14 DAY TRIAL // Even though analysts keep saying that the gaming industry is a growing one and it will soon bring more profits than any other form of entertainment, it seems that at least a few game developers have a different opinion. One of these companies is Capcom: the developers/publishers are planning to turn some of their most famous game franchises into huge Hollywood hits and they are really sure that they will be able to do "with games what Marvel did with comics," as the company's president admitted.
Although I doubt people would really mind seeing Devil May Cry movies released every now and then (at least as long as they're not directed by Uwe Boll), I can't help but wonder how far all these will go: will there come a time when movie and games industry are joined together? Probably not too soon, but Capcom is trying.
"We are in the process of working out contracts for several offers we received at the Cannes Film Festival last week and hope to make an announcement soon," Haruhiro Tsujimoto said in a Bloomberg Television interview, declining to provide specifics. "If realized, the projects will have a big impact on the game and movie industries."
According to Tsujimoto, this decision follows the increase of Resident Evil sales after last year's release of the third movie based on the game - more than one million copies have been sold for the Nintendo Wii only. So, as you can see, a new idea is born: use an income-generating product in order to promote another income-generating product. Profits? Of course, if everything goes as planned. And we'll see if that happens after the latest project from Capcom hits the cinemas: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is already in the works and will be released in February 2009.