SEGA Throws Itself On Movie License Grenade
Movie licenses are going to get better, apparently
Movie-licensed games are set to improve, according to SEGA. That's right: no longer will we be subject to piles of hastily-thrown-together tosh based on beloved properties. That's what Sega of America's VP of marketing, Scott Steiner, reckons, anyway.
Speaking in an interview, Steiner said, “As publishers and the different movie studios are recognizing how important videogames are to the marketing of a film to the [target] demographic, movie studios realize that they can’t trivialize the interactive space.”
Ah, right, so all of a sudden games are a good way to make money. Clearly we must have imagined the last two decades of the industry. Steiner explains how it used to work, saying,
It's all Hollywood's fault, then. Nothing whatsoever to do with developers being unable to even see the game they're putting out thanks to all the dollar signs floating in front of their eyes. No sir, nothing to do with the games industry knowing a quick cash cow when it sees it.
SEGA's got the Hollywood problem covered with upcoming Marvel games and The Golden Compass, according to Steiner. He says,
Movie makers playing games? They must have been too busy for the last 20 years, then.
In all fairness to SEGA, however, it certainly has the lead-time problem covered. Referring to its recently acquired Marvel licenses, Steiner points out,
Well, SPOnG certainly hopes Steiner's right. The likes of GoldenEye (yes, we really need to go that far back) and Spider-Man 2 have given us a taste of how good a licensed property can be, and there's no reason at all that a concept like Iron Man can't follow suit.
Speaking in an interview, Steiner said, “As publishers and the different movie studios are recognizing how important videogames are to the marketing of a film to the [target] demographic, movie studios realize that they can’t trivialize the interactive space.”
Ah, right, so all of a sudden games are a good way to make money. Clearly we must have imagined the last two decades of the industry. Steiner explains how it used to work, saying,
“In past eras, we’ve also seen how Hollywood really can throw a grenade to game companies; they’d throw a license grenade over the wall and game companies would have six months to build a game and market it. No surprise the game might not have been the greatest.”
It's all Hollywood's fault, then. Nothing whatsoever to do with developers being unable to even see the game they're putting out thanks to all the dollar signs floating in front of their eyes. No sir, nothing to do with the games industry knowing a quick cash cow when it sees it.
SEGA's got the Hollywood problem covered with upcoming Marvel games and The Golden Compass, according to Steiner. He says,
“...the reality is that movie studios and the guys that are building these movies oftentimes are gamers. In Iron Man’s case Jon Favreau [the movie’s executive producer] is absolutely a gamer. They don’t want their property and their efforts to be attached to a trivialized game development effort so they’re very involved.”
Movie makers playing games? They must have been too busy for the last 20 years, then.
In all fairness to SEGA, however, it certainly has the lead-time problem covered. Referring to its recently acquired Marvel licenses, Steiner points out,
“Captain America [the movie] in particular doesn’t even really have a release date yet. So we’re getting in early with Marvel studios and their new iteration to ensure that we have the time to build great games, we have the time to build new tech if we need to and that we’re in there with the studios as these ideas are germinating.”
Well, SPOnG certainly hopes Steiner's right. The likes of GoldenEye (yes, we really need to go that far back) and Spider-Man 2 have given us a taste of how good a licensed property can be, and there's no reason at all that a concept like Iron Man can't follow suit.
Read More Like This
Comments
Edsan 23 Apr 2007 13:18
1/10
What about the Sega Astroboy (PS2) abomination???
hollywooda 23 Apr 2007 13:29
2/10
I cant believe that Games studios get this wrong time after time, comic hero's!, they have the characters designed, Storylines & all the back ground information you could ever want & yet most Comic book tie ins are really lame. I'm Still waiting for a Decent Batman game, how f**king hard can this be!!!!.... lame.
more comments below our sponsor's message
ohms 23 Apr 2007 13:56
3/10
man, that armoured bear pic looks amazing!
ozfunghi 23 Apr 2007 14:45
4/10
Soooo... what about the crappy games Sega has been releasing the past 5 years, games that had absolutely nothing to do with movie licences to begin with?
Will they work on that as well?
Will they work on that as well?
tyrion 23 Apr 2007 15:42
5/10
hollywooda wrote:
I'm Still waiting for a Decent Batman game, how f**king hard can this be!!!!.... lame.
The game that tied in with the original Tim Burton movie was great, available on C64 and Amiga amongst others.
hollywooda 23 Apr 2007 15:49
6/10
Yer the old platformer & Batman Returns on the Mega drive wasn't too bad, but with all the power of the new consoles i cant see how an absolutly awesome Batman game cant be made, i think a game based on the arkham asylum novel in that really freaky style would be amazing.
DoctorDee 23 Apr 2007 15:56
7/10
Goldenye and Spider-man are interesting choices. Both of them shared nothing more than the title with movies. They were great games that happened to have "associated" movies.
And let's be realistic, the games publishers are struggling to come up with interesting and original games... asking them to do so when faced with the restrictions of a none-interactive storyline, tight deadlines (or little idea of the final story until development is well advanced) and heavily restricted character 'properties' may be asking too much...
And let's be realistic, the games publishers are struggling to come up with interesting and original games... asking them to do so when faced with the restrictions of a none-interactive storyline, tight deadlines (or little idea of the final story until development is well advanced) and heavily restricted character 'properties' may be asking too much...
Spinface 23 Apr 2007 16:37
8/10
Honestly, if I were looking at where to allocate my resources and I had a choice between a movie license that had a built in audience and a new piece of IP that needed work on, I'd go with the new IP.
The difference between an average/s**tty licensed game and an awesome one (in terms of sales) isn't going to be any near the difference between a crappy game coming from new IP and an awesome one. Common sense dictates that you use your resources to push the new IP and let the name "Batman" take care of the other one.
I hate seeing crap games based on great licenses, but I understand it.
The difference between an average/s**tty licensed game and an awesome one (in terms of sales) isn't going to be any near the difference between a crappy game coming from new IP and an awesome one. Common sense dictates that you use your resources to push the new IP and let the name "Batman" take care of the other one.
I hate seeing crap games based on great licenses, but I understand it.
hollywooda 23 Apr 2007 16:45
9/10
Its true that money & time constraints are crippling the gaming world & as we move more into the "next gen" its gonna get worse. I just think game developers need to take a step back from what they are doing & develop the heart of a good storyline. When Frank Miller took Batman he took him in a different direction, exploring more of the characters weakness. I know this is easier done in Books & comics than it is in Games but with the right direction a game can tell a story like no other media. They gotta not just think, right we gotta make a game about superman, right he flies & can hit things, so we'll have a game about that. I'm not saying it's easy!, the pressure these guys must be under just to get a working code out must be immense. but with people like Hideo using the cut scene in MGS to develop characters it really adds to your game play & satisfaction, hell u actually begin to care!
jordanlund 24 Apr 2007 22:55
10/10
You don't have to go all the way back to Goldeneye (which, IMHO, wasn't all that great a game, it was just great for a Nintendo game.)
Both Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were good adaptations, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was based on a film property and was phenomenal. The Hulk licensed games were decent as well.
Both Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were good adaptations, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was based on a film property and was phenomenal. The Hulk licensed games were decent as well.