GDC 08: Original IPs can learn from movie-based games

Here’s another update from the recent GDC 08. Stormfront Studios‘ bigwig Don Daglow talked about how developers can learn how to make and develop original IPs from movie games.

He noted that movie-game audiences are able to understand and have emotional commitment to these things. Find out more of what he said in the full article.

In his talk in the recent Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2008, Stormfront Studios President Don Daglow was to discuss how developers of original IPs can learn how to develop games from movie-based games.

Starting with his talk, Daglow said, “I actually heard someone say ‘Why would I ever want to work on a movie game? I canÂ’t be creative working on a movie game. The creativity is all done.’ I disagree with that.”

He reasoned that when developers want to work on their own property instead of others’, they simply may not want to give up control. This worry about the loss of control would be a defensive position taken by most game developers.

Daglow said that one of the inherent advantages of movie games is that the audience already have an intellectual understanding and an emotional commitment to where the games are going.

In fact, he built more on the movie-based games by saying that the audience knows things like why they like the hero and why they hate the villain. They may not know the outcome of it but they care about it. The audience doesn’t know how characters will face challenges but both heroism and tragedy are possible outcomes.

Daglow moved on by mentioning that game developers have an opportunity to reach out to people with this potential form of literature that can affect lives in many ways. Finally, Daglow capped of his talk by saying:

As game designers we can hold the mirror up to life in a way that gives people more than just the occupation of a few minutes. It is not about us. It is about [the audience] and how we can make them feel, and how we can influence their lives. Ten, twenty, twenty-five years later, that is what you will care about.

Via Games Industry