Brash Entertainment: We have Hollywood in our back pockets

If you thought the videogame field wasn't crowded enough already, then prepare yourselves for its newest entry: Brash Entertainment. Specializing in the high risk sector of movie-based gaming, Brash has full intentions of carving out a niche for themselves -- and the financial backing to make it all a reality.

Born out of Los Angeles, the start-up company has already inked deals with five major Hollywood studios, obtained licensing for 40 film properties (including the Saw series), and is already hard at work on developing 12 games as a result of this.

If that doesn't impress, take into account that investors have pumped over 400 million dollars into the company already. So why does Brash think it has a chance at filling the Hollywood void that others feel doesn't even exist in the first place?

As the president of Time Warner Inc. says, the biggest problem with translating movies to videogames is timing:

"By the time we greenlight a film and license that to publishers, the amount of time we're often giving them and access to resources -- it's so challenging."

Brash hopes to combat this by leveraging its own Hollywood connections, and working with movie makers themselves. By getting involved in the process of conceptualizing games before the actual films are even given approval by studios, they have already gained a powerful advantage. This alone will give them the inside edge that competitors like EA can't hope to match.

As Brash executives point out, when you have both the financial means and the attention of directors and other Hollywood talent in the gaming industry at your disposal, anything can happen.

If the dream team at Brash Entertainment can somehow manage to make quality games based on movies such as Saw and Hostel, I'm all for it. Let's just hope that they are more of the Spiderman 2 or Lord of the Rings variety, and not of the E.T.-type in terms of quality and overall sales.

[Via WSJ]