Can games make good movies?

As Prince Of Persia — The Sands Of Time gears up for release, we look at other games that have been turned into movies.

Video games have been made into live action movies from as early as 1993, starting with Super Mario Brothers. This movie was the first of its kind and it opened a gateway for producers to a new kind of genre — video game-based-movies.

The reason behind this was that the Mario Brothers video game was also a kind-of gateway for gamers to enter the new and innovative world of video games. But strangely, while the Mario Brothers game has always been remembered for its greatness, the film is a universal joke among gamers, and it flopped at the box office too.

Prince Of Persia- The Sands Of Time, one of the most popular video games ever, is coming up with a cinematic version at the end of this month.

Since the game was such a massive success because of its superb action and great characterization, it was always considered obvious, in the gaming world, that it would inspire some filmmaker to present it in front of a larger audience.

While Hollywood has been making games into movies intermittently so far, like Tomb Raider, Street Fighter, Max Payne, amongst others, the coming months will see a barrage of game-based movies.

Box office failures
But if you consider the box office fate, the success rate of these projects has not been very inspiring. With the failure of Max Payne, Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Doom, you would think that Hollywood would stay away from making video games into movies.

But in the coming year, you will see the movie version of popular games like Kombat, Tekken, Halo, Bioshock, Gears Of War, God Of War etc, which are all currently under production. It is usually the fan following of the gamers, the plot, as well as the game's action that usually inspires directors to make movie version of the games.

We asked Mumbai's addicted gamers what they think about the trend of games-turned-movies. Not surprisingly, most gamers find the games more interesting, but are all collectively looking forward to the release of Prince Of Persia - The Sands of Time.

The Tomb Raider movie had better graphics
Abbas Chitlawala (Bhavans College) thinks movies are more fun.

Movies vs Games
Mortal Kombat: The movie was better because the game didn't have a plot. I was very disappointed after playing the game because the movie was picturised so beautifully and the game didn't compare to the movie.
Resident Evil: The game was quite tough but the movie was gripping and fun to watch.
Tomb Raider: Graphically, the game wasn't at all up to the mark. The movie had better graphics and action sequences.
Street Fighter: It was a fun one-on-one action game, but it became monotonous after a while. I found the movie better than the game.

Expectations
Prince Of Persia — Sands Of Time: The characters used in the game are exceptional. It has excellent action too. It would be very hard for the movie to live up to the game, since the game was quite an experience to play. I just hope it lives up to the expectations.

Games I'd like to see as movies
Shadow Of Rome
Dante's Inferno

Mortal Kombat movie was boring
Hursh Fadia (Amity University) thinks games are better

Movies vs Game
Mortal Kombat: I liked the game more since it was high on action and had great graphics. The movie was boring and predictable, and didn't interest me.
Resident Evil: The game is way better than the movie. There is good amount of action and the plot is decent. The movie was only loosely based on the game.
Tomb Raider: The movie was better. The game was low on graphics and action, when compared to the movie. The game was also slow and difficult to play.
Street Fighter: It is one of my favourite games. I just love playing it. I was a bit disappointed with the movie as it was slow and the plot was not gripping.

Expectations
Prince Of Persia — Sands Of Time: The movie should have loads of action and a good screenplay. The Prince in the game is very well portrayed and I hope to see a similar portrayal in the movie as well. The game had great graphics and I hope the director does justice to it.

Games I'd like to see as movies
God Of War
Counter Strike
Warcraft

Resident Evil didn't have a gripping story
Prannoy Nair (Lala Lajpat Rai College) likes the excitement of games

Movies vs Game
Mortal Kombat: The game is much better because its full of exciting, raw action. The movie was less exciting and didn't have enough adventure.
Tomb raider: The game is very user friendly and exciting. The movie, after some point, became quite boring.
resident evil The movie doesn't have a gripping story; you start losing interest after a certain point of time.

Expectations
Prince Of Persia — Sands Of Time: The game is really good. I don't expect much from the movie because the
main thing was the Persian look given to the character in the game and that seems to be missing in the movie, from what I have seen in the trailers and the posters. According to me, in a game's adaptation, the casting should be good. The story should be adapted from the game only.

Games I'd like to see as movies
Halo
Gears Of War
Metro 2033
Army Of Two

Max Payne wasn't as exciting as the game
Taher Tejani (M A Saboo Siddik College) likes the plot of games

Movies vs Game
Mortal Kombat: The movie was good. The game isn't interesting because there is no 'story mode' in the game. It's a one on one fighting game and that makes it monotonous.
Resident Evil: The game is very long, slow and difficult. You stop playing the game after a while because of its pace.
Max payne: The game is better because its storyline keeps you hooked, though the movie wans't exciting.
Street Fighter: The game is a lot better. It is one of the oldest games, and is always fun to play. It is the best means to kill time!

Expectations
Prince Of Persia — Sands Of Time: The movie should live up to the standard set by the game. The game is way too good. The various types of stunts, the color schemes, the story line and everything else in the game is gripping. It was not possible for me to switch off the console for a long time!

Games I'd like to see as movies
God Of War
Call Of Duty
Prototype