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MMOGs With Television, Movie Add-Ons
conq writes "BusinessWeek has an exclusive interview with James Cameron. In it, the director reveals plans to design a massively-multiplayer online game (MMOG) alongside his next film, Project 880. There's also exclusive news that Ron Howard's upcoming reality show, XQuest, will have an MMOG component. Gamers will be able to interact with the contestants in the show (the game will be similar to Eve Online), and winners at home will be in the next season's show."
This makes it so people play to be on TV; not to play because the game is good. Which means the game is gonna suck. Right? -- Jonny
The length of a
Time to bang out one of sonys magical "WoWhaX!!!111" cd's and see if it works on this, money to be won...
- http://www.milkme.co.uk
Perhaps there's more detail elsewhere, but given what the article says I see very little parallel to Eve Online other than that neither are "Fantasy/Magic" based. It seems like the MMO component will be extremely shallow by itself (the now defunct Earth and Beyond comes to mind) and heavily planned/scripted. Nothing like the extremely player-driven environment of EVE.
What a stupid idea. It rates right up there with Survivor, American Idol, and The Apprentice.
When I go to the store and see a game that's based on a movie, I don't even give the box a second glance. There have been so many bad movie-licenced games (and it seems that every single movie has one) that it's just not worth trying them anymore. It surprises me that people buy these games and therefore make it worth it for more bad games to be released. I have a feeling this game will be another "Enter the Matrix"
You know, with all this high tech, I wonder if adding the "reality" element with the 24hr cameras, etc. is really necessary. If the SFX are as good as they say, just watching the contestants complete their "intergalactic" missions is worth it.
No more "reality", please... we're sick tired of it.
Now we're really getting carried away. In a couple of years MMOs have gone from hard-core only nerd fests to mainstream. Worse, they seem to be well on their way to being the trendy choice when making a new game.
Are MMOs the next dotcom? Will every tv or movie franchise have a corresponding MMO? At least it should cut down on the number of rushed single player games based on movies or tv shows... I hope.
You setup the MMOG and have the participants collaborate to write the screenplay that will later be produced and all the participants can use the MMOG to download illegal copies of the movie and then have a reality show that features a law firm tracking down and suing all the monkeys that illegally downloaded the movie. And they can have celebrity Bounty Hunter The Dog serving the papers and lecturing them on the dangers of meth.
If this is any kind of success, I'd imagine that many of the major Hollywood producers with their millions will want to start backing MMOG's of their own. Remember, folks, games are still in a very nascent stage; similar to movies in the 50's (as in, 30 years after the start of cinema).
Ex nihilo nihil fit.
TFA's author seems pretty excited, but I'm not sure I see an innovation here to get all breathless over. We already have games based on movies (and movies based on games). Other than the order of release, this is just another game based on a movie.
From TFA:
" Movies with game tie-ins have been around since the days of Atari (ATAR ), but the games usually follow the plot."
Doesn't the Star Wars MMOG allow you to explore without sticking plot from the films? I don't play the game, so I don't know for sure.
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
I'd play JC's game, not RH's. As some have already pointed out, most movie-based games suck, and most movies based on games also suck. However, having something worked out in parallel with each other would be pretty cool. Granted, I'd like to see how they would cast "gold farmers" in the movie. ;-)
As for the MMORPG-meets-reality, no thank you. First off, the "winners" would more than likely need to be US citizens, and we all know that MMORPG players are not all US-based. Granted, you could have a different show in each country, and have those contenstants battle it out, but I just don't see that happening. That and the fact that I'm sick of these "reality" shows. C'mon, it was funny the first time, but how many bloody American Survivor Idols do we need?
Who is John Galt?
He hasn't made any good scifi (and arguably anything good) since Alien. This whole thing sounds hokey and the work of some disconnected-from-reality assumptions about what gamers and sci-fi goers want. I wouldn't trust a traditional director with a game, ever.
Is there an MMOG featuring the era of such things as "The Princess Bride" and "Pirates of the Caribbean"?
From what I have noted in those two movies (technology, magic, etc), they could well fit together in the same world.
Along with other stuff, of course.
Great, it's a sure thing now: the MMORPG market is headed for over-saturation.
Given the nature of these games, few people devote their time to more than one. The more games that come out, the fewer number of people there will be playing each. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually it gets to the point where - except for a couple big ones - most MMORPGs shrink back down to the player base of individual Neverwinter Nights servers or the MUDs from which they spawned.
Industry executives obviously missed the memo spelling out the fact that you can't have everyone playing every MMORPG out there - it just isn't gonna happen.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
Gamers will be able to interact with the contestants in the show (the game will be similar to Eve Online)
Oh great, so we can actually watch people being pod-killed on TV now? Makes the gate-camping almost worth the wait! Who's bringing the popcorn?
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Everyone that gets on the second season's show will have one common trait: Either full-out OCD or boarderline. My friend, can sit and play World of Warcraft for 12 hours at a time. And he's not even a 'fanatical' player of the game. What about these people? 20 hours a day? For their one shot at being on TV?
The real question is..will the producers have enough Mountain Dew?
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Making MMOs is Difficult. Very Difficult.
No information of any established MMO dev/publisher being tied into this leads me to belive that this will crash and burn in the most spectacular way ever. All they mention are couple of 'names' and unknown startups. Those poor souls... they have no clue what they are getting themselves into.
Either the 'game' will suck horribly, or if it doesn't, their infrastructure will implode under the onslaught of gamers, they'll be overrun by exploiters and farmers. See: Blizzard, WoW launch. And Blizzard was a pro developer with years of experience with online games (just not MMOs).
Looks to me some big name hollywood guys noticed that Blizzard is taking in 300M$/year off MMOs, and that's big hollywood-grade wad of cash. So the hollywood guys are locking onto the 'money detected'-signal, and desperately trying to cash into the market with an unique spin.
Now the idea of the show about a team in a 'spaceship simulator' sounds intriguing, but I'd never let outsiders break everything by adding 'MMO universe' to the mix - at least not without *minimum* 5 year development schedule to get a working game, before adding the TV show bits to the mix.
Now lets assume for a minute that their nice pitch can somehow be made into reality... If they'd try the described system by tossing a 'simulator spaceship' into, for example, EVE Online, the 'TV show ship' would get podded to hell and back over and over again, and the 'crew' would end up sitting in a station trying to refit a new ship 99% of the time, with dozens of nolifers camping the station for the chance of getting to show their l33t ships and guns on TV. Not very exiting after the first couple of explosions. PvP-enabled game universes can be harsh, and the only real way to avoid repeated ganking is to look unimportant - which doesn't work if there's a "celebrity" in the game. And if they make sure nobody can kill anyone, the "celebrity" people will just get mobbed by a horde of players that will just lag everything until servers go 'boom'.
There *is* a reason why MMOs don't generally do 'live events' - as soon as word spreads something 'unusual' is going on, everyone online wants to get to see it and participate and/or grief. Just ask Lord British about his 'celebrity visit' to Ultima Online way back... (hint: he got killed by a player, and yes, servers almost croaked as everyone on the server tried to get to the hotspot)
Just my two cynical eurocents...
There is going to be a new MMO that is going to be a the best ever....
Why they bother to make another one?
My city: Barcelona.
These days, single-player games based on media licenses are just another form of marketing to extend the brand of the movie or TV property. It's almost a given that you will see a game based on a Disney movie, no matter how lame the mini-games end up being. Curiously, in that case they work because the audience of those particular movies want something basic that allows them to simply interact a bit more with Timon and Pumbaa (and even I liked the Burper).
I think this is a bit different, however. The principle is the same as above (allow the audience to interact a bit more), except that instead of a "video game," it's now a 3D chatroom with objectives (which pretty much describes the appeal of most MMOGs in the first place). Plus, you get to influence the course of the show.
I didn't see anything in TFA about "Eve Online." Submitter's speculation?
Which makes me concerned about pricing. How much would it cost, and how much per month is it? Do I get a free month with purchase of DVD?
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
I'd love to read the article, but the page crashes IE half-way through download.
This is very similar (more than standard MMOG fare) to Alternate Reality Games. There was actually just a great article at ARGN in relation to the new television show by the guy behind "Survivor", making a MMOG tied into a television show, "Gold Rush" where you need both TV clues and online "research" to succeed in tracking down treasures of gold hidden across the US.
Anyway, it's a very interesting idea, to say the least. I think we're going to continue to see the lines between entertainment and advertising, as well as television and internet continue to blur until they're considered one all-inclusive item.
That's nice and all that these directors are extending MMOGs to new demographics, but what happens when the MMORPG "hack, slash, collect, buy, repeat" crowd of 10-15 year olds start taking the games over? Will it even be worth playing, once you hop in and see nothing but grammar mindfucks like "30otg for sell PMme pleze kthx" scrolling past the screen faster than they can be read?
You heard it here first!
I'm not here. This isn't happening.
Pirates of the Burning Sea http://www.burningsea.com/ comes to my mind. It won't have magic though.
Does anyone play that anymore? How well is it doing based against other MMOs such as WoW, Coh/ CoV, EQ, EQ2, etc.?
What's going to make these games unique? What will drawpeople to the game, or people away from other MMOs, besides licensing? Most gamers aren't fooled by licensing gimmicks anymore (Star Wars Masters of Taras Kasi anyone?), so unless there's innovation or new gameply/ mechanics involved that will appeal to old and new gamers alike, it will be an uphill battle.
Think the only appeal a games like this would have is being the lucky person to be on TV. But hey, if there aren't a lot of people who play the game, your odds of winning increas at least ;)
Better James Cameron than Uwe Boll!
Like Ebaums World? You'll love Shizzville
How about this then? -- a Survivor like reality show where armed robots hunt the humans and are controlled over the internet as part of a first-person shooter multiplayer online game. Then people would realize that the most dangerous animal is really teenagers with computers ...
Don't try to compete with WoW.. You're opening a no name coffee stand next to a Starbuck's.
Not even EQ could make another EQ.
I would have to agree the current plans for super awesome MMO's are going nowhere.
I would love to see MMORPG based on ALIENS. Marines vs. Aliens. :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
What would make a great reality TV show, would be a bounty hunting situation. Put a bunch of people in the game, with certain goals. Then also have corporations put out bounties for them part way through. Winner is the last one surviving. Make it hard enough for the regular players to figure out who is on the TV show, and it could be very interesting to watch. More "Survivor" than Survivor.
--SCZ