(no subject)

[deckardcanine]

Paramount Pictures will be adapting some of its popular older titles into video games. Already tipped for adaptation are the classic women-focused comedies "Clueless," "Mean Girls" and "Pretty in Pink."

Now, I have nothing against movies becoming video games long after their release in theaters, and I appreciate efforts to cater to the growing minority of female gamers. But I have, well, no clue how to make a halfway- or even 20%-decent game out of the Jane Austen modernization Clueless. The amateur driving scenes offer some playability, but giving options for the outcome really messes up the plot. I suppose there could be a more social focus, like a less perverted Leisure Suit Larry, but... eh. And much as I enjoyed the movie, I know it's not intellectual enough for an adventure game a la Myst. It doesn't help much if you look to the middling TV series, either.

I have not seen Mean Girls or Pretty in Pink, but I doubt they'd have a much easier time of it. The publication Express (source of the news) puts it nicely: "Do you get points for wearing pink?"

Comments

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

I fear the golden age of video games has passed. Any art movement is at its best when nobody knows what the rules are and they're trying to figure them out. Like 19th century French painters working out what impressionism is, rather than 21st century Americans trying it out. Arcade games went through that era in the 1980's, and home video games in the 1980's - 1990's. Things are stagnant now, you have the first-person shooter, the fighting game, etc. Occasionally someone comes out with something fresh, like Katamari Damacy, but it's becoming increasingly rare.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a reason that seemingly a high percentage of gamers, including me, say that their favorite console is one that debuted no later than the early '90s.

Still, this is hardly a bad time to be a gamer. Almost every other medium -- TV, cinema, music, fine art, comic books, comic strips -- has experienced a palpable decline lately, in some cases even on the brink of death. But electronic games have never been more widely popular. Certainly a long way from the Crash of '83 I've read about.

Besides, Nintendo still has a reputation for innovation, yet it doesn't have a monopoly on that front. If there's one good thing about the games I've derided in my initial post, it's their demonstration of a will to experiment.