The Line Between TV And Video Games Is History

by: Randy - posted: 10/19/2006 5:16:00 PM

Television.  Video Games.  The line is about to get fuzzy between the two as Kuma Reality teams up with the History Channel, creating weekly TV episodes of the TV series Shootout!  Beginning November 3rd, as the second season of Shootout! kicks off, an online gaming episode will be released to coincide with the TV content.  This synergistic partnership is all about re-creating famous historical gun battles, from the Wild West, to Guadalcanal, to Fallujah.  Starting November 3rd, you'll be able to go to History.com and download the online game for free.

KUMA REALITY GAMES AND THE HISTORY CHANNEL®
MEET DEMANDS OF NEXT-GENERATION VIEWING TRENDS
WITH SYNERGISTIC GAMING AND TV CONTENT

Beginning in November, Kuma will Produce Video Games to Coincide with Weekly TV Episodes of The History Channel Series “Shootout!”

New York (October 19, 2006) – Kuma Reality Games, a leading game publisher and developer specializing in high-quality episodic games, and The History Channel® today announced a landmark partnership to develop synergistic gaming and TV content.  Beginning November 3, 2006 with the launch of the second season of The History Channel series “Shootout!,” Kuma will release video games online simultaneously with upcoming “Shootout!” television episodes, allowing audience members to watch the show and then “live” the historical event by playing a 3D game re-creation of the episode.   

Through this unique alliance, Kuma Games and The History Channel intend to deliver on the emerging generation of wholly interactive entertainment experiences. For advertisers, this hybrid of television and video games offers a powerful new toolset to connect audiences and program sponsors. “Shootout!” advertisers can utilize in-game and around-game advertising opportunities in addition to traditional on-air spots, offering them a platform to reach the coveted ‘gamer’ demographic.

“We are helping TV take its place in today’s exploding game marketplace,” said Keith Halper, CEO of Kuma Reality Games. “The ability to reach key consumers is greatly enhanced for Advertisers by combining TV’s reach and brand impact with games’ immersive nature, relevance to key consumers and unique messaging capabilities.”

“Shootout!” examines, dissects, and re-creates some of the most famous gun battles in history, from the Wild West to Guadalcanal to Fallujah.  Using heavy 3D CGI animation sequences, the audience will experience the thick of battle from the point of views of the players themselves.  Beginning with the November 3 season premiere, viewers can log onto History.com and download Shootout! the online game for free. Episodes of the game are based directly on 3 episodes of the series, Iwo Jima, Battle of the Bulge and the Tet Offensive. Viewers and gamers alike can watch the show and then "live" the historical event by playing the 3D game re-creation of the episode.

“We are really excited to extend the viewer experience for ‘Shootout!’ with this cutting-edge, companion video game from Kuma,” said Dolores Gavin, Director, Historical Programming for The History Channel.  “Season two of ‘Shootout!’ was developed with gamers in mind.  We think that the unique perspective of the series combined with the immersive nature of the game will allow our viewers to experience history in a whole new way.”