A 'Lost' civilization?

TV series get their interactive close-up

By BEN FRITZ

The advantages of making videogames based on movies are obvious: instant audience awareness thanks to the marketing push of a major studio.

TV shows, however, have a much more limited -- and mixed -- history in videogames. Outside of kids' shows, only one comedy, "The Simpsons," has made a successful leap into the medium, as has the procedural "CSI."

Serialized dramas, however, have yet to work as games, even though they would seem to come with the most loyal group of fans already onboard. In the past few years both "24" and "The Sopranos" have been turned into videogames and flopped. But the genre is getting its biggest test this week as Ubisoft debuts "Lost: Via Domus."

The French publisher, which also is developing a videogame based on "Heroes," sees a big opportunity to reach fans of the hit ABC series and, if it performs, launch a new kind of licensed game.

"It's true that a TV-based game does not benefit from the big marketing push for a movie-based game, and there is also a risk due to the lag time between the TV show debut and the game," grants Andrew Hui, senior brand manager for "Lost: Via Domus." "But we have more time to develop a TV-based game and it is easier to build anticipation because there is an existing fan base."

Unlike movies, which typically get videogame licensing deals well over a year before they come out, TV shows aren't game fodder until they're a hit. That means publishers are betting that the show they're licensing today will still have a fan base when the game comes out two years later.

It seems to be working out well for "Lost," which Ubisoft licensed two years ago and debuted to strong ratings last month. "Heroes" could prove riskier, as second-season ratings slipped significantly and the game won't come out until season three.

There are unique creative challenges with TV-based games. Unlike movies, where there's usually a script and visual materials more than a year in advance that the game makers can reference, producers of TV-based games have to create a design that won't interfere with a future TV season that probably hasn't even been outlined.

In the case of "Lost," developers at Ubisoft's Montreal studio created a new castaway from Oceanic flight 815 whose story intersects with the characters and plots as of season three, but won't contradict any future developments.

"We needed a way to tell a story that isn't going to handcuff the producers in the future, but can still be part of the mythology," says Kevin Shortt, who wrote the "Lost" game.

In order to maintain that mythology, the Ubisoft Montreal team had to run all its ideas by "Lost" producers -- some of the development team's favorite ideas were rejected. Series exec producer Damon Lindelof came up with the game's ending.

Though the core storyline is made to be accessible to casual "Lost" viewers, developers got permission to provide treats to devoted fans by taking them places they've never been before, such as behind a wall in the show's mysterious hatch. Shortt also promises there are numerous secrets hidden throughout the game for "Lost" lovers.

If "Lost" is a success, it could easily turn into its own videogame franchise, potentially keeping the series alive after it ends its run on ABC. It could also spawn a growing number of TV-based games and prove a new way for networks to monetize their increasingly expensive dramas.

But that doesn't mean they'll all be 10-hour-plus, $60-a-pop experiences like "Via Domus."

NBC Universal interactive VP Bill Kispert, who made the "Lost" deal, notes that TV-based games provide a much better opportunity than film adaptations to experiment with new business models. His conglom, for instance, licensed inexpensive downloadable games based on "Battlestar Galactica" and "The Office" that came out last year.

"Casual and serialized games are really interesting for TV properties," he says. "You get shorter development cycles and you can deliver some content with the promise that more is coming down the road. That's what TV fans are already used to anyway."