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What makes a great Film these days? Good acting, special effects, and smart and original idea, along-with a stroyline that'll keep you entertained from Beginning - through the Intermission - and to the end.
Now then, what makes a great Computer or Video Game? Along-with the great graphics that run smooth and allow you to clearly see all, you also need a good control system, aswell as an idea or theme that is good enough to base a story around, a story that will keep-on surprising and gripping the players right untill the very-end - and maybe also for a second go too.
So, as you can imagine, a hell of a lot of work, time and effort (aswell-as money) must be put into both Games and Films in-order to makes the likes of The Matrix, Shenmue, Lord of the Rings, and Resident Evil what they are to-us today.
You'd think that making the transaction from Game-to-Film (or vise-versa) would work out aswell as it did the first time around, when that great game was JUST a game, and not a film, just because of how simillarly things appear to work both ways.
But you'd be wrong.
How many Game-to-Film or-Filmto-Game conversions can you name me that have worked out for the best - worked out well?
During the last year or two we have actually seen quite a few Game ideas taken onto a new dimension in the Film industry. We were all anticipating the Resident Evil film with it's special effects (and Mila Jovovich) after being scared-silly in the orignal PlayStation titles. But when it came, it was all as great as we were hoping. In-fact, according to many people, the storyline sucked. And the only good thing about it was the special effects with lasers and the rest along with Mila Jovovich wearing a skirt!
While the latter there may not sound 'too' bad the fact remains that the film didn't quite live-up to all expectations. It was lacking - unlike the games.
Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie, was another PlayStation hit turned-film that recieved a lot of hype up-untill its dissapointing release. While some people may have enjoyed watching Ms.Jolie run-around and get sweaty in those tight clothes and short-shorts the film overall was rather dissapointing. One or two may have liked it, but there surely won't be as-many people interested in the anticipated sequel.
Why didn't they just leave Lara Croft in the games? Some people like it that way, and it seems to have worked-out better over they years than this film has.
These may be fairly recent Game-to-Film conversions but we haven't really had any others happen that have stood-out amongst the rest during the last decade or-so. The way I see it, Game-to-Film conversions do not seem to be working. Why exactly, I am not sure. But I believe it has something to do with the ideas envolved.
You can't conpletely overhaul everything from the original games as it will make the film seem completely different. But you can't try to push-in too many existing ideas either, or-else you'll create yourself a mess. You have to stick to the basics of the game, and try to create something that's new, yet familliar, while not completely-bizzare like the Super Mario Bros. disaster from 1994.
But what about converting Films to Games? This is something that has been going on for years now, and the success rates are much-higher than those of the Game-to-Film ratios. GoldenEye is the game that instantly comes to mind as a fully-succesfull conversion that surfaced from Rareware as one of the greatest First-Person Shooters ever created. If it has been bettered, then only recently has Halo emerged on the X-Box as everyone's new favourite. It's taken quite some beating...!
Since then we've also seen a number of other 007 Brosnan Bond films that have turned-out... well.... not quite as-good-as GoldenEye. The World is Not Enough wasn't too-bad, where-as Tommorow Never Dies and the 'original' Bond titles like Agent Under Fire and 007 Racing never really took-off in such style as the N64 classic did.
Perhaps this is because Bond fans have already seen the films and already knew pretty-much what to expect in the film conversions? And in the original games, they really didn't have a clue. Although there were good bits, it just wasn't quite the kind-of Bond we were expecting.
The Matrix has been hailed as perhaps the greatest film ever created since it first hit the big-screen back in 1999. The special effects, the excellent kung-fu and Martial Arts fighting, aswell as the captivating storyline all played a big-part in making the film an instant-hit with everyone world-wide. We may have seen Max Payne with its Bullet-Time Matrix-style special effects, but so-far as-of-yet we have not yet seen a game of The Matrix. However, one is on the way, with a release date penciled-in for sometime next year. I am however concerned that dispite all this hype, it may not be the great game we are all expecting, after seeing previous conversions go straight down the drain. And after other recent efforts that have gone straight-down to rock-bottom, can you really blame them??
I think the problem lies in the Ideas of the Game or Film, no matter which-way the conversion is going. You can't change a game or flim too much or else it'll seem un-related to what it was before. And with that in-mind, you cannot make it too-similar or else the players or viewers will just get too-bored as they'll have seen it all before and will know who's popping-out of where within the next 10 seconds.
If you really want to turn a Game into a Box Office Smash of a Film, then you're really going to have to make it 'something else' that stands-out amongst the rest, while being something you can quite easily recognise from the game. If you're going to work very hard on it then you might aswell just give-up before you've even started and save yourself some money that was only going to waste.
When making the Game of a Film you must bear in-mind that your ideas are already limited and that you have very-little to work-with. Try to work-on the aspects that really mean a lot to Gamers, like the Gameplay and their Envolvement in the actual game-itself and what you can do. This is something Rare got right with GoldenEye, something EA and the rest have all gone-wrong with in the past.
The fact is that Game-to-Film and even Film-to-Game conversions very-rarely ever work-out all that well. Let us see how well the Lord of the Rings games do, along with The Matrix, before you decide to argue against me.
Now then, what makes a great Computer or Video Game? Along-with the great graphics that run smooth and allow you to clearly see all, you also need a good control system, aswell as an idea or theme that is good enough to base a story around, a story that will keep-on surprising and gripping the players right untill the very-end - and maybe also for a second go too.
So, as you can imagine, a hell of a lot of work, time and effort (aswell-as money) must be put into both Games and Films in-order to makes the likes of The Matrix, Shenmue, Lord of the Rings, and Resident Evil what they are to-us today.
You'd think that making the transaction from Game-to-Film (or vise-versa) would work out aswell as it did the first time around, when that great game was JUST a game, and not a film, just because of how simillarly things appear to work both ways.
But you'd be wrong.
How many Game-to-Film or-Filmto-Game conversions can you name me that have worked out for the best - worked out well?
During the last year or two we have actually seen quite a few Game ideas taken onto a new dimension in the Film industry. We were all anticipating the Resident Evil film with it's special effects (and Mila Jovovich) after being scared-silly in the orignal PlayStation titles. But when it came, it was all as great as we were hoping. In-fact, according to many people, the storyline sucked. And the only good thing about it was the special effects with lasers and the rest along with Mila Jovovich wearing a skirt!
While the latter there may not sound 'too' bad the fact remains that the film didn't quite live-up to all expectations. It was lacking - unlike the games.
Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie, was another PlayStation hit turned-film that recieved a lot of hype up-untill its dissapointing release. While some people may have enjoyed watching Ms.Jolie run-around and get sweaty in those tight clothes and short-shorts the film overall was rather dissapointing. One or two may have liked it, but there surely won't be as-many people interested in the anticipated sequel.
Why didn't they just leave Lara Croft in the games? Some people like it that way, and it seems to have worked-out better over they years than this film has.
These may be fairly recent Game-to-Film conversions but we haven't really had any others happen that have stood-out amongst the rest during the last decade or-so. The way I see it, Game-to-Film conversions do not seem to be working. Why exactly, I am not sure. But I believe it has something to do with the ideas envolved.
You can't conpletely overhaul everything from the original games as it will make the film seem completely different. But you can't try to push-in too many existing ideas either, or-else you'll create yourself a mess. You have to stick to the basics of the game, and try to create something that's new, yet familliar, while not completely-bizzare like the Super Mario Bros. disaster from 1994.
But what about converting Films to Games? This is something that has been going on for years now, and the success rates are much-higher than those of the Game-to-Film ratios. GoldenEye is the game that instantly comes to mind as a fully-succesfull conversion that surfaced from Rareware as one of the greatest First-Person Shooters ever created. If it has been bettered, then only recently has Halo emerged on the X-Box as everyone's new favourite. It's taken quite some beating...!
Since then we've also seen a number of other 007 Brosnan Bond films that have turned-out... well.... not quite as-good-as GoldenEye. The World is Not Enough wasn't too-bad, where-as Tommorow Never Dies and the 'original' Bond titles like Agent Under Fire and 007 Racing never really took-off in such style as the N64 classic did.
Perhaps this is because Bond fans have already seen the films and already knew pretty-much what to expect in the film conversions? And in the original games, they really didn't have a clue. Although there were good bits, it just wasn't quite the kind-of Bond we were expecting.
The Matrix has been hailed as perhaps the greatest film ever created since it first hit the big-screen back in 1999. The special effects, the excellent kung-fu and Martial Arts fighting, aswell as the captivating storyline all played a big-part in making the film an instant-hit with everyone world-wide. We may have seen Max Payne with its Bullet-Time Matrix-style special effects, but so-far as-of-yet we have not yet seen a game of The Matrix. However, one is on the way, with a release date penciled-in for sometime next year. I am however concerned that dispite all this hype, it may not be the great game we are all expecting, after seeing previous conversions go straight down the drain. And after other recent efforts that have gone straight-down to rock-bottom, can you really blame them??
I think the problem lies in the Ideas of the Game or Film, no matter which-way the conversion is going. You can't change a game or flim too much or else it'll seem un-related to what it was before. And with that in-mind, you cannot make it too-similar or else the players or viewers will just get too-bored as they'll have seen it all before and will know who's popping-out of where within the next 10 seconds.
If you really want to turn a Game into a Box Office Smash of a Film, then you're really going to have to make it 'something else' that stands-out amongst the rest, while being something you can quite easily recognise from the game. If you're going to work very hard on it then you might aswell just give-up before you've even started and save yourself some money that was only going to waste.
When making the Game of a Film you must bear in-mind that your ideas are already limited and that you have very-little to work-with. Try to work-on the aspects that really mean a lot to Gamers, like the Gameplay and their Envolvement in the actual game-itself and what you can do. This is something Rare got right with GoldenEye, something EA and the rest have all gone-wrong with in the past.
The fact is that Game-to-Film and even Film-to-Game conversions very-rarely ever work-out all that well. Let us see how well the Lord of the Rings games do, along with The Matrix, before you decide to argue against me.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
What makes a great Film these days? Good acting, special effects, and smart and original idea, along-with a stroyline that'll keep you entertained from Beginning - through the Intermission - and to the end.
Now then, what makes a great Computer or Video Game? Along-with the great graphics that run smooth and allow you to clearly see all, you also need a good control system, aswell as an idea or theme that is good enough to base a story around, a story that will keep-on surprising and gripping the players right untill the very-end - and maybe also for a second go too.
So, as you can imagine, a hell of a lot of work, time and effort (aswell-as money) must be put into both Games and Films in-order to makes the likes of The Matrix, Shenmue, Lord of the Rings, and Resident Evil what they are to-us today.
You'd think that making the transaction from Game-to-Film (or vise-versa) would work out aswell as it did the first time around, when that great game was JUST a game, and not a film, just because of how simillarly things appear to work both ways.
But you'd be wrong.
How many Game-to-Film or-Filmto-Game conversions can you name me that have worked out for the best - worked out well?
During the last year or two we have actually seen quite a few Game ideas taken onto a new dimension in the Film industry. We were all anticipating the Resident Evil film with it's special effects (and Mila Jovovich) after being scared-silly in the orignal PlayStation titles. But when it came, it was all as great as we were hoping. In-fact, according to many people, the storyline sucked. And the only good thing about it was the special effects with lasers and the rest along with Mila Jovovich wearing a skirt!
While the latter there may not sound 'too' bad the fact remains that the film didn't quite live-up to all expectations. It was lacking - unlike the games.
Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie, was another PlayStation hit turned-film that recieved a lot of hype up-untill its dissapointing release. While some people may have enjoyed watching Ms.Jolie run-around and get sweaty in those tight clothes and short-shorts the film overall was rather dissapointing. One or two may have liked it, but there surely won't be as-many people interested in the anticipated sequel.
Why didn't they just leave Lara Croft in the games? Some people like it that way, and it seems to have worked-out better over they years than this film has.
These may be fairly recent Game-to-Film conversions but we haven't really had any others happen that have stood-out amongst the rest during the last decade or-so. The way I see it, Game-to-Film conversions do not seem to be working. Why exactly, I am not sure. But I believe it has something to do with the ideas envolved.
You can't conpletely overhaul everything from the original games as it will make the film seem completely different. But you can't try to push-in too many existing ideas either, or-else you'll create yourself a mess. You have to stick to the basics of the game, and try to create something that's new, yet familliar, while not completely-bizzare like the Super Mario Bros. disaster from 1994.
But what about converting Films to Games? This is something that has been going on for years now, and the success rates are much-higher than those of the Game-to-Film ratios. GoldenEye is the game that instantly comes to mind as a fully-succesfull conversion that surfaced from Rareware as one of the greatest First-Person Shooters ever created. If it has been bettered, then only recently has Halo emerged on the X-Box as everyone's new favourite. It's taken quite some beating...!
Since then we've also seen a number of other 007 Brosnan Bond films that have turned-out... well.... not quite as-good-as GoldenEye. The World is Not Enough wasn't too-bad, where-as Tommorow Never Dies and the 'original' Bond titles like Agent Under Fire and 007 Racing never really took-off in such style as the N64 classic did.
Perhaps this is because Bond fans have already seen the films and already knew pretty-much what to expect in the film conversions? And in the original games, they really didn't have a clue. Although there were good bits, it just wasn't quite the kind-of Bond we were expecting.
The Matrix has been hailed as perhaps the greatest film ever created since it first hit the big-screen back in 1999. The special effects, the excellent kung-fu and Martial Arts fighting, aswell as the captivating storyline all played a big-part in making the film an instant-hit with everyone world-wide. We may have seen Max Payne with its Bullet-Time Matrix-style special effects, but so-far as-of-yet we have not yet seen a game of The Matrix. However, one is on the way, with a release date penciled-in for sometime next year. I am however concerned that dispite all this hype, it may not be the great game we are all expecting, after seeing previous conversions go straight down the drain. And after other recent efforts that have gone straight-down to rock-bottom, can you really blame them??
I think the problem lies in the Ideas of the Game or Film, no matter which-way the conversion is going. You can't change a game or flim too much or else it'll seem un-related to what it was before. And with that in-mind, you cannot make it too-similar or else the players or viewers will just get too-bored as they'll have seen it all before and will know who's popping-out of where within the next 10 seconds.
If you really want to turn a Game into a Box Office Smash of a Film, then you're really going to have to make it 'something else' that stands-out amongst the rest, while being something you can quite easily recognise from the game. If you're going to work very hard on it then you might aswell just give-up before you've even started and save yourself some money that was only going to waste.
When making the Game of a Film you must bear in-mind that your ideas are already limited and that you have very-little to work-with. Try to work-on the aspects that really mean a lot to Gamers, like the Gameplay and their Envolvement in the actual game-itself and what you can do. This is something Rare got right with GoldenEye, something EA and the rest have all gone-wrong with in the past.
The fact is that Game-to-Film and even Film-to-Game conversions very-rarely ever work-out all that well. Let us see how well the Lord of the Rings games do, along with The Matrix, before you decide to argue against me.
Now then, what makes a great Computer or Video Game? Along-with the great graphics that run smooth and allow you to clearly see all, you also need a good control system, aswell as an idea or theme that is good enough to base a story around, a story that will keep-on surprising and gripping the players right untill the very-end - and maybe also for a second go too.
So, as you can imagine, a hell of a lot of work, time and effort (aswell-as money) must be put into both Games and Films in-order to makes the likes of The Matrix, Shenmue, Lord of the Rings, and Resident Evil what they are to-us today.
You'd think that making the transaction from Game-to-Film (or vise-versa) would work out aswell as it did the first time around, when that great game was JUST a game, and not a film, just because of how simillarly things appear to work both ways.
But you'd be wrong.
How many Game-to-Film or-Filmto-Game conversions can you name me that have worked out for the best - worked out well?
During the last year or two we have actually seen quite a few Game ideas taken onto a new dimension in the Film industry. We were all anticipating the Resident Evil film with it's special effects (and Mila Jovovich) after being scared-silly in the orignal PlayStation titles. But when it came, it was all as great as we were hoping. In-fact, according to many people, the storyline sucked. And the only good thing about it was the special effects with lasers and the rest along with Mila Jovovich wearing a skirt!
While the latter there may not sound 'too' bad the fact remains that the film didn't quite live-up to all expectations. It was lacking - unlike the games.
Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie, was another PlayStation hit turned-film that recieved a lot of hype up-untill its dissapointing release. While some people may have enjoyed watching Ms.Jolie run-around and get sweaty in those tight clothes and short-shorts the film overall was rather dissapointing. One or two may have liked it, but there surely won't be as-many people interested in the anticipated sequel.
Why didn't they just leave Lara Croft in the games? Some people like it that way, and it seems to have worked-out better over they years than this film has.
These may be fairly recent Game-to-Film conversions but we haven't really had any others happen that have stood-out amongst the rest during the last decade or-so. The way I see it, Game-to-Film conversions do not seem to be working. Why exactly, I am not sure. But I believe it has something to do with the ideas envolved.
You can't conpletely overhaul everything from the original games as it will make the film seem completely different. But you can't try to push-in too many existing ideas either, or-else you'll create yourself a mess. You have to stick to the basics of the game, and try to create something that's new, yet familliar, while not completely-bizzare like the Super Mario Bros. disaster from 1994.
But what about converting Films to Games? This is something that has been going on for years now, and the success rates are much-higher than those of the Game-to-Film ratios. GoldenEye is the game that instantly comes to mind as a fully-succesfull conversion that surfaced from Rareware as one of the greatest First-Person Shooters ever created. If it has been bettered, then only recently has Halo emerged on the X-Box as everyone's new favourite. It's taken quite some beating...!
Since then we've also seen a number of other 007 Brosnan Bond films that have turned-out... well.... not quite as-good-as GoldenEye. The World is Not Enough wasn't too-bad, where-as Tommorow Never Dies and the 'original' Bond titles like Agent Under Fire and 007 Racing never really took-off in such style as the N64 classic did.
Perhaps this is because Bond fans have already seen the films and already knew pretty-much what to expect in the film conversions? And in the original games, they really didn't have a clue. Although there were good bits, it just wasn't quite the kind-of Bond we were expecting.
The Matrix has been hailed as perhaps the greatest film ever created since it first hit the big-screen back in 1999. The special effects, the excellent kung-fu and Martial Arts fighting, aswell as the captivating storyline all played a big-part in making the film an instant-hit with everyone world-wide. We may have seen Max Payne with its Bullet-Time Matrix-style special effects, but so-far as-of-yet we have not yet seen a game of The Matrix. However, one is on the way, with a release date penciled-in for sometime next year. I am however concerned that dispite all this hype, it may not be the great game we are all expecting, after seeing previous conversions go straight down the drain. And after other recent efforts that have gone straight-down to rock-bottom, can you really blame them??
I think the problem lies in the Ideas of the Game or Film, no matter which-way the conversion is going. You can't change a game or flim too much or else it'll seem un-related to what it was before. And with that in-mind, you cannot make it too-similar or else the players or viewers will just get too-bored as they'll have seen it all before and will know who's popping-out of where within the next 10 seconds.
If you really want to turn a Game into a Box Office Smash of a Film, then you're really going to have to make it 'something else' that stands-out amongst the rest, while being something you can quite easily recognise from the game. If you're going to work very hard on it then you might aswell just give-up before you've even started and save yourself some money that was only going to waste.
When making the Game of a Film you must bear in-mind that your ideas are already limited and that you have very-little to work-with. Try to work-on the aspects that really mean a lot to Gamers, like the Gameplay and their Envolvement in the actual game-itself and what you can do. This is something Rare got right with GoldenEye, something EA and the rest have all gone-wrong with in the past.
The fact is that Game-to-Film and even Film-to-Game conversions very-rarely ever work-out all that well. Let us see how well the Lord of the Rings games do, along with The Matrix, before you decide to argue against me.