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Area 51 is a video game series set in Area 51 military facility. The franchise was launched by Atari Games as a series of two arcade light gun shooters and was revisited by Midway Games as a series of first-person shooters. The original arcade games cast the player as a member of a special military unit that must battle an invasion of aliens called the Kronn. Versions of the original Area 51 were released for various home consoles. The Midway titles, exclusive to home systems, had different plots from the original games.
| Area 51 | |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Gun game, First-person shooter |
| Developer(s) | Mesa Logic (1995-1999) Midway Studios Austin (2005-2008) |
| Publisher(s) | Time Warner Interactive (1995) Atari Games (1995-1999) Midway Games (2005-2008) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows |
| First release | Area 51 1995 |
| Latest release | BlackSite: Area 51 November 12, 2007 |
Games
editThe original Area 51 was released into arcades in 1995, and ported in 1996 to the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC. A sequel, Area 51: Site 4 was released by Atari in 1998. Unlike the original, it was not ported to any home consoles. Like all of Atari Games' products, it was absorbed into Midway Games' portfolio after Midway's shutdown of Atari Games in 2003.
Midway subsequently rebooted the franchise as a first-person shooter. In 2005, Area 51 was released by Midway for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows platforms. A sequel, BlackSite: Area 51 was released in 2007 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows.
Film
editOn August 31, 2004, Paramount Pictures announced that it had bought the world-wide film rights for the series.[1] Billed as an action-packed thriller, producer Christine Peters was said to be collaborating with the game developers to help construct the film. On September 9, Variety reported that Paramount had hired Dean Georgaris to write the screenplay and produce with partner Micheal Aguilar. It was to be under their Penn Station banner along with Christine Peters and Midway;[2] As of 2011, the status of the film's development was unknown.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Paramount Pictures Announces Agreement to Acquire Worldwide Film Rights to Midway Games' Action-Thriller AREA 51". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway Company. 31 August 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ "Dean Georgaris Penning Area 51". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse; Pirrello, Phil (11 October 2011). "IGN's Ultimate Games-to-Film Guide". IGN. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2019.