E3 2009: James Cameron's AVATAR Video Game Presentation
James Cameron showed up at the E3 video game convention to talk about his Avatar movie based video game. The game seems like it is going to be just as awesome as the movie is! You have to listen to what Cameron has to say because it is pretty exciting to hear what is going on with both the movie and video game. This video game will be the first major stereoscopic 3-D game. So check out the video below! I also wrote up a little break down of what he talks about and offer a few screenshots of what the game will look like.
Cameron talks about some Avatar backstory. As we have heard before he wrote the first treatment over a decade ago, but was balked at by his special effects guys, Digital Domain they said if you make this we're doomed, the technology doesn't exist. Now, with photorealistic CG being attainable, Cameron resurrected the project with the inspiration of Lord of the Rings.
The story takes place in the 22nd century, with most of the action taking place on an earth-like planet, Pandora which is a large moon of a gassy planet.
Pandora is home to the The Navi who live among a myriad of alien creatures, some beautiful and some extremely dangerous. They are 10 feet tall blue striped aliens.
Jake Sully is the main character, who explores Pandora in an Avatar body. It allows him movement from a distance, even though he's really paralyzed. As he goes deeper into the Navi culture, he falls in love with a Navi alien who is supposedly beautifully bad-ass, he ultimately has to choose sides in a battle. Which will be one of the greatest battles ever. Cameron calls it the mother of all battles. Special effects are going to be incredible!
The film is set to be released December 18. I assume Ubisoft's game adaptation will be released around the same time. Cameron promises "A fully immersive cinematic experience". He also says it 's the biggest and toughest project he's ever done.
Cameron met with Ubisoft in 2006. Ubisoft was pitching a title that was already in line with the spirit of the film, which filled him with confidence that he was choosing the right partner. Cameron's theory: "I didn't want anything associated with Avatar to suck."
Cameron says: "Viewing Avatar is like dreaming with your eyes open"
Cameron does not want the video game to suck. So he proposed that the game should not be a slave to the movie, it should follow it's own story line, it should be developed fully in Parallel to the movie. The game will have it's own stories, so playing the game will not follow what the story is in the movie.
They even created new types of characters vehicles and weapons for the game.
Ubisoft came up with a player's choice addition to the Avatar universe, allowing gamers to choose whether they would adopt a Navi perspective during certain events. They are committed to make Avatar the first major stereoscopic 3-D title, adds Cameron. The initial demo they showed him blew him away.
The world of the game is, in some ways, a richer version that you won't find in the film. "The perfect confluence between these two different media." Cameron adds, "Neither one is the red-headed stepchild of the other."
"Ubisoft has done it." Cameron warns us to not play the demo during E3, however, because it might make us afraid. "It's pretty darn exciting."