I read about this a couple of days ago and have been wanting to write about it ever since.
Microsoft has sealed a deal with director Peter Jackson, of “Lord of the Rings” and “King Kong” fame, that calls for him to create two new interactive entertainment series for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
Jackson will be working with longtime collaborator and screenwriter Fran Walsh and Microsoft Game Studios to develop these series.
The first series will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next chapter in the “Halo” universe (Halo 3). The second series will be an entirely original property aimed at bringing new audiences into gaming. In addition, Microsoft Game Studios will partner with Jackson and Walsh to establish Wingnut Interactive, a studio focused on developing interactive entertainment.
This is really good and exciting news; I think Peter Jackson will bring fresh blood, ideas and visions to the gaming industry, which should result in some really cool projects.
As he also said, video games on today’s gaming consoles are but another medium where storytellers can bring their stories to life, and games are becoming more and more like movies everyday, in fact they are more or less interactive movies.
I think we’ll see more and more movie directors coming into the gaming market and leveraging the abilities of game consoles to tell more stories.
I personally can’t wait to see the results of Peter Jackson’s collaboration with Microsoft. If he brings even a bit of his cinema making wizardry to the Xbox, it should be worth seeing and playing.
