Filmmaker Steven Spielberg and video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. are releasing a few tidbits about their ongoing collaboration to make three video games, but most details -- including the game's titles -- remain a secret.
Code-named "LMNO" and "PQRS," the first two games to come from the exclusive relationship will be previewed at this week's E3 Media & Business Summit, which starts Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif.
The "LMNO" game is being created for the Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and PCs. It will be a "contemporary action adventure" where the player partners with a female character who evolves over time depending on how she interacts with others in the game, said Neil Young, general manager of EA's Los Angeles studio.
"PQRS," which is being developed for Nintendo Co.'s Wii, will have gamers wielding the wireless remote to manipulate blocks in various ways.
Young said to expect much more than a computerized version of Jenga when it's released, sometime in the current fiscal year.
"Of course just playing with blocks does not a game make," he said Monday. "Now imagine there are up to 50 different properties that can be associated with them. They can explode or form a chemical reaction."
Young said Spielberg, known for his roster of films such as "Saving Private Ryan," "Schindler's List," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and "E.T.," got the idea for the block game after a round of Wii tennis with Nintendo game legend Shigeru Miyamoto during last year's E3.
"He came away just kind of blown away by the visceral nature of the machine," Young said.
Spielberg wasn't available for an interview, but in a prepared statement said he was "a gamer" and has always been intrigued by game development.
"I am truly enjoying the creative collaboration and we hope that gamers will be as excited as we are about what we can bring to the medium through our shared vision," Spielberg said.
There were no details on a third title under Spielberg's long-term exclusive arrangement to develop the games for EA.
Financial terms of the deal announced in 2005 haven't been disclosed. Redwood City, Calif.-based EA, the world's largest game maker with blockbusters such as "Madden NFL" and "The Sims," said it will own the intellectual property behind the Spielberg games and publish them.
