The 3DS Potential of Hugo Cabret
Along with seeing the terrific Muppets film over the weekend, I caught Martin Scorsese’s new flick Hugo. I knew next to nothing about the movie going in*, other than scant details teased in commercials, so I was surprised to receive a pair of 3D glasses with my ticket, and delighted by how well the stereoscopic effect worked with the production, both technically and thematically.
I devoted a few words to the potential of 3D used thoughtfully in games not too long ago, and this is one of those rare cases when those tricks of depth considerably improved a film. Hugo is the first movie I’ve seen since James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009 that can make that claim, and it has the advantage of having an excellent story that brings together a clever orphan, broken automatons, and the wonders of the early film industry.
Scorsese and Cameron discuss using the power of 3D in storytelling
As I do after completing any movie, I looked up Hugo’s Wikipedia entry for extra trivia, and noticed a paragraph (citation needed) claiming THQ has licensed the rights from Paramount to produce Nintendo DS and 3DS games based on the film. The games aren’t out now, so I presume that if these are real projects still in production, they will hit when the movie releases on DVD/Blu-Ray.
I don’t have high expectations for the games, but my mind immediately jumped to the potential for THQ to include the movie on the cartridge for the 3DS release, similar to Namco Bandai’s plans to offer its Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D movie with Tekken 3D: Prime Edition. This is something that definitely, for sure needs to happen.
And because it’s such a brilliant idea, I’m sure it won’t happen. Take your pick from the list of possible reasons why: high cost for the size of cartridges you’d need to fit the full film, THQ failing to push hard enough in negotiations for this feature, Paramount stubbornly refusing to experiment with this idea, and/or neither company caring enough to put out anything more than another forgettable licensed game.
There’s room to blame Nintendo, too, as I can’t see any reason why the company shouldn’t put its efforts and money into ensuring that one of the biggest 3D films appears on its glasses-free 3D device. Outside of the theater, it would be the cheapest way for people to watch Hugo as it’s intended — a point that could increase the value of the portable for many, I would expect.
It seems like an obvious move Nintendo, Paramount, and THQ should make, but the same was said about getting Avatar on 3DS, and that’s yet to happen. What’s the point of teasing the 3DS’s capabilities of playing 3D movies, if you’re not going to have the best 3D film up to this point (Hugo, not Avatar) on your system? Or any full-length 3D movie, for that matter?
*About one minute into the movie, it struck me that I had read the young adult novel it’s based on, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, several years ago. The book is fantastic, and it’s made even better with this visual translation. I plan to buy Selznick’s latest work, Wonderstruck, very soon to read during the coming holiday break.
tags / 3ds / ec / films / gaming / hugo / martin scorsese / movies / nintendo 3ds / paramount / thq
