Jason Della Rocca
Program director, International Game Developers Association
Time constraints are a big factor. Developers may cut corners to get the game out in time for the movie's premiere. Also, some developers become lazy and use the license as a crutch. Just like if I have J.Lo in my movie, I'm guaranteed a rate of return: I get a big opening weekend even if my movie really sucks.
Seamus Blackley
Xbox cocreator; VP of development, Capital Entertainment Group
Market pressures come to bear - how much did the Matrix license cost? You may have heard that games are bigger than film. That's a myth of creative accounting. We are Hollywood's bitch. We're paying an extortionate amount of money to license other media - comic books, TV, movies - and we're simultaneously giving up on our ability to make our own intellectual property. If we let it go on this way, games may become just a marketing device.
Jason Rubin
President and cofounder, Naughty Dog, makers of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter
Don't forget, the Matrix game sold very well. The Hulk and Spider-Man games also did very well, considering the content. Star Wars games - well, some of them are great and some of them aren't, but they sell. The bottom line is that fans desperately want to immerse themselves in the worlds of these franchises, and they're willing to pay for it and put up with shortcomings in the gameplay.
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