How Spielbergian (Spielberg + EA = ?)

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PopeKevinI

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http://www.businessweek.com/ap/tech/D8D7K93G0.htm?campaign_id=apn_tech_up&chan=tc

The short version: EA has signed Steven Spielberg for three original games.

Personally, I think this is a good thing. Not so much because Spielberg is getting involved--his work lately has been hit and miss--but because he's a juggernaut in Hollywood and his involvement in the video game industry can only attract more talent from outside the normal industry circles.

So...any guesses on the nature of his first game?

Coming soon to a game console near you: a Steven Spielberg video game. The acclaimed film director and producer has agreed to develop three new games under a long-term exclusive deal with video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. The deal to be announced Friday reflects the increasingly intertwined interests of Hollywood and the video game industry.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Redwood City-based EA, the world's largest game maker behind blockbusters such as "Madden NFL" and "The Sims," said it will own the intellectual property behind the Spielberg games and publish them.

The deal involves much more than the Hollywood director merely putting his stamp on a game or popping in for quick consultations, said Neil Young, vice president and studio head of EA's Los Angeles studio.

Instead, Spielberg will have an office in EA's studio. He plans to work side-by-side with game developers to create original gaming content beginning with the concept -- not a game based on a movie, or vice versa, both of which are common practices nowadays.
"It's really the first time a filmmaker, and a filmmaker of Steven Spielberg's caliber will collaborate at this level on an original game," Young said. "He understands how our medium works and wants to push it in different directions, putting innovations in a game that no one has ever seen before."

Young would not disclose what kind of ideas Spielberg or EA already have in mind, or whether the genre would be science fiction or something else. But the hope, he said, is to draw on Spielberg's storytelling talents and create games that would engage players emotionally.

Spielberg, whose large portfolio includes films such as "Saving Private Ryan," "Schindler's List," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and "E.T." was not available for comment. In a statement, he said he "was looking forward to working closely with the team in Los Angeles."

Spielberg has been an avid follower of games for years. In a speech last year, he told film students they could change the face of film making if only they played more video games.

And in the early 1990s, LucasArts, the game-making arm of Lucasfilm Ltd., created a computer game called "The Dig" based on a Spielberg story idea. Game observers considered it a flop.

It will be several years before the first of three Spielberg-EA games hits store shelves, Young said.

Copyright 2005, by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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edit: Anyone who called The Dig a "flop" has spent too much time in Hollywood. It was a great game, and is still a classic adventure game. The problem was that it was one of the last in a dying genre.

edit 2: hehe beat the front page by 20 minutes :D
 
PopeKevinI said:
So...any guesses on the nature of his first game?
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Spielberg already had a first game... it was called Medal of Honor (Dreamworks Interactive). Then EA bought them out after the atrocious Trespasser game. In fact, here's all the games Spielberg's company already did:

Target Earth — (Sega Genesis 1990)
Trampoline Terror — (Genesis 1990)
Lost World: Jurassic Park — (PlayStation 1997)
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger — (PlayStation 1999)
Trespasser — (PC 1998)
Medal of Honor — (PlayStation 1999)
Medal of Honor: Underground — (PlayStation 2000)
Clive Barker's Undying — (PC 2001)
Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted House — (PC 2001)
Medal of Honor: Frontline — (PlayStation 2 2002)

Sarcasm aside, I would expect a story-driven sci-fi game first from this "new" collaboration... FPS with less shooting and more gameplay a la Half-Life 2.
 
HoodooGuru said:
Spielberg already had a first game... it was called Medal of Honor (Dreamworks Interactive). Then EA bought them out after the atrocious Trespasser game. In fact, here's all the games Spielberg's company already did:

Target Earth — (Sega Genesis 1990)
Trampoline Terror — (Genesis 1990)
Lost World: Jurassic Park — (PlayStation 1997)
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger — (PlayStation 1999)
Trespasser — (PC 1998)
Medal of Honor — (PlayStation 1999)
Medal of Honor: Underground — (PlayStation 2000)
Clive Barker's Undying — (PC 2001)
Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted House — (PC 2001)
Medal of Honor: Frontline — (PlayStation 2 2002)

Sarcasm aside, I would expect a story-driven sci-fi game first from this "new" collaboration... FPS with less shooting and more gameplay a la Half-Life 2.
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Those are games made by people who worked for them. I've never heard of Spielberg being involved in their development. This is a completely different scenario we're talking about.
 
The OP made a good point about his influence maybe bringing in more talent.

But with the way Hollywood is I don't want them touching games so much. Movies have sucked lately and so have games. I just hope two halves can make one and finally put out some spectacular things.
 
HoodooGuru said:
Clive Barker's Undying — (PC 2001)
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This is a spielberg game? I thought it was by someone named Clive Barker (like tom clancy) :confused:
 
Only game I know of Spieldberg working on was "The Dig "and that was a collaboration with Lucas.
 
d34dly said:
The OP made a good point about his influence maybe bringing in more talent.

But with the way Hollywood is I don't want them touching games so much. Movies have sucked lately and so have games. I just hope two halves can make one and finally put out some spectacular things.
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EA is already the Hollywood of the gaming industry, might as well put one of Hollywood's top talents on the development staff.

Movies aren't the only thing in apparent decline (though if you watch 80s movies, you might realize that they've always sucked)...look at music. Or television. Or video games. It's not the people making them...it's the people buying them.
 
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