Vibe.com, October 26th, 2005
One of the world's hottest music stars now wants a piece of the multibillion dollar video-game scene.
Rapper 50 Cent's widely publicized troubled youth on the streets -- crime, jail, drugs and bullet wounds -- has served as a palette for his popular “gangsta” prose. Now, it will also fuel the storyline for "50 Cent: Bulletproof," an action-adventure title from Vivendi Universal Games due in November for the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox.
And why not? "Fitty" (or “Fiddy”), as he's referred to by his legions of fans, is this year also starring in his biopic, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'' , publishing a book ("From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens", co-written by Kris Ex) and is even introducing a line of Reebok sneakers.
The game, played from a cinematic third-person perspective, follows 50 Cent and his allies -- members of his G-Unit gang (Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo) and Eminem and Dr. Dre in cameo appearances -- as they fight and shoot their way through the New York underworld to uncover an international conspiracy with destructive implications.
"The game is aggressive, so I can see how some may interpret it as glorifying the gangster lifestyle, but many parts of it are based on my life story," said 50 Cent in a recent telephone interview. "Many people know I was shot nine times [in 2000], so that's just the way it is. There's a reason why I have this [Reebok] ad campaign called 'I am what I am'."
"I know there's a certain class of people that won't understand the material so I would say don't buy it," says the rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson. "And the game isn't any more violent than an R-rated film or other video games like "Grand Theft Auto." But yes, it is aggressive."
And "aggressive" it will be. "Bulletproof" features more than 20 weapons, the ability to use a body as a human shield and more than two dozen purchasable "counter-kills," which are close-range attacks that result in 50 Cent stealing an enemy's weapon and using it against him in a violent fashion. And of course, there's "body jacking," where you can steal the bling-bling and wallets from fallen enemies. Hillary Clinton may have a field day with this one.
"Bulletproof" was written by Emmy Award-winning Sopranos executive producer Terry Winter, who also wrote the story for 50 Cent's upcoming film.
Unlike other celebrities who simply lend their name or likeness to a video game, 50 Cent says he takes pride in the amount of work he put into this project.
"I worked with Terry for three months on the story for the movie and the game, I recorded hours of dialogue and I gave a lot of feedback on the look of the characters and their movements," he says, adding it was tough work to wear a motion-capture suit to record his natural movements, such as running, ducking, jumping and rolling.
"And I also had to sit through a million photos of me from every angle."
Fitty believes fans of his music will also enjoy the exclusive tracks, written and recorded by 50 Cent, as well as the ability to mix and match "beats and rhymes" in The Lab, a mini-studio in the game. "The game also has all of my music videos that need to be unlocked, and some hidden underground mixed tapes, too" says 50 Cent.
He concedes he's not much of a gamer himself, citing simple "old-school" arcade games as his favorites, namely Tetris and Pac-Man. "But I've been having a lot of fun with "Bulletproof." Every time I play the game I experience something different. There's no pattern like in most other games, and we have an environment you can really interact with."
And if you're not a fan of rap? "It's still a great video game. We have the best technology out there, there's a lot going on -- even if you're not into my music."
