Swimming through the tubes of the internets, Mr. Gregory Allen brought to my attention the following article:
What the author Brian Ashcraft tries to argue in this post is that “…gaming should not feel star-struck by Hollywood. Gaming should get as far away from Hollywood as it possibly can.” As presented in the article, the affair between the two mediums has only produced lackluster results such as sucky movies and just as sucky video game adaptations. There is certainly a good amount of evidence to support this claim, as seen by the best video games adaptations thus far like Prince of Persia, Silent Hill, and the Resident Evil saga, that, like the brainless zombies, just won’t die. None of these are considered “good” movies in the classic sense, but so far this is the best that the crossover has produced, which I would agree is a pretty mediocre offering. Well, I am not convinced that this would mean that the pairing is simply not to be. There is a lot of work to be done with these adaptations between mediums — though it should not be their main priority — and like everything, it takes some practice and understanding. If we were just to give up after a first couple of tries, everyone would still be wearing Velcro shoes.
the horror, the horror...
Yes, both mediums make a lot of money and attract big name stars and talent (directors Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro, and actors like Mark Hammil and David Cross to name two off the top of my head). Both mediums are different in what they are trying to achieve as well, and this makes for a lot of difficulty when adapting work between these two mediums. On the one side you have video games which excel at being interactive, fun experiences and on the other is a medium that has a reputation for its eye candy and storytelling prowess. Like the article discusses, the artists in each medium should realize the unique tools at their disposal and use them. They must realize that there is nothing wrong with the way they are. They must realize that they are a beautiful, unique snowflake, and if they want to attempt to transfer one medium’s success into another one, I wish them the best of luck. I’ve got faith. I mean come on, if a f-----g Disneyland theme park ride could be made into one of the most successful movies of all time, what’s stopping video games?
There is one respect that video games should be cautious about in its ties with Hollywood, and that is how the business is run. DO NOT take the Hollywood business model as a good way to run things. A fleet of unimaginative, talentless sycophants is not who you want in charge of the creative decisions. You want people with new ideas, who actual take interest in what they do, who pave the way for the future of gaming, not settle for some magical “working” formula that will make studios a “guaranteed” profit. There has already been a trend of indie games gaining momentum and success for this reason of being different and being, well, good. Just making money and meeting expectations is not a good enough goal to have. I need to be entertained dammit!
But as for the whole "movies can’t do video games and vice versa," screw that. The longer something is out, the more time there is to practice and perfect the techniques.
I can't believe you found another way to introduce Tommy Wiseau into this site. Thank you for each and every one.
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