Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Spielberg and Electronic Arts Partner Up

Posted by Zonk on from the has-to-be-better-than-jurassic-park-III dept.

Ryan O'Rourke writes "Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has partnered with Electronic Arts on a deal to create three new video games. Although the titles and subjects of the new games have not been released, the games have been described as "three new original franchise properties," so they probably will not be based on previous films. The article also mentions that EA will own the intellectual property for the games. The company will develop, publish, and distribute the game franchises worldwide. And Mr. Spielberg will have the right to develop movies based on the games."

32 comments

  1. Going back to the well by xorowo · · Score: 1

    Spielberg collaborated with LucasArts on "The Dig", back 10 years ago. It is interesting that with LucasArts still a meaningful player in the videogame space, Spielberg decided to partner with EA (aren't they working together on Indy 4?)

    1. Re:Going back to the well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
      It is interesting that with LucasArts still a meaningful player in the videogame space, Spielberg decided to partner with EA
      Probably because Spielberg didn't want to make a StarWars game. I honestly think that's all they do now. From the article, it sounds like Spielberg wants to do something original, a concept completely unfamilar to the modern LucasArts. Shame, their adventure games are some of my favorite video games of all time...

      I still remember that damn turtle skeleton puzzle in The Dig...

    2. Re:Going back to the well by MrLint · · Score: 1

      nononon not Indy 2004, Indy 2006, and 2007 and 2008 and 2009 and....

    3. Re:Going back to the well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps LucasArts declined the request. After all, "The Dig" was
      ridiculous and cheesy and only remembered for its unintentional
      camp value.

      Also, while LucasArts is a publisher, qua publisher they lack
      the influence, capability or clout of EA. As a collection of
      game developers, it depends on the genre, but in the publishing
      realm EA is boss.

      As far as Spielberg goes, what does he really have to offer
      other than name recognition? His movies over the past, oh,
      decade haven't been especially creative or interesting or
      worthy of recognition. And despite the increasing trend
      towards atavistic "Dragon's Lair"/"Night Trap"-style
      'gameplay,' a film director is not qualified to craft
      interactive games any more than a fruit picker is qualified
      to be a food geneticist. In any case, name recognition
      should have the opposite effect on learned gamers; crossover-
      appeal games are traditionally the worst-playing, going back
      to a game that Spielberg surely remembers with fondness,
      "E.T." for the Atari 2600.

    4. Re:Going back to the well by smaffei · · Score: 1

      Probably because Spielberg didn't want to make a StarWars game. I honestly think that's all they do now.

      How a about "Mercenaries?"

      --
      Sure, Windows PCs dominate the market. But so do cheap toupees.
    5. Re:Going back to the well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      worst game evar

    6. Re:Going back to the well by yoyhed · · Score: 1
      Spielberg wants to do something original, a concept completely unfamilar to the modern LucasArts

      In stark contrast, Electronic Arts is completely familiar with the concept of something original, making Spielberg's decision obvious.

      --
      WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
    7. Re:Going back to the well by chrish · · Score: 1

      To be fair, EA claims to "strive" to have one new franchise per year.

      Given their size and the number of games they crank out, that's laughable, but still...

      --
      - chrish
  2. Director = game developer? by dividedsky319 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hmm... I find this kind of odd.

    Sure, he can come up with a good story, and direct well... but it's not like his directing expertise will mean he can create a good game.

    I'll be interested to see what he comes up with...

    And... what is it with all these "famous" people who try to break the barriers of what they do? Rappers in movies, moviestars recording cds, etc... and now, directors creating video games.

    1. Re:Director = game developer? by Man+Eating+Duck · · Score: 1

      If I recall correctly, Spielberg wrote part of the story in an adventure game called "The Dig" from LucasArts. While not the greatest adventure game ever, I still enjoyed it a lot.

      Don't know if that is relevant at all, TFA doesn't mention which type of game they will be working on (except for the information-free statement "Work has already started on the first of the three projects, which EA says will be a next generation game which appeals to a broad audience.")

      --
      Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors! :)
    2. Re:Director = game developer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Famous people (in particular famous people with standards) can bring a lot to videogame development. Given that the average Marketing Weasle is far more likely to listen to a famous person than they are to listen to a developer, if a famous person said that the game isn't ready to be released it likely will get the extra time it needs; being that El. Speilbergo seems to have standards, and doesn't seem like an idiot, if the lead developers suggests to him that the game needs more time he will likely help them get it.

      Basically, what I am saying is that a famous person acting as a producer can have the same effect that having Myiamoto as a producer has; everyone is willing to suck up to him so you get the resources that you need. I love Myiamoto btw, but I suspect that he stands out so much because no one ever doubts him.

    3. Re:Director = game developer? by hal2814 · · Score: 1

      Hey, they let Kevin Smith write that Daredevil comic book series. It's not a matter of how good the games are. It's a matter of how many copies they can sell with Spielberg's name on the box.

      Smith's 1st Daredevil story was pretty pathetic but issue 1 sold like hotcakes. First it looked like a Spawn ripoff and then the explanation (far too many issues later) was just a lame Scooby Doo type of thing involving Mysterio. Maybe Spielberg will update the Atari 2600 version of ET.

    4. Re:Director = game developer? by FortKnox · · Score: 1

      Tom Clancy started a gaming company known as Red Storm Entertainment and ended up with the successful Rainbow Six series.

      Sounds like Mr. Speilburg won't get his hands too dirty with the development of the game... sounds like he's more into having the movie rights to the games...

      --
      Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  3. Misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The same thing as the Peter Jackson's Halo story, Spielberg will only be an executive producer so there's nothing interesting about this.

  4. Does this deserve a story? by Eternauta3k · · Score: 0

    Seriously, does this merit a slashdot story? It has barely any information!

    --
    Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
  5. Spielberg games? by Hellad · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just hope that we will actually be able to play as Schindler!

    1. Re:Spielberg games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just hope that we will actually be able to play as Schindler!

      Yeah that would be cool, until Drew Barrymoore convinces him to patch the game replacing all the guns with walkie-talkies, and all the SS uniforms with clown suits. Then it will be lame.

  6. Pinky and the Brain! by steveo777 · · Score: 5, Funny
    We've been waiting for a game that can capture the essence of Pinky and the Brain for ages! Oh, hear our cry Mr. Speilburg and give us a game that we can only play at night. A game that will allow us to almost take over the world in, at the least, 365 ways!

    And if Speilburg won't listen, we'll go find his spanish equivilent, Stephen Speilburgo!

    --
    This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    1. Re:Pinky and the Brain! by BooRolla · · Score: 1
      And if Speilburg won't listen, we'll go find his spanish equivilent, Stephen Speilburgo!

      I believe you mean "his non-union mexican equivalent!"

  7. fark nailed this with their headline by enrico_suave · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Spielberg agrees to team up with EA for three video games. Due up first: ET's BMX 2007"

    --
    Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
    1. Re:fark nailed this with their headline by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      "Due up first: ET's BMX 2007"

      Then we should all be thankful Spielburg isn't teaming up with Acclaim...

  8. Here's just hoping... by Izhido · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... Spielberg don't go the L. British/Origin way. Would be a pity. I like most of Spielberg's movies.

  9. Wonderful.... by Landak · · Score: 1

    Formulaic video games coupled with formulaic movies :). Seriously though, having a great story does not a great game make. Most of the time the story is more than adequate - in my experience - it's the gameplay that lets you down, and that is, annoyingly, one of the areas where EA seem to be great at whacking the monkeys to produce lots of libLoadingScreen(), libBloat(), libJitter() as they're all cross platform. (And that's not mentioning the textures and models...)

    (I still want my alien death ray though!)

    --
    My UID is prime. Is yours?
  10. Great! by polyp2000 · · Score: 1

    What an excellent choice by mister Spielberg. While he might be a great movie director, albeit slightly formulaic from time to time. Im sure the Electronic Arts will be producing original and innovative games based on these film licenses. Its about time someone put an end to the crappy film licenced video games that have been churned out since the days of Ocean and the C64.

    This is fantasic news and im looking forward to seeing the results of this escapade.

    Am i being to subtle for an american audience ?

    --
    Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
  11. EA never let Origin do this by Filiks · · Score: 1

    Just yesterday there was the story of how EA destroyed the creativity of Origin after merging. Origin was forced to focus on sequels and even recently, EA told shareholders their plan is to release about 20 sequels per year and just 1 original title. Frankly this collaboration doesn't make much sense unless Spielberg actually has some incredible ideas waiting to be realized.

    1. Re:EA never let Origin do this by dsyu · · Score: 1

      My guess is EA is doing this primarily so they can put Spielberg's name on the game package, create licensed titles tied to films, and boost sales. Spielberg has plenty of film projects to do, and might be interested in tossing some creative ideas around, but I wouldn't expect him to have the time to do more than the "executive producer" level of involvement.

  12. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds to me that all Steven Spielberg did was sell EA video games right to his next three movies.

  13. Original franchises? by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 1

    What, like Dark Angel?

    (psst, mod me funny.)

  14. Spielberg got the shaft! by XXIstCenturyBoy · · Score: 1

    "And Mr. Spielberg will have the right to develop movies based on the games."

    Has anyone in Spielberg entourage told him how popular video game based movie are popular?

    He must frequent the same people as The Rock.

  15. This is not Spielberg's first video game effort by Max+Nugget · · Score: 1

    Some of the press releases and news stories are tauting this as Spielberg's first foray into videogames, but don't be fooled -- this is not the first game he has collabated on.

    In 1995, Spielberg teamed up with LucasArts to make "The Dig," a graphic adventure game that was well-reviewed but never really caught on (surprisingly, one of LucasArts' only adventure games that didn't see huge success during that time period).

    LucasArts, like EA, was proudly tauting how their game was Steven Spielberg's "first collaboration" in the gaming world. Except in EA's case, this is only true if you have a short memory of gaming history.

    You can read more on The Dig at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dig

    I never got a chance to play The Dig but I heard it was a good game.

    1. Re:This is not Spielberg's first video game effort by VGPowerlord · · Score: 1
      It is an excellent game. I just wish that LucasArts had realized, in 1995, no one wants to go through the hassle of DOS to play games. Luckily, they wised up and included a Windows 95 version of The Dig in The LucasArts Archives Vol. 3 in 1997.

      Of course, that doesn't matter any more. The open-source ScummVM project can play The Dig on most computer systems these days. The only problem that remains is finding the game.

      ...and no, you can't have mine!

      --
      GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  16. Brilliant! by Gonzo73 · · Score: 1

    Finally, an updated directors cut of "ET" the Videogame from the good old Atari days!!!