14 DAY TRIAL // Lapland Studio Ltd. has announced that it plans to launch a WiiWare title called Lead the Meerkats, which is based around the life of the Suricata suricatta, one of the smaller members of the mongoose family, well known to those who watch shows on the Animal Channel.
The game aims to simulate the tough life that these social creatures lead while also offering a fun experience to the player. It is set to arrive on May 28 on the European service offered by Nintendo, a North American launch date being revealed at a later time.
The player will be initially one of the youngest Meerkats in the pack and becomes separated from their family. They must then create a new pack and find a suitable home for them before aiming to expand the reach of the territory they control, finding sources of food and battling both external threats and other families that might encroach on the area they control.
Ilkka Immonen, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Lapland Studios, said, “We have naturally been working very hard to find the balance between the realistic depiction of Meerkats and key engaging gameplay elements as possible, so that it looks and feels like a game, and has that something interesting yet exciting to offer the player! When you consider the traction Meerkats have gotten as a result of very popular TV documentaries and the hard work of both the KMP and FKMP (Kalahari Meerkats Project and Friends thereof) it was obvious to us that we needed to show our appreciation to such groups, for making the subject matter what it is today.”
Prof. Tim Clutton-Brock, who is the man who wrote the original Meerkat Manor and teaches Animal Ecology at the University of Cambridge, has expressed interest in the project, with the developer entering into an agreement with the Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project to donate a portion of all the sales revenue obtained from day-one sales.