Movie Studios Take On Game Design

by Alex Russel
alex.russell@artschoolreview.com
Art School Review Columnist

There can no longer be any doubt that computer game design has become a big preoccupation for movie studios.

Recently, Time Warner's Turner division announced GameTap, a new online service that will give subscribers access to 300 classic video games when it launches in the fall. Though it's a website, Turner plans to promote the video game network as it would a new TV channel.

Game Design Career in Hollywood

A few days before that, Disney bought Avalanche Software, a Salt Lake City game developer. Disney also raided game design giant Electronic Arts for talent and started a new game studio in Vancouver, Canada.

Warner Brothers meanwhile has hired video game star Jason Hall and bought his game development company. And last but not least, Vivendi Universal owns a thriving computer game division, with big hits like "Half-Life 2."

Hollywood's Return to Game Design

Hollywood made similar ventures into game design in the 90s and failed quite miserably. This time, instead of trying to start from the bottom up, they are getting involved with people and companies already well established in the game design business.

"Media companies have not figured out games,'' said Dennis Quinn, executive vice president of GameTap in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. "We don't need to, because the game developers have done so themselves. We take their content and serve it up with the same respect we give to movies.''

Hollywood to Offer Game Design Jobs

"We're moving away from being a licensor of content for games to becoming a publisher of our own games,'' said Graham Hopper, who runs Disney's Buena Vista Games division.

The attractiveness of the game design business is beyond argument. "When you look at how people spend their leisure time, movies and TV are down, while games are up,'' said Jillian Goldberg, Electronic Arts' vice president of marketing. "Hollywood sees this, and how games can extend their brands.''

Game Design Makes Better Money than Movies

The average cost to produce a hit movie is about $90 million. A hit game costs about $10 million. But in 2005, both products can predictably go on to make more than $100 million in return.

The main frustration for the film studios, or the taunt they have difficulty ignoring, is that many of the hit games, like Shrek 2 or Chronicles of Riddick, are based on their hit movies. Why couldn't they just make the games themselves and cut out the middleman.

Many game industry analysts think the studios will have a tough road competing with the game companies. But the important news for students entering art schools is that a game design career is a job track that is clearly here to stay.

About the Author
Alex Russel is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Since graduating from Syracuse University he has worked at many different media companies in fields as diverse as film, TV, advertising, and journalism. He holds a dual bachelor's degree in English and History.

Sources
http://www.siliconvalley.com

Posted on May 31, 2005 at 07:41 PM