Next Harry Potter game pushed back to coincide with film

Much like taking a swim with a block of concrete tied to your feet, developing a video game that's inseparably linked to an impending blockbuster film can often lead to less than satisfactory results. Not only do creators face the challenge of converting two hours of overproduced non-interactivity into a considerably more engaging experience, they have to do it within a time limit that's much more conducive to synergy than quality. So, here comes your silver lining, Harry Potter fans.

EA has confirmed that the delay of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince applies to the coinciding video game as well, leading us to imagine the developers reveling in the gift of several more calendar pages, raining down upon them like confetti. "We're excited about the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game in development and its high level of authenticity and playability," says EA Casual Studios vice president Robert Nashak. A high level of playability? Boy, they really are going all out with this one.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which, much like every other movie in the franchise is sure to be the darkest one yet, is out in Summer 2009.

Reader Comments (16)

At least it's not getting brought forward: then it would be rushed. Hopefully the extra time will make it good enough to buy (then again, probably not.)

bwahahaha.... I played the demo for one of the last ones just to see how awful it was. I couldn't even bare to leave the initial room. Suitable for 7 year olds, if you're mad at them.

Wasn't there already an article about this a month ago?

That was just speculation. This is an official announcement.

That article was pushed back to accommodate the film's delay.

But really, do you think EA's going to spend much more time on the game? When it comes to something like Harry Potter, the sales are probably going to be the same whether it sucks or not--from that quote, they just say they're excited about the game, not about having more time.

Excellent; use all that extra development time to polish it to a shine and get some MotionPlus support on to the Wii version and you very well may have a killer app. The fact that Half-Blood Prince is my favorite of the books doesn't hurt, either.

did you play the last one? I played the demo for free, and *still* felt ripped off.

Games based on movies NEVER work. Period.

Goldeneye and riddick beg to differ. Once per decade, that is.

OOTP wasn't THAT bad, if you played it as more of a day-in-the-life-of-Harry-Potter sim than a standard game of what you'd expect. It was a pretty mellow, relaxing experience, without being too dull. Good for after a long day at work when you don't have the energy for a more intense game. And they made Hogwarts really massive, so it was cool just to run around and check things out. I am, however, pissed that I did not get a 100 point achievement for completing the game on hard due to a common glitch. Use this time for more QA!

Yes, I played the PC demo and played the Wii version at a friend's house, and I agree, from what I played it wasn't that good at all. However, the Wiimote being the wand idea, though obvious, is a great idea. If EA tightened up the game and had 1:1 motion stuff going on with MotionPlus, like I said in my first post, I think they could have a real, genuine winner on their hands.

And as good as the Harry Potter games sell being mediocre, just imagine how they'd sell if they were actually, you know, good. Come on EA, let's make it happen.

My thoughts exactly, Vcize. GoldenEye is probably going to keep that status of "Awesome movie game" for many years to come, basically alone up there.

Too bad it's practically unplayable these days, but back then, it was the shit.

1:1 control + voice activated spells with WiiSpeak = one of the best movie-games EVAR!!!

While my first reaction was, "Maybe they'll use the extra to make some improvements to the game."

My second was, "Nah, they'll just sit on it until release and work on another game."

Boo. Hoo.

Another Harry Potter movie? ¬_¬

*prepares gullet for the onslaught of 'advertising' getting jammed down his throat*

Most licensed games suck if you aren't a huge fan of the property. Also $50-$60 is waaaaay too much for them but around the $10 mark the Harry Potter games can be kind of fun. The only one I played all the way through was the 2nd one, it felt like a Zelda knockoff.

Next Harry Potter game pushed back to coincide with film

Reader Comments (16)

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 4:51PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 5:55PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 4:57PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 6:02PM Vcize said

Posted: Sep 9th 2008 9:01AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 5:31PM Dopple Boppler said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 5:56PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 6:03PM Vcize said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 6:18PM Dracula Jones said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 6:44PM Dopple Boppler said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 7:01PM Vaitork said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 7:47PM Sponge said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 5:34PM Dracula Jones said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 5:42PM mezzaninex said

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 7:30PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 9th 2008 8:15AM McWeen said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW