Visceral producer has been thinking about Macbeth game 'for years'
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Feb 2nd 2010 at 7:15PM }
[image source: Andy Cohen]
It seems EA's Visceral Games team loved high school literature. With Dante's Inferno completed, Visceral's executive producer, Jonathan Knight, revealed his desire to do yet another video game adaptation of a literary classic. "Macbeth the game is something I've been thinking about for years," Knight told IndustryGamers. "But now, I think the emotional quality that games are achieving and the value level of the acting and the sound work makes it possible."Knight seems to believe that a game adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth would require a bit more deft than what we've seen out of Dante's Inferno thus far. "Dante's is more of a violent interpretation of the poem for example," Knight explained. "Macbeth would be great, though; there are witches and a supernatural experience along with plenty of intrigue and murder."
Unfortunately, it seems we won't be see a Visceral interpretation of Macbeth any time soon. The team is admittedly busy on Dead Space 2, and who knows -- by the time they have some free time, fashion designer Marc Ecko's "completely re-imagined" Macbeth game may become a reality.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ezio Auditore da Firenze @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:18PM
VISCERAL!
Nate Addison @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:19PM
Dost thou know no end to this madness? Well,dost thou?
Hooch [Quite possibly crazy] @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:38PM
Wilt all the water of Neptune's oceans wash this blood from my hands?
Wolf @ Feb 3rd 2010 9:12AM
The nigh hath been unruly,
where we lay our chimneys were blown down,
and i the air, strange screams of death,
also the kick ass dude ran around with an awesome scythe.
Reaver Zero @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:20PM
It better have co-op
Hivetyrant @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:31PM
Or at least multiplayer deathmatch
wcarnation @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:20PM
"It seems EA's Visceral Games team loved high school literature."
I guess it is still fresh in their minds, being that they just got home from reading it.
Bradwart [PSN: Mister Bradster XBL: Mr Bradster] @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:22PM
Visceral...just stop. Stick with Dead Space.
Romo-kun @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:24PM
Another case of, "THIS IS SUCH A TERRIBLE IDEA IT MIGHT JUST WORK!"
One can only hope.
Ample Salty @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:24PM
Will it have online multiplayer?
Is this a crotch which I see before me, the balls toward my mouth?
Smooth @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:36PM
What are these
So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on 't?
Macbeth, 1. 3
Look At This Suit @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:25PM
Great, now they've jinxed it.
samfish @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:31PM
Man, I can't WAIT to play the videogame version of Catcher in the Rye. Gonna split some phonies in half with my blade of disillusionment and blow their corpses into bits.
PRESS X Y X TO PREFORM A FINISHER!
Zinger314 @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:33PM
I'd play a To Kill A Mockingbird video game.
DO YOU WANT TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? Y/N
Look At This Suit @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:35PM
Fahrenheit 451: The Game
Light books on fire with your Wii Remote™!
The ultimate "Eff off, Dad"!
"Reading is for total squares."- IGN
HighFiveJesus @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:14PM
ARE YOU A NEGRO LOVER. Y/N
tap A to defend tom robinson!!!!!
Atticus..? Atticus!? AAAATTTICUSSSS
wcarnation @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:46PM
To Kill a Mockingbird, done all Max Payne style. Gritty black and white graphics, bullet time sequences, excessive use of metaphor in cutscenes.
You get to the court room and a swarm of guys in KKK hoods with late 20th century assault rifles break in from every possible direction and you have to dodge between the stands and return fire, eventually taking a bullet for Tom
The ending is you dying his blood soaked arms, but if you beat the game on hard you magically come to life so Rockstar can hire a bunch of Egyptian slaves and make something completely different with "To Kill A Mockingbird 2" on the box.
There will be a movie too. Based on the game. Also counts a remake of the original movie. The marketing will be intentionally confusing, but damned if it won't have a spot during the next Super Bowl.
Rocketboy @ Feb 3rd 2010 2:53PM
Me, I'm hoping for a game version of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".
The endings would suck though. There's three different ones, and they are all the same.
Zamir @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:31PM
public domain is were is at, real original? VISCERAL
Hyams @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:34PM
I'm looking forward to their adaptation of Taming of the Shrew. They could give it a modern gangsta setting. "Press X to slap dat skank-ass bitch."
lazykindaguy @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:41PM
Still waiting for Canterbury Tales Kart Racing. I hear that if you beat the dev time to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket you unlock Sonic.
Keith @ Feb 3rd 2010 10:15AM
I originally intended to post a sarcastic comment deriding Visceral, but now all I can think of is how cool a Canterbury Tales cart racing game would be. You have exposed my inner hypocrite.
deluded spider @ Feb 3rd 2010 12:40PM
I seriously laughed out loud. XD
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:44PM
Get Sean Connery to do the voice of MacBeth and I'll buy it
CH3BURASHKA @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:45PM
This whole 'plunder the public domain' thing is bordering on the ridiculous.
BTW, when are we gonna get a good Jesus adventure game?
NintendoJunkie @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:48PM
You should be asking Wisdom Tree about that one.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:18PM
Wisdom tree is done...they can't hang anymore...hell all of their NES games were unauthorized anyways....
Yaanu @ Feb 2nd 2010 7:47PM
So if Dead Space = Resident Evil 4 and Dante's Inferno = God of War, what would MacBeth be? And whatever happened to their Jack the Ripper game?
Also, Jack the Ripper = Assassin's Creed. At least, I'M theorizing it will.
michael @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:04PM
Didn't God of War took it influences from Devil may Cry?
Spike (GT: SitriStahl) @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:08PM
MacBeth=Halo 3
FancyFox @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:17PM
Macbeth = Borderlands
wcarnation @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:41PM
My guess is a Diablo 2-like game.
Adrian @ Feb 2nd 2010 9:34PM
Macbeth=Gran Turismo 5
josh @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:03PM
How original....ly lame, new IPs mean NEW IPs, not making literature into games and calling it a new IP
Korova Pamplona @ Feb 2nd 2010 11:43PM
I have to disagree. Maybe video games will actually have better story that most do now if they pillage the free domain classics.
Its infinitely better - we wont be stuck with what some failed Hollywood scripty comes up with. We will already be familiar with the story. There is a ton of commentary, art and other material out there to draw on.
New game category: classics reimagined for interactive electronic medium "CRIEM"
Korova Pamplona @ Feb 2nd 2010 11:45PM
I have to disagree. Maybe video games will actually have better story that most do now if they pillage the free domain classics.
Its infinitely better - we wont be stuck with what some failed Hollywood scripty comes up with. We will already be familiar with the story. There is a ton of commentary, art and other material out there to draw on.
New game category: classics reimagined for interactive electronic medium "CRIEM"
Korova Pamplona @ Feb 2nd 2010 11:46PM
sorry for the double post - site glitch
Rhamsey @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:15PM
I just can't wait till Macbeth, the book based on the game, based on a Shakespeare tale of death and destruction.
And has Visceral been listening to the podcast?
Red_Maniac @ Feb 2nd 2010 8:26PM
My English class has just finished looking over Inferno and we just began reading Macbeth.
COINCIDENCE?
Saihna @ Feb 2nd 2010 9:01PM
I THINK NOT!
Korova Pamplona @ Feb 2nd 2010 11:38PM
Quick, drop out and send your resume to Visceral - you are just the one they need.
Nekki @ Feb 3rd 2010 7:34PM
What about a game based on "The old man and the sea"?
It would be epic.
Maattp @ Feb 2nd 2010 9:18PM
I'm willing to study this for english :P
andrewpoe @ Feb 2nd 2010 9:36PM
A game based on Hamlet would have to be done Heavy Rain style, where you (Hamlet) doubt your own decisions but do them anyway.
I hope they never make a Paradise Lost game unless they already have. I foresee it being some Myst-like game that's horrible. Look! A snake! Solve this puzzle!
Dr. Orpheus @ Feb 2nd 2010 9:28PM
Is this a dagger I see before me? It is! Now I'll murder everone!
Wardo (Gamertag: Wardob) (PSN ID: Wardo_b) @ Feb 2nd 2010 10:35PM
I'm not going to lie, I would buy this day one.
Tezz @ Feb 2nd 2010 11:24PM
Macbeth would make a good game, if it wasnt done by visceral, who seems to enjoy brutally assraping great literature.
deluded spider @ Feb 3rd 2010 12:39PM
I'd buy it if BioWare did it.
Tezz @ Feb 3rd 2010 6:18PM
id bet alot more people would buy dante's inferno if bioware did it aswell.
Korova Pamplona @ Feb 2nd 2010 11:36PM
But ... but ... its a tragedy. Everyone including the main character dies in the end. Are they going to rewrite the ending?
It may make a good RTS - Macbeth conquers Scotland by chopping all forests and building siegeworks.
Hamlet would be the sequel then: "Press B or dont press B. That is the question ..."