Although two Hunger Games video games have been released for iOS and Facebook respectively, a legitimate console game based on the books and/or films has yet to see the light of day.

But that may change, says Lionsgate.

Forbes spoke to David Hayes, vice president of digital marketing at the studio, who touched on what their plans are:

“Outside of the name that has ‘games’ in the title, it’s no-brainer that you’d make a game based on the book or movie. But we’ve been careful and cautious that when we do embark on a new project, we’re doing it the right way and delivering an experience that fans will enjoy. We’ve had many discussions about all the types of games, including console games. The two we released at launch are the best representation of what we’re setting out to do with these games.”

With the next movie due in 2013 and another two locked in after that, Lionsgate has plenty of time to partner with a game publisher and release at least a console game. Electronic Arts showed that games based on movies based on books can be successful with its Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, as an example. And a game publisher can avoid the controversial aspect of The Hunger Games arena battles altogether.

“I don’t think having kids battle to the death in the Hunger Games is a hindrance to a potential console game,” said Hayes. “If you look at the narrative arc across the trilogy of books, there’s an Old Testament-style story of Katniss versus the Capitol. It’s that grander story of having an enslaved people forced to compete in the games that’s very attractive to fans and marketers and anyone participating in the franchise. It gets people excited. The focus would be less on the kids killing kids aspect and more about the more powerful story of good versus evil.”

Do you think a Hunger Games console game could work? We were never fans of the Harry Potter games, and are hesitant about a game for this series working well.

(Pictured above – Katniss in The Hunger Games iOS side-scrolling game)