The New Generation Of Entertainers

Video Game Designers Strive To Leave Mark On Cultural Landscape

(CBS) 
"We are definitely entering a golden age of game development right now," believes Peter Hirschmann, vice president for product development at LucasArts, the video game division of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' entertainment empire.

"You're seeing games come out that have openings that are bigger than movies," Hirschmann says. "And you see the pent-up anticipation for a big game title rivaling that of the biggest summer blockbuster."

LucasArts has recently moved into a new headquarters in San Francisco, sharing a roof with the LucasFilm division. And the connection, says Hirschmann, is more than just about common real estate, it's about common vision.

Hirschmann says the stories and characters in video games are just as important as in the movies. "Absolutely," Hirschmann says. "And if not more so because you are spending 12 to 15 hours with these characters. They better be interesting characters and it better be an interesting story."

He adds, "You know, movie, if you go see a terrible movie, you're out nine bucks and maybe two hours of your life. If you buy a bad game, you've maybe dropped down $30, $40 and invested 10 to 15 hours.

"The best game designs are ones that always hint at what's next," Hirschmann says. "You know, they're like good, you know, page-turners in a book where, you know, you, you can't wait to see what happens next."

Of course, movies like the six "Star Wars" films seem custom-made for conversion into video games, something Lucas got started on in the early '80s. And while the original "Star Wars" is almost three decades old, its inspiration endures.

Hirschmann says of Lucas, "George likes to say, you know, 'The movies are just six episodes telling the story -- one story in this giant expansive galaxy.' And he lets us play in all the other parts of it. So, he likes to say, 'There's a spaceship. There's a character. There's a planet.' For any story you wanna tell, "Star Wars" will be there for you."

And of course, as video games aspire to Hollywood-like ambitions, they're also demanding Hollywood-like budgets.

Hirschmann says games can range from $15 to $20 million to make. "There's never been, thank God, a $100 million game yet," he says.

Of course, there is less overhead with video games. Hirschmann says that, "one of the nice things about games is we don't have trailers for the game characters. We just save them on our hard drive and at night, we just turn off the computer and they're fine."

But there are other trappings of Tinseltown pervading the game business, including that Hollywood tradition: the awards show.

So it's probably no coincidence that Hollywood movies themselves are looking more and more like games.

Even Steven Spielberg just made headlines for his entry into the video game biz and "King Kong" director Peter Jackson had an active role in the design of his movie's new game.

And that's why the University of Southern California's famed film school, the alma mater of no less than George Lucas himself, has added video games to its curriculum.