With several days left before the new Transformers flick hits town, QJ.NET caught up with Activision Producer Callum Godfrey for an exclusive interview regarding their Transformers: The Game project. Callum reveals what's in store for the next-generation consoles as well as some of the things they've accomplished that he's really proud of.

Callum faces more QJ questions after the jump. Transform and roll out the full article!

Activision has announced that Traveller's Tales' Transformers: The Game (DS, PC, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) has finally rolled out to retail stores nationwide. The game's release has been timed to coincide with the theatrical release of the Transformers live-action film.

"Transformers: The Game lets you choose your side – Autobots or Decepticons – to either protect or destroy Earth," said Will Kassoy, senior vice president of global brand management, Activision, Inc.

"The game features fully destructible environments, an army of playable characters, split second changes from robot to vehicle form and a storyline that goes beyond the film to include some elements from the property’s long history that will also appeal to Generation 1 fans."

The new Transformers movie is so close it hurts. Transformers: The Game is also right around the corner and it's shipping for the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles as well as for the Sony PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS.

As we've reported in earlier posts, the game lets you play either in the side of good or evil with the Autobots or Decepticons. Players can either opt to go for preservation or total destruction in a war where the fates of two worlds depend on.

We got a hold of this nice opening cinematic video and we must say it sets some nice impressions for what could be a real good movie-related game. Have a look:

Pretty sweet, huh? The character scaling, the transformation sequences, and the movements are all eye candy. The characters all look like themselves with a modern streak and we find that amazing. Aside from the good visuals that you've seen, the audio also comes in very crisp. If the actual graphics and sounds hold up in the actual gameplay, Transformers fans will embrace this title like "avant garden."

Optimus Prime and his gang are just about to reach the silver screen, which could only mean one thing for gamers - its multiplatform tie-in, Transformers: The Game is right around the corner. Daniel Suarez, Activision's Executive Producer for the game, sat down with Gamespot to share more info on this upcoming title.

First off, he gave a rundown on the movie's story. Three guys running into giant robots, yada yada. The game won't stray too much from the original plot, but there will be some twists and turns. Instead of focusing on humans, the Transformers will be taking the spotlight.

Also, taking a different angle, the games will show what would've happened if the bad guys win. As we all know, good guys always win; it's no different in the movie.

Suarez continued as he shared a bit about their history, how the movie guys got in touch with the teams involved in developing the game. "This game is gonna be so cool," he quoted the CG guys as he mentioned how skilled their developers are. He also mentioned the voice actors, some coming from the original animated series.

Check out the interview for yourself, to see some pretty awesome footage along the way.

In an interview with Game Daily, Activision's Daniel Suarez, executive producer of Transformers: The Game (for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, PSP, Wii), gave some details as to what people could expect from another movie to game adaptation, especially from one movie that is anticipated to be a big hit come July.

However skeptical many gamers may be of another Activision movie-licensed game, Suarez reassured gamers and fans of the franchise that Hollywood now understands how the game development process works and no longer just sees a game as another licensed consumer product to bring in the big bucks.

Having worked at both Vivendi and Disney Interactive, Suarez believes he has seen Tinsel Town's perspective of the video game change for the better. He added:

Video games are no longer considered another licensed consumer product like a coffee cup or beach towel like they were about 10 years ago. Film makers, studio executives and nearly everyone involved in the production, marketing and promotion of a film are now gamers or have kids who are gamers.

So in essence, the movie makers would love their children to enjoy the fruits of their movie work, especially over video games. Often trying to meet at a point beneficial to both the movie and the game, the game developers and the movie producers closely collaborate to meet the objectives of the developers in making a perceptively great game - hopefully just as great as the movie.

Technology especially helped Hasbro, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount, and Bay Films share assets in the film and integrate them as authentically as possible in the game. In fact, Activision already made efforts to bring G1 into the modern mix, after announcing the sign up of the original voice cast of the animated series for Transformers: The Game.

But if Spider-Man 3: The Game was any indication opposing Suarez's opinion, well, we won't be surprised if the game isn't more than what the eye already sees.

Activision may have officially announced the signing up of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker to offer their voice talents of the game, but fans of Generation One (G1) of the lovable "Transformers" can rest assured that even the original voice actors of the many memorable bots of the 80s cartoon series will also provide their voices to Transformers: The Game.

Coming from an official press release just made available lately, the news is that Activision also signed up voice talents from the original animated series to create a game that speaks to both modern day and G1 fans. Activision has not called out any names in particular, but The Hollywood Reporter has caught Activision in meeting with G1 voice actors Keith David and Mark Ryan to reprise the voices of Barricade and Iron Hide, respectively.

Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox will join up with Cullen and Welker to fill in the dialogue of their respective characters in the movie for the game adaptation headed to the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PSP, DS and the PC. To keep authenticity to the maximum, Activision even had Flint Dille, the writer of the cartoon series, pen the story of the game, which is under development by developer studios Vicarious Visions and Traveller's Tales.

Activision's Transformers: The Game is certainly not slacking off in the least bit, preparing for its rounds across different platforms. Of course, giving you screenshots or videos of gameplay isn't enough. Artwork is just as important, and Activision took that to heart big time.

That is why we have here for you today the various pack shots of Transformers: The Game, from the Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, PlayStation 3, DS, and PC. The video games' scheduled released is still on June 19, 2007.

Anyhow, the Xbox 360 gets two versions of pack shots, one being for the Cybertron edition. The only other platform that's getting two versions of pack shots would be the Nintendo DS. One is for the Autobot version, while the other is for the Decepticon version. Why don't you go ahead and see how the box arts look?

Check out the pack shots for the Xbox 360 and the DS at Full Article!

 

Speaking to the FiringSquad, Traveller's Tales' Callum Godfrey, producer of Transformers: The Game, revealed several details about their upcoming videogame version of the silver screen adaptation.

Okay, first up, game mode details. Godfrey says that the game runs two campaigns, one for Autobots and one for Decepticons. He adds that while the Autobots campaign follows the movie story closely, the Decepticons campaign is a bit altered.

He adds that the missions are themed for each campaign, so expect to do a lot of protecting when playing Autobots. The stage design of each mission also factor in the fact that you can transform into vehicles, so expect to do some driving around.

There will be 9 playable characters including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron, Barricade, and Blackout, among others. As far as the weapons the characters will be using, Godfrey says that it will be similar to the movie.

When it comes to using the weapons, Godfrey notes that they have a targeting system that should allow gamers to switch quickly from one target to the next. They use the same targeting system for melee and ranged combat.

As we've previously reported, the game features the voices of Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Frank Welker as Megatron, so that's a nice nod to the franchise's history. Godfrey himself says that the inclusion of the voice actors makes them happy about their project.

Sadly, the game does not support online multiplayer .

Transformers: The Game should be available this June for North America, and this coming Summer for the EU region. It is set to come out for the PS3, the Xbox 360, the Wii, the PS2, and the PC.

 

Tied with the launch of the official Transformers: The Game (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, two titles on DS, and PC) web site, the online multiplayer gaming experience for the fans of the highly-awaited movie and game of the same name also announced, in an official press release, the coming of its own launch. Located within the bowels of the main Transformers web site, the game will allow skilled players to pick sides and duel in one-on-one skirmishes.

For every win, players will receive corresponding points for themselves and their alliance. High scorers will be awarded special prizes every week and every month, while the alliance with the highest score receives control of the AllSpark. With the AllSpark in either the Autobots or Decepticons' hands, the empowered alliance will be granted access to special sections of the site. The alliance without the AllSpark will be locked out of those same sections.

 

The game is currently entering an upcoming Beta, and all interested gamers must register themselves, pledge allegiance to the Decepticons or the Autobots, select their bot, choose a battlefield and battle for control of the AllSpark. All these will happen in real-time.

Not all gamers will be deserving of stepping up to the challenge, as the Beta of the web game will select the players worthy of testing out the game. So transform and roll out to the official web site and get a chance to be the first to try out the web game. As of publication, however, Activision has not activated the registration system yet. Keep an ear out for announcements on that.

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UPDATE: The registration system is now up, and all interested players can hop right onto the official Transformers: The Game web site and click on Enter Battle. Fill up the registration form, pick your robot and its name, and roll off to battle! See you there!

  

Dreamworks and Hasbro are rushing full throttle towards the completion of the anticipated game tie-in of the Transformers movie for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, DS and PlayStation Portable. Aptly titled Transformers: The Game, the developers are bannering gameplay mechanics that will re-live the glory days of the immortal cartoon series all the while introducing it to the younger generation using a next-gen mantle.

For starters, players will get to choose whether they want to play as the heroic Autobots or the nefarious Decepticons. Both sides have a wide array of Transformers icons such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Starscream and many more. Switching from vehicle to robot form will be almost seamless in order to adapt to whatever the situation calls for.

Environments, as expected, will be fully destructible to up the sense of sheer, mindless mayhem. For those who would like to play with more of a thinking style, they can pretend to use on-screen objects to their advantage and be very proud.
 

   

Hasbro and Dreamworks also revealed that the PSP version will have 20 playable characters with unique stats, abilities, personalities and more.