14 DAY TRIAL // It's no mystery that television and movies seem not to mix well with videogames. Most adaptations for the big screen of titles like Doom have been flops and all attempts to make television series into videogames have turned out poorly (see Lost: Via Domus). But now Atari is determined to get it right by adapting the hit television reality show Project Runway for the Nintendo Wii home gaming console. The publisher plans to release a series of titles, the first of which will be coming out in the spring of 2010.
Atari is partnering up with the creators of Project Runway, Weinstein Co., but it's unclear at the moment whether the stars of the show, supermodel Heidi Klum and critic Tim Gunn, will be lending their personas to the videogame as negotiations with all parties are still going on.
The game is set to use the Balance Board and the Wiimote in Project Runway and advertising will be integrated, with developers hoping for the same companies as on the television show to sign up.
The game will not make any modifications to the format of the TV show. Players will take on the role of aspiring fashion designers who need to choose materials and patterns and then create their designs. One twist is that they can also become the model and present their creations on the runway or take on the position of photographer and present their creations in a new light.
The chances are that the Project Runway videogame will join other adaptations, like those of Hell's Kitchen, Deadliest Catch, Karaoke Revolution: American Idol or Dancing With the Stars in the bargain bin, but it might just be that the star power of Heidi Klum can make the game a moderate success. We'll see how it shapes up in the spring of 2010.