Why did Movie Tie-In Games go Out?
Movie tie-ins ranged in quality, usually in line with the creators' hurried efforts to match the movie's release date. Early copies of the script or ideas gave some studios an insight into the story of the movie very early on; in the case of tie-ins for movies adapting novels, could refer to the source material; others were pushed into hurriedly releasing a title as something of an afterthought, which resulted in some strange tie-ins for movies that hardly needed them.
This was clear even in the early days of game development, when it didn't take quite as long to create games; anyone who has been following the business in recent years can see just how much development windows have expanded for AAA titles, with some games taking anywhere between 5 and 10 years to produce.
Most Movie Tie-ins Are Not Revisited on Contemporary Consoles
Unfortunately, most movie tie-ins cannot be accessed unless players have a copy on their original consoles as, mostly due to different licencing deals ending, most movies are not included in either various backward compatibility schemes or available to purchase digitally. This is unfortunate since entire generations have gone completely without some of the best licensed games of yesteryear.
Then hopefully other studios could look to revive some of the other lost Movie Tie-In Games from the PlayStation 2 era as well. Nightdive Studios revived 2002's The Thing game - which didn't follow the events of the movie but did provide some insight that tied off some loose ends, while taking the paranoia in the movie and turning it into a core gameplay mechanic with its NPCs. Whether this be in the form of a Remaster or remake, it would be great to revisit some of these titles on modern hardware rather than dusting off the older consoles each time, as some of them, like the mentioned Lord of the Rings games, still clearly hold up.
It's Time to Bring Back PS2 Era Lost Movie Tie-In Games
Could it be time to review some of the other movie tie-ins of the PlayStation 2 period after Nightdive Studios announced they are remastering the 2002 game The Thing, based on the world of John Carpenter's horror movie of the same name? Movie Tie-In Games were routinely produced by studios trying to capitalize on the release of a popular blockbuster until the 2010s; practically every major cinematic franchise was represented in some capacity, and while their quality varied, there were some jewels among all the trash.
With already one of the most amazing gaming catalogues over the several console generations, the PlayStation 2 era had some very excellent movie tie-ins to complement some of the epic series arriving at cinemas at the time. These included some of the earlier Harry Potter books, 2002's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and 2003's Return of the King, 2004's Spider-Man 2, Peter Jackson's King Kong, the latter of which combined intense first-person shooter action for the human characters with third-person brower gameplay let players take control of Kong herself to tell both sides of the story.
One exciting approach to relive a movie is via movie tie-in games.
While in the days of the PS2-era the wait for a DVD release of a film could be several months to almost a year depending on region, currently with streaming services and the option to digitally rent a movie closing the gap between a cinematic release and a home release of a movie, audiences may not even have to wait much longer than a month before they can experience a film again in the comfort of their own house. Companies so employed official novelizations, tie-in games, and comic books to let viewers relive the movie while it was still in production.
While occasionally tie-in games clearly have to rewrite the narrative to provide additional gameplay to keep players more involved, other changes occurred from the companies working from earlier versions of a plot. These even included an unofficial, interactive deleted scene that occasionally gave players a bonus insight into the narrative that audiences did not always obtain.
Sometimes Video Games Based on Movies Change Their Source Material by Just Getting Weird or by Changing the Plot.
Movie tie-in Video Games were a brilliant product of their day, providing hours of entertainment even if they are not as popular now. These rank among the best!
Sometimes, when a sequel was almost certain—as in Lord of the Rings, where the trilogy was shot back-to-back—developers could have more time to forward-plan for next projects. Regarding the Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in, the physics-based swinging features the game was so highly appreciated for were conceptualized by a developer while working on the original Spider-Man movie, therefore providing the sequel a head start that most definitely paid off.
