MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Award winning author asks: 'Why aren't more books turned into games?'

xg4bx · 10-05-2011, 08:26 AM

Christopher Fowler is an English thriller writer responsible for numerous horror, satire and crime novels - and he's curious why more books like his haven't been turned into video games.

Well, if a game can take 'War Of The Worlds' to places that a multi-million dollar movie couldn't (although I'm a fan of both films, they only represent the book in the broadest manner), where can a game take a book?

Imagine a game of JG Ballard's 'High Rise' in which the residents of a tower block go to war with one another. Imagine a game of MR James' 'Casting The Runes', in which the hero must get rid of runic symbols or be consumed by the Devil? FYI, they've been trying to make a movie out of 'High Rise' for years, and 'Casting The Runes' was brilliantly filmed as 'Night Of The Demon' - but that was half a frickin' century ago! Imagine what a game could do with the premise now.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ed-into-games/

as a gamer i'm also surprised that there haven't been more books adapted into games. there are so many good literary ideas that would be perfect for an interactive format. theres plenty of books based on games, how about the opposite? instead of numerous false starts on a movie based on lovecraft's work for example, how about more game adaptations where you have the time and detail the works require. at the mountains of madness to tough to film? well why not a survival-horror video game? the dark tower too expensive to produce? well why not make it a 40 hour long rpg then?

same for the gaming industry. if they want to do a zombie game why are they not acquiring the rights to keene's city of the dead? a vampire game? knight's vampire earth series would be perfect.

i'm sure there are also many authors who would jump at the chance to do the plot and story in a game as opposed to the bargain basement, written by an intern approach the gaming industry currently takes.

unless its a bestselling novel, the entire publishing industry seems to be the elephant in the room when it comes to other entertainment media.

10-05-2011, 08:26 AM	#1
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	Award winning author asks: 'Why aren't more books turned into games?' Christopher Fowler is an English thriller writer responsible for numerous horror, satire and crime novels - and he's curious why more books like his haven't been turned into video games. Well, if a game can take 'War Of The Worlds' to places that a multi-million dollar movie couldn't (although I'm a fan of both films, they only represent the book in the broadest manner), where can a game take a book? Imagine a game of JG Ballard's 'High Rise' in which the residents of a tower block go to war with one another. Imagine a game of MR James' 'Casting The Runes', in which the hero must get rid of runic symbols or be consumed by the Devil? FYI, they've been trying to make a movie out of 'High Rise' for years, and 'Casting The Runes' was brilliantly filmed as 'Night Of The Demon' - but that was half a frickin' century ago! Imagine what a game could do with the premise now. http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ed-into-games/ as a gamer i'm also surprised that there haven't been more books adapted into games. there are so many good literary ideas that would be perfect for an interactive format. theres plenty of books based on games, how about the opposite? instead of numerous false starts on a movie based on lovecraft's work for example, how about more game adaptations where you have the time and detail the works require. at the mountains of madness to tough to film? well why not a survival-horror video game? the dark tower too expensive to produce? well why not make it a 40 hour long rpg then? same for the gaming industry. if they want to do a zombie game why are they not acquiring the rights to keene's city of the dead? a vampire game? knight's vampire earth series would be perfect. i'm sure there are also many authors who would jump at the chance to do the plot and story in a game as opposed to the bargain basement, written by an intern approach the gaming industry currently takes. unless its a bestselling novel, the entire publishing industry seems to be the elephant in the room when it comes to other entertainment media.