Kong ships

Like a giant silverback asserting its dominance over lesser males, Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is storming retailers by force today. Versions of the game based on the upcoming film from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson are now available on the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PC, and DS, with a PSP version to follow in December.

Developed at Ubisoft's Montpelier studio, Peter Jackson's King Kong lets gamers play as both Jack and as Kong himself on a variety of missions, sometimes even within the same level. It tracks the story of the movie closely, following explorer Jack Driscoll and Kong as they travel from the South Pacific's Skull Island to New York City.

"Today is a monumental day for Ubisoft, as we celebrate the biggest launch in company history with Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie," said Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc. "We're extremely proud to have worked so closely with Peter Jackson and Wingnut Films to deliver a critically acclaimed game that sets a new benchmark for games based on movies."

Jackson asked for Ubisoft's Michel Ancel to helm the game project, as he had seen the developer's work on Beyond Good and Evil and was suitably impressed. However, his impact on the game didn't end there.

"It was an absolute pleasure working with Ubisoft on the video game," Peter Jackson said. "Being able to collaborate closely together from day one was of utmost importance, which is why we gave Ubisoft unlimited access to every creative aspect of our film production. We really wanted the game and the film to be part of the same universe."

Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is rated T for Teen and retails for $49.99 on the PC, current-generation consoles, and PSP, $59.99 on the Xbox 360, and $39.99 on the DS. Check back shortly for GameSpot's full review.