Even Developers Think Movie-Based Games Are a Horrible Idea

Stereotypes are something we run across every day, and while sometimes offensive and hurtful, like old legends, there's always some bit of truth to them. But some of these stereotypes tend to be more of a rule and less of a broad, general statement, and one gaming stereotype that has failed on enough occasions to make it the exception from the rule is that movie-inspired game tie-ins are a disaster. Gamers know this very well, but it's really nice to see someone on the other side of the gaming industry share this opinion as well.

In a lengthy interview with Bob Jacob, the co-founder of Cinemaware, the subject of movie-based games was eventually approached by Gamasutra, and his reply was one that can easily be shared by the rest of us. “As far as games and movies - there are inherent problems. The basic reason why so many bad games have been made on film licenses is simply because of a business reality that no one has been able to overcome yet,” said Jacob. “That reality is that the time it takes a film to [hit theaters after being green-lit] is never more than a year. What kind of a game can you do in a year?”

The lack of time is the root of all problems for such games, but another big issue is that they rely solely on the movie and its assumed popularity, so the game itself brings nothing new to the table. The script used is usually the one employed for the movie, but the cinematic and interactive genres don't always mix, and a good movie script can turn out to be a very boring game.

And if the possibility of simply using the movie's universe and lore and crafting a separate scenario exists, the lack of time pretty much scrapes this possibility. “EA can get around that a little bit by throwing a few hundred guys at a project,” added Jacob. ”But for the most part, it's been a pretty sorry history, and until we can solve the basic timing issues it's going to be tough.”