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Oddworld feature film concept art
We have a delightful surprise for Oddworld fans today. Oddworld Inhabitants has very kindly shared with us two conceptual paintings by Raymond Swanland that have been produced for the Oddworld film. The thumbnails below link to the paintings on TOGG.
We would like to stress that it is far too early for Oddworld Inhabitants to talk about the film to the press or answer questions about these images in particular, and we suggest not bothering OWI with questions they can’t answer. However, they always welcome interest and mail from fans, for whom these paintings are a special treat.
Sources: Oddworld Inhabitants
Lorne Lanning on EGM Live* Podcast
The EGM Live* Podcast with Lorne Lanning is available now and can be found on this page. The interview is 31 minutes long and starts at 8:30 (if you are not interested by GTA IV). Lorne talks about why he switched to movies, how he is approaching the development for Citizen Siege and his opinions about the relations between the Game and Movie Industry. Major revelations includes the fact that there are going to be two games related to Citizen Siege and that the Movie is set for 2010 at the moment.
Sources: 1Up
EMG Live* talks to Lorne
EMG Live*, the weekly podcast of Electronic Gaming Monthly, has interviewed Lorne Lanning on the topics of multimedia convergence and Citizen Siege. The audio interview is ‘coming soon’ according to 1UP.com.
Sources: Atusi
Depths of Oddworld resurrected
Forum veteran Hayley (Fan of the Month, November 2002) has brought back her fabled Oddworld fan site, Depths of Oddworld at a new address, currently appearing almost exactly as it did when it went down in 2005.
Sources: Hayley
OddChat revived
Alcar has re‐created OddChat, the Oddworld chat room provided by OddNet. As before, it is a registered IRC channel accessible through both your regular web browser and any IRC client. To connect with your IRC client, find the channel #oddchat on the server slashnet.org.
Sources: Alcar
OddBlog interviews Michael Bross
Monday, 30 July sees the release and shipping date of Music From Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath, Volume 1, the first Oddworld soundtrack released worldwide. To help promote the album, OddBlog has interviewed Michael Bross, composer of the music and the man responsible for getting the soundtrack released. You can find our interview along with out other special reports.
Video interview with Lorne by GamereactorTV
GamereactorTV has published a video interview with Lorne Lanning, conducted at this years’s GDC, where Lorne was otherwise sharing his experience of Burning Man. The interview reminds audiences why Oddworld Inhabitants left game production to focus on the Citizen Siege film, but plays down progress on the Citizen Siege game.
The video is also available on YouTube.
Sources: Atusi
Stranger’s Wrath soundtrack reviewed
The first review of Music From Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath, Volume 1 has been published by Music 4 Games. Jayson Napolitano praises Michael’s music as a ‘blockbuster soundtrack’ ‘composed masterfully’, saying it it ‘some of the most appropriate and catchy material I’ve heard from a title developed by a Western game developer.’
Sources: Music 4 Games
Music From Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath, Volume 1
Music From Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath, Volume 1 is now available for pre‐order from Michael Bross’s online music store in time for its worldwide release and ship date of Monday, 30th July 2007. Volume 1 of the official soundtrack contains 25 tracks accounting for 73 minutes’ worth of music. Previews of each track, and the album artwork, are available.
According to the official press release, digital distribution of Music From Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath by Nettwerk Music Group will offer the downloadable version of the album from iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Music, and eMusic. The CD version will later be available from Amazon also, but with less of the proceeds going to Michael Bross.
Sources: Bross.com
EXPOSÉ 5 released
Ballistic Publishing has published the fifth title in its flagship annual of digital art: EXPOSÉ 5 was released today by the highly acclaimed publishers who brought us The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants: The First Ten Years. Lorne Lanning was among the Awards Committee judging entries submitted to Ballistic. The final product includes four pieces by Oddworld artist Raymond Swanland: ‘Bladesinger’, ‘Shadowstorm’, ‘A Cruel Wind’, and ‘A Fortress in Shadow’.
Sources: Ballistic Publishing and PR Web
Stranger’s Wrath soundtrack revealed
Michael Bross, music composer for Oddworld Inhabitants’ Xbox games, has revealed that he has recently obtained the rights to publish the music of Stranger’s Wrath. Currently in production, the official soundtrack will come in two volumes, each featuring twenty‐five tracks, and between them including 140–150 minutes of music composed by Bross for OWI’s final in‐house production. The first volume is likely to be released within 2–3 months, the second volume following approximately six months afterwards.
Michael has also been interviewed by the Russian game music site Game‐OST. ‘Meet Michael Bross’ covers Michael’s life, work, inspiration, and techniques, and includes a series of questions about his past and possible future involvement with Oddworld Inhabitants.
Sources: Game‐OST, Ajiellyn, and Stranger’s Maid
GameCity 2007 dates announced
GameCity has announced that this year’s festival will be taking place in Nottingham, U.K. from 24–28 October, 2007. The event, celebrating interactive entertainment and video game culture, premiered in 2006, when Lorne Lanning announced Oddworld Inhabitants’ partnership with Vanguard Animation to develop the Citizen Siege CGI film. OddBlog was there to cover the announcement and interview Lorne and Sherry McKenna.
The GameCity festival is a ‘grassroots’ event aimed at students looking to enter the video game industry. Although this year’s programme has not yet been announced, a spokesman told GameSpot it would include ‘an even stronger lineup of developers from Europe, the US, and Japan… and some slightly off‐the‐wall stuff too.’ Lorne Lanning said of last year’s event that ‘GameCity looks poised to become our industry’s first “Sundance”. A truly unique approach for hosting a game festival that seems long overdue.’
Munch’s Oddysee now backward compatible
After the prolonged disappointment of Xbox 360‐owning Oddworld fans, a software emulator to make Munch’s Oddysee backward compatible was finally released in the latest update to the list of original Xbox games playable on Xbox 360.
Sources: Xbox.com
Art Scene International covers Art of OWI
According to Ballistic Publishing’s latest newsletter, the European art magazine Art Scene International has featured Abe and Munch on the front cover of their February 2007 issue, and has positive things to say on Oddworld’s ten‐year retrospective The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants:
The Art of Oddworld brings a collection of the best illustrations, sketches and renderings that have been created behind the walls of the creative workshop. 258 pages filled to bursting might be a trip into another world for some, a treasure box of ideas for others. Even when you are not a games fan you will be enthusiastic about this book with its queer fantasy characters, the extraterrestrial landscapes, the informative concept studies and the background knowledge about games development.
The Art of Oddworld Inhabitants was the fifth book published by Ballistic, and is their second‐best selling title outside of the EXPOSÉ series. Soft cover and limited editions are still available to purchase from the Ballistic website.
Sources: Ballistic Publishing
Silvio Aebischer talks production design
Silvio Aebischer, a former Oddworld Inhabitant, has described the life and work of a production designer as part of 1UP’s monthly ‘Take This Job!’ guide. Silvio previously worked on Munch’s Oddysee and Stranger’s Wrath, and is now involved in the production of Secret Level’s Golden Axe remake.
Silvio has previously been interviewed on Oddworld.com, in May 2002. Lorne Lanning has previously contributed to the ‘Take This Job’ column in October 2005.
Assorted April news
Lorne Lanning was a participant in the public, educational panel entitled ‘Video Games—Past, Present & Future’, which was held on Friday, 30th March between 3 and 5 p.m. The event was part of Video Games Live, a touring celebration of video game music, during its visit of Yale University. Composer Tommy Tallarico also took part, being the co‐creator of Video Games Live. Mr Tallarico was given special thanks in the credits of Munch’s Oddysee for his contribution to the game’s sound design.
Lorne has been praised for trying to drive forward the video game industry’s content creation model by Craig Allen, the C.E.O. of independent developer Spark Unlimited, in an interview with Gamasutra about his own company’s approach to innovation.
Raymond Swanland has painted token art for Magic: The Gathering. The result is ‘Giant FUT’.
Sources: Game | Life
More Stranger’s Wrath music now available
Michael Bross, composer of the soundtracks to Munch’s Oddysee and Stranger’s Wrath, has published six MP3s of music from Stranger’s Wrath that were not previously available. The files can be downloaded for free from his personal website, where each is accompanied by a short blurb. Michael is providing these tracks in gratitude for the fans’ support of him and his work.
Also available on the same page are the ten tracks from Stranger’s Wrath previously published on Oddworld.com, along with their original blurbs. Michael says he hopes one day to release an official soundtrack for the game.
Sources: Michael Bross
Lorne supporting Hollywood Games Summit
Lorne Lanning is amongst the advisory board members supporting the Second Annual Hollywood and Games Summit, which will bring together executives of both industries to discuss the increasing unification of film and interactive entertainment, and the creative, technological, and business issues relating to this growing relationship. This follows several interviews and presentations in which Lorne has emphasized the need to foster and understand this emerging, truely multimedia method of storytelling.
The Summit, which is presented jointly by The Hollywood Reporter and the Game Developers Conference, takes place at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel on 26–27 June 2007. Its schedule and speakers have yet to be announced, so Lorne may take the opportunity to deliver a speech on the topic.
Sources: PR Newswire
Lorne and High Moon Studios at GDC 2007
Lorne Lanning will be participating in a panel discussion entitled ‘Burning Man: Takaways for Game Developers’ at this year’s Game Developers Conference. The panelists will share their experiences of the Burning Man event, discussing how the festival’s ‘participant experience and community dynamics’ can be used to understand videogame players’ interests and motivation.
Also at GDC 2007, former Inhabitants Farzad Varahramyan, Chris Ulm, and Sean Miller will, with other members of High Moon Studios, creators of Darkwatch, share their experiences of Agile Development, a methodology that attempts to alleviate rising game production costs, times, and team sizes.
Lorne elaborates to Edge on why focus on films
Lorne Lanning has elaborated on his motives for shutting down Oddworld Inhabitants’ game development team and moving to Berkeley to concentrate on CGI feature films.
Edge Online has published ‘Why Oddworld’s Lorne Lanning gave up games for movies’, taken from the Christmas 2006 issue of Edge, in which Lorne talks further about the potential of games as a medium for storytelling versus its technological drawbacks, its differences from the Hollywood production model, and the roles that customisation, community, and the transfer of ideas have in entertainment’s success in competing for people’s leisure time.
Speaking briefly on the upcoming film Citizen Siege, Lorne says:
I don’t want to get too much into it, as it would just open up speculation—it would be kinda like all the speculation when we closed the studio—‘Lorne Lanning quits games!’ again, y’know? And how people say I’m confused because one day I want to make games, the next day films… I’d love the details to only start emerging when you’re watching the trailer.