The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

Grand Theft Auto IV schwag giveaway

Trying to do some cleaning up around here and I realized I've got some GTA IV related schwag that came courtesy of Rockstar. Which means... giveaway.

As pictured here, I've got a foam finger, a GTA IV t-shirt, and a LIberty City Police Department sweatshirt. I've also got various GTA IV stickers that i'll toss into the envelope.

So how do you get them? Incredibly simple. Just leave a comment saying what you want. You can only claim one of the three. Whoever's first to claim each item will get it.

Just be sure to leave your email address with the comment so I can contact you. This contest is meant for "regular" readers. So if I know you, you're not eligible.

(Thanks to Paula Taylor for taking the pic)

Update: 7 people have left comments asking for stuff, but nobody has included their email address, as I asked you guys above to do. Sorry, but I can't ship anything to you if I don't know how to contact you. To reiterate: the first person who leaves a comment asking for one of the items WITH AN E-MAIL ADDRESS will win it. And yes, to answer one person's question, I will ship overseas. But it might be slow.

Gore Verbinski talks about directing the Bioshock movie

Lots of people in Hollywood have been itching to make a "Bioshock" movie pretty much since last August, as I wrote on here a few months ago.

Finally, that interest has turned to reality. Universal has struck a deal with Take-Two to make the "Bioshock" movie. "Pirates of the Caribbean" helmer Gore Verbinski will direct and produce. "Aviator" and "Star Trek: Nemesis" screenwriter John Logan will adapt.

If you haven't read it yet, get all the details in my story, which runs in tomorrow's Daily Variety and is already online. There are a lot of details there about the financial terms, how it's connected to the "Halo" movie, the key players, how the deal came together, etc., that I won't repeat here. Seriously, just read it.

For Cut Scene readers, however, I have more. Are you wondering how Verbsinski is going to treat your beloved "Bioshock?" Why he wanted to make it into a movie? How much he's collaborating with the game's creative director Ken Levine? I got on the phone with him today to get you guys some answers. Enjoy, and share your thoughts in the comments.

Me: How did this come about? What first got you interested in "Bioshock?"

Gore Verbsinski: I was hanging out a lot with Ken Levine talking about gaming in general and I heard from Ken directly that they were thinking about making a movie.

Of all the games out there, I think "Bioshock" is the one that's the most engaging. I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that's cleverly unveiled to players is brimming with cinematic potential.

Me: It's pretty obvious that the game has some amazing visuals that might look great in a movie. What about the story? Do you want to carry that over as well?

GV: Fans of the game will not be disappointed. Of course, it's just like anything else that you adapt. If you create a film from a game you have to break some of the game's rules and do the best job you can, because they're completely different. We can’t possibly put 30 hours of gameplay into a two hour movie. So we have to make some tough choices.

We want to take all the strengths from the property. Of all the games I’ve played, this is the one that I felt has a really strong narrative.

Me: Given all the effects that might might be involved, do you see this movie being as big and epic as "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

GV: I don’t think it'll be on that scale. Of course, with "Bioshock" there are no locations I can go to. We have to build it. We'll cleverly use matte paintings and all the technology we have to achieve a great deal of scale without actually building everything.

It's a much more intimate story than "Pirates." Although its an adventure, it’s a dramatic adventure. I see it more along the lines of "Blade Runner."

Me: You obviously have a relationship with Ken Levine. How involved do you expect him to be with the film?

GV: Right now I'm talking a lot with John Logan about it. But Ken and I speak on a regular basis in terms of what characters we feel are working well and where he feels things should be different in a movie. This is a great asset to pick up the phone and call. He has been very open to it. I look forward to continuing that relationship.

Me: The game has some very disturbing moments that present moral choices to the player in the form of the Little Sisters. How much of that do you want to present in the film?

GV: I think we'll go right up to the edge with the Little Sisters. I don’t want to soften it to the point where the core audience feels betrayed. At the same time, the gameplay is completely different than it will be for an audience watching.

The movie audience’s imagination is a lot more graphic if you let them imagine it. We'll have to be really clever with that.

Me: So given that, do you expect the movie would be rated R just as the game was M?

GV: We're prepared to make it an R-rated movie. I don’t intuitively see it as PG-13. The content and the graphic nature of the story itself is smarter than that. It's not for young kids.

The utopian references and the way the characters and world are drawn in that delightfully inspired Jules Verne and Ayn Rand style places the film in a more elevated realm. It's the realm of a graphic novel. It has to have that edge.

There's sort of that "Manchurian Candidate" psychological element in there as well.

Me: So should we expect to see a lot the same settings from the game?

GV: I hope we can take it to the next level. It's one thing that I think probably will change for the better. But only in the sense that in gameplay, everything's smaller because you have to build it all so players physically do things like ascend stairs. In a film we have time cuts. So we can make the places a little more vast and less claustrophobic

Me: Any thoughts on how you'll make the Big Daddys? Will they be CG created or can you make costumes?

GV: We could go either way. Typically when you get too burdened with animatronics, it slows down filming, especially knowing what we can do these days with computers. That being said, there's no substitute for an actor reacting. It's always a delicate balance. We'll probably end up with a hybrid.

Me: So is this the next project you'll be working on? When do you anticipate starting?

GV: I'll be starting to work on it immediately as soon as we get a script  that's worthy. We'll then move actively into pre-production. I wouldn’t put a time schedule on it so much as to say I'm jumping in with a full commitment.

Me: Will you be talking to the folks developing "Bioshock 2?" Do you see any crossover between the two or are you focused on the first game?

GV: The only crossover will be ensuring that we don’t do anything destructive to the IP.

Me: Since it's a first person game, we don't get to know the protagonist that well in the game. What are your thoughts on the main character of the film?

GV: I think ultimately he has to do with the concept of free will. We will be designing him on that idea. It will be a character who adamantly believes he does have free will.

Me: You recently spoke at D.I.C.E. and seem to be getting very interested in videogames in general. Besides the "Bioshock" film, are you interested in moving the other direction and getting more involved in making games?

GV: I’m continually fascinated with videogames as interactive entertainment: this idea that the audience is the protagonist. I think there is a whole form of narrative ready to be born.

It has been fun talking to different designers, going to Blizzard, meeting Ken. I hope to make it up to Valve. "Portal" is one of my favorites. For now, it's just an open dialogue about how far we can push this thing. 

Bobby Kotick on another huge quarter for Activision (Call of Duty 4 up to 9 million units)

Red hot Activision posted crazy earnings today, even though it didn't release any games last quarter. Ridiculous 93% revenue growth was driven primarily by continued sales of "Guitar Hero III" and "Call of Duty 4," the latter of which has now sold 9 million units worldwide. That is a LOT. And means CoD 4 is going to be that very rare game to cross the 10 million threshold before it's all said and done.

All the details will be posted soon in my story at Variety.com, at which point I'll link here.

One detail worth nothing from Activision's earnings release is this: "Activision announced today that online functionality for certain key titles to be released in the December quarter of fiscal year 2009 and thereafter is expected to become a significant component of game play for certain platforms for which the company will have continuing performance obligations beyond the sale of the game."

Translated to English: Activision plans to make more money, and incur more costs, from the online components of titles hitting this holiday season. Does that mean we'll be paying more for online play with games like "Guitar Hero IV?" I don't know the answer, but it's interesting.

Here are also for your enjoyment are a few details from my talk with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick about the earnings:

Me: When I see certain companies (like THQ and Midway) performing so far below the NPD industry average, I know others have to be bringing it up. Sure looks like you're in that group.,

Bobby Kotick: For 18 years we've been waiting for this moment. What’s really happening is that the mass market for videogames has arrived. New audiences have now emerged for products like "Guitar Hero" and "Call of Duty" and I think that's in part because of the social component and in part the accessibility and also probably the production values

If you look at the dollar costs per hour of entertainment, we deliver the greatest value of any medium. I thnk especially in a weakening economy, people pay attention to that.

Me: Were you expecting such strong growth in what's usually a slow quarter for the industry?

BK: When you look at our success and that of "GTA," some of the seasonality is coming out of the business. When we look at our upcoming combo with Blizzard and the monthly subscription revenues from "Warcraft" and some of the reduced seasonality we'll get out of that too, it's really going to help from an investor perspective.

Me: What happened with DreamWorks Animation's 2010 film "Master Mind," which THQ is doing the game for? Are you not working with DreamWorks anymore once your deal ends?

BK: We have a long term deal that covers a lot of different franchises. With respect to all those things, we have big investments and commitments against them.

Our strategy generally has been more toward owned IP or proven IP. As the cost of game development goes up and the cost of marketing goes up, we have such a rich portfolio of owned IP that we're generally trying to stay focused on a smaller number of licensed IPs that are proven. With DreamWorks, we have so much confidence in what we’ve done and such great success generally speaking that we've been willing to take more risks on their unproven properties than anybody else. We view ["Master Mind"] as more of a one –off, isolated thing. It wasn't something that was going to be appropriate for our resources right now.

Speed Racer, Echochrome, more reviews debate to enjoy while I'm prepping a huge story

Sorry for the relative quiet, but I'm working on a really big story that will be going online. Trust me, this is the kind of thing Variety does best. You guys will be grateful I put the time into it. Plus there will be a related interview with one of the big names involved available exclusively here on The Cut Scene.

Meanwhile, here are some things to enjoy...

-Brian Crecente review Warner Bros.' "Speed Racer" videogame for Variety. He says it's a viscerally fun racing title for the Wii, but doesn't have much of the movie/TV show's personality.

-Tom Chick reviews "Echochrome" for Variety. He loves how the game flips the perspective that players are used to, but finds that playing it for too long is frustrating and, quite literally, headache inducing.

-On MTV's Multilayer blog, Stephen Totilo asks whether critics have to "finish" a game in order to write a fair review and includes some questions about me and my "GTA IV" review.

Me on X-Play discussing exclusive reviews

I was on G4's X-Play yesterday discussing the "exclusive reviews" issue that has become such a hot topic since I criticized IGN recently. The other interviewee was GamePro's Chris Morell, who's obviously not there to defend IGN, but provides some enthusiast press perspective, plus a really smoking '80s style collar flipped up look. (Whereas I, like always, look like a major dork)

IGN just provided a statement to defend their reviews policy:

THQ nabs Marvel's Super Hero Squad. More Marvel games to come?

In tomorrow's Daily Variety: THQ has nabbed a long-term deal to make games based on Marvel's upcoming animated series aimed at little kids: "Super Hero Squad."

Makes pretty obvious sense for THQ, which has had a lot of success with kids games based on the Nickelodeon and Pixar licenses.

What's notable here is that THQ is banking on a license before it's a success. Well, sort of. Certainly the Marvel heroes are well known. But in their incarnations as brightly colored little guys with big heads, they're new. The "Super Hero Squad" series won't hit TV until 2009 and Marvel doesn't even have a network signed up to air the show yet (though it surely won't have much trouble finding one).

I spoke to THQ CEO Brian Farrell and Marvel's head of videogames Simon Phillips for the story and they both commented that they hope this is the start of a longer-term relationship between the two.

It's especially important since THQ's lucrative deal with Pixar is likely coming to an end. There's "Wall*E" this year, "Up" next year, then in 2010 Disney Interactive is adapting "Toy Story 3," then THQ has "Newt" in 2011 and the deal is up. A lot of people in the industry will be shocked if Disney Interactive doesn't start making all the Pixar-based game after that.

Here are a few other interesting comments from Farrell:

You just made a deal for DreamWorks Animation's 2010 film "Master Mind" and now this. Are you on a new licensing spree?

We're all about building big entertainment brands in the videogame space and we think this Marvel deal is more of what we have done very well. If you look at the Dreamworks deal, I think the reason we won that is execution. They’ve seen that we outperformed "Shrek 3," which is a great videogame property, with "Ratatouille," which isn't obviously one. It's about our ability to understand that younger demo space and execute well on the game, marketing and at retail.

But you recently said on an earnings call that both "Ratatouille" and your Nickelodeon games last year didn't sell as well as you had hoped. What's the reason for that?

If you look at game quality in the kids space, we lead that. Last year, "Ratatouille" was a great film, but didn’t translate well into any consumer products. We've done over 4 million units of "Ratatouille," which a lot of people blown away by for a property that doesn’t translate.

We have a great relationship with NIckelodeon. We’d love to see a new hit property from them.

Your deal for "Master Mind" is just a single movie. But given that DreamWorks Animation's long-term deal with Activision is ending, are you hoping to be their new partner for a while to come?

The "Master Mind" license does include sequel rights, or if becomes series. We don’t like one-off deals. We like long term deals... and to the extent that there's a sequel or a series, it can be long term. For us it’s about building a relationship.

Federal bill would regulate video game sales to kids

Variety's DC reporter Bill Triplett has a story on the latest attempt to turn the ESRB ratings system into law.

Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah) (thus making the bill bi-partisan) today introduced the" Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act," which requires ID checks for M or AO-rated games.

Most major retailers already have ID policies, of course, but the industry is understandably wary about making it a crime if one of their employees doesn't perform the check. According to Bill's story, the penalty is a $5,000 fine.

As I often do, I feel like it's worth noting that the Federal Trade Commission reported last year that it's tougher for kids to buy an M-rated game than an R-rated DVD. Though I suppose you could argue that M-rated games are worse for them.

Anyway, as Bill notes, similar bills passed by numerous states have been struck down by the courts, so if this one ever manages to become a law, its chances of staying one don't seem too good.

Get all the details right here.

Grand Theft Auto IV sells $500 million-plus in its first week

Remember when I reported last month that, according to Take-Two Sources, "Grand Theft Auto IV" was on track to sell over $400 million at retail in its first week? Turns out my sources underestimated by around $100 million.

As I'm reporting in Variety this morning, Take-Two and Rockstar actually sold more than $500 million worth of "GTA IV" units, totalling more than 6 million units. That demolishes the $300 million-plus record that "Halo 3" set in September.

In fact, "GTA IV" broke that record on its first day, selling $310 million, or 3.6 million units on April 29. "Halo 3" sold $170 million on its first day in the U.S. (the game didn't quite have a simultaneous worldwide release)

And to the extent that it matters -- only a bit, in my book, given how different the economic model is -- it's bigger than the closest comparable box office record we could find: $404 million over six days for "Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End."

Given that huge first week figure and that there's likely to be a surge in sales come the holidays  (at least amongst the more permissive or clueless parents out there), I'd say "GTA IV" has a very good shot at beating "San Andreas'" franchise record of 21.5 million units.

Strauss Zelnick and his team are sure to be happy, since this make's Electronic Arts' case that it can do an even better job with the "GTA" franchise than Take-Two a bit harder to argue. It'll be interesting to see today whether investors had sales this massive built into Take-Two's stock price or if its get a bump.

Guys on line for Grand Theft Auto IV

(Yes, I helped make this. It's one of the things I do outside of Variety. So I'll be posting episodes on here regularly because, hey, it's my blog. But I'll try not to comment on my own stuff.)

THQ sold $1 billion of Nickelodeon games? We've known that for three months

Just because a publisher issues a press release doesn't mean we have to print it as news.

Case in point: THQ brags in a press release headline that "THQ's Nickelodeon Portfolio Surpasses Billion Dollar Mark as Company Announces Extensive New Lineup for 2008." The same day, numerous game websites run stories with a headline focused on that $1 billion number. They include Kotaku, Joystiq, 1up, IGN, GameDaily, the Escapist, GameIndustry.biz, and probably plenty of others. (Note: I'm not including sites that just reprint press releases, clearly labeled as such, with no introduction or comment.)

For the record, that's old news. THQ announced that in February as part of its last earnings report, when it stated, "During the quarter, total lifetime Nickelodeon franchise net sales surpassed $1 billion..."

I understand why THQ wants to re-emphasize that fact as it unveils its new slate of Nick games, but I don't think journalists should be re-printing it as exciting news.

Just as importantly, nobody should be taking it as evidence that THQ's Nick games are doing great (as several of the sites linked above did). Along with that February earnings report, THQ CEO Brian Farrell said on a conference call with analysts that "In a very competitive year for kids titles, ‘Ratatouille’ and our Nickelodeon titles did not perform to forecast." (As I wrote on this blog at the time.)

So, THQ revealed the details on its upcoming NIckelodeon-based games. There's the actual news.