Games discover their star power

Cnet.com ^ | Charles Herold

[Panerai]

The history of movie-based video games has not been a pretty one.

Since the disastrous sales of the 1983 game "E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial" almost drove Atari into bankruptcy, it has been common knowledge that movie-license games are cheap quickies designed purely to capitalize on a film's publicity.

Last month's release of the video-game adaptation of "Peter Jackson's King Kong" caps a year that proves those days are over. Designed by Michel Ancel, a respected game designer handpicked by Jackson, the movie's director, the stylish, critically acclaimed "Kong" is not the first good game ever based on a movie. But this is the first year that a good movie-based game is more par for the course than fluke.

Some of the worst video games have been licensed from movies; "Charlie's Angels" and "The Crow: City of Angels" seamlessly integrated bad graphics with bad gameplay. Those that weren't abysmal were simply drably formulaic. Occasionally a developer would achieve success with an older movie like "Blade Runner" or "The Thing." Those two were turned into games more than a decade after their releases, but a game released concurrently with a movie was almost guaranteed to be wretched.

While a handful of decent movie-based games have turned up in the last few years, it was the critical and commercial success of "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay" last year that made people take such games seriously. Up until then, game publishers had assumed that sales depended on the popularity of a game's corresponding film, but when "Riddick" proved more successful than its cinematic inspiration, publishers came to a shocking realization: More people will play a good movie-based game than a bad one.

[Panerai]

[neodad]

publishers came to a shocking realization: More people will play a good movie-based game than a bad one.

My kids love their King Kong game. They also love the new Star Wars (Battlefront?) game.

[muawiyah]

Without much change in their format or approach to marketing, a small neighborhood internet videogame company increased seasonal sales 400%.

There's this massive wave rolling through entertainment sweeping all before it as these kids get older and have more money.

It's possible that the financial failure of King Kong (the movie) is simply telling us where the bucks are going ~ and it's not to movies, nor to television.

[Sofa King]

Video game ping!

If you want on or off this list, Freepmail me

[zencat]

And then there are movies based off video games:

Final Fantasy
Resident Evil
Blood Rayne

[Thoro]

They made a console Blade Runner game? How did I miss that?

Jackson's Kong videogame being a hit doesn't really surprise me. Jackson was somewhat involved in the hack-and-slash Lord of the Rings console titles' development. You could tell then that he and those involved "got" it. Even though it's a hack-and-slash, it's one of the best hack-and-slash games you'll find, with a fantastic presentation. You could tell there was effort behind it to not make it a throwaway game, which it easily could have been.

[Republican Wildcat]

Since the disastrous sales of the 1983 game "E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial" almost drove Atari into bankruptcy, it has been common knowledge that movie-license games are cheap quickies designed purely to capitalize on a film's publicity.

Disastrous? Weird. That was a pretty decent game for the Atari. I enjoyed playing it as a little kid - one of the few games you could actually "beat" instead of just going in endless loops like PacMan, Endoro, Venture, etc.

[Sofa King]

You're in a hell of a minority on that one. ET is largely considered one of the worst video games of all time.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

The other people who had their E.T. cartridges dumped into the desert would disagree. :-P

[M1911A1]

Games based on movies are pretty awful, as a rule.

As with any rule, there are exceptions.

"Lego Star Wars" is a hit with my kids.

"Call of Duty", while not based on a movie per se, relies heavily on HBO's "Band of Brothers" and "Enemy at the Gates" for the single player storyline.

I have heard that the Narnia game is supposed to be good, I might be getting that one.

[Thoro]

"Since the disastrous sales of the 1983 game "E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial" almost drove Atari into bankruptcy, it has been common knowledge that movie-license games are cheap quickies designed purely to capitalize on a film's publicity."

Disastrous? Weird. That was a pretty decent game for the Atari. I enjoyed playing it as a little kid - one of the few games you could actually "beat" instead of just going in endless loops like PacMan, Endoro, Venture, etc.

Actually, E.T. did go into continuous loops. After sending E.T. home, the game would start over, only the FBI and Doctor would increase in speed and appear more often. Eventually, after so many completions of sending E.T. home, they'd become so fast it was impossible to navigate the levels to find the pieces to send E.T. home.

Where were all those pits in the movie, anyway?

[Republican Wildcat]

I didn't see the movie until long after I had played the game, actually. I agree...other than Elliott, E.T., the spaceship, and Reese's Pieces, there's no similarity. I don't remember E.T. using an expanding neck in the movie either to float...

I don't recall it restarting after the spaceship picks you up...but you've still "beat" it when that happens even if you can play through it again. I think I usually played in the mode where the Scientist and the cop don't show up. Boy that was awhile ago...I was like 4 or 5 when I first remember playing that.

[Republican Wildcat]

Wasn't Tomb Raider also based on a game...or did the movie come first?

[Colonel_Flagg]

LOTR Third Age isn't a hack-and-slash. It's more a Final Fantasy-type game and it's addictive.

[Colonel_Flagg]

I have heard that the Narnia game is supposed to be good, I might be getting that one.

My son has it. He loves it.

[Thoro]

LOTR Third Age isn't a hack-and-slash. It's more a Final Fantasy-type game and it's addictive.

Never played it, since those FF games aren't my thing. I was referring to the Two Towers and Return of the King hack-and-slash games that closely followed the release of their counterpart movies. Third Age came some time after Return of the King.