Poll: What Franchises Would Make Good Games?

[Daft Time]

Sorry, but this gets now completly off topic:
Since you read the books, would you recomend them to someone who think The Witcher is the best rpg series ever? I read very little for entertainment these days, thats why I have not picked them up yet. And i heard the author hates the games so I was never sure if they carry the same atmosphere as the games do.

I've only read the first two, as they were the only ones which were translated into English when I bought them. The first, a collection of short stories, was fantastic. A lot of twisted fairy tale stuff all loosely connected by a central plot. The second book was all one central plot and while I felt it was a little weaker, it was still very enjoyable.

A lot of the characters you're familiar with from the games have their origin in the books, and they're all handled just as well in the books as they are in the games. Was great, especially considering I was reading a translation.

Well thanks I will get the first one then, for starters.
Now I just have to figure out which translation is better, german(my native tounge) , or the english one. You wouldn't happen to now something about that by any chance?

Unfortunately not, my multilingual skills go as far as attending a few classes of Italian, French and Japanese because I felt like appeasing my old High School for a little while. Though I'll go out on a limb and say unless the quality of the German version is really bad, it'll be a case of just choosing whichever language you enjoy reading in the most.

 

[Chris Tian]

Unfortunately not, my multilingual skills go as far as attending a few classes of Italian, French and Japanese because I felt like appeasing my old High School for a little while. Though I'll go out on a limb and say unless the quality of the German version is really bad, it'll be a case of just choosing whichever language you enjoy reading in the most.

Yes, when in doubt I go with german. I just ordered "The Last Wish"/"Der lettze Wunsch" of Amazon. From what I understand its the shortstory collection you talked about, and the first book in The Witcher series.

 

[Daft Time]

Unfortunately not, my multilingual skills go as far as attending a few classes of Italian, French and Japanese because I felt like appeasing my old High School for a little while. Though I'll go out on a limb and say unless the quality of the German version is really bad, it'll be a case of just choosing whichever language you enjoy reading in the most.

Yes, when in doubt I go with german. I just ordered "The Last Wish"/"Der lettze Wunsch" of Amazon. From what I understand its the shortstory collection you talked about, and the first book in The Witcher series.

Yep! I'm not sure if it will hold up as well as I remember (there may or may not having been various substances consumed that could have affected my memory at the time I read it and in the time since then). At the very least, it provides some additional background on Geralt which is always nice.

 

[P.Tsunami]

While I voted "usually rushed", it's more complex than that. The insane deadlines on video game tie-ins is a killer (production windows of six months is not uncommon, which is insane).

However, that's likely not all. First off, how many people get into the industry to make tie-ins? I imagine the people working on the product are demotivated and understandably may have trouble giving the prerequisite number of fucks.

Secondly, you're usually tied on your hands and feet with little to no artistic license. The game needs to follow the game closely, which means the studio isn't free to adapt the game properly to a different medium.

Thirdly, I hear the movie producers tend to be kind of dicks about sharing what the game studio need to do their job. Scripts and such usually end up arriving fairly late, so the production is difficult to plan out.

That's not to say that there's something intrinsically wrong with games based on movies. It's the tie-in model that's problematic.



As to the thread title question, I'd love to see a Carnivale game. The setting and aesthetics are plain amazing, and I think it'd make for a fantastic story. It probably wouldn't sell too well, though.

 

[Chris Tian]

While I voted "usually rushed", it's more complex than that. The insane deadlines on video game tie-ins is a killer (production windows of six months is not uncommon, which is insane).

However, that's likely not all. First off, how many people get into the industry to make tie-ins? I imagine the people working on the product are demotivated and understandably may have trouble giving the prerequisite number of fucks.

Secondly, you're usually tied on your hands and feet with little to no artistic license. The game needs to follow the game closely, which means the studio isn't free to adapt the game properly to a different medium.

Thirdly, I hear the movie producers tend to be kind of dicks about sharing what the game studio need to do their job. Scripts and such usually end up arriving fairly late, so the production is difficult to plan out.

That's not to say that there's something intrinsically wrong with games based on movies. It's the tie-in model that's problematic.



As to the thread title question, I'd love to see a Carnivale game. The setting and aesthetics are plain amazing, and I think it'd make for a fantastic story. It probably wouldn't sell too well, though.

I think you are right.

You see a franchise licens well executed, when the devs use the hype surrounding a movie to get the green light for their game, then take it and do their own thing.
The Batman games are a prime example for this, at least in my opinion. I also liked the Wolverine Origin game very much, and that too did not try to stay to close to the movie.

Yep! I'm not sure if it will hold up as well as I remember (there may or may not having been various substances consumed that could have affected my memory at the time I read it and in the time since then). At the very least, it provides some additional background on Geralt which is always nice.

The book was only 10? and thats really not much, so even if its not all that good, the additional witcher lore will be worth the money. For me it was always more of an "getting my ass up to start reading for entertainment purposes again"-issue, why i haven't startet with the Witcher books yet.

 

[Daft Time]

You see a franchise licens well executed, when the devs use the hype surrounding a movie to get the green light for their game, then take it and do their own thing.

Yeah, the answer to the poll question really seems to be; franchise games suck when they attempt to "tie-in" with the movie. The combination of a harsh deadline and lack of creative freedom with the license is a recipe for (at best) mediocrity.

For me it was always more of an "getting my ass up to start reading for entertainment purposes again"-issue, why i haven't startet with the Witcher books yet.

Heh, let me know how the goes. When I decided to read the Witcher books I had much the same problem. Unfortunately, years later, I still have them. I find reading all but a select few works of fiction a particularly dreary affair where as in my childhood I'd devour novels with heart felt glee. It's one of the many things that makes me wish I was a little kid again.