Licensing is the driving force of the gaming industry at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, but that is not universally accepted as a good thing. For example, take a look at Vivendi Universal Games' product lineup. Most of the buzz focuses on the games based on "The Hulk" comic and movie, the feature "The Fast and the Furious" and the TV shows "The X-Files," "The Simpsons," "Battlestar Galactica," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Futurama." But those are definitely not the only eggs in the company's basket. Very significant investments of time, money and talent also go into such original properties as the "Cold Winter," "Starcraft: Ghost," "Spyro the Dragon" and "Crash Bandicoot" franchises. "The goal is to create sustainable game franchises," Universal Interactive president Jim Wilson said. "Whether that means expanding Hollywood franchises into the gaming world or creating new game franchises from scratch doesn't really matter; the key is to create a game that can succeed over time." (John Gaudiosi) Full story