Gordon Ramsay to Chastise Video Gamers this September

As if it wasn't enough that you couldn't screw up soufflés in your own kitchen without the fear of celeb-chef Gordon Ramsay's disembodied head floating in and calling you a f'in C, French video game publisher Ubisoft announced today that it plans to release Hell's Kitchen™: The Video Game for Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PC, and Mac in September this year. The game places you in the role of one of the ass-kissing, eggshell-walking professional chefs vying for a job in Führer Ramsay's kitchen. It also promises intricate and authentic Ramsay recipes -- and since the game is rated T for Teen, you'll more than likely get called a useless twat for trying to replicate them.

We know what you're thinking: This is an awesome idea. With all the other YouTube Wii videos popping up on the net, you know there's going to be some jackass who'll film his girlfriend crying as she tries to make peas bonne femme with a Wiimote. And it's not like gamers don't have fragile enough egos; imagine what a few hours of fetishized beratement will do for them.

Hit the jump for the full release.

Ubisoft Serves Up Hell’s Kitchen™: The Video Game Video Game Based on FOX’s Hit TV Show Features Virtual Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay

SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Today Ubisoft announced that it will publish Hell’s Kitchen™: The Video Game, for Wii™, Nintendo DS™, PC and Mac®. Developed by Ludia, Hell’s Kitchen: The Video Game is based on the U.S. hit FOX television program from Granada America featuring world-renowned Chef Gordon Ramsay. The game will allow players to experience the show’s high-pressure kitchen and dining room challenges as a faithfully rendered 3D Chef Ramsay watches their every move.

“I had a great time doing the voice for my own animation,” said Gordon Ramsay. “Being in a video game is a new experience for me and I’m very pleased with the results.”

After executing the three phases of an order – preparation, cooking and service – Chef Gordon Ramsay will score each meal. As they progress through the game, players will be rewarded with access to recipes from Chef Ramsay’s own repertoire.

“Hell’s Kitchen has everything a great video game needs: pressure, excitement and intense competition,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft North America. “We are very excited to be bringing the intensity of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and the Hell’s Kitchen experience to the virtual world this fall.”

Hell’s Kitchen: The Video Game will be released worldwide September 2008.

Key Features:

Chef Ramsay watches players’ every move and judges them as they progress by yelling at them, praising them or shutting down the kitchen if their skills don’t meet his expectations.

As players progress, they’ll gain access to authentic Gordon Ramsay recipes, including many that are offered exclusively to game owners.

In Career Mode, players can earn stars to build their way up from a Single-Star restaurant to a prestigious Five-Star establishment. As the player advances through the ranks, their star rating advances and the recipes become more varied and intricate.

In Arcade Mode, the pressure builds as customers become increasingly demanding. Players will be challenged to keep up with the pressure before time is up, or Chef Ramsay loses patience and closes the kitchen.

Just want to put this out there: Hell's Kitchen sucks, so will this game be any better? In fact, every show Gordon Ramsay has ever done for American television is a joke. Me, I'm like, an old school fan yo, cuz I totally prefer his BBC shows, where he actually cooks instead of just trying to act like a culinary version of Simon Cowell.

-- John Linn