Whargarbl Originals are a new weekly segment we will be doing. In this segment, we will be covering various topics in original articles penned by various staff members here at Whargarbl TV. These topics can vary from current events, to the latest fashion, to music, movies, or video games. They can even be about current or upcoming projects we are working on to bring to you from time to time. To kick off our segment this week, we will take a look at movies based on popular video games, and try to explain why video games have been mostly unsuccessful making the jump from the game screen to the silver screen.
As most of you are aware, there have been quite a few movies released over the years that have been based on a video game in some form or another. Sadly, more often than not, these movies are total flops, completely missing the mark from what could have been a great movie.
Why is it so difficult for video games to make the leap from the TV to the big screen?
Well, for starters, video games by design are made to be an interactive experience. Sure, there’s the odd game here and there that has more “cutscenes” than a feature film (hello, Metal Gear Solid), but most of the story is still conveyed through traditional game mechanics. You push a button, and then the story progresses. If you mess up, you have to try again, and again, until you finally get it right. Movies, on the other hand, are a passive experience, completely non-interactive, unless you’re watching the movie at home. While a movie will play virtually the same each and every time, video games have that same ability, but usually play out differently every time you start over. Games from Angry Birds to Call of Duty can give the player a unique experience each and every play through.
OK, so video games are interactive, so what? Aren’t you still sitting in front of a screen, more or less watching events take place in front of you over a period of time?
For the most part, this is true, but keep in mind, video games can take days, weeks, heck even months to complete depending on the player’s pace… if the game actually has a true “ending”. Hollywood movies usually tend to be anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours long. Just 1 hour is usually too short, and 3 is almost universally too long for a movie. The blockbuster video games, on the other hand, usually take at least 4 hours to complete (FPS/old school platformer speed run), and can last for over 60 hours (insert RPG here) for the story mode alone. Mind you, most games aren’t designed to be completed in one sitting, no matter how short they are. This means you can again play at your own pace, playing the exact same title slightly faster or slower each time.
Blah, blah, blah, you still have the same story to tell. In the end, there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end, right?
This is a little bit tricky to explain, but in essence, yes, there is a beginning, middle, and an end in the story for most video games. You turn on the game, you play, and you turn it off, beginning, middle, and end. In all seriousness, video games, like movies, don’t always follow traditional storytelling conventions. Heck, some video games have almost no story to speak of. How many of you remember the Mortal Kombat movie, based on the game for the Sega Genesis/Sega Master and the Super Nintendo? Correct me if I’m wrong, but the movie did a much better job explaining what was going on than the actual game did. Sure, you could read the manual, but how many of us read game manuals back then, let alone today?
Games based on some form of sport are usually light on the story, but what about, say, an RPG? This, friends, is what we call the opposite end of the spectrum. RPGs, or role playing games for those of you that are out of the loop, live and die by the quality of the story. RPGs tend to last upwards of 30 hours to complete, 10 times the length of your average movie. Sure, there’s filler info here, and a side quest or two over there, and a little bit of level grinding, but after cutting the fat, there’s still hours and hours of content. If you’re turning an RPG into a movie, this brings up the question of, what do you cut out of the film? This is something movies based on popular books are faced with all too often.
In short, the games with short, light stories tend to have plot holes that need to be filled in. Yet at the other end of the spectrum, games with too much to say need to be shortened, and plot holes can appear in the process, similar to movies based on popular books.
Phew, that’s a lot of talk about why movies based on games can suck, but what about the few that were more than halfway decent, or have multiple sequels? What do they usually get right? Well, friends, we shall leave this multi-leveled question for another discussion. What games do you think would be a good candidate for being made into a movie? Tells us below in the comment section.
That wraps up this weeks Whargarbl Originals segment. Have a suggestion on a topic you would like for us to dive into? Send us an e-mail to info[at]whargabltv[dot]com with Whargarbl Originals Suggestion in the subject, or leave a comment below.
