The Thin Line Between Movies and Games

February 8, 2005

Once again, I'm drawn back into the world of converging mediums. While reading this NYT article on movies and video games I started to think about the problems with product tie-ins. It's nothing all that earth-shattering, but I feel it needs to be said.

Not every game should be a movie and not every movie should be a game.

There, I said it. It's off my chest. Knowing I shared this with you will make me feel better if Disney ever releases an Armageddon video game, as the NYT article suggests. I am all for sharing ideas between mediums and capitalizing on a successful brand, but no one wants to see Ben Affleck in a side-scrolling shooter. No one.

If you are making a game from your movie purely for promotional reasons, just don't. I can pretty much guarantee it's going to suck. If you want to make a movie out a successful video game franchise, please be wary. Everyone has a place in their heart for Mairo and Luigi but it's tough to say you sincerely liked the movie.

There are always exceptions to the rule. The first Resident Evil movie was entertaining in its own right and everyone seems to think the Spider-man video games are quite good (I've yet to play them). Still, I will always be skeptical of these crossover products.

One aspect that has yet to be done, which could be very cool, is a movie/game development that is done at the same time. The Wachowski brothers tried to do this with the Matrix sequels, but both the games and the movies were underwhelming. Another attempt was .hack, which was both a multi-part video game and tv show. Unfortunately, that wasn't as great as most had hoped.

I'd love to see a great game development studio team with with a movie production team to brainstorm from the get-go. Movies and games are unique mediums with unique benefits and exploits, which is why shaping plot and character before developing either will help integrate the two. Each aspect may not be able to stand up on its own, but it would provide an experience and tie-in that no one else has been able to create.

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