The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

Mad Max videogame from George Miller and Corey Barlog

Yesterday I wrote that Newsweek's Level Up blog was teasing us with upcoming news about a videogamecollaboration between "Mad Max"/"Happy Feet"/"Justice League" director George Miller and "God of War II" director Corey Barlog, but hadn't yet told us what it is.

Now we know the answer: "Mad Max." It'll be a tie-in to the fourth "Mad Max" movie which is still a long ways away from getting made. Which means we can assume the game is a long ways away too. But Barlog is apparently starting work on a game script based on all the pre-production Miller and his team had done on the film in 2003, when it almost got made and then fell apart.

Miller has a lot more clout now that 'Happy Feet" was a huge success (as evidenced by his place atop "Justice League") and now that he wants to make a game, he can definitely make it happen if he stays involved. Of course it helps that he owns the rights to "Mad Max."

And no, Mel Gibson won't be in the new Mad Max game or movie. As Miller says, Gibson is getting a bit old for that.

It's obviously very early in the process, so we probably won't hear more about the project for a while as Barlog does early work on the game, Miller works on some other films, and presumably they eventually connect with a developer and/or publisher.

All the info is in Level Up's very long and (apparently) completely verbatim two-part interview with Miller here and here.

George Miller working with God of War's Cory Barlog on...?

Newsweek blog "Level Up" is reporting that Cory Barlog (top right), the director of "God of War II" who recently left Sony in the middle of development on "God of War III" and the recent PSP spin-off "Chains of Olympus," is now working with George Miller (second on right), director of "Mad Max," "Happy Feet," and Warner Bros' upcoming "Justice League, on "one or more videogame projects."

No info on what they are, or how the two are collaborating. "Level Up" editor N'Gai Croal is being a huge tease and making us wade through enjoy reading an extended interview with Barlog in two parts. There's no specific information on the project yet, though it is very interesting to read what Barlog has to say about the frustrations of being a successful videogame director vs. film director. For instance:

In the film industry, you make one movie, one movie that's successful--it doesn't matter if you've done anything prior to that--you make one movie that's successful and everybody loves it, at that point you are bankable, marketable and you have your choice. You have an idea, people want to move with you on that, you know you have the opportunity to work with many more people of a higher stature and increase your audience. With the game industry, you make ten games and people are still like, [skeptical voice] "Well, yeah, I don't know. Maybe, maybe it's good."

Tomorrow, "Level Up" will publish Croal's interview with Miller, including details on just what the project is. A lot of film directors talk about getting involved in videogames but never end up doing much (Steven Spielberg and John Woo being the notable exceptions), so I'll be on the lookout not only for what Miller and Barlog's project is, but also how far along they are in actually making it happen. And is it just an idea on paper, or something with money and a development team behind it? Hopefully we'll have the answer tomorrow.

Level up post. Interview part 1. Interview part 2.

Gore Verbinski's awkward interview about videogames

Those hopeful about Hollywood A-listers bringing their talents to videogames will probably not be thrilled at "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski's interview in the L.A. Times today, which did not exactly demonstrate a deep understanding of the medium.

The interview was conducted last month at D.I.C.E., where some of you may remember Verbinski insulted Disney Interactive Studios' "Pirates of the Caribbean" tie-in movies from last summer.

Verbinski told the Times hasn't played videogames for a while, but got back into it recently and has jumped into titles like "Halo 3," "Bioshock" and "Beautiful Katamari." Now he says he's working on a top secret videogame project that is "a little bit out there."

It's very cool, of course, to see someone as experienced and talented as Verbinski taking an interest in videogames. At the very least, he has the prestige to get something innovative and interesting done.

But some of his answers to LA Times questions reveal he still has plenty to learn about videogames:

-"I'm interested in exploring an emotional response to a game, which I haven't really seen. I've seen the visceral adrenaline response, but I haven't really played a game where I feel . . . tremendous loss."

If you think videogames haven't created "emotional responses," you haven't played many of them. "Bioshock" has a strong emotional pull. "Kane and Lynch' ends with a very disturbing emotional conflict. And of course the most intense example in recent memory is "Shadow of the Colossus," which very specifically creates a sense of "tremendous loss."

-[The Times asks Verbinski what he thinks of "Beautiful Katamari."] "I liked the fact that you weren't a character. You were an object that became a character in a way."

Ummm, you definitely are a character in "Beautiful Katamari." You' re the Prince of All Cosmos, trying to roll up items to create stars that your father, the King of all Cosmos, has destroyed.

-[Verbinski says he wasn't happy with the "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" game. The Times then asks "What gave would you have liked to see?"] "A MMOG [massively multi-player online game] where you can dress up as a pirate. You can have a social network where you meet other pirates, and maybe three days in, you meet Jack Sparrow. Maybe you have to sell your soul to the devil to get to this level or that. Let the players write and create it. Let them evolve it. There's something very trekkies about the core "Pirates of the Caribbean" fan base, and I respect  that core fan base. I think it's a shame we couldn't produce a game that respected them as well."

You mean like "Pirates of the Caribbean Online?" That game had problems, but you get to design your own pirates, meet other pirates, and occasionally meet Jack Sparrow. It sounds a lot like the videogame Verbinski is saying he wishes Disney had made. Except they actually did.

How Halo 3's Forge consumed one striking writer's life

With the Writers Guild strike seemingly about to end, I thought it would be fun to share how "Halo 3" has impacted one striking writer's life. Justin Marks is a good friend of The Cut Scene, and also a supremely talented writer who, before he put his pen down in November, was working on feature adaptations of He-Man, Voltron, and Street Fighter, along with a DC supervillain prison break movie.

Justin was cool enough to take a little time out of his schedule -- though let's be honest, he has plenty of free time on his hands these days -- to write about how the Forge map creation application on "Halo 3" has consumed his life while on strike:

Which is why, on that fateful November day when we put our pencils down, I picked up my Xbox controller and haven't turned back since. They tell me it's been three months since we went on strike. Three months of glancing forlornly at the "work " folder on our desktops and sadly looking away. Three months of  rumors, letdowns, and dashed hopes.

I wouldn't know. I've been in a fog. Because it's been four months since "Halo 3" became my life.

You see, writers are creative people. And creativity is like a chronic disease --- if it doesn't get out of your system every day, you literally back up and die. Doesn't matter how it comes out. When I was a kid, I used to go to summer camp every year, where I had no access to word processors for several weeks. So I wrote screenplays longhand by the waterfront. I really wanted to be like the other kids, to just play all day in the sun until I dropped, but we don't write because it's our favorite thing to do, we write because if we weren't getting it out we'd blow up like that girl in "Cloverfield."

To the uninitiated, one of the great innovations of "Halo 3" is a multi-player tool called "Forge," where users can generate their own maps and game modes to play with their friends. Suddenly, a game predicated on shooting each other until we're dead can turn into capture the flag set inside the rules of the movie Tremors, or dodgeball with hand grenades, or soccer played with motorcycle-like vehicles.

There's no limit to the amazing games you can download or create.

More of a "Gears of War" fan? Try the maps built to replicate Gears of War maps, complete with falling energy coils where that train goes by in the Tyro Station. Someone even built the Millennium Falcon.

Literally. It has the little radar antenna that Lando knocked off by accident. Another guy proposed to his girlfriend on the Valhalla map by spelling out her name in weapons.

My friends now know me for pestering them at all hours online, inviting them to test my beta work, begging for them to switch over from "Call of Duty 4," pleading with them to stay online for just one more hour. My girlfriend has found me asleep on the couch with a bluetooth controller in my lap. I haven't seen my dog in weeks.

In 1988, the strike resulted in the emergence of "Cops." Everyone said this time reality TV would flourish again. But they were wrong. I hated "American Gladiators"... but if you want the real experience you can play my version on "Halo 3."

And in the middle of this, suddenly I feel creative again. What energy I can't get out on the proverbial typewriter I now can get out by coming up with ways to spawn sticky grenades in front of a man cannon so it can literally rain fireworks. I consider Forge maps to be a new art form, somewhere between Warhol's Campbell's Soup cans and those 60s New Wave experiments where "anybody can create." If I could develop my next spec script as a map set in the Narrows, I would.

So the studios can keep their strike. In the meantime you can see me every night online, forging away. Get me and [studio negotiator] Nick Counter in a slayer deathmatch and I'll end this strike faster than you can say "gravity hammer to the face."

"Pirates" helmer Gore Verbinski backstabs Disney over video game tie-ins

The Cut Scene isn’t at D.I.C.E., as I’m saving my travel budget and editors’ good will for GDC in two weeks.

But it looks like I missed at least one good controversy today, when “Pirates of the Carribbean” director Gore Verbinski (pictured at left on the "Pirates" set) used his keynote address to trash Disney’s videogame efforts with the franchise he helmed, both on consoles and with an MMO.

Here’s a summary from MTV’s multi-player blog:

He criticized “Pirates” studio Disney for what he described as their initial disinterest in making a massively multiplayer online game about the world in the movies, a project that he thought would extend the experience of the first “Pirates” movie for big-time fans. It wasn’t started for years and then was made without his direct involvement. He suggested that may have been “a breach of contract.” Of the “Pirates” action games released for consoles, he said, “They are considered merchandising. The same as a poster or a little wind-up doll.”

We’re very pleased with the quality of the games Disney has developed around the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and with the customer acceptance of those games, which has been strong and growing.

Kotaku, which called his Verbinski’s keynote address “often clueless,” adds:

Verbinski attacked the current publisher-developer business model, affirming that "Games are not merchandise." He spoke of his own struggles with game development, saying "With the Pirates of the Caribbean games, the business model killed the potential for something really unique." He explained "I'm not hiding my disappointment, because I know the fanaticism could have driven that world. Five years ago, while adult audiences were dressing up in pirate garb to attend the cinema, I lobbied heavily for an MMOG for Pirates to no avail, because it wasn't in their business plan."

For those pondering the weight of Verbinski’s comments, it’s probably worth noting that he had to check with moderator N’Gai Croal to make sure that there really are three major videogame consoles.

But anyway, Disney Interactive Studios, which publisher last summer’s “Pirates of the Carribbean: At World’s End” console game and Disney Internet Group, which is handling “Pirates of the Caribbean Online” issued a brief joint statement when asked about Verbinski’s comments:

We’re very pleased with the quality of the games Disney has developed around the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and with the customer acceptance of those games, which has been strong and growing

For a different perspective on the games, check out Variety’s reviews of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and “Pirates of the Caribbean Online.”

Spielberg's first game with EA gets a name, release date, screenshots

Back in 2005, EA and Steven Spielberg signed a deal to develop three new videogames together. Last summer, EA released preliminary information on two -- both of which are being developed at the L.A. development studio. We always knew the first one to come out, code named PQRS, is a block-manipulating puzzle game for the Wii aimed at casual players.

Click here for more Boom Blox screenshots

Today, EA is releasing some more info. Usually I wouldn't go through the details of a new product like this, but since it's Steven Spielberg and we are Variety, it seems appropriate. So here are all the new facts we learned:

-The game is called "Boom Blox"

-As we basically knew, players use the Wii-mote to "throw, grab and blast" Jenga-like pieces in complex 3-D puzzles.

-It comes out in May 2008.

-While it remains Wii exclusive in terms of consoles, EA is also making a version for mobile phones.

-There's single player, co-op, and versus gameplay. It  ships with over 300 levels.

-Along with puzzles, there are also characters who interact with players, including "Blox-laying chickens or the baseball throwing monkeys, who bring personality to the Tiki, Medieval, Frontier, and Haunted themed environments."

-Players can "remix" any level of the game, or build new puzzles from scratch, using a level editor. They can then share their creations online. This is particularly cool to me, since I'm a huge fan of the level editor in "Halo 3" and think that kind of thing is the future of gaming. But this is the first implementation of it in a "casual" game aimed at families that I can think of (am I wrong?). Plus it's obviously great to see games finally doing something with the Wii's Internet connection.

EA also released a bunch of screenshots. I'm pasting in small versions of a couple of my favorites in the post, but you can see a full gallery of them here:

Boom Blox screenshot gallery

Oh, and no further info on Spielberg's other game in development, code-named "LMNO" -- an "A.I." like game about a secret agent on the run with an android woman that's being made for 360 and PS3. We probably won't see that one until either the holidays or sometime next year. And no word yet at all on what Spielberg's third game with EA will be.