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There are plenty of games ripe for conversion into worthwhile films.

It should be noted that not all big name games will produce good films. Any film buff will tell horror stories of Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Wing Commander, Mortal Kombat and anything at all with Uwe Boll attached to it. It's obviously debatable whether a good director could have made anything decent from these games if they'd been given proper, creative control as these films don't really have the depth to them to transfer across to the silver screen.

There have been a few near misses to, such as the Final Fantasy film (which is a little tenuous as it's not based on any specific Final fantasy game), Silent Hill and the Resident Evil games which weren't disasters but are fairly decent pieces of entertainment. I thought that Doom also fell into this category though I may well be in the minority on that one and I think that it's also an exception to the rules that make decent films from games.

So, when it comes down to it, what does a game need to have potential as a good film? Personally, I think a game needs two important aspects to help the transfer. Firstly, a good basic idea to reel you in. A lot of films have this as standard for when they're being pitched.

Secondly though, I think a game needs some depth to it. It needs to be more than just a simple idea. I think that it's one of the reasons that films such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat failed at heart they're only very shallow games.

Additionally, special effects have reached a level where game worlds can be accurately reproduced, irrespective of how fantastic and unbelievable they might be.

There has to be more to the game to provide more than whatever the basic game offers and to be able to add a decent plot, some depth and enough to keep the interest high for the duration of the film.

Grand Theft Auto 3 series

The GTA3 series is interesting because it borrows so much from existing film and television. GTA: Vice City borrowed a lot from 80s entertainment such as Miami Vice and a lot from Scarface. GTA: San Andreas is not as obviously based on television and film, but still shares a lot of the same traits as Vice City. The amount of big name stars roped in as voice actors is quite mind boggling for a mere computer game.

The basic story of a no-name petty criminal rising through the ranks of a city's underworld mirrors Scarface and has been done before, but the Grand Theft Auto games offer a slight twist on that with many touches

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