Ghibli and video games ...

[Vroomfunkel]

A thought just struck me. Is it true that there are no official videogames based on films or characters from Studio Ghibli? I mean, Steel Empire is clearly heavily influenced by Laputa: Castle in the Sky .. but there is no specific reference to it. I can't think of any games that relate to Mononoke, Spirited Away, Totoro, Nausicaa ..

It seems strange given the phenomenal success of the films in Japan, and increasingly in the West. Does Miyazaki not allow game licenses for his films, or am I missing something?

Vroomfunkel

[Crush Crawfish]

As far as I know there's been no ghibli licensed games. Though, miyazaki did do the character design for Jade Cocoon for PS1, and studio Ghibli did some anime scenes for magic pengel on the PS2.

[Professor Hector]

Well, there's at least a few (sub-par looking) Nausicaa games:

http://www.video-fenky.com/archives/000179.html

[davidbrit2]

Quick! Someone go hack Totoro into Rampage! And replace the trolley with Cat Bus!

[Daria]

As far as I know there's been no ghibli licensed games. Though, miyazaki did do the character design for Jade Cocoon for PS1, and studio Ghibli did some anime scenes for magic pengel on the PS2.

I thought the character art for Jade Cocoon looked familiar...

[Vroomfunkel]

There's never been any official reason, but most of the explanations you hear on the net run along the lines of "They made a game based on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind where Nausicaa gets on a gunship and kills Ohmu the whole time, and after that Hayao Miyazaki started hating video games."

Yeah, I had a nasty suspicion that it might be something like that. The guy is a creative genius ... I can very much see him not being happy for other people to mess with his painstakingly created worlds.

It's a shame. Spirited Away would make a kick-ass adventure game!

Vroomfunkel

[ubersaurus]

I wouldn't mind a game where you play the Cat Bus, and must frighten children.

Seriously, that thing is so creepy looking. I'd have nightmares.

Can anyone imagine a game based on his movie with the tanukis?

[Daniel Thomas]

Yeah, I'm still waiting for the videogame versions of Takahata's films. You could play the part of the starving children from "Grave of the Fireflies," and when you lose, at least you'd be following the script.

Actually, one of the great virtues of Studio Ghibli is that they haven't shamelessly sold out, dumping endless crappy products on our store shelves. I cringe every time I go to the grocery store and see Shrek and Disney's Narcisstic Pretty-Girl Princesses on every other item in the dairy section.

Give me some REAL movies, not the lousy Disney excuses for crass merchandising. Of course, I have a personal beef with Disney at the moment, so bear with me.

[Half Japanese]

My beef with Disney is somewhat resolved by the fact that they're doing a pretty bang-up job of getting us Ghibli films in the first place. Later this year it'll be Porco Rosso, Totoro and Nausica as 2 disc editions on dvd. I wholeheartedly agree about the soulless merchandising they do for most of their films though. Did anyone really need Finding Nemo toothpaste and curtains?

[dj898]

last year when me an my wife were in Tokyo we went to Ghibli Museum.
had bit of trouble to locate one but we managed and it was quite pleasant experience... one highlight was they were showing specially made short film based on many of Ghibli anime and the one we saw was based on Totoro. It's about that youngest daughter who went on an adventure after befriend the baby cat bus - more like cat taxi - and saw all these wonderful scenes in the forest. It even shows the oldest cat bus which is now transformed into cat space shuttle! :0

There's PSX adventure title based on Miyazaki's Lupin the 3rd movie.

last Ghibli film we saw - The Cat Return - was ok I think. It sort of ties with one of earlier Ghibli film which I forgot its title - its the one where the cat baron was first featured.

Still I won't hesitate to buy Ghibli or Miyazaki film without second thought...

cheers

[Kid Fenris]

As far as I know there's been no ghibli licensed games. Though, miyazaki did do the character design for Jade Cocoon for PS1, and studio Ghibli did some anime scenes for magic pengel on the PS2.

I thought the character art for Jade Cocoon looked familiar...

Miyazaki wasn't responsible for the designs. Ghibli artist Katsuya Kondo was. I think Ghibli did the animation for Jade Cocoon as well, but my memory's not too clear on that point.

And while there are few games based on Miyazaki's films, his work has certainly inspired some titles. The Panzer Dragoon universe resembles the post-post-apocalyptic world of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and there's a boss in Crystalis that's a dead ringer for the Ohmu from Nausicaa. Sky Gunner's pretty much a tribute to the airships of Porco Rosso and other Miyazaki flicks.

Also note the Ghibli-esque cover art for King's Knight.