games and films
LOS ANGELES — French video game company Ubisoft is building its movie-making muscles.
While pairing films with video games is a long-running trend, Ubisoft is rising to a new level by collaborating with famed director James Cameron on a title crafted as an extension of his highly-anticipated 3D movie Avatar.
"Ubisoft didn’t want to just put something flashy on the screen; they wanted a soul behind the video game," Mr. Cameron said during a press conference with Ubisoft at a recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.
"The world of the ’Avatar’ game is, in some ways, considerably richer than what you are going to see in the film."
Mr. Cameron said the film and video game teams have worked so closely together that ideas from each side have been incorporated into the other.
"We are learning from the best," said Yannis Mallet, head of Ubisoft’s Montreal studio.
"The film and video game industries are on lines that are not quite parallel, so let’s anticipate that the talents are converging and build collaboration so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
Ubisoft was free to create its own characters, vehicles, and weapons for the video game, as well as embellish on settings on the fictional moon called "Pandora" where the film story takes place.
"Ubisoft challenged themselves to set the bar pretty darn high," said Academy Award-winning Mr. Cameron, whose films include Titanic and Terminator.
"We are all pretty passionate about making ’Avatar’ the coolest new game out there," he added.
The "Avatar" story centers on a magical, lush Pandora where an indigenous tribal population living in rain forests is standing against an Earth-based corporation’s efforts to plunder the world of precious minerals.
Players of the video game choose whether to side with the corporation or the natives, one of whom becomes a love interest for the protagonist.
The main message of the movie is to see and understand situations and things through the eyes of others, Mr. Cameron said.
The director said he wrote Avatar about 14 years ago but the technology to realize his vision hadn’t existed until now.
"This film is way beyond anything I’ve done before," Mr. Cameron said. "Which is why it has taken four years. To put that in perspective, Titanic took two years to make."
The film and the video game are due out late this year.
Ubisoft is a believer in the convergence of films and video games, and last year bought Canadian special effects firm Hybride, which worked on animated action films 300 and Sin City.
"We started a year ago developing tools that will let us create games and movies at the same time," said Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot.
"We are still very junior at creating movies, so why not join forces with the best of the best to make our visions come to life?"
Mr. Guillemot revealed at E3 that Ubisoft will be working on projects with more film makers including Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg.
Ubisoft will be releasing this year short films based on its blockbuster "Assassin’s Creed" video game, a sequel to which will be released in November.
The video game company has also acquired the rights to make a video game tied to a Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn film being directed by Spielberg and scheduled for release in 2011.
"Ubisoft is going from a simple developer and game publisher company to a full 360-degree content provider," said Mr. Mallet.
"We are excited about our future. The aim is to bring together video games and Hollywood." — AFP
"Numbers are not part of the real world; they're part of something else."
-Prof. Rolly Panopio, UPLB Math Division
-Prof. Rolly Panopio, UPLB Math Division
