Why movie directors make straight-to-DVD games

Trends come and go in the games business, but the one that keeps bouncing back is the publisher obsession with signing up big name movie directors to collaborate on a videogame. It rarely comes to fruition, and when it does the results are usually a 6-out-of-ten at best, or a box office flop at worst.

I've sat at numerous E3s, listening to execs gush with praise for a movie director, who strolls on stage and tell us how successful videogames are as the new entertainment medium. And I honestly wish that inferiority complex would pass - it's been lingering for at least two generations of console. The insecurity of games companies on mirroring what Hollywood does best in the summer has left me with a stain of cynicism when any new 'ground-breaking' collaboration is announced.

I enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos, Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth movies, and I've read enough Lovecraft to be intrigued about his project with THQ, but I'd be lying if I said I was anything more than marginally curious. Ken Levine's right when he says the games business is star struck over Hollywood.

The confirmation that Steven Spielberg collaboration LMNO has been canned is no surprise, especially considering half the team buggered off to start a new development studio last year. After originally signing with EA for three games, it's only Boom Blox that had any credibility (let's hope for a re-release on Move and Kinect), and bucked the trend as a good game.

But getting one game out of that deal has turned out to be a triumph compared to a long list of other collaborations that didn't get much further than the handshake and mutual appreciation dinner.

Back when everyone was car-jacking the Grand Theft Auto bandwagon, Midway announced a partnership with Boys N The Hood director John Singleton for Fear & Respect, a collaboration that would have certainly added credibility to an urban free-roaming game. Sadly, it wasn't long before those that cared were pouring a little liquor out on the ground as the project was quietly snuffed. Midway did get together quite successfully with slow-mo action director John Woo for Stranglehold, but any sequel hopes went the same way as the belly-up publisher. Speaking of John Woo, is he still working with Warren Spector on Ninja Gold / Shadow Clan?

In 2006, when Lord of the Rings helped kick off a new cinematic obsession with orcs and beards, director Peter Jackson got in on the games act, announcing his spin-off Wingnut Interactive would get busy on two Xbox 360 projects. But his Halo game went the same way as Noble Six after the proposed movie collapsed. As presumably did the other Xbox Live title.

More? George Romero's City of the Dead got an E3 trailer but didn't survive Hip Interactive's closure, and we can assume Bryan Singer's Secret Service team-up with Tigon Studios is on a shelf somewhere, hopefully alongside Vin Diesel's Dungeon Master's Guide. (Actually, Vin Diesel may be the exception here, although not strictly a movie director, his Riddick games have been very good and Wheelman got a release despite the movie getting canned). But back to enforcing my argument, if Clive Barker's Jericho is an example of a movie director pushing the boundaries of interactive entertainment, I think I'd rather watch Hellraiser: Hellworld.

I'm all for collaboration between industries - the music business seems to have been reborn through videogames - and I'll applaud any handshake that brings videogames to a wider audience. The games business only has a handful of big name creatives, and that's because no one person can take the credit for a finished game. Don't be so quick to hand over all that hard work to someone because he's been shouting down a megaphone at actors for twenty years. The association of a movie director brings a game down, their high profiles highlighting the clumsy and embarrassing results of ego, infatuation and misdirected ambition. Modern Warfare, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, FarmVille and hundreds more have proven that videogames are the modern entertainment business, there's no need for the validation of Hollywood.