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Wallace and Gromit Game Preview

MBCook writes "Gamers.com has a preview of the game based on the upcoming movie (due in 2005). The preview includes 10 screenshots and some descriptions of game play. The game is expected to be released by the end of the year for the PS2 and the X-Box. The player controls Gromit in an attempt to stop Feathers McGraw from using the inhabitants of the local zoo in his jewel smuggling operations. With levels, like in Sly Cooper, that are designed to be more than a 2D platformer on rails, this looks like a game to look forward to." I've got patent pending on that!

15 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Patent Pending by telstar · · Score: 4, Funny
    "I've got patent pending on that!"
    • You, and Amazon...
  2. Microsoft FUD!!! by kruetz · · Score: 4, Funny

    The penguin [Feathers McGraw] is EVIL! Is this mere coincidence, or Microsoft propaganda, given that the game will be available on the X-Box? In fact, I'm sure that Aardman Animation is really an off-shoot of MS, attempting to derive some sort of profit on the X-Box while at the same time sending subliminal messages to gamers across the world, convincing them that Penguins, Linux and OperSource is bad. Also, is it just coincidence the Gromit looks kinda like that dog that was one of the ill-fated MS Office Assistants from wayback? Smells kinda fishy to me...

    (Disclaimer: I'm heavily drunk and about to go to bed. It makes sense to me NOW, but so do a lot of other things which I won't mention...

    BTW, I hope it is Aardman Animation that I'm thinking of, or I'll get modded down for being factually incorrect... woah! Almost had myself fooled there!)

    --

    This sig intentionally left bla... dammit!
    Who's got the whiteout?
  3. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    In a word, yes. Actually doing the stop animation is time-consuming enough, but the amount of time required to make all the models is tremendous. Think whole years of work for a couple of good stop-animation models. So if this movie takes alot of time to make, do not be surprised.

  4. the 10 screenshots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful


    Wow, they are low on polys. The terrain
    looks like a square-edge fest!

  5. Wensleydale by SnuSnu · · Score: 3, Funny

    At long last, a game guaranteed to feature realistically rendered cheese! Let the French rejoice!

  6. destructive by Boromir+son+of+Faram · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was shocked and disappointed to hear that the Wallace and Gromit cartoons will be hitting both the silver screen and the console in the next few years. That the cartoons seemed to have fallen out of favor was some consolation for their initial popularity.

    The Wallace and Gromit shorts promote a world-view centered around materialism and hedonism. The characters are motivated by idle pleasure and selfishness, and the absurdity and pessimism of their "adventures" encourage existential angst in young, impressionable minds.

    That there has been no public outcry against these cartoons, and rather they seem to be enjoying a resurgance in popularity, speaks to the moral bankruptcy of contemporary Western society.

    --

    Boromir, son of Faramir, King of Gondor and Minas Tirith
  7. Grommit predates office dog! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wallace and Grommit offical site

    better looking than the developers site which truly looks like the car mechanic's car

    The first wallace and grommit was "a grand day out" about an adventure they went on to get more cheese. Where is the biggest supply of cheese? Hence all the cheese jokes, dear moderators. This came out in 1991, so it is more likely that Microsoft stole the dog image from aardman than vice versa.

    My favourite penguin has always been Opus. And did not the original evil pengiun from Batman, predate Linux? Linux was also created in 1991 another coincidence?

    Like all things, some penguins are good and some are not.

  8. Re:a question for all you 3d developers out there by BShive · · Score: 3, Informative

    In game models usually have to be under 'X' number of polygons for performance. The polys spent on going from 13 to 50 sides would probably mean making something else look less pretty. It's still all a question of what tradeoffs you want to make even with current hardware.

  9. Re:No GameCube version? by iainl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Is the GameCube really that abysmal that it can't handle a platform game?"

    Probably more like "Does the XBox not have anything to compete with our new platformer?"

    The GameCube has Sunshine, and Wario (plus rumours of Mario 128) on its way. The PS2 has Jak 'n' Daxter (considered by some to be better than Sunshine, even). The XBox has Blinx. I know where I'd release my platform title...

    --
    "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
  10. Watch Wallace & Gromit clips online by Mr.+Fusion · · Score: 3, Informative
    ./'ed already? Looks like Gromit needs to brush up on managing server loads. "It's the wrong

    While you're waiting for it to go back up, check out Wallace & Gromit's Crackling Contraptions, especially if you've never seen any of the duo's shorts before. (Beware, AtomFilms only use the Windows Media Player format now.)

    Wallace and Gromit also have an official site, available from the Aardman Animation site. -Mr. Fusion

  11. Re:Huh? by why-is-it · · Score: 4, Informative

    The game, which is based on the movie, is coming out the end of 2003, but the movie isn't being released until 2005? Does it really take that long to do those stop animation films?

    Abolutely! In one of the interviews on the Chicken Run DVD (also by Nick Park / Aardman) it took over 18 months to film the sequence that took place inside the chiken pie making machine, and that segment was only a few minutes long.

    Typically, the amount of footage an animator can generate in a day is measured in seconds...

    --
    *** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
  12. Re:Huh? by Mr.+Bad+Example · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cracking post, Gromit.

    (IE? It's the wrong browser, Gromit! And it's gone wrong!)

  13. Yes, for GameCube by BrerBear · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't know why the gamers.com site seems to miss this point, but according to the BAM website for the game it is also being published for the GameCube.

    It's also listed on Nintendo's master game list under "W".

  14. Won't have that charm by ianscot · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Wallace and Gromit is all about the claymation look, the pacing, and the cinematic feel of the whole thing. Judging by these screen shots, I'm not seeing any of that.

    Think of Feathers McGraw, the penguin, in the animated short -- he had no facial expression at all, but they made him sinister just by letting the camera linger an extra split second on that blank face, you know? How do you catch that feeling in a game? Cut scenes before you go to the standard-platform-jumper play? What-ever.

    Kind of sad. They'd make a better game by having Wallace build his whacked-out inventions to overcome various obstacles, wouldn't they?

    --
    "Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
  15. Re:Surprised Hollywood green-lighted long-term pro by j-b0y · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I guess there's a few reasons why Hollywood would want to do this a Wallace and Gromit film:

    • Cheap. The fixed cost is pretty low, and the keeping the animators supplied with clay and film is a lot less expensive than top-earning actors/actresses, huge sfx sequences, expensive sound sets and location shooting.
    • No egos. Nick Park is is one of the most self-effacing multi-Oscar winners you can find. Peter Sallis is not going to throw a fit because his trailer only has one jacuzzi.
    • Infinite Merchandising. The BBC has been (for a state-run organisation) extremely effective at the merchandising thing. And the merchandising opportunities are directly proportional to the imagination of the creators

    I was worried about Chicken Run, as I thought the combination of Mel Gibson and Disney was going to overwhelm the charm and subtlety (and, let's face it, Englishness) of Aardvark's films. As it turned out, Gibson seemed to understand and was completely cool with the Aardvark style; Disney knew when to butt out. Brownie points all round.
    --
    Please remain calm, there is no reason to pani... wait, where are you all going?