Novel Ideas
Discussing why the games industry doesn't look towards books and literature for inspiration and ideas
It’s short; we look at and read tons of rubbish on the web. However if our brains see a paragraph or something that is not an amusing image with some white Impact text denoting an amusing phrase, we switch off. I don’t think I’d be too wrong in saying that at most the AVERAGE tech savvy tweenager reads is their twitter and Tumbler feeds throughout the day. Though they have a small reprieve either writing depressing poetry or partaking in furious Twilight related discussions because EDWARD’S BETTER—HE SPARKLES!!!11
I’m careening off point though.
Films get a nod from games, Hollywood usually churning out one right before a major movie graces our screen. It’s more of a way to cash in then it is to create anything innovative or that will stand the test of time. From games that take their roots from well established franchises; ala Lord of the Rings, games of value have been made. This is mainly due to the fact they had free reign in some aspects and were treading on well worn ground.
Take the LOTR MMORPG which came out a few years back. Obviously the game was and still is very popular with people. However imagine if before WoW and the boom of that side of gaming someone went to the developer and told them they planned on creating a game people play online...set in a world based on a several thousand word fantasy novel written during WW2. They probably would have laughed so hard they’d have coughed up a lung. Yes there may have been a fan base but they were basement dwelling men on the wrong side of 30...right? Then the films hit and they churned out a few sub-par games to cash in. Then WoW came along and it seemed like they’d better jump on this ship before it sailed.
The whole prospect comes across as daunting. It’s hard enough trying to elucidate and boil down a novel to a screenplay. In some fans mind it’ll always pale in comparison and miss details out so you don’t die of malnutrition sitting through the thing. They are in the process of a adapting a John Grisham novel for the Wii where you stand in a courtroom gesticulating wildly at the defendant until a little bar fills up causing an epic outburst.
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