'Speed' filmmakers help with video game

LONDON, May 8 (UPI) -- Hollywood film producer Joel Silver said the directors of his new "Speed Racer" movie also helped out on "Speed Racer: The Videogame."

Silver said director brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski offered direction to the game's development team from their Berlin set.

"A lot of the assets of the movie were incorporated into that game. I mean, these games are hugely successful, and these kids are seeing them and accepting a visual style that then can be translated to movies," Silver recently said at a London press conference for the "Speed Racer" movie.

"The games are getting more sophisticated, the technology is more advanced and every year there's something that we've never seen before. And there's a lot of blending of movies and gaming, and movies are coming from games, and games are coming from movies. It's just an exciting time," he said.

Silver said the Wachowski brothers are avid videogame players.

"They sit around all day when they're between takes sometimes playing games. And I think that's part of their inspiration," Silver said.

The videogame is to be released Friday on Nintendo Wii and DS. The film is also set to open that day.