Gaming News - May 2006

Santa Monica, CA (May 9, 2006) - MTV today announced the release of their game documentary, Gears of War: The Race to E3.

From MTV:

With careers, egos, and millions of dollars on the line, the pressure to blow away the world’s press at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) reaches a breaking point in Gears of War: The Race to E3, a fast-paced, character-driven documentary that chronicles the sleepless nights and personal sacrifices required to create a blockbuster videogame. The docudrama will be produced by LivePlanet, a leader in creating entertainment properties for traditional and digital media platforms.

Underscoring the ongoing convergence between entertainment and technology, The Race to E3 will make a groundbreaking debut across multiple platforms including Xbox Live. In connection with the show, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download the first-ever high-definition television content on Xbox Live Marketplace. Premiering the week of May 8, these 3-minute episodes take viewers into the lives of the team at Epic Games, the world famous game developer behind “Gears of War.” Then on Friday, May 19 at 10 PM Eastern/Pacific, the drama culminates in the primetime special Gears of War: The Race to E3, on MTV2, with additional exclusive content available on MTV2.com, MTV Overdrive and Xbox Live.

“We’re tapping our Project Greenlight experience and translating it to videogames, a creative field that rivals the movie business—and in the gaming world, it doesn’t get any bigger than ‘Gears of War’,” stated Larry Tanz, CEO LivePlanet. “We are excited to partner with Xbox, a brand known for pushing the boundaries of entertainment, and MTV2 to offer this unique program across multiple platforms.”

“We’re thrilled to work with LivePlanet and MTV2 on this landmark project,” said Chris Di Cesare, Director of Xbox Marketing. “Besides highlighting the hard work and dedication that goes into making a videogame, this multi-platform roll-out demonstrates that Xbox Live is not only a gaming service, but also a cutting-edge, high-definition entertainment network.”

“MTV2 has become the destination for our audience to find the hottest and latest trends,” said David Cohn, GM of MTV2. “Gears of War is one of the most highly anticipated video games of the year and it’s only natural that we cover it on-air and online as this is the type of content that our audience is passionate about and has come to expect from us.”

Filmed in high-definition on location in Raleigh, NC by LivePlanet, the dramatic story follows the team at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal) as they prepare for E3, the videogame industry’s Super Bowl. With time running out and the pressure mounting to complete a playable demo, personalities clash and personal lives suffer. Then, with everything at stake, the team arrives at E3. Will the demo mesmerize the 70,000 attendees and become the buzz of the show, or will it fail to impress and grind the game’s momentum to a screeching halt?

The Race to E3 focuses in on the eccentric personalities at Epic Games and documents how game development interrupts and intersects their daily lives. In between picking up the kids from school, band practice, and joyriding in the boss’ Lamborghini, there are interoffice clashes and surprising interpersonal moments including breakups and strained friendships. The Race to E3 gives the viewer a fascinating, uncensored, and never-before-seen look at the high-stakes, high-drama, and sometimes low-sleep culture of videogame development.

Gears of War: The Race to E3 is Executive Produced by Larry Tanz, Keith Quinn, Marc Joubert of LivePlanet and Lee Brownstein, who also serves as show runner on the project.

Made exclusively for Xbox 360, “Gears of War”, thrusts gamers into a deep and harrowing story of humankind's epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. The game is scheduled to be released on Emergence Day 2006.