Character driven: the getaway provides the adrenaline rush of an action movie and the immersion of a first-person shooter game. (Gaming).(Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's The Getaway )

When Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo unveiled their current generation of robust game consoles in late 2001, they were hoping to steal a piece of the high-end gaming business from the PC platforms, which dominated the market through their ever increasing power. To be successful, the console makers needed partners--game developers with visions of creating innovative titles.

The more daring of these responded with products whose dazzling digital imagery rivaled, and often surpassed, the graphics in PC games. They even started taking aim at a new target: feature films--no easy feat considering that graphics in games, unlike those in the movies, are rendered in real ...