Death of movie licensed games?
Benjamin
but disappeared aside from the occasional Disney and Star Wars offering?
I have a few theories on why I thought I'd kill some time with and
share:
1) Big budget action films, the majority of which provided substance for
games, have significantly dwindled over the last few years. Without a
big budget name to leech off of, no company will bother to release their
crappy knock off game.
2) Thanks to the improved storage space on CD formats, games can now
ultimately be their own film. There is much more freedom to create one's
own idea and increased ability to express it than cartridges allowed,
allowing for some cinematic style gaming.
3) People caught on to Acclaim and other companies practice of releasing
utter garbage with a movie license. If gamers refuse to buy after
getting burned, then perhaps a company will think twice about following
suit.
Any thoughts? I know most people do complain about Acclaim and others'
movie licensed games in the past, yet it seems as though quite a few
would be happy to see a Matrix game and so on...
Benjamin
jor...@europa.com
: 3) People caught on to Acclaim and other companies practice of releasing
: utter garbage with a movie license. If gamers refuse to buy after
: getting burned, then perhaps a company will think twice about following
: suit.
You mis-spelled "1)" :^) Seriously though, look at ANY license
game, South Park and Superman being the most obvious recent examples. The
only decent license game I recall is the Die Hard Trilogy for the
Playstation.
- Jordan
jor...@europa.com
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Raymond McKeithen II
Benjamin <benj...@tmbg.org> wrote in message
news:386ED10C...@tmbg.org...
> Has anyone noticed how in recent years games based on movies have all
> but disappeared aside from the occasional Disney and Star Wars offering?
> I have a few theories on why I thought I'd kill some time with and
> share:
>
> 1) Big budget action films, the majority of which provided substance for
> games, have significantly dwindled over the last few years. Without a
> big budget name to leech off of, no company will bother to release their
> crappy knock off game.
>
The games aren't completely gone though. There's Tomorrow Never Dies on PSX,
and the infamous Superman 64 on N64. While not a movie license, it's still
the same type of licensing, and is a "stellar" example of a game selling
because of the license even for a crap game. Acclaim is milking South Park
for all it's worth (far more than it's worth) too. Maybe TV licensing is
replacing movies?
> 2) Thanks to the improved storage space on CD formats, games can now
> ultimately be their own film. There is much more freedom to create one's
> own idea and increased ability to express it than cartridges allowed,
> allowing for some cinematic style gaming.
>
It might also make a movie-based game more expensive to make. People would
probably expect (or the company would think anyway) to have actual movie
footage for game cinemas etc. That may incur an extra license fee, and
probably extra fees for the actors etc.
> 3) People caught on to Acclaim and other companies practice of releasing
> utter garbage with a movie license. If gamers refuse to buy after
> getting burned, then perhaps a company will think twice about following
> suit.
>
We can hope. However Superman 64 apparently sold decently...
> Any thoughts? I know most people do complain about Acclaim and others'
> movie licensed games in the past, yet it seems as though quite a few
> would be happy to see a Matrix game and so on...
>
I suppose people hold hope that eventually a licensed game that's actually
good will be made. I don't expect any such thing to happen, outside of Japan
anyway.
--
Raymond
remove "suchiepai" for email
Brian Deplae
<rfmc...@suchiepaijas.net> wrote:
>I suppose people hold hope that eventually a licensed game that's actually
>good will be made. I don't expect any such thing to happen, outside of Japan
>anyway.
A very few good ones have come out over the years, Terminator on the
Sega CD is one example.
Brian Deplae
nos...@home.com
replace nospam with attitoad to email
Mike Mr. Groovy Toole
> Any thoughts?
Thank god. I honestly can't think of a movie-based game I've ever played
that was honestly EXCELLENT. A couple were okay (though I honestly can't
remember any specifics-- oh yeah, the first vector-based Star Wars game
was kickass) but that's about it.
I'd like to see a Dreamcast attempt at Star Wars Trilogy, but otherwise,
the less movie-licensed games, the better.
--
www.animejump.com
Webzine, isn't it?
V. Equinox
>but disappeared aside from the occasional Disney and Star Wars offering?
>
games. Is this a good thing?
-------------------
"You can't kill me!"
-Chris Redfield, Resident Evil
Truer words were never spoken
Ken Small
Brian Deplae <nos...@home.com> wrote:
>On Sun, 02 Jan 2000 05:17:24 GMT, "Raymond McKeithen II"
><rfmc...@suchiepaijas.net> wrote:
>
>>I suppose people hold hope that eventually a licensed game that's actually
>>good will be made. I don't expect any such thing to happen, outside of Japan
>>anyway.
>
>A very few good ones have come out over the years, Terminator on the
>Sega CD is one example.
The Terminator arcade gun game was good, and the Atari Star Wars vector
games were absolutely excellent. But for every movie game that's even
decent, there are a dozen that suck.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How wrong can I be, before I am right?" --EC
Nick Zitzmann
: I suppose people hold hope that eventually a licensed game that's actually
: good will be made. I don't expect any such thing to happen, outside of Japan
: anyway.
There have been several licensed games that were actually good that came
from nations other than Japan. Take, for instance, GoldenEye on the N64.
Can someone confirm whether or not Capcom US was involved in the development
of Willow (on the NES)? That is also definitely one great game based on a
movie.
--
Nick Zitzmann
"This guy are sick." - Aeris (Final Fantasy VII)
Kazuki
>of Willow (on the NES)? That is also definitely one great game based on a
>movie.
Willow on the nes was a port of the arcade version, that capcom made
-------------------------------------
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Karin's Tower (FanSUB)
http://members.aol.com/Haohmaru/index.html
Charles Doane
>
> Has anyone noticed how in recent years games based on movies have all
> but disappeared aside from the occasional Disney and Star Wars offering?
> share:
>
> 1) Big budget action films, the majority of which provided substance for
> games, have significantly dwindled over the last few years. Without a
> big budget name to leech off of, no company will bother to release their
> crappy knock off game.
>
> ultimately be their own film. There is much more freedom to create one's
> own idea and increased ability to express it than cartridges allowed,
> allowing for some cinematic style gaming.
>
> utter garbage with a movie license. If gamers refuse to buy after
> getting burned, then perhaps a company will think twice about following
> suit.
>
> movie licensed games in the past, yet it seems as though quite a few
> would be happy to see a Matrix game and so on...
The sword cuts both ways, movies licensed off of games tend to be pretty
horrible as well. Mario Bros, Street Fighter the Movie, and Mortal Kombat,
are all pretty rotten on the silver screen. Well, Mortal Kombat has been
rotten everywhere, but I digress...
Something is lost in the translation, in both directions. Games generally
do not make good movies, and movies generally do not make good games.
I believe the reason behind this is the two different natures of movies
and videogames. Movies are a passive entertainment form, while videogames
are an active entertainment form. Translations from passive to passive
(for example, book to movie) or from active to active (for example,
sports to video games) work very well, because the active/passive barrier
is not being crossed.
Most, if not all, attempts the cross the active/passive barrier are action
oriented, as you noted in your post. The reason for this is that there's
a hope that the more action-oriented a movie is, the easier it will be to
add activity to. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work.
--
Eppur si muove... "and yet it does move"... Galileo,
after recanting his assertion of the Earth's motion.
EM
> Has anyone noticed how in recent years games based on movies have all
> but disappeared aside from the occasional Disney and Star Wars offering?
> I have a few theories on why I thought I'd kill some time with and
> share:
I think the amount of licensed games has not really increased/decreased
over the years.
> 2) Thanks to the improved storage space on CD formats, games can now
> ultimately be their own film. There is much more freedom to create one's
> own idea and increased ability to express it than cartridges allowed,
> allowing for some cinematic style gaming.
It's sometimes about money, not the lack of imagination on the developer's
part as to why they decide on licensing.
> 3) People caught on to Acclaim and other companies practice of releasing
> utter garbage with a movie license. If gamers refuse to buy after
> getting burned, then perhaps a company will think twice about following
> suit.
Probably not. Majority of the license games still make enough money
> Any thoughts? I know most people do complain about Acclaim and others'
> movie licensed games in the past, yet it seems as though quite a few
> would be happy to see a Matrix game and so on...
I am against bad games whether they are movie licensed games or not.
Goldeneye, Tie Fighter, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis are
good examples of licenses enhancing game play.
The problem with movie licensed games is that development time is
tighter and pressure is on the publisher to release it out the door while
the movie is still hot.
EM
Black Lion
Which really sucked because LJN seemed to get a LOT of licenses... I'm
relieved that I haven't seen a game by them in a long time.
>
> The Terminator arcade gun game was good, and the Atari Star Wars vector
> games were absolutely excellent. But for every movie game that's even
> decent, there are a dozen that suck.
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "How wrong can I be, before I am right?" --EC
--
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-Black Lion
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Black Lion
There's a huge difference between the two (plus you can play as
Madmartigan in the arcade one).
All things considered though, I think the NES one is far better.
Isaac Kuo
Toy Story 2 is a good game. A surprisingly good platformer!
I haven't played it, but apparently the GBC Tarzan game is good.
Some movie license games turn out well.
--
_____ Isaac Kuo k...@bit.csc.lsu.edu http://www.csc.lsu.edu/~kuo
__|_)o(_|__ ICQ 29055726
/___________\ "Ha! I've spelled your doom!!! I've spelled it D-U-U-M!!!
\=\)-----(/=/ Just like in VACUUM!"
Raymond McKeithen II
Nick Zitzmann <nick...@eskimo.com> wrote in message
news:84nei5$7n8$1...@eskinews.eskimo.com...
> In article <EbBb4.5861$Ce.4...@monger.newsread.com>,
rfmc...@suchiepaijas.net (Raymond McKeithen II) hunted and pecked:
>
> : I suppose people hold hope that eventually a licensed game that's
actually
> : good will be made. I don't expect any such thing to happen, outside of
Japan
> : anyway.
>
> There have been several licensed games that were actually good that came
> from nations other than Japan. Take, for instance, GoldenEye on the N64.
>
But that's just an opinion; my opinion is that Goldeneye is a poor game. My
opinion is that there aren't any good movie licensed games outside of Japan
that I can recall.
> Can someone confirm whether or not Capcom US was involved in the
development
> of Willow (on the NES)? That is also definitely one great game based on a
> movie.
> --
The arcade game is a Capcom game.
Raymond McKeithen II
Black Lion <blac...@juno.com> wrote in message
news:386F74B9...@juno.com...
> Yep - pretty much anything that was picked up by LJN turned into crap.
> Which really sucked because LJN seemed to get a LOT of licenses... I'm
> relieved that I haven't seen a game by them in a long time.
>
On videogames, LJN was just another named used by Acclaim. They've
apparently stopped using that name, along with the name Flying Edge.
LJN is (was? not sure if they're still around) a toy company as well.
Figment
can think of that are at least good (and haven't been mentioned before
in this thread):
Alien Vs. Predator (FPS, PC)
Dark Forces (Star Wars FPS, PC)
Pod Racer (Star Wars, Racer, PC/N64)
----------------
Figment
"Mike "Mr. Groovy" Toole" <chie...@animejump.com> wrote in message
news:chiefdork-020...@h0050e480ba24.ne.mediaone.net...
> In article <386ED10C...@tmbg.org>, Benjamin <benj...@tmbg.org>
wrote:
Ken Small
>news:84nei5$7n8$1...@eskinews.eskimo.com...
>> In article <EbBb4.5861$Ce.4...@monger.newsread.com>,
>rfmc...@suchiepaijas.net (Raymond McKeithen II) hunted and pecked:
>>
>> : I suppose people hold hope that eventually a licensed game that's
>actually
>> : good will be made. I don't expect any such thing to happen, outside of
>Japan
>> : anyway.
>>
>> There have been several licensed games that were actually good that came
>> from nations other than Japan. Take, for instance, GoldenEye on the N64.
>>
>
>But that's just an opinion; my opinion is that Goldeneye is a poor game. My
>opinion is that there aren't any good movie licensed games outside of Japan
>that I can recall.
When you say "people" above it sounds like you're talking about some
sort of mass concensus, not personal opinion. Goldeneye was well
received by citics and the masses alike, that probably qualifies it as
"good" is the context used above. I can argue it from criteria as
well, even though I'm personally not a fan. It's hard to call this bad
with any reason other than "all FPSs are bad" which doesn't make for
very interesting discussion.
William Dilgard
On the topic of few liscensed games being good, here are a few I enjoyed :
Indianna Jones and the temple of Doom (Arcade)
Star Wars (the vector arcade one)
Rambo (SMS)
Batman (NES, and no other version thank you)
not movies, but liscenced characters all the same:
Blackthorn (PC, 32X) -okay, so its a ripoff of flashback, still fun..
X-men -most any game.. from the beat-em ups to the vs. fighting ones
Shadowman - this was a comic right..? and it's from acclaim too.. what's
going on here??! I like this game..!