Video Game That Would Actually Make A Really Good Film?

[Kahunaburger]

Now, obviously game fans are the hardest to please and the easiest to upset,

I don't know about that. Look at what games get discussed as if they have "good writing."

Agreed.

I can never decide whether to laugh or cry whenever I see someone refer to the The Witcher 2 as having good writing.

That one's actually pretty okay [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/arts/video-games/witcher-2-new-from-cd-projekt-red-in-poland-video-game-review.html]. It's good for a game, but I wouldn't buy a novel of equivalent quality. The dialogue suffers from severe "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it" syndrome, but dialogue quality =/= writing quality, particularly in RPGs. But yeah, it is a pretty good example of the dancing bear thing in video games. It's not stellar writing or plotting by the standards of the fantasy genre in general, but man does it look awesome if you put it next to Dragon Age: Origins and Skyrim.

 

[Zhukov]

Now, obviously game fans are the hardest to please and the easiest to upset,

I don't know about that. Look at what games get discussed as if they have "good writing."

Agreed.

I can never decide whether to laugh or cry whenever I see someone refer to the The Witcher 2 as having good writing.

That one's actually pretty okay [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/arts/video-games/witcher-2-new-from-cd-projekt-red-in-poland-video-game-review.html]. It's good for a game, but I wouldn't buy a novel of equivalent quality. The dialogue suffers from severe "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it" syndrome, but dialogue quality =/= writing quality, particularly in RPGs. But yeah, it is a pretty good example of the dancing bear thing in video games. It's not stellar writing or plotting by the standards of the fantasy genre in general, but man does it look awesome if you put it next to Dragon Age: Origins and Skyrim.

While I agree that its writing beats the hell out of Skyrim, I'd place it significantly below DA:O. Despite being cliche as hell and rather unimaginative, Dragon Age at least managed to deliver some well defined and memorable characters.

Also, what is "the dancing bear thing"? I'm not familiar with the phrase.

 

[ThePS1Fan]

Call of Duty. The entire single player champaign is just one action movie set piece and explosion after another. Give it to Michael Bay, it'll keep him from ruining everyone's childhoods for a little while.

 

[Hal10k]

Now, obviously game fans are the hardest to please and the easiest to upset,

I don't know about that. Look at what games get discussed as if they have "good writing."

That probably has less to do with overall quality and more to do with the reductionist way that the videogame community in general treats "writing".

Edit:

Also, what is "the dancing bear thing"? I'm not familiar with the phrase.

"The marvel is not that the bear dances well, but that the bear dances at all."

 

[Kahunaburger]

Now, obviously game fans are the hardest to please and the easiest to upset,

I don't know about that. Look at what games get discussed as if they have "good writing."

Agreed.

I can never decide whether to laugh or cry whenever I see someone refer to the The Witcher 2 as having good writing.

That one's actually pretty okay [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/arts/video-games/witcher-2-new-from-cd-projekt-red-in-poland-video-game-review.html]. It's good for a game, but I wouldn't buy a novel of equivalent quality. The dialogue suffers from severe "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it" syndrome, but dialogue quality =/= writing quality, particularly in RPGs. But yeah, it is a pretty good example of the dancing bear thing in video games. It's not stellar writing or plotting by the standards of the fantasy genre in general, but man does it look awesome if you put it next to Dragon Age: Origins and Skyrim.

While I agree that its writing beats the hell out of Skyrim, I'd place it significantly below DA:O. Despite being cliche as hell and rather unimaginative, Dragon Age at least managed to deliver some well defined and memorable characters.

Also, what is "the dancing bear thing"? I'm not familiar with the phrase.

"The marvel is not that the bear dances well, but that the bear dances at all."

I think the problem with Dragon Age characters is that, while they're memorable, they're memorable for similar reasons that Jacob and Edward are memorable. They don't feel like real people, and their responses feel more like they respond to the format of the story (well, I have more than a few lines of dialogue. I must be a companion! Time to put the rest of my life on hold and risk death for no apparent reason!)

The plot and dialogue in that game are even further into dancing bear territory than Witcher 2. Instead of "hey, this political storyline is actually kind of interesting and fun!" it's "hey, the writers understand that politics is a thing that exists!"

 

[Kahunaburger]

Now, obviously game fans are the hardest to please and the easiest to upset,

I don't know about that. Look at what games get discussed as if they have "good writing."

That probably has less to do with overall quality and more to do with the reductionist way that the videogame community in general treats "writing".

I think a little of column A, a little of column B. If I see another thread on a video game forum about SF/fantasy novels praising Eragon or some tie-in novel...

 

[Windcaler]

The natural one that I think of is Alan Wake, although it might make a better TV show since its pretty much set up that way.

I think you could also do a whole slew of silent hill movies with a different protagonist every time (as long as they got rid of that evil cult business). I thought the last silent hill movie was alright, not amazing but I didnt want to walk out of the theatre halfway through

 

[Loop Stricken]

The Darkness would make a good film, I think. And people seem to be into the comic-book movies now.

Other than that, Darksiders could work too. Ooh, and even though I never finished it, Dark Sector would be cool.

... not EVERY game I own has the word Dark in it, alright?

 

[Erttheking]

Heavy Rain mainly because...it practically already is a movie.

 

[scorptatious]

Call me crazy, but Journey could actually be pretty good.

To me the game sort of reminds me of watching stuff like Fantasia. That and it's sequel from what I remember didn't have any dialogue, they were visually appealing, and the stories basically spoke for themselves.

Games like the Mass Effect series, I personally feel fits better as a TV show. A movie probably wouldn't do them justice as the games have so much content within them. Even a movie trilogy won't be able to fit in.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

I want a Dead Island movie. Since the whole cast was a bit bland it would be no problem to expand their personalities without going away from the source material. Directors and writers tend to do their own version anyway.

With a beloved series to much would be changed for a "bigger" audience.

Games with less characterization seem to work better.
...
hmm, now i want to watch postal.

 

[roushutsu]

I think Bastion could make for an interesting animated film. You can even cater to the people who like 3D movies with the floating blocks and all.

 

[Terminate421]

I would be careful with directing it but I feel I could pull of an actual Halo movie. (Nothing to do with any of the main characters, just a chapter in the franchise somewhere)

 

[aba1]

I can't believe nobody has said it but Metal Gear Solid

 

[Username Redacted]

I can't believe nobody has said it but Metal Gear Solid

Because the fourth one is already a movie?

Agree with Bioshock if and only if they focus more on the setting than the story of either game. My answer is one that I'll continue giving for such queries (What game do you want a sequel of?, Favorite underappreciated game?, etc.) and that would be Vagrant Story. I think that it has interesting characters that would transition well to a movie and a very interesting pseudo-medieval setting.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

Halo would be a film I'd want to see. They could have a grunt voiced by Spongebob as a comedy sidekick.

That probably has less to do with overall quality and more to do with the reductionist way that the videogame community in general treats "writing".

How's that?

 

[paislyabmj]

duke nukem.
perfect for Michael bay. I don't know why it ha sent already been done.but as for other games.someone mentioned stalker and I have to agree but system shock 2 would also be a good fit.assassins creed at a pinch.