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Videogames and the movies are always being seen as similar entities. Perhaps with the advent of FMV sequence and ultra-real visuals, games can now encapsulate the film market successfully.The Getaway, soon for release is supposedly having video's as long as 12 minutes for the end FMV, so where will we end up in the future?
Another concept that I would like to touch on revolves around movies which are converted into games. This is not a new procedure, but one that has been with us for years. In fact, for every big movie that hits the cinema, the endorsed game hits the shelves to coincide. Take the Spiderman games recently released, coincidence? I think not.
If we were asked to name a game that is based on a movie, I am sure every person in the forum could name a few, the bad Mario film for example. It is now so common a practice that, as mentioned, most big movies are made into games. From the dawn of gaming, movie bosses have capitalised on gamers. Games such as Last Action Hero through to the "Star Wars" games both follow this concept. However, many of us can agree that few of the movie-endorsed games that were released over the ages actually made our collections. Perhaps this is due to the developers wanting to sell the game on the basis of the endorsement, not the quality of the game. However, there are always exceptions to this rule, and I can visualise one immediately, Goldeneye. Goldeneye was perhaps the game that made the Nintendo 64 what it was, and kept us all transfixed on our televisions for days and nights.
Thinking back to when I used to play Goldeneye with my friends, one thing springs to mind. I enjoyed Goldeneye for the game, not the movie endorsement. In fact, I can remember thinking very little about the James Bond plot, and much more about the shooting and tactical killing. Goldeneye was a fun game. However, this opinion is likely to be different in other players, but for me, it was the game itself that made Goldeneye the masterpiece,not the film (It was still a great film though).
On the other hand, I can remember movie endorsed games that slipped through the system faster than a pint of Guiness. The aforementioned Last Action Hero was a memorable one. The game element was lacking in any real playability, and the movie basis was bland. This is a prime example of a game where the developers thought they could whack an endorsement on the label of a poor game and make millions. There are others that fit into this category, but it will suffice to say that this does happen.
So in many cases we could be left thinking 'is it a film? or is it a game?' Recent times have given developers freedom to develop what I consider to be 'Game movies'. These are not endorsements of a particular film, but a game in it's own right, that looks so perfect, and has a perfect ambience and plot, that we could consider it as a playable movie. And to add, this playable movie like game has never appeared in the box office. Max Payne, Devil May Cry, Halo, Eternal Darkness, the list continues. These games create an environment that immerses the player into the movie-like plot, and keeps them there. In a similar style to watching a good film, these games attract. It must also be stressed that these games are the result of the recent exponential flux in gaming technology that made this possible.
And of course it won't be long before film producers decide to milk money from these games by "Filminating" them.
The future for these immersive 'Game->movies' looks bright. As technology continues in a fashion that can expand upon current themes, these games will become more realistic in every sense of the word. So we have movies made into games, games that play like movies, but what about games that are made into films. Well, we can all remember the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies and lets not forget about Resident Evil, enough said on that point! However, some exceptions do arise for every rule, and the Final Fantasy movie worked.
It is axiomatic that games and films are similar entities. They are beginning to overlap in recent times more than ever in the past, and future will merge them closer into one. I am excited to see what the future will bring for this concept, and what technology can do for it. Hopefully, we won't get rubbishy films and bad games because of this...
Another concept that I would like to touch on revolves around movies which are converted into games. This is not a new procedure, but one that has been with us for years. In fact, for every big movie that hits the cinema, the endorsed game hits the shelves to coincide. Take the Spiderman games recently released, coincidence? I think not.
If we were asked to name a game that is based on a movie, I am sure every person in the forum could name a few, the bad Mario film for example. It is now so common a practice that, as mentioned, most big movies are made into games. From the dawn of gaming, movie bosses have capitalised on gamers. Games such as Last Action Hero through to the "Star Wars" games both follow this concept. However, many of us can agree that few of the movie-endorsed games that were released over the ages actually made our collections. Perhaps this is due to the developers wanting to sell the game on the basis of the endorsement, not the quality of the game. However, there are always exceptions to this rule, and I can visualise one immediately, Goldeneye. Goldeneye was perhaps the game that made the Nintendo 64 what it was, and kept us all transfixed on our televisions for days and nights.
Thinking back to when I used to play Goldeneye with my friends, one thing springs to mind. I enjoyed Goldeneye for the game, not the movie endorsement. In fact, I can remember thinking very little about the James Bond plot, and much more about the shooting and tactical killing. Goldeneye was a fun game. However, this opinion is likely to be different in other players, but for me, it was the game itself that made Goldeneye the masterpiece,not the film (It was still a great film though).
On the other hand, I can remember movie endorsed games that slipped through the system faster than a pint of Guiness. The aforementioned Last Action Hero was a memorable one. The game element was lacking in any real playability, and the movie basis was bland. This is a prime example of a game where the developers thought they could whack an endorsement on the label of a poor game and make millions. There are others that fit into this category, but it will suffice to say that this does happen.
So in many cases we could be left thinking 'is it a film? or is it a game?' Recent times have given developers freedom to develop what I consider to be 'Game movies'. These are not endorsements of a particular film, but a game in it's own right, that looks so perfect, and has a perfect ambience and plot, that we could consider it as a playable movie. And to add, this playable movie like game has never appeared in the box office. Max Payne, Devil May Cry, Halo, Eternal Darkness, the list continues. These games create an environment that immerses the player into the movie-like plot, and keeps them there. In a similar style to watching a good film, these games attract. It must also be stressed that these games are the result of the recent exponential flux in gaming technology that made this possible.
And of course it won't be long before film producers decide to milk money from these games by "Filminating" them.
The future for these immersive 'Game->movies' looks bright. As technology continues in a fashion that can expand upon current themes, these games will become more realistic in every sense of the word. So we have movies made into games, games that play like movies, but what about games that are made into films. Well, we can all remember the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies and lets not forget about Resident Evil, enough said on that point! However, some exceptions do arise for every rule, and the Final Fantasy movie worked.
It is axiomatic that games and films are similar entities. They are beginning to overlap in recent times more than ever in the past, and future will merge them closer into one. I am excited to see what the future will bring for this concept, and what technology can do for it. Hopefully, we won't get rubbishy films and bad games because of this...
See! It's the same, kinda...
thanx (except the originality part)
Good post. Hardly original, but well thought out, and finely executed.
Good job.
Good job.
Videogames and the movies are always being seen as similar entities. Perhaps with the advent of FMV sequence and ultra-real visuals, games can now encapsulate the film market successfully.The Getaway, soon for release is supposedly having video's as long as 12 minutes for the end FMV, so where will we end up in the future?
Another concept that I would like to touch on revolves around movies which are converted into games. This is not a new procedure, but one that has been with us for years. In fact, for every big movie that hits the cinema, the endorsed game hits the shelves to coincide. Take the Spiderman games recently released, coincidence? I think not.
If we were asked to name a game that is based on a movie, I am sure every person in the forum could name a few, the bad Mario film for example. It is now so common a practice that, as mentioned, most big movies are made into games. From the dawn of gaming, movie bosses have capitalised on gamers. Games such as Last Action Hero through to the "Star Wars" games both follow this concept. However, many of us can agree that few of the movie-endorsed games that were released over the ages actually made our collections. Perhaps this is due to the developers wanting to sell the game on the basis of the endorsement, not the quality of the game. However, there are always exceptions to this rule, and I can visualise one immediately, Goldeneye. Goldeneye was perhaps the game that made the Nintendo 64 what it was, and kept us all transfixed on our televisions for days and nights.
Thinking back to when I used to play Goldeneye with my friends, one thing springs to mind. I enjoyed Goldeneye for the game, not the movie endorsement. In fact, I can remember thinking very little about the James Bond plot, and much more about the shooting and tactical killing. Goldeneye was a fun game. However, this opinion is likely to be different in other players, but for me, it was the game itself that made Goldeneye the masterpiece,not the film (It was still a great film though).
On the other hand, I can remember movie endorsed games that slipped through the system faster than a pint of Guiness. The aforementioned Last Action Hero was a memorable one. The game element was lacking in any real playability, and the movie basis was bland. This is a prime example of a game where the developers thought they could whack an endorsement on the label of a poor game and make millions. There are others that fit into this category, but it will suffice to say that this does happen.
So in many cases we could be left thinking 'is it a film? or is it a game?' Recent times have given developers freedom to develop what I consider to be 'Game movies'. These are not endorsements of a particular film, but a game in it's own right, that looks so perfect, and has a perfect ambience and plot, that we could consider it as a playable movie. And to add, this playable movie like game has never appeared in the box office. Max Payne, Devil May Cry, Halo, Eternal Darkness, the list continues. These games create an environment that immerses the player into the movie-like plot, and keeps them there. In a similar style to watching a good film, these games attract. It must also be stressed that these games are the result of the recent exponential flux in gaming technology that made this possible.
And of course it won't be long before film producers decide to milk money from these games by "Filminating" them.
The future for these immersive 'Game->movies' looks bright. As technology continues in a fashion that can expand upon current themes, these games will become more realistic in every sense of the word. So we have movies made into games, games that play like movies, but what about games that are made into films. Well, we can all remember the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies and lets not forget about Resident Evil, enough said on that point! However, some exceptions do arise for every rule, and the Final Fantasy movie worked.
It is axiomatic that games and films are similar entities. They are beginning to overlap in recent times more than ever in the past, and future will merge them closer into one. I am excited to see what the future will bring for this concept, and what technology can do for it. Hopefully, we won't get rubbishy films and bad games because of this...
Another concept that I would like to touch on revolves around movies which are converted into games. This is not a new procedure, but one that has been with us for years. In fact, for every big movie that hits the cinema, the endorsed game hits the shelves to coincide. Take the Spiderman games recently released, coincidence? I think not.
If we were asked to name a game that is based on a movie, I am sure every person in the forum could name a few, the bad Mario film for example. It is now so common a practice that, as mentioned, most big movies are made into games. From the dawn of gaming, movie bosses have capitalised on gamers. Games such as Last Action Hero through to the "Star Wars" games both follow this concept. However, many of us can agree that few of the movie-endorsed games that were released over the ages actually made our collections. Perhaps this is due to the developers wanting to sell the game on the basis of the endorsement, not the quality of the game. However, there are always exceptions to this rule, and I can visualise one immediately, Goldeneye. Goldeneye was perhaps the game that made the Nintendo 64 what it was, and kept us all transfixed on our televisions for days and nights.
Thinking back to when I used to play Goldeneye with my friends, one thing springs to mind. I enjoyed Goldeneye for the game, not the movie endorsement. In fact, I can remember thinking very little about the James Bond plot, and much more about the shooting and tactical killing. Goldeneye was a fun game. However, this opinion is likely to be different in other players, but for me, it was the game itself that made Goldeneye the masterpiece,not the film (It was still a great film though).
On the other hand, I can remember movie endorsed games that slipped through the system faster than a pint of Guiness. The aforementioned Last Action Hero was a memorable one. The game element was lacking in any real playability, and the movie basis was bland. This is a prime example of a game where the developers thought they could whack an endorsement on the label of a poor game and make millions. There are others that fit into this category, but it will suffice to say that this does happen.
So in many cases we could be left thinking 'is it a film? or is it a game?' Recent times have given developers freedom to develop what I consider to be 'Game movies'. These are not endorsements of a particular film, but a game in it's own right, that looks so perfect, and has a perfect ambience and plot, that we could consider it as a playable movie. And to add, this playable movie like game has never appeared in the box office. Max Payne, Devil May Cry, Halo, Eternal Darkness, the list continues. These games create an environment that immerses the player into the movie-like plot, and keeps them there. In a similar style to watching a good film, these games attract. It must also be stressed that these games are the result of the recent exponential flux in gaming technology that made this possible.
And of course it won't be long before film producers decide to milk money from these games by "Filminating" them.
The future for these immersive 'Game->movies' looks bright. As technology continues in a fashion that can expand upon current themes, these games will become more realistic in every sense of the word. So we have movies made into games, games that play like movies, but what about games that are made into films. Well, we can all remember the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies and lets not forget about Resident Evil, enough said on that point! However, some exceptions do arise for every rule, and the Final Fantasy movie worked.
It is axiomatic that games and films are similar entities. They are beginning to overlap in recent times more than ever in the past, and future will merge them closer into one. I am excited to see what the future will bring for this concept, and what technology can do for it. Hopefully, we won't get rubbishy films and bad games because of this...