Analyst: Potter movie delay could push back release of EA's game

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 17th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Fans of J.K. Rowling's uber-successful series of wizardly novels received some heartbreaking news Friday -- the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been delayed from its initial release date of November 21, 2008 to a distant July 17, 2009. Electronic Arts has yet to announce how this major delay will affect the release window of their similarly titled video game adaptation of the film/book, though many gaming industry analysts, such as Signal Hill's Todd Greenwald, are predicting that EA will follow suit, with hopes that the film will whip up a Half-Blood frenzy that will boost sales of the game.

The repercussions of a Potter game delay could be bad for Electronic Arts, as both their holiday profits and fiscal 2009 revenue could take a hit without the title -- however, it could mean good news for those waiting on a truly stellar Harry Potter video game. Greenwald claims the title is "pretty much done and ready", meaning a delay would give EA an extra eight months to perfect the movie tie-in. We'll let you know what EA decides to do once they make an official statement.

Tags: delay, ea, electronic-arts, harry-potter, harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Aug 17th 2008 7:37PM

If killing dumbledore is a minigame... day one purchase for me.

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Aug 17th 2008 7:46PM

If blowi-you know what? Nevermind. I don't need to make this joke.

Dumbledore is gay.

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 17th 2008 7:53PM

Well... Dumbledore might be gay (he has a very strange relationship with Gellert Grindelwald), he is an extremely good wizard.

He can actually kick Gandalf ass in a magic duel. Just looks this battle against Voldemort... Gandalf never do this kind of magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD4quOf0n6E

tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 17th 2008 8:15PM

Are we seriously arguing about this? Really?? Aren't we nerdy enough posting on a gaming blog?

Vcize @ Aug 17th 2008 8:19PM

Why all the dumbledore hate? He's a pretty freaking cool character.

Huey2k2 @ Aug 17th 2008 8:31PM

Actually J.K. Rowling herself said that the character of Dumbledore is infact gay. So anyone that is saying he is gay isn't hating, so much as stating fact.

WiiFTW @ Aug 19th 2008 12:10PM

@ huey2k2:

When someone is trying to make a joke out of Dumbledore being gay, I'd say that'd be crossing the line from fact to joke.

That being said, I would find killing Dumbledore very satisfying!

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Aug 18th 2008 12:49PM

XD, this comment's replies certainly made me giggle.

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Aug 19th 2008 2:48AM

You can't compare a dueling wizard with a warfare wizard!

The_Punisher @ Aug 17th 2008 7:39PM

*crickets*

Seriously though, i didn't even know they had a HP game. I guess i should've assumed it.

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 17th 2008 7:39PM

=(

I actually enjoy the movies. The books are very good, and the last movie was actually pretty good.

Too bad that most people see the series as childish, but is actually a nice series.

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Aug 17th 2008 7:47PM

I agree though I really didn't like the fifth movie. It just felt so...sloppy? I don't know.

The games are okay, nothing to write home about but they are enjoyable.

Phil @ Aug 17th 2008 8:08PM

The trailer for the 6th movie has made it come off as ANYTHING but childish. Seriously, the trailer scared the shit out of me. I almost believed it wasn't a Harry Potter movie.

Vcize @ Aug 17th 2008 8:18PM

Nick, I think that's WB's fault more than anything. They made them condense the longest book of the series into the shortest movie of the series. As you said, it did come off quite "choppy".

Still though, that end battle was incredible in the movie, even if it wasn't true to the way it all went down in the books.

Huey2k2 @ Aug 17th 2008 8:32PM

I agree with you Fernando. I love all the HP books, and the movies seem to get better with each iteration.

What people fail to realise about HP is that although the first couple books were rather childish, they have gotten darker and darker with each book. Mainly because the kids who started reading the first HP book when they were around 12, are much older now.

Haggard @ Aug 17th 2008 9:45PM

A lot of academics are obsessed with the idea that the books are dumb and childish. Perhaps, compared to some, they are; but it's my opinion that people force themselves to hate the series so they can pull off some kind of 'I'm too clever for this shit' egotistical imbecility.

Erik Stroud @ Aug 17th 2008 9:45PM

I love the books and Movies. Never was a fan of the games. I just wish that the movie wasn't pushed back so far.

Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Aug 18th 2008 8:06AM

The movies are fine companion pieces if, AND ONLY IF, you've read the books. Otherwise, they are completely nonesensical drivel that fails to follow even the most basic of coherent narrative threads. People who want to judge the series often watch a movie rather than read one of the books and THAT'S the huge mistake. Every movie made in the series has missed very important details, a trend I expect to continue.

Obie @ Aug 17th 2008 7:47PM

Well maybe they will add Wiimotion plus to the Wii version now that they have time.

Vault @ Aug 17th 2008 8:37PM

I reeaaaallly doubt it.

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Aug 18th 2008 12:53PM

It would be something that makes me seriously consider getting the title if they were. Hell, even knowing they've got 8 extra months has left me cynical; I'm not EA's biggest fan, and while i'd love to be as optimistic as to expect them to cut the corners off and polish it to a mirror shine, the pessemist in me knows that EA are seeing this as a tragic set-back than a perfect opportunity.

Ghen @ Aug 17th 2008 7:52PM

The game won't change. They may squash some bugs but its going to be another crappy movie tie-in. Doesn't matter how long they get, they won't use the time wisely.. IE: to innovate or evolve the series in any way.

Phil @ Aug 17th 2008 8:10PM

Um, in case you haven't bothered to check it, the last HP game wasn't REALLY all that bad. A lot of people have been saying that it is very, VERY close to a good movei to game adaptation.

The games don't need massive innovation, they merely need to replicate the events of the book/movie and that's plenty. That's all the fans (Myself NOT included) want. And the fans have supposedly claimed that Order of the Phoenix was pretty good and short of perfection.

Ghen @ Aug 17th 2008 8:53PM

Escape from butcher bay was a good movie tie-in. I hold all movie related games up to that standard.

Kud Dukan @ Aug 17th 2008 9:04PM

I want to see a Harry Potter RPG...but since EA has the license I don't think we'll ever see one. There are tons of game ideas with that license besides movie tie-ins. They should take another crack at a Quidditch game as well, but really focus on making it a deep fun.

Dopple Boppler @ Aug 17th 2008 9:35PM

Didn't they make a GameBoy Color RPG of Sorcerer's Stone way back in "the day"? I seem to remember that one getting better scores than any of the console games.

Dovi @ Aug 17th 2008 10:01PM

Sorcerer's stone on GBC and Prisoner of Azkaban on GBA were both rpgs

Schuey19 @ Aug 17th 2008 9:33PM

Well assuming the game uses set-pieces taken directly from the film - like most movie tie-ins - I can't really see how they can anything but delay the release from a spoilers point-of-view.
Sure most people interested enough to care about spoilers would most probably have read the book, but even they wouldn't know the exact scenes used, and doubt they'd want to see computer game versions 8 months before the film comes out.

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Aug 18th 2008 12:59PM

Oh, come on, that's poor. Gaming can produce a good narrative, and while EA frequently aren't up to the task, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be. Hell, the fact is that a game has more hours on average and could potentially deliver a much better narrative of a HP book than some 90-120 minute film that's desperately struggling to keep itself coherent under the staggering amount of detail omitted.

Dopple Boppler @ Aug 17th 2008 9:34PM

So is it true that this one is being built for the Wii first and then ported to the 360 and PS3? I forget where I read it, but that sounded pretty interesting to me; as a big Harry Potter fan I was tempted to get Order of the Phoenix based on the fact that Wiimote wand controls sounded awesome and it actually looked kind of good from the trailers. If they could nail the wand controls on Wii I would probably give in this time.

Haggard @ Aug 17th 2008 9:48PM

I'd imagine they would use two different engines; one for PS2/Wii, one for PS3/360/PC.

They will, of course, spend a long time making sure they nail the Wii controls, but in terms of good gameplay and decent pacing/level design etc, don't expect too much.