Hidden Feature

With all the animated full-length movies rolling into multiplexes over the next few months, here's one (sort of) that is (kind of) traveling a different route:

Now that more games have been revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) for the next-gen PS4 and Xbox One consoles, it’s clear there’s going to be a lot of bloodshed when the systems are released by the end of the year. ...

But how about a next-gen game that can make you laugh? Sony’s PS4 launch title “Knack” looks to fill a void.

In development from Mark Cerny, the PS4′s system architect, “Knack” is his attempt to bring “Pixar-quality graphics and storytelling” to the new platform. Cerny told Hero Complex on Wednesday at E3 that essentially what amounts to a full-length feature film is inside the game.

“We’ve embedded pretty much what is a full CGI movie into this game,” he said. “It’s a family story.”

And while he cited Pixar earlier, tone-wise Cerny put the feel of “Knack,” a cartoonish platformer featuring goblins and an unlikely, shape-shifting hero, more in line with the DreamWorks film “How to Train Your Dragon.” As for the “embedded” film, that’s unveiled throughout the game in cinematic sequences.

The trailer looks like an animated feature that the Weinstein Co. might put out.

Not quite theatrical quality, but hey. It's a freaking game. Besides which, games and animated features have been merging for a while. One day soon a game company will release their edited interstitials into neighborhood AMCs the way Disney, next month, will be releasing the direct-to-video Planes onto big screens.

It's about the synergy, friends and neighbors, and what kind of cash flow the property can generate.