There are scores of innovative, ground-breaking and visually spectacular video games hitting the market every year.
Then there are the ones based on movies.
While many games inspired by the latest Hollywood blockbuster are fine products in their own right, just as many are dismissed as designed by numbers fodder that are quickly forgotten.
The merits of video game movie tie-ins can be debated, but one fact is beyond doubt _ they are a rapidly growing and important segment of the games market.
In the past couple of months alone, games released to coincide with movies hitting the big screen include Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Watchman: The End is Nigh, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Not to mention Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, the latest Indy game in a long running franchise inspired by a film first released more than 25 years ago.
The recently released Ghostbusters even managed to reunite original cast members from the 1983 movie _ Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd _ for the first time in two decades in order to voice the new games characters.
There are so many movie-based game tie-ins in fact, customers entering a video game retailer such as EB Games could be forgiven they for thinking they were walking into a DVD rental outfit instead.
Just because a video game is based on a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster film however, doesn't ensure it will be successful.
President of the Game Developers Association of Australia, Tom Crago, says there is no better example of the disconnect that can occur between movies and games than ET.
While the Steven Spielberg sci-fi flick about a group of kids trying to help an adorably cute alien to return home was a huge hit, the attempt to cash in with a video game spin off sank without trace.
``That's a great example of a classic film, but a terrible game,'' says Crago. ``About 100,000 copies (of the game) ended up as land-fill.''
Given the patchy history of the quality of movie based games, it is perhaps not surprising they have come in for much derision from critics over the years. It's a generalisation however which can be a bit unfair, according to Crago.
``There have been bad licensed games, which gives substance to the view that film doesn't lend itself to video game, which makes it hard for game developers.''
Crago says it is a shame the target audience of a movie based game, such as children, is forgotten when the end product is written off by more `hard core' oriented gamers.
``(Reviewers) do have a propensity on occasion to criticise them (movie tie-ins) unfairly because they are simply based on a movie,'' says Crago, whose company Tantalus has designed games based on movies such as Pixar's Cars and The Polar Express.
The Melbourne based crew behind the recently released Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen game agree.
Krome Studios producer Mark Coombes and game designer Simon Short lead a team which created the Wii and PS2 versions of the multi platform game. They told extratech in a recent interview the specialist games press often look down their nose at games based on movie franchises.
``It's certainly a critics thing,'' says Coombes.
He says it is the public who shell out their hard earned cash however and who, at the end of the day, will decide if the game is any good.
``You could argue a lot of it (cynicism) is justified, but I don't think consumers worry too much about that. They judge a game on it's merits.''
Games based on film franchises can be a two-edged sword for the video game industry.
On the plus side, they have become an enormously important revenue stream, providing a steady injection of funds into development studios and distributers around the world.
Those who create a game such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen are also safe in the knowledge that a huge amount of resources from franchise owning companies such as Hasbro and Activision, will be thrown into publicising, distributing and marketing the game.
On the down side are the often strict over sight controls from interested parties keenly protective of their brand, which if not handled sensitively, can stifle innovation and creativity, potentially delivering an uninspiring game.
Then there is the strict development time-table structured to ensure the game is delivered to coincide with the accompanying films release.
The GDAA's Crago laughs (somewhat nervously) as he refers to what is known in the games industry as the `unmoveable deadline.'
``If it's tied into a movie (release) it can be quite inflexible. The companies involved also want to protect their assets, so at times it can be quite stressful,
``But then, (once released) you enjoy the benefits of marketing when it is launched, which will hopefully increase sales.''
When it comes to movies and video games, mobile phones are new frontier.
Global video games powerhouse Electronic Arts has announced it is bringing Hollywood to mobile phones this year with the launch of four new, movie-based titles: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, G.I. JOE The Rise of Cobra, Star Trek and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
``There are a lot of great movies this winter that translate into exciting mobile
entertainment experiences, including these phenomenally popular franchises,'' Adam Sussman, VP Worldwide Publishing, EA Mobile says.
``These are four of the hottest films this year and EA Mobile is proud to bring fantastic game companions for each title to mobile phones.''
Just because a film is a blockbuster doesn't mean the game based on it is going to kick goals though.
For every cinematic success the calibre of Terminator, Enter the Matrix and Ironman, there is an accompanying game which failed to strike a chord with critics.
There are occasional examples however such as The Chronicles of Riddick according to the GDAA's Tom Crago, in which the game has evolved far beyond the original 2004 release movie starring Vin Diesel.
``That game was a massive critical success, more so than the film.''
The symbiotic relationship between Hollywood and video game design has lead to some huge advances in cutting edge technology.
The lines between movies and video games have become increasingly blurred in recent years, as marked improvements in computer generated imagery (CGI) in particular have drastically improved the quality of on-screen visuals.
This is especially so in cut-scenes. The almost photo realistic mini movies in games such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Gran Turismo: Prologue and Dead Space are breathtaking.
The latest movie game tie-in to take advantage of this is technological roller coaster is G-Force.
Like the soon to be released big budget Disney film on which it is based, the game puts players in the shoes of a group of highly trained secret agent guinea pigs out to save the world from an evil billionaire and his army of robotic appliances.
A feature of the game are the cutting edge graphics which for the first time present near 3D visuals on screen during game-play.
Motion capture technology, used to reproduce more realistic human movement in both computer generated movie and video game characters, has also produced some startling success.
The same system in which the physical movements of an electrode covered actor were captured to bring the hideous creature Gollum to life in director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, was used to deliver more realistic human movement in the game of the same name.
The system has also been used in game titles ranging from 2003' tennis game Top Spin featuring a motion captured Lleyton Hewitt to more recent releases such as Resident Evil 5 and The Bourne Conspiracy.
Current generation consoles pack a tonne of processing power, leading to ever higher expectations from gamers demanding more realistic, cinematic gaming experiences and increasingly life-like characters on screen.
In response, researchers continue to push the technical envelope when it comes to closing the gap between movies and games.
Computer graphics card company ATI are working on a new system which they say will revolutionise how video game characters look and respond to player commands on screen.
Cinema 2.0 is a combined hardware/software solution which aims to bring a higher level of realism and interactivity to films and games, allowing movie-makers and game developers to render 3D images in real time.
Think video games that look as good as movies or films you can interact with, changing the ending.
The exciting concept opens the door to for example, a photo realistic, digitized version of
Angelina Jolie starring in the next instalment of
Tomb Raider based on the real thing.
Now that's something I'd like to see.
Similar posts: virtual casino
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
