HOLLYWOOD'S NEW GAME VIDEO FOR PLAYING, NOT JUST VIEWING.

Byline: Candice Choi Staff Writer

Going ``straight to video'' has new meaning these days as movie studios seek to parlay blockbuster titles into hit video games - the single most lucrative merchandising opportunity for films.

Buena Vista Games, which has existed as a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co. for 10 years, just began ramping up in-house development in the past couple years, said spokeswoman Angela Emery.

``Our top brass has openly said this is a sector they wish to invest in. The growth in this division is obvious,'' she said.

Jumping into the video-game industry is proving to be no small task, however.

Despite the onslaught of movies released as video games, the titles rarely rank among the top sellers in the $10 billion gaming industry.

The ``Matrix'' video game sold about 2 million units, according to the NPD Group. In contrast, first-day sales for the video game ``Halo'' reached $125 million - more than any movie has ever made in a single day at the box office.

``It took 'Spider-Man' four days to do that,'' said Keith Boesky, an industry analyst based in Los Angeles 

The problem is that studios don't have the same experience and brand loyalty among gaming aficionados, said David Riley, senior manager with the NPD Group.

``These movies are out once, and they're gone. In terms of building a brand, they're not around long enough,'' he said.

Developing a great game today can cost anywhere from $1 million to $15 million - sometimes much more.

``You can't just throw a team of coders together. There's a loyalty factor, a brand recognition factor,'' Riley said. When the video-game industry was first emerging in the 1980s, movie titles like ``E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial'' and ``Raiders of the Lost Ark'' tanked when released as games.

``That's when developers were quick to push out games without any thought,'' Riley said.

Now studios are looking to shake that stigma.

Buena Vista executives are mining Disney's library for films such as Tim Burton's ``The Nightmare Before Christmas'' to develop into games.

``We're seeing a lot of that in the industry. The bottom line is that intellectual property is king,'' Emery said.

Recent Disney titles including ``Kingdom Hearts,'' ``The Incredibles'' and ``Finding Nemo'' have all experienced success as video games.

Studios are making major strides since the days when the video-game industry first began, however. The game based on ``The Chronicles of Riddick,'' for example, was rated as one of the best games in the market, Boesky said.

Candice Choi, [phone]

candice.choi(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box, chart

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Movie)

(2 -- color) no caption (Video game)

Box:

TOP SELLING VIDEO GAMES IN 2004

Chart:

VIDEO-GAME INDUSTRY EARNINGS

SOURCE: The NPD Group

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