Hollywood icon to create videogames

THE blockbuster producer behind films such as Pirates Of The Caribbean and Top Gun will try his hand at creating videogames in a joint venture announced by MTV.

Jerry Bruckheimer, the creator of TV shows including CSI and Cold Case, has signed a deal with MTV to form a videogame studio that would compete with industry giants Activision and Electronic Arts.

The planned studio would be co-owned by Bruckheimer and MTV and work on original games from concept to production and marketing, reported Kotaku.

"Video games represent a new and innovative medium for what we've always tried to do, which is to tell great stories. But this medium is unique in that it gives the player control over how those stories unfold," Bruckheimer said.
Jeff Yapp of MTV said the company were interested in Bruckheimer's storytelling talents and would seek to produce original concepts with him rather than spin-offs based on his previous work.

"What I wanted was his ability to tell a story that uniquely connects to an audience and now to give him a new set of tools," Mr Yapp said in an interview with MTV's gaming blog Multiplayer.
MTV takes on Activision

MTV has this year been competing with Activision for a slice of the music-based game market with its answer to the successful Guitar Hero series, Rock Band.

Rock Band, released in November, was developed by Harmonix, which also developed the first two Guitar Hero titles before being purchased by MTV in 2006.

Entertainment company RedOctane, which owns the rights to the Guitar Hero series, was bought by Activision in the same year.
Merging films and games

Also released this year was the game Stranglehold, developed by Chicago studio Midway Games in collaboration with acclaimed Chinese action director John Woo.

Stranglehold was marketed as an interactive sequel to Woo's 1992 film Hard Boiled and allowed gamers to play as Inspector "Tequila" Yuen, the protagonist of the film, and follow a storyline that began where Hard Boiled ended.

The appearance of Inspector Yuen in Stranglehold was modeled on actor Chow Yun Fat, who played the same role in the film.

In 2005 Steven Spielberg announced a deal with Electronic Arts to develop three original games, but as of yet none have been released. The company is expected to release more information on the collaborations early next year.