Friday 3 February 2012


My Opinion of Video Game Adaptations - Anthony McMenemy

I feel that videogames have had a raw deal when it comes to film adaptations. Whilst some have been major box office hits, and some have turned into franchises, they still lack the passion and the immersive ingredients of the worlds that the games were set in.

Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic have a list of the ‘best and worst’ reviewed videogame adaptations, in those lists are films like; Mario Bros. (1993), Street Fighter (1995), Mortal Kombat (1995),  Double Dragon (1995), the Tomb Raider films (2001, 2003), the Resident Evil franchise (2001 – Present) and a plethora of Uwe Boll ‘films’.

Here, check them out;

These films, however successful they might, or might not have been, have let down fans of their respective audiences, by not alluding to the underlying messages and themes that the Game Directors were trying to get across.

I understand that everybody perceives videogames differently and will receive different messages when they experience them, but betraying the audience by completely changing the genre, lead characters or setting is insulting.

Critics cite the player interaction as a problem in videogames for adaptations and to me this means that there is too much focus placed on the gameplay and not enough on the characters’ physical and mental journey through a fictionalized problematic universe.

When Michael and I started Loftworks Pictures, we set ourselves a goal; to improve the standard in which video game adaptations are made. And whilst we may not be established and have very little or no reputation, we have no delusions in being household names or Academy Award winners, we just want to see videogame adaptations be given the same respect as novels or comic books, this means with passion and creativity without betraying the majority of the audience.

Our new short film will be our first step towards attaining that goal, as we tackle one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed videogame franchises of all time, Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear (1987).

Now I can’t disclose too much information as to what we are doing with the short film, but I can tell you that we are following the exact principles that I have been writing about. We want the audience to experience the physical and emotional turmoil that Solid Snake must endure during his mission, as well as maintaining the state of the world created for him by Mr Kojima.

We hope that you support our cause, and that you feel compelled to interact with us during this project, because after all, this is a Metal Gear film, made by Metal Gear fans, so any questions or comments you would like to send our way, by all means do so.

We recently started a Crowdfunding campaign in order to complete the building of Solid Snake’s costume and as you can see by the draft poster we have few pieces to show, but what we have, look’s incredible.

We are asking for the help of gamers, film goers, or anybody that are interested by the potential of this project to help us raise the funds and bring this passion project of ours to life.
Here is the link to the campaign, please take a look and share the link with your friends.

Thanks for reading, hope to speak soon.
Ant @ Loftworks Pictures

2 comments:

  1. Very good and so true…in some instances the part you are missing the link between films and video games. Which is often obscured or diluted dependant on the writer(s), there are a few questions that need to be addressed before you can justify saying that filmmakers have let down the original fan base of said IP.

    How is the filmmaker/writer trying to adapt the game to a film?

    Look at any video game on the shelves in any high street store, there is a near infinite of games divided in to genres and cross genres, the more a person as an interactive experience with the story of a game the more of a challenge it is for a filmmaker to convert that IP to the big or small screen.

    Let’s take the game developers Bioware for this example, two of their most popular games (Mass Effect/Dragon Age) would be difficult for any filmmaker to convert into a motion picture. Within these the player is able in mould and alter how the story tells out in front of their eyes, all the emotion, tension, drama and excite is offered to the player but not all options might be chosen. As a motion picture the story and emotions it may in still in the viewer is ‘forced’ upon them, there isn’t that element of interaction that can give as much enjoyment as some ones most favourite game.

    Playing a game you either witness the character(s) journey play out and you’re only a force to move the story onwards, but in others they draw you into that world and the character/avatar you control is in all tense and purposes “You”; you change the story to how you want it to happen or not dependant on the persons moral standing. If you take the canon story from Dragon Age and convert it to a motion picture it will stop being what it was in its original form and have to adapt to the new medium; it won’t be Ryan from Nottingham the last of the Greywardens fighting off the legions of Darkspawn, it will be Illudia the Dalish Wood Elf. If a story is taken from one format to another there has to be deviations to the existing canon, either it be a major or minor change there will be some because that particular universe has transcended to another viewing medium.

    Just some food for thought.

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  2. Videogames are written as such, so that the player has the ability to affect a multitude of decisions that drive the main narrative towards a multitude of endings. More decision making by the player, equals more scenarios and dialogue in which a screenwriter must take account of.

    What a writer must understand is that the characters and universe in every game are a given backstory, which is used as a platform to fuel the main story arch, which has tones and themes that create the immersive world that you experience.

    Every player plays differently, every player then, has a different experience, the things that remains the same are the politics of the universe in which the game is set. There are laws and hierarches, different races, cultures, events and conflicts surrounding the player that amplifies his/her experience.

    A videogame adaptation must be loyal to these surrounding politics, to create a familiar world in which the game loyalists will respond and connect to. Whilst the decisions and reactions made by the main character should come from his or her backstory, drawing on previous experiences that cause conflict within the main narrative.

    I feel that because every player is allowed to choose what he/she does within the set world of their respective game, so should a screenwriter, as long as they stay within the restrictions applied by the politics found within their chosen universe. This means they should be allowed to mould the most dramatic and cinematic storyline using the plethora of information available to them.

    With films you witness events, in videogames you perform events, films will never be able to carbon-copy the personal interactive experience that a player has, because it’s not possible to do so. What is possible is to write a film that maintains the tones and themes initially set out by the games designers, which stays within the restrictions of the politics, found within the game’s surrounding universe.

    Thank you for your response.

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