Making movie games playable

Those were some of the kinder words that critics have bestowed on video games based on Hollywood films.

But many of those games have nonetheless sold well thanks to the movie marketing blitz that accompanies box-office releases. For example, the "Enter the Matrix" game, which one critic called "astoundingly dull," sold 2.3 million copies in the U.S. The James Bond title "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" rated an average of 65% -- the equivalent of an F -- from more than 200 reviews, according to GameRankings.com, but it sold more than 1 million copies.

"Licensed games have a bad reputation," said Bill Kispert, vice president and general manager of Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group. "And it's probably well deserved."

Stung by the reviews, game developers and filmmakers are growing mindful that consumers may wise up and begin avoiding movie-related games. So the industry is taking a new tack, aiming to substantially alter the way games are made and financed.

The changes include urging studios to share more resources with developers, getting more creative input from film directors and finding ways to give developers extra time before commercial releases so the games look better.

The latest to make these promises is Brash Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based company that launched this month with $400 million in private equity financing.

What drew investors to Brash was a $30-billion global games industry that's growing 10% to 15% a year, said Thomas Tull, one of the company's financial backers and producer of such films as "Batman Begins" and "300." But Tull, an avid player of video games, was also impressed by the company's oath to make only high-quality titles.

"It's all about making great games," Tull said. "That's the foundation of this company."

Brash and other developers that are trying the new approach are meeting in Los Angeles this week to discuss their challenges at the second annual Hollywood & Games Summit.

One of the biggest difficulties has been the conflicting production schedules required in the making of games and movies.

"Most studios can make a really good movie in 10 to 12 months," said Kispert, whose group works with developers to turn Universal Studios' movies into games. "Good games take a lot longer to make, sometimes up to two years."