The Secret to Saving Movie-Based Video Games

Just last night I was watching G4, the channel dedicated to all things tech, and cracking up as they skewered the video game for DreamWork's Shrek the Third (host Adam Sessler's entire review was told in a kid's story rhyming sequence it was hilarious). Video games from Hollywood movies have sucked so long, gamers almost take it for granted now. There are exceptions (Chronicles of Riddick, King Kong), but they are few and far between. Today, the LA Times talks to game developers who insist that titles based on films don't have to be terrible.

There's lots of chatter about linear vs. non-linear story telling and the upside/downside to having movie talent participate in the game (Note to Warner Bros. If you're already working on a Speed Racer game, pls. keep those Wachowskis from screwing it up). But the most fundamental issue continues to be the timing. Good movies take a 10-12 months to make. Video games take longer, up to two years. So the sooner developers can start on an adaptation, the better. New companies like Brash (which recently received $400 million in private equity financing) realize this and seem committed to making high-quality games. The recently said that they want to get in front of the game even before the movie is officially greenlit. I guess we'll have to see if the studios are smart enough to let them.

It would be in their best interest, as the global game industry is growing 10-15% a year. In fact, global games spending is set to exceed music spending this year, according to consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

By 2011, the worldwide gaming market will be worth $48.9 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1% during the five-year period, with gains slowing every year because of the maturation of the current generation of consoles, according to the report. The compound gains handily exceed the 6.4% advance that PwC foresees for the overall entertainment economy during the period. Its data include consumer spending on games, but exclude spending on hardware and accessories. "Video gaming is one of the most exciting stories in terms of pure growth numbers," said Marcel Fenez, PwC's global managing partner for its entertainment and media practice. For the U.S. gaming business, PwC projects 6.7% compound annual gains for the five-year period, to $12.5 billion.

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