Wes Craven pondering games career

12 Comments by Alan Rose Jun 30th 2006 2:30PM
Filed under: Culture, Business

The man responsible for introducing us to Freddy Krueger may soon be following in the footsteps of the Wachowski brothers, Steven Spielberg, and other Hollywood heavyweights who are crossing over into the gaming biz. And unlike some people in the entertainment industry, writer-director Wes Craven feels that if video games contain "deep stories, characters, and narratives", they should be considered forms of art.

Speaking with author and Mercury News blogger Dean Takahashi at the MI6 Game Marketing conference, Craven also confirmed he is "in talks" to make an original video game. However, if you're expecting a Resident Evil-style romp from the horror maven, you may be surprised with what he eventually produces. The former college professor feels there are not enough educational games on the market, and sees opportunities to simulate world politics and health problems. Whatever it is, Wes, don't let "you know who" make a movie out of it.

In addition to Nightmare on Elm Street, the prolific Craven has also written and/or directed The Hills Have Eyes, Swamp Thing, Scream, and Red Eye.

See also: WesCraven.com

Tags: Dean Takahashi, freddy krueger, game marketing, hills have eyes, mi6, nightmare on elm street, red eye, scream, swamp thing, wes craven

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Baboon: Jun 30th 2006; 2:51PM

That would be interesting to see the result of.

I just hope this trend does not lead to video games becoming the bastardized cousins of movies. Video games to retain their individuality as an art form need to remember the big tenant that sets them apart from cinema, photography, books, ect., that being their interactivity. No other art can offer quite the same experience of immersion and connectedness that video games can.

If video games, particularly some “RPGs”, continue to evolve into movies where you get to push a few buttons every now and then to get them to continue, it will be the death of the industry.

Not to say Wes Craven is going to contribute to that, hell, I think he might be trying to reverse it. I hope film makers who cross artforms don't try and take the same aproach.

Sans Virtue: Jun 30th 2006; 2:53PM

Didn't he already make a game? Or at least was involved with one:

http://pc.ign.com/objects/014/014693.html

Baboon: Jun 30th 2006; 2:55PM

An edit button, an edit button, my kingdom for an edit button!

On a second reading of my previous post, I realize the middle sentence to the second paragraph is, shall I say, murky. This should clear it up.

“Video games, in order to retain their individuality as an art form, need to remember the big tenant that sets them apart from cinema, photography, books, ect; their interactivity.”

THAT is how I should have said it.

freak_on_a_leash: Jun 30th 2006; 2:59PM

That's Clive Barker (Hellraiser), Sans.

Evil Inside: Jun 30th 2006; 3:10PM

I'd love to see a Nightmare on Elm Street game where you play as Freddy Krueger, killing people in their sleep with hand-knives.

Jason from Friday the 13th would be a cool boss to have to battle..

Sans Virtue: Jun 30th 2006; 3:35PM

freak_on_a_leash, oops I can't read and/or am retarded. :(

Pretty Obvious: Jun 30th 2006; 4:54PM

I second the notion of a new Nightmare on Elm Street game. Especially for next-gen consoles. Last I heard of a Freddy game was back in 2003 when Freddy vs. Jason came out in theaters. EA picked up the rights to make a game version. Havent heard anything about it since.

Ryuukuro: Jun 30th 2006; 5:59PM

The more non-gamers who get involved in gaming, the better. They'll bring in new thinking that hardcore newbies and professional game designers won't have.

But what really intrigues me is that Wes isn't going to be doing a horror game but, possibly, something educational. Everyone will be stretching their wings with this and I will look forward to whatever he cooks up.

The3rdNuisance: Jun 30th 2006; 7:46PM

Art is not interactive. And very few people like watching others play video games. So video games are not art, unless its completely chock full with cut-scenes, and nothing else.

dmitri: Jun 30th 2006; 8:05PM

3rdNuisance, you're an idiot to say that art isn't interactive. Have you ever been to a museum of contemporary art (Mass MoCA, Guggenheim)? If you had, you would know that not all art is passive where you just stand and look at things. Of course, being the obvious dullard that you are, you would probably think that.

Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

skyrous: Jun 30th 2006; 8:40PM

Theres no chance of video games becoming passive rpg's where you push a few buttons. Hollywood tried that when they first started installing cd drives computers about 10 years ago. Myst sold huge and everything else bombed because it was boring.

And that's the story of how hollywood spent millions to figure out that video games are different.

Ramza24: Jun 30th 2006; 9:36PM

Undying was awesome. Clive needs to make another game. But this is Wes we're talkin' 'bout so... uh, bring on Nightmare on Elm Street!

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