The gruesome scenes in the dark alleys of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have little in common with the clean streets of Abu Dhabi, until now.
A new mobile game app that includes familiar characters from the popular show was released on May 1, 2013, thanks to the work of Abu Dhabi-based games-design team Ubisoft.
CSI: Hidden Crimes has been written, drawn and built in the Ubisoft Abu Dhabi Studio, in twofour54, over the past 18 months.
“The first step was to create a studio here, the second step was to think about what the studio was going to develop for Ubisoft, it was a white page,” says Yannick Theler, the managing director of the Abu Dhabi studio.
“It was the emergence of mobile gaming at that time. It was new for Ubisoft, too.
“We started analysing the market, we did our homework: who likes mobile games and what kind of mobile games are working? After that the guys started working on the concept.”
The Abu Dhabi team submitted a proposal to Ubisoft’s headquarters in Montreuil, France, to get the go ahead to start building it.
“After the first presentation they thought it was a good idea, but asked if we could do it – multi-
platform android technology isn’t that easy,” says Theler.
The free-to-play game, which is set in Las Vegas, is the first mobile game app released for Android and iOS at the same time.
“It was a challenge for a new studio,” Theler says. “It took us a year and a half and the project has been top secret.”
There were only a few people outside of Ubisoft who knew about the game. One of these is Jack Gutowitz, a writer for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, also known as CSI: Las Vegas, who was brought in to make the storylines authentic and keep the dialogue true to the television show's characters.
“When I first started, they had already developed the concept and the first case, so it was really easy, my job was adding the forensics into it,” he says.
“I would get their case and go and research all the forensics with them. They wrote all the suspects beautifully, but there’s little nuances that our characters say. Ted Danson has a certain way of saying things, completely different from the others.
“I put a little bit more CSI into it, it was a little bit more detective case to begin with. Instead of looking at it as a detective, you look at it from the point of view of a forensic scientist.”
Gutowitz's resume includes stints as production assistant on The West Wing, and writer, assistant and script coordinator on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Initially working from the United States, he liaised with the Abu Dhabi-based game director to create the six chapters that launch today.
"We would talk for a couple of hours about each case and turn it in a few days later," he says. A gamer himself, Gutowitz, who spent two weeks in Abu Dhabi last month in the build-up to the launch, was determined to keep the app as close to CSI: Las Vegas reality as possible.
“We have tried to set the games up like a drawing-room mystery, like an old Agatha Christie mystery. And their art is beautiful. Ted is like: ‘When is this coming out? I want to play it.’ They have been looking forward to it for months.”
On top of the six chapters launching today, Ubisoft has more in the pipeline. It also hopes to translate the game into Arabic, but changing the user interface from left to right makes the task more difficult.
If all goes to plan, the Abu Dhabi studio hopes to become one of the most successful satellite studios to release mobile games.
“We want to be one of the best studios for mobile games,” says Theler. “I think this game is amazing, we are very proud of what is going to be released. That’s our project, that’s our baby.”
• CSI: Hidden Crimes is available now on iTunes
munderwood@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
Sweet%20Tooth
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJim%20Mickle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristian%20Convery%2C%20Nonso%20Anozie%2C%20Adeel%20Akhtar%2C%20Stefania%20LaVie%20Owen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
