Adaptations of video games to the world of cinema are currently trending, unfortunately there is no formula that guarantees success.
During the last decades we have witnessed the flourishing of video game adaptations to the world of cinema and television, becoming a highly valued option by the entertainment industry. The titles of the big franchises take over the screensabove all, through the large platforms of streaming where we can enjoy productions like fallout, Arcane: League of Legends and The Last of Us, the miniseries broadcast on Prime Video, Netflix and HBO Max, respectively. This trend also encompasses the seventh art and we can appreciate it with Five Nights at Freddy's and Super Mario Bros: The Movie.
Unfortunately, not all projects are carried out correctly. The absence of a formula or scheme complicates the task of providing an adaptation capable of replicating the video game, without falling into too many differences.
Jonathan Nolan has the answer
The creator of one of the best Prime Video series believes he has the answer
According to Jonathan Nolan, the director of Prime Video's second most-watched series, fallout, The difficulty of turning a video game into a television series or movie lies in its very nature.. Unlike a literary work or an original creation, the history of video games depends on the person manipulating the controller.
Although some directors have achieved success, translating the player experience is a nearly impossible task to achieve. Nolan assures that although his miniseries has received good reviews and is among the great favorites of Prime Video, the plot is still unexplored territory. In this way, the advancement of its development has been subject to the evolution of the franchise's timeline, there is no pre-established plan.
Maintain the essence
The problem with video games is that, although they are a way of telling stories, the breadth of their scope forces us to give up many of their qualities. In the case of falloutthe aspect that distinguishes the title is that it is an open-world role-playing game, something that obviously cannot be reflected in the television program.
In this sense, The true goal of any adaptation should be to evoke the feelings of the players. It is not enough to choose a popular title, it is necessary to study its characteristics and evaluate whether its personality and tone have the capacity to survive translation.
Likewise, it is essential to make the experience immersive, something very difficult to achieve when there are no well-developed characters. Just like with comics It is wrong to try to imitate an exact frameAfter all, we are talking about completely different entertainment media. Maintaining the essence that defines the title means prioritizing the bond that exists between video games and players, and presenting the story based on what makes it special.
Animation quality is not everything
The Last of Us is another example of doing things right
Thanks to technological advances in animation, today, it is increasingly easier to turn any idea into a finished project. However, this does not imply the possibility of achieving excellence. According to the showrunner Craig Mazin, part of the success achieved with The Last of Us obeys the correct form of define the tone of the storysomething impossible to achieve without the presence of the game's creator, Neil Druckmann as part of the production.
In this way, although the production presents important differences with respect to the video game, it maintains the essence that defines it, implying that there is no need to accurately replicate history, but to transmit what makes it special. Bad adaptations have a common denominator, they focus on maintaining the aspects that define the game, not what it represents. The studios' intention is to make money by taking advantage of the interest that the titles generate among their followers.
In short, although there is no master formula or clear strategy capable of guaranteeing the correct translation of a video game to movie screens. The key lies in transmitting the essence of the game and not on the possible profits, as is the case with movies uncharted (2022) and Project Rampage (2018), which neglected the aspects that truly attract players.
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