Extra Credits

Why Are There No Good Video Game Movies (2016x6)

: 10, 2016

Why are there no good movies about video games? We asked our friend Movie Bob to weigh in, since this topic is his specialty. And there's no single answer to it. True, video games have a different storytelling style because of their interactive nature, but books and plays and even song also have different approaches that have been adapted successfully. The bigger concern is that the people with money and the power to make decisions in the film industry didn't grow up with our classic games. Looking back to Tim Burton's Batman, that movie was a hit that spawned multiple comic book movies - but they were all based off old franchises (Dick Tracy) or new fads (Spawn) instead of the most popular and enduring characters (Spiderman). They picked the wrong properties. Another challenge is that in games, caring about the story isn't necessarily part of caring about the game. Street Fighter has a narrative that most players don't even know about. But what if there's something worth adapting about a game aside from its story or mechanics? What if you adapted its core gameplay: a first-person experience of war. It would be distinct, and it would be distinctly Call of Duty. It even has the potential to feel more personal for the audience and to tell a good, original story that may not even need to connect to the game beyond that persepective.