Poll: Are movies based on games even necessary?

[Arqus_Zed]

Hmmmm, I would say... No.

Just as I feel that there should be no books based on movies or books based on games. Why? Because it takes elements away.

Making a film based on a book makes sense. A book has nothing but text, a film has moving images and audio - it adds something to the experience. Granted, it might not be the experience you imagined it would be, because text is open to more personal interpretation than a combination of audio & video. That's the whole problem with people not liking certain adaptations, even if most critics say it's good. The same goes for comics/graphic novels.

But if you turn a game into a movie, you're taking an element away: interactivity. Since interactivity is linked to exploration, changes in the storyline and simply adding an experience that is worth more than audio and video. What is the most important part of a game? The graphics? The music? No, it's the gameplay.

If you really want a movie based of a game, the best way to do it is make a really, really long cut-scene. Hell, they don't even have to be in the game. Remember the Team Fortress 2 clips? Remember Final Fantasy: Advent Children? Admit it, they're just drawn out cut-scenes and they're better than anything Hollywood has ever done.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

And let's not ignore the elephant in the room: most game writing is terrible. There are a few studios and franchises that can be counted on for consistently solid writing, but think about how many games tell not a good story but a great one. The majority of game writing is still on the same level as B-movie drive-in fare.

I think you nailed the head on all of your post but I would like to elaborate on this point.

There are certain videogames where the stories are told through visuals and atmosphere as opposed to plot and dialog. The first Tomb Raider is a prime example of this. The game has pretty much no dialog and just a small number of cutscenes to string together a coherent way of taking Lara to various Tombs around the world.

The real story of Tomb Raider are the locations. The atmosphere and wonder. How were these places built? How did they fall and become forgotten? Even the action in the game derives from the horror of falling from a huge height, being impaled, eaten alive, etc. Very much the same emotions are evoked in Dark Souls.

But all of this is ignored in the film, replaced by cliched action sequences, a plot no-one cares about, boring dialog and shoehorned characters to make it more conventional. I think the film industry simply lacks the respect of videogame and fails to understand the beauty of how video games are able to tell a story visually, even symbolically, as opposed to talking heads holding our hands through beginning to end.

That's an very well put example.

And I agree with DrVornoff; the writing in most games is terrible. In fact I can't think of a single game with a genuinely good plot. Most games are written as cheap action flicks with the kind of dialogue seemingly intended for teenage boys. But even the more "intelligent" styled games are shocking from a literary perspective, with outrageous complexity, gratuitous clichés and abundance of Deus Ex Machina. That last one is a real pet hate of mine.

I know I've already made a post... But I just needed to express that I'm totally NOT agreeing with this. At all. I've read quite a few books, played quite a few games and I'm convinced that some of those stories are just pure gold.

Not to mention that games can actually tell a story in ways a book could never hope to do.

 

[Wayne Insane]

You can't adapt a Videogameplot scene by scene to the Big Screen, it's just a completely different Cup of Tea. I also feel that , as said here before, Videogamewriting is not really very clever or nuanced for the most part.
But that doesn't mean there shouldnt be videogame movies. Because a Movie that's fun doesn't need to be good. Take for example most Martial Arts or B-Horror flicks. They're stupid. They're mostly made very cheap, don't use very good actors and are a pastiche of cliches and very stupid Ideas. But still they're mostly really fun to watch, because it's not what's happening that's interesting but how.
With that in mind I think that there are loads of IP's in gaming that would make really fun Movies. Splatterhouse would come to mind. It's a very simple Story, Girl gets Kidnapped by Mad Scientist, Guy get's a kind of Power and sets out to rescue her. Cue insane action, freaky Monsters, Oneliners and a generic Metal Soundtrack - voila, fun Movie. Certainly no award material but I'd see it.

 

[WoW Killer]

I know I've already made a post... But I just needed to express that I'm totally NOT agreeing with this. At all. I've read quite a few books, played quite a few games and I'm convinced that some of those stories are just pure gold.

Not to mention that games can actually tell a story in ways a book could never hope to do.

I find that the games many gamers regard fondly as having great stories are in that latter catagory of overbearing and pretentious complexity. No, I've not played every game, and yes I am always on the lookout for something to prove me wrong, so feel free to provide examples

But I'm not saying all game stories are awful (though most of them are), just that there's nothing out there I could call genuinely great. There are examples of moderate to decent stories of course. With the amount of games out there, the amount of money in the industry, and the extent to which gamers appear to rate story among the most important features of a game (often ahead of gameplay, say), you would think there were at least a few class examples.

 

[Girl With One Eye]

I don't understand why games should be made into movies, or why some people would enjoy it. For me, if I like a game then that's that. I don't wanna read fanfic or watch a movie about it. A game is a game and it should stay a game!!

 

[Archer666]

I like game movies. They allow another person who usually has no ties with the games industry to show their intrepretation of that certain game universe, which can make it a lot more enjoyable.

Look at the RE movies. Turning what was basically a video game b-movie into an action packed thrill ride of nonsense and Milla Jovovich turned out to be a very good move and in the end even managed to influence the game series.

Or the prime example, the Mortal Kombat movie. A lot of the things established in that movie were later incorporated into the game series, and it was a pretty sweet movie too!

A thing that fans of the games don't understand is that a 1:1 adaption would be a horrible thing. Imagine a 3 hour RE movie in which 2.5 hours was used trying to find keys to fit into the correct door, or a Mortal Kombat which was just 2 hours of fighting scenes without any substance.

Also, money. Blockbuster games make for blockbuster games. People ***** and moan about the Street Fighter movie, but it did rake in triple of its budget. The Resident Evil are the highest grossing video game movies ever. Once again, money talks.

 

[putowtin]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

I am yet to see a decent, let alone good game to movie conversion. 96% of movies over the last 5 years have been remakes, prequel, sequels and reboots, crappy video game movies must equal another 2%. Hollywood have managed to produce 2% of new material in 5 years, that's just sad (and the reason I don't go to the movies)

 

[DiMono]

I think anything that can be done well should be done. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was a pretty damn good movie, speaking as someone who hasn't played the game. Watching the movie isn't going to make me buy the game, but it was well made and entertaining, and Ben Kingsley continues to be the man.

Just like everything else, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You could ask the same question about remakes, sequels, movies based on comic books, movies based on TV shows, movies based on books, movies based on toys... none of it is strictly speaking necessary, but if it can be done well then what's the harm?

 

[Matthew Kjonaas]

No, it just take the interaction out of the video game.

 

[WoW Killer]

Just posting this because these are so close together, lol:

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Ben Kingsley continues to be the man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z_Qqnq8pI8

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Not necessary, but will continue to exist because they make money.
That's essentially a fact...