While the quality of movies based on video games remains painfully low, the chances of a video game based on a movie being good is much higher. Over the years, classic games such as GoldenEye, The Warriors and The Chronicles Of Riddick prove that they can get right what Hollywood often gets wrong. 2012 has also proven to be the year that mobile game-apps really came into their own, with pretty much everyone you know having become addicted to Angry Birds or Bastion over the last twelve months.
To that end, here we have two new games for you to play on the go, brought to you by two Belfast companies; "Magic Mike: The Moves" by Outsider Games and "Grabbers The Game" by Iglu Media and BillyGoat Entertainment Ltd.
In Magic Mike, you play the role of a male stripper, and as the arrows on the screen dictate which direction to move your moneymaker, the further you get into the game, the more clothes you take off, and the more dollars the screaming audience flings at your man-thong. You can check out the trailer for the game right here.
In Grabbers, you're one of the locals on Erin Island off the west coast of Ireland, trapped inside the local pub, with nothing but your wits and your hurley to keep the blood-sucking aliens at bay. It's release is to coincide with the movie hitting UK cinemas, with William Barr of BillyGoat Entertainment telling us that "... (if) creating an amusing mobile video game pitting players against hordes of tentacle clad creatures baying for their blood can contribute to the success of the Grabbers brand we would be pleased as punch." Watch the in-game footage trailer here.
Gareth Gray, Creative Director of Iglu Media, had this to say about the project: "We're delighted to be given the opportunity to work with Grabbers' IP and bring it to an entirely new platform. We feel strongly that the future of the media industry is developing content with a cross-platform focus to maximise the potential value of IP and this project is indicative of that."
As more movies get involved in the mobile apps platform, both in games and publicity, expect a lot more tie-ins of this nature of the next twelve months. Both these games also represent a huge awareness for Irish video-game production, as both these games were produced by companies chosen specifically by the distributors of both movies.
Grabbers The Game and Magic Mike: The Moves are both currently available for free right now on iOS and Android mobile devices.
Reviewed By: Rory Cashin