Lead The Meerkats for WiiWare, Nintendo´s new downloadable game service for the Nintendo Wii console that offers fresh game play experiences and new opportunities for creators. New RTS title offers a fun and unique gameplay experience for animal lovers of all ages.Lead The Meerkats, Lapland Studios have agreemed with the FKMP (Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project) to make a donation per copy of the game sold from first day sales.
Ilkka Immonen, CEO of Lapland Studios commented, “We have naturally been working very hard to find the balance between the realistic depiction of Meerkats and key engaging gameplay elements as possible, so that it looks and feels like a game, and has that something interesting yet exciting to offer the player! When you consider the traction Meerkats have gotten as a result of very popular TV documentaries and the hard work of both the KMP and FKMP (Kalahari Meerkats Project and Friends thereof) it was obvious to us that we needed to show our appreciation to such groups, for making the subject matter what it is today”. “We felt that we wanted to give something back to a group that is truly on the ground when it comes to their efforts with supporting the conservation of these creatures and that really does a lot in terms of the grass roots research that helps us as people understand them better, so we contacted the KMP and FKMP to put this together”.
Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock, Professor of Animal Ecology of the University of Cambridge and the Author of Meerkat Manor - The Story of Flower of the Kalahari (2007, Weidenfeld & Nicolson; ISBN 0297844849), commented that, "I am excited to see the development of a game that will help people to understand the decisions that individual animals have to make in the course of their daily lives. Purchase of each game includes a donation to the Kalahari Meerkat Project so sales of the game will also help to support our research and safeguard the meerkats".
Evi Bauer, President of FKMP commented, “We've been waiting for this for ages: a meerkat game that is fun to play, lovely to look at, and realistic in what it is about: meerkats”! “And the best of it is that for every copy of the game bought a donation is made to the FKMP to support KMP meerkat research”!
About Lead the Meerkats
“Lead The Meerkats”, is the first game to simulate the trials and tribulation of the life of meerkats. By taking advantage of Wii and its unique and intuitive Wii Remote, the player is trust into the lively and endearing world of meerkats. As a pack leader the player enjoys the company of these curiously interesting creatures and all their trials and tribulations. The game offers extremely fun and engaging gameplay experiences for Wii players of all ages.
In Lead the Meerkats you are a young meerkat and you have a lot to accomplish. You have been separated from your pack and the time has come for you to form your own meerkat pack. Name your pack and meerkats. Dig a network of burrows and enlarge your territory. Forage for food and grow your pack size. Stand guard and be ready to make quick decisions on the run. Run to the safety of your burrows or stand and fi¬ght your enemies. Go head to head with a rival meerkat pack. Lead your pack to victory and rule the savanna. Are you ready for the challenge?
Lead The Meerkats will be released: Europe: May 28th - North America: TBA
The game has been rated by the rating bodies, PEGI, ESRB, and USK. The games official website is:
www.leadthemeerkats.com