Genius Products, best known as the distributor for products from Animal Planet, ESPN and the WWE, has entered the videogame-publishing and distribution business. The company’s first game will be “Line Rider” for Wii, Nintendo DS and PC.
Genius Products plans to offer a number of new titles in 2008 across a variety of genres and platforms. Line Rider, the first of these titles, is expected to hit stores this summer.
However, while Line Rider will be the company’s first game, Genius Products’ move into game-publishing begs the question of what will happen to THQ’s contract for its WWE game franchise, among others. With Genius Products the “normal” distributor for WWE and ESPN content, as mentioned above, will Genius Products eventually become the publisher and distributor for those related games as well?
But back to the game at hand. Genius Products’ first videogame, Line Rider, is based on the Internet phenomenon and built on the simple premise of “what happens when a boy travels through a world that’s drawn by the players themselves?” The Wii, DS and PC game will include new game modes, new riders, new community features and new tools for players to create their own gameplay experience.
Players must solve more than 40 puzzles created by the world’s top Line Rider player, TechDawg. Players can also create their own puzzles and share them online by posting them on YouTube, Facebook or the official Line Rider Web site.
