Put together the director of The Lord of the Rings, the developer of the brilliant but criminally under-rated Beyond Good & Evil, and throw in a rather big monkey...

Ubisoft have today announced that King Kong (full title Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie) has officially gone "Gold". The game will be released next month on Cube, PS2, Xbox and PC.

"Ubisoft is extremely excited to reach this milestone in collaborating with Peter Jackson, Wingnut Films and Universal Studios Consumer Products Group," said Yves Guillemot, president and chief executive officer of Ubisoft. "The response among the media, core gamers and the mass-market audience has been tremendous and we can't wait to launch Ubisoft's most impressive and successful game of 2005 � Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie."

After lacklustre EA versions of the Lord of the Rings movies, Jackson went to Ubisoft and the mastermind behind Beyond Good & Evil, Michel Ancel to produce a must-have tie in game for Kong. Ancel, creative director at Ubisoft, regarded as one of the top innovative minds in the video game industry, and his team at Ubisoft's Montpellier (France) studio have been working closely with Peter Jackson and Wingnut Films to capture and create the King Kong movie dynamics through a unique video game experience.

"It's an absolute pleasure working with Ubisoft on the video game," said triple Academy Award� winner and King Kong director Peter Jackson. "Being able to collaborate closely together from day one is of utmost importance, which is why we've given Ubisoft unlimited access to every creative aspect of our film production. We really want the game and the film to be part of the same universe."

Meanwhile, Michel Ancel commented that he had been "amazed by Peter Jackson's creativity and what he brings to the project. [The game] is a creation that closely follows the storyline of the movie, yet, as video games have the innate ability to do, will push the emotional tension of the film to even greater depths. Players will experience unprecedented dual game play within a movie-licensed game which alternates between Jack Driscoll in first-person and as King Kong in third-person. These contrasting perspectives will immerse players into the journey featuring epic battles, tough choices and a dynamic experience within the visually stunning environment of Skull Island."

The Xbox 360 version is still in development, but is expected to go "Gold" within the next week or two (nothing like leaving things to the last minute). DS and PSP versions of the title are also still in the final stages of development. Not even the GBA will be left out, as it will recieve its own game, "Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World" next month as well.