It’s not a bad idea to offer games to cable and DSL — if you know what you are doing. So then, why Showtime, why?

“While it might not seem like a natural, when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense for Showtime,” Matthew Blank, chairman and chief executive of Showtime Networks told The Associated Press Wednesday. “We are used to dealing with a premium customer. We have the marketing and promotional expertise to be in those businesses.”

I love that last quote about the “promotional expertise.” I’ve been into videogaming since the Atari 2600 — it’s probably my most favorite hobby — and I’ve never, ever heard or seen Showtime doing anything videogame oriented. It’s sort of like Burger King doing Xbox 360 games, only they didn’t make the games, they just commissioned them from a game developer.

And the games didn’t last much longer than lunch at Burger King.

Without actually seeing the finished project, I hesitate saying “worst. idea. ever” because there are too many bad ideas out there, but the video game gods will likely not be kind to Showtime. If I’m wrong, I’ll be happy to revisit this later and say so. I’m all for competition in the gaming field, but it makes much more sense for Apple or Google than it does for Showtime.

What’s next, Oprah wanting to expand her market and running out Oprah Tetris clones? How about a Martha Stewart Halo knockoff? The market could really use an American Idol MMORPG, dibs on Simon Cowell. The Sopranos as an alternative to Vice City?

Did this post make you go hmm?

Maybe Related Posts (plugin generated)

• Burger ‘King’ to star in Xbox games for $3.99 + meal but should do Microsoft Points deal
• Burgers and Xbox 360 games are on, stay off patch for Texas Hold’em
• Burger King and AOL offer a whopper of an online music deal
• Live at 10am PST Today, Apple Showtime, live blogging galore
• NFL shopping its site to Apple, Google, Sony, Fox and others
• diggtris and bringing gaming to non-gaming sites