Oh boy! Another Movie-based Game

On March 23rd the movie inspired game, "How to Train a Dragon" will be spinning in consoles and downloaded onto iPhones just three days before the theatrical release this Friday. The first thing that comes to mind when I catch wind of a movie based game is FLOP!

Where to begin..?

*First I'd like to emphasize that my game scores are pulled from none other than Game Informer.

Lets take a look at some recent movie-game reviews

The Godfather2 (rating 5.5)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (rating 6.25)

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (rating 3.5)

Avatar (6.5)

Keep in mind these ratings were whittled down from a ten point scoring system; anything under 7.75 is considered pretty sloppy -to say the least. And compared to their cinematic counter-parts these games just sucked. It really upsets me that the antagonist in this [possible] hook -line and sinker is the amount of [time] allotted for the project. Two questions easily come to mind in this situation:

'How much time is spent on a licensed game that is suppose to release in sync with it's film?'

'And who gets to decide whether to release a game for the movie?'

Whatever the answers, the fact still remains that profitability is, without a doubt, an administrative necessity and the cohesion of two industry giants entertaining us in digital-analogue mediums- creates more money for bling, grills and whatever else that deep pockets will get you.

Quick Fact: For over 4 years Activision has been partnered-up with DreamWorks, the studio behind "How to Train Your Dragon". The "long-term broad-based" alliance entitles Activision to worldwide exclusive rights to games for upcoming DreamWorks Animation films.

Nonetheless, if the aforementioned games were giving more time, then maybe the love and devotion that was put into them could shine as brightly as their counter-parts. The only excuse for poor audio, glitches in animation,coupled with half-assed programing [to name just a few no no's] is just that.. Time!

How to Train Your Dragon's vocal cast will help solidify what is to be another CG great for DreamWorks Animation Studios:

Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up/Tropic Thunder) as Hiccup

Jonah Hill (SuperBad/Grandma's Boy) as Snotlout

America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) as Astrid

Gerard Butler (300/Gamer) as Stoick

and more

Lets just hope the game is a game and not another facade with a marketing scheme behind it.

Stay hardcore, and let me know what your opinion is on movie-based games and possibly a consensus on my two questions.

Game On,

Rahsero