SAN FRANCISCO � Nothing lasts perpetually, not regular the magic "Harry Potter." But don't tell that to Electronic Arts, the company that produces the "Potter" video games for Warner Bros. EA hopes to make the Boy Who Lived continue to entertain game fans, even after the two-part "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has bowed out of theaters.
"I think that's a not bad opportunity," Wiimote-clutching "Harry Potter" executive producer Jonathan Bunney told MTV News concluding week at an EA summer press event. "Certainly, we've through with it with 'Lord of the Rings.' We've prolonged beyond the movies at that place. We did it with James Bond for a while. I don't know what we'll do with 'Harry Potter.' It'd be fun to, I think. There's more stories that we can tell."
As Bunney points out, this isn't without precedent. This fall, EA will release "Lord of the Rings: Conquest," a multiplayer action game modeled after the "Star Wars: Battlefront" series. "Conquest" is an alternate-timeline take on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series that lets players become wickedness and control the forces of Sauron.
Right now, Bunney and his team in London are focused on finishing up the video game version of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," just that doesn't stop him from speculating on what the future might sustain for the boy wizard.
"There's an chance to go back to the original movie," he said. "The technology has moved on so much. When we were low making those games, we were making it for PlayStation 1, and today we've got, you know, the Wii. I think there's opportunities to [revisit stories].
"We make to figure out whether anyone wants to purchase those or not!" he added with a laugh.
There might be a few people who'd pay for more "Harry Potter" adventures, Mr. Bunney: The last book sold more than 11 jillion copies in just 24 hours.
One of the virtually popular rumors among "Harry Potter" aficionados is the prospect of a massively multiplayer on-line version of Hogwarts, in the vein of "World of Warcraft" and "EverQuest." Warner Bros. has aforesaid it's concerned in producing an on-line "Harry Potter," and so is EA.
"We've talked about it a lot," Bunney said. "The reality is that we're focused on the flick games. I think in that respect could be a playfulness MMO for 'Harry Potter.' "
But for now, there's work to be done. "Half-Blood Prince" is most finished, and Bunney's eyes are craning toward "Deathly Hallows" and the challenge of qualification a game (or iI) based on a picture show that's being split in half, a first for the series.
"We haven't in truth thought around what we're going to do even so, but it's going to be in truth exciting," Bunney said. "Obviously, it's a great opportunity to get two games, but I want to make certain we make two capital games. We don't roll in the hay how close those movies are going away to be, how far apart they're going to be and where they're going to cut them in half."
"Half-Blood Prince" was scheduled to release alongside the pic in November, but Warner Bros. has since pushed the cinema to the summer. EA has not confirmed a similar retard, but industry analysts anticipate it to follow in Warner Bros.' footsteps.
For practically more around interactive "Harry Potter" games, check out the Multiplayer blog.
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