Majesco Acquires Nacho Libre License

Officials from publisher Majesco have announced the company has acquired the video game rights to Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies film Nacho Libre, with the intention of creating a Nintendo DS game based on the property. The movie stars Jack Black as a cook in a Mexican orphanage who moonlights as a Lucha Libre wrestler to raise money for his orphans. The game will featured more than ten playable characters, four game modes, touch screen mini-games and four player wireless matches and a “photo puppetry” visual style. The game will be developed by Budcat Creations, who previously created the PlayStation 2 port of Double Fine’s Psychonauts and Madden NFL 2006 for the PC. "We're proud to announce the first Nintendo DS wrestling game for the U.S. and European markets," said Ken Gold, vice president of marketing, Majesco Entertainment. "Nacho Libre is the perfect movie to translate into a handheld experience and our game captures all of the humorous wrestling action from the film." Although Majesco reversed plans to enter the high budget console games market in 2005 it continues to focus on budget and portable titles, included licensed and imported games such as Age of Empires: Age of Kings and Guilty Gear: Dust Strikers, also for the Nintendo DS. The company's initial attempts to produce movie tie-ins were curtailed with the sale of the license for the forthcoming Ghost Rider movie to Take-Two Interactive, although it has subsequently produced lower budget tie-ins Jaws Unlimited and Aeon Flux.