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This is simply taking Yahtzee's new theory and flipping it around. In his latest Extra Punctuation column, he states that "that adapting from one medium to another only works when there's room for things to be expanded, and almost always do not work when things have to be removed." (Why Movie Adaptations of Video Games Suck) I'd already had thoughts of this theory before, but it's a very valid notion and an enjoyable read. With this thought in mind, I started to remember shorter games (or at least games that can be beat in a short amount of time) that could receive some expansion and that could fall under the first part of the hypothesis. A few quick examples are...
1. LIMBO - This would be incredibly tough to pull off, since I thought that Playdead created a masterpiece. From the black and white aesthetic to the minimalist plot, Playdead created something that will last in video gaming history. However, there is certainly room to expand on...well everything. The game is very artistic, yet not all that explanatory, leaving players with many loose ends that could be tied up. To do something with this material would be ambitious to say the least, but the rewards would be fantastic.
Best fit: A comic could handle the dark aesthetics the best, but a novel could continue the minimalism of the game while delving more into the story.
2. Metroid Series* - Most of the games could be beaten in about an hour (mind you, the people that can pull this off are speed runners, but since other mediums would feature a non-controlled speed run anyway...) The series is rich with outside plots that haven't really been tapped by Nintendo. Give this material to a guy like Neill Blomkamp and cast yourself an excellent actress (Jennifer Lawrence, possibly?), and BAM! a cash cow that people would want to watch.
*Excluding Metroid: Other M...this also represents what could happen if people try to take this material to the "next level". Metroid doesn't need that, just explore what's already going on, and the material should hold itself.
3. Immortall - There are a lot of flash games that I think could be explored if given the opportunity, but the one that really struck me was Immortall. I could explain what it's about, but it's not that long of a playthrough, so ... here
Play it now, I'll wait...
Don't you want more? It goes through a range of emotions over the course of a 5-minute playthrough, taking the player on a heart-wrenching narrative. Yet, there isn't a single spoken word in the game, and the game is rather minimalist about the plot. It's really good as is, but could easily be expanded on. To all those that now want a movie of some sort, or a minimalist style comic book on the game, I just have one wish. Don't ruin it.
Best Fit: AAA video game, perhaps movie, perhaps comic.
I have other ideas in mind, but I want to hear your ideas. I tried my best to stick to "shorter" games to fit Yahtzee's theory, so if you have a game idea in mind, but not sure how fast it could be beaten, check here
Anything below an hour would work well for a movie (so that some narrative could fill in the action). Oh, and avoid "glitch" runs by using the 100% run through time.
So, any games come to mind?
This is simply taking Yahtzee's new theory and flipping it around. In his latest Extra Punctuation column, he states that "that adapting from one medium to another only works when there's room for things to be expanded, and almost always do not work when things have to be removed." (Why Movie Adaptations of Video Games Suck) I'd already had thoughts of this theory before, but it's a very valid notion and an enjoyable read. With this thought in mind, I started to remember shorter games (or at least games that can be beat in a short amount of time) that could receive some expansion and that could fall under the first part of the hypothesis. A few quick examples are...
1. LIMBO - This would be incredibly tough to pull off, since I thought that Playdead created a masterpiece. From the black and white aesthetic to the minimalist plot, Playdead created something that will last in video gaming history. However, there is certainly room to expand on...well everything. The game is very artistic, yet not all that explanatory, leaving players with many loose ends that could be tied up. To do something with this material would be ambitious to say the least, but the rewards would be fantastic.
Best fit: A comic could handle the dark aesthetics the best, but a novel could continue the minimalism of the game while delving more into the story.
2. Metroid Series* - Most of the games could be beaten in about an hour (mind you, the people that can pull this off are speed runners, but since other mediums would feature a non-controlled speed run anyway...) The series is rich with outside plots that haven't really been tapped by Nintendo. Give this material to a guy like Neill Blomkamp and cast yourself an excellent actress (Jennifer Lawrence, possibly?), and BAM! a cash cow that people would want to watch.
*Excluding Metroid: Other M...this also represents what could happen if people try to take this material to the "next level". Metroid doesn't need that, just explore what's already going on, and the material should hold itself.
3. Immortall - There are a lot of flash games that I think could be explored if given the opportunity, but the one that really struck me was Immortall. I could explain what it's about, but it's not that long of a playthrough, so ... here
- http://pgstudios.org/games.php?g=2
Don't you want more? It goes through a range of emotions over the course of a 5-minute playthrough, taking the player on a heart-wrenching narrative. Yet, there isn't a single spoken word in the game, and the game is rather minimalist about the plot. It's really good as is, but could easily be expanded on. To all those that now want a movie of some sort, or a minimalist style comic book on the game, I just have one wish. Don't ruin it.
Best Fit: AAA video game, perhaps movie, perhaps comic.
I have other ideas in mind, but I want to hear your ideas. I tried my best to stick to "shorter" games to fit Yahtzee's theory, so if you have a game idea in mind, but not sure how fast it could be beaten, check here
http://speeddemosarchive.com/gamelist/FullListt.html.
So, any games come to mind?