Diesel starts developer, says sorry for xXx games

Vin Diesel, the star of The Fast And The Furious and, most recently, secret agent testosterone sponge xXx, will form his own games company after watching Activision's xXx games receive horrible reviews.

During a recent conference call to discuss xXx's New Year's Day launch on DVD (in the US of course, your humble correspondent writes, firing up play.com in another window), Diesel commented on the games buzz surrounding him. "So many people had been approaching me to attach my name to this kind of project lately, I figured the time was right to get out there and do something on my own," he said.

One of the things about xXx that perhaps surprised a few people was the way the script constantly referenced videogames, apparently unafraid of the stigma surrounding games-in-movies since the two first started trading blows. And given the quality of the various xXx games so far, which Diesel describes as "terrible", it was a brave move.

However, far more than a screen obsession, Diesel's love of games is quite genuine. "I've been playing videogames forever," he proclaimed. "I want to see if I can actually create a game that I personally would enjoy playing."

And thus, Diesel will soon form a new games firm to go by the name of Tigon Games (Tigon being a hybrid creature which is a cross between tiger and lioness), and plans to begin production on a mature action-adventure called Perrone, which chronicles the exploits of a 70s cop. "The man was simultaneously the most accoladed and excessively aggressive lawman on the force. It's a fascinating tale, how this guy was involved with both the Mafia and police at the same time," Diesel enthused.

It'll be 2003 by the time we get to see what Tigon Games can produce. One has to wonder about Diesel's chances of landing the game deal for the inevitable xXx sequel though. At least if he does, the series lineage suggests the bar isn't too high to aim for...