How to ruin the chance for people to take your game seriously in one easy step
April 9th, 20091) Make a movie of it.
Perhaps that’s not exactly fair, but the track record really speaks for itself. It is really depressing that Shadow of the Colossus, a game that was lauded for its serious and emotionally charged tone, is now going to be made into a movie that’s being written by the same guy who wrote “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” and produced by the guy who did “The Scorpion King”. This really feels like it sets the whole “Games as art” argument back, as now instead of SOTC being a beautiful, emotional, and, yes, fun experience it is now just another franchise to be milked.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that Gore Verbinski of “Pirates of the Carribean” fame is going to direct the Bioshock movie as well. While the game didn’t pack quite the emotional punch that SOTC did, I doubt they’ll be able to, or even care about trying to produce the same level of intellectual discussion as the game did. Just imagine how lame the “big twist” in the game would be as a passive 3rd-person rather than an interactive first-person experience. I don’t think it’d be quite the mindf*ck that the game produced, which is really the reason why it’s a game in the first place, and not a movie.
Posted in Commentary, Etc, Industry, Jeff, WTF |
April 9th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Yeah, this is a terrible idea for a few reasons. First, as you note, the people making it seem like poor fits based on their resumes. If we never assign good people to them, it’s no wonder we never get good game movies. The Resident Evil movies are one thing — the games are basically schlocky B-movies, so there’s not really a problem with making schlocky B-movies based on them — but if you want to make a movie based on Shadow of the Colossus, it’d be nice not to ruin the material. Verbinski for Bioshock isn’t quite as bad a choice, but yeah, there’s no reason to give the project to him. If the film is any good it won’t be because of its similarities to the game. I agree that it probably won’t be.
I don’t think you’ve gone far enough on the last point, though. It’s not just that it sets the “games as art” argument back — it’s that it delegitimizes the medium. Right now it feels like being made into a movie brings the game into the fore. We need to push the idea that the gaming experience [i]is[/i] the definitive one.
April 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Rob-
I was having trouble putting my entire argument into words so thanks for filling in the rest… You’re absolutely right.
As for Verbinski, it’s not that I don’t like him (I actually think the Pirates movies are quite fun), but that I think it might show what the producers are looking for in a Bioshock movie: an amusement park ride. I suppose there’s something to be said for movies like that, but I’m not sure I want Bioshock turned into one.