"Though dismissed in the past, movie games are garnering more attention in the entertainment industry as studios look to leverage the value of their franchises," the researchers at Nielsen have pointed out. Indeed, according to Nielsen’s Video Game Tracking survey, movie-themed games lately have been "driving substantial purchase interest among gamers."
Nielsen found that Activision's X-Men Origins: Wolverine topped the list in terms of total positive purchase interest for the week of its release. Other top franchises included Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Terminator Salvation, and even "Godfather II scored well relative to others to take second place despite the fact that the movie was released in 1974." Batman: Arkham Asylum is tied for fifth place, but it's a couple months away from release, and Nielsen expects purchase interest to possibly eclipse all others on the list by the end of the summer. The critical acclaim and commercial success for The Dark Knight we suspect has helped fuel increased interest in Batman again.
Interestingly, Atari's Ghostbusters: The Video Game based on the classic film (which was released last week) ranked fourth in purchase interest but outpaced all other titles in share of online buzz. In fact, almost a quarter of all movie-related video game buzz over the last 60 days is attributed to Ghostbusters.
Here's a look at Nielsen's charts for purchase interest and online buzz:
3 Comments
June 30, 2009
Doesn't mean the games in these charts are good. The Wolverine one is fun, and the Chronicles of Riddick isn't bad, among a few others on this list, but Transformers is awful and Terminator is a game best rented, not bought.
June 30, 2009
Right, no one said the games were necessarily good. The whole idea is that these move tie-ins are doing exactly what they're supposed to: build buzz around an IP. A good license can be very valuable even if it's used to make a very mediocre game.
July 1, 2009
Fair enough, I suppose. Still, when I spend €50 or more on a game I do expect certain things, such as a good game. Not saying that all of the games on this list is horrible, the Lego games are excellent and I still remember the fun I had from the first Spider-Man game for the PS2. Doesn't excuse though certain expectations I have from games when I spend that kind of money.