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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 4.4 - JULY 1999
Internet & Interactive
Red Storm Conspires With BKN To Offer TV Series-Based Game. Red Storm, which has been broadening the boundaries of computer gaming with products like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, has reached an agreement with Bohbot Kids Network (BKN), a New York-based syndication network specializing in children's programming, to produce a series of games based on BKN's series Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths & Legends, a new show which will begin airing in the spring of 2000 and already has a two-year air commitment. The show is a creation of Allen Bohbot, Chairman and CEO of Bohbot Entertainment & Media, Inc. Producers of Roswell Conspiracies, which is the first full in-house production from BKN's Los Angeles-based animation studio, describe it as an X-Files for the younger set. Internationally, the series has been sold to such leading broadcasters as Super RTL (Germany), BBC (UK), Mediaset (Italy) and Cartoon Network (Latin America). The as yet untitled Red Storm game is part of a fast-growing trend that sees the computer gaming industry continuing to converge with other forms of entertainment. This is an integral part of Red Storm's strategy, first proved last year when "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six" was released as both a CD-ROM game and hardcover novel, resulting in top 10 sales for both in their respective formats. "When we first came up with the concept for the series, we knew it would make a great game," says Rick Unger, Executive Producer at BKN. "The idea for the show was good, and it didn't necessarily apply to just one medium. The only challenge was finding a company to help us realize our vision for the game, and one that has had a track record of producing quality, successful titles. Red Storm fit the bill." The deal was finalized at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, where Red Storm displayed several of its new 1999 titles, including Force 21, Aironauts and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear.
Lucas Releases New Star Wars CD-ROM. Lucas Learning has released The Gungan Frontier, the first simulated world Star Wars game on CD-ROM. As heroes of the Battle of Naboo, players are called before the Gungan High Council to handle a critical mission. Their city is threatened by overpopulation, and players must establish a new colony on a nearby moon. The Gungans need to create a new world filled with fantastic creatures and plants from across the galaxy. Players discover how these alien animals and plants interact and how they depend on each other to live. Only when an ecologically sound environment has been built can a new Gungan city truly thrive. US street price is $29.95. For more information visit www.gunganfrontier.com.
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Blue's Clues box art.
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Nick Offers A New Blue's Clues CD-ROM For Preschoolers. Nickelodeon and Humongous Entertainment have released Blue's 123 Time Activities, a new CD-ROM game based on Nickelodeon's popular preschool television show, Blue's Clues. Blue's 123 Time Activities allows preschoolers to practice pre-math and problem-solving skills with Blue and her friends. Individually paced, multi-level learning activities help kids develop logical thinking and deductive reasoning skills, practice simple math, and explore numerical estimation and prediction. In the game, preschoolers join Blue at the Backyard Fair where they strengthen early math skills by exploring a variety of activities. They may add and subtract building supplies to help Tink construct a train ride for the fair; help Bell and the Scale triplets fill requests by weighing and comparing fair souvenirs; or join Baby Bear in a card game of counting, matching and strategy, among other activities. By collecting Blue Dollars at each activity, preschoolers can help Blue win one of many big prizes at the prize tent. The Blue's Clues television show stars a live-action host named Steve (played by actor Steven Burns) who lives in an animated, storybook setting. In each episode, Steve invites the audience to help him solve the day's puzzles, which come in the form of blue paw print clues left by his energetic, animated girl puppy, Blue. The show encourages its young viewers to play along with the show by presenting them with questions to answer and games to solve. The dialogue and animation in every episode is specially timed so that Steve pauses to "wait" for the kids to answer his questions, direct his next move or discover a clue. Blue's 123 Time Activities is currently available on hybrid CD-ROM for Windows 98/95 and Macintosh for $19.99.
Wendy Jackson wrote about Blue's Clues in "Dig This! Using computers to simulate cut-out animation techniques on South Park and Blue's Clues " in the September 1998 issue of Animation World Magazine.
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A Bug's Life CD-ROM game from
Activision, Inc. and Disney Interactive, Inc. © Disney/Pixar.
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| B. Happy by Mark Newgarden, a CartoonNetwork.com on-line comic. TM & © Cartoon Network. A Time Warner Co. All Rights Reserved. |
Activision Releases A Bug's Life Game. Activision, Inc., in collaboration with Disney Interactive, Inc., has released a game based on Walt Disney Pictures' and Pixar Animation Studio's computer-generated animated film, A Bug's Life, for the Nintendo 64 game console. A Bug's Life lets players run, fly and slide through an interactive journey. In the game players take on the role of the film's hero, Flik, an inventive but occasionally over-enthusiastic ant, who enlists a group of flea circus bugs to help him in his quest to save his colony from the hands of the villainous Hopper and his legion of grasshoppers. The game lets players journey through, fully-interactive 3D worlds that are brought to life through cinematic quality animations and ultra smooth game controls. A Bug's Life challenges players to navigate through 15 dynamic levels and plush environments as they solve puzzles in order to defeat an array of bug enemies. During the course of their journey, players interact with a multitude of characters - both good and evil - from the feature animated film, including such favorites as Heimlich, Francis and Hopper. Many of the feature film's original voice talent enhance the overall gaming experience. Suggested retail price is $59.95.
The Banana Splits Return! The Banana Splits will return via Cartoon Network Online's Web Premiere Toon series in 2000. Produced by Hanna-Barbera and Sid & Marty Krofft, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was originally broadcast on NBC from 1968-70, and the show was repeated throughout the 1970s. Episodes currently air Saturday mornings on Cartoon Network. The live-action variety show featured rock musician characters in fuzzy animal suits: Fleagle, a beagle; Drooper, a lion; Bingo, a gorilla; and Snorky, an elephant. The foursome would perform goofy sketch comedy or rock music, then introduce serialized cartoon segments. In the Web Premiere Toon version, the Banana Splits will get zapped into an interactive, animated universe for their Web adventures. Cartoon Network Online's first Web Premiere Toons, Pink Donkey And The Fly, by Gary Panter, and B. Happy, by Mark Newgarden, were launched in February 1999.
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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