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.