These first three titles will be original games developed specifically for the online store of the Nintendo Wii (WiiWare). Zallag chose this studio for its experience in racing games as well as for its «in-house» technologies specially designed for the Wii.
Two of the first three games share a similar universe inspired by the famous cartoon «Wacky Races» and by a Super Nintendo title released in the 90’s called «Street Racers». United under the code name «Shoot the drivers», these two titles have the goal of not taking themselves too seriously and also to bring an innovative feature which will change the way racing games are played. The third game, developed by Artefacts’ second team, will be officially announced at the beginning of 2010. Alongside these 3 game developments, two french «BD» (comic-book) authors (Studio 109 -Pierre Chatillon and Piccolo) are creating comic-books based on the games’ characters and universe. Working closely with Zallag and Artefacts, these two artists will bring their own vision of these wacky universe. These comic books will only be available for sale on the Zallag official website.
Christelle Chandavoine (Zallag’s CEO) :
« We think that Comic books and video games are deeply linked. Working with Studio 109 and Artefacts is something that came naturally to us. These studios are indeed very talented, each in their own field and they showed a great interest in working with us. »
Bruno Chabanel (Artefacts Studio’s CEO) :
« We are very happy to have signed these contracts with Zallag. We hope that it’s the beginning of a great partnership and that we’ll be able to work on next-gen platforms in the near future. »
Pierre Chatillon (Studio 109) :
« As I am passionated by both: comic books and video games, i’m absolutely thrilled to be able to work on such projects. It’s not everyday that you get a chance to conceive a whole universe that will be used in both: a video game and a comic book. We hope the players will appreciate our work and that we’ll be able to create more comic books with Zallag.»
The Zallag Team welcomes a new Head Producer!
In order to manage the production of these games but also to start conceiving our next projects, Zallag can now count on a very talented Head Producer coming straight to us from Electronic Arts. Having worked for companies such as Atari, Nobilis and Electronic Arts, Nicolas Danière has had the opportunity to work on such titles as : Civilization III, Neverwinter Nights, Black & White II, The Battle for Middle Earth 1 & 2, King's Bounty: the Legend, NHL 10, Need for Speed Nitro, Command & Conquer, Dragon Age…
David Costarigot (Zallag’s Managing Director) :
« We immediately thought of Nicolas when we started looking for a producer. Passionated about his work, he’s incredibly thorough in what he does. Whatever the type of game may be, he’ll always give his maximum and it’s something that is noticeable when you play the games he has worked on.
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Nicolas Danière (Zallag’s Senior Producer) :
« Joining Zallag is an incredible opportunity and a great challenge as well. To be able to produce games that i like is a great chance for me. »