NaturalMotion Tackles Game Development With Backbreaker

Middleware developer NaturalMotion, known for its euphoria and endorphin motion synthesis technologies, has announced that the company is now moving into game development with Backbreaker, and upcoming American football title developed exclusively for next-generation consoles. Currently scheduled to ship in 2008, the game will take advantage of NaturalMotion's euphoria motion synthesis engine to “set the new standard for in-game animations in the football genre,” according to the company. The euphoria technology is also used by a number of other high profile upcoming releases, such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Instead of using canned animations, Backbreaker will feature tackles and hits that are calculated dynamically, making every on screen impact unique. Based on NaturalMotion’s DMS technology, euphoria uses the CPUs of next-generation platforms to synthesize interactive animations on the fly, using fast simulations of the game character’s actual motor control, muscles and biomechanics. "Backbreaker is the first football game with truly interactive tackles. By utilizing our motion synthesis engine, euphoria, players will never make the same tackle twice, giving them an intensely unique experience every time they play the game," said NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil. "Backbreaker puts players in the middle of the gridiron by providing a pure, realistic football experience only possible on next-generation consoles."