Columbia Pictures picked up the rights to a screen adaptation of the video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune back in June, and Kyle Ward was quickly attached to write.

Due to other commitments, Ward has now gracefully bowed out of the project, and screenwriting duo Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer stepped in to take his place.

The two writers were responsible for Sahara, Conan, Cowboys & Aliens, and the upcoming adaptation of the  comic book Dead of Night.

Donnelly and Oppenheimer will have their hands full writing the action-packed adaptation. The video game, which sold 1 million copies in its first 10 weeks on the market, follows treasure hunter Nate Drake who is, of course, descended from the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake.

Drake believes a cursed statue has revealed to him the location of the legendary city of El Dorado, and sets out to find the treasure that is said to be hidden there. A rival treasure hunter gives Drake some tough competition, but nothing compared to the “mutated descendants of Spaniards and Nazis” that wage attacks on any who try to learn about the secrets of the treasure of El Dorado.

They are definitely going to have their work cut out for them on this one.

Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Charles Rove, and Alex Gartner will be producing the film.

Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B Entertainment has signed on with Reliance Big Entertainment to develop a film adaptation of Capcom’s video game Dark Void.

The game centers on a pilot who crashes in the Bermuda Triangle, and has to find his way through a world where aliens are using advanced technology to plan a takeover of human civilization.

The video game will be released in January, and those involved with the project are hoping to build a franchise off the story.

Aside from backing Dark Void, Pitt will also likely star in the film adaptation.

I don’t think it’s going too far out on a limb to say that this is one of the most interesting marketing moves I’ve heard in a long time:

The Mouse House will reintroduce its famous mascot in “Epic Mickey,” a videogame due late next year that will revive several of the character’s key personality traits that have been dulled or forgotten since his introduction in the late 1920s.

Be honest now. When someone says “Disney,” what’s the first thing that pops into your head? In some regard or another, Mickey Mouse is likely to be associated with Disney. However, what does anyone really know about Mickey anymore?

If you’re like me, you simply think of Mickey Mouse as the squeaky voiced mouse with gloved hands and shorts with large buttons on them. I’m fairly sure that Mickey is supposed to be a pretty good guy, but I can’t exactly place him as a character in much more than Mickey’s Christmas Carol. What I, and most people, now see Mickey as is an iconic image of the Disney corporation, sans any real identifiable persona.

Disney has apparently noticed this and will be using video game marketing to bring Mickey back to the hearts of audiences as more than just the face of the company.

According to VP and Creative Director of Junction Point Studios, Warren Spector, the video game will aim to give a personality back to Mickey. “I want to remind Mickey that he’s a hero — and to be a hero, we need to give him purpose…I want him to be funny. I want him to struggle. I want to ‘age him up’ a little.” Ultimately though, the game’s goal is to let players decide what it is they find cool about Mickey.

Now, why do I find this such an interesting marketing strategy? Mickey Mouse is a character who has been around for over 80 years. Obviously, such a long span of time would result in an evolution of the character.

Well, with Mickey the evolution kind of went stagnant. The easiest way to bring back Mickey with a personality would be to make a new film, or series of shorts, with Mickey as the star.

However, while a movie would be easier, bringing him back to the forefront of Disney characters in the realm of video games will likely prove a more effective move than trying to release a movie with Mickey as the lead character.

Unlike a movie, a video game will provide audiences with an opportunity to interact with the character, rather than just watch him going through the actions.

In another interesting strategy, the new video game will also incorporate Mickey’s predecessor, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This character will be “something of an antagonist in “Epic Mickey.” He resents his brother’s success and the love Walt had for Mickey. The redemption of Oswald is one of the player’s chief goals in the game.”

Not a bad way to give some attention to not only the character that made Walt Disney a household name, but also the character that got his animation career rolling.

Currently “Epic Mickey” is the only project in the works to boost Mickey’s recognition as a personality, but Spector hopes that it will lead to interest in other projects expanding on Mickey’s role.

Eighty years, and Disney is finally ready for their most well-known character to be re-introduced to a new generation. I think Walt would be proud.

Max Payne for all of those with a real life, is a very popular video game. With hard core Matrix like gun action, a dark script and a unique look to it, it is a very hot game. Now the folks over at Abandon Entertainment along with John Moore bring us an awesome looking trailer to a game that excites the inner geek of most of us.

Check out the trailer below.

The plot synopisis over at IMDB is as follows:

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a DEA agent (Wahlberg) whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin (Kunis) out to avenge her sister’s death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Check out some photos of the movie also. Spot on with what I recall from my gaming days. Photos from over at first showing!