Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

The Chronicles of Narnia

Not ready for a game of horror where every bump in the night makes you wish you'd invested in a box of Depends? Not all the best fantasy book series involve death around every corner but are still massive successes nonetheless. Take the Chronicles of Narnia for example. Any book series that manages to produce such a blockbuster set of movies deserves nothing less than a serious look.

You know you want to be one of the cool kids.

There's no doubt that the Chronicles of Narnia are rife with Christian propaganda, but with development companies continually trying to crack new markets, is that such a bad thing? C.S. Lewis was devout in his beliefs and wrote his tales from this perspective. Christians number in the millions in North America alone, let alone the world. While some sects have been opposed to the themes and violence in video games in the past, could this be an opportunity to bring them into the fold as it were?

If the game took place during the thousands of years in between some of the books, there would be no end to what a talented development team could do with it. There's more than enough source material to give them a place to keep back the evil in men's hearts.

Harry Potter

A little too religious-based for you? How about going in a different direction and delving into the world of Harry Potter? Any series that has a single book (let alone multiple books) that sells almost seven million copies within the first 24 hours of its release should instantly be placed on the fast track to development. Whether the series is currently being worked on or development companies are still begging J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. for the rights to create it remains to be seen. While not running as rampant as last year, rumors still swirl around this idea becoming a reality.

The potential for the tutorial and beginning areas (let alone everything else) is breathtaking, no matter whom you are. How many times have you dreamed of going to a school to learn the various arts of magic in multiple games, but have been unable to? Others have shied away from the idea, even those with schools of the arcane within their settings, but a Harry Potter MMOG would be required to implement Hogwarts in all its glory. If the developers didn't, I guarantee they would have nothing short of a full scale riot on their hands. Trust me, it wouldn't be pretty.

If a team didn't want to deal with the current timeline of the books and movies (and to be honest, who could blame them?), simply go back to the first time the wizards had to rise up against Valdemort. Sure, we all know the eventual ending, but so do all the Star Wars Galaxies players that dedicate their efforts to furthering the goals of the Empire. It won't change the amount of fun that could be had.

If that's not enough, just think of all those customers that have spent ungodly amounts of dough on Harry Potter merchandise already. Those little kids that were begging their parents to stand in line for the early Harry Potter books are now of (or nearing) the age to earn and spend their own cash. Almost seven million copies of one book in 24 hours... those kinds of numbers could change the face of MMOGs forever.

Put Away The Pitchforks

There are plenty of other notable fantasy book series that could make great MMOGs. If I put them all in this week's edition of Forever Fantasy, you'd miss three days of work and more sleep than you could stand and nobody wants to see (or smell) that. I've got some ideas for other books that would make great games, and I'll do a follow-up article on them later this year.

Feel there's a book or author I should be burned at the stake for not mentioning here? Drop me a line or tell me about it in our forums!