So all I’m asking is check the trailer and please do think before you eat. I know it does not seem easy but I guarantee you it’s easier than you think and the reward is so very tangible. And yeah please spread the word by forwarding the link.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

p.s. By eating more veggies you not only save yourself but you are also helping save the planet. Which is kinda good too.

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1. The IP owners take too big a cut from the profits.

2. That leads to a smaller budget = worse game.

3. Timelines are also usually too tight = bad game.

= No sales. No point in making movie-based games.

To me it just seems weird that they are giving up instead of taking a step back and re-inventing the whole model. After all no one can deny that movies loved by millions do make a great base for a game.

I think it’s just how you approach the whole thing.

The classic model (that fails according to EA) is to take a movie and try to repeat the storyline and the experience in a game. To me that is mistake #1. I believe that what moviegoers want is to experience more – not the same. I’ve seen the movie – now give me a new adventure in that same “universe” that I’ve fallen in love with. Let me explore that world and make it my own.

There are a few great examples in which this different approach has been applied and it has worked. Remember the excellent Chronicles of Riddick -games that explored subplots in the movie and actually explained the past of the main character. Unfortunately these examples are too few and too far between. Instead the EA’s of the world churn out mediocre game-fluff like the pathetic Harry Potter games. I mean that is just sad. How can you not make a great game based on the Potter Universe?? I would give my left arm for a Harry Potter sandbox/RPG-game. Think GTA + Red Dead Redemption + Mass Effect in the world of the world’s favorite wizard. And no – I don’t even necessarily need to play as Harry. I just want more adventures in his world.

I’m not saying EA and the gaming industry are solely to blame for this. It’s apparent that the studios and IP owners don’t understand gaming and the opportunity games represent as a platform to elevate their IP’s to a new level in the minds of the fans. I’m sure more often than not the bad decisions come from the Studios. They see games as a part of marketing and capitalizing on the movie and not as a longer term investment into engaging with their audience and in the best case building a new revenue model that might even surpass the profits made from one or two movies.

To his credit (even though I’ll never forgive him for ruining the prequels with Jar Jar and…well the list is tooo long) George Lucas and LucasArts have applied this model for a while now. They have not always succeeded but they have also produced some classic games…X-Wing anyone? And obviously the fantastic Knights of the Old Republic -games. At least they get it and want to use this amazing new medium to offer their fans new experiences in a their beloved galaxy far far away.

So I would not give up on the movie games Mr. Gibeau. Just take the advice of a very very old and wise green man: “Unlearn what you have learned”. And then start again.

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So here goes.

The news is all nice and dandy for the viewers in the US but when will the studios and other content owners realize that they need to give up the old  revenue streams of gradually milking the non-US viewers by releasing their shows and content in phases to us poor saps? First sell to the TV-networks…then put out a DVD…a Blu-Ray and maybe if we get lucky we can at some point then view the content on-demand and in HD. And oh yeah…a few re-runs on TV just for the hell of it.

Come on guys…get your head out of…well you know…and don’t repeat the mistake the music industry made by clinging on to their “good ‘ol days” and by doing that teaching us that to get music online equals P2P. You might still have a chance if you move fast.

No wonder torrents are getting more and more popular. The mechanisms are in place (I’ve got iTunes, XBOX360 with a Live subscription and….yeah – a browser + a 100meg broadband) but for some reason there is no way for me to legally watch the HD content I want and when I want online.

It’s not that people are by nature purely evil and want everything for free (well not all of us anyways) but it’s quite simply that the powers that be at NBC, Disney, Fox, ABC, HBO, Warner (the list goes on…) are not even giving us the opportunity to do the right thing.

As I write this I’m listening to Spotify for which I’m paying 10€ / month. That’s right…streaming music and happily paying for the great service. So give me my BSG, Lost and 30 Rock in HD and I’ll pay happily (as long as you don’t try and rip me off like you are doing with Blu-Rays).

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Ms. Portmans MakingOf.com promises to bring never-before-seen insights into the movie making process via true movie insiders such as Portman herself. But like Mashable.com points out: Just stating your site is a part of social media and slapping on a cute “beta” -tag next to your logo does not make it so.

A valid lesson for all content owners: In order to create a social experience online you have to identify the social objects (that Jyri Engeström so nicely talks about), fuel the fire with great exclusive content (this is the only area where MakingOf.com shows some promise…) and then give tools for the users to share, comment, upload their own content & create mashups and create systems for building your own presence and kudos in the community. Just one of the ingredients won’t do the trick.

I do hope that Ms Portman will continue to build MakingOf.com towards a more social experience. The promise of the service is intriguing but I just need the tools to engage – to enable me to take part – before that MakingOf.com is just another portal fighting for my attention. Just like back in ’98.

(BTW: Has anybody stumbled upon any good examples of social media endeavours by the big Hollywood players?)

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