worst videogame movie ideas yet

There have been some real stinkers out there** when it comes to video games getting turned into major Hollywood movies these days but I have to say I don't think I've heard a worse idea yet than this one: Space Invaders is going to be a movie.

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jake gyllenhaal in prince of persia movie

There are tons of video game movies in development slated to come out over the next few years, and some are pretty successful franchises that could really be cool movie storylines: God of War, Castlevania and BioShock come to mind. One game franchise-turned-movie that has some buzz developing around it recently is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which will star Jake Gyllenhaal as the title role. The Prince of Persia series dates back to 1989 and tells the story of a sort of more serious Aladdin-type character in ancient Persia performing acrobatic feats to save the day in a number of very epic-sounding plots. Anyway, the first official promo photo for the new movie is out [at left] and Jake Gyllenhaal looks pretty dashing as Prince Dastan. Sir Ben Kingsley will be in this movie as well! Sounds like a recipe for a potential blockbuster.

video game developers taking over hollywood

With the rising popularity of video game entertainment combined with slumping numbers from Hollywood these days it’s no surprise that more video game publishers are moving into the realm of film development as well. Far too often a movie made from a game franchise turns into crap in the film company’s hands and more game developers want to ensure that their game franchises are given the proper film treatment. Ubisoft, for example, announced at SDCC this week that they will be releasing short films based on Halo and Assassin’s Creed that were made with no Hollywood involvement. This will surely become a more frequent occurrence as the line between games and movies blends further and further. Perhaps this will mean an increase in the quality of games-turned-movies and we won’t have to suffer from movie releases like Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead.

new harry potter is more of the same

As an avid fan of the Harry Potter books going back to their original late 1990's releases, I have always wanted to love the video game counterparts that have gotten more and more realistic and high-tech over the years. I played Order of the Phoenix on the Wii and like it alright but never felt sucked into it and was thoroughly confused by some of the motion controls for casting spells. Now, two years later, we've nearly reached the release date for the sixth movie Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (can't wait, the trailers are amazing) and the video game of course came out this week. Preliminary reviews don't pan it or anything but it sounds like it was tough to top the innovative and engaging open-world gameplay introduced in the previous title. As Harry fans know, Quidditch was banned in the 5th book but makes a comeback in the 6th and apparently the game pays homage to this with occasional Quidditch minigame-style levels. It sounds like superfans of the series will probably enjoy The Half-Blood Prince as much as they enjoyed Order of the Phoenix, but that other than a few new characters and of course an advanced plot, the game's mechanics haven't come that far.

New Harry Potter game does little to improve upon last one

gaming news from all over

The movie games of Summer 2009 have for the most part been a big fat flop. I think many game industry followers could have told you this would happen weeks before these games were released.

Teen who killed his parents over Halo 3 gets 23 years with possibility of parole. Apparently the major reason for the more lenient sentencing was the defense that video games make you do bad things. Because the many millions of other people playing Halo 3 are all clearly murderers who would kill their own parents. [/sarcasm]

President Obama tacks video games onto a list of health problems along with smoking and poor diets. I won't argue that fat kids need to get off the couch and play outside more often but it's pretty short-sighted to be calling video games a "hindrance to kids' education and overall success as maturing adults". More like O-booo-ma!

British lawmakers are considering offering tax breaks to videogame developers. Many filmmakers and movie studios already benefit from tax breaks offered by certain locations to draw local enterprise, and now this benefit may be extended to game developers.

fallout movie in the works?

Apparently developer Bethesda Softworks has trademarked the rights to a television series and film based on the Fallout universe that was the focus of Fallout 3, one of last year's most highly acclaimed games. This seems to indicate that we will probably see a major motion picture in the works over the next few years based on Fallout 3. Cool stuff! While Fallout will make a cool story for a movie, I think it would be even more awesome if they eventually make an Elder Scrolls movie! That would really rock.

Fallout movie coming? Bethesda trademarks television series and film

interesting... ps3 movie/game combo discs

If you're a fan of movie games then you'll be happy to know that Sony is planning on releasing more Playstation 3 game/movie combo Blu-ray discs in the future. An interesting idea although if it's going to be all movies like Transformers (crapfest) then the games will probably be pretty crappy as well. Movie games have not been good since the old Sega Genesis disney games. If I had a PS3 this might be more exciting news...

Blu-ray/videogame discs to be released for PS3

quantum of solace game = meh

I am a longtime fan of the 007 shooter games and have logged many hours in multiplayer mode with pals although I haven't done much campaign mode as I kind of suck at accurately aiming and prefer to just go running about with a grenade launcher or an automatic rifle or something blazin' up the place. Anyway, Quantum of Solace opens in theaters today and of course there is already a game title for it. Unfortunately it looks like the Bond games of the past are, well, the past, and this one is a pretty typical (mediocre) movie game. IGN says:

The explosions don't look good. At all. They almost look cartoony at parts which is a real shame because there are explosive canisters everywhere. Even where they don't make sense, like on the inside of a museum or at a construction site, there will be a bevy of explosive options.

Hmm.. Sounds like the multiplayer is still probably pretty fun but you can beat the game in about 5 hours which is kind of dreadful. But IGN does say that Daniel Craig's voice work is dreamy so at least that's something!

IGN: Quantum of Solace Review

get ready for more game movies ahead

After the release of Max Payne in theaters this weekend, you can expect to see many more movies based on video games being developed and marketed in the future. It's no secret that Hollywood is hurting for new and original ideas for blockbuster movies and some of today's well-developed games truly have more character and plot than a lot of the crap that gets released on the big screen.

Stuart Beattie, who worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, has penned a script for a "Gears of War" movie, based on Epic Games' best-selling franchise.

"For those of us who know how great games are for source material in Hollywood, we're all scrambling to try to make the big game movie that will show Hollywood just how powerful game translations can be on the big screen if they're done right," said Beattie, who is a huge gamer.

Looks like in addition to Gears of War we'll be seeing movies based on the Sims (sweet!), Prince of Persia, and more Street Fighter, to name a few.

"Max Payne" Ushers In Wave of Video Game Films

eeeee silent hill 5!

I've only ever played the first Silent Hill game in a PSX emulator on my PC, and it was still totally scary and freaky. Also, I really love the movie (it's got lame moments but overall OMG love it, especially the totally badass female lead) so I'm hoping I get to try Silent Hill 5: Homecoming at some point! I almost feel like I ought to play through all the games first, but that would take hella long and be really hard. So, perhaps we will get this one for the Xbox and give it a shot. This preview video is nice and freaky though!

EA signs on '300' director to help make games

Zack Snyder, who also directed Dawn of the Dead, will join Electronic Arts to help them develop new video game titles. I love the collab of video game makers and blockbuster filmmakers. I think it can only help to make cooler, more in-depth games based on movies, and also bring fresh ideas to new games that might make cool movie ideas themselves. I personally love video game movies (Silent Hill!) as long as they're good (as in not House of the Dead) and have pipe dreams of one day working in some related industry... Aaaaanyway, I think this is a smart move on EA's part, but then again just three years ago they did the same with Spielberg, so I guess it's not really a new thing.

Snyder will lead the creative direction of the games and work with the production team at EA Los Angeles, the same studio currently collaborating with Spielberg on the game "Boom Blox" for Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii.

EA will own the intellectual properties, and the game franchises will be developed, published and distributed worldwide by EA. The agreement includes efforts to extend the game franchises into theatrical motion pictures.

Hollywood and the video game industry -- revenues of which rival those of the nation's box offices -- continue to work more and more closely, yielding hit game franchises based on films such as the Lord of the Rings and James Bond series.

EA Signs Video Game Deal With '300' Director

how scary is the joker in arkham asylum?

Most of the time when a movie (especially a blockbuster) has a companion video game, it seems like the game is pretty much just the movie except broken into actions and decisions to make. Sometimes they can be great - I enjoyed the Harry Potter game for the Wii, though I had the good sense to just rent it - but often they are rushed to market, shallow, and boring. That's why I think it's super cool that following the huge success of The Dark Knight, we're going to see a game that references back to the original comic stories in Batman: Arkham Asylum. The new movie was a fun and scary shift from the Batman films of the 90's and this game looks like a similar appreciation of the dark original storylines. I love the idea of the Joker on a Lecter-style hand guerney at the asylum. I'm sure we'll end up buying this game when it comes out.