An actual Romero Living Dead game on the horizon?

[Sniderman]

From Cinescape:

In a deal announced yesterday between video game maker/distribuitor Hip Games and Living Dead Productions, the former company will create a series of video games based on George A. Romero's series of zombie apocalypse movies, the LIVING DEAD films. The games will be produced for current and next generation gaming platforms.


"Horror fans have been searching for the ultimate horror experience in gaming and we intend to deliver it to them with the tremendous creative input of legendary director, George A. Romero, and Living Dead Productions," said Arindra Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hip Interactive Corp in a company issued press release. "We believe this series will make an important contribution to the growth and results of our Hip Games division."


"This is a fantastic opportunity to share George's work and ideas with the game buying public," added Simon Bailey, Managing Director of Living Dead Productions. "We are very impressed with the quality of work that Hip will bring to the games. George's fans and gamers alike will not be disappointed!"


Romero is currently filming his fourth film in his zombie chronicles, titled LAND OF THE DEAD. It is scheduled for a release next October. In their announcement of the partnership between the two companies, Hip Games mentioned that they will be announcing the first game of the new series shortly.


For his part, Romero remarked "I am very excited to start working in this medium and look forward to the association with Hip. I thank Living Dead Productions for making it all happen."

And from American McGee, who was in talks with Romero earlier:

TORONTO, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Hip Interactive Corp. today announced that its fast-growing publishing division, Hip Games(TM), signed an agreement with Living Dead Productions Limited to produce a George A. Romeroseries of video games on all current and upcoming platforms.
Romero's movies, including Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead, benefit from a strong, worldwide cult-following, which translates into continuous success for the movies and their merchandising. Now - finally - his fans will have the long-awaited series of video games that capture the entire universe of zombies, action and gore of George A. Romero. Hip Games(TM) will soon be announcing the first game of the series in a separate release.
"Horror fans have been searching for the ultimate horror experience in gaming and we intend to deliver it to them with the tremendous creative input of legendary director, George A. Romero, and Living Dead Productions," said Arindra Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hip Interactive Corp. "We believe this series will make an important contribution to the growth and results of our Hip Games(TM) division."
"This is a fantastic opportunity to share George's work and ideas with the game buying public, " said Simon Bailey, Managing Director of Living Dead Productions. "We are very impressed with the quality of work that Hip will bring to the games. George's fans and gamers alike will not be disappointed!" "I am very excited to start working in this medium and look forward to the association with Hip. I thank Living Dead Productions for making it all happen," commented George A. Romero.

<getting giddy!>

[Xantan the Foul]

Almost anything with zombies in it is all right by me.

Sounds awesome!

[it290]

That's cool, but hopefully they won't just rip off Resident Evil for the gameplay, or make the series into cheesy FPS/action games. A squad-based strategy game ala X-Com would be pretty cool, though.

[norkusa]

That's cool, but hopefully they won't just rip off Resident Evil for the gameplay...

Why not? The Resident Evil games ripped off Romero's movies.

[Half Japanese]

...and what would be wrong with a FPS? While it's a well-worn genre, it's certainly one that lends itself well to this kind of game, so long as it's done right. I'm sorry, but I think action/horror/fps are a much better genre choice than say, RPG for a zombie game. "Zombie uses bite on Bill" -next turn- "Bill has joined the zombie horde." That shit's no good.

[MegaDrive20XX]

If this falls through, that's gonna rock hard so bad! I dont even care how cheesy or whatever it'll be when it comes to storyline...but the bottom line is, the gore fest of zombies by Romero himself is so damn worth it in a game format!

[EnemyZero]

mmm...i hope they do the games right.....i could se grand theft zombies...lol like take GTA's open system of exploration and do anything except take out people and throw zombies in..could be a good combo

[Sotenga]

I already have a somewhat innovative idea for, perhaps, a minigame:

The Making Of...

Objective: Kill enough zombies in gruesome and bloody manners so that you can please fans, but don't spill so much guts that it exceeds the budget! Don't kill enough, and you are destroyed by letter bombs or you are lynched by simple-minded, albeit angry fans who say that movie sucked because it didn't have enough gore. Kill too much, and Tom Savini bitch-slaps you repeatedly before firing you and throwing you in a pit of real zombies!

Sounds pretty damn difficult, eh?

[allsport11]

I'm just glad they are finally giving him the money to make the fourth part in the series. If the game is actually good it will just be a bonus.

[petewhitley]

I hope it's an FPS. The FPS viewpoint would make for a pretty frightful Romero experience if done right.

[it290]

Why not? The Resident Evil games ripped off Romero's movies.

True, but that gameplay style has been done to death. Also, the RE style doesn't have the 'seriousness' that the Dead films have. Actually, although I'm a big fan of the series and am excited to hear this news, I don't really think the series is that adaptable to videogame format... having to add boss monsters, etc. just wouldn't be faithful.

.and what would be wrong with a FPS?

Nothing, I just said I hoped they wouldn't make it into a cheesy FPS.