Why Video Game Adaptations are Good Now
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- Опубликовано: 7 ноя 2023
- (I'm aware the Witcher was originally a book series, and the TV show is more or less an adaptation of those. So it might've been a little misleading to include it here.)
Just a few years ago, video game adaptations were the laughingstocks of the film world and were basically unheard of on TV. More recently, though, we've seen success stories like Five Nights and Freddy's, Mario, Arcane, The Witcher, Castlevania, Sonic, and The Last of Us. Not all of these movies and shows are amazing and some might rely too heavily on fanservice, but it's clear that some things have changed in the video game adaptation landscape and I want to talk about that. 
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I think Nintendo using Detective Pikachu of all things was a clever way to dip their toe back into the movie world. It’s from a popular series but also an obscure title with a pretty simple self contained plot (the amount of people who didn’t know about the Detective Pikachu game was honestly kinda jarring). It wasn’t perfect but I think it set an example of what could be done with Video Game movies
I mean I wouldn't call Detective Pikachu really a Nintendo film, The Pokèmon Company has done animated films for decades and DP was their first live action experiment
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
I'll be honest: I didn't even know Detective Pikachu was a game until now
@@kasplachproductions6198 the movie takes a lot of creative liberties but still follows the basic premise. The big difference is that the game leaves off on a cliffhanger as to where Tim’s dad is whereas the movie just wraps it up, most likely cause they just didn’t think a movie sequel for it would work
@@kasplachproductions6198 You got 2 now. The first pre-dates the movie, the second came out this year and pretty much has the movie's story but worse, and barely any gameplay
i feel like good isn't the right word for what's happening with video game adaptations, i feel like video game adaptations have gotten more enjoyable over the years because not only are they reaching out to more audiences now more than ever but they're mostly putting the fans first rather than the general public, on top of that with things like castlevania and arcane they've also been focusing more on the characters and giving more depth to them and especially in arcane's case they use the animation to help it's story get further fleshed out
If that's not "good," what is?
Honestly it feels like a lot of early video game movies were made for no one
"Enjoyable"
...so Good?
@@kasplachproductions6198 think of it like this, the Mario movie and fnaf movies are really enjoyable movies because they have parts of them that are fun to watch but as movies on their own they are incredibly flawed with how they tell the stories like with the Mario movie just kind of going through the motions or in the fnaf movie with the 4th night and Vanessa being the exposition dump character for most of the film
@@magmarxiogaming6717 Exactly
Castlevania actually completely changes and even disrespects some core aspects of the franchise for no reason at all. It's also is ironically really immature compared to the games, with constant unjustified swearing and "Mature" jokes.
Like, Trevor was actually a waste, they could've making his depression and alcohol addiction an actual plot point and room for character development, instead, it's just: Haha, he's drunk.
The exploration of Alucard's loneliness could be interesting, but it just makes him straight up pathetic.
Dracula straight up regretting fighting Alucard out of nowhere is also dumb. They should've kept Dracula the way he was in the first season: Cold, Merciless, Evil.
The following seasons just really fell down.
And the new Nocturne show, although a bit better than the late seasons of the original show, it's also not good and has a lot of unjustified and unexplored changes that don't add nothing, like, why did you change the setting to the French Revolution if you barely do anything with it? Also, they didn't make Richter awakening his magic powers impactful, it basically doesn't help in his following fight, you would expect it to be a Super Saiyan type thing where the tables turn for our hero, but nope, one of the main plot points doesn't change anything. Also, Annette being a literal self-insert is dumb.
Team Fortress 2 nearly had its own show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, complete with a pilot episode.
However, Cartoon Network wanted quantity over quality, which is something Valve, TF2's developer, didn't agree with.
Valve ended up backing out of the deal because of this, and the series was scrapped.
As for the pilot, titled "Expiration Date," it was eventually released on RUclips as part of the game's Love & War Update.
Valve's whole deal is "quality over quantity". We don't have much from them, but they're amazing all around.
Another problem was the Valve TF2 team wanted to animate the series in house, and currently Valve currently lists around 360 employees which include mostly non animators. Many cartoons have credits lists for animators far exceeding that.
The DOTA cartoon accepted reality and outsourced work.
I teleported bread
@@killeranime3591What?
@@goatlover6312 You told me to
I think, it might be worth to consider "Wreck-it Ralph" to be the actual starting point, because it used the essence of arcade gaming to make something new of it. Even though it wasn't an actual video game adaptation, it basically served as a vision of what a good adaptation could be.
Yeah it was it's own movie, that simply built off of a ton of references. In a sense it's probably closer to a parody of video games in general with an actual plot.
I actually had to look up who made it. For some reason I thought it was made by something like Pixar, but no it was Disney. Wow Disney sure lost its magic quickly. The movie was only released like a decade ago.
@@kosmosXcannon Yeah, Wreck-It Ralph was pretty much the best animated Disney film since 2002 when Treasure Planet and Lilo and Stitch came out, although you could argue that Tangled was slightly better than Ralph but I disagree.
Nothing Disney has made since has topped Wreck-It Ralph except for maybe Encanto which I’ve heard is great but I haven’t seen it. In between 2002 and Tangled there was Meet the Robinsons which is also a great movie.
Came here to mention that! Even though the movie felt like a gigantic advertisement, seemed to have worked!
Wreck-it-Ralph is up there with the 2000’s and early 2010’s Pixar Movies.
@@kosmosXcannonPixar is owned by Disney, and Wreck-It Ralph was marketed as a Disney movie so why didn’t you realize it sooner?
You see the biggest things are
1: the creatives behind the series having been fans for years and having years of stuff to go off of that they can pull from
2: The movies aren’t trying to be too different but instead try to capture the magic of the games.
3: the movie makers cater to the fans more than the genre audience and can succeed now with how mainstream gaming is.
4: last but not least is the fact that people who worked on stuff for the franchise before are working on these. Charles Martinet and Shigeru Miyamoto on Mario being the voice of Mario and the creator respectively. Scott Cawthon being the creator of the games. Jeff Fowler having worked on CGI cutscenes for Sonic most notably Shadow the Hedgehog. Troy Baker having played Joel in the last of us game. Hideki Itsuno working on Netflix’s upcoming Devil May Cry with the Castlevania team.
And the Halo TV show will forever serve as a reminder that you need people who love the series and understand the deeper lore to create a good product. I heard of Season 2 coming out soon for it, not even gonna bother going near it. Still scorned by that first season
You also need studios to actually listen to criticism, key point Sonic and his initial design. The Studio could have easily ignored the criticism because they think they know better and have the movie bombed. Instead, they probably spent a pretty penny to fix his design. Which I think was pretty late in the production.
And Scott Cawthon writing the script for the Fnaf movie.
@@worthybutter2004 I mentioned Scott
@@BlackShadow01-05 Oh, sorry. Didn't see closely enough.
Also, Witcher TV show is loosely based on Witcher book series. It exist because of popularity of the games, but it is not connected to them really.
And as an adaptation it ranges from mid to straight up terrible.
The Mario movie could’ve done more but the basic plot for it couldn’t have been more perfect. Also Sonic 2 (besides the stupid wedding human stuff) was genuinely a great adaptation of the simple story of Sonic 2 but mostly 3 with the crew understanding Knuckles arc of blind betrayal and it really worked for the movie’s favor.
Tbh, I did like some of the wedding scenes cuz they were really random and weird XD
The wedding scene is HEAVILY IMPORTANT for the NEXT couple of Live Action Sonic Projects that is if you played or did research on the games of that time.
Mario movie plot would have benefitted from Peach being a damsel, or at the very least, not a Mary Sue, and Luigi.
@@andraw4002tbf Luigi being the one Mario rescues kinda makes sense to me since he would have more of a reason to save his brother
@@andraw4002gamers when the only female character isn’t completely useless: Mary Sue
It's because the producers are actually starting to take them seriously and actually put effort into them.
Can’t help but think a DDLC adaptation could be amazing. I wish more people engaged w the game but it’s hard to ignore how much time is spent on the dating sim portion alone.
Yeah I think that has potential!
Not tryna destroy your idea, but how will Monika delete everyone? It’s not a game if it’s movie, is she just gonna delete their models? And if it’s a hand drawn movie in an anime style, does she just erase them somehow? My brain is dying thinking of this lol
@SonicEXEProductions it would be cool if it was a video game in universe, although that wouldn't be revealed at first.
@@tibby4503 yea, it would probably be revealed once the first glitch thing happens (aka Sayori’s death) and then we would finally see that we’ve just been watching what was happening on a screen. I would make a whole entire plot for the movie, but then I’d have to animate it, and I don’t know how to draw in an anime art style, and my art style just doesn’t work for ddlc
@@SonicEXEProductionsFucking SAO the main character
I think it’s because they stuck so close to the original designs, but, it felt so trippy to see the FNaF characters i. the theaters and on the big screen
We waited years for that movie and i’d say it was worth it
Yes
they did an excellent job with the design and portrayal of springtrap. its not every day you get such an intimidating movie villain
Wasnt scary, i hope the sequel is better
@@dane1382 bro he had like 5min of screentime and got killed by a cupcake. Also the fact he has the same voice as shaggy kills any intimidation.
Nah nigga. Yall trippin. The movie was fucking horrible like wtf. The first half. Ok that was ok. Then like wtf even was that, it was so bad dude
I'm surprised no one talked about the two Tomb Raider movies starring Angelina Jolie. They are still, in my opinion, some of the best videogame adaptations made to this day. They are often disregarded as being goofy or over the top, but so were the Tomb Raider games, especially back in the day (Lara literally fought dinosaurs in the first game)! Those two movies had decent acting, great action scenes, environments and soundtracks, and keep the spirit of the games intact. Not to mention Angelina makes for a perfect Lara. Always worth a rewatch from time to time.
I wouldn't say they're the best compared to what we have today, but I would agree Tomb Raider was the first good/faithful video game movie we got
I try to forget seeing the bad guys nutsack under the table 💀💀💀
People can say whatever they want of these adaptations, but truth is they're much better than a lot of the crap that came out in the 90s and 2000s.
90s Mario movie has more personality than the new one
@@reallyman6502 No, it doesn’t.
Sonic, Mario, and FNAF are some examples of successful videogame movies.
Yes! Most favorite and most popular video game franchises ever
Yep
yep
Sonic and Mario maybe Fnaf wasn't very good the only reason people liked the movie was because we've been waiting for it for 10 years
@@ZavierFray not true
For me these are the best adaptations:
The sonic movies
Mario
The last of us
Arcane
Cyberpunk edgerunners
Five nights at freddys
Dragon age
I really like those
Where would you place the 2021 MK movie?
@@herooftime2428 it's decent, enjoyable to watch, good fights and gore, lots of references, good special efects, but the story and some of the fan service moments felt outta place.
But i gotta say im interested in the sequel, i came in to the MK franchise this year, and i hope they make a good sequel
No castlevania?
@@Valiguss i didn't watched it, but for what i heard is pretty good
@@lorenzo5643it's good for the first two seasons, then season 3 is only good for it's ending and conclusion of Isaac's story. Season 4 is pretty rocky throughout with some cool moments but they're rare
I am calling it now. The Mario movie is the start of the Nintendo cinematic universe. Where all the movies will lead into Super Smash Brothers.
smash would lend itself better to animated shorts than a movie imo
I'm sorry but a smash bros movie wouldn't work unless they just straight up remade subspace emissary
I mean, the Zelda movie is already gonna be a thing. That one is live action though, so blending them would be difficult
Having never been interested in seeing the Mario movie at all, and never played a smash bros game... that actually sounds cool.
@@spoon7053 Or a series. It's basically a tournament arc.
I don’t even play League of Legends and Arcane is probably one of the best adaptations to exist so far!
Arcane is a horrible adaptation of a video game, but it is a good show. There is a huge difference between the two.
@@dontmisunderstand6041 I'm not sure what you mean when you say its a horrible adaptation of a video game. I'm assuming you aren't criticizing it for not having Summoners duel each other in a competition using champions as proxies or whatever?
@@jackkimball521 It doesn't invoke the same or even similar emotions as the video game. It doesn't ponder the same philosophical core or even appeal to the same audience. In that sense, it's literally a bad adaptation of the source material. It's fundamentally not even related to its source material. That doesn't mean it's bad on its own merits.
@@dontmisunderstand6041 Well sure I guess, it doesn't invoke the same emotions as a competitive multiplayer game. If you consider it an adaptation of the lore of the blurbs they gave each of the relevant characters rather than the game itself it might do a bit better at being an adaptation, but you might not even consider those blrubs to be a part of the game, depending on what your perspective is precisely.
@@jackkimball521 Exactly what I'm getting at, yeah.
I feel like adaptations that have both the Actual creators heavily involved/producers are already fans of the media are bound to have great success. We need a lot of that
This decade is a good time for videogame movies, and they are being made by exactly how the videogames are.
Hopefully not how videogames are made today.
Two good shows and a couple mediocre movies, not really worth celebrating to be honest.
no, current video game movies are mid at best boring at worst. At least old video game movies were bad in an enjoyable way.
I honestly think we’re only half way to solving the video game movie problem. Filmmakers have finally been able to artistically embrace video game worlds, lore and aesthetics and that’s great. The old disrespect for games as an adaptive medium has died down more than ever.
The only problem is that most of these films still don’t have good stories or writing by normal film standards. I think people’s outrage over negative critic scores over Sonic, Mario and FNAF kinda shows a disconnect between gamers and your average filmgoer. I think if we want these films to get better going forward, we need to be more critical about what’s working and what needs improving.
Another thing about video game movies/tv series is that pacing or story can vary. Some games that are 10+ hours tell a story over that amount of time, so it can feel kinda rushed if made into a movie (tv series would be better for pacing imo), whereas games that are short or have next to no story (like the original Mario bros) have almost no story except for the game’s description/instruction booklet, so you have to find a way to add to that without changing too much to make it an enjoyable and faithful watch. Sorry for rambling, if any of this is wrong, or if I just kinda repeated what you said lol
I agree with most of your arguments, but aside from the RPGs, what Mario game had a cohesive breathtaking plot? The closest I can come up with is Galaxy, and even that is a stretch.
I can't in good conscience say that traditional filmgoers have a critical eye at all when the talentless hack Scorcese isn't homeless and destitute.
@@TGOArchive... The first five Mario RPGs. The first one is basically a classic case of good guys and bad guys team up to fight worse guys, paper mario is pretty basic story wise but fleshes out the setting a lot by making the different enemy types not 100% evil. M&L Superstar Saga flips the entire typical Mario plot on its head and spins the body just to be sure it has a hard time walking straight. Thousand year door has the gang trying to prevent an evil group from reviving a dark god. and Super Paper Mario deals with what it means to exist.
My brother in Christ, how could you not even mention Cyberpunk Edgerunners?
You say no video game adaptations have been critically acclaimed, but Edgerunners was. It currently sits at 100% on RT. This show single handedly revived interest in the game after its disastrous release, introduced relatable, fun, and interesting characters (then killed them), conformed to every detail of the game, expanded the lore, and most importantly had a meaningful and impactful story.
Edit:
One thing I forgot to mention: you could argue that it doesn’t count as a video game adaptation since Cyberpunk is based on the TTRPG. But I would argue that it does, since all of the visuals, set pieces, and characters are based on their appearance in the video game, not as they were described in the original table top game.
it is an anime taking place in the same world, but it's not an adaptation because it doesnt have either the exact characters or the plot of the game
I wouldn't say Cyberpunk Edgerunners is adapting a video game. It's more, existing along side of a video game set in the same universe. A universe with lore and background elements established that was built up by a tabletop game.
@@seikou1762 By that logic, movies like Angry Birds or Dead Space Downfall aren’t video game adaptations since they don’t feature any characters or re-enact the plot of the games they’re based on. You could even take this a step farther and say the Pokémon anime isn’t an adaptation since it follows Ash instead of Red.
@@bsgfan1Angry Birds literally had the cover character of the game get a movie adaption. The plot also still ends up being the Birds vs the Pigs(which is exactly what happens in the games), so it’s still a video game adaption in that sense. No one’s ever considered the pokémon anime an adaption of the video game because they released almost simultaneously with the games and manga as well. DSD is a movie based on events that happen after the Dead Space Comic, not the games. There’s a difference between adapting a Video Game story and making a movie based on the universe where other video game takes place
@@squidsdontdie The literal definition of an adaptation is “to transfer familiar content from one form of media to another”.
Source: _Remediation: Understanding New Media,_ 1999, JD Bolter & R. Gruisin
By this definition, every single one of my examples is an adaptation. Angry Birds is a loose adaptation, especially considering none of the characters had actual names or personalities in the original game. And like it or not, Pokémon is indeed an adaptation considering it loosely follows the game’s plot, even if only just barely. DSD is also an adaptation since it’s a story _adapted_ from a game series.
The fact videogames movies are above superheros ones is a blast
One way to get around the “game duration” issue (for TV or movies) is to use the “original story set in game world” framework. Rather than retelling the entire game, you use the characters and settings to tell one or more original stories.
yep. edgerunners is the perfect example of this.
also-i’m genuinely surprised that fanfic writers don’t get hired for these movies, because some of the plots those people write for existing games could be amazing movie plots, *especially* for games without very deep characters. if epic ever wanted to do a fortnite movie, they should probably read the game’s ao3 page first, because holy shit i don’t know how but them writers make whole ass backstories and character arcs out of item shop skins that get 3 seconds of lore.
excuse my rambling
So basically the cg resident evil stuff?
Super awesome video. I really enjoyed how you delved into the history, success stories, and possibilities of video game adaptations.
The fnaf movie is a 8/10 for me, but if I was a critic I'd give it a 6/10. Another thing about video game adaptations is that they should only be given towards the fans; the people thst anticipate it most. As a fan who watched the movie, I knew that critics hate it when I was in theaters. It's better to just make a movie for the people that actually want to see it.
I think the FNAF movie was ok. Many people said it was shit and I see where they were coming from, but God it's not the worst thing sense the WORLD WARS!!!!!!! These people should chill down, ESPECIALLY THE FANS OF THE MOVIE😒😒😒
Yeah i’d agree. I would say that the FNaF movie is mostly just for fans of the francise. Watched it and couldn’t get into the plot due to not being a fan. But heres the thing. They can be a cool movie on its own if done right. One example I can think of of a good movie in general but is inspired by a video game character is the Sonic 2 Movie.
@@KoopaKool12I agree, it’s just fine…
But at that point you should just make a video game for the video game fans.
As opposed to appealing to new people using in jokes and references.
@@Robbie-pc1dlas a non fan of the franchise I had a great time watching it with friends, and I think fun should be a bigger player in a movie rating
So, i'll tell you guys my oppinion: The proper reason why the video game movies have not been good at all in their infancy stage was due to the lack of proper source material. That, and they wanted to try to appeal to the general audience.
Though recently, they have been making a turnaround and have been getitng help from the source material and consulting the proper creator themselves (i.e, Super mario bros. Movie) or the video game movies have been made by the original creator (I.e: the FNAF movie with Scott Cawthon at the helm.) Though it does have it's minor setbacks, such as the FNAF movie not seeming to please movie critics like Rotten Tomatoes because they have not seen or even heard about the FNAF movies.
But now, they get proper help from the source material themselves or even get some of the source people for it, hell, i'm sure some even do RESEARCH.
Which, i think leads into the right direction. Sure, some video game movies like the FNAF movie dont seem to aim for the general audience, but sometimes, it's either that, or ruin the movie and make it suck and unfit and flop for the sake to please said general audience who know nothing of the material.
I, personally, preffer them to stick to the source material, which basicly makes it a really good movie and perfect.
Sure, it may cost more depending on the movie, but sometimes, sticking to it really makes the movie an excellent one, although it depends on the video game movie and which game you are aiming at. I know that the Borderlands and Assassin's Creed movie are gonna take a loooong while (and sometimes may get delayed, too) but, due to that, in the end, it'll make the movie ABSOLUTELY worth it to watch and it'll also be an absolute masterpiece in the end.
Video game movies may have just gotten started again and are making successes, but that is because they are listening to the audience who love their games and are making research, consulting other people who are very well versed in video games to make the movie a wonderful success.
Yeah but the 2007 Postal movie is a master piece
Directors are also more attuned to the games their based off. They know the source material better and know mistakes not to make from those before.
There's a mistake in the video as The Witcher series is not an adaptation of the games, as they were based on books by Andrzej Sapkowski
About the FNAF movie, even though as a fan I loved it to bits, it was rather flawed and in my opinion should have gotten the Last of Us treatement as a TV series like you were talking about - I felt like they weren’t able to flesh out the story and characters in such a limited runtime.
Anyways, great vid ! Really interesting insight into the matter, you’ve earned a new sub
My personal gripe with the fnaf movie was actually the lack of horror in it, still a great movie it just wasn't scary at all(this has nothing to about the movies rating, you can still make a scary movie without it being gruesome)
@@davidhamilton6883 Totally agree, and the weird thing is that it tried to do things differently from your typical mediocre horror movie (like valuing the atmosphere and tension instead of cheap jumpscares, moments of pure silence…) which ironically enough felt a little out of place for this specific franchise… I mean, we got some jumpscares here and there but half of them were Balloon Boy, and none of them (apart from maybe the Foxy one) felt on par with the games. There are definitely very good “horror moments” such as that scene where Chica is silently walking behind the fan in the background, when the animatronics stand still and look up into the camera, or even the bite scene (though that’s gore and not really horror - it was still a very welcome surprise), and Scott has mentioned that he is actively looking into critique of the film so he can help improve the next one, so I have my hopes up.
@@finixmoon127 oooo could you imagine the second movie with the withered versions and it actually be scary. Considering Scott said that the first 3 movies are gonna loosely follow the first 3 games
@@davidhamilton6883 The withered versions are definitely a big opportunity to lean more into the horror aspects (Withered Chica still freaks me out a bit to this day lol). We can only hope for the best
Same. It was alright, but it could be so much better. Especially the horror elements.
Kaon here, I feel that these advances were actually crafted well because most of them (especially the three in the thumbnail) have guidances of either passionate fans, or the creators. Mario; Directed by the strict Nintendo, Arcane was made by both the original creative houses (the hired and partnered animation studio AND Riot Games themselves), FNAF; the script was restarted from scratch 5-7 times written by the creator of fnaf. There has clearly been some adaptation movies where they weren’t made with love, the will, or the means. I’m thankful that the scene is finally turning around and proving Hollywood wrong about games to movies, although now it may seem like they’ll be eager to take advantage. But creator/fan feedback will prevail
I like how comic book movies and videogames literally switch places over the span of a decade.
Im so happy we even got a twisted metal series!!!
It’s because that nowadays they are having it to where they’re making it enjoyable for the casual viewer, but also putting in a lot of stuff in for the huge fans, and not just sidelining them, and not putting them as an afterthought, where not only are they including the casual fans they are also catering a lot to the hard fans as well and putting the hard fans up there among that too, like the Mario movie, it was enjoyable for the casual audience, but there was so much love and thought that went into that movie that showed that they cared about the hard fans too
It's probably the fact that when video games where new, there wasn't really any film directors who understood the appeal of them and their stories. Now those who grew up with games have become directors and gotten some power within the industry. That's what we're seeing now.
I found your video very interesting. What exactly changed that made video game movies appealing/decent or even great? You brought a lot of great points and examples but the Witcher show is not a suitable for the topic since it’s an adaptation of the books and not the video games 😅 It’s a series of books that started in the mid 90s before the games. It doesn’t disprove your video, there are still more examples of good video game adaptations through recent years.
These adaptations are getting really good
I remember hearing a long time ago(can't remember where) that companies would actually make more money from a video game movie if it fell flat vs being an okay fim, however it seems that companies have started to come to the conclusion that alot of video games have the ability to make the big bucks if they treat it right.
That was just Uwe Boll. He abused some sort of tax law to make money off of video game movie flops.
As og witcher fan, i would say that Netflix adaptation was indeed an expensive load of sh-
Thanks
Bro made Sonic dirty with the 69% score
Arcane had me on my knees while watching, it was honestly one of the best shows I’ve ever watched, had me tearing up frl 💀
Fun fact: any game can be a movie, just search up “Game Name all cutscenes”
Not all of them. Some have too few cutscenes
I was floored with how good D&D Honor Among Thieves is,. I watched the FNaF movie this weekend and I enjoyed watching it much more than I thought, I even appreciated the MatPat cameo.
Gonna start watching Last of Us soon, see what all the hype is about.
This is a great video, my dude and you make me excited for the future of video game movie adaptations.
“Video game movies aren’t good!”
Pixel: “am I a joke to you?”
I was thinking about making a video about this current state of video game movies as of late (since I felt like not many people are talking about it at the time) but you, my friend, have possibly made the best possible video covering this topic. I loved the way you dissected both the past, present, and even touch a bit on what could be the future.
Video game movies/Shows definitely aren't at their prime yet (the halo show and mortal Kombat 2021 probably being the best examples I can think of how one can still mess up a video game movie in the modern age). However, like you said, in order to truly adapt the medium of gaming into a movie; you gotta do some experimentation. Sometimes you might fail, but you can always respawn and try again.
There's alot of more video game movies I'm actively looking forward to in recent times.
Dead by daylight, Sonic 3, Mario 2, Fnaf 2, Mortal Kombat 2, God of War, legend of Zelda, Detective Pikachu 2, Angry birds 3, even the Minecraft movie and Poppy Playtime movie (two films I actively remember hating when announced but now sort looking forward to them because of this rise in quality.)
This is especially the case with the many other IPs people want to see adopted. Pikmin, Bendy, Roblox, TF2 (praying to god Valve finds a way to still make that show), Overwatch, a potential sequel to rampage, a potential renewal to the cuphead show, (and even though rockstar has gone on record recently to say they won't do it) GTA and Red Dead redemption.
The future is looking bright and I'm glad more people are not only finally talking about this but looking forward to what more that is to come.
Great Video all around, easily among my favorite video essays I've seen so far!
I actually enjoyed both the mario and the FNAF movie. Imagine if they make a r-rated survival far cry tv show or movie adaptation (I mean i'm not talking about the crappy b-grade adaptation from 2008), that is largely going to based on far cry 3 with Jason as the main protagonist and Vaas and her sister as the 2 main antagonists and I think Michael Mando is going to have a lot of fun to returns as Vaas since the far cry 6 dlc on the third installment in a potential video game movie/series on it and the plot is going to be the same as the original game with some differences. Like for example, Jason turns from a college guy who don't harm a fly to a savage that enjoys murdering due to the atrocities he saw and it would be a refreshing thing to see in a movie like that. I hope Mando would do the french dub for a far cry movie due to he's french-canadian (like me by the way) and he actually did make the french dub in the game.
The FNAF movie was fantastic.
By this day, I think the Silent Hill movie is way too overhated. Yeah, it's a bad horror movie, but I can't be the only one who finds the story and characters incredibly good. It's also insanely good as an adaptation.
It's basically the Mario movie of 2000s
Subbed, as a gamer, this is a grrat deep dive into this subject, thank you sir!
8:05 that clean ass back to back to back green shell was so fucking satisfying.
Maybe the fnaf 2 movie will be better by learning the small mistakes the first movie had
I would call detective Pikachu or the Mario movie IP tie in’s any positive step forward for franchise or mythos is a great way to get more people involved and expand the community around it, also I think the reason video game movies haven’t been fully recognized by critics is the same for super hero movies, there being tied down by the less than antiquate movies and critics just straight up them, movies aren’t just for them now and that’s great art is meant to be subjective and if more comic fans spoke up for some of the better movies or one that got a lot of needless flag like Quantumania which actually did very well with fan the same way video game fans did for the Mario movie or FNAF movie we all can see the root problem better.
I mean I wouldn’t call them that!
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is the one of the biggest if not the biggest example of the definition ‘Video Game Adaptation Masterpiece’
great video! not gonna lie was expecting Edgerunners to be mentioned, but your selection and video structure didnt need it to prove your point. here's to better and better videogame adaptations!
Sonic, Need for Speed and The Last of Us are my favourite adaptations.
Surprised you didn't bring up what's coming up with the live action Nintendo and Sony Zelda film. There's a lot writing on that one. A risk high risk they take. Since this was right after the announcement. Hopefully it pans out well cause only Miyamoto knows what he's thinking. Reason why I insist on these games being made into films is that a good amount of video games take inspiration from films. They can be extensions of the very film they're based on. And the other, having something in another medium to compliment it. Different type of expression you can't get if you love the brand so much.
I mean, Zelda games are usually already just movies with extra steps.
Quick quibble - The Witcher isn't based upon the video games. It's based upon the same book series that the games are also based on.
i think a large part of why video game adaptations have improved so much recently is because video games are beginning to be more respected as a medium of storytelling on par with film and tv that these companies actually see potential in and want to take seriously
And all it took was for superhero movies to fall
So, the reason why the MCU has been doing so terribly is because of Disney fucking everything up.
5:48 bro I laghed so hard at that guys one liner.
you forgot about Cyberpunk Edgerunners. That one is probably the best show based off a game I ever watched.
For me the best videogame to movie adaption is actually from Professor Layton franchise and it's called Professor Layton and Eternal Diva. It's not even one of the newer movies but an older one yet is constantly forgotten despite literally being such a good movie and at the same time sticking true to the Professor Layton game's nature. Reason for this is probably that there is a lot to work with story wise from the PL franchide and high quality animations already existed as cutscenes in the games anyway so the movie just feels like a longer Professor layton cutscene 😂
Facts. Whenever someone mentions Detective Pikachu is the first good videogame movie I go 👀
I wouldn't call it an adaptation, since it's an actual part of the Professor Layton storyline, as confirmed by Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy, but yeah, that's the best one I've come across so far. Ace Attorney was pretty solid too, but it could have been better
The Witcher is a book series, not a video game series.
It is actually both
I'm glad that things are going well. Studios must've took one good look at how the Halo and Witcher live adaptations flopped and started sticking to the reference material.
The one mistake every game adaptation kept making until recently was disappointing their current fanbase while failing to appeal to the masses.
what adaptation is good?
And I'm not talking about fan pornvice
I am still waiting for that portal movie valve promised
THE FNAF MOVIE IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE ITS SO PEAK AND IT HAS EVERY THING I LOVE ABOUT THE GAMES IN IT
It could have been way better, but I enjoyed it, even if I admit the story and tone were wack
Great video!
The 8-Bit blink182 song in the background was sick
I think a big percentage of the reason why video game movies are better now is because the generation that is making these movies (Millennials) is the first generation that grew up with the internet and grew up with more sophisticated story-based video games than the previous generation (gen X) that only grew up with arcade video games or very simplistic video games in the 70's and 80's. Until the last few decades, previous generations didn't play video games at all because weren't even a thing when they grew up (Baby boomers, Silent generation).
This generation of movie directors (Millennials and older gen Z) take video games seriously as an art form and storytelling tool and don't belittle it. The only downside is that the new generations are way more leaning progressive/socialist which might make them put social progressiveness and diversity above telling a good story (what is currently happening with Marvel and Star Wars movies/TV shows).
There needs to be less politics messaging in movies and more emphasis on writing a good story and good characters.
You lost me at progressive/socialist
@@user-il7ot1rn5b I wanted to say leftist but youtube censored and shadowbanned my comment.
what about the cuphead show?
As someone who'snever actually played any of the Cuphead games, I enjoyed the series. Unlike something like say, Mario movie or FnaF movie, the Cuphead show is enjoyable for both fans of the series and the general population
7:50 wait, I've seen this cursed face so many times, you're telling me this is from MARIO?!?!
There is something to remember The Witcher games aren't the source material since the real source material are the novels that existed much before the games. Although it was the games who make the novels known.
The only good video game adaptations in my opinion are Mortal Kombat from 1995, Mortal Kombat from 2021, Detective Pikachu, The Last Of Us, Sonic, & Castlevania. And that’s pretty much it, Super Mario Bros was pretty bad in my opinion, and FNAF omg was just dumb and lame. I did like the animation from the Super Mario Bros movie but the story, and even voice acting was more downwards then it sounds, and FNAF had a great production value, the costumes, the animatronics, and the pizzeria itself was great, but the other characters and the story just sucked, although I did like Matthew Lillard in it so meh. I’d give the Super Mario Bros movie a 3.0 out of 10 and for The FNAF Movie 3.5 out of 10. I’d rather watch The Last Of Us show or the Mortal Kombat film from 2021.
The Sonic movies have much importent Sonic stuff in it.
Sonic 2 is, i would say, the best videogame movie because its a good movie and a great sonic movie.
They please the Fans meanwhile still being a good movie overall.
Agreed
This should have more views
2:10 I would only add, although not in the UK and USA, in the west (more specifically europe) we had also Inazuma Eleven, aside from Pokemon, that gained a respectable following. It's really sad though that many people now don't remember it, but I still hope for it to make a comeback
Simple. They’re becoming more faithful to the source and more focused on fans instead of the GP.
Take The Angry Birds Movie 2 Vs Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 deviates from the original source so much and has a lot of characters out of character and a lot of stuff meant for the GP instead of the fans, as a result, the people who don’t understand the series loved the film while the fans of the series hate it.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 on the other hand is more faithful to the original source and has a lot of callbacks and references while still trying to make an original story. As a result, it’s more praised in general (Except the critics but they gave TABM2 high scores so take with that info what you will.)
TLDR Video Game Adaptations used to focus on the GP rather than the source material but are now focusing more on being a faithful adaptation
12:12 IDK, Nintendo is already starting a Legend of Zelda movie, possibly in live-action and who knows if that will turn out to be a success. Nintendo might change their minds down the road and be more open to making multimedia stuff again. Who knows, just sayin'
Hey, shout-out to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - in fact a video game movie from 2010 which went so unrecognized yet its ratings were quite high all these years.
Expected the end line to be “We can’t end on a loss”
Bro named The Witcher a video game adaptation 💀
Putting fnaf up there is pushing it lol
I agree
@@kasplachproductions6198 Putting The Angry Birds Movie 2 here is pushing it.
Mario and FnaF movies were far from 'good', but could be enjoyable so long as you're already a diehard fan of the series
I have no idea what your talking about.
The 1995 Mortal Kombat movie has a 60% on Metacritic, with an 7.9 audience score. I'd say that's pretty good!
I'de argue that the Resident Evil and Silent Hill movies were great adaptations, especially Silent Hill, it was true to the source material while being a really good horror movie ... i think the problem with video game movies is that no one takes them seriously, that's why they fall to rookie directors who don't know what to do with them, but in case of Paul W.S Anderson and Christophe Gans, they really put the effort, and the results were amazing.
Also the reason TLoU and The Witcher adaptations were good is because the video games themselves were structured more like series and not the opposite.
Profesor Layton and the eternal diva is still the best videogame movie fr
Cyberpunk edgerunners and arcane are probably my 2 favourite video game shows, also I think these 2 are quite successful because it’s not actually an adaptation of the game, for arcane it’s just borrowed characters with some similar lore where they write a new story for those characters based of their in game lore, and edgerunners is mostly just brand new characters under a completely unrelated story
I think the other reason being is that When a Studio or Creator is involve into the production of said films to make sure that the production team make a video game film that has understands the source material/IP but also make a movie/tv show that can be enjoy by fans, casual and critics
My man forgot to mention Cyberpunk Edgerunners. A work of art honestly.
The intro to this video is genuinely making me question just how many RUclips videos could fit in one hand
Captain laserhawk is also a video game show, but it’s Ubisoft’s edgy fucking equivalent to that Nintendo cartoon.
The second Sonic movie even put in a Reference to the Sonic 3 and knuckles information booklet
Knuckles mentions his love of Grapes
Arcane world building was crazy reminded me of spirited away not the world but how the world runs the characters not the other way around
Also got to say, the Twisted Metal TV series is one of the most underrated video game adaptations out there. Understandable since it come out on Peacock, but I've seen the series and am legit impress.
Shoutout to The Cuphead Show. It did a pretty bang up job at replicating the 1930s feel like the game did, gave us a fun little prequel story, and introduced more people to the game.
If video game adaptations become the next big thing I better be seeing the Just Dance movie soon!! 😤😤
Witcher has books to adapt as well, also anime has adapted some video games well for a while now. Mainly Visual Novel adaptations such as Stein's Gate and Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. We also have a good Persona 3 quadrilogy adaptation.
I would be definitely interested in hearing your opinion of the AC movie because its still part of the Assassins creed Games lore
The things I would do for an Earthbound movie adaptation. Also, the only other video game movies i really enjoyed prior to Detective Pikachu were a few of the anime Pokemon movies and Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. But of course since no one plays Professor Layton, it's easily missed
Cyberpunk Edgerunners not only won anime of the year, it fixed the view of Cyberpunk bad launch
It probably helps that they are written by people who grew up with the source material understand the underlying concepts or know what they would want to see on the big screen