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Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures removed from sale following expired agreement
Telltale's Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures disappeared from digital channels last week, and the studio has now confirmed its distribution agreement with Aardman Studios expired. In a post on Telltale's support page, Telltale said, "We currently do not have any plans to renew this agreement at this time." Telltale released the point-and-click series starring the plucky claymation heroes back in 2009, bringing it in four parts to PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and iOS. So it's had its time, we suppose, but if you've been thinking recently about finally picking up Grand Adventures, today's news is gonna leave you cheesed off. Aye up, lad, it's not all bad. For those who have already purchased the games, Telltale put together a cracking guide for how to retain access to them.
Rumor: Aardman Animation working on Raving Rabbids TV show
Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids franchise is ready to jump from video games to television. A report from Bleeding Cool reveals that Aardman Animation -- best known for the Wallace & Gromit franchise -- is looking for animators to work on a TV adaptation of the Rayman spin-off. According to the job call, the show will offer a mixture of live-action footage and computer-generated animation. Apparently, Aardman already has a working relationship with the Rabbids franchise, having already produced a number of CG shorts to promote the upcoming Raving Rabbids Travel in Time. Ubisoft has shared its video game properties with other mediums in the past, with the Assassin's Creed series recently spawning some short films and an upcoming line of comic books.
Aardman using Flipnote Studio to create short holiday films
Nintendo has just announced a very cool promotion for its free DSiWare animation app Flipnote Studio (which you should really have if you have a DSi -- did we mention it's free?). Tim Ruffle, an animator with Wallace and Gromit creator Aardman Studios, has created twelve Christmas-themed animations using the software, one of which will be made available each week starting September 16.The first animation, "Sandwich Twins," and all following will be viewable through the Flipnote Hatena site, the official portal for viewing and sharing Flipnote animations. Because the Aardman animations aren't up yet, we've embedded a completely unrelated one after the break. Enjoy!
D3 to release Shaun the Sheep this Fall, Coraline in early 09
D3Publisher has announced that it has acquired the rights to make games based on stop-motion animations Coraline and Shaun the Sheep (via Gamasutra). The former, Coraline, is a film adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book directed by Henry Sellick (The Nightmare Before Christmas). The adventure game is expected to ship early 2009 for DS and unknown home consoles alongside the film's February 6 debut. Unlike the film, the game will not be using 3D glasses, according to D3 COO Yoji Takenaka.The other game adaptation, Shaun the Sheep, is based on a British TV show from Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit), who previously worked with D3 on a game for Flushed Away. The adventure title will be exclusive to the DS and is due out this Fall.
