There is an old story, I don’t remember how it goes exactly, but it plays on old tale about book reports. You see a particularly lazy student had to write one and instead of actually reading the book he/she saw a film adaptation instead. The results were predictably hilarious, or possible poignant, depending on if there was a lesson to be learned.

Book to movie adaptations are nothing new, Hollywood has been strip-mining the written word for decades now with mixed results. This is not news, in fact it’s the only thing older (and worse) are video games based on movies. So I’m not going to bore you with another move-to game diatribe, but something happened this week that could change everything. I went to see Superman Returns.

I always knew that Bryan Singer was overrated, but sitting there for 2+ hours watching characters stare at each other in a movie that is supposed to feature the World Greatest Superhero. After years of waiting for this, anti-climax doesn’t even begin to describe it. I mean the plane/shuttle scene was great and the opening credits put a huge smile on my face, but after that it was all down hill. I know they don’t make genre movies for genre fans, but I can’t see the great unwashed masses lining to see the mopyest superhero movie since Unbreakable.

Hope is not lost. As I shuffled out of the theater I shocked myself when I said aloud, “Maybe the game will be better.” MAYBE THE GAME WILL BE BETTER?!? Have I lost my mind? The game based on the movie will be better then the movie? I wouldn’t be surprised if you deleted your BotB bookmark right now, but if you’ll bear with me I’ll try to explain.

What is the single factor affects the quality of video games based on movies the most? What keeps them from being anything more then worthless pieces of garbage served up on plastic disks for fifty bucks a pop? Timing. Just like a student who’s working on a deadline, the pressure to get a movie based game in the stores in time for the movie’s release can greatly affect the quality of the product. Corners have to be cut, testing isn’t completed, and the final product often suffers.

So why am I holding out hope? Because the release date of the Superman Returns movie game hasn’t been announced yet. That coupled with the power of the nextgen systems bodes well for this game and for the future, one that will not be coming to a theater near you.

I imagine a day when the pure creative power of the written word is no longer squeezed into a 2-dimensional, 2-hour passive experience, but a fully interactive world. An incredible simulation of an imaginary universe that can be the closet thing to being in the writer’s head, to see it they way he or she intended. We are nearing the day when only lousy movies are made from games and not the other way around. The day when, for example, the seventh Harry Potter game is better then the seventh Harry Potter movie. Are we near that now, no, but separating games from the movies their supposed to be based on is a good first step to the day when that student says:

So, did you read that book?
No, I’m waiting for the game.

THE RIDE BOARD:

In the Xbox360:   The current shortage of new Xbox360 games has led me to take desperate action. I went out a got a jumping puzzle game. Ah, the classic formula: perfectly spaced ledges and poles all over the place, wonky camera angles and limitless finger strength. In this case the format has been press fit over the latest entry in the Lara Croft series, Tomb Raider: Legend. I’m enjoying it a bit more then it deserves, the visuals are nice (keep it clean) and the story in engaging. However the puzzles are not exactly brain benders and the combat is so sparse it’s a wonder why it was even included. If you’ve played one game like this, you’ve played them all, so you should already know if this game is for you.

This is my stop.

ARCHIVE
Comments? Questions? E-mail me at seth410@gamertransit.com. Complaints? If you thought this was bad, wait for BotB: The Movie.
Back of the Bus is © 2006 by Seth “4:10” Robison, used with exclusive permission by gamertransit.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.