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Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:40 am
by Digital Puppy
Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Video Game Based on FOX's Hit TV Show Features Virtual Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay
SAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- Jul. 10, 2008 Today Ubisoft announced that it will publish Hell's Kitchen(TM): The Video Game, for Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), PC and Mac(R). Developed by Ludia, Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game is based on the U.S. hit FOX television program from Granada America featuring world-renowned Chef Gordon Ramsay. The game will allow players to experience the show's high-pressure kitchen and dining room challenges as a faithfully rendered 3D Chef Ramsay watches their every move.

"I had a great time doing the voice for my own animation," said Gordon Ramsay. "Being in a video game is a new experience for me and I'm very pleased with the results."

After executing the three phases of an order - preparation, cooking and service - Chef Gordon Ramsay will score each meal. As they progress through the game, players will be rewarded with access to recipes from Chef Ramsay's own repertoire.

"Hell's Kitchen has everything a great video game needs: pressure, excitement and intense competition," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft North America. "We are very excited to be bringing the intensity of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and the Hell's Kitchen experience to the virtual world this fall."

Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game will be released worldwide September 2008.

Key Features:

-- Chef Ramsay watches players' every move and judges them as they progress by yelling at them, praising them or shutting down the kitchen if their skills don't meet his expectations.

-- As players progress, they'll gain access to authentic Gordon Ramsay recipes, including many that are offered exclusively to game owners.

-- In Career Mode, players can earn stars to build their way up from a Single-Star restaurant to a prestigious Five-Star establishment. As the player advances through the ranks, their star rating advances and the recipes become more varied and intricate.

-- In Arcade Mode, the pressure builds as customers become increasingly demanding. Players will be challenged to keep up with the pressure before time is up, or Chef Ramsay loses patience and closes the kitchen.

For assets, please follow this link: http://files.us.ubisoft.com/HK_PK.zip.

About Ubisoft

Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 25 countries and sales in 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. Ubisoft generated sales of 928 million euros for the 2007-08 fiscal year. To learn more, please visit http://www.ubisoftgroup.com.

About Hell's Kitchen

Hell's Kitchen has been a TV phenomenon since its launch on FOX in June 2005. Featuring the acerbic Gordon Ramsay, Michelin 3-star chef and author of several books, the show has consistently delivered solid ratings. Season 3 showed 11% growth over the previous year with adults 18-39 and 12% with total viewers, and was first in its Monday 9PM time slot among adults 18-34 and teens. Season 3's finale garnered 9.8 million viewers, and consistently attracted 7.5+ million per episode. Viewership for the season 4 premiere hit 12.69 million, with at least 11 million per episode throughout the broadcast season. Season 4 ranks as the No. 1 rated program of the Summer among virtually all key demos.

About Ludia

Ludia creates and distributes cross-platform interactive entertainment with mass consumer appeal. Ludia's innovative and high-quality product portfolio consists of original and branded properties, including American Idol(R), The Price Is Right(TM) and Hell's Kitchen(TM). Based in Montreal, Canada and founded by experienced industry players, Ludia completed its first round of financing from private investors last year.

About Granada America

Granada America is the U.S.-based production entity of ITV plc, one of Europe's largest producers and broadcasters of quality television programs. Based in Los Angeles and New York, Granada America produces drama, reality, comedy and documentaries for the American market.

Hell's Kitchen (TM) & (C) ITV Productions Ltd. 2008. Licensed by Granada Ventures Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 2008 Ludia Inc. All rights reserved. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from Ludia Inc. Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo.

Re: Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:06 am
by Alathald
...this is stupid

Cooking is all about the smell and feel and taste, none of which you get with a video game. I don't see this doing very well.

Re: Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:13 pm
by unfaithfulsfan
I think it's a game my wife could get into just for the potential for new recipes alone. She is an avid cook and baker with several local first place trophies under her belt along with an appearance on Martha Stewart http://www.youtube.com/karensdelites (Check it out if you have an extra 10 minutes!)

Jack

Re: Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:17 pm
by Digital Puppy
When I first saw the release, I really didn't know what to think. With the success Nintendo is having with 'everyday gamers', I think we are going to see different people are open to "playing" video games and more publishers that release this kind of content. Titles like this - that may seem silly on the surface - will probably sell a lot better than we think.

I can't see Ubisoft getting into something that will loose money on purpose. Of course we'll see...it does seem kinda silly though. :)

Re: Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:06 pm
by unfaithfulsfan
Digital Puppy wrote:Titles like this - that may seem silly on the surface - will probably sell a lot better than we think.
True, I've seen "Diner Dash" (or something similar to the title) on several women's computers that I've worked on. Its premise is to seat customers, take their orders and deliver their food as quickly as possible to earn points. It's pretty mindless at first (no offense, ladies in the audience!) but gets kinda challenging after a while. (Kinda the same opinion I had of Tetris when it first came out. "This is STUPID!!" then 12 hours later I'm still playing :mrgreen: )

Jack

Re: Ubisoft Serves Up Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:09 pm
by geokilla
If this is anything like Cooking Mama, then I'll get it. Doesn't hurt to try it out.