Post #17
This article is interesting because it addresses something I feel is an ongoing travesty to video games. How can a game be so bad when it's based on such an awesome movie? Especially one with as much potential for action as The Dark Knight Rises has? Okay, maybe ET was a bad idea to begin with, but Christopher Nolan's Batman? It sounds like a no brainer! The easy answer to why this is not a great game is the limited amount of cash they chose to invest in it, and the platform which they designed it for. Of course maybe they simply knew this game couldn't compete with the likes of Batman Arkam City, and would automatically be written off as a ill designed game considering the reputation movie adapted video games have gained over the years. But I think that might be giving them the benefit of the doubt.
In reality, I doubt the producers cared a great deal how the game play turned out. They were banking on the franchises popularity to cast a wide enough net to reel in die-hard fans, and looks like they were right. Timing of the game's release was more important than getting it right, as they had to serve it while its hot.
Its a bit of shame that movies seldom take their product seriously in the gaming market. They are routinely rushed, flawed, and made just to satisfy the fans. My question is, do you think this will ever change?
I thought it made more sense when the game mirrored the narrative of the movie. Sometimes I do want to take the place of the main character and act differently than that character did in the movie. For example, I would have liked to play as Neo in the Matrix video game. Instead, I played as two random characters who had no major roles in the whole series. I didn't care about them. But if I could have played as Neo, it would've bridged that gap of interactivity between the movie and the game. One could argue that following the same narrative as the movie is constricting and pointless because we already watched it. I like to look at it like sitting in the driver's seat and passenger's seat of a car. In the former, you are participating and controlling the action whereas in the latter, you are only experiencing so much of the action because you are not in control.
ReplyDeletePost #13
ReplyDeleteI think that video games based off of movies could be more successful if the companies spent more time and money on them. Instead of trying to rush them out while the fans are "still interested," i think it would be smarter to take the time to develop the game thoroughly and be confident in the fact that the fans will still play the game if it comes out a little bit later. Fans would want to play a worthwhile game, not just a mediocre game that has the same name as the movie. I think that the success of movies such as the new batman movies would promote the game enough to allow more time for it to be finished properly. It would be a sort of second premier for fans; one for the actual movie and another premier for the game.
I personally would want to see that Inception game brought to life, the one presented in class.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also have the same opinion that games don't always translate well from movies, or the other way around. Prince of Persia is an example of a pretty decent game turned into a not so stellar movie.
I know that Assassin's Creed will be made into a movie. I loved the gameplay and the narrative, and I really had empathy for Edzio while playing (this whole topic was debated in class). However, part of me doesn't want it to be made into a movie. The script will have to be pretty good as a story, and not just some homage or pandering to the gamers out there.