Kotaku
We all know about horrible movie/game crossovers (going both ways), but what about books being turned into games? For the lit geek lurking in some of us, Insult Swordfighting has put together a very brief list of books that should be turned into games — and what those games ought to look like. For example, here's one take on a Russian classic:
War and PeaceA sweeping, turn-based strategy game that lets you take the side of Russia or France during the Napoleonic Wars. With thousands of units to command at once, the game quickly becomes untenable and overwhelming to all but the most dedicated strategy buffs. But everybody claims to have played it all the way through and loved it.
Personally, though I'm inordinately fond of Anna Karenina, I put down War and Peace a quarter way through, never to return — but it's still a fun and somewhat silly mental exercise to think of books getting turned into games, and what shape those finished products would take. I'm still waiting for the Mainland Chinese produced game that draws inspiration from Dream of the Red Chamber: throw some sword fighting in with the personal drama and people going crazy, and Shanda may just have another hit on their hands.
Books that should be made into games [Insult Swordfighting]
Comments
Im suprised the davinci code wasnt made into some sort of "adventure" game kinda like Hotel Dusk: Room 215. I mean not exactly the same but you get what I mean.
Harry Potter, but making it a good game.
Nah, okey, a good book made into a game... What about Eco Umberto's books? That I would like.
except that War and Peace is more about love and marriage than actual war....hmm.
Would be an interesting concept though. Maybe a Hybrid RPG/RTS with an extensive dialouge system??
@Witzbold: Good question.
I personally would like to see an autobiography turned into a game. Odd premise I know...but what other way to get interesting gameplay then to re-enact someone's life. I've been saying they should do this with one of the Tony Hawk games for a while. I truly believe it could work. You may not get all the choose your own adventure options of a "Mass Effect" or "Kotor"...and let's face it, most of the decisions you get to make in those games are fairly arbitrary.
Post-Comment Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of Kotor and Mass Effect.
Moby Dick would be a pretty cool game, IF done right.
A Lord of the Rings game that covers the entire expanse of the trilogy and Silmarillion...oh, wait, they already made it and cancelled it.
Thanks again, EA.
I'd love to see some Vonnegut books made into games.
Pride and Prejudice - the exciting new dating sim. Work your feminine charms and capture Mr. Bingly's heart! Secret unlockable player - Elizabeth Bennet.
War and Peace the game would need to have the voice of the developer interjecting his opinion on everything you should have done at length at regular intervals.
Anna Karenina was extremely good... except for what he did to Levin at the end.
The Stand.
You all know you secretly just wet yourselves.
The Illiad could be interesting. Borrowing some ideas from Dan Simmons Illium, you could play the role one of the Gods, choosing which side to favor, and when and where to boost the power of one of your heroes to turn the tide of battle. You'd of course be limited by the other Gods ability to do the same, and mighty Zeus would act as a head referee, keeping any one God from over stepping their bounds.
Crime & Punishment. A mix of Broken Sword style graphic adventuring, Assassin's Creed style play mechanics, and Phoenix Wright (the courtroom seens, not the evidence gathering) style wit matching.
Promethea. The 32-issue comic book series by Alan Moore about the Tree of Life, magic, and superheroes. Would made a hell of an action-RPG with some killer storytelling and sublime graphics and art.
Doom Patrol. The Grant Morrison run. Crazy quirky awesome funny. Would make a ridiculously fun action game where you can control all the characters with all their crazy funky surreal abilities.
Snow Crash. Neal Stephenson. Good times.
@Witzbold: They made an adventure game out of Da Vinci Code for PS2, Xbox, and Windows. I didn't play Hotel Dusk, though (it's on my list) so I dunno how similar they are.
What about the Heart of Darkness?
Oh wait, that's Turok.
a mediocre game to match a mediocre book? The Horror!
@baked ham: Oh yeah? I wasnt too familiar with that since didnt hear any real news of it. Interesting though, I wonder how it is.
They should make more of Tom Clancy's books (the good ones) into games. The only 2 I know of that became games where Rainbow Six and The Sum of All Fears. Clear and Present Danger would make a good 3rd person action game.
maybe naked lunch by J.G. ballard, it would have an interactive alien rape scene.
War and Peace doesn't get going until the second quarter of the book, so pick it back up!
But for the full eight hour experience on DVD you can't go past Bondarchuk's 403-minute masterpiece, arguably the best film ever made:
[www.dvdbeaver.com]
[www.ruscico.com]
Something like the Total War engine could suffice for a strategy component although I could see it lending itself to a MMO or RPG. Even a sandbox game a la GTAIV, now that would be something.
I was hoping someone here have read a book by Eco Umberto :(
Hes a great author.
@JoBo: Read that book in the original edition and your head will explode with that crazy english, mine did anyway :P
Nineteen Eighty-Four By Orwell would be a great book, even animal farm.
@Witzbold:
It was based more on the movie than the book I believe and was released the same time. it got crap reviews though: [www.metacritic.com]
Notebook: The Game
Some of the Canterbury tales seem like they could be pretty well adapted to video games. The Knight's Tale, in particular, has elements that could work well in either a strategy game or an RPG (though probably not both.)
@Witzbold:
There was a video game based on the movie- based on the book...
As always with this things, you don't want to know how it turn out, let's just say it wasn't pretty.
1984. But a game based in that world, not just on the content of the book...
@Kirth Gersen: D::: If it was based on the movie thats no good...since the book was by far superior.
@ssjmichael: Oh man that is rather sad.
@Witzbold: Yeah I never played it, but I remember when it came out. I heard it wasn't too good, actually, so I'm all for a proper version of it being made! From what I understand, the one that came out was just a crappy, shameless movie tie-in.
Any Chuck Knorris game would be great haha!!
@Irenicus-the one and only: I thought it was Umberto Eco? I could be wrong. I read In The Name of the Rose. Fucking awesome book. I dunno if it would make a good game though... it made a pretty damn fine movie, though!
Anything by Terry Goodkind (action/RPG), Piers Anthony (adventure), or Robin Hobb (adventure) would be extraordinary. They would also be RIDICULOUSLY long.
Oh and how about a Dune game that ISN'T a RTS? That'd be wicked awesome.
@Witzbold: Lord of the Flies should be a video game, insteda of sticks and rocks they get guns like lost
Chuck Norris vs. Vandame in a game called "Vandamage"
Way back in the day, they had a "Betrayal of Krondor" game for the PC that I remember to be fun (though my memories aren't always accurate).
The "Death Gate Cycle" by Weis and Hickman was also made into a "point and click" type first person game that wasn't too shabby for the time.
I think books would make better games, overall, than movies, because you have a lot more options in the design of the world visually, and it's exciting to see those types of things brought to life.
I'd love to see George R. R. Martin's worlds brought to video game (AND MOVIE) life. Eric Nylund's "A Game of Universe" is open to some good game design ideas as well.
@baked ham: I got the book here, but in Swedish :) Awsome book indeed. I did not know there was a movie though :O Italian movie? As for the name, you are correct, it is Umberto Eco, my bad.
I think it would be great though, just as Nineteen Eighty-Four would be. Speaking on this subject, a bit OT because it is movie related, but I would so want another "The Thing" game built around an online component kinda like the ship on steam but less shitty :D And "they live" :P I want some paranoia games with a great script.
The Circle trilogy by Ted DeKker.
@Irenicus-the one and only: His name is Umberto Eco. Name of the Rose, Foucalt's Pendulum, Baudolino... They're good books, but I doubt that they'd make good games.
To be honest, most good books nowadays are too complicated for the average gamer. If we see people complaining about MGS2's ending being too complicated, imagine what they'd think about one of Haruki Murakami's dialogues, or one of Franz Kafka's explanations.
Alright this is gonna show my young age, but oh well:
The Animorphs all the freaking way.
Think about it, it could be in like an open world like an Elder Scrolls game, where you need to catch the animals in order to become them, and you could have the whole main quest of defeating whatever it is you fought (wow I legit can't remember) and then the side quests of helping people. I always thought when I was 6 it would be sick, and now I still think it is.
Imagine catching a hawk becoming one then flying into Rachel's room to have a late night rendezvous.
@baked ham: I'm with you in being quite certain it is Umberto Eco, and not vice-versa...
@Ashurahori: Someone beat you to the punch :P
I think they make great games, well Name of the rose would.
And MGS2 is way more complicated then some books, and it sold well so as long as the game is fun many books could make it :)
That doesn't mean they have to bring every dialogue or sentence from the book into the game, just as they skip a lot when adapting books to movies.
i still wanna make Frank Peretti's "This Present Darkness"...
I will throw out one more book I would love as a game, Big Fish, that made a great movie too so why not try and make a game of it. I bet it could be great :)
If I'm not mistaken, the last time a book got turned into a video game, we ended up with Dynasty Warriors...
Stephen King and Peter Straub's "The Talisman".
Open world environments, puzzles, and a bit of combat. (Almost like zelda but not quite) Being able to go between the territories and the real world to escape enemies would be awesome.
It would be hard to make though, because the book involves going from oneside of the US to another.
The Island of the Blue Dolphins!!!
@Xagest: You're right.
But that's technically an action game based on a fighting game based on a strategy game based on "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Sugestions from the top of my hat?.
Dark Tower series:
Part third person shooter/adventure ala "Uncharted" with strong elements from RPG. Just the dialog well pulled would be priceless "Say Thankee-Sai".
Harry Bosch series:
We can't get enough Noir games being Max Payne or Hotel Dusk ol' Harry would make a dandy and flawed hero.
Demons Prince/Alastor:
Of course being the biased son of a b.. that I am how I could not mention the Grand Master Vance. With such a vivid imagination, colorful characters and beautiful ecosystems and alien cultures with a knack for vengeance themes, a game with a Mass Effect quality production with less space opera, missions assignment and a more personal character approach would be great.
Rue Morge/Any Poe:
A well elaborated Poe story or book, ANY with a mix with the best from the Silent Hill/RE series and Barker's Undying should do the job, if we stay away from the shooting element and focus more on exploration and ambiance.
Don't get me wrong Lovecraft is great but it has been overdone lately and badly if I way so.
Ok guess that's it, any more and I would be boring you to death the whole day.
Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" as a espionage-based MMO. Imagine tracking a gargoyle by goggling in to the Metaverse and finding his real-time video feed. Then jumping on your RadiKS smartboard and surfing traffic all the way there.
@Sonic_and_Tails: I remember playing a *really* bad Animorphs PC demo a while ago. Standouts- finding checkpoints to morph, on-rails treebranch-dodging forest running sequences, and turn-based combat.
The article's take on 1984 actually sounds interesting. It could borrow from Metal Gear Solid for the torture scenes (or from whatever game did it first, MGS is just the first that comes to mind).
HP Lovecraft gave some inspiration to SK on Eternal Darkenss, that's bleeding over into Too Human.
It'd be interesting to see if a well known book was made into a game.