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Bluehole joins vast ranks of Unreal-using devs
A new Korean development studio called Bluehole announced this week that it has licensed Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for its "flagship" MMO project, which is codenamed Project S1. The studio just started up last year, and is composed of "key members from some of the leading development and management teams in Korea." Specific, that!Project S1 is being developed for the PC, and according to a statement by Epic's Jay Wilbur, its team has "plans to reinvent MMO design and battle system mechanics." Sounds promising, but it's awfully soon to tell. We're looking forward to hearing more about this project in the months to come.Bluehole joins fellow Koreans NCsoft and Webzen, along with seemingly countless other studios like Cheyenne Mountain and 38 Studios in using the prolific and popular Unreal engine.
Warren Ellis to pen Castlevania script
At least, we think Warren Ellis is going to write something about Castlevania for someone. Between the cigarettes and the Red Bull, it looks like the man himself isn't too sure, either. In a post on the 13th, he said, "Apparently I can now tell people that I'm writing a Castlevania animated film for Project 51 Productions," so it follows that at some point he wasn't allowed to disclose that just yet. And then today (or for those of us in still on the 16th, tomorrow), he says -- in time-honored wink, wink fashion -- that he has no idea what the fuss was about, he's not doing anything with Castlevania, no sir. So it seems that Ellis will be scripting some sort of direct-to-DVD animated Castlevania title, with support from illustrator James Jean. For the three of you who don't know who Warren Ellis is, it seems far too simplistic to say that he writes comics. He writes a lot (some of it probably on napkins) -- screenplays, video games, anything that someone will pay him for. And he has a truly electric web presence and a legion of devoted fans who would rend flesh from their neighbors upon his very word. He's been a huge presence on the 'net for years, offering himself and his opinions through several blogs and forums, the latest of which is Die Puny Humans, a "future-tracking" community. On the comics front, he's half responsible for the bold and brilliant titles Transmetropolitan and Planetary, and he's turned his pen to other popular franchises like Hellblazer. He even had a notable cameo in Powers, the brainchild of Brian Michael Bendis, which poked fun (and violence!) at Ellis. Needless to say, if you don't know Ellis, you should be ashamed of yourself. For the rest of you who do, this is exciting news, even if Ellis is telling us not to get too excited just yet. If anyone can make hunting vampires with a whip seem as cool as it should be, he's the man. With his writing chops, appreciation for both video games and anime, and overall brilliance, we can't think of a better guy for the job.
Production company ready to whore out Castlevania
According to GameDaily Biz, production company Project 51 has snatched up the animation rights to the Castlevania series. And what's already in the works? The company plans on developing DVD movies, a TV series, and a theatrical release.But, before you dismiss this as some half-assed effort to cash in on a storied video game franchise, Project 51 is planning to work with Konami's Koji Igarashi to keep things all good in the vampire hood.The company says: "Castlevania has horror and action, but at its core is a great story about a family that has fought against Dracula for hundreds of years. We want to be true to the characters and stories that [the fans] enjoy, but we want to bring people beyond the game fans to it."For those unaware, Crystal Sky Pictures got the movie rights for Castlevania last year and Paul W.S. Anderson has already been announced as director and writer for the picture which is scheduled for release next year.
