As the summer movie season heats up, major Hollywood studios and their video-game developer allies are hoping their collaborations will boost company coffers. The general consensus from consumers, however, is that most movie tie-in games tend to fall short of expectations, tarnishing the good name earned by their source material.
Recent examples of hyped movie-tie-in games that became commercial and critical flops include Fight Club (2004), from Genuine Games and Vivendi, and Superman Returns: The Videogame (2006), from Electronic Arts-Tiburon and Warner Bros Entertainment.
The shoddy performance of many titles in this market segment has been blamed on the tight budgets and even tighter production deadlines pressed upon developers. It is hard enough to try and recreate a hit movie's magic with a video game, but developers must also shortcut the creative process in order to release the product in time for the movie.
Efforts to translate popular video-game series into big-budget movies have also seen many debacles, with Doom (2005) and Super Mario Bros (1993) - the first major motion picture based on a video game - as examples. But that's another story.
The following round-up of this year's major movie tie-in games aims to tip off astute gamers on the titles worth playing.
Iron Man
Developer Secret Level, Artificial Mind and Movement
