Announced by Vivendi Universal today, 50 Cent: Bulletproof is the latest title to court popularity by fusing hip-hop and video games, an unholy alliance has already brought such games as Def Jam: Vendetta and Get On Da Mic to gamers’ screens.
The title is an allusion to ex-crack dealer 50’s much-vaunted survival of a nine slug hit attempt, and the game will follow the rapper through his adventures in New York’s seedy drug underworld. The G-Unit leader has already been in the news twice this week: once over an album production resources spat with G-Unit comrades The Game and Lloyd Banks, which saw The Game ejected from the would-be rap supergroup and Banks publicly apologising; secondly because rampant online bootlegging of his new album, The Massacre, prompted its early release.
The game, to which 50 will lend his own voice and likeness, will be formally unveiled at E3 this year, but the storyline, penned by Sopranos Executive Producer Terry Winter, sees 50 Cent not only tackling the biggest crime families in New York, but even, somewhat preposterously, going on to uncover a far-reaching global conspiracy. Winter also wrote the screenplay for 50’s certain to be rubbish forthcoming Hollywood feature film, Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
Commenting on the news, 50 Cent promised that its impact on the world of video games would mirror his success in the music industry. Vivendi CEO Bruce Hack said eagerly, “Everything [50 Cent] touches turns to gold – music, movies, clothes, cars, watches. We are thrilled to collaborate with 50 Cent and Interscope Records in a video game debut that will deliver extraordinary music, exciting game play, and best of all, 50 Cent.”
Be sure to check back at SPOnG for news of this, or any other tepid cross-media confections, as it breaks.