Movie adaptations from books, comic books, and plays are common and have had a wide range of successes. However, making a movie based on a video game is a different monster altogether. It’s like invading Afghanistan, no one can do it right. While at times they can make some money at the box office, these movies have never been a hit with critics and rarely please fans. The mostly critically acclaimed one, and I use the phrase loosely, was Final Fantasy and the best performing one at the box office was Mortal Kombat. That being said, here are some games that I’d like to see get made it to movies even if they have already been screwed up already and will most likely be screwed up again. Just maybe, if done right, these could be great (ok, maybe enjoyable) films. Continue reading
Category Archives: Gaming
Staff Writer | Please Do Them Right, Pt 1: Video Games That Should be Movies
Filed under Gaming, Joseph De Paul, Movies
Geeks You Should Know: Ralph Baer
Americans love a good rags to riches story, especially when the protagonist has to work hard, pull himself up by his bootstraps, and eventually makes it big. Horatio Alger sold dozens of books based on this very formula. There’s also a Geek You Should Know that did this very thing! Ralph Baer is credited with creating the world’s first gaming console, the Brown Box–later called the Odyssey–but he didn’t start as a technological guru.
Filed under Gaming, Geeks You Should Know
Glorious, Wonderful Fluff
Though I may not be a hardcore gamer, I have been playing video games since I was five on my beloved Nintendo Entertainment System (which still works, btw). Through the last twenty-five years I have noticed that while a great in-game story and cunning gameplay are essential to a top notch experience, what puts some of my favorite games over the edge is the wonderful “fluff” that accompanies them. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Hales, Gaming, Geek Life
Adventures in GMing
Not that long ago I allowed myself to be talked into doing something I had never done before. In fairness it didn’t really take all that much convincing. Mostly a lighthearted conversation and a little bit of gentle flattery and I was hooked. It was something I’d been looking into for a while, and everything just fell into place. I am referring of course to my first attempts as a Game Master.
Roll Initiative!
As I just mentioned, being part of a roleplaying group was something that I had been interesting in for quite some time. It just seems like the next logical step, to jump into one of my fandoms and be a part of the story instead of a passive observer. I had initially planned to be just a participant and not actually the one running the game, but as I have frequently learned, things rarely go according to plan. This is also not the first time I’ve attempted to get a gaming group going. Unfortunately, previous attempts were foiled by massive scheduling issues across the board. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Hales, Gaming, Geek Life
Therefore I Geek 