Golden Compass gets Shiny

and that was such a good book, too. Its gunna be ruined

I hope this dosn't end badly.

any vids?

Any pics?

oh-boy... first we're going to let Hollywood ruin the Golden Compass series, then we're going to hand it over to Sega / Shiny to turn into a movie-based videogame? I think I'll go preorder! Maybe the preorder bonus will be a subtle knife. I certainly hope so, as I'm guessing playing this game will make me want to slit my wrists.

I can't wait to see how the matter from the final book (Amber Spyglass) is handled - Both in the final movie and the game when they appear in a few years. I'm sure they'll have to be re-plotted by the christian fundamentalists.

shiny...lol, love thier name, but never dug thier games...I hope they can do the series justice...

ye gods no, why on earth did they let Shiny get involved with this?once Shiny made some great games. Now they can't seem to get a Matrix game right, when about a million other developers can. It doesn't fill me with hope.

i've read the first book in the series and am working on the seccond i really am enjoying it to. a movie scares teh crap out of me because if i see it, it might destroy the wonderfulness that was created by my imagination. and this game probably wont be nearly as good as it can be, but i'll have to give them credit if its even remotely good because it does seem like something that would be difficult to translate into a game.

I have lost confidence in Shiny and unfortunately SEGA. I was a long time fan of the latter more for their innovation in game desigh than their hardware. When they couldn't make immediate profit as a game company they started turning out derivative pos after derivative pos. They have ruined one of their most beloved IPs and don't even seem to care. They are doing nothing to bring back some of their prime back catalog of IPs, and now seem to be taking the Akklaim route of relying more on licensing of other IPs. So who do they pick to make this tie in? The company who screwed up the Matrix TWICE! Since 1995 Shiny has made two good games not counting sequels. EWJ and MDK were both great. Everything else is not really worth mentioning. Something is very wrong here.

wwonka666 thanks man, I wrote it fast without checking out the name. But yeah, he hypes up his games to the point that I get fooled into following him..... I even game Matrix Path of Neo a chance.

Yeah....they better hope that the movie makes up for the games suckiness. I can't see this going anywhere.

this is not going to do so hot

Sounds like a blockbuster! The movie that is...

Awesome! I really enjoyed this book when I read it a few years ago, thought unfortunately never owned the other two. Looking forward to the game though.

Must have spent all that money on the gold spray paint they used on Orlando Bloom's hair. :P

Get your facts straight, Wonka. The three LotR movies had a budget of 270 million combined. FACT. But yeah, hopefully this Pull man movie will be good too. Can't be too many great movies out.

indigoAK200 It's been reported that this one movie alone, the first of a trilogy, has a higher budget than the Lord of the Rings trilogy combined. If you look on IMDb and Wikipedia, the budget for the three Lord of the Rings films combined was $90 million. The budget for just The Golden Compass is $115 million alone. They're also both being released by the same studio, New Line. I don't think New Line would devote so much financial backing to this movie if they thought it was going to bomb. I'm have a pretty good feeling that with the capability of it's production team and writing staff (Chris Weitz knows how to write a great movie) and the widespread love for Pullman's trilogy (I myself have read and adore it), that this movie picture will be both a critical and financial success. .... I agree can't wait to see this movie. However, New Line has made lots of bad decisions since making the billion dollars off of the LOTR Trilogy including not bringing back Peter Jackson to do the Hobbitt because of a financial dispute over the gross of the first LOTR film.

crithon let the Doug Perry hype machine BEGIN!!! I'm sorry if that sound cruel, but I feel so burned by following the hype of his games after Earthworm Jim 2 and MDK. Remeber Messiah and Wild 9? sigh ...... I feel your pain, but I do believe the name was David Perry and that he has left Shiny to work for the new Acclaim on some Dance Dance MMORPG ripoff thingamajig that is going to be free if you agree to watch alot of advertising.

I'm very excited to see the His Dark Materials movie that is being released this December, but Sega and Shiny both have a bad track record when it comes to releasing GOOD licensed games. The Matrix games were terrible and made the sequels to one of the greatest movies of all time look like masterpieces when in reality they were crap that could not be interpreted by anyone.

yeh remember pagemaster???lol

A game based on a movie, based on a book. This is going to be painful.

i read the series. golden compass was good but i didnt like the other ones (dont waste ur time). dunno if it really translates well into a video game. (it ll take a lot of luck for this to turn out right. otherwise the pope will be damning it for its poor gameplay not only its blasphemous idea (he did that for the books))

waningwhisper, Superiority over Tolkien isn't that hard. Besides, I'm fairly certain that if Tolkien were still alive and kicking today, he'd be pretty humble and admit that a lot of authors have some really kick-ass writing skills. Numerous authors have been given this distinction; Tad Williams, Phillip Pullman, Terry Brooks, etc - Tad Williams most notably. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn puts Lord of the Rings in the dust.

a movie game, well isn't that a uphill battle, and i can't remember any good matrix games so this dev hasn't made a good game in a while, ok. heres to hoping.

Dosen't mean it will suck, but the stars say it will...

The Golden Compass was a very well-written story. Those of you who haven't read it should (and probably shouldn't be posting here) and those of you who didn't like it should remember that it's only one-third of the story (duh). Considering Pullman's His Dark Materials have won him numerous awards and many literary critics have claimed his superiority over Tolkien (not a small feat), I wouldn't judge too early. Just because it's a book to movie to game situation doesn't mean it will be awful.

I loved the books alot, I sincerely hope they do not destroy this one. It's the same thing as Eragon, Narnia, etcetera... all good books, all poorly shambled. You must remember that even if the film does have a high budget that doesn't necessarily mean it's good. I have a feeling it will be spent on special effects, like making Iorek's fur look real or some crap. Also, you just know that people are gonna get angry and say the film is against religion and all that... well, they'll just have to deal with it. I didn't see riots in the street when the BOOKS came out, but of course a movie will get all the attention. I've read the books several times, and I don't think they are truly anti - Christian as a whole - they're more anti - Catholicism in particular. Anyway, Shiny, don't screw up!!

It would be really hard to screw up a game featuring armored bears. That's a cool combination. Cooler even than monkeys with jetpacks.

His Dark Materials is one of my favorite fantasy series. Its a great story with unique characters. I'm really looking forward to the movie, but I don't know how a game would work out....

never read it but sounds interesting..

let the Doug Perry hype machine BEGIN!!! I'm sorry if that sound cruel, but I feel so burned by following the hype of his games after Earthworm Jim 2 and MDK. Remeber Messiah and Wild 9? sigh :(

Shiny. Don't botch this one like you did those Matrix games. Revisit the days of Sacrifice. :) I'm not familiar with the series, but I might check out the game if it doesn't suck. And Jakob, you forgot Shiny's best game: Sacrifice.

rykaziel I went through a phase of reading phantasy world books/graphic novels and just couldn't get my head around these at all. Just too wierd for me. My advice to you is to go and see the movie and maybe read the books after. In my experience even though an original book has more to it than any movie ever will you tend to get more out of the books once you've seen the movie and read the books straight after. Happened for me with LOTR read te book enjoyed it, saw the movie loved it, read the book again and adored it. Maybe my imagination is too lame to take the book in, in the first place. jakob_187 In my opinion I thought any spiderman game on any platform and I'm even going back to the C64 in the 80's has been total garbage. Which is a shame because there have been so many great spiderman stories in books and comics down the years. Just my opinion

Also, I hope they don't butcher the movies - after reading the first two books, I was like, there's no way that they won't make these books into a movie and I was thinking a video game too, and voila - here they are. I don't agree with Pullman's stance on Christianity, as I am a believer in Christ, but I have to admit that his books are very good. They are very interesting just as fantasy stories - his characters are very rich and have their own flaws - the interesting thing is that he keeps things obscure - I'm in the middle of the third book, and I still don't understand certain words and plots in the first book, but it's like he gives you enough to keep reading, but not enough to be satisfied. But basically, my prediction is that they are going to completely butcher the movie - and the game won't be that good - Enter the Matrix wasn't really that great, too repetitive. They won't make their money back - $115 Million someone said? I can't see it being better than Lord of the Rings - unless they get Peter Jackson, then it probably be just as good if not better than Lord of the Rings.

OMFG. Shiny, AGAIN? Those bastards don't deserve ANYTHING.

i had to read it 4 school and i hated it

Still have to finish the Amber Spyglass.

Lets hope it's gonna be good like those games on Jacob_187's list.

Banning a movie (or game) for something like that is immature, plain and simple. I find it amusing that we have to be tolerant of movies full to the brim with messages trying to persuade us to "be saved" and follow God, yet the moment that a book or some other form of media speaks the other way, it becomes a crime. Pullman's views and the form that he expresses them in is a breath of fresh air compared to all of the other stuff out there that's all lovey dovey sick when it comes to religion and the like.

great books, but there is one thing, im not a Christian, but i know that churches around my area (Southern Orregon) are banning the movie, even though its quite a while away... Philip Pullman's anti-religion message may discourge some gamers. Still, i can't wait for it and while it will probably bomb, but i'll still hpoe that it is playable...

It's been reported that this one movie alone, the first of a trilogy, has a higher budget than the Lord of the Rings trilogy combined. If you look on IMDb and Wikipedia, the budget for the three Lord of the Rings films combined was $90 million. The budget for just The Golden Compass is $115 million alone. They're also both being released by the same studio, New Line. I don't think New Line would devote so much financial backing to this movie if they thought it was going to bomb. I'm have a pretty good feeling that with the capability of it's production team and writing staff (Chris Weitz knows how to write a great movie) and the widespread love for Pullman's trilogy (I myself have read and adore it), that this movie picture will be both a critical and financial success.

Aw man, I LOVED the books, I really hope they don't ruin the movie and the game.

Aw, not another game adaptation...

Matt7895... blame the publishers; they did the same thing to the 'Philosopher's Stone'. Whatever the new name is, it tends to stick even if it's not as good.

I agree for the most part with you jakob_187, however having said that, I wasn't overly fond of the majority of the games on your list; With Riddick, GoldenEye, and the 2 Spider-Man games that are out, being the ones I thought were good. Ive never read any of these books so I do not know what to expect, but I will say having suffered through the abomination that was the Eragon game, I will go into this game based on a movie, based on a series of books, with the up most caution.

Its proper name is Northern Lights, why did the Americans have to change it

Wow...you people with your cynicism. Why do I always have to lay down the gauntlet for you kiddos? Just learn to think for once... Now, you say "oh, it's based on a movie based on a book, God, it's going to suck so bad". Let me name a couple games for you: GoldenEye Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth franchise Judge Dredd on Sega Genesis Stargate on Sega Genesis The Godfather Spider-Man 1 and 2 (and surely, 3 as well) Jesus...I could keep going with the list of good games that have been made from movies...and yes, while the market is flooded with a bunch of movie-based games that are trash, there are still plenty of saving graces out there to prove that developers have what it takes. Even Path of Neo wasn't completely wretched. HOWEVER...here is where my own cynicism will play in: I don't think Sega is a name that taints the idea of this game. I think Shiny is the name that does it for me. Enter the Matrix was a horribly incomplete game, and to be honest, the only games that Shiny has EVER made that were worth a damn in the first place were Earthworm Jim 1 and 2, the beautiful Wild 9, and even though it's not in the same league as the others I mentioned, Path of Neo. Outside of that, Messiah was a piece of trash and I can't expect much out of this unless they are given the time to really work on it. Moreover...13 environments is alright, but unless they are lengthy, it will be trash as well. Let's just hope Shiny doesn't screw up on "His Dark Materials", because if they do...I'm sure this will be one of the last games they ever make.

the golden compass?!?!? wtf, i really hope it doesn't tank

I read that book. Maybe the movie will be good.