CHEGheads Blog

Traditional Influences on Digital Media

Posted by Eric Wheeler - 07/09/10 at 11:07 am

As a fan of the hit television series Man vs. Wild on Discovery Channel, I was thrilled by my chance encounter with the show’s celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls at E3. On screen, Bear inevitably finds himself in harrowing situations that test his expert survival skills. Publisher Crave Entertainment is betting gamers will want to walk in Bear’s shoes in their upcoming video game adaptation of the show. From Bear, to Wonder Woman, to Mickey Mouse, countless faces from other media showed up in games demonstrated at the Expo this year. Eric and Bear Whether walking the show floor at E3 or browsing the seemingly endless collection of game titles housed in the ICHEG Game Lab, one thing is clear— I find a deep connection between electronic games and other media. Video games reflect the culture in which they are produced. Designers often draw from television, cinema, comics, and literature to create video game characters and settings.

The trend towards this confluence of traditional and digital media began during the early stages of the electronic game industry in the 1970s, as game designers increasingly sought to capitalize on the familiarity of pop culture characters as diverse as Superman and Big Bird. The library of titles available for the Atari 2600 game console alone illustrate this point; game cartridges often found sitting alongside this classic system sported titles such as M*A*S*H*, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man, and Berenstain Bears.

ICHEG’s collections reflect the broad influence that authors and screenwriters have exerted on the video game industry. The immense success of Tom Clancy’s novel Red Storm Rising spawned the submarine simulation game of the same title. A long line of games bearing Clancy’s name and drawing upon his work followed, including the hit Rainbow Six series. Arnold Schwarzenegger “came back” in the arcade game Terminator 2: Judgment Day and also in the console version, T2: The Arcade Game, both of which provide the opportunity to play a T-800 model Terminator from a first-person perspective. In 24: The Game, Jack Bauer saves the world from certain doom—with our help, of course. And Captain America battles the nefarious Red Skull in Captain America and the Avengers, one of the many titles that bear witness to the enduring popularity of comic super heroes. Indeed, many traditional media characters have made the jump to the digital world, yet this media crossover is far from a one way street.

Lara Croft As the game industry evolved, iconic characters from the digital world began making their way into the realm of traditional media. Pokémon, the hit title for Nintendo’s Game Boy line of handhelds, quickly spread into numerous other media, most notably anime and manga. The game series Tomb Raider hosts Laura Croft, who spawned several blockbuster motion pictures, comic books, and novels. Recently, the film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the Prince of Persia game franchise, hit theaters nationwide. Moving forward, the number of characters from the digital world transitioning into traditional media will, no doubt, continue to rise as authors, comic book writers, and screenwriters seek to provide readers and viewers with storylines based on interesting characters they identify with.

Are there video games characters you believe would make good traditional media characters or vice versa? I would personally love to see bounty hunter Samus Aran hit the big screen in a movie version of Metroid.

July 9, 2010 | View Comments

4 Comments »

(So cool that you got to meet Bear Grylls!)

Movie adaptations of video games have been typically horrible. I think it’s because the medium is different. With video games, you can draw inspiration from many sources, including real life, but the real hook is the immersive gameplay. With movies, visual effects and cinematography frame a compelling story. A video game with a great story but terrible gameplay is generally panned. Similary, a movie with fantastic visual effects and a terrible plot is just bad… to me anyway.

So yes, different media should continue to borrow from each other, but they should focus on what’s exciting and unique about the medium.

Another fun link: IGN made a fake trailer for a Zelda movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oqwFNKN8MA

Comment by Wes — July 9, 2010 #
I loved WWF Wrestlemania 2000 for N64 because you could design your own wrestlers—this feature was essentially the precursor to Mii avatars. How great was it to see John and Paul tag-team against Ringo and George? Words cannot describe.

Comment by Lauren — July 9, 2010 #
First off, Man vs. Wild rocks. ‘Nuff said. And I would love to see Halo, Morrowind, Half Life, and Zelda movies. Even if they suck. It would be a damn shame, but I’d go to see them. The problem is figuring out how to successfully turn one type of media into another. Going from games to movies, you have to capture the essence of the game without the aspect of gameplay. The game needs a really strong story to make a successful movie. It’s like trying to make a game that’s just one long, awesome cut-scene. Pretty tough. Going from movies or books to games seems like it would be easier, but I’m almost always disappointed in the result. Which angers me because you could make an absolutely sick game from so many movies. Children of Men, 28 Days Later, a true Lord of the Rings RPG…

Comment by Matt Bichsel — July 12, 2010 #
Yes, 28 Days Later would make an amazing game!

Comment by Lauren — July 14, 2010 #