If you want to amuse yourself for a few hours and gamble with a few hundred million, chew on this one for a while. Do movies make better video games than video games make movies? It is easy to find examples that prove either case, and some that prove both – an awful movie that makes an awful lot of money. The big news this week is Microsoft touting Halo as the next big thing. So does the Bill and Balmer show now have eyes for prime time?
Movie and video game franchise integration is nothing new. And these days, it would rare for a movie blockbuster not to be attached to a major game publisher hoping to benefit from the orgy of advertising that accompanies a major release. Electronic Art’s Lord of the Rings and Activision’s Spiderman Games are example of cross over titles which sold millions of copies. Although interestingly, in both cases, there was also an existing fan base from earlier books and comics to support sales.On the other hand, game to movie conversions have not be so successful. Nineties releases which include Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Wing Commander and Mortal Kombat were universally dreadful and box office turkeys to boot. But the tide may now be turning. Call it a couple of decades of music video brainwashing, but audiences are now seemingly content to consume the set action pieces seasoned with flashy visuals and hip soundtracks that characterise the game franchise genre. And importantly no one really cares what the critics have to say. Most reviewers panned recent movies based on the Lara Croft and Resident Evil games, but both were box office hits, and most importantly, DVD blockbusters.
That might explain Microsoft’s confidence that it can play hardball with Hollywood over the rights to develop Halo. Their reported list of demands would certainly make the average terror merchant blush. In short - full creative control, a multi million dollar advance against a large share of gross receipts, and sixty first class airline tickets to the premiere. Ironically, antitrust lawsuits notwithstanding, no one seems to care when Microsoft plays bullyboy with the Studios. Either they think they deserve it, or as is surely the case with die hard game fans - no one wants to see their precious Master Chief character feminised by LA script doctors or worse, played by Kevin Bacon.
The appeal of a hit game franchise to the Studios is obvious – software sales to millions of game fans has a good chance of translating into millions of box office and DVD sales. Further, most games franchises lend themselves to big budget, special effects laden productions which as genre responds well to heavy marketing and licensing campaigns. However, as past experience has demonstrated – mutual exploitation of game franchises and Hollywood hits is far more of an art, than a money making science.
It comes down to dynamics. Blockbuster action movies are basically linear narratives that have a beginning, middle and end. Creating emotion, drama and tension can be achieved with all the usual theatrical devices, but in the main seem to boil down to sexy outfits, big explosions and the occasional surprisingly loud noise. Games are a whole other ballgame. Sustaining drama and emotion in a game is not easy where play is not necessarily linear and consumption likely to be spread over a length of time and not just one sitting.
But what if the hook was not the story, but the people watching it? The real growth opportunity for extending movie and game franchises may in fact lie in multiplayer subscription models. Satre famously quipped that Hell is ‘other people’. For games companies, adding ‘other people’ generally means the ability to charge monthly subscriptions.
To date, there has been an interesting cultural divide between the East where online multiplayer games are incredibly popular, and the West, where console and standalone PC titles have tended to sell more copies. Things are already changing. The growing popularity of multiplayer shooters such as Half Life and the network capabilities of the upcoming XBOX 360 and PS3 will bring greater numbers of people into monthly billing relationships. If you think making money from DVDs post box office is neat, do the math on millions of recurring charges of $19.99.
The smart money in Hollywood is already experimenting with the model. Both Lucas and the Wachowski brothers have created massive multiplayer online worlds for their Stars Wars and Matrix franchises which allow users to participate in a shared universe with other players, and pay a monthly fee for the privilege. Short of selling them the Matrix Reloaded on DVD every month, you would be hard pressed to find a better way of drawing out the value of your content over the long term.
Don’t be fooled in thinking any of this is cheap. The growing complexity of hardware platforms, ongoing plot and scenario development for multiplayer games, and the imminent demands of high definition video will see game development costs swiftly approach that of feature film development.
But in this brave new world of movie game integration, you can at least be reassured by one thing. Chances are – you won’t be playing by yourself.
