My son plays Worlds of Warcraft all the time, or "WoW" as he likes to call it. "Online Crack" is what I like to call it. The grass is always greener though... on the one hand you think "he should get out more, meet some people"... but on the other hand, you think "at least he's not out drinking and doing drugs." Sigh... it's tough being a mom.
But I will say this... I had never given the whole Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG, for those NOT in the know) much thought, until my son installed City of Heroes.
I actually dabbled with that game. It took me forever to "initiate" myself in the culture of these games... I grew up on the arcade games of the 80s, so the idea of a MMORPG was completely foreign to me. But I learned, and had some fun in the process... until the "grind" as my son says became boring.
But, if MMORPG and Pirates are your thing, then have I got news for you.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney Online has plans to bring the world of the Pirates of the Caribbean to your computer via a MMORPG next year. Apparently Disney Online Virtual Reality Studio vice president Mike Goslin had plans to make a game from the world of the ride BEFORE the movie ever opened, but once it did $654 million in business, he decided to adapt the movie into the game. Smart move.
Goslin said that after the success of "Black Pearl," Disney took a step back and developed the two new films from even more of a long-term franchise perspective. A core team went back and created a mythology around the world of the films, in addition to the stories of the two sequels, from which the books, video games and other manifestations of the intellectual property could be drawn.
"When you start to look at this mythology, we were able to realize just how rich this world is," Goslin said. "There's a lot going on with the characters and enemies in this world. We became familiar with the direction that the two films were going and embarked on an original, parallel story that will encompass hundreds of hours rather than the two to three hours each film takes up."
That bodes well for both the movie franchise and the game, if Disney has given the mythology such attention. Goslin says that he hopes to get all of the principal actors to voice their characters in the game, and negotiations are underway to make that a reality. Familiar elements from the movies such as Captain Jack and cohorts, the Kraken, Davy Jones and his scurvy crew, Port Royal, Fort Charles, the Flying Dutchman, and the Endeavor.
Jolly Roger, a new villian created for the game, is based on the pirate at the beginning of the Disney theme park ride... the one who warns people to turn back right before the waterfall plunge.
No release date has been finalized, but it's expected that the game will be ready to go by the time the third movie in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, hits theaters!
