Spielberg and EA to make 3 orginal video games

[Teddy Roosevelt]

E.T. meets EA: Game on for Spielberg
Director inks 3-game deal, has option to turn projects into movie, TV productions.
October 14, 2005: 6:51 AM EDT
 
 
 
 
   
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts, the world's biggest video game publisher, said Friday they are teaming up to develop three original video game titles.

Spielberg, a video game enthusiast and co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, will work with EA's Los Angeles studio on the concept, story and design of the new game franchises. Terms of the multiyear, exclusive agreement were not disclosed.

Neil Young, vice president and studio head at EA Los Angeles, said that Spielberg and EA's developers are aiming to deliver titles that take advantage of new technology in upcoming gaming consoles, while delivering more engaging and novel play and entertainment.

"Who is a better person to tackle that challenge with than Steven Spielberg?" Young said.

The partnership is the latest twist in the alliance between the games business and Hollywood, which has a poor track record of making hit games. EA has had success with games based on movies like "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings."

EA (Research) will own the intellectual property and the games, which it will develop, publish and distribute. Spielberg -- who directed such films as "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" -- gets the first crack at turning the games into film or television productions.

In the mid-1990s, Spielberg made games a priority for DreamWorks SKG, the movie studio he co-founded with David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg. But DreamWorks Interactive, the games arm of the studio, had little success.

That business, a joint venture between DreamWorks and Microsoft Corp. (Research), was purchased by EA in 2000, according to a news report published in Friday's Wall Street Journal.

The unit, which created the World War II "Medal of Honor" game series, is now known as EA Los Angeles.
 
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