Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Indiana Jones and now Boom Blox! Yes, after conquering the world of cinema, the director Steven Spielberg is gearing up to make his mark in video games.

Boom Blox, the first title of a three-game deal that Spielberg has signed with Electronic Arts, the world's biggest games developer, will be released for Nintendo's Wii platform soon. On the phone from LA during a short break from sound mixing on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spielberg sounds as excited by this project as by Indy's whip-cracks.

“I'm a gamer myself,” he says, “and I really wanted to create a video game that I could play with my kids.” Boom Blox, he explains, “combines action with the unique opportunities that the Wii motion-sensitive controllers offer. I've been playing the Wii with my family and I was intrigued by its possibilities.”

People unfamiliar with video games might surmise that the Oscar-winning film-maker is slumming it. In fact, as the first of a generation of directors who grew up with TV, rather than cinema, he is making a logical move. “As a child I was influenced by shows such as The Twilight Zone,” he says, “but children today have access to a far wider range of activities via their TV sets, and what's possible now in video games is mind-blowing. The structure of a film requires you to move in a linear way to propel a story forward, but games can go in any direction because the player takes on the role of director. I see so much talent in this industry and I'd like to bring as much as possible of what they do into my films.”

This is surely false modesty. The real story here is that video games have long been dominated by brilliant technicians and designers, but played out to scripts written by people who often don't know their story arc from their elbow. Now that video game technology is sufficiently developed to allow the unfolding of truly engaging tales, Spielberg's presence on the EA roster is a sign that the storytellers are at last being called in.

So, back to Boom Blox. Although no playable version has been allowed to leave EA headquarters, a trailer at www.ea.com/boomblox suggests that it's a bright, all-action title in which players must work out the fastest way to demolish Lego-like blocks on screen. The sound effects are striking, as are the swooping camera moves.

If this sounds a little simplistic for a Spielberg production, take heart: it is merely the first game to bear his name. So, are games 2 and 3 of his deal under way, and what are they? “They are, and I'll be very happy to tell you all about them when the time comes,” says the great director. And I swear I can hear him smile as the phone goes dead.

Boom Blox is released on May 9.

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