Hey MyIGNers! It's been yet another week with a lack of blogging content around from me so it's time to post yet another new blog in times of this crisis. Many of you will know that I have written a few blogs in the past months about books and in general, reading. Many of which have been too long to bear and they were truly blogs for those who are obsessed with reading. However, this blog won't be too complex and this time around, I have decided to base it more around video games since it is a video gaming site per say... unless I've gone totally confused and I'm on some sort of cooking site.
I would like to talk to you about the factor of adaptations of media. We see many games adapting movies especially the superhero ones but are on the drastic decline, movies adapting many of the classics which may be too awesome but could become unbearable to see. Although in particular, there is still the question of books. If they become adapted in to movies, then surely we would be seeing video game adaptations of novels too and the fact is, aside from few hundred million DC and Marvel games produced, there are some games based on novels and you might think that the lack of recognition means only that these games haven't been so great and have turned in to more of a horror game... without intending to add an horror themes to it but the fact is that many are the complete opposite. In particular, the Metro series is based on the book and many people already know and has already won a few awards but this isn't alone as there is another series where it's next installment is on the way and could potentially over the minds of fantasy fans forever until the next one's released. It can only be the Witcher and the basis of morality was already incorporated from the books so some elements did in fact become one of the gameplay mechanics.
Considering this, there may be a reason behind why we may not see many game adaptations from movies and aside from the reasoning that many people may not have read the books, I believe it heavily comes down to the concerns of what people may think of the final product. A book is much more complex at times when outside of picture and comic books as many people will have different ideas of the books and see it within their own layout and their own theme. This of course would generate some criticism of the game but I do believe that this form of adaptation does some potential and when you consider movie adaptations, there's much more that a video game could deliver more to the gamer and possibly the original fan of the books... assuming it's longer than 2 hours... and there's some popcorn available.
So here's a few ways in which I think books could be adapted.
New storyline
Before you throw any of your snacks, please let me explain. It would be true that movies change up their versions of the setting and storyline with books and with a game, it may even be able to include much more however the problem with many people having different interpretations about the books may generate issues between what they believe is right or wrong with the adaptations. So why not go down the very simple route and utilise the setting and possibly characters of that fictional universe to bring out a brand new storyline who maybe could be written by the original author him/herself.
Say for example if Star Wars was based on a book series. Just look at how the series has already expanded just outside of the original and prequel movie series! It's already gone through more detailed works of several novels to action packed games set millions of years ago when the Human race was still deciding whether to move house when the Ice Age was arriving. I would very much say that would have been the most expanded universe ever if it was adapted from just a few books... that's why it's called the Expanded Universe and this isn't even including the few dozen movie parts we get for every fantasy film.
So even if the book would have been different from the Star Wars movies, there would have been several varieties of interpretations of the franchise with the numerous eras and characters, the series has always been portrayed in darker and more child friendly lights and this also prevents the possibility of repelling fans of the series as it wouldn't be a total disaster if it didn't become a success as it would be a brand new storyline but with some elements left to reinforce that it is the same universe as what they read in the book and I believe that's a good thing since it would present much of the game for both the fans of the books without harming their interpretation and new fans of the series. It would be more of an expansion to the series so it could act as an incentive for the mainstream fans of mindless action and whatnot to try out some of the books especially if there are some hints towards their storylines in the game as well as the fact that it could become more recognised than all the overrated games out there whilst incorporating some new elements we haven't seen in gaming!
No storyline... or more of an RPG
Another plea of don't throw your snacks at me but the the purpose of a book is usually aimed at presenting an individual's ideas across in the form of a storyline or a theme and with movies and games, this could become problematic as they could potentially miss some important elements or even miss interpret them. Of course, we could say that the author could help the developers and all but what what happens if they're not available and you have the right to develop the game of that particular universe? It may not be sufficient to portray the author's ideas or even what the fans saw in the book so in the case of say, a few fantasy series, why not just expand the adaptation more in the form of an RPG where the player can design their own characters and can understand the universe from their perspective.
Maybe it could be more of an MMORPG although I think that would probably be a terrifying fate. Instead, with books that maintain a universe of magic, hoverboarding and journeying to other planets, why not focus more on that rather than an exact adaptation of the movie. There may be a storyline of course. I apologise if I scared many of you but it would be more focused on delivering the potential of the universe rather than the storyline of the characters people know and love and thus, people may not go crazy that the character hasn't been adapted in to something they didn't want to see. Instead, you could make up your own storyline like you already see in games like Mass Effect and even the Witcher so why not project your own freedom within the game and explore the universe where there's so much potential? I mean if there was a game based on the Harry Potter series, I know, I would want to see much of the game involve me running around like in the very first games but extended on so that players could fly a broomstick from Hogwarts to Diagon Alley (or most commonly known as, Diagonally), test out the whole bunch of potions...
and run in to all the secret passageways that lead to the Philosopher's Stone and to all the Trolls and all. Who knows? Maybe it will have more aspects on the story and could very well tie in with the characters of the main series without interfering with their storylines.
So why not make your own character in this universe? Especially if the franchise is so large, why not journey the entire series in your own time? 
Of course, this my actually become an easy solution in the case that the original book it is not even based on a storyline as such. You may think I'm talking gibberish but when we consider the factor of non-fictional books which don't offer much aside from the facts, it would be simple to design a game based on learning with a sections of exploration and whatnot and could even become the opposite of fictional books and implement a storyline for the game. Who else has wanted a game where you can just travel the World? Although that doesn't mean that the real World isn't full of stories and it would be interesting to see real life stories in gaming rather than movies such a mixture of World War 2 accounts. That way, developers can avoid the expenses of large expenses on one single movie and yet tell and intriguing storyline.
More involved with the lore of the current franchise
If there's one thing I know about any franchise, is that all have infinite potential and the same goes for even the smallest of series but the main issue is that many developers don't see it. Sometimes a developer will make many movies or games even though just from the very beginning, there were storylines awaiting to be used for future installments. For example in the Assassin's Creed series, already, they've gone past the most anticipated game of Assassin's Creed 3 yet they move on in the chronological order when they could just as easily focus on Assassins after the purge or even what it's like to choose sides of the Assassins and Templars and I'm just considering some possibilities from the first game in the modern day... in Abstergo. Wait until the historical aspect becomes another factor. How about Star Wars? There's a whole bunch of interesting things all across the galactic timeline such as the Pre-Republican Rakata yet the series is likely to take sometimes and someplace after the original trilogy with all the cast on board which in some ways makes me worry that there are many small events out there which may seem awesome to explore but it's unlikely due to the fact that the film and gaming industry is pretty competitive and all the time, new additions of the franchise are being considered but they are mostly projected at what the mainstream audience will love and this is probably why we will see the actors of the original film series in order to gain the support of both fans of the original series and soon to be fans who will likely become best buds with the series. Although, the new movies could still be welcomed by the fans even if it was based on a much smaller event and it just depends on whether they can emphasize the setting and the theme of the movie rather than just all the action and making use of all the potential that is currently available.
Some people my see this as a means of milking but I wouldn't consider this. It's not impossible but many of the spin-offs and storylines which head down an event which isn't much talked about are not well received and there is the fact that many people see the movie as being too risky so they are more likely to step further away but what if movies that we see that are so popular, were spin-offs? They would still have done well in my opinion. I mean the reboot of Star Trek was thought of being one of the best movies of 2009 yet it was originally meant to be a prequel and in some respects, spin-off before being intended to act as a full reboot and this was before the 21st century started. All it needed was some time and it got that. It became a form of all three forms of continuity in my opinion acting as a prequel, spin-off and a reboot.
However with a game, this seems to be much more efficient. Sure there's lots of money involved with every game but a game wouldn't have to just focus on one event. Games like Star Wars: Battlefront have already gone across from battles from the Rise of the Empire era to the Empire where either way, they had more technological achievements than us. 
However why not broaden the horizons and make many games in one game... if that makes sense. Let me just explain this further, for a Star Wars game or a series with large universe, there could be storylines of different events with some with short episodic material and then another era would simply act like a level on the main menu or something but hopefully they would be open world. 
That way, storylines of the existing universe can be divided and if you don't like one of the stories, just try out another segment on the timeline which could even feature brand new gameplay and in some respects, money may not be required as a huge topic of development and as the high quantity of small storylines yet innovative gameplay could prove to become a pretty cheap option as opposed to a huge game based on one event.
Now when we apply this to a book like the Rook series, there are countless eras we could visit such as the the birth of the world or even past lives of some of the species we come to know and love... and hate. Although Rook is slightly easier as there are already pictures of the characters and settings so there would be much more chance of a full adaptation and that's what I would like to talk about in my next point.
Are comic books more efficient for this concept?
There is an exception especially with comic books as they illustrate many of the characters and action already and it's clear to see that they dominate much of the video game adaptations of books anyway and are even some of the last remaining series of video game adaptations of movies. However there are some problems we can see already in the movie adaptations and I'm not going to elaborate on the Dark Knight and Spidey films in this blog (maybe sometime later) but much of what there is seems to be too realistic and focused on trying to fit in with all the other movies out there and I believe that it may eventually harm the game series as many of the villains have lost all their colour and diversity and just seem based on the darker themes.
A darker perspective isn't a bad thing but it seems that the combination of a darker theme and realistic tone is becoming more prevalent within comic book video games and if you look at Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, even though it was't a very well received game, it didn't lose touch of creativity but with the Amazing Spider-Man games, many of the villains seem to be a tad too realistic. The villain, Scorpion was just an experiment rather than an actual person. I mean, the Lego games are outpacing other Marvel games just as much as Marvel movies are outpacing DC films and just just look at the most recent games DC has offered. Aside from charging money as usual for about 10 characters, Injustice still does petty well at showing the variety of abilities and I remember a time when there were DC and Marvel games not just on an annual basis but about every 6 months. Now it feels like there's more of video game adaptations from the films rather than the book material itself.
Why not emphasize this more with brand new video game series? DC has the Batman Arkham series so it would be much more interesting to see games from Marvel's side including shield across many countries, fighting many villains and maybe in new dimensions. It would certainly bring many of the characters together with brand new storylines but unfortunately, many of these games such as X-Men Destiny, didn't go too well and now developers are less likely to design further games about some of the series but who knows? Maybe there are some games in development which could potentially bring out a further side of the gaming industry. It would be great for developers to utilise the potential of some of the characters with very few games such as Iron Man and this could easily merge a story with the aim group, full of a wide variety of villains and maybe they could make a storyline like they have done with the movies aside from rushing them yet introduce some lesser known characters. There are many possibilities but I really don't know the state of all the rights and who owns the franchises at the moment. I think many are just for the movies but I've heard that even some of the characters are owned by some other studios other than Marvel... which continues to confuse me further so I'm not sure if this may represent some problems but surely, all the character like X-Men and Spider-Man will team up again soon, right? They have to...
Overall, video game adaptations of books do have much potential to become more focused and common within the gaming industry but in some ways, I do think it depends on the style of the books theme. For example, a thriller book series which sells a brand new novel every year I think could do well at least when combining many of them in to one game as it would be more simplified however when considering books that have many interpretations, I think there are various issues with pushing away the fans of the book and that's the reason why I wrote this blog. I know many fans of the books may not have even heard of the games an the same can be said for the players so there may not be a significant impact but I'm still cautious about the scenario of when books become a video game and when you look at some of the film adaptation of books, it could turn in to a disaster for not only the original fans but also may prevent the mainstream audience from learning about the book series which would be a shame especially if many of the elements were taken in to the wrong direction without concerning much about the book such as World War Z which I believe has become horror story in itself... for the book readers.
So that's it from me! I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog and there will plenty more of book blogs and a few bunch of movie ones to especially about Marvel. I apologise if you've been waiting for many blogs, like a 2 blog a week like I'm usually write but I've pretty busy and from the look of it, so has much of IGN. However I will continue to deliver as many blogs as possible with many varied topics and many unexpected. Surprise!
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.