by Cameron Lloyd
People often talk about the link between literature and films, referencing the fact that some of the best and most popular movies known to man started out as books. This shift into the movie media often helped bring the story to a whole new audience of people who might never have experienced it otherwise. What tends to get less recognition, however, is the strong and similar link that is often built between film and gaming.
There are several well-known films that began their lives as games, and even a number of games that were built off the success of films. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most well-known among these and analyse why they worked (or didn’t).
When Films Become Games
Popular films being made into games has become a significantly more common phenomenon in the modern age. The reasons for this mostly come down to the technological evolutions that have taken place in the gaming world in recent years. A few decades ago, movies were advancing at a much quicker rate than games, and the gaming world wasn’t quite able to keep up.
Now, however, with modern, state-of-the-art game development technologies, such as graphics and sound design. Games have become an ideal medium to extend the lore and world that was first revealed to us in movies.
On top of this, films often make good subjects for simpler mini-games built for short-term play. This is because when these games are made from popular films, they already have the advantage of having gathered a dedicated fan base who are incredibly likely to respond well to the game.
Popular Games Made From Films
One of the most popular genres of gaming that takes direct inspiration from films actually comes from within the casino world. We are, of course, talking about movie-themed slots that can be found within brick-and-mortar institutions and on online casinos. This second option is highly popular with gamblers due to the variety of bonuses and rewards these sites offer to players, as well as the massive game libraries available in addition to the slot titles.
Most of the popular and well-known movie-themed slots are based on some of the most successful films in the world, including The Godfather, the Batman franchise, and Jurassic Park. These slots usually include theming and sound design taken directly from their source material and appeal to gamblers and movie fans alike.
On the other hand, some of the highest budget, triple-A, popular video games have also been inspired and created from movies. Some examples from recent years include the Star Wars Jedi Games, which were created for console and PC, and the Alien Isolation game, which, alongside console and PC, also has a mobile app version.
These games often do very well because they don’t have to persuade a new audience to engage with them. Instead, those interested in the original films are likely to actively seek the additional content that the games bring to the table.
Popular Films Made From Games
Although this happens less often than games being based on movies, the movies coming after the games are still quite common. This is especially the case for games that have a naturally large fanbase and, often, multiple installments. On top of this, games that are known for immersive worlds, complex characters and engaging narratives often offer the perfect source material for new movies.
There are several well-known movies that originally came from games, including Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Hitman. Whether or not the movies themselves were well-received differs from title to title, but what they all have in common is the fact that the games they were based on are some of the most popular and well-known in their respective genres.
Does it Work?
Whether or not games that are based on films, or films that come to be as a result of games, work isn’t an easy question to answer. Firstly, media itself is an incredibly subjective thing, with many people loving titles that others hate, and vice versa. Additionally, the success of a particular piece of media depends on a variety of individual factors that differ from title to title, including the team behind it and the budget that they had. However, some specific trends can be observed when we analyse how these kinds of projects are received by audiences.
Films that have been created from games often face a whole range of additional challenges that may affect how well they are received by audiences. Firstly, the fan bases that surround games can be very loyal to the game itself and see any other media that tries to replicate it as a cheap parody that falls short of what the game originally intended. Plus, games tend to have a lot more hours of content for those who engage with them, with some even needing over one hundred hours of gameplay to complete. Movies, on the other hand, are limited in how large they can be, often falling between two and three hours. As such, films have to reduce a lot of the substance of a game in order to place it within the confines of a film, which often leads to a lot of characters and plotlines being neglected, which in turn can result in disappointed fans.
Games that take their basis from movies don’t tend to come under quite the same level of criticism for multiple reasons. Firstly, it is easy to take the rich content of an already existing, much-loved movie and transfer it to a simple mini-game style, as we have seen in slots. Doing so isn’t reducing the movie but rather giving the film fans something else to engage with that remains loyal to the film itself. Also, even if game developers want to make a long-form game based on a movie, they’ll usually find themselves needing to expand on the world and apply their own creative license, and this expansion is often much better received than the reduction seen when games become films.
