Category: Interactive

Walt Disney's original animation studio is in the process of being restored, and you can get in on the action. A live Webcast documenting the restoration of the Kansas City, Missouri building where the Laugh-O-Gram Studios, Walt Disney's original animation studio, was housed is now online. The not-for-profit organization Thank You, Walt Disney, Inc. is spearheading the renovation in an attempt to return the building to its 1920s condition, including animation equipment present when Laugh-O-Gram films operated out of the second floor.

Interactive software publisher TDK Mediactive, Inc. and DreamWorks SKG have extended their exclusive video game license agreement for the SHREK franchise, including the SHREK sequel. The agreement is worldwide for all current game platforms. According to TDK, the worldwide sales of SHREK interactive titles have been highly successful, exceeding 1 million units across four platforms (Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color and PC CD-ROM). Additionally, most of the titles are available in six languages and are currently available in North and South America, Europe and Australia.

As part of their master publishing agreement with Nickelodeon, interactive software publisher THQ Inc. is in development on FAIRLY ODDPARENTS! for Game Boy Advance. Based on the Nickelodeon animated program starring Timmy Turner and his trouble-making, magical godparents, FAIRLY ODDPARENTS! for Game Boy Advance is scheduled to ship November 2002. The player will control Timmy, who enters the world of his favorite comic book hero, the Crimson Chin.

Interactive entertainment publisher Infogrames, Inc. will ship its first DRAGON BALL Z video game for Game Boy Advance, DRAGON BALL Z: LEGACY OF GOKU on May 14, 2002. The popular DRAGON BALL Z series airs in the U.S. on Cartoon Network, averaging more than 1.5 million viewers per show. The new game encapsulates the show into an interactive experience that puts the DRAGON BALL Z world under control of the player. Developed by Webfoot Technologies, Inc., DRAGON BALL Z: THE LEGACY OF GOKU will be available nationwide on May 15, 2002 for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

Entertainment publisher TDK Mediactive, Inc. and Mattel, Inc. are releasing video games based on the 1980s animated series ROBOTECH. In ROBOTECH: BATTLECRY for the PlayStation2, Xbox and GameCube, and ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA for Game Boy Advance the player pilots the Veritech Fighter, a giant transformable mechanized robot that can convert into a jet fighter, a 40-foot tall humanoid robot and a combination of both. Each transformation mode offers new movement options, special abilities or weapons.

Universal Interactive, Inc. has shipped THE SCORPION KING: SWORD OF OSIRIS, an action-adventure game for Game Boy Advance. The game is based on Universal Pictures' THE SCORPION KING starring The Rock, and will be in stores to coincide with the film's theatrical release on April 19, 2002. Developed for the Game Boy Advance by southern California-based WayForward Technologies, THE SCORPION KING: SWORD OF OSIRIS is an action-adventure game where players step into The Rock's role as the Scorpion King to defeat more than 30 new enemies on a quest to retrieve the Sword of Osiris.

Venice, California-based Max Ink Café (MIC) recently completed the game cinematics for DRAGON RAGE, the newly released PlayStation2 game console for game developer 3DO. MIC created seven movies totaling 10 minutes of animation, integrating live-action digital video footage of the ocean, a sunset and fire with pure CG environments and matte paintings that appear in the cinematics.

ANIMAL HOSPITAL, an irreverent new animated series about an animal psychiatric hospital, has debuted on Icebox.com and the first six episodes may be viewed for free. Described by creator Dan Bell as "R. Crumb meets ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST with a touch of ANIMAL FARM thrown in," ANIMAL HOSPITAL features the voiceover talent of Dana Carvey, Steven Weber, Caroline Rhea, Mo Gaffney and Paul Hipp. Check it out at www.icebox.com.

Interactive entertainment publisher Electronic Arts has entered into a publishing and distribution partnership with Square Co., Ltd. for FINAL FANTASY X in Asia Pacific. The deal grants EA the rights to distribute FINAL FANTASY X INTERNATIONAL for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. FINAL FANTASY X was released in July 2001 in Japan and December 2001 in North America.

Interactive entertainment developer THQ Inc. has gained interactive publishing rights to HEY ARNOLD! THE MOVIE, Nickelodeon's animated feature film based on the TV show, HEY ARNOLD! In HEY ARNOLD! THE MOVIE for Game Boy Advance, players assume the role of Arnold as he rallies his friends and relatives to stop an unsavory businessman from tearing down their neighborhood to build a Super Beeper Emporium. Players must help Arnold find and organize his friends so that they can complete certain tasks on different levels.

If you haven't already, whet your appetite for Chris Wedge's feature film ICE AGE by visiting its "cool" Website at www.iceagemovie.com. 20th Century Fox and Internet consulting and development firm Genex have partnered on the site, which gives users an introduction to and interaction with the key characters from the film. The ICE AGE site chronicles the adventures of Scrat, a sabertooth squirrel who needs the help of online players to locate acorns, his key to surviving the Ice Age.

Microsoft Corp. will provide a one-day tutorial on March 19, 2002 called "Xbox Unplugged," at the 16th annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), March 19 - 23, in San Jose, California. This sponsored tutorial is designed for professionals in the business of creating games, but new to the Xbox. The tutorial teaches developers, artists, sound designers and producers the nuts and bolts of Xbox, and explains how to best harness the capabilities of the video game system.