Sega colonizes Planet 51

Between company-wide staff cuts, closing arcades, and losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the past year has been a rough one for Sega Sammy. It hasn't been all bad news, however. For example, the publisher found financial (if not critical) success with its adaptation of the big-budget blockbuster Iron Man film and secured the rights to make another one when the movie sequel arrives in 2010.

Perhaps bolstered by that success, Sega is going back to the cinema for inspiration. Today the publisher announced that it has signed on to publish Madrid-based Pyro Studios' game based on Sony Pictures' upcoming computer-animated film Planet 51. Originally revealed in 2007, the Planet 51 game had been expected to arrive next month on a wide swath of platforms.

Obviously, plans have changed. Described as a "mission-based driving game," Planet 51 will arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS. While the game is set for a generic winter release, the film has a more concrete launch date of November 20.

Planet 51 tells the story of American astronaut Charles Baker and his first contact with the eponymous world and its inhabitants. Baker's intrusion on the planet's idyllic society is met with fear and hostility, and the galactic explorer spends the film looking to avoid becoming a permanent exhibit in Planet 51's museum of space invaders.

The game marks a departure for Pyro Studios. Previously, the company has been best known for its Commandos line of games, from the 1998 real-time strategy game Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines to 2006's tactical shooter Commandos Strike Force.