If you're into video game history and are a "Harry Potter" nut, you might have noticed a small inconsistency in one of the novels.
"Harry Potter" continuity editor Cheryl Klein recently spoke with MTVNews.com for a hilarious story about her experiences maintaining continuity in each book.
Fans have proven helpful in some instances, pointing out the proper school year of Hogwarts student Marcus Flint, for example. But one video game inconsistency, they chose to ignore. From the article:
Fans also asked about the ["Harry Potter"] timeline, since at one point, Dudley gets a PlayStation. "It didn't come out until later, if you date the series chronologically. If you say Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday celebration is in 1992 ... ," [said fans] Klein stopped herself and laughed. "This is really dorky stuff."
I don't even remember Dudley's PlayStation. What other literary missteps related to games have you noticed? Are there any more in "Harry Potter"?
Related Posts
How EA’s Handling ‘Half-Blood Prince’’s Shocking Ending
Next ‘Harry Potter’ Made For Wii First, Other Consoles Second
EA ‘Evaluating’ Harry Potter Movie Delay’s Impact On Upcoming Game
[Note: There are no spoilers in this story!]
Something big happens at the end of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Fans of the book are well aware of the revelation.
We're not here to spoil it for you. But I already know how it ends, so I wanted to ask Electronic Arts how they're handling "Half-Blood Prince"'s conclusion.
The problem: EA can't actually talk about the ending. "I can't, under our Warner Bros. embargo, talk about the ending," laughed "Harry Potter" executive producer Jonathan Bunney while he was showing me the game at a publisher event a couple of weeks ago. "But I can tell you that you will not be…interacting…"
Will you take your Wiimote and...? "Whatever you're alluding to, you won't be doing that. [laughs]," said Bunney. "Obviously, it's a massive -- I was so shocked when I read it. I put the book down and said, 'That's crazy! You can't have done this.' We're dealing with it very sensitively because it's a big deal, right? Obviously, we're making a game that kids are going to be playing, as well."
Of course, none of this story makes any sense if you don't know the conclusion to "Half-Blood Prince." But if you do, it's interesting to see EA's approach.
Note: Please be considerate in the comments. If you choose to discuss the ending to "Half-Blood Prince" or other spoilers, please mark them appropriately. Any deliberate attempts to spoil the plot will be deleted.
Related Posts
Next ‘Harry Potter’ Made For Wii First, Other Consoles Second
EA Open To Idea Of ‘Harry Potter’ MMO
EA ‘Evaluating’ Harry Potter Movie Delay’s Impact On Upcoming Game
New ‘Harry Potter’ Hints At Wii Bartending Game Possibilities
Afraid that you'll never enter Hogwarts again when the story concludes in "Deathly Hallows"? Never fear.
I've just filed a story at MTVNews.com about how "Harry Potter" games producer Electronic Arts hopes to continue making wizard adventures after J.K. Rowling's tale comes to an end.
"I think that's a great opportunity," said Wiimote-clutching "Harry Potter" executive producer Jonathan Bunney to MTV News last week at an EA summer press event just outside San Francisco. "Certainly, we've done it with 'Lord of the Rings.' We've extended beyond the movies there. We did it with James Bond for a while. I don't know what we'll do with 'Harry Potter.' It'd be fun to, I think. There's more stories that we can tell."
You can read the rest of my story on "Harry Potter"'s interactive future here.
[Image Credit: Warner Bros.]
Related Posts
Next ‘Harry Potter’ Made For Wii First, Other Consoles Second
EA Open To Idea Of ‘Harry Potter’ MMO
EA ‘Evaluating’ Harry Potter Movie Delay’s Impact On Upcoming Game
"Harry Potter" is a series dictated by the most popular console. First, PS One. Then, PlayStation 2. For a while, Xbox 360. But now, Wii has taken over.
Making Wii the lead platform was the first decision that “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” executive producer Jonathan Bunney made when approaching the latest Wizard game.
"We made that decision from day one," he told me last week. "We did, I think, a good job with the Wii last year, but we're doing a great job this year. Because this is where the casual audience is, the mass audience is here. It's a great control system, but you've got to learn to use it."
EA wants as many people as possible playing their "Harry Potter" games and Bunney saw the traditional control scheme as an obstacle for many users.
Read more...
There are no more "Harry Potter" books coming. In a few years, there will be no more "Harry Potter" movies.
Will the production of new Potter games soon stop too?
"Lord of the Rings" hasn't had trouble living on past its literary trilogy, but we're only nearing the time where it's a concern for "Harry Potter."
Rumors of a "Harry Potter" MMO have circled for years. The setting fits perfectly. Earlier this summer, "Harry Potter" fan sites jumped on a Warner Bros. statement alluding they've been investigating the possibility.
The current Potter game producer, Electronic Arts, told me last week that they're interested in the possibility of a Harry Potter MMO, too. "I think there could be a fun MMO with Harry Potter," said "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" executive producer Jonathan Bunney.
Of course, that doesn't mean a "Harry Potter" MMO is actually coming. Bunney told me they're completely focused on finishing "Half-Blood Prince" and approaching the difficulties of "Deathly Hallows" being split into two movies. I'll have more on that later this week.
That said, do you want an massively multiplayer "Harry Potter" experience?
[Image Credit: Warner Bros.]
Related Posts
EA ‘Evaluating’ Harry Potter Movie Delay’s Impact On Upcoming Game
New ‘Harry Potter’ Hints At Wii Bartending Game Possibilities
You might not be playing through Harry Potter's latest adventure this fall, readers.
The surprising news that Warner Bros. is pushing the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" movie to next summer made us wonder about the status of the game.
Electronic Arts was preparing to launch the title alongside the movie this fall.
But EA doesn't have a definitive answer yet. "We are making a great game that Harry Potter fans will really enjoy -- we are evaluating the impact of the movie date change," said a company spokesperson.
Unfortunately, that doesn't tell us if an interactive "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is coming this fall, but we'll keep an eye on it for you. We played the Wii version last night, so look for more on the game soon.
[Image Credit: Warner Bros.]
Ever wonder how well Harry Potter would do if he had to take a job as a bartender? I'd say, pretty well if he based his training on his upcoming game for the Wii.
At a recent demo of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the new Wii title based on the upcoming movie, one of the key game features I was shown was potion mixing. The player mixes potions in a motion-sensitive mini-game. The potions you can make are needed to complete certain tasks throughout the main story.
The mechanics for potion creation were intuitive, and along the lines of what you would do when cooking in real life, if you were mixing almost any recipe. For example, if you need Harry to pour in a certain amount of armadillo bile, you angle and "pour" with the Wii controller. If the recipe in the game calls you to cool the liquid, you "fan the flames" with both the Wii controller and nunchuck. "The Half-Blood Prince" offers a range of different movements that require the player to be precise and stead in their actions, lest they be penalized for over-pouring or mixing the wrong item, the result of which is a big puff of smoke.
The control scheme motions got me thinking about other games that might benefit from this type of gameplay, and one thing game to mind immediately - mixology, otherwise known as the art of making drinks. "Cooking Mama" has had the kitchen skills covered for a few years now, but no one has gone near the bar, and this could be the perfect way to breach that. Use the pouring motions to mix a Cape Codder perfectly and you can move on to more difficult drinks like Long Island Iced Teas. The better margarita you make, the more points you get on your road to being an international bartending superstar.
Nintendo has released recipe books for the DS in Japan, perhaps they could take that idea, mix in a dash of "Brain Training," and then combine those with Harry's potion mixing, and create a whole new genre of bartending sims. Of course, they would have to finish it off with an "M" rating.
