I think "Legend of Zelda" would translate nicely into a movie.

Would LOVE to see someone translate Pac-man or Miss Pac-man into a movie. How bizzare would that be?

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

It's true - FINAL FANTASY: TSW sucked.

But not all VG adaptations have to fail. God of War and Bioshock (both in development) have great stories that can translate well if done right.

It cannot be done. I'm telling you, this game was so unique and inventive and specific to its own universe, an adaptation simply wouldn't work. Besides, it was already made into a film. Does anybody remember Reign Over Me?

Video Games favor gameplay over story. Even the games with the BEST storyline do this. As they should.

Movies, more than any other medium, require a lot of story. They also tend to favor premise/concept over anything else.

It's important in an adaptation of a video game to figure out what the premise/concept/hook is and write to that -- as opposed to simply recreating the events that happen during general gameplay.

I agree with what James said but take it even further.

If you read a book it is your imagination.

If that book is adapted into a movie (a good adaption, e.g Harry Potter) that imaginary world is given texture in pictures that you can experience.

Researchers, studio heads, etc have been talking for years about making movies/TV interactive, that was the next step.

That is what computer games are, interactive stories, as such, in my mind, making a movie out of them is a step backwards on the old evolutionary trail.

Also, if you choose just one video game it segments and shrinks your market. I play them a bit but have never heard of this game as it is outside of the genre I play.

Scott, I will be sending you an email soon and you will see the connnection to this post. Very timely. Personally, I think Hollywood has been targetting niche markets in this area, ie adapting games.

cheers
David

by the way, it does not worry/trouble/concern me that they are doing adaptaptions of games, but I just don't think it is necessarily the way to go, business wise.
cheers
David

Commenting as a producer for a video game studio, I understand that successful game franchises will certainly offer a movie studio one of the key components to a successful movie--an established audience. However, there are a number of difficulties translating game narrative to movies.
1) A majority of the jeopardy/conflict in the game environment comes from choices the player makes, not the character in the game. With few exceptions, the game protagonist is created as a cipher, so that he (so often he) will appeal to the majority of the players.
2) Backstory is minimal, because it is often established in cutscenes, and players will often skip cutscenes.
3) Games are often about physical jeopardy, not emotional jeopardy.
4) Games stories are often about obvious right vs obvious wrong.

There is more, but these four show the holes and weaknesses that a screenwriter must face when adapting games.

Great comments. I confess, I experience videogames indirectly, playing with (occasionally) my sons over the years (although years ago, I did go through Zelda: Ocarina of Time pretty thoroughly, a game I thoroughly enjoyed). So this thread has provided me -- and hopefully others -- with some insight.