Kotick Itching to Sell Cutscenes As Films

[jultub]

As long as they're not cutting out content out of the game, I don't mind one bit. I'll never buy it, but it's not like I have a problem with it existing.

 

[Oliver Pink]

Pretty much the Only company I'd pay to watch a movie from is Valve.

Now those guys know how to make a good movie:

Oh, hell to the yes. I would pay $20 to see a true Valve movie, even if it was a short one.

So... he means actual cutscenes? Nothing added, just a bunch of stuff ripped from the game? Pardon my French, but why the fuck would anyone buy that? It's online, IT'S ON YOUR COMPUTER.

Not to mention, if it's Starcraft, you don't get the satisfaction of right clicking one of the characters to death.

 

[chiefohara]

Im not sure what to make of this, im not going to buy cutscenes if i have the game, the cutscene is a reward for beating the level as far as i am concerned....

If i don't have the game im not going to buy the cutscenes for it because i won't have invested in the characters by playing the game to care enough about the cutscenes.

The only way i see it working is if the cinematic narrative of games is complimented with new footage that compensates for the story being told via gameplay, in short a movie with a beginning, middle and end with you seeing the action in the game unfolding rather than the cutscenes talking about what had just taken place in a computer game.

Also one thing Activison should be aware of... Computer gaming is a storytelling medium in its own right and because of the interactive nature of the narrative and how its physically driven forward by gamers/viewers the characters within such storytelling methods would be different to the type of characters you view in a film.

You embody a computer game character, you empathise with a film character. A computer game character generally only needs one liners, whereas a film character needs a fully rounded and well written dialogue and backstory to make them interesting enough for you to watch for 90 minutes.

Im sure there is some merit in the idea for hardcore fans, but the price range of 20 - 30 dollars is far far far too much. i'd be hard pushed to pay 5 for something i can earn and enjoy more in a computer game.

 

[Erick.S]

I've heard Kotick also plans to extract all the text lines from games, to sell as novels (60$ per chapter, just like Starcraft II), and open an art gallery of screenshots (60$ entrance fee, 15$ extra to see screenshots of actual gameplay, 15$ more for a map-pack of the gallery).

 

[znix]

It better be high quality all the way. Not that dinky in-game scene crap they try to pass off as movies.

 

[Kraiiit]

OK, I'm sure by now this page has been flooded with quite dramatic posts talking about greed, stupidity, the evil nature of Activision/Kotick, and maybe even the decline of videogames. But what those people are forgetting is that you don't have to buy it. It's not like if you don't buy the cutscene movie, you miss a part of the game. He's not forcing people to pay extra for anything, he's not taking away from videogames, he's not forcing you to buy it for a completer(Wait, that's a word?.....WHAT?) experience. He's merely providing a stupid package for stupid people to buy so that they can claim themselves as bigger fans of "Franchise A" then the guy across the street. It's nothing new, and companies that make just about anything and everything have been doing it for decades.

Well... you do have a point, but this is the best case scenario. Call me paranoid, but assuming this hare-brained scheme goes up, there will still be the same content online. On Youtube. For free. The logical next step would be to "eliminate the competition", so to speak, which is as simple as filing a copyright-claim thingy to Youtube- making them the only providers of said content. Like I said, this could be mere speculation, but its cause for concern.

 

[3LANCER]

April first came early this year? This could only be a joke, no one will buy cutscenes to watch them if they're already in game, especially since they only serve to connect the story told in missions.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Not only is this starting to crossover into tie-orphans-to-the-railroad-tracks evil, the plan is about as well thought out as an underpants gnome scheme.

I would argue that this isn't actually evil at all. Instead, it's completely amoral. Good and evil don't enter into it in any way, just whether or not it can make more money. The underpants gnome part is spot on, though. Even if it's not an evil idea, it sure seems like a stupid one that's not likely to work very well in the form his announcement seems to be presenting it. On the other hand, if it is successful, I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to hate him for doing it anywhere near as much as the people who are dumb enough to buy it.

 

[The DSM]

Kotick, being a money hungry bastard?

Impossible.

I half expected him to pull shit like this.

 

[Lem0nade Inlay]

Does anyone else hear the Imperial March play in their head everytime they read the name Bobby Kotick?

No, because the Imperial March introduced someone who was cool and powerful.

But Bobby Kotick is just a douchebag!

 

[tkioz]

I wonder if Kotick has heard the expression eating your seed corn... because it really seems like he doesn't get it, there is such as thing as over monetising a product, you can only milk a cow so much before it kicks you.

 

[sephiroth1991]

Why would i pay for somethin' that i can watch for free on youtube.

Oh Kotick will your greed ever find a limit.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Why stop there, they should probably just dissect the games entirely and sell them piece by piece.
Character Creation: 15$
Main Menu: 5$
...

 

[Jewrean]

I would rather see a Diablo / Starcraft / Warcraft movie at the Cinemas and I'm sure plenty of people would also want to.

Keeping the movie online and charging this amount is ludicrously criminal. How ironic the majority of gamers know what a torrent is and will resort to a much more criminal way to attain the movie.

 

[Ranooth]

I'm sorry, for a second there i thought we were in the Games Industry, where people make games and sell them you know.

 

[Luc2k]

This is the future of gaming (with real money):

http://armorgames.com/play/3955/upgrade-complete

Apologies if someone linked this already.

 

[Not Gonna Get Me]

Remember back in the old days when you could unlock cutscenes at the end of the game and watch it like a movie? Where the hell did that go?

 

[matt87_50]

I read the headline:
"Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has laid out plans to package the in-game cinematics from games like StarCraft and sell them as movies."

and loled... "there's Kotick at it again trying to make money from everything"

then I opened the article and saw the SCII screenshot and remembered: actually, yes, if you make an hour or two long movie like the PRE-RENDERED cutscenes in SCII, I WILL BUY IT.

I would totally buy that! its half the reason I bought starcraft 2! (underwhelming story not withstanding).

it has to be of the quality of the pre rendered stuff though! no palming off those in game rendered cutscenes!

also, while the POTENTIAL of the starcraft universe is great, you still have to put some work into it making it into a movie, you CAN NOT just literally string all the cutscenes together and sell that as a movie.

 

[ninja_decadeo]

Goddamn Bobby, you are a freaking genius. Just when I think you couldn't think of anymore ways to make money of suckers...I mean gamers, you just have to prove me wrong. I support this idea 110%. I mean now I won't have to play games to get through the whole story. I can spend $20-30 (what is that, £15-£24?) and a little bit extra for popcorn and drink and everything will be awesome

Please Bobby, run for President and during your conference speech say "Greed is good". Because we all know, Bobby Kotick is the Gordon Gekko of the Video Games Industry.