New 'Kong' monkeys with game industry

When Peter Jackson's new film "King Kong" opens nationally on Wednesday, fans of the original 1933 movie won't be the only ones with an advance sense of the story line.

Thousands of people have been playing the "King Kong" video game since late last month. And while the game and the film by the hit-making "Lord of the Rings" director didn't come out on the same date, the releases were close enough to be seen in the two industries as a tandem launch.

Video: Kong vs. T-Rex
Ubisoft's "King Kong" is helping build hype for the Peter Jackson movie. Get a look at the game play here.

Kong is the latest example of an evolving trend in Hollywood that many see as the future of filmed fiction. With some Hollywood films like "King Kong" costing as much as $200 million or more to make, the film business is desperate for ways to recoup some of those expenses. And it is turning increasingly to its video game licensees as a way to do so.

That makes sense, given that the video game business itself now earns more in sales each year than does Hollywood. And while there are no guarantees that a licensed game will make a difference, movie studios see cooperating with the Ubisofts and Electronic Arts of the world as an attractive bet.

Beyond the potential financial advantages, the tandem releases are eroding boundaries between where stories begin and end.

"When you have a total viewpoint of a franchise and of a narrative and a universe, having a movie and a game is a really unique opportunity for people to explore a particular piece of fiction in a multitude of directions," said Jason Hall, senior vice president at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

To date, there have been several prominent coordinated film and movie releases, including multiple "Harry Potter" and "The Matrix" titles. And there's no doubt that putting out a movie like "King Kong" and an associated video game around the same time offers irresistible cross-marketing possibilities. After all, having the film on everyone's lips gives unparalleled name recognition to the game. And vice versa.

"When doing a movie-based game, you want to get the maximum buzz when the movie is released," said Xavier Poix, producer of Ubisoft's "King Kong" game. "So the decision was made very early that we needed to be there at the moment when the movie (came) out."

Yet there is no guarantee tandem releases will help the bottom lines of the films and games.

"It's still viewed (in Hollywood) as supplemental revenue," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group, "because it's dependent to a large part on the box office appeal of the film. So if you have a disappointing film, it's going to impact the sales of the game. If the studio doesn't do its job in promoting the movie, or if it isn't received well...then it's not an independent variable where they can count on this much revenue from the license."

But to the production teams, which often work closely together, the appeal of simultaneously creating a movie and related game goes far beyond pure marketing. Whereas film-based games used to be little more than marketing vehicles for movies, that dynamic is changing. Now, games like "King Kong" and the latest entries in "The Matrix" series can actually provide extensions to the films' narratives.

Jackson, of course, has a history of creating films that are developed closely alongside associated video games. In the case of both "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King," the games hit shelves less than two months prior to the movies.

When it came to his film about the world's best-known gorilla, "Peter Jackson said he wanted the game to be a sister or brother to the movie," Poix said. "He wanted it to be an extension of the movie he had created."

[jamie.p.walsh]

Tie-ins are key to the cross-marketing and also cross into DVD

Having an element within the game that leads the player to wonder, could entice them to see the movie or buy the DVD and vice-versa as well. The key is the dearth of writing and story depth that needs to happen in the first place. The problem becomes that, with a title like this, writers will typically want to stay true to the original story line, but from a production standpoint, producers will want them to take the story further, and that takes talent and money.

It becomes simply a riskier investment that has huge potential to pay off, but an even greater potential to fail.

[gerhard_schroeder]

Hollywood videogames are for losers

Obviously, this article is written by someone who is not a gamer and knows only what he is told by others about games.

And the sychophants driving his glowing depictions of "extended narrative" falls flat when faced with the stark realities of buggy, janky, movie games like The Matrix or Harry Potter or Shrek or Finding Nemo or King Kong ad infinium.

These games are unoriginal, feature button mashing, and poor graphics. Generic gameplay and a lack of originality. They smell like marketing devices and play like an assembly line.

Hey Turd-man... I'll stick with Final Fantasy, Tekken, Resident Evil, Warcraft, Armored Core, Metal Gear Solid, etc.

And your precious hollywood? It is THE GAMES that will be making MOVIES as fun little tie-ins. Hollywood is withering and dying... Game studios will be making the tie-in movies going forward. Not the other way around.

Game studios have credibility with fans. Capcom is more credible than Touchstone. Square Enix packs a more potent puch than Dreamworks.

Your world is dead.

[tubedogg]

Exception to this

King Kong is a relatively good game. Granted it may not be the next coming of Final Fantasy but given some of the crapfests that have come out as movie tie-ins (Enter the Matrix, anyone?), it is a good, if short, game. At least on Xbox 360 the graphics are amazing -- it's one of the best looking 360 games available.

[gerhard_schroeder]

BUG ALERT: King Kong game did not pass QA

Real journalists at the BBC dug into the King Kong game and found out ... surprise! its crap...

This Hollywood shill - Terd Man - is looking really crazy right now...

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4525318.stm" target="_newWindow">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4525318.stm</a>



TV glitch mars Xbox 360 Kong game
By Alfred Hermida
Technology editor, BBC News website

Gamers can play as explorer Jack Driscoll and as King Kong
Fans wanting to get the best out of the King Kong video game should avoid the version for Microsoft's new Xbox 360, the game's maker Ubisoft has suggested.

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot admitted that the 360 game is too dark on standard TVs, making it hard to play.

"I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't see it when we were developing the game," he told the BBC News website.

[Charleston Charge]

If you like good QA

try Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing!

[gerhard_schroeder]

Ubisoft just admitted the game looks worse on XBOX 360

Honestly, what are you talking about?

High up officials at Ubisoft are now admitting that the XBOX 360 version looks much worse than PS2 or GameCube versions on standard TV. This is a huge problem, and something that only a Hollywood game would allow, because of the need to release on some artificial box-office date.

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4525318.stm" target="_newWindow">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4525318.stm</a>

[Charleston Charge]

All your base are belong to King Kong

All your base are belong to King Kong

[gerhard_schroeder]

King Kong sucks

King Kong suck it.. and so do Hollywood shills trying to drum up interest for a mediocre movie and a crappy video game on this marginal website.

[gerhard_schroeder]

Ubisoft movie crap games - Dukes of Hazzard

These people made the Dukes of Hazzard movie game (crap) and tried to censor the rebel flag from the paint job on the General Lee. Pathetic...

I wonder how long it will take them to neuter Kong?