James Cameron says Avatar 'perfect' for an MMO

James Cameron shares thoughts on an Avatar MMO, and his thoughts on 3D naysayers.

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Avatar creator James Cameron feels the franchise is perfectly suited for an MMORPG, and thinks it could be used to flesh out the world and its unknown life forms. The filmmaker shared thoughts recently on how an MMO set on Pandora will work alongside the sequels, along with his push for 3D adoption.

"I think Avatar is a perfect IP for an MMO," Cameron told IGN. "It's a very, very big world and based on the first film, you might not sense that, but we're talking about an entire planet, an entire alter world, and in fact a universe that has other planetary bodies, as well, and other cultures, other life forms.

"Eventually people will see enough scope to be able to see how the MMO will work, but that's going to have to be launched... the timing of that is going to have to be carefully orchestrated with the release of the second and third film because we don't want to be giving away elements before the fact."

The first film also went a long way toward turning skeptics of 3D around, but that enthusiasm seems to have waned recently. Cameron seems unphased, and still believes 3D is the future. "I think all of these arguments about what should and should not be in 3D are going to go away because frankly we see in 3D. You're hardwired for 3D. All life on earth is hardwired for 3D, not just human beings." He predicts that in five years, we'll be "demanding" 3D throughout media. "If it's not [3D], it's going to feel like it's in black and white."

[Screenshot from Avatar: The Game.]

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  • reply
    September 28, 2011 2:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, James Cameron says Avatar 'perfect' for an MMO.

    James Cameron shares thoughts on an Avatar MMO, and his thoughts on 3D naysayers.

    • reply
      September 28, 2011 2:30 PM

      yesss

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      September 28, 2011 2:33 PM

      Now if only he could get Blizzard to do it...

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        September 28, 2011 3:22 PM

        Why so we can grind our life away for 30+ hours a week. Blizzard might of brought MMOs mainstream but they still suck ass at making a mmo. Just because of millions of retards play it doesn't mean it's a good mmo just means it's a succesful one because it's easy mode.

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          September 28, 2011 3:36 PM

          Look how wrong you are. WoW is far from easy mode once you get away from questing. Sure northrend was easier because people bitched about the difficulty.

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            September 28, 2011 3:45 PM

            Lol WoW is the easiest mmo there is. It's made for kids to play which is why there are so many subscribers. Can't play for five minutes without running into a 10 year old. I raided everything on my Paladin yes my class was easy but the game itself is easy and mind numbingly boring.

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              September 28, 2011 3:48 PM

              So you are saying millions of people are wrong? Games aren't successful because they are boring and dull. Oh but you already summed it up because apparently people who play wow are retards.

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                September 28, 2011 3:58 PM

                Based on the grammar used in his posts, your final statement might be accurate.

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                September 28, 2011 9:53 PM

                Kid, Millions of people can most definitely be wrong.

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              September 28, 2011 9:10 PM

              WoW is easy. The end game stuff has some challenge. In terms of difficulty, WoW has NOTHING on the original EQ. I'm talking a raid of 6 groups of 6 wiping out just walking into a zone at 10pm. Having to wait until 2am to get a rez in the plane of hate by an uber guild that someone was connected to. Or wiping out at the bottom of lower guk at 3am and there's no one around to drag you or rez you (although inviz undead was a sanity saver). OR camping for stupid golden efreeti boots for 22 hours with the guild. While EQ didn't have permadeath if you didn't get back to your body you could lose your items. None of this stay on the road stuff. We're talking griffins and giants roaming the entire zone of a semi noob area.

              Yeah. Wow has nothing on the difficulty scale.

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                September 28, 2011 9:42 PM

                I think youre confusing "frustrating and time consuming" with "difficult"

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                  September 28, 2011 10:06 PM

                  how about both of those, and add 'rewarding'....just read any of the dark souls threads.

                  shit is for pussy fags now-a-days, and it's about goddamned time people with balls of steel take it back.

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              September 29, 2011 6:50 AM

              Maybe if you spent less time being a cock and more time trying to make friends to play with you would of had a better time....

        • reply
          September 28, 2011 3:40 PM

          Look how wrong you are. WoW is far from easy mode.

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            September 28, 2011 3:46 PM

            Guess I should wait longer for my posts to show up :(

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          September 29, 2011 4:20 AM

          Obvious troll is obvious.

    • reply
      September 28, 2011 2:36 PM

      wont the humans have nukes, guns, mech, bombs mini guns, ships, jets

      and the other side has arrows with some sticks i could see balance being a problem

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        September 28, 2011 2:37 PM

        there was a game for the first movie where you could play either side, how did that work?

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          September 28, 2011 2:40 PM

          Haha it was so so bad. I bought it because I worked on the film and hey why not but damn was it terrible. It was especially fun to me that bows were hitscan weapons so the arrow hit immediately after you fired, but it still showed an animated arrow flying through the air. Needless to say, this animated arrow was not actually indicative of anything worthwhile.

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            September 28, 2011 3:33 PM

            haha wtf

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            September 28, 2011 3:55 PM

            They must have borrowed the minecraft arrow tech

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            September 28, 2011 6:15 PM

            Another reason I bought it: I was wondering if any of the assets I made had made it into the game itself since they requested all our real-time assets at one point. We just assumed they wanted to save themselves the work of making them all over again.

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        September 28, 2011 6:33 PM

        Terran OP!

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      September 28, 2011 2:39 PM

      > He predicts that in five years, we'll be "demanding" 3D throughout media. "If it's not [3D], it's going to feel like it's in black and white."

      I won't be. I already have to wear heavy glasses. Fuck you James Cameron

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        September 28, 2011 2:46 PM

        When James Cameron talks in terms of some length of time, he's talking out his ass. When we were working on Avatar, he told some interviewer that his real-time display of the mocap, which looked pretty decent if I do say so myself, was akin to a 1980's video game.

        This was met with lols and wtfs when the article came out and people at work read it. It also spawned an internal Motion Builder splash screen that was basically the first zapper level of Bayou Billy but edited with Avatar characters instead.

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          September 29, 2011 2:06 AM

          Soo, judging from your story, which batch of elitist assholes was in the right?

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            September 29, 2011 9:09 AM

            I don't understand what you're asking. I have described no elitist assholes. At least not within the context of my anecdote.

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        September 28, 2011 5:04 PM

        He's a loon. Next year Sony stops paying for 3D glasses and theaters aren't gonna pick that slack up. Nobody's gonna want to pay for that shit.

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        September 28, 2011 5:37 PM

        Yeah, the inconvenience of having to wear glasses on top of my glasses almost completely negates the wow-factor of 3D for me.

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        September 28, 2011 9:21 PM

        That fool is on meth

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        September 28, 2011 9:25 PM

        [deleted]

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          September 28, 2011 9:32 PM

          Like Lucas. Surrounded by nothing but yes men will do that. Cameron will also cure Aids through the power of film and create a pig that can produce bacon without dying.

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            September 28, 2011 9:37 PM

            Except Cameron makes good movies still.

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              September 28, 2011 9:38 PM

              hmmmm

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                September 28, 2011 9:49 PM

                Regardless of what you think about Avatar, I don't think anyone would argue he's not still making technically capable movies that (at the very least) are leagues above Lucas's prequel work.

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                  September 28, 2011 10:12 PM

                  no one said any of that. and who cares about that.

                  what was implied was that he doesnt make good movies anymore. motherfucker hasnt made a good movie in 17 years.

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                    September 28, 2011 10:28 PM

                    A lot of people would seriously contest that. I'm not saying I'm one of them, just that it's very subjective and he does still have fans.

                    I don't really know anyone over 5 that liked the prequels.

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            September 28, 2011 9:42 PM

            [deleted]

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        September 28, 2011 9:35 PM

        Who says it'll involve glasses?

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        September 29, 2011 2:23 AM

        Stereoscopic 3D is NOT the kind of 3D the human is "hardwired" for. Our eyes and brain are constantly looking out for focal depth differences, you do not get that because its a projection on a surface. Even if all movies will be 3D, I will still get a headache after 15-20 minutes, just from watching.

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      September 28, 2011 2:48 PM

      I'd rather see it as an online multiplayer shooter, but then again, that's what I make and play

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      September 28, 2011 2:52 PM

      Really? Maybe a fps, certainly a rts game, but an MMO?

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      September 28, 2011 3:26 PM

      Apparently everyone, including James Cameron, has forgotten the original plan - MMO first followed by a movie

      James Cameron's Game Theory
      Get kids hooked on a multiplayer game, then show them the movie

      http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/b3971073.htm

      Yeah, back when Avatar was known as Project 880, the idea was to put out an MMO first, get people all interested in the universe, then release the movie. The MMO was going to be a prequel. Never happened of course, though I do wonder how far they got with the idea (i.e., did it ever even leave the "wild idea" phase?)

      By the way, this is an interesting article on the differences between the leaked "scriptment" of Project 880 and the movie Avatar would eventually become.

      http://www.chud.com/21969/project-880-the-avatar-that-almost-was/

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      September 28, 2011 3:27 PM

      would the MMO be limited to the Pandora setting? I've been wanting to see the "Avatar" universe extended to other worlds

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        September 28, 2011 6:20 PM

        ...and in fact a universe that has other planetary bodies, as well, and other cultures, other life forms.

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          September 28, 2011 6:28 PM

          neat. now i'd like to see movies of the same

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      September 28, 2011 3:32 PM

      goddammit Cameron stop dicking around and make the Battle Angel movie!

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      September 28, 2011 4:18 PM

      [deleted]

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      September 28, 2011 6:28 PM

      James Cameron said he likes money. A lot. Give him your money.

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      September 28, 2011 6:34 PM

      [deleted]

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        September 28, 2011 9:14 PM

        Cameron's no fool. He knows how lucrative the furrie market can be.

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          September 28, 2011 11:31 PM

          I swear to god there's more of them everyday, even people I know in real life.

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            September 29, 2011 7:04 AM

            Sometimes I wonder if it isn't a combination of immaturity meeting sexuality and the influence of generations of anthropomorphic animals in movies and TV.

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      September 28, 2011 9:51 PM

      A great opportunity for a studio to lose A LOT of money.

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        September 29, 2011 12:53 AM

        No way man, remember how well The Matrix Online did? Tons of cash, it's like a license to print money!

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      September 29, 2011 2:03 AM

      It has some great potential, that's for sure. Keep in mind, people, that Cameron hires the best artists in the industry to design his Avatar movies - which means there are tons of design elements that are completely flushed out by the time the game developers get their hands on it (another batch of highly imaginative men and women).

      If they can marry the best concept artists in the industry with the best game developers in the industry, they could make a virtually living, breathing alien world (that make sense?).

      The problem is, to do this MMO justice they would need to create one hell of an expansive universe, so that players can play the game however they please, have room to explore and not feel 'stuck' reliving some movie moment. Like Star Wars Galaxy. You could play the entire game as a dancer in some bar if you wanted to. If Cameron's game forces you to either be a marine or an Na'vi, that could get stagnant FAST.

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        September 29, 2011 4:10 AM

        Trouble is, there's still quite a gap in the understanding of each others industries, especially in Hollywoods old guard. Movie producers don't know much about the game industry, therefore they'll license movie games to whichever studio has the safest sounding pitch, rather than look at which studios produce the best work artistically.

        I reckon this'll change as the next generation, who all grew up with games, become the Hollywood establishment.

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      September 29, 2011 2:07 AM

      someone needs to punch that fuck hole i the face non stop for 45.3 mins.

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      September 29, 2011 5:17 AM

      Just keep the 3D bs for theaters only, i.e. more special occasions. I don't wanna be wearing glasses to watch a movie at home. Glass-less or bust.

      Until then, I will happily enjoy 120 Hz lcds for non-3D stuff.

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      October 3, 2011 4:18 PM

      translation = "Money would make perfect money for my money!"

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