When creating video games based on movies there are always going to be both good things and bad about this. Whilst some video game developers produce fantastic video game adaptations of movies for instance; others fail miserably, and turn a good idea into a terrible, terrible game.
Very rarely does a great video game based on a movie get released. As a general rule; video games based on movies tend to be dreadful, and herein lies the biggest problem of all.
A lot of video games based on movies seem very rushed; they're not very well put together, there's no flow about the games, and the sole reason they're released is to cash in on the success of the movie, and make a bit of extra money in movie merchandise. There often seems to be no worry as to whether or not the game is actually any good; video game companies know that if the film is big, then the video game will sell well no matter what its quality.
Movies can often be very difficult to adapt to a video game format, and there lies another huge problem. A lot of movies don't translate at all well into a video game, the magic of the movie is lost, and what you're left with is a lifeless tedious video game that few people are going to enjoy playing. It can be very hard to recreate a movie in a video game, and the basic essence of the movie can therefore be lost in trying to make the movie fit. You play the game, and although it might be pretty good; it's just nothing like the movie that it's based on, and this can be an equally irritating problem as playing a poorly put together game.
When you buy a video game based on a movie, you expect it to in some way relate to the movie. When the two don't match, it can provide for a very frustrating gaming experience. You want to see certain scenes translated into the video game, you're excited to take part for yourself in the movie that you loved; you play the game though, and it just doesn't happen. Everything has been changed trying to make a successful video game, and the video game therefore fails in its aim of achieving success as it's just too different to the movie.
I've given a very bleak view of movie based video games so far, but as I said at the very beginning; there are some companies that manage to put together truly exceptional video game adaptations of movies.
Who can forget Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64? Based on the James Bond film of the same name, Goldeneye was a video game that hooked the masses, and never since has a James Bond video game been anywhere near as impressive. Play Goldeneye today and you'll find that it's still a brilliant game; this is a prime example of a video game based on a movie where everything was right, and I just have nothing but praise for the Nintendo 64 Goldeneye video game.
Every once in a while, a video game based on a movie will come along and absolutely blow you away. Goldeneye is one such example of one of these games, and it's worth wading through the rubbish for the occasional gem. Goldeneye was, quite possibly, the greatest game that was ever released on the Nintendo 64, and it was of course based on a movie. When video game developers get it right, they can really impress, and this has to be seen as a huge positive point about creating video games based on movies.
Video games based on movies can sometimes provide you with an opportunity to take part in your favourite scenes from a movie. Not just watching it, you're now involved in the action, and what was already excellent in a movie is now ten times better in a video game.
There are undeniably a lot of bad video games based on movies that are available on the market today. Every year there are many huge movies released, and you can guarantee that each and every year video games developers will create video games based on some of the movies that are released. None will impress all, some will impress barely anyone, and occasionally a video game based on a movie will be released that will be hailed as one of the greatest video games of the year.
There are both pros and cons of creating video games based on movies, and some may argue that the cons far outweigh the pros. Some truly terrible video games based on movies have been released throughout the years, there have also been some brilliant ones though, and always it's excellent when a movie based video game comes along that truly is excellent.
Bad video games based on movies will always be released, there are some truly exceptional ones out there as well though, and this is something that always needs to be remembered. Not all movie based video games are bad, and it is a multi-million dollar industry. Where there's money to be made there will always be those that exploit the system, but equally there will also be others that provide quality, and create top products that are created with care.