Michel Ancel: Difference between revisions

Line 6:

==Video game developing career==

Ancel met the game ~~author~~ Nicolas Choukroun in Montpellier at the age of 17. He worked as a graphics artist on several of Choukroun's games, such as ''The Intruder'' and ''Pick'n Pile''. Ancel's first demo, ''Mechanic Warriors'', was developed for software house [[Lankhor]]. In 1988, Ancel created a computer animation illustrating the effect of CFCs on the ozone layer as part of a competition in a professional journal. The animation, which depicted the Earth being transformed into a vast desert, did not win the competition; however, it attracted the attention of Ubi Soft, who hired him as a graphics artist.

Ancel met the game developer Nicolas Choukroun in Montpellier at the age of 17. He worked as a graphics artist on several of Choukroun's games, such as ''The Intruder'' and ''Pick'n Pile''. Ancel's first demo, ''Mechanic Warriors'', was developed for software house [[Lankhor]]. In 1988, Ancel created a computer animation illustrating the effect of CFCs on the ozone layer as part of a competition in a professional journal. The animation, which depicted the Earth being transformed into a vast desert, did not win the competition; however, it attracted the attention of [[Ubisoft|Ubi Soft]], who hired him as a graphics artist.

Ancel's first game as both programmer and graphic artist, ''The Brain Blasters'' (also known as ''The Teller'') was published by Ubi Soft in 1990. In 1992, he began to work on ''[[Rayman 1]]'', his directorial debut. It was originally released in 1995 for the Atari Jaguar and PC, and in 1996 for PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

Line 12:

Ancel was also heavily involved in the development of ''[[Rayman 2: The Great Escape]]'' in 1999, but had only an advisory role on ''[[Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc]]''. Although he praised its development team, he says that the game is "a bit too concrete for my tastes", and that he "would have made the game differently".

In 2003, he created ''Beyond Good & Evil'', which garnered critical acclaim and a cult following, but was a commercial failure. However, film director Peter Jackson's admiration of the game — and his frustration with EA's handling of the ''The Lord of the Rings'' license — led to Ancel being given direction of the ''King Kong'' video game adaptation. In spite of Ubisoft's reluctance to produce a ''Beyond Good & Evil'' sequel, Ancel has expressed a clear wish to produce one in the future.

In 2003, he created ''Beyond Good & Evil'', which garnered critical acclaim and a cult following, but was a commercial failure. However, acclaimed film director Peter Jackson's admiration for the game – and his frustration with EA's handling of the ''The Lord of the Rings'' license – led to Ancel being given direction of the ''Peter Jackson's King Kong'' video game adaptation. In spite of Ubisoft's reluctance to produce a ''Beyond Good & Evil'' sequel, Ancel has expressed a clear wish to produce one in the future.

On March 13, 2006, Ancel, along with ''Mario'' creator Shigeru Miyamoto and ''Alone in the Dark''/''Little Big Adventure'' creator Frédérick Raynal, was knighted by the French Minister of Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, a knight of arts and literature. It was the first time that video game developers were honoured with this distinction.

Ancel is also recognized as one of the best game designers in IGN's Top 100 Game Creators, ranking 24th out of 100. [http://games.ign.com/top-100-game-creators/24.html]

==Current projects==

On April 5, 2006, [[Ubisoft]] announced Ancel was leading the development of the fourth game in the ''Rayman'' series, ''[[Rayman Raving Rabbids]]'', for the Nintendo Wii. The game began production in early 2005 and was released on November 15, 2006 for the launch of the Wii. However, Ancel was notably absent from the project after its E3 announcement, and he has made no public appearances regarding the game after the development team switched focus from a free-roaming platformer to the final minigames format shortly after E3. In the final game, Ancel was only credited with storyboarding and character design, while design credits were shared between multiple other people.

Line 25:

Line 30:

In January 2010, Geoffrey Sardin, CEO of Ubisoft France, confirmed that ''Beyond Good & Evil 2'' was still in production.

In late May 2010, rumours surfaced from French video game website Wootgaming that ''Beyond Good & Evil 2'' had been cancelled, and Ancel had left [[Ubisoft]] to found his own independent studio. Ubisoft soon issued denials of this rumour. However, friend of Ancel and game developer Nicolas Choukron left a comment on [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michel-Ancel/45707703446 an unofficial Michel Ancel Facebook fanpage] saying that Ancel had formed a new studio which was a subsidiary of Ubisoft, as the Montpellier team was too large. Choukroun also revealed that Ancel and his new studio were working on a new ''Rayman'' game. This rumour has yet to be verified.

==Games==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ==Video game developing career==
-Ancel met the game author Nicolas Choukroun in Montpellier at the age of 17. He worked as a graphics artist on several of Choukroun's games, such as ''The Intruder'' and ''Pick'n Pile''. Ancel's first demo, ''Mechanic Warriors'', was developed for software house [[Lankhor]]. In 1988, Ancel created a computer animation illustrating the effect of CFCs on the ozone layer as part of a competition in a professional journal. The animation, which depicted the Earth being transformed into a vast desert, did not win the competition; however, it attracted the attention of Ubi Soft, who hired him as a graphics artist.
+Ancel met the game developer Nicolas Choukroun in Montpellier at the age of 17. He worked as a graphics artist on several of Choukroun's games, such as ''The Intruder'' and ''Pick'n Pile''. Ancel's first demo, ''Mechanic Warriors'', was developed for software house [[Lankhor]]. In 1988, Ancel created a computer animation illustrating the effect of CFCs on the ozone layer as part of a competition in a professional journal. The animation, which depicted the Earth being transformed into a vast desert, did not win the competition; however, it attracted the attention of [[Ubisoft|Ubi Soft]], who hired him as a graphics artist.
 Ancel's first game as both programmer and graphic artist, ''The Brain Blasters'' (also known as ''The Teller'') was published by Ubi Soft in 1990. In 1992, he began to work on ''[[Rayman 1]]'', his directorial debut. It was originally released in 1995 for the Atari Jaguar and PC, and in 1996 for PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 Ancel was also heavily involved in the development of ''[[Rayman 2: The Great Escape]]'' in 1999, but had only an advisory role on ''[[Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc]]''. Although he praised its development team, he says that the game is "a bit too concrete for my tastes", and that he "would have made the game differently".
-In 2003, he created ''Beyond Good & Evil'', which garnered critical acclaim and a cult following, but was a commercial failure. However, film director Peter Jackson's admiration of the game — and his frustration with EA's handling of the ''The Lord of the Rings'' license — led to Ancel being given direction of the ''King Kong'' video game adaptation. In spite of Ubisoft's reluctance to produce a ''Beyond Good & Evil'' sequel, Ancel has expressed a clear wish to produce one in the future.
+In 2003, he created ''Beyond Good & Evil'', which garnered critical acclaim and a cult following, but was a commercial failure. However, acclaimed film director Peter Jackson's admiration for the game – and his frustration with EA's handling of the ''The Lord of the Rings'' license – led to Ancel being given direction of the ''Peter Jackson's King Kong'' video game adaptation. In spite of Ubisoft's reluctance to produce a ''Beyond Good & Evil'' sequel, Ancel has expressed a clear wish to produce one in the future.
+On March 13, 2006, Ancel, along with ''Mario'' creator Shigeru Miyamoto and ''Alone in the Dark''/''Little Big Adventure'' creator Frédérick Raynal, was knighted by the French Minister of Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, a knight of arts and literature. It was the first time that video game developers were honoured with this distinction.
+Ancel is also recognized as one of the best game designers in IGN's Top 100 Game Creators, ranking 24th out of 100. [http://games.ign.com/top-100-game-creators/24.html]
+==Current projects==
 On April 5, 2006, [[Ubisoft]] announced Ancel was leading the development of the fourth game in the ''Rayman'' series, ''[[Rayman Raving Rabbids]]'', for the Nintendo Wii. The game began production in early 2005 and was released on November 15, 2006 for the launch of the Wii. However, Ancel was notably absent from the project after its E3 announcement, and he has made no public appearances regarding the game after the development team switched focus from a free-roaming platformer to the final minigames format shortly after E3. In the final game, Ancel was only credited with storyboarding and character design, while design credits were shared between multiple other people.
@@ Line 25: / Line 30: @@
 In January 2010, Geoffrey Sardin, CEO of Ubisoft France, confirmed that ''Beyond Good & Evil 2'' was still in production.
+In late May 2010, rumours surfaced from French video game website Wootgaming that ''Beyond Good & Evil 2'' had been cancelled, and Ancel had left [[Ubisoft]] to found his own independent studio. Ubisoft soon issued denials of this rumour. However, friend of Ancel and game developer Nicolas Choukron left a comment on [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michel-Ancel/45707703446 an unofficial Michel Ancel Facebook fanpage] saying that Ancel had formed a new studio which was a subsidiary of Ubisoft, as the Montpellier team was too large. Choukroun also revealed that Ancel and his new studio were working on a new ''Rayman'' game. This rumour has yet to be verified.
 ==Games==