Video Games & Existing IP's

[ReZourceman]

Game Show UK have made a cracking video about this subject and watching it has spurred me on to want to discuss IP's in video games;

 

 

 

- Why do so many IP's have problems in video games? I can't imagine that all the ones that have problems simply set out to be a cash grab? There must be some kind of ambition in the creators.

 

- What are the best IP's?

 

- Etc.

[Jonnas]

First of all, I wouldn't call them "IPs", it sounds like we're talking about adaptations. Mario, Sonic, Uncharted, Mass Effect are all IPs, but they aren't adaptations of something else.

 

- Why do so many IP's have problems in video games? I can't imagine that all the ones that have problems simply set out to be a cash grab? There must be some kind of ambition in the creators.

 

Most have that problem by virtue of being released alongside whatever movie/series it is they're promoting. Others are released at the first opportunity there is to make something out of the IP (see: 3D adaptations during the PS1/PS2 era, tons of 2D games during the SNES/Mega Drive era), like the Spawn examples in that video.

 

Another issue is that, sometimes, developers will make something that can't balance being a good game and a faithful adaptation at the same time. Superman's flying mechanics spring to mind. As a more general example, adaptations have bosses because gaming conventions say they must, and many times those are just shoved into the story, even if their existence clashes with the original work.

 

Stuff like Superhero comics don't give much importance to continuity in the first place (dead characters don't stay dead, costume designs change all the time, so do character backstories, etc.), so those IPs tend to be flexible enough to make anything out of it.

 

In the end, videogames are a very different medium than most, and often require a different approach than what what the original was going for. I mean, how can you adapt something like

 

- What are the best IP's?

 

Shonen fighting games can be good. TCG adaptations (Pokémon TCG, Yu-gi-oh, etc.) tend to be hard to screw up, even though they'll inevitably be limited. Comic Books are a good source for various genres, like I already said. Point&Click adaptations tend to be well received, as they can easily follow movie/book conventions without having to resort to action (Indiana Jones, Sam&Max, most Telltale games, are all examples). Goldeneye 007 was also great for its time.

 

Also, an example I'd like to mention: Dragon Ball RPGs that contain "filler" material worthy of videogames (for example, Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Krillin find out that Rabbit-Guy is turning the mountain animals into carrot-monsters, and now you have a dungeon with a boss), but that fall flat when adapting certain events from the series (the Piccolo Jr. saga does not work in RPG form). There was an NES RPG that changed the story to make Yamcha&Tenshinhan part of the Namek saga, the sort of change that works wonders for this sort of thing, but not many developers would go and do it. Another thing I would like to see would be an adaptation of the Android saga to make it both less confusing and more interesting. A videogame could do that, but none has.

 

Essentially, I feel that videogame adaptations can be good as long as they aren't blindingly faithful to the source material. They're good for things like world-building and slow story-telling (since you don't have to make cutscenes, just let the player explore the game).