Another day, another rant about Hollywood and videogames. This time inspired by Clint Hocking’s latest blog post, “Convergence ‘No longer a theory’“.

The ire of his post comes from a recent announcement Michael Bay is creating a game for Digital Domain, a former Hollywood SFX powerhouse founded by James Cameron. Cameron since left, Bay is now a principal of the company, and he’s taking the company into non-traditional revenue streams after the success of producing videogame commercials for Halo 3 and Gears of War using in-game assets and engine. The specific statement, though, is one I’d be happy to quote, just to see the look on Hocking’s face:

“We’re not just talking about the convergence of film and video games,” said Ed Ulbrich, president of Digital Domain’s commercial division. “It’s no longer a theory.”

Clint, if I may address him by his first name, does not think this is possible. And with his resume he should know, right? We’ll not so fast. The title of Creative Director for the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series at Ubisoft is a little misleading. After all, he only received that title halfway through development for Chaos Theory. After studying Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, he landed his first job in the games industry as a level designer for the original Splinter Cell title, and later filled a vacant Game Designer position at the Beta phase of the game’s lifecycle. He then went on to Chaos Theory as Lead Level Designer and Scriptwriter, before his promotion to Creative Director. So in short, he’s had maybe seven years of game industry experience, and has been involved in various aspects of game development but has never overseen a project start-to-finish. And I might add, has never made a Hollywood film.

Then let’s take Bay’s background as comparison. He attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut, which has had its share of notable alumni go on to great success (including my hero, Joss Whedon). He cut his teeth as a music video director before going on to making big-budget Hollywood blockbusters. According to Box Office Mojo, his six movies have grossed over three-quarters of a billion dollars domestically, each with an average of over $125 million. He’s also been a prolific producer on hits like The Amityville Horror ($108 million worldwide), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake ($107 million worldwide), and its prequel ($51 million worldwide). He’s also waiting to storm this July 4th weekend with the much-anticipated Transformers live-action movie, Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg. I won’t say whether I prefer his style of filmmaking (although I loved The Island, of which I was in the minority), but it’s evident this guy can make a lot of money, and Hollywood knows it.

Now between the two, who would you put your money on?

Clint doesn’t help his cause by making a confusing argument why 300 proves Hollywood isn’t suited to enter the gaming industry. Something about how films at a low level evoke emotion through visuals, not narrative; and games also operate at a low level “with the interaction between player and system.” But somehow in his mind, the two don’t equate. So, narratives don’t matter. Ugh.

In his recent diatribe, Clint gets even more petty, saying that although Bay can make world class images, he won’t succeed because, oh well I’ll just let him tell you:

First, the way Bay makes those images has an awful lot to do with controlling the camera, so if he’s willing to give up that part of what he does, I welcome him to join us in wrestling with this challenge. Second, while I don’t have any problem with making games with great visuals (9.4) I’m not entirely sure what his point is here. Is he implying that his great visuals (even delivered to the player without the strict authorial camera of a director) will inherently make his games better?

Yes, films are heavily storyboarded ahead of time to set up scenes, stage actors and actions, etc. But as Clint should know, isn’t a part of level creation forcing the player, within limits, to see a certain aspect of the environment? Creating boundaries in levels to restrict and direct them down a pre-determined path? And using Half Life 2 as an example for your cause isn’t helpful, as its scripted events are as much of a staged scene as anything in movies. Instead of a cutscene, they occur within the environment and attract the attention of a player-controlled camera. Doesn’t this sound like something an experienced Director like Bay could handle? I think so.

To fault Bay for never having created video game maps or not understanding camera controls in videogames is ridiculous. His assets are years of creative vision as a director, the ability to handle multi-million dollar budgets and production teams, and a hell of a lot of Hollywood backing. What he needs is the right staff of game industry veterans who know game technology and technique to be able to execute his vision in an interactive media. Which, with a $25 million dollar budget, won’t be too hard to find. And remember, Digital Domain is doing this to start a new source of revenue and to expand its business, so it will want to find a way to do things right – or in other words make a profit on its original investment.

Now back to Clint – I feel for him. He’s in an industry which is growing in revenues and consumers, but its business practices are not mature. Project Manager is a relatively young role within game development, yet years of delivering overbudget and oft-delayed projects proves it’s a much-needed position. Terms like “process”, “workflow”, and “lifecycle” have been staples in software development but are only recently being introduced to developers and producers. The quality of narrative in videogames could use a boost of experience in screenwriting and story development. A shared pool of talent in voice acting, sound, music makes the most sense, but needs Hollywood to build these bridges. As stated in his analogy with 300, he’s getting outmuscled by the big guy. It’s an obvious reaction to respond as he did, to act territorial to protect the sacred ground he’s worked so hard to landscape. Call it what you will – change, progress – people don’t respond well to it. Corporate culture has dealt with it for years, in today’s world at an alarming recurring rate, and the professional self-help genre has made a killing in book sales because of it. Saying all that, I can definitely say it’s coming. Maybe not this year, maybe not next, but sooner than you think. So the best advice I can give you, Clint, is to brace yourself for change, that it’s not all that bad.

Oh, and never challenge anyone by saying, “Maybe we’ll get to see if the man-god can bleed after all,” because that person just might end up being your boss.

A regular SpotAnime Soapbox hot topic, videogames and Hollywood are once again in the news together; this time by way of an interview with blockbuster Producer Jerry Bruckheimer. There’s been the general consensus Hollywood and games don’t mix – either movie-licensed tie-ins make terrible videogames; or vice versa, where game properties haven’t been able to strike box-office gold, let alone attendance-worthy quality.

So in Bruckheimer, here’s a man who is currently tackling both sides of the problem. With Pirates of the Caribbean, he’s using licensing to make a film property more profitable, but he doesn’t seem to want to get his hands dirty to fix the problem with quality:

THR: There are a lot of retro games like “The Godfather” and “Scarface: The World Is Yours.” Why do you think these are so popular?

Bruckheimer: I think it always depends on the game. If the game is not engaging for a kid or an adult, they’re not going to buy it. The fact is those are really popular titles — those are two amazing movies — so it’s another way for the studio to create additional revenue for something they made many years ago. That’s another way for them to get back their investment or make profit on what they invested in 20 years ago.

THR: What impact could these have on a studio’s library? Francis Ford Coppola reportedly wasn’t happy with “The Godfather” video game. Could games affect relationships with filmmakers?

Bruckheimer: Hopefully, the studio will involve the filmmaker in the game and that would alleviate that kind of problem. If the game had values that the filmmaker thought would enhance his movie, then it’s a different issue. I don’t know what happened with Paramount and “The Godfather.”

Bruckheimer is a rare breed, a superstar who is just too damn busy making money to be able to roll up his sleeves and tackle a subject like the quality of movie-licensed videogames. He hires people to look after these tasks, watches the bottom line, makes sure everything is ready for a simultaneous release date and then watches the receipts fly in. But it does underline an existing problem, that Hollywood isn’t interested in making games just yet.

Let’s take for example Peter Jackson. Jackson was rumored to have hand-picked Rayman creator Michel Ancel after playing his underappreciated Beyond Good and Evil. This means the game adaptation of the film was placed in the capable hands of Ancel, an experienced game designer. He had access to film assets for textures and creature models, and the game’s progress was overseen personally by Jackson. And still, it was received as a beautiful, at times engaging, but overall too short. A good effort; not one for the annals of videogames, though. It’s surely a case study for tie-ins done good, or better, but not right.

Then let’s take a look at Tigon Studios’ handling of the Riddick game. Here is an example of a new studio selecting a relatively unknown European developer, Starbreeze, with some good tech and taking a chance. The difference here is Vin Diesel, the founder of Tigon, whose mission statement states:

“Tigon Studios will develop original games as well as be actively involved in the development process of video games based on motion pictures featuring Vin Diesel as the lead actor.”

In a June 2004 interview with GMR magazine, he was asked about his specific involvement with the game’s creation:

GMR: Besides providing Riddick’s voice and likeness for Butcher Bay, how else have you been involved in the game’s design?

Vin Diesel: Because it was important that the game ties in closely with Pitch Black, I was involved in all aspects of the story, from the direction and the writing of the dialogue to the character design.

Here is an actor who not only created a company to handle his own game tie-ins, but who also isn’t afraid to become deeply involved in the project to ensure its quality. And it helps that he’s also a self-proclaimed gamer, so he’s able to emphasize on more than just gloss.

Back to Bruckheimer – movies are his life. In multi-platform speak, the film is his main SKU. The games, books, action figures, Slurpee cups, etc. all help with the bottom line, but they’re not what he does best. He’s a producer, and even though his Prince of Persia movie might not win Best Picture, there’s no doubt it will be very presentable to the masses. But he’ll never make a great game, until he stops viewing games as merely an extra revenue stream to the main product.

And that might be the problem with Hollywood in general. It has to start viewing games as something which demands as much care and attention as it does to filmmaking. It needs more people like Vin Diesel who recognize the importance of quality as much as drop dates. It might just take the current generation of gamers to become the future studio executives and stars to make this transition, which according to a report in Variety, is well under way.

In the interview with Bruckheimer, he was asked if “video games will ever replace the theatrical experience”. His response made it completely clear he doesn’t understand their importance:

Bruckheimer: You mean movies would be gone and it would just be video games? Well, if you put consoles in theaters, it’s a possibility. It’s another way of having entertainment. But I think as far as having the experience of going to a film, that will never go away. I think people want to get out of their houses. Kids are not going to take their girlfriend to the living room with their parents sitting there and watch a movie or play a video game in front of their folks. They might go in their room, but they’re not going to take their girlfriend to their room because their parents will get very upset. So I think gaming is something that kids play together. They play online, but it’s not the same experience as going to a movie.

What he should have said was, and I’ll answer for him in closing: No, video games will never replace movies, but they don’t need to. I think the opportunity is there for them to compliment eachother equally. We should get to a point where the quality and spectacle of a Pirates of the Caribbean game is just as important as the film. We’re seeing gaming events just as big as any Summer blockbuster now, and there’s no reason why the two can’t share that space going forward.

Kotaku reports Midway has announced a PS3 special edition of John Woo’s Stranglehold (whew) complete with a Blu-ray version of the game’s source, the 1992 movie Hard Boiled. But I know what you’re asking – why no comparable Xbox 360 version?

Well, looking at the IMDB entry for Hard Boiled, the home video rights are lost in the deep Blu sea. Aside from a Criterion Collection release in 1998, the movie also saw releases by Fox Lorber (now defunct, no relation to 20th Century Fox) and a 2002 release by Buena Vista Home Video.

Ah, so since Buena Vista Home Video is owned by Disney, and it doesn’t sound like Disney is leaving the Blu-ray camp any time soon, it would make sense that Hard Boiled would be a Blu-ray exclusive, right? Well, not so fast. It appears Dragon Dynasty is releasing a special edition DVD this year. And, Dragon Dynasty is owned by the Weinstein Company, which releases exclusively on HD-DVD.

So is this a sign that Weinstein is going format-neutral? Or does this just make sense because every PS3 is a Blu-ray player, whereas not every Xbox 360 can play HD-DVDs? A little of both, perhaps? Being that the movie and game are going to co-exist on the same disc, it sounds like the increased storage capacity of Blu-ray allowed this to happen.

Damn politics. I want my high-def Tequila…

Cue Flock Of Doves: PS3 Stranglehold Gets High Def Hard Boiled Bonus – Kotaku

Seriously awesome. It’s so awesome I don’t necessarily mind that Microsoft never bothered to make Butcher Bay a back-compat title. Who wouldn’t pay for an upgraded Riddick on their next-gen console with updated graphics (even if the original’s graphics looked pretty “next-gen” to begin with?) and an extra level. Mmmm… an extra level of Riddick…

As could only exist in the blogisphere, thanks to Kotaku linking to FiringSquad from a Game Informer rumor report. So it has to be true.

Riddick Remake Coming For PS3 And Xbox 360? – News and Siteseeing

Having recently been initiated into the Ring of Red club, I wanted to make mention of a Mercury News interview with Peter Moore. Sure, lots of people are experiencing problems with their Xbox 360s, to the point they have to be sent in for repair. But the process, as I just have gone through it, couldn’t have been less intrusive.

We all know the drill: Microsoft sends a box with a pre-paid UPS label and all the trimmings for necessary for the console’s journey. The only inconvenience, aside from going without an Xbox 360 for a week or two, is having to bring the box to the local UPS Store to get a damn receipt for insurance and tracking.

In about ten days post-Ring, I went through the entire process and now have a shiny, refurbished Xbox 360 back on my entertainment shelf. And to boot, Microsoft included a free one-month Xbox Live subscription card to make up for the downtime. A nice gesture, for sure.

So for everyone complaining about the failure rate of the Xbox 360, I must say Microsoft is doing nearly everything they can to make the process as painless as possible. Don’t fear the Ring, people; your consoles are covered.

Or, “How to Kill a Franchise in Two-and-a-Half Hours.”

Or, “Goodbye, Hobbit.”

Or, “Why the Blu-ray fight just got a whole lot tougher.”

Like most of America, I plunked down my hard-earned cash and valuable free time to watch this disaster of a movie. And after the smoke of the box office rush has settled, it sounds like I’m not in the minority. But as one will see, the implications of this are farther-reaching than the inevitable descent out of the box office top ten.

First, about the movie itself. It would be a cop-out for me to say it was a disappointment. Inevitably in a trilogy, not all the films will be on the same par excellence. Some films might be better than others, but they should overall offer the same standard for enjoyment. Spidey 3 is the trilogy’s spoiled brat – it was given the most time to produce, had the biggest budget, and already had that built-in audience of fans who enjoyed the previous two, but fell way short of expectations.

Want specifics? Things started wrong right at the opening credits when I saw Michael Chabon‘s name missing. You see, not only did he write the story to one of the greatest superhero movies of all time in Spiderman 2 (the other being Unbreakable, which I can debate later), but he’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and comic fan who also penned early treatments for the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises, and the writings of his experiences are almost as enjoyable as the treatments themselves. Comic books have reached a heightened maturity and storytelling expertise that have transcended their perceived and popular image. Chabon is someone who understands this and respects it, and it doesn’t hurt he’s a damn fine writer to boot.

So even though I saw “Screenplay by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi…”, I still held on to hope Spidey 3 would be worthy enough to be mentioned in the same paragraph as the previous two. And things started off good enough, even with a singing, snaggletoothed Kirstin Dunst kicking off the super-festivities. Yes, I said singing. And no, it wouldn’t be the last time she’d sing in this movie. But clocking in at 140 minutes with a severe lack of Spidey, they’d have to fill it with something, right?

It’s filled alright, but with the stuff you’d find yourself scraping off the bottom of your shoe. Sure, the sappy conventional “I love you”s between Peter and M.J. are grating, but could be overlooked by the nearest action piece, right? Sure, if only that weren’t followed up by Aunt May’s turn as Gandalf the Grey and stopping the story dead in its tracks to spew infinite wisdom to little Pete. Then I knew it was going to be bad when Raimi put Stan Lee in a spoken cameo that made his Mallrats gig look Academy-worthy. But still, this is Spidey we’re talking about, he hasn’t let me down yet. Right?

Right…the Sandman was nothing more than a diversion in a movie with no real villain, and a pretty stupid diversion to boot. Apparently there’s enough sand on Manhattan to make him tower thirty stories in the air, along with the requisite slow-motion growls a giant film monster makes. And his inclusion was so forced Raimi had to completely alter the emotional makeup the first film just to fit in his subplot, which is a shame since the entire Sandman plot could have been edited out with minimal impact to the overall storyline.

And then there’s Venom. Richard Roeper wrote Spidey 3 was “never scary”, and this is where Raimi really dropped the ball. For those unfamiliar, Raimi started out making low-budget horror films, and a lot of his technique from those early films have shown up in his big-budget blockbusters. Spidey 2 in particular had a scene right out of Evil Dead when Doc Octopus was made his way with some Doctors who wanted to part him of his tentacles against his wishes; the shadows, the screams, the flashy camera were all reminiscent of what Raimi does best. But for a villain as menacing as Venom, there’s none of that here. Instead, Venom’s driving motivation to kill Spiderman is because Parker stole Eddie Brock’s job. Terrifying, I know.

The entire movie is filled with inconsequential plotlines. One such is with Gwen Stacy, played by the surprisingly plump Bryce Dallace Howard, who is used only as a sucker for Spiderman to rescue and a plot device to make Brock jealous. She’s in the movie long enough to make people curious as to how she fits in with the Spidey lore, and gone well before the hokey finale. And speaking of that finale, by the way – I won’t give anything away, but let’s just say it reminded me of something out of Spy Kids. And no, for those wondering, that’s not a good thing.

So now we know the movie stinks, but what about those deeper ramifications I spoke of earlier? Well, for one, this does not bode well for Raimi’s chance to helm The Hobbit. Either New Line will look for a new director, or count their blessings at how lucky they had it with Peter Jackson and bring him back on to finish the Tolkien literary universe. And what about Blu-ray? Well, Sony was betting on Spidey 3 to drive Blu-ray to a blow-out Holiday 2007 season, with the film rumored to be released on the format in November. Mark my words: not only will the film suffer a steep 60% or larger drop in ticket sales the second week because of bad word-of-mouth, but when Shrek 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean are finally out by the end of May, Spidey 3 will only be remembered for its lackluster box office gross, despite its opening weekend.

But why is this bad for Blu-ray? Because Spidey 3 will have left an indelible smudge on a once-cherished franchise. Especially how it isn’t much of a standalone film, and it made changes to one of the critical and emotionally charged moments of the first movie, this disappointment has tarnished the overall trilogy. Don’t believe me? Remember how great everyone thought of The Matrix when it came out? What about after seeing the last two films, Reloaded and Revolutions? Not so much. Same goes for Batman and Star Wars. Spiderman 3 will cause the entire trilogy to suffer, and the Blu-ray discs won’t be the celebrated and must-buy releases they could have been had the movie done the other two justice. Sure they will sell software, but no longer will they sell hardware like Sony was hoping.

The first two movies made me a True Believer. Number Three made me wish superheroes were real, because they would have rescued me from the theater and beat up the manager so I could have my money back. Yes, it was that bad.