SEGA SIGNS GAME DEAL WITH AUTHOR
Copyright 2002 Reuters News Agency

[ September 24th 2002 ]

Author Michael Crichton, best known for science-fiction tales like The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, on Monday said he would work with Japan's Sega Corp. to develop a new video game targeted for release in 2004. Sega said Crichton will create the property from scratch, working with the company's game developers. No other details of the game were available.

Crichton is best known for his novels as well as creating the hit television medical drama ER. He made a previous foray into games in 1999, creating Timeline Studios to develop three-dimensional computer games. The studio produced one game, 2000's Timeline, based on Crichton's book of the same name.

While it is not uncommon for video games to be based on books, a collaboration between a book author and a game publisher for an original property is new territory for the industry, which has seen more and more of its franchises turned into Hollywood properties over the last year. Among the games turned into movies over the last few years are titles like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil, while movies based on games like Crazy Taxi are currently in the works.