Also...
I believe there was a James Bond/007 RPG at some point.
Indeed there was a James Bond/007 game put out by Victory Games in the 80s. It used mechanics that are refreshing to this day. One of the best and most under-rated of RPGs, actually.
Back then - the move in the industry was
generally away from gameist designs and towards more simulationist ones. It took until the late 90s for that worm to turn.
And yes, in another decade or two, I expect it to turn back towards simulation again.
Also, of note is that
Wildcards (the novels) grew out of the characters played by GRR Martin and Snodgrass et al in their gaming circle's RPG sesssions. Oddly enough, the gaming circle was composed of SF and Fantasy authors. They used
Superworld as their game system for their original "Wildcards" game, initially. The shared world idea for the books was the rage at the time, inspired by Asprin and Abbey's
Thieve's World.
Anyways, as for
Wildcards, I guess it was a case of
Art imitates Game, becomes commercialized and is in turn reduced once again into a Game -- but this time, with royalties for GRRM and not for Chaosium.
Something deep in there if you reach for it maybe - but it's late and I got to get to bed.
Addenda: Men in Black (moderately successful comic) >> Hit Movie >> RPG
I would make the observation that very few licensed properties become RPGs with any staying power. From movies and TV, the exceptions to this would appear to be Star Wars and Star Trek, though their success as RPGs ebbs and flows over time.
Conversely, very few RPGs seem to be successful when converted to major media. The one exception to this would be D&D when it comes to computer games - although that has had its share of hits and misses as well. The biggest "miss" for D&D has been as an MMO. Neverwinter Nights (original AOL MMO) and DDO have certainly not been the goldmines that WoW has. But - that book is still being written, as it were and the Fat Lady nas not yet Sung on a successful D&D MMO.
