5 Reasons Why Video Games Based on Movies Are so Bad

Is it any secret that games based on movies are notoriously bad? Like their cinema counterparts, movie games are hyped up endlessly. And, also like their cinema counterparts, they are usually a disappointment. Just what factors contribute to the ongoing cycle of bad movie tie-in games? There are five main reasons for this phenomenon. While some great movie games do come along, these are easily the minority. For every great release like "Toy Story 3" or "The Godfather," there's a horrible one like "Dragon Ball: Evolution."

1. Development is rushed.

The most cited reason for a movie game's low quality is an equally low development time. Deadlines are set to coincide with the movie release, and this often spells doom. Because of the rushed development schedule, you have considerably less attention to detail, fixing bugs, and overall polish. Usually the bare requirements are a single player mode, a throwaway multiplayer mode, and some uninteresting unlockables. Once these low goals are met, very little more is done. This is the main source of the abundance of glitches, the lack of content, and the brevity of playtime. Look no further than the games based on "Terminator Salvation" and "How To Train Your Dragon" for examples of this cut-corners phenomenon.

2. The budget goes to advertising.

This should come as no surprise to observant gamers. Ever notice that mediocre movie games seem to get the most commercials and magazine ads? This is no coincidence. It's often the most advertised games that are the most lackluster in quality. The extra push comes at the expense of the game budget and is usually a covert attempt at bolstering first-day sales. Game publishers know that once the first wave of sales go out and word of mouth starts to spread, a bad game is dead on the water. Remember all the advertisements for the terrible game based on "Hannah Montana: The Movie?"

3. The title sells, not the game.

Developers short on time and money know that more than anything else, the title of the movie is going to sell the game more than anything else. Why bother putting a whole lot of effort into a game that consumers are only going to buy for the movie license? Your target audience is essentially anyone that saw the movie and enjoyed it- what's the point of going that extra mile to make a satisfying game? The sad part is, there are cases of decent games failing because the movies they were based upon were terrible. A recent example of this 'good game, terrible movie' phenomenon would be "Spiderman 3."

4. The target consumers are usually children.

The problem here is twofold. The developers know that mostly children will be fooled into buying their game. Because of this, they design the game to appeal to this very demographic. In order to do this, they often downright dumb down the game. The second half of this problem is, any potential buyers above the age of nine pass entirely on the game. The audience is limited and the game, simplified. Look no further than "Monsters Vs Aliens" and it's watered down gameplay.

5. They're unoriginal

This is one of the biggest flaws of many movie-games. They lack originality. Most licensed games tend to be poor copies of popular games. It's a lazy, cheap way to create a tie-in game with so-called appeal. The problem is, these clones rarely perform any innovation. They usually lack the polish and challenge of the original game. Did anyone play "Shrek: Forever After" and not think of Marvel Ultimate Alliance? Did anyone honestly not realize the "Transformers" movies are pathetic clones of the Gundam games? Don't even get me started on the endless line of games that desperately tried to emulate the fun and gameplay of Mario and Sonic...