"CUBE" a Movie That Would Translate Well Into a Game

[Emiscary]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/

There's a link for all you uninitiated young'uns.

Now then, anyone disagree with me? Because on paper it sounds spectacular as a game. You and a small group of seemingly random individuals with various colorful and suspect pasts find yourself in a sprawling trap filled labyrinth that's constantly reconfiguring. Your goal: escape. Go.

Seriously, the first time I heard about this series of movies I thought for sure they had to be based on games. Turns out I was wrong, but I still think the idea is sound. (Also feel free to ignore the sequels... they're mostly awful... mostly...)

 

[RJ 17]

Problem is they've already made CUBE into a game. It's called Portal.

I'm a fucking jackass, I know. :3

 

[Emiscary]

Problem is they've already made CUBE into a game. It's called Portal.

I'm a fucking jackass, I know. :3

No, you're mostly just missing the point.

Portal wasn't Cube. Cube was about human interaction during times of crisis or helplessness. Portal was about the logical conclusion of the conflict between this fucking thing:

http://oddisgood.com/art/clippy.jpg

And man. With portals.

 

[RJ 17]

Problem is they've already made CUBE into a game. It's called Portal.

I'm a fucking jackass, I know. :3

No, you're mostly just missing the point.

Portal wasn't Cube. Cube was about human interaction during times of crisis or helplessness. Portal was about the logical conclusion of the conflict between this fucking thing:

http://oddisgood.com/art/clippy.jpg

And man. With portals.

Portal was about waking up in a box with a computer telling you to run through its trap filled labyrinth.

Cube was about waking up in a box with nothing but your survival instinct telling you to run through a trap filled labyrinth.

The only difference is Cube had a party, Portal was a solo-job.....and it had portals.

 

[Emiscary]

Problem is they've already made CUBE into a game. It's called Portal.

I'm a fucking jackass, I know. :3

No, you're mostly just missing the point.

Portal wasn't Cube. Cube was about human interaction during times of crisis or helplessness. Portal was about the logical conclusion of the conflict between this fucking thing:

http://oddisgood.com/art/clippy.jpg

And man. With portals.

Portal was about waking up in a box with a computer telling you to run through its trap filled labyrinth.

Cube was about waking up in a box with nothing but your survival instinct telling you to run through a trap filled labyrinth.

The only difference is Cube had a party, Portal was a solo-job.....and it had portals.

http://www.alertlogic.com/assets/images/miscellaneous/missing_point.JPG

The setting of Portal *wants* something from you. It's trying to manipulate you into jumping through hoops. It has very clear goals and motivations- as irrational as they may be. You're being led through a process by a watchful eye.

The setting of Cube is utterly indifferent. You never know why you're there, what's expected of you, or what you're supposed to do next. All you ever have to keep you company is silence and the terrified whispers of the other *people* you're trapped with. Who you'll be talking to, and suspecting of treachery and... well, yeah.

 

[RJ 17]

Problem is they've already made CUBE into a game. It's called Portal.

I'm a fucking jackass, I know. :3

No, you're mostly just missing the point.

Portal wasn't Cube. Cube was about human interaction during times of crisis or helplessness. Portal was about the logical conclusion of the conflict between this fucking thing:

http://oddisgood.com/art/clippy.jpg

And man. With portals.

Portal was about waking up in a box with a computer telling you to run through its trap filled labyrinth.

Cube was about waking up in a box with nothing but your survival instinct telling you to run through a trap filled labyrinth.

The only difference is Cube had a party, Portal was a solo-job.....and it had portals.

http://www.alertlogic.com/assets/images/miscellaneous/missing_point.JPG

The setting of Portal *wants* something from you. It's trying to manipulate you into jumping through hoops. It has very clear goals and motivations- as irrational as they may be. You're being led through a process by a watchful eye.

The setting of Cube is utterly indifferent. You never know why you're there, what's expected of you, or what you're supposed to do next. All you ever have to keep you company is silence and the terrified whispers of the other *people* you're trapped with. Who you'll be talking to, and suspecting of treachery and... well, yeah.

And GLaDOS fills in for those other people in Portal, and it's quite clear the she - as the omnipotent AI controller of Aperture Labs - wants you to fail and die. Just because the Lab is more of a controlled location than the Cube doesn't change the fact that plot-wise they are very similar.

And so I offer this right back at you.

 

[Emiscary]

And GLaDOS fills in for those other people in Portal, and it's quite clear the she - as the omnipotent AI controller of Aperture Labs - wants you to fail and die. Just because the Lab is more of a controlled location than the Cube doesn't change the fact that plot-wise they are very similar.

So lemme get this straight: a sinister AI god figure holding you captive and trying to kill you is the same thing as a group of terrified survivors with various levels of informedness about what's going on all trying to get out in one piece?

That's what you're telling me?

The similarities between CUBE and Portal start and end here: they both take place in mysterious gigantic underground complexes.

CUBE was dark and pensive, Portal was lighthearted and funny. CUBE was about the interactions between the characters first, and the environment second. Portal was about the environment first and the empty vessel protagonist second. CUBE had oodles and buckets of dialogue. Portal had 1 character with spoken lines. CUBE focused alot on cooperation and group dynamics, Portal was about 1 person...

I could keep going on but it doesn't really seem necessary >.>

 

[Durgiun]

That would make an interesting game. On paper. But I'm sure they'd give it to some studio who'd be working under some publisher that would make it into shit.

 

[endnuen]

So, it's like portal, just not.

The movie looks cool though.

 

[RJ 17]

And GLaDOS fills in for those other people in Portal, and it's quite clear the she - as the omnipotent AI controller of Aperture Labs - wants you to fail and die. Just because the Lab is more of a controlled location than the Cube doesn't change the fact that plot-wise they are very similar.

So lemme get this straight: a sinister AI god figure holding you captive and trying to kill you is the same thing as a group of terrified survivors with various levels of informedness about what's going on all trying to get out in one piece?

That's what you're telling me?

The similarities between CUBE and Portal start and end here: they both take place in mysterious gigantic underground complexes.

CUBE was dark and pensive, Portal was lighthearted and funny. CUBE was about the interactions between the characters first, and the environment second. Portal was about the environment first and the empty vessel protagonist second. CUBE had oodles and buckets of dialogue. Portal had 1 character with spoken lines. CUBE focused alot on cooperation and group dynamics, Portal was about 1 person...

I could keep going on but it doesn't really seem necessary >.>

You're putting too much into it. Strip down the plots to their most basic elements.

Cube: We're trapped in a box trying to get out alive.

Portal: I'm trapped in a box trying to get out alive.

It's that simple, my friend.

Are there differences in the details? Of course there are. But in both cases the objective is to escape a trap filled maze alive.

 

[Emiscary]

Wrong, you're being too reductionist. I can do that to *any* movie and get two identical plots.

Smokin' Aces: We're trying to get somewhere and kill someone.

Kill Bill: I'm trying to get somewhere and kill someone.

 

[RJ 17]

Wrong, you're being too reductionist. I can do that to *any* movie and get two identical plots.

Smokin' Aces: We're trying to get somewhere and kill someone.

Kill Bill: I'm trying to get somewhere and kill someone.

Pretty much, yeah, so what's your point? You've now admitted that the plots of Portal and Cube are similar, just as the plots from Smokin' Aces and Kill Bill are similar.

And just for fun since you said you could do it with "any" movie, do Star Wars and Rounders. :3

 

[Emiscary]

Wrong, you're being too reductionist. I can do that to *any* movie and get two identical plots.

Smokin' Aces: We're trying to get somewhere and kill someone.

Kill Bill: I'm trying to get somewhere and kill someone.

Pretty much, yeah, so what's your point? You've now admitted that the plots of Portal and Cube are similar, just as the plots from Smokin' Aces and Kill Bill are similar.

And just for fun since you said you could do it with "any" movie, do Star Wars and Rounders. :3

What I'm saying is this:

If you strip two things down to the lone common element they share, then yes, they're the same. That's kind of a given.

If I ignore gender/personality/age/race/median intelligence/physical strength AND personal experience, than all people are the same.

Stripping two things that both take place underground wherein you're trapped into being nothing else does -in no way- make them the same thing. It just makes your point of view insanely narrow.

Oh, and also...

Rounders: A bright eyed young lad and his edgy friend team up to take on unsavory characters.

Star Wars A New Hope: A bright eyed young lad and his edgy friend team up to take on unsavory characters.

Hell, they even both involve loan sharks. One's just gigantic and his last name ends with two T's.

 

[RJ 17]

Oh, and also...

Rounders: A bright eyed young lad and his edgy friend team up to take on unsavory characters.

Star Wars A New Hope: A bright eyed young lad and his edgy friend team up to take on unsavory characters.

Hell, they even both involve loan sharks. One's just gigantic and his last name ends with two T's.

Well done, I've gotta say, well done.

The problem is that there's more similarities than the ones that I mentioned.

C: A group of people awaken to find themselves in an unfamiliar location with no idea what's going on.

P: A person wakes up to find herself in an unfamiliar location with no idea what's going on.

C: A group of people are trapped in a maze with brutally lethal traps.

P: A person is trapped in a maze with not so brutal - but still very lethal - traps.

C: The group of people navigate the maze by crawling through holes hoping to reach safety.

P: The single person navigates the maze by jumping through holes hoping to reach safety.

C: Despite the almost assured death with each new room, there IS a way to get out without harm.

P: Despite the mind-twistingly complicated look of each new room, there IS a way to get out without harm.

Really I'd argue that the two have more similarities than differences. So far the only real difference that you've named is that one has a group of people that mistrust one another because one of them is a closet pedophile while the other game has a single mute person ignoring the taunts of an omnipotent AI.

 

[Wayneguard]

I'm so glad that someone else likes Cube other than me

 

[DoPo]

But Cube is a game:


But yeah, I'd like to see more of the Cube universe. Not the colourful level one, the Cube trilogy one. I liked the movies and the premise looked interestin, a shame they aren't doing more with that. In a way, it reminds me of Silent Hill, only that goes on still.

 

[TheGreatAndPowerfulZOG]

I think the Cube premise would have to be altered. It wouldn't really be a great game if you just got instakilled randomly all the time.

Portal is not like Cube, how is that even an argument here? You might as well say the Binding of Isaac is the same... Or Catherine, since, you know it has cubes and traps.

 

[GothmogII]

And GLaDOS fills in for those other people in Portal, and it's quite clear the she - as the omnipotent AI controller of Aperture Labs - wants you to fail and die. Just because the Lab is more of a controlled location than the Cube doesn't change the fact that plot-wise they are very similar.

So lemme get this straight: a sinister AI god figure holding you captive and trying to kill you is the same thing as a group of terrified survivors with various levels of informedness about what's going on all trying to get out in one piece?

That's what you're telling me?

The similarities between CUBE and Portal start and end here: they both take place in mysterious gigantic underground complexes.

CUBE was dark and pensive, Portal was lighthearted and funny. CUBE was about the interactions between the characters first, and the environment second. Portal was about the environment first and the empty vessel protagonist second. CUBE had oodles and buckets of dialogue. Portal had 1 character with spoken lines. CUBE focused alot on cooperation and group dynamics, Portal was about 1 person...

I could keep going on but it doesn't really seem necessary >.>

Someone hasn't seen Cube 2: Hypercube I take it?

Besides that...the similarities are pretty superficial, but both the game and the movies do share a lot of visual and tonal consistencies.

But I approve, hell, I'd love to see a multiplayer Cube a la The Ship, where you have to team up with other players to escape the Cube, but at the same time have the opportunity to go off on your own at you peril or betray the group. It's the perfect scenario for allowing for emergent game-play to occur via player interaction.

 

[Emiscary]

C: A GROUP of people awaken to find themselves in a dangerous unfamiliar location with no idea what's going on.

P: A person wakes up to find herself in a clearly labeled testing facility and provided with a piece of technology to test.

C: A GROUP of people test the nature of that danger and discuss their potential courses of action.

P: A person is given instructions on how to use the technology by a (seemingly) friendly voice.

C: THE GROUP discover more about each other's pasts and are (occasionally, and brutally) killed by the location.

P: The single person experiments with the capabilities of the piece of technology.

C: Despite the almost assured death with each new room, there IS a way to get out without harm.

P: Despite the increasing complexity of each new test, there IS a way to get out.

C: 1 Of the original multitude of people escapes! ...covered in the blood of the 2nd to last member of the group (who had just tried to murder him).

P: The single person escapes!

Edited to reflect reality. The key similarities are mechanical traps, and the basic plot arc of a story wherein the protagonist(s) being confined is a key element. IE: escaping confinement is the primary motivation of the character(s), and them escaping/failing to escape will be the story's ultimate conclusion.

Seriously dude, they're similar in the same way that 2 Asian people are similar. Are there similarities? Sure. Are they similar enough for you dismiss them as identical? Or openly aping one another? No. Not unless you're comfortable with the idea of being ***** smacked by an irate Asian person.