What are your oppinions on the convergence of film and games

[Jackal]

A while ago I was given a task here at work to prepare a presentation on this subject for the president of the company. The whole thing is pretty much done now but I thought I think it's an interesting subject to discuss.
Historically the blending of the mediums has been sketchy at best. Films like Mario Bros, Street Fighter, etc definately left a bad taste in people's mouths. Recently we've begun to see some true convergence in the sectors however. Look at games like King Kong, Spiderman, The Hulk, etc. Granted these aren't exclusive to the video game and movie genres.
There is convergence in other sectors too. Look at the slew of comic book movies being made.
The way I see it there are a few different levels of convergence taking place. We've got movies becomming games and games becomming movies, those are the most obvious two. But we've also got movie formats being geared towards video game platforms (UMDs) and movie being made via video game toolsets (machinima).
I think we're getting to a point where Hollywood and the game industry are really starting to cooperate with oneanother. Hollywood is suffering a decline in revenue while the game industry is booming and this is opening the eyes of many execs on both sides of the fence.

Anyways, thoughts?

PS- I think the game industry needs to treat their licenses a bit more seriously. Selling the license to a director like Uwe Boll isn't good for anyone, save for Mr. Boll.

[Grudge]

Very interesting article on convergence:

http://lostgarden.com/2005/12/convergen ... -hate.html

Plus another very interesting post about the games industry perhaps isn't quite as "booming" as some may think (at least not if we're talking about big publishers and AAA titles):

http://lostgarden.com/2005/12/idly-gath ... stics.html

[Jackal]

thanks grudge

[Hannibal]

I think the game industry needs to treat their licenses a bit more seriously. Selling the license to a director like Uwe Boll isn't good for anyone, save for Mr. Boll.

This brings up the possibility of a rather odd and unfortunate synergy. The vast majority of what Hollywood trowels is vacant shit...vacant shit that reaches 'blockbuster' status usually relies on heavy doses of hyper-stimulation (via sfx and over the top action sequences). Characters, the writing, who gives a fuck...McMovies utilize neither, and to the extent they are seen as viable source material, McMovies may very well reinforce a parallel trend in video games (eyecandy over gameplay/story). Just a thought.

[plained]

in my opinion i really dont care how it was derived, or where the content is originating from.

as long as its excecuted at a high enough level of entertainment value.

i dont mean "lots" i mean "quality"

i know it sounds very simplistic and it is but its my opinion.

if all the keys to quality are there and it has lasting merit, that will ultimatly decide on the continuation of the properties anyway so

[SplishSplash]

o-p-p-p-inion

[Jackal]

Do you think convergence lends itself to diversity? I think the quick answer would be "no" but having said that it could lead to other areas of diversity.
I think the idea of an interactive film has been floating around for a while. The convergence of film and games seems to be the only route that could make this sort of thing possible.

[seremtan]

i think 'convergence' is the wrong word if you mean it in a high-falutin' conceptual sense. games and movies are like any other media: some things they make possible, some things they exclude (which is what makes a medium distinct from another medium of course). the so-called convergence is really no more than taking brand-recognizable elements from one medium and inserting them into another. there's no convergence in any significant sense at all

[Grudge]

I tend to agree with seremtan. What you see as convergence seem only to be a symptom of two industries suffering from a creative draught, alternatively suffering from a too heavy reliance on an outdated business model.

[Jackal]

It is convergence in the sense that historically if a film got made into a game and vice versa there were two seperate parties involved that gave no input ot each other. The only point of contact between the devs and the hollywood producers/directors were really lawyers dealing with licensing issues. What have now is a situation where the two parties are truly beginning to work together. King Kong is a great example of this and so is The Matrix franchise (though ETM was a shitty game it marked the first time that devs had complete access to the filmic resources). We're also beginning to see game makers as pseudo-celebrities which is kind of neat too.

[dubz]

mario bros movie rocked

[prince1000]

goldeneye was far better than the movie. not usually the case. i try not to watch anything movie related that was a comic book or video game.

[Jackal]

goldeneye was far better than the movie. not usually the case. i try not to watch anything movie related that was a comic book or video game.

You've never seen X-Men or Spiderman?
That's too bad, great movies.

[Sanction]

I thought X-Men was average. Magneto and Wolverine seem a bit off from the comics. I haven't bothered taking a second glance at the games made from these movies. I don't have a console and I've heard the PC Spiderman 2 game was horrible.